DJ Stems Comparison 2025: Every Major Platform Tested, Ranked, and Compared Side by Side

Why Stems Changed Everything for DJs

Live stem separation is, in my mind, the most important and impactful innovation we've seen in DJ technology over a 13-year period.

I play music in a completely different way today thanks to stems. The funny part is I was really cynical about them at first, and I think rightly so.

The first generation of stem separation delivered by Virtual DJ and Algorithm was frankly just a bit rubbish. I hadn't counted on how quickly things would develop, though.

By the time Serato entered the fray alongside the second generations of the tech from those other two platforms, we had got to the point where stems were actually usable.

The Honest Truth About Stem Quality

Even today, no stem separation tech on the market completely matches the quality of true studio-sourced stems files.

It seems unlikely it ever quite will. But what I realized a while ago is that good enough can actually be good enough, especially when DJing.

It's rare you'll ever be playing one stem solo. So whilst a vocal for example might not sound amazing in isolation, when layered over the instrumental of another track, the other sounds present will do a lot to hide the flaws.

How This Test Was Set Up

I purchased two lossless AIFF files from Beatport to give the algorithms the best chance of success, as opposed to using lossy MP3s.

The track chosen for this test is deliberately complicated. The drums are doing quite a lot, there are real instruments, there's a full bassline, and there are two types of vocal — a rap and a sung vocal — plus some scratching. None of them are going to get this perfect. This is a difficult piece of music, but that's exactly why it was chosen.

This is by no means a true scientific test, but I did my best to keep things as fair as possible. Beatport streaming does offer lossless audio and can be used with on-the-fly stems in all DJ software, but Engine DJ can't do stems with streaming music at all.

For the DJ software — Rekordbox, Serato DJ Pro, Algoriddim DJ Pro, Virtual DJ, and Traktor — I fed straight out of the apps directly via Rogue Amoeba's Loopback and recorded the outputs as 24-bit WAV files, which I then normalized to the same levels.

Where there was an option, I chose the highest quality stems possible and disabled any extra audio processing like Traktor's Ozone Maximizer. Virtual DJ does offer the ability to change the bleed settings between stems, which is a cool feature, but I left that on the default setting for this test.

Engine DJ stems can only be used on device, so I recorded those internally on the Rane System 1, again to WAV. For all of the samples, the audio has been lossless right up until the final export for YouTube, at which point it is converted to 320K AAC.

Test Structure

Each platform was tested across multiple stem configurations to give a thorough, comparable result across all systems. The test ran through each platform in the same order: first the instrumental with vocals removed, then drums and bass together, then just the drums, and finally the acappella — which includes the singing, the scratching, and the rap.

The acappella is always the bit these systems are going to struggle on the most. It's a really good test for all the systems here.

The Curve Balls: DAW and AI Stem Tools

I was intrigued to hear how much difference there was between realtime DJ stems and stems intended for use in production.

You can't actually use those inside DJ software in the same way. But you could, if you wanted, export a vocal stem and load that into your software as an a cappella track.

So I fed the same files into Lalal.ai, which is highly regarded with their latest V6 Andromeda algorithm, and Rip X DAW, a favourite of my buddy DJ Kova. Both of those cost money, as does Ableton Live 12, which now has its own native stem separation, and so I included that too.

I also downloaded Ultimate Vocal Remover (UVR), which is free and open source, and tried some different algorithm options in that.

What Each App Offers: Stems Breakdown

All of the DJ apps have four stems: drums, bass, vocals, and instruments, albeit sometimes named differently.

Virtual DJ actually has five, as it separates drums further into two separate parts. UVR only does vocals plus instrumental, and Lalal.ai splits melodic stuff out further.

Those extra apps don't appear in every category because they don't offer the same options as DJ software.

Neuo Stems: The Wild Card

The true wild card I've included is Neuo Stems, which is now on version 4.

It's a $34 app which can split stems out to individual files, but also package them as a stems file to use in Traktor, so the software sees it as one of its own native files.

Until very recently it only did that for Traktor, but now it can create stems files for Serato too. So if you decide you prefer the Neuo stem separation over Serato's, you can generate stems files to use natively in there as well.

