Getting The Best Sound Out of Your Traktor

[DJSigma]

sad but true.

test yourself....
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/...-hearing-test/

I turn 42 in a few weeks, but I can hear all of the files on that page, including the 22 KHz one.

I have to crank up my headphones to hear the 22 KHz file, but I can hear the rest fine.

[NathanWard]

I can hear up to 20khz on that, maybe because one of my ears is badly blocked.

[Lysgaard]

Great thread!
One argument that I find missing in the "does good sound matter to drunk people anyways"-debate, is this:
On a really good soundsystem, where everything is super clear, you can play crazy loud, without destroying people's ears. The drunken pundits can talk normally, almost without raising their voice at all to each other, but still the music is super loud.
In a few bars I've played, with really shitty soundsystems, you have to scream to be heard when talking even with the sound system turned quite low, the result being more
Noise than music. It's almost something that must be seen/heard to believe, really.
If any of you have been to Berghain, you know what I'm talking about.

[sebastiannz]

Great thread!
One argument that I find missing in the "does good sound matter to drunk people anyways"-debate, is this:
On a really good soundsystem, where everything is super clear, you can play crazy loud, without destroying people's ears. The drunken pundits can talk normally, almost without raising their voice at all to each other, but still the music is super loud.
In a few bars I've played, with really shitty soundsystems, you have to scream to be heard when talking even with the sound system turned quite low, the result being more
Noise than music. It's almost something that must be seen/heard to believe, really.
If any of you have been to Berghain, you know what I'm talking about.

I've noticed this too. When I go to shitty mainstream bars or clubs the music is usually cranked loud as hell and you have to yell at people standing right next to you to be heard. When I go to proper dance parties where they put a bit of effort into sound, it is still really loud, but it doesn't hurt my ears and I can chat to people pretty easily.

Accordingly I HATE going to shitty mainstream bars or clubs!

[sobi]

Duplicate thread... mods should lock it.

[lingk]

also through a google search i found this article wich pretty much covers just that, but doesnt mention the limiter, and does mention the key lock (wich would make sense aswell)
http://www.native-instruments.com/kn...+Sound+Quality

So this part was very informative. I never knew until now that even when using external mix mode the EQ and Filter section affects the sound.

Thanks for the link.

[nubz69]

So I have recently upgraded my audio output gear from pretty good to sick. I can definitely hear a difference in SQ between VLC/Foobar and traktor. You can hear a small shift in the sound stage (it becomes flatter and less defined) and a decrease in clarity. Turning off the limiter helped but I am surprised that any piece of profesional sound software would degrade the sound in any way. BTW, This is with 0 EQ, effects, etc.

[makar1]

What EQ type are you using? Have you turned off autogain, and is the Master output at 0.0? Keylock off and pitch at 0%?

[nubz69]

What EQ type are you using? Have you turned off autogain, and is the Master output at 0.0? Keylock off and pitch at 0%?

classic EQ, auto gain on, master output 0.0, keylock off and pitch at 0 - When I posted

When I turn off auto gain the difference becomes smaller but there is still a difference.

I did download the deckadance 2 demo and it was better then Traktor 2 out of the gate but still not as good as VLC.

I would not be surprised if the difference is caused by VLC and similar apps being focused on playing files just as they are and DJ apps focusing on having the ability to change tempo.

I should point out that these differences are small and you would not here them unless you have good headphones on or a really nice monitoring setup with a high end audio card.

[M.Beijer]

same here, dont understand some people who freak out just because of the file. I understand why mp3 can have a bad rap but as long as your not playing transcodes and you stick to 320 then you should be ok.

sure with the right gear and at the appropriate sound level I'm sure some people can tell the diff between lossy and lossless, but if your at a club or festival your ears are most likely getting damaged like every second that your there.

Sad thing that audioquality is such a low priority in most clubs, it's hard and in some occassions frankly impossible to tune a system in good at some clubs but then there should not be a club there IMO.

With that in mind I do play 320kbps mp3 sometimes because I know it doesnt matter, the system sucks anyway, however never lower than 320kbps.

At my home HiFi I play 80% lossless (sometimes spotify is on for inspiration). I can tell the difference on some certain music, but not everything. My DAC handles mp3 pretty nicely so they definately sound good enough to be enjoyable, but why not get the best possible today, when space isnt really an issue?

All my CDs i ripped in lossless but when i purchase music on the net sometimes i go for mp3 320.
Worth to mention im kind of audiophile guy and to truly tell the difference between mp3/lossless audio you need
1. quite good accoustics in room
2. Stereo setup - two speakers, nothing more, nothing less -
3. high end amp, high end dac, good cables and ofcourse proper speakers. (amp matters more than you ever could imagine).
4. sit in a stereotriangle at the right distances which should be measured up according to how long throwrange your speaker has and distance between speakers. Some speakers need to be toed in to the listening position, some does not.