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Topic: Strange sound issues - Page: 1

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pungentPRO InfinityMember since 2011
Have a weird issue with sound. I gig every weekend and plug into various gear and set ups in clubs and pubs and also my own mobile set up. These vary from Powered set ups to active set ups and seem to be encountering the same problem no matter what the gear is.

I'm using a DDJ-SR but also had the same issue with my DDJ-ergo although not as noticable. The sound is a lot clearer through the SR which I think is why I am noticing it more.

Too start with the LED sound meter on the SR seem to redline way before any of the systems do so I have to basically ignore them.

The easiest way to explain the issue is using two songs I really notice it on. First one is Party rock by LMFAO. You bring the song in with the simple beat at the start of the song and you have to increase volume as it is quieter but then when the synthesizer part comes in it is so much louder too the point of being extreme to have to back volume off but then having to increase again. This happens all the way through the song.

Also the song Animals by Martin Garrix. synthesizer parts are incredibly loud but everything else is low. Last night I had the amps clipping trying to get the volume high enough but the the momentary synthesizer parts in the dance parts were nearly deafening.

It happens in a lot of songs but these songs seem to really show it bad. I have re downloaded the songs a couple of times from beatport and i-tunes to make sure there quality is a 100% and makes no difference.

A number of the set ups I plug into I seem to have to run my controller at full volume then adjust gains to allow for song differences......it's like I just can't seem to be able to get volume then its very up and down through the songs with lot's of highs and lows like im clipping all the time.

Other DJ's plugging into the same gear are not having my issues.

Have tried so many different sound settings with latency etc etc but no difference.

Someone please help!!!!

 

Posted Sat 21 Feb 15 @ 5:13 pm
There is an Auto Gain option in the options - once song is loaded and analysed it sets the gain level for the song automatically. This won't vary throughout the song though.

You could have EQ settings issues if certain sounds are far too loud?

Many complain about the over-use of compression making songs maximum volume from beginning to end, so having problems with a variety is unusual.
 

Posted Sun 22 Feb 15 @ 3:18 pm
locoDogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
Don't ignore the VU meters!, When you say the synth kicks in, do you mean with the beat or on the break?
 

Posted Sun 22 Feb 15 @ 3:37 pm
pungentPRO InfinityMember since 2011
Have played around with auto gains etc and if gains are up too high it makes audio clip so have tried playing with them but don't help.

If I don't ignore the level indicators on the SR I may as well just pack up and go home. The sound just isn't loud enough.

Played around a little last night at home and this is a bit of a conclusion I have come up with but not yet varified.

I run my channel volume sliders on full volume and adjust my volume from my master volume knob on the SR. What I noticed last night is the master volume on the VDJ screen don't move with my controller meaning VDJ master and also each deck is always at max volume.

I tried with VDJ master only on half volume then adjusted volume from the SR and the sound seemed a lot clearer and seemed to go louder without pushing the speakers.

Maybe VDJ was clipping itself because it was always maxed and then the signal to the SR soundcard was too much too early.

Thoughts on this??

Ill play around again this afternoon when I can make a bit more noise without disturbing neighbors too much lol.

Thanks for help so far 😀
 

Posted Sun 22 Feb 15 @ 11:24 pm
pungentPRO InfinityMember since 2011
Locodog...... on the break as if its clipping cause the beat is too much but then allows the synth to come back at full volume when the beat momentarily stops.
 

Posted Sun 22 Feb 15 @ 11:27 pm
PachNPRO InfinityMember since 2009
Have you tried to set the option zeroDB to 0.7
 

Posted Mon 23 Feb 15 @ 6:46 am
pungentPRO InfinityMember since 2011
Played around last night and that was definately my biggest issue. Got a lot louder clearer sound at less volume and my level meters never went into the red at all. My speakers maxed out first.

I might try adjusting the db level as said on last post and that may even help more.

Thanks everyone.....very much appreciated.
 

Posted Mon 23 Feb 15 @ 4:18 pm
locoDogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
Superb.
 

Posted Mon 23 Feb 15 @ 4:24 pm
PachNPRO InfinityMember since 2009
If setting zeroDB to a lower value than 1.0 helped, it was the limiter that kicked in and dropped your output.
 

