Unusual problem with Traktor Pro, VCI-100, and Firebox

[daveripley]

Hi Everyone

i have a unusual problem with traktor crashing and hoped that the big brains here could help.

Ok so when i plug in my vci and firebox at home they run traktor pro perfectly, But as soon as i'm at my gig and set up. traktor and the vci dont seem to want to play together anymore.

once i load up traktor i have around 4 seconds of control before it stops responding to the vci. if i switch off the vci and turn back on the same thing happens. i thought it was maybe a power problem and the vci was not getting enough so tried a external power pack but the problem was still there, and anyways i'm at home now with everything plugged in and working fine of my battery on my macbook pro.

Confused and fustrated

Can anyone help

Dave

[JelaniRobot]

Your equipment probably has stage fright. You just need to take your MacBook to therapy lessons.

[daveripley]

lol.

[turnthetables]

It could be a power issue. I did this one gig with 2 other djs on stage and I was running torq. My Mixer and laptop would kind of dim a little and stop responding. No body else was having symptoms like this so I was a little upset. Then after the gig when we were packing up, I saw that they had plugged us all into 1 outlet with a dasiy chain of surge protectors:eek:.
I then went a purchased a UPS (uniteruptable power supply) and always take that with me. Granted, its kinda heavy, but I really haven't had an issue since. This may not be your issue, but thats my story.

[daveripley]

well just to baffle you all

i have been down to the bar today to troubleshoot. after plugging everything in one after the other and testing each time, the problem wasnt there. so im lost now. the only thing i can put it down to is maybe when the bar has all the extra christmas lights on plus all the other stuff, when the laptop is plugged into the mains, somehow power is bieng pulled from my laptop somehow. im no electrician but after testing everything thats the only thing i can put it down to.

or maybe its working now because its a new year

[charo]

are you sure it isn't the problem where bass and lows are effecting the jogwheels and causing the vci-100 not to work right?

this has happened before to people.

are you powering the firebox with wallwort or via firewire?

[daveripley]

i dont even get a chance to play a song before the Tpro stops and the firebox is controlled via firewire.

another thing i have forgot to mention

i have been using this exact same setup for about a year now in many different venues. at the moment i use it in two different places, the problem only happens in one of them, and i have been working there for months, also the problem only started the last two times i have worked there.

go figure

dave

[daveripley]

Does anyone know a service center for vestax in the uk. if possible in the north east of england.

regards dave

[daveripley]

ok so i think i have found the source of the problem.

it was similar to what turnthetables said. A daisy chain of power extensions was stopping the vci from gettin the power it needed. as soon as i plugged the power supply directly into the socket evertyhing worked perfectly.

hope this info helps others

Regards Dave

[daveripley]

Well the last post wasn't the solution, but i have managed to narrow it down to something electrical in the bar because last night when they switched up the house lights and turned off the neons, etc it started to work again.

what do you all think here could this problem be solved with a shielded usb cable or somehow shielding the vci and macbook pro. Because the only solution other than the above i can think of is to go through each light switch individually and find the one thats causing the problem and leave it off when im working. and i dont think the bar would accept that.