XPost: nz.comp
Serato is an NZ-based company that produces a software product that
allows “scratching” of audio files on a computer. They provide special vinyl records that contain, not music, but a special time code that the software can recognize whether it is played forwards or backwards or
fast or slow at whatever point, and keep the audio in sync. And if and
when the vinyl wears out, you can just get new discs--your precious
audio data remains pristine, free from the imperfections of being
actually being encoded on vinyl.
Now, an international company wants to buy them out <
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/11/15/kiwi-start-up-caught-up-in-controversial-dj-tech-deal/>.
And another international company, InMusic, is concerned enough about
the deal here in little old NZ, to raise an objection.
By the way, I find it a bit odd to find Serato described as a
“start-up” in the subhead, but as a “software giant” just a few lines further down. I first heard of them about a quarter-century ago, so
they are hardly newcomers. I suppose a hundred-million-odd turnover
makes them a “giant” in NZ terms, yet the prospect of becoming part of
a much larger company could make the present operation seem like a
minnow in comparison. Or maybe not: maybe their present size already
gives them a huge fraction of what is a fairly niche market.
And sure enough, after all this time, there are open-source
alternatives <
https://alternativeto.net/software/serato-dj/>. I had a
quick look at the info on Mixxx <
https://mixxx.org/>, and they do
mention “vinyl record control”, where you “use turntables with timecode vinyl records to control playback and scratch your digital music files
as if they were pressed on vinyl”. Some more info on timecode vinyl is
here <
https://mixxx.org/news/2021-11-21-dvs-internals-pt1/>. Among the
formats supported is the Serato one, and discs are apparently available
from the company for “£10-20 each” <
http://xwax.org/overview.html>.
By the way, Debian includes packages in its standard repo for both Mixxx
and xwax.
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