routing traktor into ableton

[zestoi]

thought i'd try external routing into ableton so i could try out some vst's. i only have live5, but mostly i have it working using soundflower for the audio and midi sync'd.

running on a late 2011 i5 mbp it seems to run at about 88% free cpu, so seems quite stable.

the issue i'm having is the phase synching. i press the 'send clock' button in traktor and then go to live5 to adjust the clock offset in ms but the offset varies each time i run it. the online tutorials i've read seem to say the offset will be dependant on the system not on when u press the 'send clock' button. i have quantize and snap turned on in traktor.

not sure i'd fancy turning up somewhere to play and then having to fiddle about with this offset before i can use any clips in ableton.

anyone know if this is some limitation of the old version of ableton live i'm using - or am i missing something obvious?

maybe this is all overkill anyway with the traktor remix decks coming - but i do like the options to route via different effects etc.

[zestoi]

after seeing a comment from mostapha it seems more stable synching traktor to ableton than the other way round and just as simple to setup. i'm still not quite convinced tho - might just use route audio into ableton and use clips from the new remix decks.

[cosmodrome]

Sounds really strange - latency between applications should really not be varying here. Seems, it somehow measures the phase gap between MIDI clock start and ...uh - well there's actually nothing else as Live doesn't do beat matching. I doubt anyone could help you with that old version, anyway. But, if routing through FX and maybe adding some samples is all you need to do, there should be better options than Live 5. Live 8 Lite -as packed with a lot of controllers, so it should be easy to get your hands on- should do, or even one of the free VST hosts out there. I'd give it a shot, just to find out where the timing problems are coming from.

[zestoi]

the clock offset seems to depend on when i press the 'send clock' button in traktor which sends a 'start' midi clock message. does kind of make sense i guess but not what i was expecting or hoping for.

i do have live8le but am limited to only 8x8 clips i thought - and fewer audio routing options? i've got some quite complicated "sends" routing going on atm for chained/combined effects.

good point tho - before i fork out for an upgrade to live8 i may as well try live8le on my mac and see if it has less issues with the sync. cheers

[mostapha]

Are you using sync? And if so, are you setting the clock as the tempo master (and not any of the tracks, nor the auto setting)? That's the only way it'll work at all.

And Live really sucks at following a MIDI clock. IMHO, it's not usable like that.

[zestoi]

was using sync yep and had the master tempo set. it seems to me that live5 uses the clock offset ms from the 'start' midi message and not just a clock tick. live8 doesn't seem to work like that from what i've read. i.e: sometimes i needed an offset of around 100ms to get them in sync. once in sync it wasn't too bad really but not as solid as synching the oither way round, traktor does seem to have better logic for keeping in sync with external clock.

and if i clicked on the 'send clock' button in traktor again they'd be out until i tweaked the clock offset ms again. can't see me wanting to turn up to an event and have to enable the metronomes on both so i could work out what todays offset should be

[deevey]

And Live really sucks at following a MIDI clock. IMHO, it's not usable like that.

+1 having tried it again recently, everything seemed ok for a while until I made some drastic tempo changes and things got messy really fast.

Live following a clock is still completely FUBAR as of 8.3 .. Using Live as Master Clock is pretty solid.

Live + Traktor seems like a good idea in theory especially if you were using DVS or something but the fact that Ableton refuses to follow Tempo properly kinda nullifies it.

I gave up trying - despite Abletons DJ weaknesses (browsing being my main gripe) it seems better on its own, especially with a single monitor.

[mostapha]

despite Abletons DJ weaknesses (browsing being my main gripe) it seems better on its own, especially with a single monitor.

If you actually want to do the things its good at and want to use sync, I agree 100%. Remix decks actually look half interesting with the F1, but it really doesn't compare to Live.

And there are ways around browsing…just put everything you'd consider playing in your live set…you never have to look at the browser while you're playing.

[zestoi]

If you actually want to do the things its good at and want to use sync, I agree 100%. Remix decks actually look half interesting with the F1, but it really doesn't compare to Live.

it may be more dynamic tho in the way it'll let u work - which appeals to me more - loading sets of clips up on the fly. for my own stuff then i'd ideally want to be use the features of live. i'm half thinking that just using the tap tempo and nudges in live are the way to go and do it manually - tho think i need live8 for the nudge feature.

[deevey]

And there are ways around browsing…just put everything you'd consider playing in your live set…you never have to look at the browser while you're playing.

Thats what I do right now.. all nicely color coded too by genre/sample type

Still though it'd be a "dream" to have a coverflow type interface and just pick from my pre-existing playlists, have native MP3 playback etc etc ...[insert list here.. rambling]

Why bother with a crossfader without giving us the full monty :-S