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Forum: Wishes and new features

Topic: VDJ is the next Rekordbox?
Dear community,

Since the release of STEMS 2.0, I've noticed that VDJ has stopped delivering truly innovative features. Meanwhile, Djay Pro continues to push the envelope — their Dynamic Beatgrid, for example, is seriously impressive.

I was hoping VDJ would respond with their own take in the 2025 release, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

If VDJ stops innovating, they risk becoming the next Rekordbox — stable, but stagnant.

Thoughts?
 
Posted Mon 14 Apr 25 @ 2:12 pm
It is being worked on but no ETA as yet.

Also the lack of Apple music support is weird because VDJ used to be at the forefront of streaming services but now appear to be failing behind other platforms.
 
kradcliffe wrote :
It is being worked on but no ETA as yet.

Also the lack of Apple music support is weird because VDJ used to be at the forefront of streaming services but now appear to be failing behind other platforms.


Indeed...even if Apple Music integration is not that innovative IMHO.

 
The thing about stems that amuses me is that I know probably 6 or 7 other VDJ users in my area and not one of them uses stems at all, seems I'm the only one. Would be interesting to see what the actual take up of it is in real terms.

A couple of them are still using VDJ7 so it seems stability is king for them.
 
kradcliffe wrote :
The thing about stems that amuses me is that I know probably 6 or 7 other VDJ users in my area and not one of them uses stems at all, seems I'm the only one. Would be interesting to see what the actual take up of it is in real terms.

A couple of them are still using VDJ7 so it seems stability is king for them.

I can't live without STEMS LOL 😅 and I'd love to have dynamic Beatgrid very much..hopefully they will come!
 
So they delivered Stem Swap Sampler in 2025 (a pretty much new way to swap parts of tracks with each other that has almost no answer in most other offerings) and you said Atomix isn't innovating?

They have already addressed the Fluid Beatgrid topic in other threads (they are looking into it). I honestly don't think Fluid Beatgrids are an innovation but rather an evolution/refinement to something that already existed (flexible beatgrids + beatgrid autodetection), but that is just my opinion - you are free to have yours.

Apple Music has been around for quite a while by itself and later DJay had it for quite a while, and nobody seemed to care or request for it that much. Serato and InMusic products announce integration for it and all of a sudden it's a major factor for ppl (that's really weird to me, but again, that's just me).

Atomix had streaming from platforms before it was even a thought in other offerings, they have, currently, the most streaming offerings as well, even with caching included. Given all that knowledge, it's almost a certainty that Apple Music not working with VirtualDJ currently is not an inability to innovate - it's more definitely a "who get's chosen to sit at the table" situation. Player restriction is not innovation, no matter how u portray it.

I understand you may not like that other software may have features that you like and isn't present in VirtualDJ currently, but that is not an excuse to say something that isn't accurate (they aren't innovating). As of right now, they are innovating and that isn't even a question.

Be patient, make suggestions so they can help you achieve your goals with your performances, because in the end that is what matters, not what you see other people or other offerings doing.
 
This is just my personal opinion, based on my own priorities. I tend to avoid streaming services because, in Italy, not every venue has a reliable Wi-Fi connection.

Dynamic Beatgrid would definitely be a big step forward, because at the moment, editing Beatgrids is still a very time-consuming process. If you have hundreds of old-school tracks like me—played by humans with naturally inconsistent BPMs—it's nearly impossible to go through and manually fix them all.

That said, I remain hopeful. Let’s see what the future holds.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
F.
 
DJ VinylTouch wrote :
So they delivered Stem Swap Sampler in 2025 (a pretty much new way to swap parts of tracks with each other that has almost no answer in most other offerings) and you said Atomix isn't innovating?


Who's using this tho?? It's so clunky the way it's implemented. I would love to use it but as it sits right now, it's just easier to load up a track on another deck and stem it out then bring it in with the other track.

I don't know, just a feature that I haven't seen anyone use in my area or online for that matter. No videos showing it in a real world use case. Unless Im missing something??
 
Don't get me wrong - I agree improving the Beatgrid analysis is helpful (interestingly, Rekordbox has updated their analysis to be accurate too) and will be a gladly welcome addition (I play a fair bit of old funk/soul songs too).

