XONE DB4 and Ableton Live

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XONE DB4 and Ableton Live
Posted on: 03.01.2012 by Babette Beaugez
Hey guys,

I'm very new to djing i did most of the time live music. but for 1 year im very into djing. i've started with traktor but then switched to ableton 'cause i use it for everything and i love it. recently i got a xone 4d running with ableton live but im believeing about buying a db4.

i've read a lot about the amazing usb routing and i have a question about this:
in the manual is a describtion about send and return possibilities.

now i want to know if its possible to make for example 2 effect busses in ableton an send all my 4 signals from the mixer into that and get 4 individual effected signals back to eq and filter them in the mixer.

that would be truly amazing. because i love the possibilty in traktor to have just 2 effect blocks and send everything into it.

thx for your help.

regs
adrian

p.s: sorry for my english. im a bloody german :-)
Antonietta Coxe
06.05.2013
Originally Posted by BreaksDJ
Hi, this is my first post, just registered, hopefully i'm doing so correctly
Also let me say that I've had the DB4 for a few weeks and haven't got a chance to spend too much time on it, oh and I totally suck at ableton live, I just so happen to have done what your asking.
1, go to the DB4, in the on screen menu go to USB routing. Take one of it's four sends and change it to RECORD (this will not effect having 4 tracks going at once).
2, in Ableton you would go Audio To Ext Out 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 on whichever tracks your wanting to mix and route back to live.
3, make sure your levels are low, it will still sound great because the digital side of the DB4 is very hot (phone is extremely cold).
4, Take a new audio track your not using for anything in ableton and make it your record IN track. Select Audio From: Ext In of the track you selected in the USB routing in step 1.
5, Enable recording of the track.
6, Mix away using the DB4, it's samplers, VCF filters and the effects. It will then route all 4 channels to the new ableton track from step 4.
7, Once your done, you want to mute the tracks you used in the above before playing the audio you created from step 4-6 otherwise it will clip. Also you want to select No Input from the new audio track and assign its output to Ext. Out of one of the tracks.

Like i said, this is my first post and it's probably confusing but you can chat me up and I can help you through it.
Word of advice though, if your in no rush to buy the DB4, wait until the firmware update if you play vinyl, because as I mentioned above, the levels are extremely low for phono.

Peace.

-KC
hi breaks,

firstly, thanks for taking the time to reply. i too wanted to record the whole mix coming out of my xone db4 onto a stereo channel in live - recording individual channels is no problem. i too came to this solution via mixarchitect on another community , he was doing the same thing to record the whole mix in traktor's recorder. i thought this would work too in live, but am getting no signal in the recording channel. basically i have 4 stereo out channels each going to the xone db4's effects, filters etc (an awesome mixer, if ever there was!) and have followed your instructions to the letter, but still getting no sound on the recording channel (have tried selecting ext in , channel 1+2 ) strange thing is all the other channels show a signal, but 1+2 are dead. any ideas?

thanks in advance and all the best with the mixing, mark.
Amira Gotcher
06.01.2012
Originally Posted by addi307
how is the quality of the preamps? do the sound good enough for sampling vinyl?
The preamps are great. perfectly adequate for recording vinyl.
Romelia Stankard
05.01.2012
Originally Posted by BreaksDJ
Yeah, definitely not the carts, I've owned A&H mixers for 8 years. This one definitely has issues which their product support people have admitted to me is a problem on a certain batch of these mixers.
What's the problem?
Thad Mangrum
05.01.2012
Originally Posted by Xonetacular
Phono preamps are fine if you have half decent cartridges. No different than any other a&h mixer.
Yeah, definitely not the carts, I've owned A&H mixers for 8 years. This one definitely has issues which their product support people have admitted to me is a problem on a certain batch of these mixers.
Romelia Stankard
05.01.2012
Originally Posted by addi307
thanks a lot. maybe ill try your idea. :-)

i have to wait at least 4 months to buy the db4 and hopefully they will improve the phono preamps because i want to sample vinyl with my db4.
Phono preamps are fine if you have half decent cartridges. No different than any other a&h mixer.
Babette Beaugez
03.01.2012
Originally Posted by Xonetacular
Why not just put all the effects on a return channel in ableton?
because i cant have 4 individual tracks that i send to the mixer when i just want to have 1 return and not 4.
Romelia Stankard
03.01.2012
Originally Posted by addi307
hey thx for the fast reply.

