Numark 4Trak Cue problem...what am i doing wrong?

[Agent14]

Hey folks. New here. Long time lurker, first time poster. Been an audio engineer/producer for quite a while and always dabbled with DJing...but finally leapt into my first decent controller for Traktor. Lo and behold, the 4Trak.

Ok, so after setting up all the routing and configuring some custom maps, im left puzzled by the Cue controls. Every other mixer/controller ive used functions where you turn the blend knob to CUE...you hear the tracks that arent playing yet....and when you slide the knob towards PGM, you blend in the main mix. Right?

Not so on this. When i turn the knob to full CUE, i still hear the main mix. Not as loud, but its still very apparent, and is getting in my way.

What am i doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

OSX 10.6.8
A bunch of ram
Traktor 2 Pro

[Jester]

do you have the cue monitor buttons on? cue knob is useless othewise
welcome to djtt btw

[Agent14]

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes! I forgot to mention i AM using the cue monitor buttons. When the blend knob is turned all the way to the CUE side i still hear the PGM. When i push a cue monitor button, the cue gets louder in the headphones indeed...but it does not mute the PGM. Only one cue monitor button can be lit any any one time, too.

Is there an actual manual for this? I have the quickstart guide and other docs from numark, but no complete manual.

[Shishdisma]

A few things.
1) Check your audio routing to make sure the headphone channels are properly set (they most likely are, but double check).
2) Make sure what you want to hear in the cue bus is sent to the cue bus (press the headphones button on each PGM channel). The master channel should be sent to the headphones automatically because of lazy engineering, and the other side of the headphone fader is exclusively the channels you sent to the cue bus + any channel bleed.
3) I've never seen a Numark product properly handle cue mixing, channel bleed eeeeeverywhere. This is most likely your problem.

[Agent14]

Routing is right. Good point, but its right.

Cue buttons def work, and add Cue Mix to the headphones. Each track works. Oh yeah, i found out if you press two at the same time...you can Cue more than one track. Bonus.

It MUST be channel bleed. the cue blend encoder is working, and doing its job...EXCEPT that the main mix never leaves the cue mix entirely, it just gets a little quieter. This is a major complaint/oversight.

Let me continue here...does anyone have any experience inside these things? Im handy with a soldering gun, and would be happy to change out the encoder (or the summing amp?) to fix this issue.

[Agent14]

Found it. Hidden control! The Monitor Level control.

I assigned it to one of my unused faders, and all is well now. I knew it had to be me...as ive never in my lie heard cross talk THAT bad.

Thanks all for your help and replies.

[makar1]

I'm assuming that since the 4Trak is a standalone mixer, the Cue Mix is a separate hardware control. Have you checked the MIX dial in Traktor too?

[kindaFAST]

My 4trak cues don't bleed at all. Works exactly as it should...lot's of help, I know. BTW, a little off topic but I was viewing your setup (which is why I checked out this post) and was wondering what monitors you have?

[Agent14]

Whenever my previous post gets approved and posted, im sure youll see its resolved. User error, as expected.

Monitors are Fostex PM-641's. Cheap set really, but surprisingly honest for <$1000 monitors. I originally wanted 8" drivers, but settled for these due to availability. Luckily, they seem to suit my room well. I also monitor with B&W DM-303's for reference.

[Shishdisma]

It MUST be channel bleed. the cue blend encoder is working, and doing its job...EXCEPT that the main mix never leaves the cue mix entirely, it just gets a little quieter. This is a major complaint/oversight.

Let me continue here...does anyone have any experience inside these things? Im handy with a soldering gun, and would be happy to change out the encoder (or the summing amp?) to fix this issue.

I would be really genuinely surprised if a controller, let alone a Numark controller, had anything resembling a serviceable cue bus/summing circuitry. You appear to be a victim of Chinese quality control, welcome to the age of "put it all on a single PCB."