Just about to pick up a Xone 42 after many weeks of drooling at the sight of the thing…
Coming from an S4, this will be my first analogue mixer, so I have some questions about the implications of it ‘only’ having 2 phono lines. What does this effectively restrict me to? at the moment I timecode on two 1210M3D vinyl decks, and don’t have any foreseeable plans to add a third-deck (technique outta my skill-range) or CD-J’s (expense and don’t fancy the technology) in the future. However, there’s always that slim possibility that I may add 2xCD-J’s in the future, so…
With that said, I’m looking at getting an Audio 8 DJ rather than the smaller versions. I know this only takes 3 timecode inputs (right? please correct me if I’m wrong) but this would still be fine for me. However in light of the mixer only supporting 2 Phono, is there anything I should know? As you can probably tell, I’m not completely sure on the ins/outs and function of 2/4 Phonos.
Thanks so much for clearing that up Makes more sense now! CD-J’s don’t use Phono - dooooh!
In terms of functionality/future-proof, what would I lose between the lower-end Audio cards (i.e. 4/6) and the larger 8/10 ones? Just seeing if it makes sense or is a waste of money to go for the ‘more features’ 8/10 card.
Am I right in thinking that the lower-end models will support 2x turntables and 1x CDJ on the master, and the larger ones will support full 4x input set-ups?
Thanks guys - very helpful in explaining how it works. I appreciate it.
I think I’ll go for an A4/A6, then… I doubt my needs will ever realistically stretch to an A8/A10. Even if I add a third/fourth deck, I doubt I’ll really need 3/4 decks at once all on a DVS.
One more question about this mixer/sound set-up: the Xone 42 has a USB-PC out. The documentation says something about patching it to an output? What I’d like to be able to do, whilst I look for/save for Native Instruments card, is use the Xone 42 to drive my speakers and play out my ordinary PC audio. This works marvellously with the interface on my S4, obviously, and I was wondering if there’s any way to achieve the same with the Xone 42? Or will I have to resort to using a basic RCA-splitter cable straight out of my PC’s onboard sound? I.e. is there any way to channel my PC and its audio source through the Xone 42 and then out of the XLR main outs to my speakers?
I think you may as well get a 2nd hand A8, what have you got to lose? I just route a sample deck through the spare channel and I record into Traktor through the other.
For your other question, just plug the Xone into your PC, then go into sound settings in the control panel if you’re a Windows user. Then in the playback tab just choose which output of the Xone you want to use.
Isn’t using a channel to record/monitor kind of redundant, though? I thought the main reason the 42 even has a USB out in the first place was for direct-recording. Seems silly to get a soundcard (which I only want for standard 2-deck Scratch control) for recording and sample tabs. I could be wrong though! I have just sold an S4 to switch-up to this 42 set-up, though… and I’ll be honest, I never used samples/loops etc. on the S4 in a year of having it. Pretty much only used it as a 2/3 channel standard mixer.
And ta, again Didn’t realise it would be so simple. A relief! You’ve been very ‘omni-’ in this thread Ross - cheers pal!
You don’t use a channel of the mixer to record from, you use the rec out of the mixer and an input of your sound card to record to Traktor with.
Also, if you have a 4 channel mixer, you’re going to want to be able to utilise all those channels if you want to. Because if not, you may as well get a really nice two channel mixer with a Traktor soundcard built in as the other two are just sat redundant…
Agreed, a Xone 42 is a waste of money if you’re only going to use two channels. If you think you might want to use the remix/sample decks in Traktor you’ll need at least an A8, plus there’s the preview player that would need a channel as well if you want to use it.
Can’t I just use the other two (Line/Line) channels as straight audio sources, totally bypassing Traktor? I only conceivably need 2x DVS inputs, really… I hardly ever 3/4 deck DJ. Surely I could just use 2 digital-Traktor sources at once, and then use the other 2 spare channels for direct CD-J/converted TT inputs? Please correct me if I’m wrong - you undoubtedly know more than me on the matter
I am sort of on a tight budget at the moment as I have to service one of my 1210’s rather unexpectedly… I do see your point about future-proofing and it being nice to have 4 channels for Traktor and others spare, etc., but at the moment I’m really budgeting for stuff that I will definitely make use of.
