Ableton audio into Traktor ?! (Remix Deck Loop hole)
I know that you can route audio from traktor into ableton but I’ve been wondering if you can reverse that and route ableton audio into traktor. This all started with that stupid lock on the new remix decks; since I wasn’t able to find a hack for mac users, i had to find another way. My solution was to use ableton like the remix deck with my MPD26 and route the audio into Traktor. I’ve done all the mappings for ableton and it works great. However, my only problem is I can’t seem to figure out how to route the audio into traktor. I’ve tried reverse engineering the Jackrouter approach to route it to traktor but i can’t seem to make it work since traktor doesn’t have separate output and input device selection.
I’m gonna continue looking for a solution, but i figured if i post this on djtt the extra brain power would be enough to crack this one.
If this works then you can basically use any midi controller and emulate that damn remix deck.
OK so far this is one solution: in ableton select your traktor s2 or s4 driver or what ever audio interface you use and you should hear ableton’s audio that way. I want to take it a step further and try be able to use traktors effects on the ableton audio.
I’ve just had a play around with this and it can definitely be done. The tricky parts are routing your audio correctly (and getting your head round how your interface works) and then syncing up Ableton and Traktor.
I used my Audio 8 and routed (by the ‘Audio To’ drop down) the Ableton audio out to outputs 5/6.
On my Audio 8, I patched a cable in from OUT 5/6 to IN 5/6.
In Traktor’s Preferences, under the ‘Input Routing’ tab, select on the deck you want to be a Remix Deck to Input 5/6.(It doesn’t matter where you route your IN cable to, as long as you select the right IN in Traktor’s preferences).
Now you should have your audio into Traktor. You can still apply FX to these but it won’t be matched up (Beatmasher and other tempo FX will be out of time). I have a DDM4k 4 channel mixer so I send a different output to the IN to my mixer to get my EQ, Gain, X-fader e.t.c…. and it lets me record my mix via the second mixer output.
As for syncing it up for FX:
You need to first enable Traktor to send MIDI clock in the ‘MIDI’ section of the Preferences
In Controller Manager create a new MIDI device with it’s inputs and outputs set to ‘Traktor Virtual Input’ and 'Traktor Virtual Output’ respectively.
-In Ableton, open your Preferences and under the ‘MIDI’ tab, you should see the 'Traktor Virtual In/Outputs’ in the menu below. Enable them to Sync/Remote/Track.
-Still in Ableton, on the main view, click the EXT table next to your tempo. (If it isn’t there, then Ableton is not ’seeing’ another MIDI clock).
-Back in Traktor, click the metronome tab underneath the top-left FX tab and click the Play/Pause button. This should start Ableton playing and have the FX in sync.
HOWEVER… I find that setting your global tempo to what ever your playing (e.g. 130bpm) in both programs and mixing it by ear (tempo nudge in Ableton for the win) is easier that messing about with MIDI clock!
So by routing Ableton in Traktor instead of the other way around you have better command i guess of mixing through E.Qing and effects?
Or is it better to route traktor into ableton?
there is no software in the world that’s easier to map than Ableton Live. Just press the midi button, click parameter you want mapped, turn knob/fader/button you want it mapped to. No annoying dropdown menus like on Traktor.
Ahem: Torq is actually easier to map with more options, and Ableton’s mapping function unfortunatly sucks for anything requiring feedback and many “simple” controls still are not mappable without third party add-ons (quantize and browsing for example).
But for most DJ functions your right - its pretty damn straight forward, getting live set up the way you want on the other hand
I just figured out how to set this up last week. Here’s the steps:
JackRouter Preferences:
Driver: coreaudio
Input: whichever sound card you use (yes, even “Built-In Audio” works)
Output: Same thing…
Sample rate: 441000 (this is tricky to mess with… you can try later if you want, but i’d recommend sticking with the default)
Buffer size: 512
NONE OF THE CHECK BOXES…
Interface input and output should be set to the number of inputs and outputs your sound card has.
Virtual input and output: you could get away with 2 each, but it supports up to ten. Personally, i use 4x4 because thats all I need
Again… NONE OF THE CHECK BOXES
Set Live to output the audio to Jack:
Go to preferences and set audio output device to JackRouter. (You may need to click the config button to make sure the outputs are actually enabled)
Next, f the input/output pannel isn’t being shown in Ableton (in clip view), click on the I-O button and make sure that the master out is going to 1/2 or whichever JackRouter outputs you’ll be using as inputs in traktor. I personally have it set up where I have 2 sets of outputs, a C-deck and a D-deck. This can be achieved by making 2 additional audio tracks in Ableton, setting the “Monitor” setting in the I-O pannel to “IN”, and using different master outs for each (1/2 & 3/4).
Getting the audio into Traktor:
Once you’re in Traktor, go into the settings and “Audio Setup”.
Select JackRouter as the output device.
Go to decks layout and make sure that at least one of the decks is set up with “Live Input” as the flavor (rather than “Track or Remix Deck”)
Go to “Input routing”
Select the inputs (which will be from Jack) that correspond to the outputs you chose in Ableton. Make sure that these inputs are on the deck(s) that you set up the live input for.
Go to “Output routing”
The “Output Master” is what you get your actual audio from so make sure to send that audio to a jackrouter port (or 2).
Just a note: You can select “JackRouter Out 1” as the out even though you may have used it in Ableton too. It actually isn’t the same port. JackRouter controls the audio by giving each program the # of ports you specified. (In my case 4 ins/ 4 outs). The ports are completely different for each program and you’ll route them all separately anyways.
Configuring JackRouter Routing:
This is often the part of the setup that gets overlooked and is usually why the audio is never heard. Every input and output in jack must be routed to wherever it needs to go.
Click on “Routing” in the JackPilot window. You should see drop-down options that say “Live” and “Traktor”
In “Receive Ports” highlight the input for Traktor that you want to route an output from Ableton to.
Double click on the output from “Live” (in send ports) that corresponds with that input in Traktor.
For example: Highlight Traktor:In1 and double click on Live:Out1
Set the “playback_#” ports in “Receive Ports” to be connected with the outputs you’re sending Traktor’s audio to (Traktor:Out1&2 for me)
If you have any questions or concerns I’d love to hear anyone’s take on this setup. It hasn’t let me down yet, and I’ve been pushing it around this past week. If my writing doesn’t make enough sense I could make a video outlining exactly what to do also, just send me a message.
I have Live syncing to Traktor’s midi clock although it can be done the other way around too.
Check out this video for help on setting it up.
I haven’t had a problem with the setup yet, although you may need to adjust the sync delay in Live though every now and then depending on the CPU load and what you’re passing through Live and Traktor.
