Contents
Configuration
- Inputs & Outputs
Configuration - Hardware
Configuration -
Software
Frequently Asked Questions
To use djDecks vinyl control, it is very important that the
inputs
and outputs you want to use are configured properly. djDecks Vinyl
Control requires an ASIO-compatible soundcard to obtain the lowest
latency from input to output.
Output Driver - First
select the ASIO audio interface in the 'Output Driver' dropdown box. If
you only have DirectSound and waveOut as choices, your soundcard
probably doesn't support ASIO. A solution for this is to first install
the ASIO4All
driver, which adds ASIO support to almost any soundcard.
Output Mode - Next,
you have to select the output mode. Either use output mode 5 if you
want to use djDecks' internal mixer or use an external MIDI controller,
or use output mode 4 if you want to connect your external analog mixer
to djDecks.
ASIO
Outputs - Select
the ASIO channels to be used in djDecks here. Usually this will be 0/1
for the first output and 2/3 for the second, but if your soundcard has
more outputs, you may need to check your soundcards manual to select
the correct outputs.
If you only have one output, it is
important to
leave output 2 and 3 blank, and not select the same channels for these
outputs again.
ASIO
Control Panel -
This will open your soundcard's ASIO configuration panel. It usually
allows you to select the samplerate and latency or buffer size to be
used. A smaller buffer size will result in a lower latency, and thus a
faster response. Setting the buffersize too small may cause distortion
in the audio, so you may have to try how low you can go with your
computer and audio interface.
Most people find 5 ms latency
(about
256 samples) low enough for scratching, and 10 ms (about 512 samples)
low enough for regular mixing. Some audio interfaces allow you to go
down to 1.5 ms latency.
With
some audio interfaces, this button may not work correctly. In this
case, exit djDecks and use the control panel installed with the audio
interface to setup the interface, then start djDecks again.
ASIO Inputs - It is
recommended that you select the same ASIO device here as you selected
for the
output driver, and choose the input channels you want to use. If you
only want to use one input, it is recommended to select the same input
channels for both ASIO inputs.
If
your sound card does not have enough inputs available, it is possible
to select a second sound card for one of the inputs. There are some
limitations to this though. You will not be able to play regular vinyl
through djDecks from this input, and for ASIO devices, the input
channel's used will be 0/1. Response speed may also be slightly lower,
and if you use a DirectSound device the latency will be much higher.
Apply RIAA correction - If
your turntables do not have line outputs (only phono outputs) and your
soundcard does not have phono inputs (only line or mic inputs) and you
are not using phono pre-amps in-between, you can enable this option to
do the RIAA correction in software, which will allow you to play
regular vinyls through djDecks. Note that this usually does not sound
as good as having phono pre-amps in hardware.
Connecting
turntables to computers can usually not be done straight away.
Turntables usually have a phono output, which is a weak and equalized
signal. Computer audio interfaces usually only have line inputs, which
expect a stronger signal. There are four possible solutions for this
problem:
-Some modern turntables have an output that can be
switched
between phono and line output. When set to line output, it can be
connected to an audio interface's line input immediately.
-Some
audio interfaces are designed for DJ's, and have phono inputs, or
inputs that can be switched between phono and line inputs (Sometimes
this is a software configuration, sometimes there is a hardware switch
for this). A phono output from the turntable can then be connected to
the phono input of the audio interface.
-Connect a phono
pre-amp
between the turntable and the audio interface. This device amplifies
and equalizes the phono input and outputs a line-level signal. In this
case, you have to connect the turntable to the pre-amps input, and the
pre-amps output to the audio interface's input.
-Directly
connect
the phono output of the turntable to the line input of the audio
interface. In this case the signal strength is very low, and chances
are that djDecks will not be able to properly decode the signal,
resulting in slower response and more pitch fluctuations. If you
already have an audio interface and turntables, you can try this
solution before deciding to buy phono pre-amps.
If you want to
use cd-players, this is not a problem, since cd-players already have a
line output.
The
next step is to connect the audio interface's outputs. If you want to
use an external analog mixer, you have to connect the audio interface's
outputs to the inputs of the mixer. Make sure to use aux or line inputs
on the mixer, and not the phono inputs, since the audio interface's
output will be line level.
If you want to use djDecks'
internal
mixer (optionally with a midi controller or another supported
controller), the first output will be the master output, which you can
connect to your amplifier or speakers. You can use the second output to
connect your headphones.
Once everything is set up, it is time to test djDecks.
First
make
sure the outputs are set up correctly. To do this, load a song in each
deck, play it, and see if you can hear it on the correct channel of
your mixer.
Next, it is time to check the inputs as well. On
the
first deck, select Start Line Input #1, and on the second, select Start
Line Input #2 from the player's menu. Some skins also have a LINE
button on each deck which will do the same. Now play a record, and see
if you can hear it correctly and on the correct channel. If this is the
case, then everything is probably set up correctly.
