DB4 - cdj input + VU meters

When switching between EQ-knob modes, can't you just hold the button of the mode you are switching to and, while holding it down, tune the knobs to the desired position without the change in sound?

one thing i forgot to mention, is that with 4 tracks running at the same time, you're up against a lot of information and a horrible amount of sonic density. working with the filter eq allows for precise subtractive filtering, or graceful boosts to just the sections you need. as such, you can fit multiple tunes together in a way that they don't compete against each other. it also lends itself to very effective swapping of bass lines or percussion parts, etc... just honing the techniques of resonance and filter freq relationships.

"sculpting" is the word i always gravitate toward; it's quite literal too - the individual tracks are like big pieces of stone that you can whittle down, smooth out, and shape to just the essentials via the filter mode eq, with the end result being a flowing composition of marble, granite, amethyst, and fossilized dinosaur poops.

all of these fx suggestions are being meditated on and quite possible, it's just establishing priority and development resources to make it an actual reality. a product like K2 connected via xlink has potential for expanding control beyond the existing interface for such things.

as a side note, you can run effects into effects in a production context - using the pfl sends via the usb menu, you could configure ableton live to stack ch's 1-3 into 4 as your main output.

and to further dive into a production tangent, it's completely ridiculous and fun to use the DB4 as an effects processor for tracking. i have mine connected via spdif to my apogee ensemble, routed via an aux send in live, then play the DB4's effects over a drum buss via matrixed inputs. ch 1 is a hall reverb, ch 2 is a plate reverb that i only bring up on the 2 (first snare hit), then a emt250 on the 4 (second snare hit) and ch 4 for some other silly effect to bring in and out. from there i do finger sequencing, and play the effects with the track. i get tripped up a lot, but the mistakes add to the character of everything. totally worth giving it a try, as vst reverbs can't hold a candle to what's happening with dr rob's amazing reverb designs...

there is an up coming firmware release that will have input gain adjustments to further tune the trim's response. it is considered by some users to be very hot; same for the coax inputs.

the channel and master meters on the DB4 are not marked at 0dBFS, so anything that is not keeping the top red clip indicator solidly lit will not be clipping the mixer. even then it takes a lot to get it to clip - are you able to hear your mixes distorting at this point? i run my DB4 quite hard, as we do with the iLives, and the 92's for that matter.

also, please note that the mix output adjustment from the menu will not affect the master meter. the master meter is showing the total signal present on the master bus, which is the sum of what the channel faders are sending it.

the master output knob is a subtractive control. fully open it is not adding anything to the master bus, anything below that is reducing the output.

it's normal position in a gain optimized system would be fully opened, provided that all the interconnects from start to finish are balanced and level matched. in practice, this is not often the case and thus a subtractive level control is present in two places - master mix level and the internal adjustment.

if you need to turn down the output of the DB4 to cleanly interface with another component in your system, i'd suggest leaving the master mix level wide open and then using the internal adjustment. this will allow the full range of control over the master if you want to do wild modulations of the output of the dj mixer (just kidding :-) ) or more aptly - manage how much you're hitting everyone with through out the evening . perhaps you'll pull things back a bit at the start and then open it up for the peak time elements... many ways to handle dynamics...

anyway, gain management is a very dynamic thing. the summing of tracks is not linear as discussed on another thread in a bit more detail, and hopefully very soon there will be a firmware update to address this. don't hesitate to email direct if needed.

also, on the sound quality question about serato and such, there's always going to be compromise with any choice you roll with, but the most important element is that you choose a medium to work with that gives you joy, and makes your expression efficient and flowing. everything else is secondary to the vibe you create and the relationship you have with your kit.

If there's an easy way to "map" the K2 to the DB4 functions the way you can map MIDI, the possibilities are endless! It would be great to be able to change various effect parameters or to pre-program a specific effect combo and setting to a button the way you can with traktor midi mapping. I wonder what mapping would look like for that though; is it something we'll be able to do on a computer screen somehow?

