Routing 4 Traktor Pro decks into Ableton Live and out Audio 8

Is anybody successfully routing 4 decks of Traktor Pro into Ableton Live and out Audio 8?

I'm using Soundflower as my virtual cable and I am getting a lot of sound distortion. I can get the sound working cleanly by raising the latency values in Traktor Pro and Ableton Live, but at the expense of making my midi controls less responsive (APC40 and LPD8). The 4 decks out of Ableton Live are outputted via the Audio 8 to a cheap Behringer DDM4000.

Is Soundflower the issue? Would JackOSX allow lower latencies without sound distortion?

Running the latest 15" i7 MBP with 4gb RAM.

USB Cables?

You using a USB Hub?

I have used JackOSX before and it was ok. You need to work and tweak it however to be just right.

@JCribb: I'll be sending you my files tonight to check out. IMHO, go with Jack. I've had nothing but problems with Soundflower.
@Sarasin, have you given my set-up a test run yet?

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Originally Posted by JCribb

...cheap Behringer DDM4000.

Is Soundflower the issue? Would JackOSX allow lower latencies without sound distortion?

Running the latest 15" i7 MBP with 4gb RAM.

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whoa...i think the mixer is pretty good

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Originally Posted by JesC

whoa...i think the mixer is pretty good

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It's a great 'value' mixer, but it definitely isn't a Pioneer DJM-800. The effects on it are awkward, although I don't use them at all now that I use Traktor and Ableton.

@ZacKyoti - Thanks for sending the TSI. I'll give Jack OSX a try.

@Sarasin - I'm using a powered D-Link hub for my midi controllers. The Audio 8 is plugged in directly to the MBP. Which port on my MBP is the better one to use? I forget if it's the one furthest away from me or closest......

Follow-up:

After extensively testing both Soundflower and Jack OSX, I can confidently say that if it is virtual routing of audio from one device into another single device is what you are looking for, Soundflower is definitely the way to go. Much simpler to use than Jack OSX.

Jack OSX handles more complex routing, such as routing audio from one source into multiple sources and then back out to other sources while Soundflower cannot.

From what I could tell, the latency on Traktor Pro with Soundflower or Jack OSX needed to be set at 11ms to be workable. Ableton had to be set at 512 samples to be workable without pops and clicks.

This is all on the LATEST and greatest 15" Macbook Pro there is at this point, the i7 (with only 4GB of RAM though).

Again, I am routing Traktor Pro into Ableton Live and then out of Ableton Live to the Audio 8 and out to a 4-channel mixer.

@Zac - What are your latency settings on Traktor Pro and Ableton Live 8? And how do sync Ableton and Traktor together? When I use Traktor Pro as the Master, sending the Midi-clock to Ableton live, the BPM in Ableton Live fluctuates by about + or - 5 BPM. Way too much. I have found that the only way to get these to sync together well is to just use the same BPM on both programs and change them both manually at the same time if I want to change tempo. How are you syncing these together successfully and automatically??


I'm looking to accomplish 2 things here:

1. As low of latency as possible to make my midi controllers more responsive, without sacrificing audio quality.

2. Sync Ableton Live cleanly and automatically to Traktor Pro.

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Originally Posted by JCribb

@Zac - What are your latency settings on Traktor Pro and Ableton Live 8? And how do sync Ableton and Traktor together? How are you syncing these together successfully and automatically??

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For my setup, I run JackOSX and Ableton with a buffer of 256. Sampling rates and bit depth make a difference as to what works, and things need to get adjusted if changes are made to those. I run the whole system (all programs) at 44.1k. This gives me a latency of 5.5ms in Traktor.

Syncing the two programs reliably (for me) consists of

1)Turn on "send midi clock" in Traktor - No offset adjustment. I send the clock simply by having a blank (no commands) controller entry in controller manager. The IN port is None, the out port is "Traktor Virtual Output"

2)Make sure that "Traktor Virtual Output" is selected as an input in Live, the only box that is checked is "Sync" The midi clock offset in this area needs to be adjusted for your system, which totally depends on sample rate, what effects are loaded in the Live channels, etc. You are adjusting for the overall latency you have in the system, basically aligning Live's audio with Traktor's clock.

3)The "EXT" clock button is selected in Live

4) The "play" button is turned on in Traktor's clock section. Traktor's clock should be Manual, Auto or Int, depending on your style.

Works a charm for me!

was anyone able to sync 4 decks in traktor to ableton? I can only do 2 tracks, a and b. Thanks

You're probably using the 2 channel soundcard from soundflower. You need to use the 16 channel one.