How get best sound quality/levels plugging a midi controller into spare mixer channel
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How get best sound quality/levels plugging a midi controller into spare mixer channel Posted on: 15.05.2013 by Lizabeth Peight Hey folks!! I am playing a garden party at the weekend with a big 1k sound rig. The gear onsite is CDJ-1000 mk IIs and an old DJM-600 mixer. I am Traktor all the way these days, and would want 900/2000s for HID to make it all easy, but as I no longer have my any timecode gear, so shall be using a midi controller with a single RCA out going into a spare channel on the DJM. My concern is about getting a decent sound with comparable volume to the direct inputs of the the CDJs from the controllers internal mixer.... I have had issues in the past doing this, I find when Traktor outputs through an external controller and then into a mixer it adds a FUCK load of bass and some treble. Volume is okish as the mixer has level meters, but it is quality (bass/mid/treble) that is my main concern and I was wondering if anyone has experience, even a set pattern of +/-'s for the low/mid/high on a pioneer mixer give to a 'baseline/neutral' output through the main mixers channel of the Traktor output when the controllers EQs are all set to '0'.......I know the answer will really just be to sound check the fuck out of it in advance, but I thought I would ask for any advice or tips anyway in case someone has had the same issues and discovered a 'sweet spot' for the external mixer EQs! | |
| Lizabeth Peight 15.05.2013 | Hey folks!! I am playing a garden party at the weekend with a big 1k sound rig. The gear onsite is CDJ-1000 mk IIs and an old DJM-600 mixer. I am Traktor all the way these days, and would want 900/2000s for HID to make it all easy, but as I no longer have my any timecode gear, so shall be using a midi controller with a single RCA out going into a spare channel on the DJM. My concern is about getting a decent sound with comparable volume to the direct inputs of the the CDJs from the controllers internal mixer.... I have had issues in the past doing this, I find when Traktor outputs through an external controller and then into a mixer it adds a FUCK load of bass and some treble. Volume is okish as the mixer has level meters, but it is quality (bass/mid/treble) that is my main concern and I was wondering if anyone has experience, even a set pattern of +/-'s for the low/mid/high on a pioneer mixer give to a 'baseline/neutral' output through the main mixers channel of the Traktor output when the controllers EQs are all set to '0'....... I know the answer will really just be to sound check the fuck out of it in advance, but I thought I would ask for any advice or tips anyway in case someone has had the same issues and discovered a 'sweet spot' for the external mixer EQs! |
| Lizabeth Peight 15.05.2013 | ahhh, now thats a very solid point. Make sure is a line in channel or switched to line if is line/phono. Nice one Big P, the sort of detail that can get missed. |
| Dedra Kreinbring 15.05.2013 | The only thing I can add, is I was using a controller through a mixer and there was loads of bass so had to EQ it loads. Turns the person had plugged the controller in a phono input which had a pre amp. |
| Lizabeth Peight 15.05.2013 | I picked up a cheap DDJ T1 recently (although I believe I'm going to sell it and get some CDJ-400s, as the new HID support looks fantastic), so all i have is the Pioneer controllers RCA stereo outputs going into a mixer channel which is my concern. I'm tempted to get a soundcard so I can just use the controller for deck control, and use the main mixer as the mixer not to have to worry about sound levels. Only just dipping my toe back in to the whole controller market, and rightly or wrongly (as I know many are on this site), I have a soft spot for pioneer and the layout of pioneer controlllers feels very familiar to me coming from a history of 800s/1000s. I've only used a 2000 twice (in HID), and i pretty much came in my pants immediately. Unfortunately neither the 2000s nor even the 900s are an option at the moment in this economy. I could just manage 400s however for home use.... |
| Alphonso Deitchman 15.05.2013 | I've never had to EQ my Traktor output before. What sound card are you using? The NI cards put out plenty of volume (similar to CDJ levels) and seem to have comparable sound quality and flatness too. |
| Latoria Kavulich 15.05.2013 | Yep. |
| Lizabeth Peight 15.05.2013 | Hmmmmm. may be worth getting a soundcard again (I've had and sold at least three as i can recall) just to do external mixer mode and not have to worry about levels so much. Here's a question. If I have it set to external mixer mode, will the effects banks and filters for each channel still work...??? |
| Latoria Kavulich 15.05.2013 | I used to do the exact same thing before i picked up my own soundcard. Not much you can do really except get those levels spot on. I never had a problem with excess bass or anything tho. |
| Lizabeth Peight 15.05.2013 | Cool, and is that with you using a controller in internal mixer mode and with your controller's lo/mid/hi all centred to zero....? The few times I've done it this way I'm sure its been a ton bassier at the same volume level when going through a mixer channel than a CDJ on a similar channel. I believe it is just going to be a question of sound checking the hell out of it. Thanks for getting back. |
| Alphonso Deitchman 15.05.2013 | If you're below the clipping threshold, Traktor should give a fairly flat output through a decent sound card. I can't hear the slightest difference between using Traktor and my CDJs playing the same track. |
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