TRAKTOR PRO 2.9. Manual Englisch (2015)

8.4

FILTER, KEY and Effect Insert

Mixer with Filter, Key and Effect Insert.

This chapter provides information on basic concepts and functionalities of the

FILTER

knob,

the

KEY

knob and the Effect inserts (

knobs).

(1) FILTER: The

FILTER

knob provides a bipolar filter.

►

In center position, the filter is inactive.

►

Turning the knob to the right activates a high-pass-filter. The more you move it to the
right, the more low and middle frequencies are cut out.

►

Turning it to the left activates a low-pass-filter. The more you move it to the left, the
more high and middle frequencies are cut out.

►

In Preferences > Mixer > Filter Selection you can choose between

Xone:92

, emulating Al-

len & Heath’s Xone Series filters, and Filter for a regular

Ladder

filter.

The filter selection is limited to Xone:92 in ME 2.

The Internal Mixer & the Crossfader

FILTER, KEY and Effect Insert

TRAKTOR - Manual - 129

(2) Effect Insert: The two (or four) Effect Insert buttons in each channel insert the effect units
into the signal chain.

►

You can insert all Effect Units in one channel.

►

You can insert the same Effect Unit in more than one channel.

►

You can insert an Effect Unit on all channels to simulate a Master Effect.

►

When switching an Effect Unit to External Send mode, the according

button is disa-

bled.

Turning off an effect with the Insert Buttons stops processing of this effect instance and
therefore saves CPU power.

(3) KEY: With the

KEY

knob you can control the pitch of a playing track without affecting its

tempo. Key control has to be activated by pressing the small button underneath the knob. Key
can be used for harmonic mixing.

►

In the center position, the track is played at original pitch.

►

Turning it left or right adjusts the pitch up or down.

KEY

knob is not available in LE 2.

The Internal Mixer & the Crossfader

FILTER, KEY and Effect Insert

TRAKTOR - Manual - 130

8.5

Headphone Controls

Headphone controls.

(1) CUE: Pre-listen to a track over the internal TRAKTOR mixer.
(2) TICK: With the

TICK

button you can activate an audible beat tick that works like a metro-

nome and helps you while editing Beatgrids.

►

In Internal Mixer mode the tick is only audible on signals cued over the headphones.

►

In External Mixer mode the tick is laid over the Deck channel signal when Headphone
Cue on the Internal Mixer is active.

(3) MIX: The

MIX

knob lets you mix the cued signal with the master signal in your headphones.

The Internal Mixer & the Crossfader

Headphone Controls

TRAKTOR - Manual - 131

(4) VOL: The

VOL

knob controls the volume of the Monitor output for your headphones.

(5) AUX: The

AUX

knob controls the volume of the AUX input, which can be fed by an external

signal like a microphone.

►

If using an internal sound card on a laptop you will need to activate the Cue button on
the Internal Mixer and adjust your output monitor settings to hear the Tick. You can ad-

just monitor settings in Preferences > Output Routing > Output Monitor.

8.6

The Internal Mixer in External Mixer Mode

TRAKTOR can be used with an external mixer that replaces the Internal Mixer. However, you
can use certain features of the Internal Mixer also in External Mixer mode.
The

Crossfader

and the

Channel Faders

are disabled in External Mixer mode.

The controls of the Internal Mixer that can be combined with an external mixer are:

• The EQs of TRAKTOR’s internal mixer.
• The Deck’s

FILTER

•

KEY

and

•

GAIN

knob.

• The headphone Cue button is used to make the beat tick audible on that channel if

TICK

in the Master Clock panel is activated.

• The

PAN

knob is useful as not all hardware mixers have individual pan controls.

The

MAIN

Knob in the Master panel works also in External Mixer Mode and can be used to

raise or lower the overall volume.

TRAKTOR's internal EQs are also available in external mixer mode.

The Internal Mixer & the Crossfader

The Internal Mixer in External Mixer Mode

TRAKTOR - Manual - 132

Using TRAKTOR with an External Mixer

TRAKTOR can either replace an entire DJ setup or it can just replace your Decks. In the latter

case, you will be using TRAKTOR in combination with an external mixer. This allows you to mix
your digital tracks with the analog feel of the knobs and faders of a hardware mixer.

9.1

Requirements

The requirements of your hardware depend on the complexity of your setup.

9.1.1

The Mixer

In External Mixer mode, each Deck of TRAKTOR is routed to one of the channels of your mixer.
The inputs required for TRAKTOR Decks are LINE level inputs—the same as for CD players.
The most basic TRAKTOR setup uses two playback Decks and therefore requires a two-channel
mixer.
Adding a third and fourth Deck can extend this setup. Each additional source requires an addi-
tional input on your mixer.
An even more advanced setup integrates the TRAKTOR send effects. Using them not only re-

quires one more channel on your mixer but also an effects send output on the mixer to feed
the effects directly from the mixer. Usually this output can be controlled either via FX send
knobs or buttons on each channel of the mixer.

