So it seems that the Numark NS7 story posted earlier wasn't quite factually accurate. Rather than use Serato Scratch Live as the software blood pumping through the hardware veins, there is in fact a new Serato product. Imagine sat brainstorming a name for this product - I think it went like this: "I'll say a word and you say the first word that comes into your head". Indeed people for Serato's new super slimline size zero SSL is called ITCH.
Without having too much detail right now, ITCH (for it is in CAPS all the time) seems to offer native support for specially created hardware. So rather than MIDI doing the work, it seems like ITCH communicates directly at a hardware level. It looks like ITCH is much more of a protocol than just a piece of software. Here's the official word:
Serato has got an ITCH
Auckland, New Zealand (January 17th, 2008 ) - After more than two years in the making, Serato Audio Research today announced a new DJ technology called ITCH.
Serato ITCH is an integrated software and hardware solution for digital music selectors and DJs. Serato is working closely with select hardware partners to offer a level of integration, ease of use, and reliability never before seen in the digital DJ realm.
By design ITCH is simple: “It works straight out of the box” says Serato’s General Manager, Sam Gribben. “One-to-one hardware to software mapping means that we can provide a system that is fully featured, but still very easy to use. “
“There’s just one USB cable to your computer and an audio output to your sound system. Plug in your headphones and you have a complete portable DJ system with audio output, level control, crossfader and EQ.”
The entire audio chain is delivered via Serato software and all mix adjustments are controlled by the ITCH hardware. All audio is in the digital domain until the master audio output, with Serato proven technology from beginning to end.
ITCH takes music lovers into a new territory that gives them the ability to mix their music for fun or performance. If you use iTunes, you can use ITCH to physically control the playback and mixing of your playlists. If you’re a Serato Scratch LIVE user, you’ll find that all your crates, cues, and loops are available in both programs.
It became apparent once working with Vestax and Numark engineers, that we could far surpass the usability and response of current DJ Controller bundles. ITCH software is uncompromisingly matched with the hardware and vice versa to ensure utmost reliability.
“When asked what data we wanted from a controller to our software our response was ‘how much can you give us?’ ” says Future Products Engineer, Bill Mitsakos. “I think it surprised our hardware partners that we were insisting on high speed/high data rates when other software was asking for less.”
The first brands to announce future ITCH hardware are Numark and Vestax. Serato will announce other hardware partners soon. First public demonstrations of ITCH will be at Frankfurt Music Messe in March 2008.
Looking at the screenshot, the ITCH software looks like a kind of SSL Lite, where I think much of the function is given over to the hardware, leaving the screen free from too much in the way of controls. This will help eliminate the constant tooing and froing between DJ gear and laptop.
Obviously this is very pre-release so there's little in the way of detail. I'm sure the Serato boys will stop by to answer any questions. And importantly, this looks like being a Rane-free venture. Remember that Serato was a software company long before Rane came along.
So we've seen the Numark hardware (more of that later once pictures come in, but I wonder what the vestax hardware is like?
