Serato has unveiled the latest major update to its DJ software, Serato DJ 5.0, which has just arrived in public Beta.
The headline feature of this new version is a significant overhaul to the application’s beat detection technology. This arrives in the form of new Lucid Beatgrids, described by Serato as its “most accurate and intuitive beatgrid technology to date”.
These beatgrids make use of new analysis processes, designed to adapt better to tracks with fluctuations in BPM, resulting in less manual editing and better reliability when playing, for example, classic funk, soul or disco tracks not recorded to click track or DAW timeline.
According to Serato, both the ‘flexible’ and ‘fixed’ modes in v5 offer more accurate and reliable analysis. Lucid Beatgrids also offer improved labelling and customization, as well as improved editing controls and better labelling of BPM changes.
The other major change for Serato DJ 5.0 is improved integration of streaming services. As with previous versions, users with the relevant subscriptions can mix with tracks from Apple Music, Tidal, Beatport, Soundcloud and Spotify within Serato DJ. As of this update, however, it's possible to mix and match tracks from different streaming platforms – and your own library – all without signing in and out of different accounts.
In the library, each streaming service now appears as its own crate, with a new provider search dropdown added, making it easier to find tracks across different services. The library also now displays BPM and key information for streaming service tracks before analysis, for better on-the-fly selection and preparation.
Both of these feature upgrades come to both Serato DJ Pro and the free Serato DJ Lite. Pro users get an additional new feature in the form of Cue Loops, which lets users save loops as cue points, allowing DJs to easily jump to a pre-defined loop point and activate it on the fly.
Serato 5.0 is in public Beta now. You can learn more about the Serato DJ 5.0 Beta at Serato’s The Drop blog and join the public Beta here.
