Pimps up, Traktor down

wow! the third tip I teached Ean, where is my credit? hehe!! I deserve one MIDI Fighter 3D ;-)

cheers from Brazil!

The option of “Only load into a stopped deck” never made a lot of sense to me.  If you are confused enough, that you actually load a song into a live deck, then nothing is going to be stopping you from pressing pause to stop the live deck so that you can load a track into it.  Maybe pausing a deck for a few seconds is not as bad as slamming a random track that is un-cued into a live deck, but to me, either way, this is only a problem for amateurs.

totally wrong. makes sense.

Don’t be a hater, the whole idea is breaking it down for newbies or amateurs. If you think you know it all. Don’t read it…. and definitely don’t hate on it.

depends entierly on the dj and the amount of beer he had. and the amount of random devices he uses to play. but yes, i trained myself to check a deck before dropping something into it (as well as checking the mixer before dropping a cd out of a player, or take off some vinyl.. )

some are used to not check first. for them, accidents can happen. i know some friends who do it rather regularly.

as i said, this is a beer-dependent setting.

Take it easy buddy…I’m not hating…just giving some input.

Was that ”Falling” by Maceo Plex playing? Your taste is improving hahah =) Nice post, though I had figured most of these out by myself already.

It happens. Using an X1 and hitting the wrong encoder, getting distracted by someone as you’re loading up, not being able to see your setup very well in the club and hitting the wrong button… It’s not like it’s going to happen every time you load a track, or even every other time you play a set. That said, it just makes things  a bit more idiot proof so that you have to seriously screw things up to stop a loaded track. It’s an especially common issue when you’re using a controller like an S4 and you’re doing four deck mixing – with the layer feature it’s easy to get careless about which deck you’re controlling, especially with minimal feedback about what layer you’re on. Even professionals make mistakes – this feature just helps to make those mistakes harder to commit.

Another great reason to have Traktor keep playing tracks even when they end is hot cues. For example, if I wanna overlay an acapella and this option is not checked, I will need to hold the hot cue for the entire duration of the acapella, instead of simply pressing it once. 

Great old-school video. Quite helpful, especially for beginners.

If you’ve ever actually played out in public more than once, you would realise the value in this feature. It’s just an idiot proofing tool, and very useful

I saw an interview of Funktion One CEO, and he was talking about the Autogain and Limiter having an impact on sound quality. Can anyone confirm that ?

Im not sure I agree with the limiter and auto gain. I have found that the limiter does affect audio quality, enough to be perceivable on a small home system. The auto gain also has a mind of its own sometimes and cannot be trusted to properly level songs.
One of the problems with autogain is its only working on the aplitude of the waveform. Put a very midrange track against a bass driven track and you’ll see what I mean.

imagine if you had your controller set up so that you can load into a deck with a single button press, or a push of a joystick, like pretty much anybody else. now imagine just pushing that joystick the wrong way in a slip of the mind.

you honestly can’t see how a mistake like that could be easily made?

Yes. Autogain does degrade the sound. So does having the mixer in ‘Xone’ emulation mode. And key lock…

Basically your stuff sounds worse in Traktor so start with a HQ file and don’t overdo the Keylock thingy. Limiter is easy: don’t push your mixer into the reds or you’ll blow your tweeters. You think that’s funny? you won’t when you lose your job.

Digital distortion blows speakers. Limiter is bad. Keep stuff out of the red. Pretty easy no?

nice to see a return to traktor videos 

you are stupid and incredibly cocky.
it’s a fail-safe.

It’s still a definite time saver and you can set the auto-gain value of all your tracks manually in the tag properties

It’s not that simple.

Autogain does not have an impact on sound quality at all. It just sets your songs to a decent level, so it is more or less as loud as the other tracks and it is not too loud or too quiet.
The limiter probably works like a harsh compressor. Try not to make use of it but unless you have super high volumes which the limiter has to reduce you won’t notice a huge difference

very helpful post…thank you

I enjoyed it, even though its all information I already know. I’m just glad he is actually teaching the newer people out there. 

[...] Some very good tips from Ean Golden concerning Traktor preferences. I didn’t even have “Loading only into stopped deck” checked! Now I do. “From simple latency adjustments to unknown crucial details like preventing accidental deck stops, I’m busting out the iSight camera and walking you through what you need to know!” Ean Golden [...]

It’s not a fail-safe.  Like I said,  if you are confused or distracted enough that you lose track of what deck is live, then nothing is going to help you.  Either way (option turned on or off) you are going to mess up if you dnt know what deck is playing live (either by slamming in an un-cued track by mistake w/ the option off, or stopping the music w/ the option turned on), thats not what a fail-safe is, but according to you I’m the stupid one.  It’s just one extra step you have to do every time you load a track that doesnt save from not knowing what deck is live.  It’s not worth the extra time.  I wouldnt suggest it.

it really depends on what gear you are using, If i have a Traktor s4 or any other 4 deck 2 jog wheel controller i could very easily load a track into the wrong deck if i got distracted…… It happens to people more then you think 

Yea i do agree with you. However, If you use an outside EQ or gain adjuster such as “Platinum Notes” in addition to Traktors auto gain you will see that the gain level only makes small changes. Regardless you should always monitor your volume levels…..

awesome video Ean. I have a question that I have been looking to answer.
Under transport, what is tempo bend? it staus at 100% but what happens if you change this value?

