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Hello beautiful people, my set up is 2xCDJ 850 connected to traktor as controllers and audio interface, and DJM 800 mixer. I play lossless formats only mostly flac some of them are 24bit/96kHz. So i'm very curios to know if the CDJ 850 is allowing me to get the best audio quality out of my audio files. im also curios to know if traktor is doing the same thing.
Thanks :)
Unless youve got a very decent sound system and speakers, it doesnt matter. The 850s were used by pros all over the world, you dont need to worry about sound quality on that side.Quote:
Originally Posted by Errefae
i have Bose 601 series iii speakers connected to Sony STR-DG500, i care about audio quality because i record and i play sounds that made to affect the listener through specific frequencies. However i'm not sure of the CDJ 850 digital to analog converter quality & specs (i can't find any info about it online). I also don't know if traktor is playing the tracks on best quality possible (traktor chosen sample rate is 96k).Quote:
Originally Posted by ImNoDJ
Plus i do get reds on the channels when connected to traktor through CDJs on HID mode easily while on traktor channel gains are on middle, main output on 0db and no reds on the main output. no reds on the mixers main output also. i know this thing isn't relating directly to the audio quality but i need to to know the audio quality output of the 850s & traktor and make sure the 850 & traktor are on the best audio quality settings.
BOSE speakers arent well considered in pro audio. The converters on the 850s is easily good enough. Youre worrying about something you wouldnt be able to hear in a blind test.Quote:
Originally Posted by Errefae
Anyway, the room is as big a factor in sound as source and speakers, so if you havent analysed and treated your room, then you havent started getting serious about sound yet :)
Read up on and check your gain staging. Theres no reason you have to run 0db out of Traktor. Your output is too hot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Errefae
Yup, I'm currently on -14db Traktor master gain with mixer gains at 12 o'clock hitting 0db on VU meters (channel).Quote:
Originally Posted by ImNoDJ
Only downside is that mixer's headphone volume is pre-channel gain (on my mixer but I think that's also with most of them) so - running Traktor master volume too low in a really loud club setting may limit your headphone volume.
As always, gain stagging is a balancing act.
If the OP wants to enhance the audio quality of his setup, his best bet would be to change the DJM 800 with a mixer that has internal audio interface (to bypass CDJ850's as audio interfaces and their lack of digital output) and a better DAC (DJM800 is known to screw up the highs - a friend described the sound as "metallic", it's his go-to techno mixer haha).
OP's worries as far as I can tell are because hes using magical audiophile thinking instead of understanding practical audio and psychoacoustics.Quote:
Originally Posted by SlayForMoney
The entire business model of audiophile gear is to sell people things they cant actually measure or hear any appreciable difference with in actual blind tests.
I knew an audiophile with a $10k stereo in an untreated room. It sounded like ass, but he thought it was magic. Emporers new clothes.
Lets face it though, if you want a good sounding mixer, you dont buy a Pioneer. They arent high end audio gear by any stretch. The metering is inaccurate, the headroom weird, all kinds of hidden limiting.
If you want sound quality as a DJ, then you go for A&H, Ecler, Rane, Bozak, Condesa etc. These are actual high end audio companies that understand how to engineer good sounding boards, not boards for DJs that dont understand gain staging.
Easy man, thanks for the info. if i put my traktor master gain on -14 or even -5 the sound volume will be too low on the mixer, and my recording volume is already very low (recorded from the REC out or the main output rca) all that with reds on channels (only few seconds on some tracks that doesn't sound loud with mixer gains on 0db (channels))
This means your track gains are too low. I dont use auto gain on traktor as it gets it wrong very often. Turn auto gain off, and set the gain of a highly compressed track so that it peaks just below the channel red lines. Then increase the master gain in Traktor until that track is peaking into the low reds on your mixer with the mixer channel gain at unity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Errefae
OP search for guides on gain staging. DJTech Tools has one i think.