VIRTUAL DJ STEMS 2.0 VS Serato DJ 3.0 & DJAY - The BEST Stems Software Out today?

Today we test the early release of Virtual DJ Stems 2.0
Wake Up in Cleveland
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[@CGeso]

VDJ will always be ready for the competition! You are now rocking with the best !

[@earldjjones]

After a 20 year hiatus I decided to start doing music again about 7 years ago. I started back with VDJ and since then have had serato and rekordbox but I have to say VDJ has consistently been my go to program and has shown itself to be a legitimate dj tool that is versatile, stable and perfomance minded. The latestest stem upgrade is nothing short of phenomenal! Clean as a whistle and definitely the best out there right now. Thank you for letting people know that being a serato snob may be keeping you from having the best performance software at your disposal in your gig bag!

[@djpatrickmatthews]

I've always used VDJ ever since I switched from the old CDJs and continue to be blown away by what they offer. Just download the 2023 version and these new STEMS are AMAZING

[@chuckanthanio]

Thank you Terry for an honest STEM review. I compared Serato and VDJ and at this point, VDJ is better. I know DJs can be bias with their favorite software but you demonstrated each genre equally and the results were clear.

[@DJRachelLynch]

Thanks for your time to do this. 💯👌🏻 Appreciate it.

[@drewsim_]

great review! keep all the awesome content rollin sir!

[@bigbasspa]

Brilliant presentation. A joy to listen to you man.

[@scottnelle]

The first time you soloed the vocal in Virtual DJ my jaw dropped. I've been using Izotope RX for manual separation for years, and never got anything nearly that clean. truly impressive.

[@hot4futureyears2come]

Good video. I used searto on Saturday night. I am happy with the stems. It is truly a blessing and DJing now is so fun !!!

[@KennethAYoung]

Yo!!! I see you @Cleveland Terry saying more good things about Virtual DJ, who woulda thought that. Glad that you're thriving, man!

[@DJPeeweePrimero]

Thanks for the review. Big big update for Virtual DJ!! Nice move!! 👏👏👏

[@nerdverb2268]

I’ve been using the VDJ Stems for a minute it and love them glad we’re getting that upgrade.

[@alfredwatkins]

Saw this this morning and took the plunge and updated my M2 MacBook Pro. Works well with VDJ and Serato 3.0! (I was ready to roll back if there were issues.) Thanks for the video!

[@andrepeterson7194]

This is an amazing review and comparison sir! MAD PROPS, sheesh, it is a great time to be a DJ. I started with Serato, migrated to Djay Pro and been "toying" around with VDJ. I'll admit, I seriously love the Echo out effects with Serato 3.0, can VDJ do that? If so, that would be a game-changer, don't know if it is only licensed for Serato. Lastly, I really like the "matching" tracks features my Djay Pro, it seems different for VDJ, but at the end of the day, VDJ is so damn impressive.... it can work on almost ANY controller...

[@theqrm]

Such a helpful video! Thanks 🙂

[@corywilliams458]

This give's me a lil new perspective on DJ'n....first S/O to C.Terry for a VDJ review...it was a time whn Cleveland said"VDJ...only real DJ's use Serato"...something 2 da effect...Much Love Sir!🤘🏽🙏🏽

[@BoomDocs14K]

I simply use Serato record to get all the vocal and instrumental breakdowns that I need, then put them back into my crates. It's no different than downloading instrumental & acapella versions from a record pool. I may even create and record my own intro and outro remix tracks using stems. The processing of stems during live events, bogging-down computers, and OS compatibility is not an issue in my workflow. With tools like Flip and Scratch Bank, there are many ways you can record your stems (on a single track), and still pull off live performances using them without straining your computer or using extra resources. When thinking outside of the box...

[@groovindj]

PC users ideally need a dedicated NVIDIA GPU for speedy stems analysis. On my laptop (RTX 3070 GPU) analysis when loading a five minute song is around 25 seconds.......but please note on the stems 2.0 pad page there's a small tick that appears after loading a song, which indicates when you can start playing the track. This takes under 2 seconds.

[@MBrulla]

The same advice I give to people about massive hard drives applies to stems. Pre-analyze those you plan to use. You don't need to do your whole library. That said, this update echoes what I keep saying. VDJ will not allow another software, Serato especially, to be the best for long. DJs are just so blessed to be alive in this day and age! Great review and comparison, my dude. Very thorough as always.

[@dj_villanomix]

Me encanta esta batalla de supremacía, por los stems, esta competencia nos favorece a nosotros los Dj's ya que cada vez tendremos lo mejor de lo mejor, toca esperar que piensa hacer Rekorbox al respecto o si se quedará de brazos cruzados.

