Traktor Scratch Poor (a.k.a. Ghetto Timecode Control)
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  1. #1
    Tech Wizard
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    Default Traktor Scratch Poor (a.k.a. Ghetto Timecode Control)

    So after a few hours of tweaking, I have a working timecode vinyl control setup within Traktor Scratch Pro without the Audio8, or any other pricey 4in/4out card. In fact, my external soundcard only has 2 inputs! Since Traktor only allows you to use one sound device at a time, combining your available devices involves a little bit of software trickery. Here's my current setup:

    • 2 used Technics SL-1200MK2 turntables ($200 each)
    • 2 Traktor Scratch Control Vinyl ($12 each)
    • Four RCA female-female barrel connectors and two RCA-to-1/8" adapters ($6 shipped from Monoprice.com)
    • VCI-100 1.3fw w/ Black DJTT SE Skin ($300, bought from NateD)
    • Miglia HarmonyAudio 2in/8out Firewire Card ($30 from Amazon)
    • Macbook Pro Santa Rosa 2.4ghz ($600, bought broken and repaired)


    Oh, and a free copy of Traktor Scratch Pro from a friend who bought it and decided he liked Serato better

    Total: $1360.

    Here's how my current setup is connected:

    1) Technics Deck A: Connect barrel connectors to phono output, then use RCA-to-1/8" to connect to Macbook Pro's stereo line-in.

    2) Technics Deck B: Connect barrel connectors to phono output, then use RCA-to-1/8" to connect to HarmonyAudio's stereo line-in.

    3) Onto the software trickery! Open up the Audio Midi Setup app in /Applications/Utilities and create an Aggregate Audio Device. More information here: http://www.apple.com/pro/techniques/aggregateaudio/. My Aggregate Device is:

    Macbook Line-In (2 in, resampled)
    HarmonyAudio (2 in / 8 out, set as clock)

    You'll want to set the clock to whatever device you're outputting to, and resample all your other devices to keep them in sync.

    The order of your devices in the list is that order that Traktor will see the inputs/outputs on the Aggregate Device. So if my list is in the above order, then in Traktor I would see:

    "Aggregate Device (4 in, 8 out)"

    ...which would correlate as listed below, for me.

    Aggregate Device In 0 -- Macbook Line-In Channel 0
    Aggregate Device In 1 -- Macbook Line-In Channel 1
    Aggregate Device In 2 -- HarmonyAudio In Channel 0
    Aggregate Device In 3 -- HarmonyAudio In Channel 1
    Aggregate Device Out 0 -- HarmonyAudio Out Channel 0
    Aggregate Device Out 1 -- HarmonyAudio Out Channel 1
    Aggregate Device Out 2-7 -- HarmonyAudio Out Channel 2-7

    You'll likely have a different soundcard, and therefore a different quantity and combination of inputs/outputs, so I'm just defining the connections to clarify my example setup.

    4) Now open up Traktor Scratch Pro. Set your audio device to the Aggregate Device, map your Input Routing/Output Routing, and go to Timecode Setup. Should now be seeing a timecode signal for Decks A and B!

    I had to adjust my inputs until I got a strong enough signal for Traktor to read the timecode. On my HarmonyAudio box I just turned the input gain all the way up, and for the Macbook Pro line-in, I went to Sound Preferences and set it Line-In to 75% gain (just before the 4th tick). Once everything was set, I had a solid, responsive vinyl setup, with a 2.5ms latency.

    Right now, I'm only using two of my soundcard's outputs into my monitors. For when I use this in a club, I would just use the HarmonyAudio's 8 outputs into the club mixer. 4 for Decks A&B into the mixer, 2 for monitoring and 2 for rec/ other line out.

    I'll put a vid of this setup working if anybody wants it, but a lot of you should have similar enough gear to try this out for yourselves. Good luck!

    --

    Charlie Tran, Brooklyn bedroom DJ / web developer
    Last edited by ctran; 04-09-2009 at 09:47 PM.

  2. #2
    Tech Wizard
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    Quote Originally Posted by ctran View Post
    I'll put a vid of this setup working if anybody wants it, but a lot of you should have similar enough gear to try this out for yourselves.
    A video would be great!

  3. #3

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    really ... no way .. so what exactly doesthe audio 8 do as far as scratch pro is concerned ?
    M I S T E R M O L E Y M O L E
    part of the digital revolution

  4. #4
    Dr. Bento BentoSan's Avatar
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    If you would like to write up a tutorial and put it on the blog hit me up and we can sort something out.

  5. #5
    Tech Mentor alien2k's Avatar
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    No way! This is the first time I listen to something like this. Please go ahead an make the video, really looking forward to it, and lookkng forward to figure out how to make it work on XP.

  6. #6
    Tech Guru
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    awesomeness!
    FIX8:OSCill8
    My Rig: Macbook 13" (2.16ghz 4gb crucial ram), VCI-100 custom paint, Korg Nanopad, Axiom 25, DJIO

  7. #7
    Tech Wizard
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    Thanks guys! I'll make a video later tonight and post it up. It'll even be in HD

    Quote Originally Posted by MisterMoleyMole
    really ... no way .. so what exactly doesthe audio 8 do as far as scratch pro is concerned ?
    Currently it appears that Traktor Scratch Pro does not use the Audio8 as a dongle / authentication device of any sort, like how Serato won't work without an approved mixing box. Basically all the Audio8 does is boost the phono input from your turntables up to the appropriate level.

    Quote Originally Posted by BentoSan
    If you would like to write up a tutorial and put it on the blog hit me up and we can sort something out.
    I've actually been e-mailing Ean for a while about this, heh. Dude is busy! Sure, if you want to make me a Wordpress login I'll reformat it. Although, my concern is that if this technique gets more popularized, Traktor may lock out generic sound cards out of future versions.

  8. #8
    Mudo
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    ...
    Native will dongle again...

    ...

  9. #9
    DJTT Dominator JesC's Avatar
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    nice work ctran, it looks like you put some serious work into getting this working. I hate to say it but once NI catches wind of this they will most likey patch it in the next update.
    Controllerist: Think different | SoundCloud | MixCloud | Twitter |

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by JesC View Post
    I hate to say it but once NI catches wind of this they will most likey patch it in the next update.
    Upon further research, maybe not! NI has been aware of this since at least November 2008:

    http://www.nativeinstruments.de/foru...ad.php?t=75024

    While it's possible that maybe they just haven't allocated any dev time towards patching this out, it could also be that they just don't care, or can't do it?

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