ALPHA THETA DDJ-GRV6
SETUP
Firmware & Drivers
Firmware: Update the firmware of the device to the latest available version (if available) from
https://alphatheta.com/en/product/dj-controller/ddj-grv6/black/#support
Drivers For both Windows and Mac OS:
No need of any driver to be installed. DDJ-GRV6 is a USB class-compliant device and the Operating system will auto-install the necessary driver.
VirtualDJ Setup
Once VirtualDJ is opened, a Connect Window will appear. Login with your virtualdj.com account.
A Pro Infinity or a Pro Subscription license is required to fully use the DDJ-GRV6. Without any of the above Licenses, the controller will operate for 10 minutes each time you restart VirtualDJ.
https://www.virtualdj.com/buy/index.html
Click on the "DDJ-GRV6" button if speakers are connected to the Master Output of the DDJ-GRV6. You can still change that from Settings->AUDIO tab.
Click to OK.
MIDI Operation
The device should be visible in the MAPPING tab of Config and the “factory default” available/selected from the Mappings drop-down list. The factory default Mapping offers the functions described in this Manual, however those can be adjusted to your needs via VDJ Script actions.
Find more details at https://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/VDJ8script.html
AUDIO Setup
The device has a pre-defined Audio setup and a special button in the AUDIO tab of Config to provide that.
Please read the manual of GRV6 for further functionality (available at https://alphatheta.com/en/product/dj-controller/ddj-grv6/black/#support )
For further software settings please refer to the User Guides of VirtualDJ. https://www.virtualdj.com/manuals/virtualdj/index.html
LAYOUT
S SHIFT : Press and hold this button to access secondary functions of other controls on the DDJ-GRV6
The functionality of each button, knob and connection per section (as shown in the image above) will be explained in detail in the next chapters
AMixer Controls
B Deck Controls
C Performance Pads
DBrowser Controls
EStems FX Controls
FFront & Rear Panels
MIXER & EFFECT CONTROLS
MIXER CONTROLS
By default the Mixer Channels control the Decks with the Order 3 -1-2-4, but this can be changed from OPTIONS to a different Channel Order.
- CROSSFADER. Blends audio between the channels assigned to the left and right side of the crossfader. By default Decks 1 and 3 are assigned to the left side of the Crossfader, while Decks 2 and 4 are assigned to the right-side.
- VOLUME. Adjust the Volume of each channel.
- CUE (PFL) (per channel) Press these buttons to send each channel to the Headphones Output channel.
Hold SHIFT and then press any of these buttons to set the Eq Mode to either Frequency or Stems. When Stems is enabled, the button will blink while SHIFT is enabled and while a EQ knob is moved. - COLOR FX PARAMETER. Adjust the parameter of the selected COLOR FX for each channel. When in middle position, the COLOR FX has no effect on the sound.
- SOUND COLOR FX. Activate the selected Color FX to all Channels. When activated, the led of this button will blink. When not activated (led solid) the Color FX knobs will not have any impact to the sound.
Hold SHIFT and press this button to select the next available Color FX. By default the Filter Color FX is selected. - 3-BAND EQ. Adjust the Low/Mid/High frequencies (or the assigned Stems channel) for each mixer channel. See EQ Mode
- TRIM. Adjust the Gain of each mixer channel. The output level of each Channel will be shown as indication on the VU meters.
- MASTER VOLUME. Adjust the level of the Master Output (connection at the rear panel)
Note that this knob is applying its own Hardware level to the Master Output. Its position will be visible on the VirtualDJ GUI, but the GUI knob will not affect the level of Master Output (fake mode) - BOOTH MONITOR. Adjust the level of the Booth Output of the DDJ-GRV6 (connection at the rear panel).
Note that this knob is not assigned to any VDJ script action. It applies its own level to the Booth Output which is not part of the USB Audio interface. If you don's have any speakers connected to this output, you may assign it to any action. - MASTER CUE (PFL). Send the Master Output of the unit to the Headphones Output channel. Please note that in order to hear the Master Output on your headphones you must also turn the HEADPHONES MIXING (19) knob to the desired position.
EFFECT CONTROLS
The BEAT FX section is used to apply VirtualDJ effects to Decks 1 to 4, Master or Sampler.
- BEAT FX DISPLAY: Shows the selected Beats value of the selected effect.
- BEAT: Use these buttons to half/double the Beats Parameter of the selected Effect (for the Effects that are beat-aware). The beats value is displayed on the Display above.