9.1.2

Audio Device

For connecting all Decks to the mixer an audio interface with as many stereo channels as
Decks used is required. TRAKTOR does not support two sound cards side by side, but there are
ways to aggregate sound cards to make them appear as a single audio device in TRAKTOR's
audio setup.
If you want to use the send effect feature, the audio interface also must have an additional
stereo input for the effects send signal coming from the mixer.

Using TRAKTOR with an External Mixer

Requirements

TRAKTOR - Manual - 133

If you have enough available channels on your hardware, the Preview Player can also be con-
nected to a separate output of the soundcard.

Audio interfaces and controllers from Native Instruments are specially designed to fit the

requirements of TRAKTOR. For more information on these devices please visit

http://

www.native-instruments.com/traktor

TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO

If you are using TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO, the Audio 10 and/or a TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO
Certified Mixer is required!

9.2

Hardware Setup

See

↑

19.2, TRAKTOR with an External Audio Interface

for instructions on how to connect the

mixer.

9.3

Software Setup

When launching TRAKTOR for the first time, the Setup Wizard lets you choose the basic setup
for External Mixer mode. But it is also possible to do the adjustments directly in the Preferen-
ces. To do so, open Preferences > Audio Setup by clicking the dedicated

Preferences

button in

the Header or go to File > Audio Setup in the Application Menu Bar and continue directly with
step 3.
1.

In the Setup Wizard select the option

External Mixer

Confirm your choice by pressing

. This opens the

Audio Setup

page of the Preferences.

Use the Audio Device drop-down list and select your external audio interface.

Using TRAKTOR with an External Mixer

Hardware Setup

TRAKTOR - Manual - 134

Set a latency and sample rate your system can handle. Start with a higher latency at first,
such as 15 ms. (For now use a moderate latency setting. You can change this later and
test what your system is able to handle.)

Open the

Output Routing

page to assign the outputs of TRAKTOR to the physical outputs

of your audio interface.

Verify that

External

is selected in the

Mixing Mode

section.

Assign

Output Deck A

and

to all outputs of the external audio interface that are

connected to the mixer. Note that you have to connect a pair of outputs to each channel,
so

Deck A

typically connects to Outputs 1 and 2 of your audio interface,

Deck B

to Out-

puts 3 and 4, and so on. To use send effects you also have to assign the

Output FX Re-

turn

(typically to the channel that is connected to the FX Return of the mixer).

If you want to use the send effects, go to the

Input Routing

page and assign the

Input FX

Send (Ext)

. Typically this is fed by the

FX Send output

of the mixer.

Close the Preferences by clicking the

button.

Be aware that effects set to Post Fader mode will not be audible when switching to external

mixing.

Audio interfaces and controllers from Native Instruments are specially designed to fit the
requirements of TRAKTOR. Please refer to the documentation of your device for specific in-
formation regarding setup.

The FX Send is not available in ME 2.

TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO 2

When using TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO 2 you also need to configure the Timecode Setup (see

↑

14.6, Timecode Setup

Using TRAKTOR with an External Mixer

Software Setup

TRAKTOR - Manual - 135

Using the Header and Global Sections

The Header section in TRAKTOR contains various status indicators and useful functions and

buttons, e.g., the Preferences button. The Global section contains the Master panel, which
contains the main output of TRAKTOR. It also lets you control the effects, the Master Clock,
and allows audio recording of your mixes.

10.1 Header

TRAKTOR’s Header

The Header is the small horizontal strip located at the very top of TRAKTOR’s user interface.
Its elements are described hereafter from left to right.

10.1.1 TRAKTOR Logo

TRAKTOR logo

Click on the TRAKTOR logo to open the About TRAKTOR screen. This screen displays the full
version number of your TRAKTOR software.

10.1.2 Status Indicators

Status indicators

Several status indicators update you about the current state of the TRAKTOR software. From
left to right:

Using the Header and Global Sections

Header

TRAKTOR - Manual - 136

• CTRL indicator: displays the incoming MIDI and Native (NHL) signals. It flashes blue while

a signal is received.

• Connection : shows if all listed controllers are connected—blue = all connected; orange =

some controller(s) not connected; unlit = none connected.

• AUDIO indicator: displays the connection to your audio interface—blue = connected; red =

not connected; orange = internal soundcard selected.

• LOAD indicator: indicates how much of computing time available per audio buffer is cur-

rently used by Traktor to process audio data contained in one buffer. This value shows

how stressed the audio processing is and how much headroom is left before audio starts
dropping out. The system should be kept at values below the LOAD Indicator turning red.