However if you are oldschool and have been playing for a long time, remember you got by without problems without this upgrade to this point.
In addition, the current state of the art/measuring stick isn't 100% accurate either - BPM swings without much background instrumentation and Downbeat changes within the song flow still aren't handled correctly, so you'll still have to check/be careful in some cases before relying on sync, and sync usage with it is pretty much why this matters that much to most ppl.

I guess what I'm getting at is that they are looking into it (it was stated already for another thread, which means they see it as somewhat important) and all other features mentioned here, but let's not make emotions/feelings due to absense of a specific feature = the perception of not innovating at all - the former doesn't imply the latter 🍺.
 
the SOUND INSURGENT wrote :

Who's using this tho?? It's so clunky the way it's implemented. I would love to use it but as it sits right now, it's just easier to load up a track on another deck and stem it out then bring it in with the other track.

I don't know, just a feature that I haven't seen anyone use in my area or online for that matter. No videos showing it in a real world use case. Unless Im missing something??


(Not to prolong this but) It feels like if I were to go by how many videos I saw of other DJs using features of VirtualDJ, I'd probably never end up using VirtualDJ - at least on my check, I've barely seen other mainstream platforms/DJs promoting VirtualDJ features period. More recently, I've only seen digitaldjtips do a video on Stem Swap sampler and that's it, everybody else seems to have a tone of "well it does this but I don't like <insert some unrelated thing> about it". However, I've seen many videos on Apple integration in other platforms (basically just another streaming service and that's it, nothing special really). Take that for what it's worth - I normally figure out if a feature is useful based on my own investigation.

As for the Stem Swap sampler, I've fiddled with it a bit but haven't incorporated it into sets.
Doesn't mean it isn't useful though, especially if you internalize what it's providing (using parts of one song with another - and remember, the DDJ-GRV6 has the more basic characteristics of the feature too for Rekordbox), it just doesn't fit our workflow.
I'm not really trying to compare the features, I'm just trying to say there is innovation going on - features not being applicable to a pariticular workflow doesn't take away from that.
 
I sometimes feel like the "flagship" release features are quickly forgotten about though. Whatever happened to the thing where you could set up scratch patterns ... can't even remember what it's called now.

I did look in to the stem swap sampler but decided it was way over my head. I do use stems and stems+FX on my FLX 10 but couldn't get in to the stems swap sampler at all due to the complexity of it.
 
The thing is, as tech gets more & more advanced (and more features get added) , it becomes harder for the companies to find something that's not been done before, or that is going to be popular/useful.

The swapping thing needs user input. You can't just press a button or twist a knob and get results (like stem separation). The user has to create their own banks of swap samples (basslines, vocals etc), so they have to be accurately recorded, edited, aligned, assigned keys etc. in order to be useful.
 
groovindj wrote :
The thing is, as tech gets more & more advanced (and more features get added) , it becomes harder for the companies to find something that's not been done before, or that is going to be popular/useful.

The swapping thing needs user input. You can't just press a button or twist a knob and get results (like stem separation). The user has to create their own banks of swap samples (basslines, vocals etc), so they have to be accurately recorded, edited, aligned, assigned keys etc. in order to be useful.


DJAY PRO got that too but for me its not something so useful
While Dynamic Beatgrid,as per their demo, seems to be revolutionary.

Hopefully waiting for VDJ to release it!
 
[quote=groovindj]
The thing is, as tech gets more & more advanced (and more features get added) , it becomes harder for the companies to find something that's not been done before, or that is going to be popular/useful.

Hi Groovindj, it doesn't always have to be new features; you could also fulfill past requests, like a second, independent browser, as has been desired for a long time.
Anyone who has worked with RB knows exactly what I mean; it's a brilliant thing.
 
Benz Werner wrote :
a second, independent browser


You might have a case if every other DJ software had two browsers and VDJ was lagging behind, but if only one software has done it, then it can't be that important.

Samplers appear across the board, so do stems. Fluid beatgrid detection is getting there (slowly).
 
kradcliffe wrote :
couldn't get in to the stems swap sampler at all due to the complexity of it.


Yup thats my point, the way it implemented now is just so cumbersome.

I just want more video fxs and better timecode implemention especially with PHASE in HID mode.

But anyways....
 
As a hardcore advanced user i must say that they could invest more on UX.
There is a LOT of stuff to be refined here and there.