There are two main options for processing within the app and I've included both of those in this comparison.

The Order of Comparison

The comparison runs in this order: Rekordbox, Serato DJ Pro, Virtual DJ, Traktor, then Engine recorded on the Rane System 1.

Then we're into Lalal.ai where that's available, Ableton Live 12's built-in stem separation, Rip X DAW, Neuo Stems with the first algorithm, Neuo Stems with the second algorithm, and later some UVR options as well.

For the UVR section, there are three flavours of Ultimate Vocal Remover. That is a free option with loads of different algorithms to play with.

How Different Apps Interpret Drums

How these different apps interpret drums is massively different.

In Rekordbox you get one sound, and then in Serato you've got a little more bleed coming in from the instrumentation but there's hardly any bass there at all. Virtual DJ is different again, and then there's Engine, and then Lalal.ai.

It's like there is a baseline there with every single one of these drum stems, but that baseline is a different baseline. And that to me is fascinating — how different all of these separation techs can be.

Bass and Instrumentation: Where Most Platforms Struggle

Bass and instrumentation are the areas where all of these fall down.

For me, the bass in Rekordbox is more pleasing than the bass in Serato, but that's because I prefer the drums in Serato. Then look at the difference with Virtual DJ — it's just a completely different set of notes coming through.

Traktor is like halfway between the two. The difference between Engine stems and Virtual DJ when they're both supposedly showing the bass — that's what these apps are thinking is the bass. And then Lalal.ai. Ableton Live. There's some nasty squeaking kind of stuff going on there. Rip X — again, just massively different.

I think Virtual DJ is picking up some of that instrumentation as vocals instead. So none of these are objectively better or worse — it depends on your priorities.

Vocals: My Personal Priority

My priority personally is vocals. I generally am doing a cappella outs, so the best vocal is what matters most to me.

Virtual DJ has had this reputation as being the best for vocals, and I can appreciate that position for sure.

Engine definitely sounds a little bit rough around the edges. And my thing with Engine is you have to prepare them in advance — you can't do them on the fly.

The Problem With Engine Stems

Engine stems are not terrible and they're certainly usable — but they are lagging behind pretty much everything else here, which is quite a surprise considering you have to prepare them in advance.

I've been using them on the Rane System 1 since it launched live and they've been doing an okay job for me. But if you're going to make me prepare in advance, they should be as good as Lalal.ai, or Ableton, or Rip X, or Neuo Stems. All of those I think are superior.

The way I would love to see it done is: if I'm going to prepare them in advance, maybe I'll prepare them with Neuo Stems and then inject those as Engine stems files. That would be something of a dream.

How Traktor Handles Stems Playback

The weird thing with Traktor is you have to analyze ahead of time — you can't do it in real time.

What it does is create a stems file. When it plays back all of the stems at once, it's playing not the original track but the combination of all four stems put together, which does not sound the same as the original.

With Engine, when you've got all four stems live, it's playing the original file. As soon as you deactivate a stem or solo a stem, it switches over to the stems file. But once you go back to all four stems playing at once, you're back to the original track — so there's no quality loss.

Neuo Stems for Traktor does have an option to do some kind of AI render, which is actually going to give you a better quality when you've got all four stems playing at once in Traktor. However, I do think the stems quality in Traktor is generally pretty good, so that's one thing in its favour.

Rekordbox: A Genuine Step Forward

Rekordbox has gone from three stems to four, catching up with everyone else, and their latest generation of stems is actually pretty good.

I wouldn't say it's the very best personally, but it's pretty good and certainly acceptable. I would say it's slightly superior to Engine.

Serato for me still just stands as the best when it comes to drums.

Note: Rekordbox offers two analysis options — faster analysis and best analysis. Best analysis was chosen for this test. Also note: Rekordbox does not have the drums-and-bass-together option, so that stem configuration was skipped for that platform.

How Source Material Affects Results

The source material can really impact on the stems.

The vocals on the first record were pretty clean. But when we get to the vocals on the second track, it's kind of like none of them are great — none of them are blowing my mind with how good they are.

