Zulu Free Professional Virtual DJ Software 5.04

Overview

Are you a music lover who wants to make this hobby into a profession and become a DJ, but then you do not know the right path to begin with?  Zulu Professional DJ Software is what you need to get; it is a music mixing program for computers that has almost all the features and functions that a professional DJ needs to mix music. With its accessible interface, novice or amateur DJs can easily mix tracks, drag and drop tracks anywhere within the program, and can even preview tracks before playing them. It offers some amazing features like automatic scanning of tracks to assign BPM (Beat per Minute); applying effects such as – Amplify, Chorus, Distortion, and Echo; plus it supports almost all audio formats, including MP3, MPG, MPEG, WMA, AMR, AVI, WAV, and WMV.

Installation

Installation of Zulu DJ Software involves only two simple steps and is a matter of seconds. The installer will only ask you to choose between a variety of extra programs which are – MixPad Multitrack Software (multitrack mizer designed for studio recording); WavePad Audio Editor (for trimming or processing recordings); SoundTap Stream Recorder (to record online audio streams); and BroadWave Stream Audio Server (for live broadcasting on the internet).You can choose multiple or all the extra programs, according to your needs. It is compatible with following OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 (32-bit and 64-bit).

Interface

Zulu DJ Software has a user-friendly, professional, and intuitive interface. There are two decks (A and B) in the main panel and below them is the Playlist; from this Playlist, you can select the track you want to load in deck A or deck B. Both the decks have same set of buttons for various functions like, play, pause, synchronization of track (with the track on other deck), increase or decrease pitch, and so on. Between these decks is another panel for toggle functions (Full Screen, Auto Play mode) and for Cross fading tracks on either deck. A very helpful part of its UI is that on mouse hovering above each of the button, tooltips of their corresponding names are shown.

Pros

• When a music file is loaded to a deck and scanned, a BPM value (Beats per Minute) value is assigned to the track and this is stored every time on closing the program
• Professional DJs have a cool trick of cross fading multiple tracks; now you can perform the same trick on your own as this program has ‘Cross Fade’ feature with which you can fade the tracks on either left or right side
• Drag-and-drop feature makes music mixing experience easier; you can simply drag and drop your favourite tracks from your system to the program’s playlist and perform the same action to load tracks in both the decks
• Whether for fun purpose or to create a remix, increasing or decreasing the pitch of a track is now in your hands, that too in real time
• Sync button lets you synchronize tracks being played on both the decks, as it uses BPM and beat markers to speed up or slow down a track in one desk to synchronize it with the track in other deck
• Auto Play mode provides a good learning experience for beginners as it loads, plays, and mixes tracks for you. On enabling this feature, tracks will play automatically in top-bottom pattern and at the end of each track, an auto cross fade will be performed to the next track
• There are plenty of effects that can be added to tracks such as, Amplify, Chorus, Distortion, Echo, Flanger, Reverb, High Pass, to name a few
• Help menu option not only provides detailed documentation for all the features but video tutorials as well
• It also supports Hotkeys by assigning keyboard keys to particular controls (play, stop, pause) helping you to have real-time control over the program

Cons

• It lacks accuracy while manually dragging the waveform to start a track from a desired specific point
• This is a good program for amateur DJs but is too basic for professional DJs
• The interface could be made more colorful or brighter so that the buttons and tabs are easily extinguishable

Alternatives

Serato DJ, Traktor Pro, and DeckaDance 2 are some of the best alternatives for Zulu DJ software. Serato DJ is powerful DJ software used by some renowned DJs around the world since it has a user-friendly interface, responsive real-time controls and dependable beat mapping ability. Traktor Pro music mixing software has features like automatic beat matching, flexible performance effects, and intuitive interface and is suitable for professional and amateur DJs alike. DeckaDance 2 has a simple layout and also offers total iTunes integration.

Conclusion

Zulu DJ software has everything that a beginner or amateur DJ can ask for, including, its easy-to-understand interface, multiple decks to easily mix music, cross fading technique, numerous effects, hotkeys, and much more. Moreover, it also provides very detailed documentation under Help, plus video tutorials and Technical support page, which can immensely help newcomers. This program is recommended to all the music lovers who want to fulfill their dream of becoming a DJ.