Am I Too Oldskool To Use Traktor?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Am I Too Oldskool To Use Traktor?

Ok,

Here goes…

I am a vinyl Dj :t-rex: I play oldskool jungle and 90’s jump up drum & bass :thumbsup:

I don’t post much on here, but I am here…watching…judging… :open_mouth:hmy:

It seemed to me that Traktor was the program of choice for the majority on this forum (Not trying to start a fight here) so, I bit the bullet and decided to buy it after much…much reading. :expressionless:

I am not a sync dj (Again, not trying to start a fight) and I love mixing on vinyl, nothing beats it, so I purchased traktor A10 literally as a way to lighten the load, and have all the tracks at my fingertips, not having to dig through my crates of records, allowing me to mix more and faster.

I can’t get on with it though. I can mix on vinyl no problem, tight as you like and pretty efficiently. I don’t think Traktor plays like vinyl at all.
The best way to describe the problem I am having with it, is that it is slow to catch up. If that makes sense?
I don’t know how you guys mix, but once I have scratched the first beat, and dropped it in on my mixing point, I don’t touch the vinyl or platter again, until I am taking the record off. It’s all pitch control from there.

I am used to riding the pitch fader, but god damn! :tada: I have never had to do so much adjusting in my life, my mixes are all over the place.

Does anybody else have this problem, or am I doing something wrong?

It may be worth noting, that I have done a mod I saw on YouTube, where I no longer need the silver soundcard box that came with traktor, and I use the soundcard in my DB4 mixer.
I was having the same problem before I did this though, but thought it might be worth mentioning.

I am running it through a brand new macbook pro too, so I am pretty sure it’s not the laptop.

Thanks in advance guys, and if I have not explained myself properly, I will do my best to clarify.

Thanks.

Matt.

2

I started mucking around with traktor when i was 28 … 37 now mate :slight_smile:

3

Do you find that it doesnt feel like vinyl?

4

sounds like you need to sort your latency out matey, for timecode you should be aiming for around 10ms or better.

5

Thanks Jester, I will have a look at that…

Apreciate the reply mate.

Matt.

6

Let us know how you go. I do find it a little different. Taking pitch lock off might help as well to make it more familiar when trying to beat match. Just a thought.

7

Sounds like you may need to take a look at the “Tempo” section in Traktor’s prefernces, mate.

Do you have the tempo range set to 8% (like 1200’s/12010’s)? Because, if it’s set to a higher setting (10% or 16%, say) then your pitch adjustments will be taking bigger “jumps” than you are used to… You’ll be making the same size adjustment that you make with real vinyl (with an 8% pitch range) but the adjustment that Traktor makes (if your settings are at 16%) will actually be DOUBLE the adjustment that you have made on the turntable.

But you’ll DEFINITELY want to get as low alatency as possible… <5ms, ideally (mine, I think, is 2.3ms using a DJM-850).

And I know what you mean about Traktor being “slow to catch up”. I remember having this problem. If you change your pitch from 0% to +8% quickly, Traktor would take a second or so to make the adjustment, right? I did fix this - but I can’t remember how!!! I’ll check my preferences when I get home tonight and report back…

This will definitely help:

http://blog.dubspot.com/traktor-pro-preferences-guide-troubleshooting-setup-tips-by-dubspots-dj-endo/

And you’re not “too old school”. :+1:

Even if you wore a red Kangol and shell toes w/fat laces.

8

I’ve just been having this discussion on the NI forums, i was having the same problem. I felt like the mix just wouldn’t hold… i lowered the latency to 192 (9.5ms) it had no impact on the performance of my machine and as far as i know lower is better. I also worked out the pitch is slightly more sensitive than if i was using regular vinyl, don’t know if it’s just me but felt like a teeny tiny adjustment on the pitch was just enough to keep the mix in, if i was moving ‘as i normally would’ when mixing regular vinyl it would be too much (hope that makes sense) … Anyway, lower he latency give it another go, take more care when riding the pitch i’m sure it will be a massive improvement :slight_smile:

9

I seen this mentioned a lot when i was looking for a solution but read that the tempo range only effects the 2 internal controller decks (i.e. s2/s4) .. i never tested it to see the difference so can’t confirm, nor do i know if it’s any different when using an A6.

10

Thanks Patch,

I will have a play around, but am looking forward to your response.

Matt.

11

Hi Patch,

I have played with the settings and i must say it is a lot lot better. I am actually comfortable using it now. I would say its 90% like playing on vinyl, but I am enjoying it.

After looking at the latency settings, i have noticed something else.

This is the “Mod” or “Hack” i did to allow me to use my DB4 as my sound card and remove the silver box that came with it.

As you can see from the attached pic below, the audio device i am using is Allen&Heath Xone:smiley:B4 (Core Audio).

Core Audio.jpg
Core Audio.jpg448×280 23.6 KB

Latency is 64 Processing is 1.5ms, Output 13.9ms Overall 15.4ms.

Since doing this “Mod” or “Hack” it has also provided me with another audio device in the drop down menu called Allen&Heath Xone:smiley:B4 (Bit Accurate).

Bit Accurate.jpg
Bit Accurate.jpg448×280 23.6 KB

The setting for this are Latency 64, Processing 1.5ms, Output 6.9ms & Overall 8.4ms.

That seems like a significant difference to me (even if i have no idea what it means).

The problem is, when i select the Bit Accurate option, there is no sound or anything.

Any Ideas What Bit Accurate means and why it doesn’t do anything and also why is figures seem to be much better that the Core Audio option.

Thanks Guys,

Matt.

12

I can’t Seem to post larger pics for some reason. i don’t know why.

but trust me, thats what the settings say.

Matt.

13

upload your pics to dropbox or some such, and use the embed button in the advanced post options … yeah, cant see shit from those tiny pics mate :stuck_out_tongue:
also, JSYK … no more posting or questions regarding scratch hacks (bit of a no no around here)

14

Ok Jester, i will try the dropbox thing. Thanks, and sorry mate, i dint know that. I thought it would be ok being as i purchased it above board and all that?

Matt.

15

just use “theoretically” in your posts :slight_smile:

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I think maybe this will work.

17

Not likely.. i’ve just tested Traktor’s pitch range setting on vinyl and it has absolutely no impact on the decks pitch range. This setting is exclusively for internal faders on the software/controller decks.

18

I meant the latency setting mate, not the pitch settings.

Once i adjusted the latency settings, i found Traktor to be much more responsive. :thumbsup:

Thanks,

Matt.

19

ah right in that case yeah i think thats what improved it for me too.

20

What you want to do is open the image in a window directly and grab the url. From there put the url inside of something like this but without the spaces:

[ i m g ] link to image [ / i m g ]

You should end up with something like this: