Computer Sound Card

Scott Hanna said:

If you only have one usb, a usb hub will solve that issue. For me, every computer I have has at least 4 usb's, so that's not an issue for me. I would guess having more than one is a safe assumption for most.

If your DJ program only recognizes one sound card at a time, it's time to get out of the 80's and get some modern software.

There is a reason that prices vary for different software.

Click to expand...

You guys really need to carefully read the posts. I NEVER said that my laptop only has ONE USB port. What I said is that I may only have one open USB port left after plugging in other components in the three other ports.

I beg your pardon but Traktor Pro & Traktor Scratch is as Modern as they come. There isn't any DJ Software out there that comes as close to all the features and benefits that Traktor offers. As I have stated before it is too complicated for most so they try and tear it down.

Traktor will recognize any or all properly install soundcards on the machine but will allow you only one choice to configure. I thought I had made that point clear. For four decks and a headphone out I will have to use at least 4 of the Behringers and thus occupy 4 USB ports. That was my original argument. Why do that when a multiple soundcard like the Gigaport is the solution for that kind of application.

I do know that most DJs (Not all) on this board do mainly weddings and they do canned and internal mixes so they only need one pair out.

ahoustondj said:

:yoDur:He seems to know everything from the way he posts! As a software developer he ought to know the competition. If he really knew he would not be making these asinine assumptions and conclusions. No disrespect for what he does but he needs to ask questions before spouting off. :yopolitician:

Click to expand...

No, I don't know everything, I just like to discuss everything

One thing I do know well though, is sound cards, decoders and codecs -- that's what I do. I do not know much about Traktor, because it is not my competition. It's not widely used by wedding DJs, which is my core market.

I did a quick search, and found out how you handle multiple cards in Traktor using ASIO4ALL, which simply aggregates WDM driver based sound cards. You did not even take the time to look into it, and see how it is done. After seeing how many other people asked the question, and the responses, it makes me somewhat wary of you, that you didn't even take the time to learn how to use your software of choice.


However, if you would like me to do support for you with Traktor (reading documentation that has already been done, and hand holding as it were) -- I will gladly help at my current rate, which is $250 per hour, minimum 3 hours...

20% deposit to hold the date of said support event, and the remainder paid in full prior to me starting said event. Any additional hours can be invoiced, providing you pass a credit and background check.


So, would you like to book a date for your upcoming special (once in a lifetime) day...?

In my case with VDJ I've been able to run 2 HC4500's in 4 deck mode beautifully, I've also played with 1 HC500, a DAC-3 and M-Audio Fast Track PRO and Fast Track Ultra. You can do more stuff, but that would require a lot more USB ports, but for the average user 4 decks is more than you need and most will do fine with 2 decks. While laptop on board audio cards have improved over time, there's still a huge difference in sound when using an external card. Everybody is happy with the software they've decided to use and what makes them comfortable. I've played with all of them and VDJ is the one that makes me more comfortable, however, Rockit let's you do things old school and simple. For weddings where remixing, scratching and other effects may actually bug the customers, Rockit get the job done with flying colors.

Rick, In a nutshell, three simple USB devices will outshine a Gigaport?

I currently use a HD in my setup. Now if do not have enough ports, would a powered hub be sufficient?

Thoughts? Thanks bud!

ahoustondj said:

You guys really need to carefully read the posts. I NEVER said that my laptop only has ONE USB port. What I said is that I may only have one open USB port left after plugging in other components in the three other ports.

I beg your pardon but Traktor Pro & Traktor Scratch is as Modern as they come. There isn't any DJ Software out there that comes as close to all the features and benefits that Traktor offers. As I have stated before it is too complicated for most so they try and tear it down.

Traktor will recognize any or all properly install soundcards on the machine but will allow you only one choice to configure. I thought I had made that point clear. For four decks and a headphone out I will have to use at least 4 of the Behringers and thus occupy 4 USB ports. That was my original argument. Why do that when a multiple soundcard like the Gigaport is the solution for that kind of application.

I do know that most DJs (Not all) on this board do mainly weddings and they do canned and internal mixes so they only need one pair out.

Click to expand...

I have never used tracktor and couldn't say how good it is or isn't. I wasn't trying to tear it down. I couldn't if I wanted to. I'm not sure what you mean by it will only allow you to configure one sound card...does that mean you can use both at the same time?

Also, I was responding as to what to do if you have one available usb port available, to which I said simply add a hub.

I think needing 4 sound cards is overkill for the vast majority of applications. I don't see the need to have 4 sound cards even if I have the need for 4 decks, which I have not. I don't like to make things more complicated than they have to be.