[@SmoothVee70]

Virtual DJ has always stood up to all other brands. It unfortunately didn't get the recognition it deserved over the years.

[@thtentertainment]

I'm a Serato user and VDJ right now sounds great! The official Stems is coming out tomorrow lets see how it sounds thanks for the video!

[@VaughnGoy]

So happy I switched to VDJ gonna need to update when I get home

[@djromeograte8180]

Great comparison between the stems. Not enough for me to change my software but keeping my eye on it.

[@eklektek5032]

Stems 2.0 is on a whole league of its own now

[@DJCoachK]

Thank you for an unbiased opinion and I agree with you. Keep'em coming

[@rudylife6859]

And thanks for the reviews on all the products that you do.

[@ants8527]

I been using Virtual Dj since 2020 And iv'e been doing all my mixes on there every since. I still have my Serato DJ But i don't hardly use it anymore since i downloaded the software for Virtual DJ in 2020, I like the quality of everything it has to offer And everything works A1 perfect for me. I just upgraded to the new 2023 version of Virtual DJ lastweak And the stems sounds great👍😎😎😎

[@talotres2023]

This is a big step up and clearly a long time in the making. I agree that the winners are DJing overall in this race for perfection! I uploaded a comparison of VDJ Stems v2.0 with v1 if others are interested (I removed the direct YT link as it felt disrespectful) I do feel that Serato will be the ones to watch in the future again, as iZotope has a head start on this tech. Keep on making these great videos CT.

[@ginosteiner7830]

yes, I agree with you completely. You can hear it quite well through my headphones. Serato filters out the highs a little more, so the voices sound a bit muffled compared to Virtual DJ, which filters it out really well with the Stems 2.0. We don't even need to talk about Djay, sounds like the first stems that Virtual Dj released at the beginning!

[@qrs3658]

Another great review from my brother. I gotta give VDJ some big credit because although it seem like Serato is more popular VDJ had stems way before Serato. I been using VDJ stems and I think it is very good. And another thing I like about VDJ is if your purchase the full package, you entitle to life time free upgrades.

[@corywilliams458]

Yes Sir!...Updates for Life🤘🏽...jus like FL Studio!.....us DJ's gotta save all our pennies 👍

[@bigdaz7272]

Apparently Pioneer is also on course to release its Beta of Stems pre Christmas Holidays. 2030

[@AntonioCampbell]

Serato Stems seems cool, I'm looking forward to play around with it

[@DJILLEE]

Great comparison! Not that I'd switch software ever but it's good to know. Virtual DJ has really stepped it up a notch. We've come a long way from carrying record crates or cds haven't we?

[@djp3ng312]

agreed 👍

[@djblendz7715]

You will switch when you realize how much you’ve been missing

[@DJILLEE]

@@djblendz7715 I own both and have used both. I much prefer Serato.

[@ScottGiorgini]

Amen! ...and I've got the chiropractor bills to prove it. ☝😏

[@DJWixel]

@@DJILLEE of course, everyone has different taste and theres nothing wrong with that!

[@Tenasedeinc]

CT! I need an update to this and you are correct about being a Dj

[@eclipsemusic13cadomusic2]

Hi! It looks like the new Virtual DJ BUILD 7356 (2022-11-22) improves even more the stems quality (especially on drums)

[@AdolfoDj]

Thanks the best video Stems 2.0

[@ScottGiorgini]

Like you, I was highly impressed with Serato Stems when they debuted a few weeks ago, but hats off to VDJ because they really have stolen Serato's thunder and are king of the mountain (for now). Ok, Algoriddm... The ball is now in your court.

[@djkeys415s]

When the logo came up that steams2.0 had to be track prepaid I knew the steams was gona be great

[@JuniorRodigan]

April 2023 ... Virtual DJ is still the best out of the 3

[@dJBoog]

Just updated VDJ and it definitely improved a lot. I'm much more confident in its performance.

[@kayso7723]

Wow. VDJ is stepping it up to Serato. DJAY are really gonna need serious update to compete

[@montr6868]

Cleveland Terry it's not just the computer, it's your controller as well. In my case my controller does not support macOS 13 yet so its two fold and it may not get updated. Short story is that I will have to pre process.

[@MaxSplVideos]

Nice comparison. I keep putting off getting VDJ, but I really need to just bite the bullet.

[@mixmasterf]

do it!!!

