USB Headphones + Traktor
USB Headphones + Traktor Posted on: 13.01.2009 by Rosalva Phaneuf Sent an e-mail but figured I would elicit a faster response here. First off let me commend you on the amazing work you are doing and thank you for your time taken to read this. I'll get right to the point. I just purchased a (regular) VCI-100 and the black SE overlays (oops). I currently use Agorriddim's djay software, but it just isn't as versatile as I want it to be (could it be?). I want to upgrade to Traktor Pro, but dont have the money for a soundcard yet. A couple questions: 1. What I need to know is: In Traktor Pro, can I use my USB headphones and macbook sound output together as an aggregate device to pre-cue in lieu of using a soundcard, that is, for the time being? 2. I just purchased the black overlays from you for looks alone, and didnt even consider that the layout was for the SE edition and firmware. I know you can update firmware on the VCI, but did I make a mistake in buying the overlay? How different are the controls vs the standard? Would you recommend a firmware upgrade so that the controls will match their function? | |
| Rosalva Phaneuf 13.01.2009 | Sent an e-mail but figured I would elicit a faster response here. First off let me commend you on the amazing work you are doing and thank you for your time taken to read this. I'll get right to the point. I just purchased a (regular) VCI-100 and the black SE overlays (oops). I currently use Agorriddim's djay software, but it just isn't as versatile as I want it to be (could it be?). I want to upgrade to Traktor Pro, but dont have the money for a soundcard yet. A couple questions: 1. What I need to know is: In Traktor Pro, can I use my USB headphones and macbook sound output together as an aggregate device to pre-cue in lieu of using a soundcard, that is, for the time being? 2. I just purchased the black overlays from you for looks alone, and didnt even consider that the layout was for the SE edition and firmware. I know you can update firmware on the VCI, but did I make a mistake in buying the overlay? How different are the controls vs the standard? Would you recommend a firmware upgrade so that the controls will match their function? |
| Donya Sorensen 06.06.2010 | ok, I'm late on this topic, but for whoever googles "usb cueing traktor" this might be helpful: of course you can use your usb headphones for cueing in traktor (Mac), the only thing you need to do is going to Audio MIDI Setup in Applications-->Utilities, and then in Audio Devices Choose properties for the usb headset and then choose it as aggregated, in Configure device, you must check both built in output and your headset... Then, back in Traktor, choose channels 3 and 4 for cueing and 1 and 2 as master. No delay detected and everything seems to be working just fine (I did this a week ago and have been using traktor w/o problems) BTW I have a MacBook Pro 2.2 ghz, intel core duo, traktor scratch and a vestax vci-100 (just in case that makes a difference)... excuse me for my english, I live in Mexico City, saludos!! |
| Branden Kern 08.03.2009 | uhmm...that soundflower thing sounds so complicated...But ive tried this out on my pc laptop before and all you needed to do was use ASIO4ALL driver and you can cue with usb head sets and have master out coming from your laptop...simple and easy... |
| April Gault 07.03.2009 | Hopefully, you've figured out your first question by now, but just incase you haven't (and for those looking for the same solution), the answer is yes, you can use your usb headphones and macbook sound output to Cue...with a catch, of course. The following should work if your usb headset is recognized as a separate audio device. You can check this by going to the Output tab in the Sound system preference pane. What you need is an audio routing utility called Soundflower. Soundflower acts as a separate multi-channel audio source in Traktor, which will allow you to pass your monitor and master outputs through it. Soundflower has a 2-channel device and a 16-channel device. In Soundflower, I set my MacBook Pro's Built-In Output (output to speakers) to the 2-channel device, and I set the USB headphones to the 16-channel device. You don't have to set it this way, but I've found that to work for me. In Traktor, set your sound card/audio device to Soundflower. For the master and monitor outputs, following the example above, set the master L/R outputs to Soundflower (2ch) Out 0 and Out 1, respectively. Do the same for the monitor outputs, except select Soundflower (16ch) Out 0 and Out 1, respectively. It's not a perfect hack, but it works. I've ran into the following issues (off the top of my head): Soundflower unexpectedly quits after setup in Traktor. - Just restart the app. It's kinda screwy like that. I hear noise coming out of my monitor/master output. - In Soundflower, turn off the device where you hear noise and turn it back on. For example, if you near noise through the Built-In Output and it's set to the 2-ch device, turn off the 2-ch device then re-select Built-In Output. If the problem persists, quit Traktor and Soundflower, and double-check your routing. There's latency between the monitor and master outputs. - Personally, I've found that increasing the buffer size for both devices seems to help. I believe it defaults at 256, but I've set mine to 1024. I'm not sure what impact this has on the cpu, and if anyone can shed some light on this, feel free to. Also, there's probably a ≤1.5 sec. delay between the monitor at master at first, but 99% of the time, after about 30 minutes or so of mixing, they sync up almost perfectly. This is my experience with mixing using USB headphones. Hopefully, this provides an interim solution while you save up for your sound card and headphones of choice. Before I found out how to do this, in order to cue tracks though headphones, I would broadcast my mix from Traktor to VLC media player through Icecast server, ALL on my MacBook Pro. Not only was this too many hoops to jump through locally, but it caused a 2-second drop in audio whenever I crossfaded to the next track. It was horrendous. Give Soundflower a try. lates. |
| Dj BlueMoon 14.01.2009 | I can only answer your second question. Though DJTT is currently working on finalizing a Traktor Pro TSI to make an updated overlay, you will find that while using the latest TSI on Traktor Pro with a non-SE, most functions are pretty similar to the current black overlays. With Traktor Pro, Ean was able to create a TSI that allowed most SE features to be used on a non-SE VCI. Check out the differences between 1.2 and 1.3 firmware users here along with a discussion on the TSI. Some things have changed but the overlays are cheap and you've got a close reference until the new one comes out. More experienced DJTT-ers, please correct me if I'm wrong. |
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