Hello DJ Techtools,
I just recieved my brand new VCI-100 SE and got a problem with it.
Mapping 3.3 TSI
Firmware 1.3
Traktor Pro 1.2.4
My Laptop has got a Intel Core2 Duo P8700 and 4GB RAM. The OS is Windows 7 Pro 64bit (up2date) and my soundcard is an external NI Audio 2 DJ (latest driver).
Playing a track in Traktor and pressing the “FX TYPE” button on my VCI-100SE plays an odd sound. Pressing “ROUTE FX” does the same. This sound is very disturbing and with this bug I am not able to use the Midi controller.
I tried to fix it by using a 9V DC adaper with my VCI-100SE but still got the same problem.
Is this a known problem?
Is my controller broken?
Is this Traktor bug?
I tried to connect the VCI-100SE to a USB 2.0 HUB (AC powered) but I still get those odd sounds. A silent odd sound is also hearable if I press the JUGGLE1-4 or JUGGLE5-8 button.
Search the forums for “Loopbe1” to find info on using it in conjunction with Bome’s MIDI translator to correct this issue.
I was having the same problem myself on a similar setup and the above worked to correct it (as did droppping my audio latency to 64ms, but that’s clearly not a solution).
I haven’t tried this but will give it a shot tonight.
It’s not a real solution overall as I’m certainly not switching from an Audio 8 DJ using ASIO to a Realtek HD chip using WDM drivers.
Ean mentioned during the Saturday video broadcast when introducing the new mapping that audio latency would need to be bumped up to handle the outgoing MIDI messages that drive the Route FX button. Unfortunately I had to push it all the way to 64ms before the glitch went away.
The fact that I can keep latency at 3.5ms with the Loopbe1 in place definitely makes me think Traktor has a shortcut issue with outbound MIDI; maybe Native Instruments should license loopbe tech for the next service update!
Exactly the same problem here (including the odd sounds when pressing the JUGGLE 1-4 or JUGGLE 5-8 button).
The latest .tsi (3.4) didn’t help.
Hardware: Intel D5400XS Skulltrail /w 2 x Xeon E5405, lots of RAM, M-Audio Firewire 410, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, latest drivers
Controller: VCI-100SE (out of the initial first batch)
Obviously computing power is not an issue, latency is low and all other audio apps work flawless.
Just upgraded from Traktor 3 (never had any audio issues) to Traktor Pro (1.24) and I am greatly, deeply disappointed because of the audio glitches. I even made a fresh clean install with all the latest drivers and no other app except Traktro Pro. Same result.
Frankly speaking I don’t think the Loopbe1/Bome-way is a solution to the problem. It might be a workaround but given the fact that I’ve spent a substantial amount of money I feel this is not acceptable.
I have a hard time to believe that Traktor Pro is not able to handle the MIDI messages. Also I’ve monitored how much CPU time/resources are used by Traktor Pro but with my hardware setup there’s barely any stress for the multiple cores.
No, I did not use any of the pre-V3 .tsis as I already have applied the V3-overlay to the VCI-100 SE.
I also didn’t use any older Traktor-builds because the requirement for the V3 3.4 tsi required 1.2.4 (or higher). The 3.4 FX Fix-tsi produces slightly less distortion but still is unusable.
downloaded and started DPC latency checker (http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml) - this was showing my system has got about 150 - 200 µs latency - sometimes about 1000 (every 30 to 50 seconds one peak).
disabled all devices in windows 7 I do not need while djing (NIC, WLAN, Firewire…) - this dropped my DPC latency to stable 150 µs.
still the same problem in traktor 1.2.4 and TSI 3.3 + 3.41
started winamp to play a track while traktor is running but not playing any track. pressing those buttons does not cause any odd sounds.
loaded mapping 2.4 - pressing those buttons does not cause any odd sound.
since mapping 3.41 needs traktor 1.2.4 there is no way to test it with a older version of traktor.
looks like this is a problem with the mapping or traktor 1.2.4.
any other idea to find out what is causing these odd sounds?
regards,
engel
btw: what latency has got a mac book pro with leopard?
I just checked with DPC latency checker but even with my “non-optimized” OS (Win7 Ultimate, 64-bit) I get an average of 30-40 µs latency which sounds ok to me. During this quick check I had approx. 50 tasks running (according to task manager).
as I’ve mentioned before all other DAW apps work like a charm without any noise dropouts or latency problems.
I disabled now nearly every HW device that is not needed (bios and windows) and the best latency I can get is about 120µs (90 - 150). don’t know if this is very good, good, ok, or bad.
After increasing the latency of my audio 2 dj to >10 ms I was able to get rid of those odd sounds. they only happen very few times and they are less noisy than before. I still don’t like it the way it is. I would like to have my audio 2 dj at about 5ms.
I searched a lot but I was not able to find anything about latency values on mac os x? Are there any known values? Is there a tool like http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml for mac os x?
In the NI forum many people talk about glitches in there sound since the latest update to 1.2.4. maybe this is the issue? downgrading to 1.2.3 is only possible by uninstalling 1.2.4 via windows setup. how often can I activate my traktor copy?
I am thinking about selling my laptop and buy a mac book pro or another faster laptop.
what hardware and OS will provide me the lowest latency?
This is not a problem with the VCi-100SE. I finally built a feature that is exposing problems with Traktors midi engine on some computers (PCs).
there is a fix. Download the ZIp file in this thread:
and use the “FX glitch Fix” file. This disables the LED command that causes the problems. Everything else works perfectly and you wont have the issue.
Here is the technical answer to what is causing your issue.
Those 2 buttons (route FX and FX TYPE) send out a massive amount of midi-data to the controller. On Windows machines, this can cause a problem and interrupt the audio stream momentarily. This does not appear to be a problem with mac machines.
This problem is due to the way traktor handles midi data. Bomes routes the data differently and is able to handle the data faster fixing the problem on all computers. We may re-release our Mini-Translator which runs the bomes engine for free so everyone can benefit from the faster midi-engine. That will take a few months to test, so in the mean time- just use the file that removes the problematic features.
I am sorry for your frustration with this issue. Its not a problem with our controller but just me stretching the limits of technology a little too far
