Whether a music producer, video mixer or VDJ or turntablist, or a club or even a mobile DJ, music mixing software is an important tool used to come up with funky remixes and mash-ups. The software allows musicians to slice and dice digital music and then reassemble it into newer and creative beats. The software is capable of matching the speeds of different songs and still the pitch of the songs will not be tampered with. Thus the songs if played consecutively without a break fit perfectly into each other.



Other capabilities of the DJ /mixing software is the chopping of tracks into several loops then shuffling them back to achieve a brand new sound. Thus the software can do music sampling from various beats. The software can also add effects to a song which changes the emotional tone of the music.

Some of the desirable characteristics of best dj software are a simple and understandable user interface. The connection between the user and the software should be such that the user can easily understand the commands. For instance, you should not have the unclear scenario where when the first song is playing, while the second is loading in a second player waiting to be played and still another song is on top of the list wanting to be played, thus creating confusion on which song should be played next. The best mixing software should have a single player user interface.

A good dj software should have an automatic mixing option. This allows the user to rest when tired of scratching and the user can also get a chance to dance to the music without giving commands on which song is to be played next. A good dj software should not only be by specialists, it should support actions such as creating of song remixes through multiple cue points, ability to insert vocal scats, scratches, raps or whichever other sounds the user may want. Other capabilities are creating and editing videos, creating sideshows and recording directly from a microphone.

Another thing to look out for in dj software is the simultaneous sample playback technology. The technology can enable the use of pre-worked sets of sounds and vocal samples and also enable importation and playing of one's own samples.

The best dj software in the market includes Fruity Los, Audacity Link Virtual DJ, Adobe Audition and Sony Acid. Features in these software include multi-channel mixing (with some mixing up to 32 channels), MP3 sampling, remixing and triggering, sequencing and song composing, complete load, save and vote functions. Some have video mixing capabilities and integration, audio recording abilities, stereo effects processing and advanced multi-channel presets. Other features include the multiuser, collaborative music environments which enable more than one user to comfortably remix music.

An important output of any dj software is the sound quality. Mixing and remixing of songs should be such that the resulting music has no hitches or varying pitches thus the music should flow smoothly.