I like what you listed as important Traktor preferences. I’d add one more from the Playback window (since you were already in that window); “Duplicate deck when playing same track.” I know this will sound alien to a lot of people, but you can actually play two (or more) instances of the same track at the same time so you can do your two(or more)-track phasing or “row-row-row your boat” style off-set looping (and you can do this up to as many times as Traktor has decks). The great thing is that Traktor plays the second track at the exact same time (with all the same parameters and settings) as the currently playing track at the moment you load the second (or more) track in. This process is made much harder without the check box turned on.

There are times when a person is loading a track into a “side” of a controller and cannot tell if it’s Track A or C (or Track B or D). This is basically a way to ensure that the user doesn’t accidentally over-ride any playing track. With this check box clicked, you MUST stop the deck before loading a new one on top of it. Amateur problem or not, we all face “brain fart” moments from time-to-time and Native Instruments decided it warranted the programmers’ time to give their users this option. If you don’t like it don’t use it, but I don’t see any harm in giving people this option.

This is why I love this community.. thanks Ean!

This option would make a lot more sense if it were “only load tracks into off-air deck” or something like that.  That way it will save you from going thru the extra step of stopping a deck everytime you want to load, and also, if you are confused/distracted/disoriented/inexperienced, it will save you from possibly stopping an “on-air” deck cause you are trying to load a track into it

Or press play while you hold it, then let go :)

the info on the video is ok, but my god, ean is so awkwardly unfunny

If you want an in-depth look at the Traktor preferences, take a look at DJ Endo’s 4 part series on it.  http://blog.dubspot.com/traktor-preferences-video-tutorial-pt-1/

Eh.. Am I the only one who cant find the video? :o

 Thanks for the reply, but next time please keep that “im a boss” way of speaking away.
I’m not using these features, I just wanted to deepen my knowledge of Traktor.

 So you mean if you want DJ TECH stuff you should check out dubspot? and if you need irrelevant Info you should check out DJTECHTOOLS?

WHO KNEW?????

…oh right… everyone

[...] Ean’s Tips: 5 Traktor Preferences You Need To Know About [...]

With controllers such as the x1, its not even a case of accidentally loading a track into the wrong deck, but making sure you don’t accidentally push the wrong button. The encoders for the looping functionality are very close and in a dark club environment its an easy mistake.

The “Only load into a stopped deck” is *roughly* the digital equivalent of the CD setting to “Eject only on stopped deck.”  I set that option on Traktor, and on my CD players.  

Neither choice is good or bad, or amature or professional.  Each choice is OK…provided you know (and rehearse) with the setting you will use during a gig.  It is about predictability.  

When moving from my old program to Traktor it was *very* frustrating…UNTIL I learned the keyboard mapping and internalized what every key does when pressed.  

Thank you ean. these simple videos hold their weight in gold… sure i already knew all of this (thanks to the forums), but its so good to see it back to simple things. i like it like that. one video to solve a few issues, no flashy camera switches, just pure content. 

this is what made DJTT a great place to learn. i would gladly put up with ads and product plugs all over the place if i could get videos like this. 

good work ean and all the guys at DJTT we never see. two thumbs way up!

You probably don’t wear a seat belt either.  It takes so much extra time to fasten that buckle.  Just don’t complain when you mangle your face on the windshield.

Thats gotta be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.  WHo’s talkin bout seatbelts?  If you wanna use your dumb anology of seatbelts, lemme break down what this dude is trying to say,  if your not paying attention to where your driving then you’re still going to get into an accident, doesnt matter if you’re wearing a seat belt or not wearing a seat belt.

True, but in the same respect, but if your not paying enough attention that you pressin the wrong buttons, maybe you wont be loading a track into a playing deck, but there’s a whole bunch of other buttons you can mistakenly press that will f*ck up ur set.  Moral of story: be aware of what your doing, cause the only true fail-safe out there…………is being a good DJ

When your djing in a dark booth with a packed club, people, drinks, drunks, anything can happen and everything will happen eventuality. Especially with the S4 all those small buttons have poor lighting. If your really experienced you try to prevent as much as you can.

I don’t believe you are correct here at all to be honest, even pro’s can make simple mistakes. I use Serato but it has basically the same setting. I personally never stop my turntables when mixing as you don’t need to. This effectively make it impossible for me to load in to the wrong deck or at least adds some kind of fail safe to what is effectively an easy mistake to make.

You do know that with this preference on you have to stop your table or pull the needle off the deck before you are able to load the track into that deck in Traktor, right?  So, On or Off you would be screwed.  I’d rather not be forced to stop a deck everytime I have to load a track, especially if it isnt going to prevent f*ck ups anyways.