Whereas with the first record, some of them are sounding really quite fantastic the way they're working with the reverb and stuff. So the source material will give you different results, and each stem separation tech will have its own strengths and weaknesses.

2025 Head-to-Head Rankings: All Six Platforms Ranked

Here is the full ranking from sixth place to first, based on overall stem quality and believability across all configurations.

6th Place — Engine DJ

Engine DJ is the newest entry and the platform with the most work still to do. The acappella was both bleedy — meaning content from other channels was coming through — and also warbly and distorted.

It was the least believable of all the platforms tested. Engine DJ: good start, but a platform that's got a bit of work to do.

5th Place — Rekordbox

Rekordbox isn't being marked down for lacking the drums-and-bass-together option. Most of it was okay and better than Engine DJ.

The issue was the acappella after the scratching section. When it got to the rap line referencing Technics 1210s, it kind of missed off the "T" — rendering it as "echnics 1210s." That's a little bit let down there, and that's why it lands in fifth place.

4th Place — Serato

Serato sounded better than the two platforms below it. The acappella was better overall, but it also cut off the "T" of Technics, which was surprising.

Serato has always been a reasonably impressive platform for stems, but it did a worse job on that particular piece of vocal compared to the sung parts. That was noticeable — maybe a bit of a surprise let-down from Serato.

3rd Place — Traktor DJ

Traktor and Serato were very close. Traktor did a good job all around — it wasn't brilliant in any single area, but it held up consistently.

Serato may have had a slight edge in some of the instrumental variations. But Traktor did a better job on the acappella than Serato, and that tipped it into third. Overall Traktor actually did quite a good job, which is impressive for a new entry into this test.

2nd Place — Virtual DJ

Virtual DJ was better than all of the above. The drums sounded more believable than Traktor, and all the variations were convincing.

The vocals were very good. There was a little bit of bleed, but not as much as some of the others. The view here is that Virtual DJ made a deliberate compromise — letting a tiny bit of bleed through in order to keep the vocals sounding believable — and that's not a problem. Virtual DJ was very, very good.

1st Place — Algoriddim djay Pro (Mac)

Algoriddim djay Pro on Mac was the most natural sounding platform of all six tested in 2025.

This is the Mac version specifically, because the test was run on Mac. The instrumental and the drums-and-bass configurations stood out — particularly the presence of the hi-hats, which were clear with no pumping going on at all. The sound staging was very good.

When it came to the vocal there was a little bit of bleed for sure. But it did a really good job — it was believable, it was usable, and it just pipped Virtual DJ to the post.

How to Choose the Right Stems Platform

For me it's hard to choose a clear winner. The clear winner is the one that's got access to in your DJ software.

That might mean now that you can use an extra program like Neuo Stems. Or if you're playing off Rekordbox USBs, you don't have access to anything from here — so you're going to have to use one of the DAW alternatives and export stems separately as individual files.

You could do that with any software. But if you're talking about using stems in real time in your DJ software, then of course you can only use what you've got. And I do think all of these are acceptable. As I say, good enough is often good enough.

Full Comparison Tables

DJ Software Stems Comparison

DAW and AI Stem Tools Comparison

2025 Head-to-Head Rankings Summary

Quick-Start Guide: Pick Your Stem Platform

Final Thoughts on Where Stems Are Heading

There has been a really big leap forward — this is at least the third year of running this test, and the improvement in quality is significant.

The number of platforms has grown too. Engine DJ and Traktor weren't part of this test last year. And none of them were bad — all of them were passable.

Acappellas are really important as a measure of stem quality, but that might not be the priority for every DJ. You might need to hear the drums well when you start taking other elements away — what matters most will depend on how you use stems.

The bigger picture here is extraordinary. Modern DJ systems now give access to every acappella that ever existed. That opens up the best mashups, bootlegs, remixes, and re-edits — things that would have been a complete pipe dream for DJs back in the day.

Combined with key shifting, key matching, looping, sync, and effects across four decks of any modern DJ system, it's now possible to basically produce music on the fly. And that is extremely exciting.