Hey this is sort of related to the trust the levels article. On my Rane mixer (and i’m sure plenty other mixers) I have the option of monitoring Stereo house or Mono cue for my line faders. So that means either monitoring each tracks individual level (mono cue) or what’s coming out of the master at the moment. My question is which is better? I thought mono cue would be better for matching up track levels but I found I’m always losing my energy level during transitions since I lose the volume of the outgoing track.
It seems like the Stereo house option is better since it’s consistent in monitoring as I fade a track.
Actually, if you really want to avoid clipping you should set your gain stage first with the mono input and then eventually switch to the mains when mixing in. Although my personal preference is to always monitor the mono’s of both the tracks I’m mixing into and the track playing. When I mix in I remove the headphones and listen to the monitors, that being said I’m not much of a “tricks” DJ, I mix alot of House, Breaks and Techno and mix 2 tracks together for long periods so that process works really well for me. A DJ who takes a more turntablist approach might have a totally different process.