Posted Tue 24 Feb 15 @ 7:02 am
pungentPRO InfinityMember since 2011
Yep pretty sure thats what was happening.

In VDJ7 you could turn the limiter on and off, is there any way you can do that on VDJ8?

Gig I'm doing this friday night is using my own gear. 2 18" subs and 2 800w rms speakers so will really be able to see how hard i can push them now..
 

Posted Tue 24 Feb 15 @ 5:08 pm
locoDogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
No you can't turn it off, and realistically you shouldn't want to. If you want gain to be taken care of automatically you can use the loudmax VST on each channel (& master) at the expense of a bit of sound clarity (if you're over working the gains)
 

Posted Tue 24 Feb 15 @ 6:28 pm
I wish I had a quid for every time loudmax was mentioned on here... :-)

It was during a thread here I remember mentioning that a limiter could be shoved across the master out, and using loudmax as an example (I literally just Googled and it came up near the top). LOL!
 

Posted Thu 26 Feb 15 @ 10:31 am
locoDogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
It's a bloody good plugin, I use it ONINT on the master to stay off the limiter on a decent PA, but I also use it to pump the output out on small domestic hifi.
 

Posted Thu 26 Feb 15 @ 10:42 am
krn3kiPRO InfinityMember since 2014
So changing zeroDB to 0.7 helps in terms of sound quality. But how can Winamp produce much louder sound without any clippings, compressions, limiters and other sound issues while VDJ8 cannot?
 

Posted Thu 26 Feb 15 @ 5:24 pm
krn3ki wrote :
how can Winamp produce much louder sound


No difference here. I've just tried comparing a track in VDJ 8 to the same track in Winamp, and Winamp is not "much louder".

In fact by careful adjustment of the gain, I can actually get VDJ 8 to play louder than Winamp (without the VDJ limiter kicking in).

My zerodB setting is 0.75

 

Posted Fri 27 Feb 15 @ 8:56 am
krn3kiPRO InfinityMember since 2014
My zeroDB setting is also on 0.75 and it's as loud as Winamp on 55 % (autoGAIN=auto). I'm really disappointed because of this. If I turn gain up manually, I can get it as loud as winamp, but then limiter starts to kick in and audio quality reduces.
 

Posted Fri 27 Feb 15 @ 10:13 am
PachNPRO InfinityMember since 2009
Did you change the EQ in Winamp?
Or check this. That's a post of the Winamp forum.

Quote :



Is ReplayGain enabled in Winamp? (Winamp > Prefs > Playback > Replay Gain tab)
If yes, then the default "Adjustment for files without Replay Gain" value of -6.0 dB will make Winamp sound quieter than other apps.
You could try changing it to e.g. -4.0 or less (ie. something closer to 0, though I wouldn't personally recommend going higher than 0).

Other than that, you could try switching to WaveOut Output (Prefs > Plugins > Output),
then restart playback and increase the volume in Winamp to max,
then switch back to DirectSound Output (same Prefs screen), and restart playback again.

Also check the volume level for Winamp in Windows Volume Mixer.
Maybe it's set too low in there?

 

Posted Fri 27 Feb 15 @ 10:29 am
krn3kiPRO InfinityMember since 2014
There's nothing wrong with Winamp and everything is set to default including EQ. I've tested the same mp3 in iTunes and PotPlayer as well and they all sound the same. The only one which differs here is VirtualDJ, which is simply more quiet than others. As I said, almost half time more quiter than other audio software.
 

Posted Fri 27 Feb 15 @ 10:42 am
PachNPRO InfinityMember since 2009
Do you use the same Soundcard for Winamp and VDJ?
 

Posted Fri 27 Feb 15 @ 10:56 am
krn3kiPRO InfinityMember since 2014
Yes, I have 3 different sound cards (integrated realtek, SB Play Go and SB X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro) and it's the same situation with all of them.

On the other hand, it's pretty logic za VDJ8 will be quiter if "auto" algorithm sets -7.46 dB for desired mp3. Sometimes less, sometimes more, but almost everytime it's at least -5 dB.
 

Posted Fri 27 Feb 15 @ 11:23 am
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