[@Mojaxx]

I tried it myself… Acapellas sound awesome, for sure. Not so sold on the drums though. The big issue is the inability to do real-time separation on machines that aren’t PCs with a heavy-duty GPU, or those with Apple silicon. That’s excluding a HUGE amount of VDJ users right out of the gate.

[@ClevelandTerry]

I actually had that in my video about the drums. Seratos drums do sound better.

[@olivierw.frappier]

Just use a MINI MAC M1, VDJ 2023 STEMS 2.0, is ARM native, and work at lighting speed, without big PC GPU or INTEL I5/I9. M1 ARM is the best for Audio/ stems processing

[@waynemakarini9645]

@@olivierw.frappier As a matter of interest how long did a track take to analyze the stems on your Mac?

[@Bigheadedwon]

I only used it a little, but VDJ Stems worked well on my i5 with integrated graphics. It was faster on my i5 than Serato is on my Ryzen 7 5700u laptop. If I remember correctly it was almost instant on a track load (VDJ) for STEMS to be ready. Serato takes 10-20 seconds depending on the track. My i5 Desktop is far from high end and the GPU is uh Intel HD 4000, definitely not a good iGPU, at all lol. I use Serato, only messed with VDJ for the free 30 day trial period and went right back to Serato.

[@DocJ13Bob]

STEMS 2.0 work fine with my PC XMG DJ 15 without specific graphics card Processeur Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10510U CPU @ 1.80GHz 2.30 GHz Mémoire RAM installée 16,0 Go (15,8 Go utilisable) Type du système Système d’exploitation 64 bits, processeur x64 Édition Windows 10 Professionnel Version 22H2 Build du système d’exploitation 19045.3086 Expérience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0

[@johncolon8614]

I own both vdj and serato i after testing Vdj has the edge but props to serato for finally waking up

[@alanhilder1883]

Did anyone else hear a " Dwop" in the serato version when the vocal solo was turned on. It may have been an issue through youtube to me, don't know. As for needing the latest computer for VDJ, on my Windows based system it said something about needing a newer graphics card for live processing. Otherwise preprocessing it is. ( old stem processing was about a 4 minute song in 1 minute, new version, 50 songs, 4 minute average, was set it going in the morning, come back later afternoon... with the selection I have got it took weeks ) If you grab a song at the start of the night, don't expect to use it till near closing time. OK, about me, not a DJ, can't pick music for the crowd and preity well play the songs straight ( no scratching etc ). Helped some local DJs many years ago ( late 80's,90's, early 2000's ), more as electrician/roady, play what I was told if DJ went on a call of nature. Picked up a cheap controller with the free VDJ software too many years to remember ( over 10 ) Found the controller etc a little while ago and started playing with it again as a hobby, updated the software and controller ( still a cheap one ) and built a DJ rig. Just need a DJ to use it properly. ( I can do kids parties etc for friends/family. not going to even try to compete with someone competent )

[@djphiliptan]

I'm surprised how VDJ was able to preserve the vocal echoes in the hip-hop acappella.

[@RobinEliseEvans]

VDJ All the way ♥ Wow it sounds great!

[@djspotlite4697]

I think serato is going to be in the beta version a little bit longer

[@delrico8788]

I have a 2016 MacBook Air 8gb. Would Virtual DJ Stems 2.0 work for me & my MacBook Air & Rane One ?

[@TheMrcadillac310]

When I use the Serato stem after a hour, the hard drive is full box pops up then it crashes after 10min

[@MrDJMikieMike]

Great Video, and definitely VDJ does have the best stems out there but all 3 programs have their advantages and disadvantages. I’m a VDJ user but when I started I only rocked Serato, but made the change to VDJ and I’m happy I made that choice. I did the update to my Mac and did run into some problems with Virtual DJ and it’s update but I did figure it out. I did go to their forum and still got the same message after I updated VDJ. The update was successful but it would VDJ would not open, what I had to do is copy the VDJ from the documents folder and place it into a folder on my server and uninstall VDJ from my MacBook Pro and also delete the VDJ from the documents folder. Once I did t was able to open VDJ but all my virtual folders were gone, playlist were gone, so I decided to copy the folder from my server, but once again VDJ would not open. So I went through the whole process again of uninstalling the program and the folder from the documents folder then reinstalling VDJ, but this time I copied each individual item from my virtual dj folder from my server to my Mac and then I was able to open VDJ and use it as normal. So if anyone using VDJ and run into this Problem what I did was the only way I got VDJ to work. Peace out Cleveland!!

[@P4boot]

Happens to me as well. After updating, vdj wouldn’t open

[@kingofqueens777]

Hi Mr. Cleveland, Terry I have a question maybe you know the answer how come these old-school DJs like Grandmaster Flash still use records to mix or scratch and not controllers I just saw a performance of his on the Pioneer DJ channel.