Even more interesting, if this kind of mapping is possible, would it be possible to respond to MIDI signals from another controller? Maybe that's pushing it but it would be really cool to control DB4 functions from a MIDIfighter....

I really like the rotary mixer option idea but not just for the volume knobs ... I actually really like the idea of using the channel faders as D/W knobs. One thing I really loved about the Ecler Evo 5 is the D/W crossfader which allows you to insert momentary effects and cut them off quickly on beat. I'm currently doing this using the effects on/off buttons and having the D/W knob turned up, but those buttons are a bit too stiff and clicky for that purpose.

one thing i forgot to mention, is that with 4 tracks running at the same time, you're up against a lot of information and a horrible amount of sonic density. working with the filter eq allows for precise subtractive filtering, or graceful boosts to just the sections you need. as such, you can fit multiple tunes together in a way that they don't compete against each other. it also lends itself to very effective swapping of bass lines or percussion parts, etc... just honing the techniques of resonance and filter freq relationships.

"sculpting" is the word i always gravitate toward; it's quite literal too - the individual tracks are like big pieces of stone that you can whittle down, smooth out, and shape to just the essentials via the filter mode eq, with the end result being a flowing composition of marble, granite, amethyst, and fossilized dinosaur poops.

all of these fx suggestions are being meditated on and quite possible, it's just establishing priority and development resources to make it an actual reality. a product like K2 connected via xlink has potential for expanding control beyond the existing interface for such things.

as a side note, you can run effects into effects in a production context - using the pfl sends via the usb menu, you could configure ableton live to stack ch's 1-3 into 4 as your main output.

and to further dive into a production tangent, it's completely ridiculous and fun to use the DB4 as an effects processor for tracking. i have mine connected via spdif to my apogee ensemble, routed via an aux send in live, then play the DB4's effects over a drum buss via matrixed inputs. ch 1 is a hall reverb, ch 2 is a plate reverb that i only bring up on the 2 (first snare hit), then a emt250 on the 4 (second snare hit) and ch 4 for some other silly effect to bring in and out. from there i do finger sequencing, and play the effects with the track. i get tripped up a lot, but the mistakes add to the character of everything. totally worth giving it a try, as vst reverbs can't hold a candle to what's happening with dr rob's amazing reverb designs...

i only use filter mode and never touch the iso or eq unless i'm getting out of them.

filter mode is where the real magic of the mixer happens, it's just a different way of working from fixed frequency shelving filters, and the reward you get from learning how the resonance interacts with HPF/LPF results in amazingly coherent sculptures from multiple sources.

the offset of resonance is for ergonomic reasons. it allows easier access to either of the filter frequencies and resonance at the same time. it's important to work the resonance to get the most out of the filter mode itself.

at maximum resonance - it creates boost (quite a lot at times) relative to the filter frequencies... at minimum resonance it cuts, as the slope rolls off quite a bit. the idea is that you can use the filters to isolate the part of a track you want to emphasize, and how magnified or zoomed out you'll be is a byproduct of the resonance setting.

for quick example, if you want to kick up the low freq's in a track, set the resonance to max and gradually sweep the HPF up till the subwoofers start farting uncontrollably. then back off the resonance to the desired bass emphasis. in practice you'll get a feel for how far you can go without causing undesirable peaks.

or if you're looking for mid emphasis tune one or both filters to the bandwidth you're looking to highlight, then adjust the resonance to zoom in. you can do interesting things by overlapping the filters (or create silence) and stacking the two multimode filters on top of the filter mode eq on the channels offers some great options. for instance, you can bring down the highs on channels 1-3 by assigning them to filter 1 in LPF, then release the highs on ch 4 via the filter eq.

getting into filter mode eq is the easy part. drop it in at the end of a phase, hold it for 4 beats and open it up on the 1 of the next measure. it enters as a bandpass filter, and when you release it to full frequency it makes musical sense...

getting out of filter mode into a standard eq is a bit trickier. usually best to mix out and switch or as proben suggested - use the matrix.

as i stated at the start of this, i'm always in filter mode. to me, it is the single most important feature of the mixer. it gives back as much as you put in.