How do I set up a midi-controller>laptop>soundcard?

Hi people,

I'm about to buy myself a midi-controller but I have a few questions that I would like to get help with.
Since I already have an external soundcard (EM-U 0404) It feels unnecessary to buy a midi-controller with a build-in soundcard. But one thing that I don't really get is how I would do to pre-listen to the deck that I'm about to mix in to the existing song, when there's no soundcard in the controller?

My soundcard do have a headphone out but the only thing that I would hear in my phones is what the audience will hear on the floor.

How do you work around it? What’s the solution? :)

Thank you in advance...
/Christopher

looking at the specs of that card i believe it has only one stereo output. you need a two stereo out soundcard for djing, one for the main out and one for the cueing channel.

if you want to try mixing in mono, you can set things up so for example the L output is the main mix and the R output is the cueing channel.

otherwise if you have an internal card as well, you can use a program called asio4all to use a combination of both soundcards outputs. it is free.

these are workarounds and not much use beyond in home practice and experimentation.

That sounds like a nice card for production by the way.

to answer your other question.

let's say you have a soundcard with 2 stereo outs and you have your midi controller without a soundcard, how do you set it up to cue?

in the program you are using you have to setup up the cueing channels correctly in the audio settings. then you have to midi map controls on your midi controller to replicate basic cueing on a dj mixer, either buttons for deck A/deckB to select what you hear, or a fader where one side is deck A and one side is deckB and in the middle is both. And a cue volume knob or fader.

it depends on the controller. something like the vci-100 already has that mapped out in traktor but if you were using say an oxygen keyboard to dj with you'd have to be creative in your setup.

good luck.

Thank you for the quick answer!

Yes, unfortunately my soundcard has only got one stereo output.
But it's really good for production though - I highly recommend it!

But...back on topic.

Ok, so I have to get myself an controller with an build-in soundcard.
Since I'm a student I don't have very much to spend, so I was thinking of the Hercuels RMX or the Numark Omni Control.

Which one is the most popular one?

Hey I'm sorry to give you this non-direct and maybe even disappointing answer but there are countless threads with this discussion example.
Use the search function (top of page) to find more threads discussing omni vs rmx

Hi again,

I've did some reading and a way to go if you're on a budget is to pair up the Hercules Steel with the Native Instrument Audio DJ 2. That way you get a solid controller and a good soundcard. Or what do you guys think about that budget solution?

On www.thomann.de the Hercules Steel + the Audio DJ 2 goes for 321 € incl. shipping which I think is a great price and in fact only 7 € more than the Hercules RMX.

BUT, I do have a last question that might sound a bit stupid:

The Audio DJ 2 has two stereo outputs, one for the FoH (A) and one for queing/searching (B), but how do I setup the software so that no matter which deck I choose to pre listen to, that song will go straight to my headphones in output (B)?

/C

Anyone? :/

The Steel and Audio 2 is a great combination.
To listen to both tracks in your phones have both cue lights lit up on the decks and adjust the phones mix and volume in the top part of the traktor interface. easy.

Okey :)
So I only have to map the headphone out on the soundcard as output 3-4 in the software to make the cue function work as it should?

Yup Set master out to 1-2, and monitor out to 3-4.

Nice, thank you for all the help. Keep on mixin' !

/C