Aha, I’m not in a rush to buy… although this month would be nice I’m more just seriously confused! It was so much simpler with the S4… aha.
So in terms of Traktor use, what does the Audio 8 give over the 6? Could I use all 4 Traktor decks / all 4 channels on my Xone 42 using only 2 input/control sources? I remember for a while I was flipping 2 decks in Traktor using only 1x turntable, simply by turning over the control vinyl, which would trigger an in-software ‘focus’ change to the other deck. Basically, could I practically get a real benefit out of taking the 8 over the 6, now, with only 2 turntables? I’m not in a rush to buy but I’m not going to be dropping cash on some CD-J’s anytime soon…
One thing I do want in the next few months however is a K2 FX unit. How would this work w/r/t the Audio 6 versus 8 situation? Thank Christ for this forum… detangling this using NI’s documentation is a nightmare!
4 decks would be ideal for use with a K2. If you look around, you’ll get an Audio 8 for less than an Audio 6. Audio 6 I think is £235 and the Audio 8 is about £200 used. That’s how much I got mine for anyway. Plus, you then get more connectivity options with the A8 for less money… No brainer really.
Yeah, you could use 1 deck over 2 decks, why you’d want to though…
Well my thinking at the moment is that I only have 2xTT’s and would just like a simple and cost-effective DVS solution to get them working. I picked up a 4-channel mixer now because, well, sound-cards are fairly inexpensive, whereas a mixer is a real investment that you want futureproofed. Sure, I may only be using 2 channels on my Xone 42 for now, but the possibility of adding 2xCD-J’s or whatnot in the future makes it a wise investment (imo).
w/r/t/ Traktor… I figured getting an Audio 6 would be fine, because - honestly - I never used the other 2 Sample/track/FX decks in Traktor when I had my S4. Most of the time I didn’t even have the software UI set up to display all 4 decks. I figured I could save money and get an Audio 6, and then rely on 2x DVS audio sources (i.e. my turntables), and then have room in the future for 2x Line/CD-J’s, if I want to branch out to mixing with 3/4 channels. Now this thread has made all that seem like a silly plan! Haha.
Just a quick note re: the 42’s USB in/out. You don’t get to pick which channel you want to record/output to -one stereo in/one stereo out. If you want to use the 42 as a one channel interface to play audio with then plug it into one of your usb ports, select it as the default output as was said, but there’s only one channel to pick from. Also press the mic/usb button on the mic/usb section of the 42 to enable that channel (operated by these knobs in that section, NOT one of the 4 main channels).
If you want to record your mixes through it then wire your record out or booth out to the usb record in, usb to your computer, and record from the one input you get from the interface. You could wire the fx send to the usb record in, and the usb out to the fx return and setup the xone’s interface for use in a third party program for send/return fx, but you might as well do that with one of the Audio6/8/10 extra channels.
Can’t fiddle with it much to be more precise - I think the usb part in mine is toast. Why don’t I care? Well, I have an Audio 8…
You could switch timecode control from one deck over to any of the four decks if you wanted, but that’s just messy. 2 for 2 would be easier to manage. However if you want to use four discrete outputs on the mixer then you need an interface with at least four stereo channels, so A8/10 it is (unless you want to go with mono splitters but that’s just yucky).
And as for the K2, it’s a controller. Doesn’t matter what your audio interface is. It’s got one built-in as well but if you’re getting one of NI’s big boxes then you won’t care much.
Yes, but what I’m trying to say is… the extra 4-deck/4-input functionality of an A8: what benefit will it give me for as long as I have 2x 1210s and a 42? I have no means to control or assign tracks/loops to C/D or sample/loop decks; I don’t have any MIDI controller functionality. Are you guys saying you basically use these with your laptop-mouse, for lack of any gear? Just trying to figure out how you’d actually use the benefits of an A8 when you only have 2xTT’s and a mixer.
I actually do use my keyboard to just fire off vocal or one shot samples, haha. But, like you I mainly only use 2 x TTs and a mixer. What I’m saying is, if you’re not going to use two of the channels, you may as well get a good two channel mixer… Then you’d have some money left over for a K2.
Makes more sense now! CD-J’s don’t use Phono - dooooh!