it's true i could just affect the signal before going into the db4. but my idea was to save cpu power and to be able to use maybe just one controller layer for all the desired effects. now i have to make mappings for every 4 channels.
Why not just put all the effects on a return channel in ableton?
Babette Beaugez
03.01.2012		Hey guys,

I'm very new to djing i did most of the time live music. but for 1 year im very into djing. i've started with traktor but then switched to ableton 'cause i use it for everything and i love it. recently i got a xone 4d running with ableton live but im believeing about buying a db4.

i've read a lot about the amazing usb routing and i have a question about this:
in the manual is a describtion about send and return possibilities.

now i want to know if its possible to make for example 2 effect busses in ableton an send all my 4 signals from the mixer into that and get 4 individual effected signals back to eq and filter them in the mixer.

that would be truly amazing. because i love the possibilty in traktor to have just 2 effect blocks and send everything into it.

thx for your help.

regs
adrian

p.s: sorry for my english. im a bloody german :-)
Antonietta Coxe
06.05.2013
Originally Posted by BreaksDJ
Hi, this is my first post, just registered, hopefully i'm doing so correctly
Also let me say that I've had the DB4 for a few weeks and haven't got a chance to spend too much time on it, oh and I totally suck at ableton live, I just so happen to have done what your asking.
1, go to the DB4, in the on screen menu go to USB routing. Take one of it's four sends and change it to RECORD (this will not effect having 4 tracks going at once).
2, in Ableton you would go Audio To Ext Out 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 on whichever tracks your wanting to mix and route back to live.
3, make sure your levels are low, it will still sound great because the digital side of the DB4 is very hot (phone is extremely cold).
4, Take a new audio track your not using for anything in ableton and make it your record IN track. Select Audio From: Ext In of the track you selected in the USB routing in step 1.
5, Enable recording of the track.
6, Mix away using the DB4, it's samplers, VCF filters and the effects. It will then route all 4 channels to the new ableton track from step 4.
7, Once your done, you want to mute the tracks you used in the above before playing the audio you created from step 4-6 otherwise it will clip. Also you want to select No Input from the new audio track and assign its output to Ext. Out of one of the tracks.

Like i said, this is my first post and it's probably confusing but you can chat me up and I can help you through it.
Word of advice though, if your in no rush to buy the DB4, wait until the firmware update if you play vinyl, because as I mentioned above, the levels are extremely low for phono.

Peace.

-KC
hi breaks,

firstly, thanks for taking the time to reply. i too wanted to record the whole mix coming out of my xone db4 onto a stereo channel in live - recording individual channels is no problem. i too came to this solution via mixarchitect on another community , he was doing the same thing to record the whole mix in traktor's recorder. i thought this would work too in live, but am getting no signal in the recording channel. basically i have 4 stereo out channels each going to the xone db4's effects, filters etc (an awesome mixer, if ever there was!) and have followed your instructions to the letter, but still getting no sound on the recording channel (have tried selecting ext in , channel 1+2 ) strange thing is all the other channels show a signal, but 1+2 are dead. any ideas?

