Advice on recording vinyl into Ableton

[Liambo]

I'm having issues recording into Ableton with either my RME Babyface or my Pioneer DJM900.. I'm still learning how to implement instruments etc into Ableton especially with this Babyface and the TotalMix software..

Anyone able to help me out here and point me in the right direction? I've tried Googling and Youtube but just keep getting answers regarding Traktor.

My production setup at the moment consists of:

iMac (Mid 2011)
RME Babyface
KRK VXT 8s

My DJ setup consists of:

DJM900 Nexus
Technic 1200s
KRK Rokit 6s.

Everything can be linked together if need be.

Cheers!

[ImNotDedYet]

Why don't you just record the vinyl into Audacity?

I'm not sure how you'd do it with the Babyface. You have two analog inputs, and I'm familiar with hooking up a mono into each analog input, but you need stereo inputs out of your mixer. At least out of the box with the patch interface that comes with the Babyface. If you can get that connected to your mixer/tables, you'd need an external instrument in Live, but I've never used an external instrument with no midi out and potentially two different inputs.

So yeah, hook up the MIDI cable from Nexus to laptop, download Audacity and you're golden.

[deevey]

Can you not just do Nexus > USB Cable > Imac > Ableton ?

Set the Nexus as the Audio Input Device and on the audio channel choose Ext in and in the dropdown and choose the channel thats outputting sound.

Theres no need for the Babyface to just record vinyl, IMHO you are better off going direct from the soundcard in the mixer.

However you could go the route of mixer > Rec out pioneer > XLR input babyface > Ableton

I genuinely dont know anything about the total mix software or why you would need it when you are already using Ableton as your mixer.

[Liambo]

Why don't you just record the vinyl into Audacity?

I'm not sure how you'd do it with the Babyface. You have two analog inputs, and I'm familiar with hooking up a mono into each analog input, but you need stereo inputs out of your mixer. At least out of the box with the patch interface that comes with the Babyface. If you can get that connected to your mixer/tables, you'd need an external instrument in Live, but I've never used an external instrument with no midi out and potentially two different inputs.

So yeah, hook up the MIDI cable from Nexus to laptop, download Audacity and you're golden.

Thanks for the advice sir! I have already done recordings with Audacity and to be honest has turned out quite well, but i always put them into Ableton after and warp and edit them edit for DJ sets. I just wanted to eliminate Audacity out of it to save time.. Will have to have a look into what you've said

Can you not just do Nexus > USB Cable > Imac > Ableton ?

Set the Nexus as the Audio Input Device and on the audio channel choose Ext in and in the dropdown and choose the channel thats outputting sound.

Theres no need for the Babyface to just record vinyl, IMHO you are better off going direct from the soundcard in the mixer.

However you could go the route of mixer > Rec out pioneer > XLR input babyface > Ableton

I genuinely dont know anything about the total mix software or why you would need it when you are already using Ableton as your mixer.

Thanks, might have to attempt this too just to see what gets me the best result. The Total Mix software controls the Babyface basically. It's a pain in the arse to be honest.. But thanks i'll see what i can do!

[Liambo]

Why don't you just record the vinyl into Audacity?

I'm not sure how you'd do it with the Babyface. You have two analog inputs, and I'm familiar with hooking up a mono into each analog input, but you need stereo inputs out of your mixer. At least out of the box with the patch interface that comes with the Babyface. If you can get that connected to your mixer/tables, you'd need an external instrument in Live, but I've never used an external instrument with no midi out and potentially two different inputs.

So yeah, hook up the MIDI cable from Nexus to laptop, download Audacity and you're golden.

Thanks for the advice sir! I have already done recordings with Audacity and to be honest has turned out quite well, but i always put them into Ableton after and warp and edit them edit for DJ sets. I just wanted to eliminate Audacity out of it to save time.. Will have to have a look into what you've said

Can you not just do Nexus > USB Cable > Imac > Ableton ?

Set the Nexus as the Audio Input Device and on the audio channel choose Ext in and in the dropdown and choose the channel thats outputting sound.

Theres no need for the Babyface to just record vinyl, IMHO you are better off going direct from the soundcard in the mixer.

However you could go the route of mixer > Rec out pioneer > XLR input babyface > Ableton

I genuinely dont know anything about the total mix software or why you would need it when you are already using Ableton as your mixer.

Thanks, might have to attempt this too just to see what gets me the best result. The Total Mix software controls the Babyface basically. It's a pain in the arse to be honest.. But thanks i'll see what i can do!

[ImNotDedYet]

Thanks for the advice sir! I have already done recordings with Audacity and to be honest has turned out quite well, but i always put them into Ableton after and warp and edit them edit for DJ sets. I just wanted to eliminate Audacity out of it to save time.. Will have to have a look into what you've said



Thanks, might have to attempt this too just to see what gets me the best result. The Total Mix software controls the Babyface basically. It's a pain in the arse to be honest.. But thanks i'll see what i can do!

You shouldn't need anything with the Total Mix software other than controlling too hot or low inputs coming in from the mixer if you go right. I'm just not sure how you'd get the stereo track this way since you'll have an XLR out for both the L and R channels. You might need an XLR dual MONO splitter/combiner to a single stereo XLR cable? Or perhaps totalmix can do that dual mono signal to stereo for you. Doesn't look like it, but I haven't dug into it too much.

[teknik1200]

make sure the "input config" in ableton is set to accept the two inputs as a pair and not just mono only.

This is a preference option.

from there you should just be able to select the pair as mentioned as a channel input in a single in track ableton, arm the track, and then record into a clip. If the initial recording is fine you can just grab that recording out of the project folder, if you need to process it you can then bounce the track through whatever aftereffects. You can rename stuff from ableton's browser.

[pacific808]

Hi,

I was looking through the ableton section and noticed this thread. I actually recorded a whole vinyl full of samples a few weeks ago through ableton using a DJM-900nxs. I also had a APC40 setup to split the clips up during the recording. The nice thing about the DJM-900nxs is that you have 4 stereo inputs so you can actually record up to 4 vinyls at the same time.

First I would make sure you got the audio driver for the DJM-900nxs. You can setup audio routing if need be. Then I hooked up one of my work places turntable to digital input 1. In ableton I setup the DJM-900 to be both the input and output for ableton. Then in the ableton tracks I wanted to record to I set the input to 1/2. Then I ran the vinyl to adjust the gains and armed the tracks for recording. Then I hit record and restarted the final.

If you do it in session view you can use the clip cells to split the tracks as you listen to them.

[Ronin1973]

There are two methods to capture vinyl. The first is using a turntable with a USB output. Most turntables are compliant devices and don't require the installation of drivers. They should just show up in your list of audio input sources within Ableton.

Depending on the quality of the A-D converters in your turntable, you may want to use a preamp. Please note that some turntables have the RIAA filter built into the analog audio output, some don't, and with some it's a selected option.

The RIAA filter is designed to boost and cut frequencies that were cut and boosted to physically get the audio cut into the vinyl to physically fit on the record and not cause issues with playback. If you send your outputs to a regular preamp and then into an A-D converter/interface connected to your computer, the quality of playback may sound really brittle. You'll definitely know when you hear it.

Turntables with a USB output are as easy as pie. But you're also depending on the manufacturer to calibrate everything correctly and use decent quality components.