• System Clock : displays the time of day, depending on the system time.
• MAIN : displays the Master Output level. There are three colors: blue, orange and red. Ad-

just it so that the MAIN level meter fully uses the available range (peaks go into the or-
ange area) but without clipping (red area).

• BAT indicator: gives information about how much power remains in your computer’s bat-

tery. It glows blue if you have a power supply connected and red when you’re running
from battery.

• REC indicator: displays the status of TRAKTOR’s Audio Recorder. It turns red when record-

ing.

The REC indicator is not available in LE 2.

10.1.3 Layout Selector

Layout Selector

Using the Header and Global Sections

Header

TRAKTOR - Manual - 137

Click on the downwards-pointing arrow to open the drop-down menu and choose from one of
the default Layouts. You can delete, define, and save your own Layouts in the Preferences.

Layout customizing and managing is disabled in LE 2.

Layout management and selection is not available in ME 2.

10.1.4 Utility Buttons

Utility Buttons

From left to right:

• Maximize Browser : A click on this button will toggle the maximized Browser view which

comes in handy whenever you’re searching for a track in a large list.

• Preferences : here you can open the Preferences—all TRAKTOR settings are made here.
• Cruise : Cruise mode allows you to automatically play one track after the other from a

Playlist or your Track Collection. Engaging Cruise seamlessly takes over playback control.

►

To activate Cruise mode click the Cruise button in the Header:

Cruise mode is not available in LE 2.

• The Channel Fader of the playing track will be completely opened while the other will be

closed.

• The Crossfader is set automatically to the center position.
• The currently playing track continues to play.
• The next song from the Playlist will be loaded in the opposite Deck and started by TRAK-

TOR automatically when the first track reaches its end.

• Then the next song of the Playlist will be loaded and played automatically and so on.

Using the Header and Global Sections

Header

TRAKTOR - Manual - 138

Note

►

At least one track has to be playing when engaging Cruise mode.

►

To avoid an unwanted volume jump, move the channel fader of the track playing to its
maximum position. Optionally lower the

MAIN

knob in the Master panel instead.

►

Use a Playlist to create an order for the tracks to be played automatically.

►

You can automate Cruise mode when using it in combination with Fade and Load Markers
to control the transitions. For that, select Activate Fade In & Out Markers in Preferences
> Loading > Loading.

►

You can manually trigger the transition to the next song at any moment by pulling down
the channel fader of the currently playing track.

Cruise Mode will also work when using an external mixer.

• Fullscreen : activates Fullscreen mode where none of the operating system’s controls are

visible.

10.2 The Global Section

The Global section

The Global section offers six distinct panels. Depending on the screen size and resolution of
your computer, not all panels can be displayed at the same time. In that case, you can reach
every panel by clicking on the corresponding tab at the far left and right.

Loop Recorder and Master Clock are disabled. In addition to this, the Snap and Quantize
buttons are not available in LE 2.

The Loop Recorder is not available in ME 2.

Using the Header and Global Sections

The Global Section

TRAKTOR - Manual - 139

10.2.1 Master Panel

The Master panel in the center of the Global section provides the main volume and Control

mode buttons.

Master panel with MAIN knob and MAIN level meter.

Main Level

The MAIN knob (

MAIN

) controls the main volume output.

• Default position (0db) is at 2 o’clock.
• Adjust it so that the MAIN level meter fully uses the available range (peaks go into the

orange area) but without clipping (red area).

• In External Mixer mode, the MAIN knob serves as an overall gain to adjust the output of

TRAKTOR to the input sensitivity of the external mixer.

Control Modes

TRAKTOR’s Control modes affect the mouse and cue point behavior during playback, allowing
synced navigation in the track and accurate setting of Cue Points.
All modes can be activated independently. They work globally for all Decks. When activated,
the Mode buttons Snap (

) and Quantize (

) are lit blue.

•

(Snap): The Snap button in the Master panel of the Global section affects the behavior

of setting Cue Points or Loops. When Snap is on, Cue Points or Loops are always set to
the closest beat.

•

(Quantize): This lets you jump between Cue Points and Stored Loops seamlessly and

without losing sync and also works with Hotcues. Skipping in the track in Quantize mode
brings the play position to the next destination, but without losing sync.

Using the Header and Global Sections

The Global Section

TRAKTOR - Manual - 140

10.2.2 The Loop Recorder

Loop Recorder—Master panel

The Loop Recorder allows you to record new material on the fly and can capture input from
several sources. Select the Recording Source (5): The drop-down menu offers the following
choices:

• Main will record TRAKTOR’s overall signal.
• Cue will record any channel(s) whose Headphones Cue button is on.
• Ext picks up the signal assigned to TRAKTOR’s Input Send channel.
• Aux will pick up the signal assigned to TRAKTOR’s Aux channel—typically the micro-

phone input (for more info on how to use a microphone, please see chapter

↑

19.6, Adding

a Microphone

Press the SIZE button (2) to determine the initial length of the recording. The length of the re-
cording will be displayed in the progress bar (3). Start recording using the Record button (6) and
use it again to start and stop overdubbing. Use the Play button (7) to start and stop playback.
The progress bar will display a red frame when recording and a blue frame during playback.
Adjust the ratio of main to recorded signal with the DRY/WET knob (1).

