how do you cue and a mixer question

[locksmith]

Please explain how you set the mixer for each one… And also how you can do it with one ear

With a shitty mixer, I started with both ears (mixed, both cues on) and could mix with one ear about half of the time where it just clicked and sounded right… but it was really hit or miss and would be off once i brought the track in…

Also, i've got a weird question… I was using a junk mixer and now I got a good one, and it's kinda like getting new glasses… My old mixer the beats were easier to match cause they'd bleed together (think of writing with a paint brush). But my new one the beats sound really sharp, like writing with a narrow ballpoint pen… So now when I think i've got them matched, a slight touch of the jog wheel moves them out of sync and it's more obvious… is this normal? does this mean i am beat matching more precisely?

thanks.

[Hippie]

Yes you're mixing more precisely now.
I had a similar experience when I went from my Mackie D4 to the Xone 4D. As there's more mid range on the Xone it's easier to notice the high hats and snares when they're not quite right.

I mix with 1 ear by having the cue mix set to just the cue and listening to the mix via monitors. If your monitors are too far away it's not possible to mix this way tho as the lag from the speakers when they're too far away will mean that the mix is off when you bring in the cue'd track. It's good practice to learn how to mix in your headphones as you can't always rely on clubs to have good, well positioned monitors.

[ImNotDedYet]

How you set the mixer for each what? Song/Channel? Currently playing and incoming?

This is all dependent on what your setup is. Are you using your computer sound card or an external sound card? Do you have multiple outputs on the sound card? Is your mixer a controller with a soundcard or an external mixer?

Regardless of your setup, there should be a cue button on your mixer for the incoming track. If you don't have external speakers, you're going to have to beat match solely in your headphones with the incoming track playing on the right or left and the currently playing track on the other...like you've done. If you have external speakers to play the output of your sound card, you can beat match by listening to the playing tune on the speakers while you're listening to the cued/incoming track on one headphone. (assuming the sound card has multiple outputs)

I don't know what kind of mixer you used to have or what you have now, but yes it sounds like you're beat matching more precisely now and/or your ears are getting trained to beat matching. If the songs were out of synch by the time the incoming track started in the past, you weren't beat matching close enough or you're starting the incoming track off the beat of the current track.

[Ross]

Which mixer do you have now?

[locksmith]

Thank you all for the replies. they're very helpful! another thing i noticed is fine adjustments are key to beatmatching, once your in a ball park range of course. with the muffled mixer, i could spin the jog a lot without hearing a difference, but with the new mixer, it's like a flick or two sound different. i was over-adjusting before

Right now, I turn on the master cue and the channel cue, and the cue/mix switch is around 1 o'clock. My computer speakers are my main speakers and they're the ones i use for mixing and practicing

mixer is a djm850k with cdj900's


i was using a irig mix (ios mixer lol) before

[Ross]

I mix with the incoming channel cue on and the master cue on. The cue mix knob you need to play with and listen with it at different positions to make sure the mix is ok.

[johney]

I mix with the incoming channel cue on and the master cue on. The cue mix knob you need to play with and listen with it at different positions to make sure the mix is ok.

bingo

[ReggieUK]

It really depends but each tune or combination of tunes is going to be different, like you say, get yourself in the ballpark and make subtle adjustments to the cue mix level.

I've not really thought about it much but I use various methods, if I'm just syncing and practising mixing rather than beat matching then it's all simple, I don't really bother with headphones, especially if I know the tunes. If I'm concentrating on everything then I use a combination of all of them, like headphone on one ear, other ear listening to the main speakers, or both headphones on and well adjusted cue mix, or no headphones.

[Karlos Santos]

My old mixer the beats were easier to match cause they'd bleed together

i was using a irig mix (ios mixer lol) before

The iRig isn't stereo it is dual mono and there is a terrible bleed on both channels no matter what cue setting you have.