S4 use in clubs.
S4 use in clubs. Posted on: 29.11.2010 by Mac Fly I've read some people here have used the S4 in clubs without any drop outs or problems. Currently I am running a PC and my CPU meter in the S4 software is still fluctuating and making me feel uncomfortable about audio drop outs. Although, this is the case I still have little problems with the sound, I might here a pop or crack when in browse mode but thats about it. I tried many solutions but to me it seems like a driver problem. On that note, has anyone at all had complete audio drop outs with their S4 in a club enviroment? Not a pop or crackle but I mean complete stoppage of music where you would likely have to restart the S4 and software? This issue haunts me and it makes digital DJ's look unprofessional, so I would really like to hear from anyone if it did happen? | |
| Tracy Speich 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by Karlos Santos
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| Tracy Speich 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by photojojo
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| Isaac Anklam 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by Karlos Santos
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| Hang Natelli 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by photojojo
I had full kills on my Rane 57TTM, and so far haven't missed them much. They we're cool because they would kill the EQ as long as the button was held down, and un-kill on release. Interesting for bass kills, but I always found a button kill very abrupt rather than killing the bass by sweeping the knob super quick. Always found it smoother. Do your kills work similar to the way I described my old mixer's kills? |
| Maxwell Bonifas 06.01.2011 | only time i have had anything more than say 20% on my macbook is when i add music to the collection which then goes up to 100% for the time its adding. Not had any audio drop outs while doing this |
| Tracy Speich 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by Karlos Santos
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| nayit ruiz jaramillo 07.12.2010 | EQ kills can be assigned. The assignment is still in the table. I have Bass Kills assigned to Deck A and C Cue Buttons when i use 2 decks only. I do a evening where i have no use for the Loop or Sample features so i can remap all the knobs and buttons on Deck A & C. I just add the assignments to the User Mapping. I also have the Headphone Volume mapped to the Loop Recorder Dry/Wet. |
| Tracy Speich 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by photojojo
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| Isaac Anklam 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by Karlos Santos
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| nayit ruiz jaramillo 08.12.2010 | How come your using the AK1 and not the S4 soundcard..? |
| Isaac Anklam 08.12.2010 | See I haven't had any problems with my setup. I have a Macbook Pro but it is on it's last legs and I switched to a PC (Lenovo i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB HD, Win 7 Ultimate 64 Bit) and haven't had problems. Edit: I am also using the NI Audio Kontrol 1 for my music production and no issues there either with my 64 Bit Windows 7 OS. |
| daniela klein 07.12.2010 | For me, sometimes the basslines on two playing tracks can swap out perfectly, and killing one and slamming in the other can have great dramatic and/or musical effect. I can always hear the faders ramp in or out, even when it's done quickly. But EQ kills on the controller aren't a dealbreaker for me, since god gave me something like 110 MIDI control buttons on my keyboard (shock!). Still inexplicable they aren't included on the S4. But then, I'm still annoyed about the loss of 4-band EQ, so I guess I'm hardly predisposed to be NI's favorite customer. Oh, well. |
| Leeanna Ayla 07.12.2010 | Yes they work the same except for I have mine mapped as toggles. Sometimes I'll have a song blending for a minute + with the bass killed and then swap the basses on the two different songs for nearly the same amount of time. Using the knob works fine, I just find it easier to push a button. |
| Hang Natelli 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by photojojo
I had full kills on my Rane 57TTM, and so far haven't missed them much. They we're cool because they would kill the EQ as long as the button was held down, and un-kill on release. Interesting for bass kills, but I always found a button kill very abrupt rather than killing the bass by sweeping the knob super quick. Always found it smoother. Do your kills work similar to the way I described my old mixer's kills? |
| Leeanna Ayla 07.12.2010 | And there is no EQ kill option in preferences. |
| Leeanna Ayla 07.12.2010 | Default is 10%, but it sounds like this guy had it set way higher than that. I've got mine set at 8% and can make .01% adjustments like Haze. I've got EQ kills mapped to my keyboard and my X1. |
| Julissa Serrone 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by steveboyett
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| Teresia Janusch 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by RunningManDJ
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| daniela klein 07.12.2010 | Perhaps I didn't put it clearly. Whenever he would adjust the BPM, it would move in large chunks, not in small increments. I am hoping this is a matter of sensitivity adjustment and not a fault with the S4. One of my (many) problems with previous versions of Traktor was the awful pitch and tempo adjustment. |
| Tracy Speich 07.12.2010 |
Originally Posted by steveboyett
As for the owner of the s4, the guy that couldnt mix for shit. um...yeah... "sync" is ur friend. until he can brush up on his bpm and tempo skills that is.... old skoolers will tell u, better to learn it by ear than by sight. |