To
test and
callibrate vinyl control, load a song in each deck, put the timecoded
record or cd up and start it, and use the player's menu to select
'Start FinalScratch #1' on deck 1 and 'Start FinalScratch #2' on deck
2. (Or SSL, MsPinky, VirtualDJ if you have any of these)
Next,
open
up the Vinyl Control tab on the options window. You should see the
signal strength and number of codes detected. Try to use your
soundcard's configuration to adjust the signal strength of the inputs
until it is perfect. The exact value of the signal strength is not that
important, as long as it is high enough (at least around 10000) and not
too high (no more than about 30000). If you don't use pre-amps, and
have connected a phono output to a line input, this value will always
be too low, but it's still possible that it will work if the signal is
clean enough.
Next, use the Auto Callibration button to
callibrate
djDecks. It will detect the signal's average strength and how clean the
signal is, and use this to optimize djDecks' performance. If your
signal strength was perfect, the gain will be around 1. If the signal
is clean without distortion or noise, the pitch variance will be around
0.003 . If it is very high (>0.01) this indicates that there may
be
a problem with the signal and the pitch will not be very stable.
Possible
reasons for this are dirty needles, dirty records, broken/bad cables,
or some audio interface problem (maybe the latency/buffer size you
selected was too low for your system)
The Nr. Of Codes
detected
should be around 100%. If no codes are detected, there may be another
problem with the signal. Check if the cables are good, and that you
haven't swapped left and right around.
-Lead in time: This
is the
time at the beginning of the timecode that will not be used. Since the
beginning of the vinyl will wear out the fastest, you can increase this
value to set the start a bit later. Some versions of the final scratch
vinyls did not have a lead in timecode. If this is the case you may to
set this value negative to -25000 in order to have the song start at
the start of the vinyl.
-Vinyl
Speed Multiplier: With
this value, you can use the 33rpm sides of the timecode vinyl at 45rpm
or vice versa. Because the timecode can usually be read more clearly at
45 rpm, it can be useful to use the 33rpm side at 45rpm if you are
having some unstable pitch problems.
You can also use this
multiplier if you want to move your turntable's pitch range higher or
lower.
-Default
vinyls: Select the vinyl that will be used by default for
this deck.
-Pitch
Smoothing: To
get a stable pitch readout, djDecks intelligently smoothens the
incoming pitch signal. Usually the newest algorithm will give the best
results, but in some situations a different algorithm may give better
results. Make sure to re-callibrate after setting this option, since it
also affects the way the pitch variance is calculated. Disabling pitch
smoothing may give you better response, at the cost of more pitch
fluctuations.
-Relative
Mode: There
are 2 different vinyl control modes, absolute or relative. Absolute
mode is most like real vinyl, which means that both speed and position
of the record are read and used to control the song. In relative mode,
only pitch changes and direction are used, thus setting the needle to a
new position has no effect. The advantages of relative mode are that a
skipping needle will not result in a skipping in the song while
scratching, and that you can use cue points within djDecks to go to a
specific position.
-Super
Relative Mode: With this mode, you will get the benefits
of pc mixing and of mixing with turntables, but it might be a bit
complicated to understand how it works exactly at first. What it will
do is whenever you turn on vinyl control, it will detect the pitch on
the turntables, and adjust the vinyl speed multiplier so that it
matches the pitch of the song in djDecks. So suppose you are already
playing a song in deck A at 8%, and your turntable is spinning at -3%,
and you enable vinyl control, then the song will continue to play at
8%. When you then increase the turntable’s speed to 0%, the
actual song’s speed will be about 11%.
The
advantages of this mode are:
-Correct pitch when disabling
vinyl control: When
you disable vinyl control, and the bpm of that song is close to the bpm
of the other deck, djDecks will automatically adjust the pitch to
exactly match the other deck's tempo.
-Latency: This
is not the same as your audio interface's latency or buffer size. The
vinyl control latency adjusts the time djDecks uses to get a good pitch
reading. If you mainly use djDecks for scratching, then setting this
value lower will result in a faster pitch response. If you mainly use
djDecks for mixing, a higher value will result in a more stable pitch.
Usually the default 7 ms is a good value both for scratching and mixing.
-Minimum Sensitivity: If
there are a lot of scratches or dust on your record, djDecks may
mistake them for timecode signal. This value determines the threshold
above which the signal should be before djDecks recognizes it as a
timecode signal. Setting this higher will result in a more stable
signal that is less affected by scratches. Setting this lower may be
necessary to correctly detect very slow scratches however, Again the
default value is usually good for both.
-Can I start up djDecks with
vinyl control already enabled, rather than manually enabling it each
time?
Yes you can. To do this, you have to edit
the djDecks shortcut, and add -vinylcontrol to it.
-Which audio interface is best,
what soundcard should I get?
There are a lot of
audio interfaces available. The most important things to look at are if
they are ASIO compatible, and if they have enough in- and outputs for
your needs. Note that in (semi-)professional audio equipment, the
number of in- and outputs is usually indicated as number of mono
channels. This means that if you need 2 stereo inputs, you are looking
for a 4 channel audio interface.
On the djDecks forum, there's
a list
of audio interfaces that people have used with djDecks, which
is a good starting point.
You can also check out this
page which lists a number of audio interfaces and their
properties.
djDecks (c)2003-2023 Adion