Aggregate Audio/Soundcards/Traktor Pro

[Cimrie]

Hi,

I've always wanted to get into DJ'ing but never had the time, but now that I do I have downloaded a few software demos and bought the equipment I need.

I know that to have the ability to cue tracks whilst keeping the other mix coming out the speakers I needed another soundcard....

So I bough a cheap and cheerful one off amazon.

This is hard to explain so please bare with me.
My problem is when I aggregate the soundcards (mac's own and this other one) together inorder for Traktor to recognaise them ( I end up with a 3in 4 out combo), a problem develops....unlike in other software (mixxx and VDJ) where you can just state that you have to sound cards and then assign to outputs to monitor and 2 to speakers; traktor gets confused and plays the mix through both speakers and headphones, and when I press the button on the controller for the deck i want to hear through the headphones I hear the entire mix plus the mix I want slightly louder. This is kind of defeating the the purpose of the headphones

I think the problem lies in the Audio MIDI set up utility with clock selection and resample boxes needing ticked or something....but I am far too much of a noob at that.

Please help me work out how to get the MIx played through my speakers and only the deck I want to monitor being played through the headphones
- It is neither the soundcards fault or the headphones as this works fine in Virtual DJ and Mixxx.

thanks!

 

[newuser2310]

Hi,

I never knew you could aggregate the soundcards thanks!

I just setup traktor.

I have the following setup

Cheap usb soundcard which is connected to my speakers.

Headphones coming out of my imac's built in output.





The follwing setup enables me to cue tracks through the headphones(built in output) and have the main output from my speakers(usb soundcard)

 

[Cimrie]

Hi,

I never knew you could aggregate the soundcards thanks!

I just setup traktor.

I have the following setup

Cheap usb soundcard which is connected to my speakers.

Headphones coming out of my imac's built in output.





The follwing setup enables me to cue tracks through the headphones(built in output) and have the main output from my speakers(usb soundcard)

Thanks for your reply, glad I could help you, but I just tried your method and it didnt work for me, I put the speakers through usb sound card and headphones through built in but this time the speakers got louder when i seleceted which deck to listen to with "headphones"

Some screenshots of my set up...you appear to have one more input than me on ur usb soundcard :S Which card do you have? Any ideas on my problemo?

Dont know why it is calling my USB soundcard headphone :/ thought he headphones do need a usb to power them

 

[newuser2310]

Thanks for your reply, glad I could help you, but I just tried your method and it didnt work for me, I put the speakers through usb sound card and headphones through built in but this time the speakers got louder when i seleceted which deck to listen to with "headphones"

Some screenshots of my set up...you appear to have one more input than me on ur usb soundcard :S Which card do you have? Any ideas on my problemo?

Dont know why it is calling my USB soundcard headphone :/ thought he headphones do need a usb to power them

I've got one of these:

http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...sa=X&ei=5U11Te7cHseShAf1xLVC&ved=0CB8Q8gIwAQ#

Its very cheap, the inputs are just line in.

What exact soundcard do you have? And what controller are you using?

Also what do you mean by your headphones needing usb power?

By far the easiest solution is to buy a better external soundcard, one with 4 outs to enable monitoring. Sound quality will increase and latency will be reduced.

 

[Cimrie]

What exact soundcard do you have? And what controller are you using?

Also what do you mean by your headphones needing usb power?

Soundcard - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002FI7GWK/ref=oss_product

Controller -
Hercules mp3 e2

Headphones-
Turtle Beach headset- think its this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turtle-Beac..._1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299533175&sr=1-1-catcorr

Its meant for xbox 360 but I thought i could use it on mac, works fine on other software, for some bizzare reason require power from a USB to work

 

[Cimrie]

I've got one of these:

http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...sa=X&ei=5U11Te7cHseShAf1xLVC&ved=0CB8Q8gIwAQ#

Its very cheap, the inputs are just line in.

What exact soundcard do you have? And what controller are you using?

Also what do you mean by your headphones needing usb power?

By far the easiest solution is to buy a better external soundcard, one with 4 outs to enable monitoring. Sound quality will increase and latency will be reduced.

Your soundcard is affordable for me, slight problem my speakers only have a 3.5mm input cable :/ same as headphones. How would the cabling work on your soundcard?

 

[newuser2310]

so you have the headphones connected via usb

the cheapo soundcard connected via usb

and the standard built in output.

Have you got any normal headphones, even earbuds to test it out? I think the headphones are giving you the trouble with traktor


1. Remove the usb headphones
2. connect your speakers to the usb sound card.
3. Connect your earbuds/other headphones to the built in output.

Setup the aggregate soundcard like mine.

See if that works

Your soundcard is affordable for me, slight problem my speakers only have a 3.5mm input cable :/ same as headphones. How would the cabling work on your soundcard?

You can get a phono to jack cable for about £5

Also with the one i have it only has 2 outputs despite having a headphone socket, so i had to use the aggregate solution to enable monitoring.

 

[Cimrie]

so you have the headphones connected via usb

the cheapo soundcard connected via usb

and the standard built in output.

Have you got any normal headphones, even earbuds to test it out? I think the headphones are giving you the trouble with traktor


1. Remove the usb headphones
2. connect your speakers to the usb sound card.
3. Connect your earbuds/other headphones to the built in output.

Setup the aggregate soundcard like mine.

See if that works




You can get a phono to jack cable for about £5

Also with the one i have it only has 2 outputs despite having a headphone socket, so i had to use the aggregate solution to enable monitoring.

Slight progress...When I set up like this


Then I can monitor headphones when both channels are muted on mixer otherwise i hear everything plus the one i want to much louder....actualy thats back to square one

Using iphone headphones this time...same problem.

Thanks for the help thus far

 

[Cimrie]

Problem solved....

After all that the

"mix knob" was set at 53%....no wonder i was hearing the mix all the time.

Should have been like this


Thanks for all your help

 

[newuser2310]

ETA, thats great. How exactly do you have it setup?

IMO Using the aggregate soundcard function is not a permanent solution.

Its much better to have the all the audio coming in/out of one device.

You will get much greater sound quality,reliability and less latency using one device.

This will be very important if you want to/end up djing outside your own home.

http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/focusrite-saffire-6-usb--67804
http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardw...re-audio-interface-and-monitor-control--48578

^^ I do realise £150+ is alot to spend initially but in the long run you will see the benefits outweigh the cost.

The phrase "buy cheap buy twice" is worth thinking about.

 

[Cimrie]

ETA, thats great. How exactly do you have it setup?

IMO Using the aggregate soundcard function is not a permanent solution.

Its much better to have the all the audio coming in/out of one device.

You will get much greater sound quality,reliability and less latency using one device.

This will be very important if you want to/end up djing outside your own home.

http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/focusrite-saffire-6-usb--67804
http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardw...re-audio-interface-and-monitor-control--48578

^^ I do realise £150+ is alot to spend initially but in the long run you will see the benefits outweigh the cost.

The phrase "buy cheap buy twice" is worth thinking about.

Couldn't agree more. Yes this setup is very much temporary to see if DJ'ing is for me then I can slowly expand my gear (first step decent multi channel soundcard hha)

Set up is very dodgy...Speakers to Cheapy USB soundcard to USB expander to mac, headphones to mac, and their USB power supply to USB port expander (along with the USB for deck, lol)

 

[newuser2310]

Glad you got it working!