I keep it simple...one sound card for my decks and one to cue...that's it...no biggie.

I also still believe that most modern DJ software today will support more than one sound card at the same time.

Ed Witles said:

Rick, In a nutshell, three simple USB devices will outshine a Gigaport?

I currently use a HD in my setup. Now if do not have enough ports, would a powered hub be sufficient?

Thoughts? Thanks bud!

Click to expand...

Sorry Ed, read this earlier this morning, then got involved in support calls, and all sorts of riff-raff. Just saw Scott's post though, which reminded me to answer


I'll agree with Scott -- you do not need that many sound cards, unless you are are doing some radical mixing.

I look at it in two ways:

1) If you are mixing internally on your software, and cueing off the software, you only need one external sound card. That external is your mains out going to one channel on your mixer (both decks), and you plug your headphones into the headphone out jack, and use the internal card for cue monitor (both decks).

2) You use two external (identical cards). One for each deck (or set of two decks). Then you cue off your mixer. If you use four decks, one card will be assigned to the left side decks (A or C/ 1 or 3), the other will be for B or D/2 or 4). That's handled via software assignment of the deck outputs.

It's no more complicated than having two turntables/CD decks plugged into the mixer -- it just sounds complicated

Thanks! But what about powered hub?

Ed Witles said:

Thanks! But what about powered hub?

Click to expand...

IMHO, hubs are fine for non-important devices, such as printers, mice, etc.

The problem with them, is all devices attached to the hub, are being channeled through a single root USB hub in the computer. So, where bandwidth is not a concern, they are fine.

Unless your sound cards are async USB (which no DJ sound cards I know of are), they rely on the computer to send the signals in the proper timing sequence to the sound card's DAC. Windows is fairly bad at that to begin with, because it's doing all sorts of things at one time -- then if you introduce bandwidth issues on the USB root hub, it gets worse, and the sound gets slightly degraded.


Whenever possible, I would give each sound card its own USB port (which is hopefully a separate root hub), as the most important thing is the best source sound quality in the output chain. The other devices are of less importance in the scheme of things, and yer not going to care if your mouse has a couple milliseconds of latency.

internal sound card

I use an external sound card for main output and internal for cueing. I can't get enough output from the internal sound card for cueing when I have the party really rockin. Anyone have a suggestion for amplifying my cueing. I have thought about going to the shack and get a headphone splitter, I think they have one with a amp in it.

Wild Joe King said:

I use an external sound card for main output and internal for cueing. I can't get enough output from the internal sound card for cueing when I have the party really rockin. Anyone have a suggestion for amplifying my cueing. I have thought about going to the shack and get a headphone splitter, I think they have one with a amp in it.

Click to expand...

First, tell us more:
What DJ Program are you using?
What Internal Soundcard are you using?
What External Soundcard are you using?

If you are having USB related problems (such as audio glitches) you probably want to isolate everything to their own USB controller when possible. In Windows 7 - Start, Control Panel, Device Manager, view menu, devices by connection, expand ACPI, Microsoft ACPI, PCI bus. Now expand each USB Host Controller, then hub all the way to find out which devices are on which bus. You may find that some USB ports are grouped together on the same controller. Some laptops may split them to each port, but most that I have checked group them together in pairs. 2 USB ports on the right side may be the same controller & hub. Ports on different physical sides of the laptop would normally be separate controllers & hubs. If anyone is using a docking station you definitely want to check as many are actually just a shared hub.

I keep my sound card on a different bus than my DJ controller to limit latency issues. If you use an external mouse or external hard drive you would also want them on a separate controller from your sound card.

ahoustondj said:

First, tell us more:
What DJ Program are you using?
What Internal Soundcard are you using?
What External Soundcard are you using?

Click to expand...

I'm using Mixmiester, internal sound card is what came inside my HP laptop, external is Soundblaster live.

Wild Joe King said:

I'm using Mixmiester, internal sound card is what came inside my HP laptop, external is Soundblaster live.

Click to expand...

Joe,

It basically doesn't matter -- all you need is a headphone amp, connected to the headphone out on the computer.

The headphone out on the computer, is already amplified, but to a small degree. You just need to increase that. Sound quality is not all that important, as it's for cueing. Do a search for headphone amps/pre-amps, and you will find a bunch available.

Don't spend too much money, as all you need to do is increase the output so you can hear it. Most MP3 player/iPod headphone amps will do what you want.

You also have the option of getting new headphones that are more sensitive.