Thanks “papito”!

cool video, maybe more useful as the other. Sometimes doing it “cheap” gives a best content … or not ^^ Siriously you should do more videos like that : you just need your mac, traktor, and some controllers (or not, like here). You don’t lose your time, you make some Djtechtools readers happy, and everything is great for everyone ;)

Thx Ean !!

like the QDOS reference. lol quick n dirty oldskool style.

 You little girl – he answered you and gave you information you need and your vagina is so sensitive your gonna scold him for his e-tone??  Grow some skin princess

 and you are as wrong as can be – Look at the frequency spectrum visually from something with a limiter on and off, changes everything compresses bands into each other – which literally creates noise.

Great video, thanks Ean! 

Love this video! Ean finally just said “Listen, this isn’t beginner time. If you don’t know the basics, you shouldn’t be here” lmao about time!!

 I love the CTRL + Z option in serato which instantly undoes that mistake.

YESSSSS i knew all this stuff, but learned it hear, back when there were more informative videos!!! EAN BRING THIS BACKKKKK!!!!

Way to completely miss the point.  Even the best driver can make a mistake. It does matter whether you’re wearing a seat belt, because it’s the difference between walking away and getting splattered.

What are you talking about???

I said it works like a compressor, yes. Compressors do not create noise. All they do is change the volume level. 

Compressing bands into each other? What is that supposed to mean?? 
Bands are regions of frequencies, so compressing them INTO each other would mean that you’d shift frequencies which is absolutely not what a compressor does

New most of these but a couple I did not and always good to gain a little more knowledge. Excellent for newbies and for the more experienced who might have thought they knew all they needed to know about Traktor.

As an owner of an Itch controller who has considered the jump to TP2 – especially in light of the massive price drop – I thank you for the ‘fast forward’ through the preference settings.
No hatin’ here!  

It’s saved my ass a couple of times.  I usually turn the option off when I’m practicing, so I can load stuff quickly with no fuss, but it’s definitely prevented a couple of accidents.

+1 for old skool :P

hi 5 to your 5 :) nice tips

I don’t think k.t.i.t. is wrong about the autogain because what he said makes sense.  Futureglue Musik said that autogain degrades the sound.  How?  It could be true but I don’t see how.  And if it is true this would mean that manually adjusting the gain degrades the sound as well.  Any comments?

if you have keylock for a 120bpm and you’re playing the song at 120bpm is the keylock thingy being used.  I don’t think the quality is degraded if playing at same or close to same bpm but I’m not sure.  All I know is that 2 me it sounds the same with keylock in or out but stuff starts to sound weird if playing a 120bpm at 140 (but it also sounds weird with keylock not used so….)

Thanks a lot Ean, I am familiar with everything you touched on but it’s always nice getting some fine tuned information.  I always look forward to vids like these that touch up on Traktor pro 2 and the S4, so keep em coming.

 Depends entirely on the type of limiter. Traktor uses a single-band long-release limiter, which makes no impact on sound quality in terms of harmonics, but quiet sections of the songs will end up being a lot louder than normal. Keep it enabled, but just watch that you don’t go into the red and it won’t ever be turned on for you.

just purchased the s2 bundle from djtt,,am at a very amateur level,,,ordered the traktor bible,,,BUT ,,am very thankful for all the tutorials,,,keep up the good work guys

Just bought a new traktor s4 the other day and it’s my very first time djing. And this site is just what i’ve been looking for. all the tutorials and products. I’m definitely going to be buying some of the s4 caps and 1 or 2 midi fighters XD thanks so much!!

Good tips, always appreciate the enthusiasm and time taken to put these up. Some preferences may not be for everyone, but there’s real value in pointing out these buried features so people can make their own minds up. Good skills Ean.

hello, can anybody tell me how to arrange my decks C and D to the larger layout of A and A. i had it that way to begin with but since going from track deck to sample deck they have remained the slim version track deck, please help

hello, can anybody tell me how to arrange my decks C and D to the larger layout of A and A. i had it that way to begin with but since going from track deck to sample deck they have remained the slim version track deck, please help

You can select the size from Preferences -> Decks Layout -> Size C&D dropdown menu

why when i try to move the latency bar,the bar dont move?¿

my pitch on both decks moves really fast using timecode cds with traktor 2.5.1 and pioneer cdj 1000 mk 2, can you tell me? what the correct settings should be? Thanks

6 P’s B3NNY. Prior Preperation Prevents Piss Poor Performance! It doesnt matter how good you are, everyone screws up now and again, and loading a track onto a playing deck and ruining your set is quite obviously awful! Just covering your arse can save you a lot of hassle and embaressment!

Can some one please help me. I have just started using traktor with my DJM t1 Pioneer mixer. Everything on the mixer works when not using traktor and just using Cdjs but when i am using it through traktor it picks up all midi signals except eq knobs fader and individual track ch1 and ch 2 limiter knobs. Why is this. I have upgraded the software and i dont think its the mixer. Also the Cntrl light indicating a receiving midi messege lights up when i turn the eq knobs but the knobs in traktor do no turn simultaniously Its driving me nutz. Please help anyone. Thanks

Once we were all amateurs….. Or you must be born out of electrical parts….

You are an amazing teacher and explain things very well. =) Thank you =)