thanks in advance and all the best with the mixing, mark.
Amira Gotcher
06.01.2012
Originally Posted by addi307
how is the quality of the preamps? do the sound good enough for sampling vinyl?
The preamps are great. perfectly adequate for recording vinyl.
Babette Beaugez
05.01.2012		how is the quality of the preamps? do the sound good enough for sampling vinyl?
Romelia Stankard
05.01.2012
Originally Posted by BreaksDJ
Yeah, definitely not the carts, I've owned A&H mixers for 8 years. This one definitely has issues which their product support people have admitted to me is a problem on a certain batch of these mixers.
What's the problem?
Danae Dumler
05.01.2012		What are the issues you're finding with the phono preamps? I am playing vinyl on it all the time (Shure M447 carts) and the only issues I've noticed were traced to crappy vinyl.
Thad Mangrum
05.01.2012
Originally Posted by Xonetacular
Phono preamps are fine if you have half decent cartridges. No different than any other a&h mixer.
Yeah, definitely not the carts, I've owned A&H mixers for 8 years. This one definitely has issues which their product support people have admitted to me is a problem on a certain batch of these mixers.
Babette Beaugez
05.01.2012		have you tried sampling with it? i believe i will buy some grado cartridges....
Romelia Stankard
05.01.2012
Originally Posted by addi307
thanks a lot. maybe ill try your idea. :-)

i have to wait at least 4 months to buy the db4 and hopefully they will improve the phono preamps because i want to sample vinyl with my db4.
Phono preamps are fine if you have half decent cartridges. No different than any other a&h mixer.
Babette Beaugez
05.01.2012		thanks a lot. maybe ill try your idea. :-)

i have to wait at least 4 months to buy the db4 and hopefully they will improve the phono preamps because i want to sample vinyl with my db4.
Thad Mangrum
05.01.2012		Hi, this is my first post, just registered, hopefully i'm doing so correctly
Also let me say that I've had the DB4 for a few weeks and haven't got a chance to spend too much time on it, oh and I totally suck at ableton live, I just so happen to have done what your asking.
1, go to the DB4, in the on screen menu go to USB routing. Take one of it's four sends and change it to RECORD (this will not effect having 4 tracks going at once).
2, in Ableton you would go Audio To Ext Out 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 on whichever tracks your wanting to mix and route back to live.
3, make sure your levels are low, it will still sound great because the digital side of the DB4 is very hot (phone is extremely cold).
4, Take a new audio track your not using for anything in ableton and make it your record IN track. Select Audio From: Ext In of the track you selected in the USB routing in step 1.
5, Enable recording of the track.
6, Mix away using the DB4, it's samplers, VCF filters and the effects. It will then route all 4 channels to the new ableton track from step 4.
7, Once your done, you want to mute the tracks you used in the above before playing the audio you created from step 4-6 otherwise it will clip. Also you want to select No Input from the new audio track and assign its output to Ext. Out of one of the tracks.

Like i said, this is my first post and it's probably confusing but you can chat me up and I can help you through it.
Word of advice though, if your in no rush to buy the DB4, wait until the firmware update if you play vinyl, because as I mentioned above, the levels are extremely low for phono.

Peace.

-KC
Babette Beaugez
03.01.2012
Originally Posted by Xonetacular
Why not just put all the effects on a return channel in ableton?
because i cant have 4 individual tracks that i send to the mixer when i just want to have 1 return and not 4.
Romelia Stankard
03.01.2012
Originally Posted by addi307
hey thx for the fast reply.

it's true i could just affect the signal before going into the db4. but my idea was to save cpu power and to be able to use maybe just one controller layer for all the desired effects. now i have to make mappings for every 4 channels.
Why not just put all the effects on a return channel in ableton?
Babette Beaugez
03.01.2012		hey thx for the fast reply.

it's true i could just affect the signal before going into the db4. but my idea was to save cpu power and to be able to use maybe just one controller layer for all the desired effects. now i have to make mappings for every 4 channels.

i believeing about using the db4 effects in my productions because they sound amazing but i believe there are plenty of other vst's that are good for live experimantation.

anyone whos interested in my xone 4d ? :-P
Romelia Stankard
03.01.2012		I'm not sure, I haven't tried routing like that but you can send just about any point in the signal chain on the mixer to an input in the soundcard.

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, since you could just effect anything you want in ableton then send it to whatever channel you want on the mixer to EQ or whatever.

I have to say though, once you use the DB4 effects you will forget about any desire to use software FX. The DB4s effects engine sounds worlds better than anything in ableton or VSTs I've heard.

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