Stanton Final Scratch For Mac OS X - Taking MP3 control to the Mac

FinalScratch is a revolutionary DJ mixing system that hit the market this past year. It allows a DJ to control MP3, .WAV or AIFF files with a vinyl record on a turntable (using the turntable as a control interface). Special “time-coded” vinyl records communicate with your computer via proprietary software to control the playback of a selected audio file. Final Scratch shows the song you are playing on a virtual deck and even shows the waveform of the song. This system enables you to carry literally thousands of songs to any gig without the heavy weight of record crates.

Stanton recently teamed up with Native Instruments to continue the development of FS. The goal: to accommodate the most popular platforms for both Mac and PC. The first jointly-produced product is Final Scratch v1.1 for the Mac OS X platform. FSv1.1 uses the same ScratchAmp (hardware) and records as the original; however, the new software is Traktor FS. This is Final Scratch for Mac powered by Native Instruments’ Traktor DJ mixing software technology.

Setup

Setting up Final Scratch was a breeze. I was listening to music within a few minutes. Normally you would plug your turntables into the phono input on the DJ mixer. With the Final Scratch system you take the ScratchAmp and plug your turntables into it. There are inputs for two turntables as well as outputs so you can bypass Final Scratch. With turntables plugged in, you run the “line outs” from the ScratchAmp to your mixer. The phono outs can be used from the ScratchAmp to go into the phono inputs on your mixer. This gives you the option to use Final Scratch or your regular vinyl records. The ScratchAmp connects to your computer (and is powered) via the USB port. Now open up the Traktor FS (which is super easy to install) and you’re ready to rock!

Why Final Scratch

If your laptop has 30 GB of space you could store as many as 4000 songs. I even took some of my favorite effects and samples, (files I never thought I could play in a vinyl format) and used them as if they were on a piece of vinyl. How about the endless stacks of compact discs? You can record and use them with ease. And FS lets you easily find any song stored in your ‘virtual record box.’

Macintosh OS X and Exclusive Features

Final Scratch will work with Macintosh OS X 10.1.5; however, I recommend running OS X 10.2. Everything about Traktor FS is a major improvement from the Linux version. The sound quality is amazing! Mapping a track to one of the software decks is even easier than before: simply drag a track from the song list and drop it over the deck. Keyboard hot keys are fully assignable. “Record Boxes” are folders within the application where you can store your songs for easy access. In addition to the two main decks, there is also a preview deck that lets you plug your headphones into the computer and preview a track while the other two decks are playing. Plus, there is an explorer function within the application that lets you search the entire hard drive (or any external hard drive) for music that you can import manually or automatically. There is even a support feature built into the browser, making it easier to get a quick answer or help as long as you are connected to the internet.

Full Control

In case you’re wondering how long of a song you can play with one of the FS Records, the maximum time is 15 minutes. This is ample time for most 12” dance music records. Stanton is also introducing a new adaptor kit that lets you use your CD player to control FS instead of a turntable (see side-bar). The “FS CD Adaptor Kit” works with any CD player. Depending on the functionality of the CD player, you can scratch tracks, set multiple cue points and even take advantage a CD player’s seamless looping function. Time code on a CD will run even longer than on the FS records.

Conclusion

I found the Final Scratch Mac Version to be revolutionary in its sheer quickness to create Virtual Record Boxes and getting around thousands of songs. The interface is clean and you can easily find your way around it without reading too much of the manual. I tested this software with a Titanium 667 Macintosh Powerbook with 768 MB of RAM. Keep in mind you can use this software on any current Mac with a USB port and OS X 10.1.5 or higher. This is definitely a home run and the partnership between Stanton and Native Instrument takes it to another level. DJing is about to get better than ever!