noob questions about timecode vinyl / hybrid setup.

[trux]

hey guys, i'm entertaining the idea of getting 1 or maybe 2 turntables to hook up into s4 for use in traktor.

some things i can't figure out:
- are you limited to the +/- pitch range of your turntable? as in, on a 1200 mk2 you could only go +/- 8%? what happens if you go beyond that in the software?
- is the idea to reset the tone arm at the beginning of the timecode vinyl each time you cue up a new track? do you guys swap between relative/absolute mode thru your set?

any help appreciated, and my apologies if you get these q's all the time.

[trux]

bumps. anyone on the forum using timecode vinyl?

[salomon102]

ok well im not a dj but i work at a club with a dj that uses 1200's so ill try to answer your question:

he has never being limited by the 8% because anyways if you go higher or lower it the pitch/speed of the song will be horribly wrong.

once you ajust the tone arm , you do not have to play with it again,

[trux]

thanks for your help buddy.

i sometimes speed a track up or more commonly, down 18% to 25% - or more - for certain djing fx and mixing, so i might look into more modern turntables.

is it common then to spin the vinyl back like 3 minutes each time you load up a new track? the youtube stuff i was looking at seemed to indicate that the timecode vinyl only plays for 10 minutes.

[salomon102]

you can always manualy speed it up or down with your hand on the platter

and i believe serato vynils play for an hour, and if you do have do bring it back, all you have to do is lift the needle and drop it to the edge takes 2 seconds

[Eliot Han]

never played on time codes but i think that they play like 45s

[rip_king]

I'm fairly new to using a DVS setup but can answer your questions.

1) yes, you're limited to that level of pitch adjustment from the table itself. Though if you're syncing it with the software, and you use master tempo, you can adjust it however you like. If you're using the software you can also use keylock to keep the pitch from shifting when you change the tempo. Haven't run into an issue yet where the +/- 8% is an issue.

2) I can answer this as it relates to Traktor. My timecode vinyl is double sided, one is a long play side and the other is shorter. I can't remember exactly how long each side is but I think one is around 22 minutes and the other is 12. If I'm house mixing, I usually leave it on the long play side and need to adjust the tonearm every few songs or so.

I only have a single turntable right now (was trying to decide if I even like DVS, which is amazing so I'm going to buy a 2nd one), so I keep it in relative mode. I have 2 MIDI buttons on my mixer (Denon DN-X1600) which I've programmed to swap between deck A and deck B. It's really simple to set up and is actually kind of nice to use without worrying about a 2nd turntable ever.

One thing to note: The Technics 1200 mk2 has a detent in the pitch fader at 0%. Some people like this, some people don't, I'm still out on what I think about it, but it does create situations where if I'm trying to make very finite adjustments to the pitch and it's right around where the 0% is, it can be tricky to dial in the exact BPM you're trying to reach.

[trux]

cool thank you very much, these are the answers i was looking for. i am thinking of doing something similar - starting with 1 turntable to see if i like it. i may go for a 1200 mk5 which i believe doesn't have the notch at 0% and has a bit more pitch fader range - but like you say, not sure in reality how much it will affect my performance.

i like the idea of swapping your decks so you keep your active track on the turntable, i think that would be cool and would definitely allow me to dial in some vinyl fx into certain tracks/samples.

thanks man i appreciate your help!

[Hippie]

I dunno tbqh regarding q1, I use M5Gs which have +/-16 pitch :thumbs:
The Stanton 150s go as far as +/- 25 iirc

I have Traktor set to switch back to absolute mode when a new track is loaded (and only load to a stopped deck) so I have to reset the tonearm (as you call it) to the start of the track each time.
Some people prefer relative mode instead, for various reasons, the timecode tracks are 12 and 18mins tho iirc so you'll need to reset the tonearm at some point (the track is endless at the centre so can play indefinitely but you shouldn't really rely on it as the accuracy is lower).
If you activate a loop, beatjump or hotcue while in absolute mode Traktor will automatically switch to relative mode for you.
Switching to internal playback will enable you to make larger pitch changes.

When the timecode vinyl starts to wear out at the start of the track, you can use relative mode to avoid the worn part of the vinyl to extend it's useful lifespan.

[trux]

thanks man, good info to have!

ok, 1 more q about hooking turntables up to a kontrol s4

- if i hook up a turntable into the back of the kontrol s4 to use timecode vinyl, does that mean i have to use the s4's internal soundcard as my audio device for traktor?
-- at the moment, i have an echo audiofire soundcard as my main interface. my s4 is plugged in with usb into my mac and then i use internal mixing mode outputting to my audiofire/monitors. --

so what i'm asking is: timecode vinyl on turntable --rca--> kontrol s4 ---usb--> mac
is that all i need to get the timecode signal into traktor? does the timecode go over usb or do you have to like output audio or some shiz?