►

For an in-depth tutorial on the Loop Recorder please read

↑

16.9, Using the Loop Record-

►

To find out how to use a microphone with the Loop Recorder please read

↑

19.6.1, Using

Your Microphone with the Loop Recorder

If you’re using TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO 2 and are therefore in External Mixing mode, the only
available option is Ext.

Using the Header and Global Sections

The Global Section

TRAKTOR - Manual - 141

The Loop Recorder is not available in ME 2.

10.2.3 Master Clock Panel

The Master Clock is a central component of TRAKTOR and works as a tempo reference for the

effects and for the sync function. It also sends a MIDI Clock signal to external hardware and

software.
To show the Master Clock panel, click on the Metronome icon on the left side of the Global
section.

Master Clock Panel.

EXT (1): Syncs Master Clock to an External MIDI clock. TICK (5): Toggles an audible metro-
nome Beat Tick with the Master Clock as source on or off. MASTER (2): Activate this button in
order to play on four Decks with a stable tempo reference. It is also the mode to be used when
TRAKTOR is sending out the master tempo via MIDI Clock messages to another application or
hardware being slaved to TRAKTOR. AUTO (6): Automatically selects one of the Decks as tem-
po master. The Master Clock automatically syncs to the Master Deck. Tempo display (3): Dis-
plays the current tempo and offset of the Master Clock. TAP (7): Sets the Master Tempo man-
ually by tapping to the beat. Tempo Bend buttons (4): Slows down or speeds up the Master tem-
po momentarily. Tempo Up/Down buttons (8): Decreases or Increases the Master tempo step-
wise. SYNC: Resets the external slaves connected via MIDI clock. MIDI Clock Start/Stop: Acti-
vates or Deactivates MIDI Clock for external synchronization.

►

For a tutorial on the Master Clock Panel please refer to

↑

16.10, Synchronization

Using the Header and Global Sections

The Global Section

TRAKTOR - Manual - 142

The Master Clock panel is not available in LE 2.

10.2.4 MIDI Clock Send

The MIDI Clock feature gives you the ability to sync external hardware to the tempo of the

tracks playing in TRAKTOR.

Master Clock Panel—MIDI Clock Send.

►

Click the Metronome symbol on the far left of the Global section to switch to Master
Clock panel.

►

To send a MIDI Clock Start message for syncing the slaved devices, click the

Start/Stop

button. Clicking it again sends a MIDI Clock Stop message.

►

Pressing

SYNC

, sends a MIDI Clock Stop message instantly followed by a MIDI Clock

Start message to re-sync the slaved devices.

►

Before you can send the MIDI Clock signal you have to activate

Send MIDI Clock

in Pref-

erences > MIDI Clock.

►

To match the beats between the sending and the receiving TRAKTOR application, the
MIDI Clock sending offset must be adjusted in the sending application in Preferences >
MIDI Clock.

Normal MIDI Clock Messages are sent continuously as soon as the preferences checkbox
"Send MIDI Clock" is activated.

MIDI Clock Send is not available in ME 2.

Using the Header and Global Sections

The Global Section

TRAKTOR - Manual - 143

10.3 Effect Panels

TRAKTOR has four individual Effect Units. Their control panels are located on the left and the

right side of the Global section. For switching from either the Master Clock or the Audio Re-

corder to the respective Effect panel, click on the tabs labeled FX on either end of the Global

section.
You can choose between 2 or 4 visible Effects. To switch from 2 Effects mode (default) to 4
Effects mode, go to Preferences > Effects > FX Unit Routing.
Each of the Effects Units can be inserted into any of the TRAKTOR Decks individually or into
more than one Deck at a time by clicking on the FX Assign buttons found in the mixer strip of
each Deck.
TRAKTOR’s effects are insert effects by default, but you can also use them as post fader ef-
fects, and as send effects.
Each of the Effects Units can be used in 2 modes—Group and Single—described hereafter.
The mode can be switched in Preferences > Effects > FX Panel Mode.

►

To follow an effects tutorial please read

↑

16.7, Adding FX

►

For detailed information on effect parameters go to

↑

15.4, The Effects in Detail

►

For a list of effects preferences please refer to

↑

14.14, Effects

Only two FX Units are available in ME 2.

Using the Header and Global Sections

Effect Panels

TRAKTOR - Manual - 144

TRAKTOR PRO 2.9. Manual Englisch (2015) - part 8