I’ve had this happen twice in front of an audience, which is embarrassing. Ever since I updated Traktor to version 2.6, it has gotten a little sluggish. I update to 2.6.1 and now my CPU load red-lines so bad, it is almost useless.
I use an S2 to mix. The (!) error light keeps flashing almost constantly on my S2. I switched out USB ports and USB cables. There is no difference. I shut down everything in the background using the Windows Power Script. Nothing improves. What’s worse, is if I try to use my laptop’s internal sound card (for times when I’m simply gridding and placing hot cues on new songs, and just want to hear what I’m doing through the headphone out on my laptop)…the CPU overloads so badly, there is a loud whine coming from Traktor. I know the whine is coming from Traktor because I only hear the whine when Traktor is running and the volume is up at a moderate level. My internal sound card does not do this with anything else.
I am considering formatting my hard drive and starting fresh. Windows needs that from time to time anyway, so if that is the best solution, I have no problem doing with a system flush. BUT if others are having the same problem and can offer a work around, I would rather try the work around first.
Below I have a screen capture of what I’m talking about.
Yes, the audible whine through the video is annoying. Apologies in advance if the whine from Traktor makes it difficult to hear what I am saying.
The video in a nutshell: I open Traktor. I switch the Audio settings from ASIO4ALL v2 to my internal sound card. You can see the ‘LOAD’ at the top of Traktor go in the red. I shut down everything on Windows except the screen capture and Traktor.
I can’t DJ like this.
Am I the only one with this problem? How do I fix it?
Is there a way to download previous versions of Traktor 2 until this issue is fixed?
Try watching the ENTIRE VIDEO first. ASIO4ALL is there because it is an audio driver that has been installed for use with FL Studio and Sony Acid Pro to have them be more compatible with other VST plug ins I have. Traktor just happens to have detected ASIO4ALL and popped it into the Audio list. I never use ASIO4ALL when Traktor is being used. I either use my built in sound card or my S2 instead.
I have had this laptop since Traktor 1.5.x all the way through version 2.0…which, I have not had this issue until now. I use the Windows Optimization Power Script simply as a precaution.
I have already done the the laptop optimizing per Native Instruments’ suggestions a couple years ago and adjusted the latency using the diagnostics that came with my S2. The same results happen.
I had this problem for the longest time after upgrading Traktor and did so much trying to troubleshoot it. I eventually found that if I disabled some of my effect decks it brought the CPU load down to a workable level, so I remapped my controller to work with 2 effect units instead of 4. And that’s when I realized, after 6 months of working with this problem, that my laptop power plan had been set to Battery Saving Mode the whole time. Needless to say, changing it to performance mode fixed the problem.
Yeah, I’m an idiot.
Probably not the solution to your problem, but yeah… just putting that out there.
Bad etiquette aside, both my explanation of the issue and the video indicated that I do not use ASIO4ALL, only my S2 and my internal sound card. The internal sound card matters because I would only use it “for times when I’m simply gridding and placing hot cues on new songs, and just want to hear what I’m doing through the headphone out on my laptop”. I like to be away from the rest of my gear while I’m in pre-production mode with only my laptop in my lap, my headphones plugged into my laptop, a drink beside me, all while kicking back in a plush leather recliner. It’s just how I roll. Nothing more than personal comfort is involved here.
Even when I rehearse, record, or play a gig live I use my S2…which, while it does alleviate a tiny fraction of the load on my system it still has the CPU above the 90% range and will still bog down. Previous versions of Traktor did not do this. Not even close.
As things are now, I can’t even think of using effects or my MIDI Fighter 3D or additional Remix Decks to spice up my mix sessions. I need to lower the CPU load to around 30% or less somehow, like it used to be with previous versions.
Thank you. I am eager to watch your video in its entirety. Feel free to make it as lengthy as you like. I’ll even make some popcorn and watch all of it from the comfort of my leather recliner. I’m sure the details will prove to be not only helpful to me somehow, but the whole video will be useful to others that may be having this same issue.
seems like you have the optimisation part sussed. go back to 2.5.1 if you can, 2.6+ is unusable for me as well.
smitten’s script is good, also gamebooster which i use is great. the main things i do before running traktor is disable a whole bunch of devices (network, cdrom, webcam, etc) and the acpi battery controller. check out blackvipers win 7 tweaks if you haven’t already.
when you use the s2, what latency do you run at? unless you are using dvs, 25-30 ms total is fine.
If you need to use the onboard sound I’d recommend removing the Realtek drivers and trying out the native Windows ones. It’s one less process cluttering your system, and in my case it gave me 2 independant outputs whereas before I just had one (headphone socket overrides speaker socket).
Well, while I wait for a viable solution and my popcorn to pop, I managed to downgrade to Traktor 2.5.1. The downgrade does not allow me to use my on board sound card like I want, BUT it reduces my CPU load enough to allow me to mix with my S2 without a hitch. Understandably, I’m now missing a few extra bells and whistles the 2.6.1 upgrade provided (like post-fader effects). At least I can mix without worry of that annoying buzz happening or Traktor slowing down to a crawl.
…I’d REALLY like to keep this thread rolling. I am hoping that there is someone out there who has a better solution to this than reverting back to a previous version.
why does the internal sound card matter? 
again, use the S2’s ASIO driver. and work through the document i linked.