[@ClevelandTerry]

They like what they like. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@DanielleKingdjdinosaur]

the battle of the Stems continues.I must say VDJ is doing well

[@bitangayves2125]

I concur... Virtual Dj has improved a lot over the years

[@Tenasedeinc]

I agree I wish Serato did the same as Virtualdj.

[@jayneural]

That's why competition is good 😉

[@ClevelandTerry]

Yup

[@DJStanSteel]

VDJ all the way! 15 year user! Eat yer heart out ‘Snailrato’

[@m2n900]

Thanks for the video... What about Natives Instruments ?

[@ClevelandTerry]

What about them? 😀

[@m2n900]

@@ClevelandTerry seems like their steam software is the more advanced.... What's your experience with it ? And does it work with there line of controllers ? Or traktor controllers... ? Thanks 👍

[@KaarujaSoul]

My virtual Dj does not work …it takes long to load a track and when I load a track to stems my laptop will immediately freeze iam using 10th Gen i3

[@djversatiletrd]

another draw back is that folks who still use macbooks pre 2017 like myself can't really use the new updated serato with stems because of the intense CPU usage. With Virtual DJ you don't have that issue. So i agree VDJ wins here when it comes to stems overall.

[@moltenpros]

Wow VirtualDj sound so clean. Serato comes in 2nd and DJay 3rd.

[@RandomRoger]

Maybe now vdj will start getting some respect LOL

[@djblakethesnake]

it would help if the overall volume when you play serato is not set so low.. It is supposed to be a comparison right?

[@ClevelandTerry]

It’s not a decibel comparison. 😂.

[@djtime9901]

3.0 Hands down 🔥🔥🔥

[@djrobgons2112]

Do you know if VDJ uses a lot of hard drive space for stems (like Serato)?

[@ClevelandTerry]

The same or more to be honest.

[@dannyvalentino328]

Let's not forget that Serato's Stem Separation version is not officially out yet. It is still in beta form and not released to the public yet. For their first time doing this, I'd say this is mightily impressive by Serato and they can still make improvements before the official launch.

[@ClevelandTerry]

They are all basically beta lol, but you are absolutely correct.

[@dannyvalentino328]

@@ClevelandTerry They are not all beta. Virtual DJ Stem 2.0 is their latest, full, official version released to the public. That's not a beta. Serato's latest official version is still Serato DJ 2.6.2, which is not the version with the stem separation, therefore still in beta form and not officially released to the public. That said, the demo you did as well as on DigitalDJ Tips showed that the separation in Virtual DJ was the best one of the three, though I can't help but think that the official Serato Stem version has not been released yet, so they might have something up their sleeves yet.

[@ClevelandTerry]

It was a joke…I’m fully aware they are not all in beta. 😂

[@djjuanky12]

VDJ RULES.

[@djlivelee3325]

I've always used vdj I've bought serato but still went back vdj

[@overianlawrence3352]

How can I download this virtual dj 2.0 do you have a link??

[@tonykellydjt2805]

VDJ all the way! Thanks for the heads up.

[@roberthypeofficial]

Virtual DJ pro is the king

[@dj_deewayne9595]

Very interesting.. the stems war is on and popping.. in this example VDJ sounded better but like you said Serato will probably do an update and they will go back and forth.. would be cool if they worked together to get it right

[@djmakerzmark]

Virtual DJ’s stems don’t have that echo sound! It sounds the same as the original! Thanks for the comparison!!!

[@djscizma2341]

U can apply every effect u want on stems in vdj

[@pitytw]

coincido 100 por ciento

[@DocFUNKist]

I’d say VDJ and Serato… VDJ seems slightly better. To me anyway it’s the best dj software. The only feature I feel Serato leads the market is anti-drift… on everything else they are behind.

[@user-oy7fd1uf2y]

Can you record your mixes when using the stems

[@ClevelandTerry]

Yes

[@djkeys415s]

Vdj is just no slouch they sound great

[@djpeteb6092]

Cleveland you did it again!!!!! Everytime I considered going back to Serato, maybe just to be like other DJs (🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣), you do a review which tells me I made the right choice about 10 years ago switching to VDJ. My decision is so firm that I am not even interested in playing around with Serato at home. When Serato released their stems feature, I said I gotta give it a try, but why should I, you did it with this review. I am at home in my castle called Virtual DJ. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Great Job!!!!!!!

