Sync'ing Maschine to Traktor....but also Itch?

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

Yeah but I remember looking into it when was thinking bout one and routing the output from maschine through audio 10 then using decks c & d plus midi sync or maybe only c. For some reason I also thought had to be scratch.

I quickly skimmed traktor bible they have a article on it just now

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

If in wrong in glad I didn't buy a maschine s4 and audio10 I'd be pissed

[zestoi]

Does Itch send out a MIDI clock? Or MTC?

i had to wikipedia what MTC meant i've never used that but i did used to use a smpte unit to stripe one track on my old tascam 38... seriously solid beast that for an 8 track. i kind of miss the old days of lots of physical equipment verses all being in software.

[GI Trackt]

So after more research, it looks like what will suit my needs best is the Arturia Spark. I'm not looking to really get into production, I simply want to play live drums and patterns while DJ'ing live. I read lots of posts on Gearslutz and KVRaudio and the whole Spark vs Maschine debate is more about "drum machine vs groovebox".

Both Maschine and Spark have their own userbase and are not entirely the same. I know many people here will recommend the Maschine, but I'm looking at my needs and how I want to use these controllers. Maschine provides a lot more in terms of production workflow as well, whereas Spark is limited to just "drum synthesis". This is exactly what I want.

Here's a recent video of somebody sync'ing the Spark perfectly to Traktor's MIDI clock out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssA-S...3&feature=plcp

That's exactly what I want to do, nothing more! Probably going to start a new thread about the spark....

[mostapha]

The spark also costs almost as much as Maschine IIRC, and Maschine is capable of more. The Spark still doesn't work without a computer. And because it's a MIDI clock, all of the syncing is identical.

[zestoi]

The spark also costs almost as much as Maschine IIRC, and Maschine is capable of more. The Spark still doesn't work without a computer. And because it's a MIDI clock, all of the syncing is identical.

different target markets i guess tho? with the various drum synthesis/modelling in the spark software? i think i'd prefer the pads layout on the maschine for programming drums but having 3 dedicated pots per pad on the spark could be very useful.

[GI Trackt]

different target markets i guess tho? with the various drum synthesis/modelling in the spark software? i think i'd prefer the pads layout on the maschine for programming drums but having 3 dedicated pots per pad on the spark could be very useful.

Exactly. Mostapha, you are definitely correct in saying that Maschine is capable of a lot more. When looking at Spark vs. Maschine, you really have to ask what your goal is though. They are two different markets, even capable of actually complementing each other. I have a very primal understanding of both units haha but that's what I have gathered over the past week.

Go with maschine definitely if you also want more of a groovebox and easy production workflow. Spark more for actual drum synthesis, more for live settings (in addition to production as well obviously). Again, there's nothin to say you can't use Maschine live. I know lots of you and lots of big names do it (Carl Cox, Chris Liebing, Dubfire, DJTT forum members :-P). Spark, however, is also used for its own niche if you simply want drums. The workflow of Maschine is (relatively) easy....Spark is even easier.

For whatever its worth, people like Glitch Mob, Crystal Method, Claude von Stroke and Sebastien Leger have all implemented Spark into their setups. So it's not like Maschine is the only way to go. Just have to ask yourself what you want to do with it :-)

I'm no expert on either unit! This is my overall conclusion from my research and why I'm learning towards running Spark as a VST inside Ableton alongside Traktor.

[keeb]

@Mostapha

I'm not entirely sure where the seething hatred you have for Dubspot comes from; the blog isn't perfect, but it's not exactly a misleading and misinforming waste of time as you've made it out to be. You shouldn't take it as gospel, but there are plenty of useful tips on there. I'm sure there's plenty of misinformation on there as well, but even DJTT isn't free from that, so don't be too quick with your torch and pitchfork.

The particular video in question was talking about syncing Traktor and Ableton via software with an Audio 10. You could do the same midi cable setup he's talking about with the S4 (remember he said soundcard, which the S4 has built into it). What Endo said in the video was that (as of when the video was made) Traktor does not have a virtual midi output on the PC version like it does on the mac version. At least as of the time of the video, I can attest to that.

Perhaps you should start up a free blog about music production and DJing, Mostapha? You seem quite passionate about all the misinformation out there.

[Gre3nergy]

SOOOO........what i pulled from this LONG ASS post is....SERATO ITCH is UTERR FUKKIN SHIT! you CAN NOT use maschine with itch....and a xone dx is just a midi controller (FUKKING JUNK!) and NOT a true mixer, so if i were to run a xone dx controller with maschine, i would need to but a audio 6/8/10 box along with traktor pro to fukkin use this god damn thing?!?! WTF xone dx and itch?!?!?

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKK KKKKKKKKKKKKKK YYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!

WORST MISTAKE EVER!!!!! FUCK XONE: DX!!!!!

[GI Trackt]

Xone DX is beautiful for use with Itch. I loved it. Itch, however does not have a "midi clock out" so if you want to sync up an external drum controller (like Maschine) then it will be pretty inconvenient as the tempos will be drifting quite a bit. There's no saying you can't do it, there just won't be any communication between the two softwares.

I recently decided to do the same thing you're looking into and this was the reason I have switched to Traktor. Traktor can send its clock out to any software that has a midi clock in. I'm easily able to sync Traktor to my Arturia Spark and play new patterns on top of the music coming out of Traktor. Sure the tempo might drift here and there but that's why you have jog wheels and your ears! It's been absolutely easy and awesome triggering live patterns over the music.

One option I tried was routing the audio of my drum controller into an Audio 2 and then plugging that Audio 2 into the back of the DX, still using Traktor of course. This allows you to at least have your drum controller on one of the channels of your 4 channel mixer (DX). After trying this though, I just didn't like the DX traktor mapping and the drum software's audio was just being super buggy. After trying this for quite a while I got fed up and decided to return the DX and picked up a new S2. Everything worked flawlessly and was just so much simpler with the dedicated Traktor controller :-) I had zero problems syncing Traktor to the Spark software. The only difference with the S2 is that I don't have the drum controller routed onto one of the channels (obviously as S2 is only 2 channels). This is fine as I can just use the master volume control on the Spark itself.

Now if having your Maschine's (or any other drum controller) audio on one of your 4 channels is necessary to you, then pick up an S4. You still need to route your Maschine's software through an Audio 2/4/6 etc because Maschine doesn't have any outputs. So this would be the exact same setup as what I did with the DX: Maschine routed to Audio 2 (or whatever other soundcard) --> Audio 2 into the back of one of the channels of the S4. Boom, now you're controlling Maschine on one of your S4 channels.

Key Points:
- If you're looking into an external drum controller to sync up to your music, you have to use Traktor for now. The latest Traktor update of 2.1.2 stabilized the midi clock out even more :-)
- Leave the DX for Itch :-) It's works flawlessly with Itch, not as tight with Traktor (Mix Architekt put lots of time into a great mapping, I just couldn't get it to work right)
- If you're on PC and need to sync Traktor's clock to your drum software's clock, make sure to get LoopBe1!!!

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions man!