Internal vs External mixing

[Sn0wday]

Hm..

So two X1's and a mixer is the way to go? I'd liek to get an S2 but sound quality should never be compromised for anything..

[keeb]

So long as your EQ is Flat in Traktor, all you are essentially doing with an external mixer is Coloring the sound to that particular mixer's personality.... how is that going to be better sound quality

Any decent club will have an engineer on hand who is going to put the rig though a heap of other FX processors, gates, limiters anyhow.

Ask pretty much ANY engineer what they prefer, a clean digital signal to process or one thats been passed though an analogue DJ mixer.

And you're doing what when you use Traktor's internal mixer? Coloring the sound... The whole point of this thread is that external mixers do a better job of it than Traktor's internal mixer.

[MaxOne]

And you're doing what when you use Traktor's internal mixer? Coloring the sound... The whole point of this thread is that external mixers do a better job of it than Traktor's internal mixer.

Eh, Traktor's internal mixer doesn't colour the sound because it's 100% digital.

Like saying itunes, colours the sound.

All this music that people make, most of it is made on a computer in logic or ableton etc so why do we suddenly think our computers in traktor can't handle a simple task like volume and eq on a couple of digital files (songs)?

[keeb]

Eh, Traktor's internal mixer doesn't colour the sound because it's 100% digital.

Like saying itunes, colours the sound.

All this music that people make, most of it is made on a computer in logic or ableton etc so why do we suddenly think our computers in traktor can't handle a simple task like volume and eq on a couple of digital files (songs)?

It colors the sound based on the frequencies of the EQs. Pioneer mixers, for example, are digital too - that doesn't mean they're free from sound coloration. Nevermind the fact that NI suggests putting the EQ on the classic setting when mixing externally to minimize sound coloration from Traktor. No one's saying Traktor "can't handle" volume and EQing; we're saying it doesn't do as good of a job as an external mixer. Also Traktor processes the sound, iTunes doesnt so no... that's not an apt analogy at all. And as for Ableton, Logic etc. - the music they're making is not processed in real-time (aside from live performances) and their sound processing is a hell of a lot better than Traktor. Individual plugins for those pieces of software often cost more than Traktor in its entirety so it shouldn't be surprising that there's a difference there.

[Jester]

Hm..

So two X1's and a mixer is the way to go? I'd liek to get an S2 but sound quality should never be compromised for anything..

[MrPopinjay]

Hm..

So two X1's and a mixer is the way to go? I'd liek to get an S2 but sound quality should never be compromised for anything..

The NI sound cards are the same as the ones in the S2, they will have the same quality audio. Running it then through a mixer will only lower the sound quality further, though it may be negligible or it may colour it to your tastes.

Using an external mixer won't ever increase your sound quality.

[DJDoubleYou]

I think it depends on the mixer, did some EQ mixing on a numark X9, i hated it(altough the EQ switches on that thing are genious!) so im stil mixin internal with my S4.

[mostapha]

Using an external mixer won't ever increase your [b]fidelity[/i].

Fixed. Sound quality can be a separate issue.

So long as your EQ is Flat in Traktor, all you are essentially doing with an external mixer is Coloring the sound to that particular mixer's personality.... how is that going to be better sound quality

You might like the way that mixer colors the sound. You're also giving your signal a higher noise floor and probably rolling off the highs earlier.

sound quality should never be compromised for anything..

Then don't use DJ gear.

I'm really not kidding.

Just about all DJ gear is firmly above the "not crap" threshold that it won't be the thing holding you back, but if you're honestly worried about sound quality (I assume you mean fidelity) that much then you shouldn't be using DJ gear at all. It's all crap compared to high-end studio stuff. But you can also spend 5-10 thousand USD on a single stereo pair of DAC. And even the relatively inexpensive Apogee (the higher end stuff…da16x, ad16x, etc.) and Metric Halo stuff benchmarks worlds better than anything you could or would want to DJ with.

You're going to be making some sacrifices somewhere. And I–for one–have repeatedly chosen to sacrifice sound quality for feel, because the difference is pretty small.

Traktor's internal mixer doesn't colour the sound because it's 100% digital.

That statement is 100% bullshit.

It doesn't color the sound (if you have it set not to) because it was made not to color the sound, not because it's digital. The two have literally nothing to do with each other.

All this music that people make, most of it is made on a computer in logic or ableton etc so why do we suddenly think our computers in traktor can't handle a simple task like volume and eq on a couple of digital files (songs)?

They can. It's not about that. It's about workflow and enjoyment.

I've said it once, I'll say it again…I'd buy a DSP version of the DJR-400 before the analog one. And I honestly prefer the sound of digital summing when I can hear the differecen, whether it's on DSP chips or on a computer.

I own an Analog mixer, and I probably will for a long time, because the controllers all feel like crap and good digital mixers are expensive as hell.

[MrPopinjay]

Fixed. Sound quality can be a separate issue.

Explain to me how a mixer can increase sound quality.

[mostapha]

Cutting mids around 2k by a couple db. Depending on everything else, that will usually increase sound quality.

Sound Quality and Fidelity are not identical concepts. Mostly, I was making fun of you for the heck of it. I knew you were talking about fidelity.