[@djp3ng312]

Hey Pete I totally understand install serato just for experiment am strictly a VDJ user for the pass 100 years 😅🤣 all my friends have moved on and now hitting me up for my crazy remixes freestyles etc. I've done some crazy things yet to see with it VDJ ..# straight outta 🇯🇲 Jamaica

[@djrabeatz1282]

Virtual DJ has had the best stems for a while now. I’m surprised people are just catching up to it. Great video as always tho 🙏🏿

[@ud4034]

Life long Serato user here.. VDJ sounds amazing! Much better than Serato and Algoriddim is borderline unusable

[@DJChrisCenzo]

In my opinion this feature should be implemented in hardware too. Similar too effects in hardware and software based effects. If done in HW there would be no need for pre processing. Just a thought.

[@akycent1]

the RANE ONE MK2 is soon coming out and from the leaked videos it has the stems inbuilt.

[@DJChrisCenzo]

@@akycent1 is it built in or just specific stem mapped buttons. I suspect it’s just buttons mapped to stems on serato. We’ll see.

[@akycent1]

@@DJChrisCenzo we are all on speculations... maybe your right.. lets wait till its out ...but i think RANE has been having inbuilt FX before like in the rane 62 mixer. so maybe , maybe NOT.

[@djraven216]

Virtual DJ always days ahead, but the problem is with serato 3.0 it going to make a difference of how u actually mix

[@JimLigon]

Virtual DJ Stems 2.0 is better because it just came out. That's how this is going to work for a long while. Newest stem software will most likely always be better than previous versions & existing stem software programs. PERIOD.

[@DavidCaneo]

VIRTUAL Dj winnnnnnn

[@MrDJMikieMike]

When you have Three programs out there to dj with the competition will keep 2 out of the three to try to out do each other which we are the ones who benefit from their competition.

[@dejaygq]

Great video update Cleveland 👍🏽 I can't wait to try the new update. VDJ 21 keep it coming 🙌🏽

[@bitangayves2125]

Oooh the pre-processing stems option...... I was wondering what that was.. ihere I thought the analyze option actually took care of every everything from (bpm , etc). I use a a windows laptop, not too powerfully processor and 8 gb ram.... with my extensive music library, that s gonna take forever 🙆🏾‍♂️😮‍💨😮‍💨

[@olivierw.frappier]

VDJ STEMS 2.0 it's the winner, vocals and drums are now incredible. So i went to Serato 3 and now i'm back in VDJ. VDJ better, in STEMS, but SERATO and RKB better for FX. BUt for external mode with an DJM NEXUS 2, VDJ is theway to go, just for stems 2.0. And i've discovered a Serato problem big audio quality with Pitch and time option : kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIPCaZyOgpembpI

[@sexsome9296]

I gave VDJ FOR WIN

[@SuperKillersz]

Virtual DJ had stems before Serato did

[@ClevelandTerry]

Nobody said they didn’t.

[@djaceboogie404]

They all probably go to the same people.

[@selectorerwin1don12]

Vďj 100% ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅

[@somebodyimportint5791]

Well sucks if you're a crap(MAC)user. PC guys don't experience those issues. STEMS load right up in real time. VDJ 2023 hot fire!!!

[@rudylife6859]

VDJ and Serato are neck too neck for me. The processing I have to give it to Serato. I used the stems on Serato at the club this weekend and it's a game changer. Waiting for the full release.

[@selectorerwin1don12]

Lol bro u dont have a good ear if ur a dj vdj is way above all....

[@rudylife6859]

@@selectorerwin1don12 we all have our own opinion you have yours and I have mine. on top of that Serato is still in that beta stage. So it still can get better. thanks for your opinion.

[@djgoza9826]

@@rudylife6859 VDJ2023 is also still just a public beta

[@rudylife6859]

@Cleveland_terry

[@rudylife6859]

@Cleveland_terry Wow Thanks what info do you need from me?

[@TonyStone3000]

VDJ works better on contollers labeled "Serato" than Serato.

[@ClevelandTerry]

I don’t know that I agree with that but it does work very well.

[@djraytheonearuba6480]

rhe rock sound the best on virtual dj

[@fireflamezdjflamez2966]

Vdj,

[@DJRuuben]

Let’s see how serato responds because the hype for them being “better” is now definitely gone.

[@djmike6442]

So what about windows will it work everyone don’t use apple

[@deongreen4500]

VDJ has new. Kicking Serato’s ass for a while now…you stubborn users need to let it go

[@geearc2448]

We also have to remember that Serato is just a Beta version. It may sound even better once it's officially released for the public. VDJ sounds great 💯

[@moltenpros]

VDJ Stems 2.0 is also in beta