| daniela klein 07.12.2010 | I did a gig this weekend with a guy who was using an S4. It fit perfectly into an Odyssey laptop road case he was using. I was impressed with the build quality & how clean the audio was. (And astonished how friggin big the thing is.) That said, he couldn't mix for shit, and he was having enormous difficulty with the tempo sensitivity. He couldn't adjust it in increments, and he'd put on a track at 110 and next thing you know it's cranking 130. He might as well have used a broom to clean the floor. He also needed me to shine a light on the S4 because he couldn't see where he'd left his EQ settings. Oopsy. Please tell me he just didn't know how to adjust the tempo knob sensitivity. In any case, the lack of EQ kills and a dedicated monitor out is gonna keep me from getting one of these things. If I've learned anything from NI, it's to never buy the first version of anything they put out. |
| Mac Fly 06.12.2010 | I had a gig Friday and Saturday this weekend. I had no complete audio drop outs. The sound was crisp to the PA's However I had issues using the browser mode. There was always pops and clicks. Therefore I had to use my mouse to load tracks alot of the time because it was really noticable. The CPU meter was about 1/4 of the way fluctuating most of the time with the biggest usage when scratching and browsing using the jog wheels. Also, on Saturday evening my second effect button on my right effects bank stopped working for some reason. I never plugged it back in to see if it worked again but I figured it was a bug in the HID or something of that nature. But wasn't really a big enough issue to effect my set to much. These are my only grips with this controller preformance wise. I hope NI can iron them out. I am sure it will happen eventually. They need to fix these issues before they give the timecode update or people will be really pissed anywas. |
| Clinton Kordell 02.12.2010 | Had a drop out due to a bad powered USB hub. I've ditched the hub and haven't had any issues with the S4 and a Trigger Finger on the 2 Mac USB ports. Yeah, the S4 can be a pain to find space for depending on the booth, but that is the case for any controller. |
| Aleta Broten 30.11.2010 | Ahh i see. i was also wondering about how you would take over from a previous dj and plug the S4 in without interupting sound but this makes sense now by feeding into a single channel on the club mixer. Thanks man. by the way - do you find it easy to find space for the s4 or is it a bit of a pain to fit in? thanks |
| Julissa Serrone 30.11.2010 | If for some reason there is NO house mixer. THe S4 has two master outs. You can use one as the actual master to the house sytem and the master out you can purchase an inline volume control for 40 bucks and plug the booth speakers to that and control the volume in your booth with it. It's a pretty simple solution. |
| robin loo 30.11.2010 |
Originally Posted by scrattyrat
in the club where i play every week there's a djm mixer, i just plug in the S4 to channel 1 and got a booth output on the djm.. |
| Aleta Broten 30.11.2010 | Can you guys who are using the S4 in clubs let me know how you are able to get round the fact there is no booth output? I have read this a couple of places and so dont understand how the unit could ever be used in a club - or am i wrong about the booth output thing, or is there a way round it? Please help i would love to believe i could use this in a club :-) Thanks |
| nayit ruiz jaramillo 30.11.2010 | Ill get some more info on how it functions now and ill post up mate. |
| Julissa Serrone 30.11.2010 | Yeah I hear what your saying..... ....my thoughts are - What does it provide? Do we need it? If it's not that accurate, or it's nothing to really worry about, why even have it. Perhaps this is something that NI could tighten to provide us good feedback. |
| nayit ruiz jaramillo 29.11.2010 | What i mean is that its nothing to worry about in the context of it peaking when there are no audible problems. I believe many users simple never saw the CPU meter peak with TPRO and will freak out a bit now. Like is say "i wouldnt worry TOO much" |
| Julissa Serrone 29.11.2010 |
Originally Posted by Karlos Santos
If the CPU meter is nothing to worry about. Why even have it? When would be a good time to keep an eye on it. |
| Mac Fly 29.11.2010 | Yah, thats the sort of thing I was noticing. The meter was much more sensitive than TPro but at the same time from home use I did not experience any sudden drop outs of music besides a scattered crackle. I will give it a try Saturday evening at a gig and see how it all goes over. |
| nayit ruiz jaramillo 29.11.2010 | 50+ gigs with Kontrol S4 and not a single drop out. But thats not helpful as im on Mac. Macbook Pro 2.53 4GB Ram The CPU meter is now showing a true read out of CPU load & Audio spikes and has a slower reset time than previous versions so when it hits red it stays there longer. It will peak even when there is no audible pop which previous versions didnt. This is also a caching issue and will spike when certain functions are used for the first time in a session. Which might be what you see when you use the Browse knob. They dont cause audio drop outs though. It was very alarmed to see my CPU meter hitting red as TPRO never even budged under pressure. I wouldnt worry to much about the CPU meter. Mine peaks out during scratching but the audio is not affected. |
| Julissa Serrone 29.11.2010 | Abyrne, I haven't had any issues. I'm on a Macbook though. I will say that the other day recording my CPU meter on the software hit the red a bunch of times and it crackled once. I have not had it happen other than when recording. I believe your right about the drivers, obviously NI is working it. They're not going let the S4 fail. Have you tried your S4 hardware with another soundcard? If you really wanted to play out and were worried about drops maybe take a soundcard you trust a little more until there is a new driver release? |
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