- BEAT FX SELECT: Use this selector knob to select one of the pre-defined Beat FX. When a different Effect is selected, the previous Effect will be disabled, but the On/Off status will be copied to the new selected Effect
- BEAT FX ASSIGN: Use this selector knob to select to which Channel the effect will apply to. (Decks 1 to 4, Master, or Sampler). When a different Channel is selected, the Effect on previous Channel will be disabled, but the On/Off status will be copied to the new Channel
Note that by firmware design, there can only be one Channel selection. - BEAT FX LEVEL: Use this knob to adjust the 1st Parameter of the selected Effect (usually the Wet/Dry).
- BEAT FX ON: Use this button to enable/disable the selected Beat FX. Its led will flash when enabled
DECK CONTROLS
S SHIFT. Press and hold this button to access secondary functions (black lettering in gray box) of other controls on the DDJ-GRV6
- PLAY/PAUSE. Plays / Pauses the track. Press and hold SHIFT and then press this button to "stutter-play" the track from the last set Cue Point.
- CUE. When the Deck is paused, you can set a temporary Cue Point by moving the Platter to place the Audio Pointer at the desired location and then pressing the Cue Button. During playback, you can press the Cue Button to return the track to this Cue Point. (If you did not set a Cue Point, then it will return to the beginning of the track.). If the Deck is paused, you can press and hold the Cue Button to play the track from the Temporary Cue Point. Releasing the Cue Button will return the track to the temporary Cue Point and pause it. To continue playback without returning to the Temporary Cue Point, press and hold the Cue Button, then press and hold the Play Button, and then release both buttons.
Hold SHIFT down and then press this button to return to the beginning of the track. - JOGWHEEL. Touch-sensitive jog-wheel for scratching (when in Vinyl Mode) , bending (when in CD Mode) or Loop In/Out fine-adjust.
Hold SHIFT down and then use the Jogwheel to fast-seek through the Track. - SLIP. Press this button to enable/disable Slip Mode. When enabled, several software functions (such as Jogwheel movements, HotCues and Loops) will apply temporary on the track, and the track will return to the position it would have been if those functions were not triggered.
Hold SHIFT down and press this button to toggle between the Scratch (Vinyl) and Bend (CD) Jogwheel modes. - QUANTIZE. Press this button to toggle Quantize on/off. When Quantize is enabled, setting loops, jumping between hot cue points and starting playback of the deck will snap to the grid (CBG) of the track.
- LOOP IN. When not in loop, use this button to set a Loop In point (for manual looping). Hold this button down for more than 1 second to enable a 4-beats Loop.
When in Loop, press this button to enable/disable Loop In Adjust mode (led will blink fast when enabled) and then use the Jogwheel to fine-adjust the Loop In point (and the size of the current loop). Press again to disable the Loop In Adjust mode. The Loop In Adjust mode will be automatically turned off (if not manually turned off) when the Loop is disabled - LOOP OUT. When not in loop, use this button to set the Loop Out point (for manual looping).
When in Loop, press this button to enable/disable Loop Out Adjust mode (led will blink fast when enabled) and then use the Jogwheel to fine-adjust the Loop Out point (and the size of the current loop). Press again to disable the Loop Out Adjust mode.. The Loop Out Adjust mode will be automatically turned off (if not manually turned off) when the Loop is disabled - RELOOP/EXIT. When in Loop, use this button to exit the Loop. When not in Loop, use this button to activate the last triggered Loop (re-loop)
When in Loop, hold SHIFT down and then press this button to save the current Loop. When not in Loop, hold SHIFT down and then press this button to enable/prepare the Saved Loop - CUE CALL <. When in Loop, use this button to half the size of the Loop. When not in Loop, use this button to jump to the previous Hotcue.
Hold SHIFT down and press this button to half the size of the Loop. - CUE CALL >. When in Loop, use this button to double the size of the Loop. When not in Loop, use this button to jump to the next Hotcue.
Hold SHIFT down and press this button to double the size of the Loop. - MEMORY. Use this button to save (and enable) a Loop at the current position to the 1st (default) Saved Loop slot. When a track has a Saved Loop at the default slot, use this button to enable the Loop at its saved position. Track will jump to this position if current position is later to the Saved Loop, and will not jump if earlier.
Hold this button down for more than 1 second, to delete the Saved Loop
Hold SHIFT down and then press this button to load/prepare the Saved Loop (if saved to a later position) - DECK SELECT. Select the Left Deck (1 or 3) and the Right Deck (2 and 4) that will be controlled from the Deck section of GRV6
While one of these buttons is held down, press the other button, to enable the Dual-Deck mode.
While this mode is enabled, several actions from the Controller's Deck section, such as Play/Jog, Loops, Pads etc apply to both Decks of the same side. The blinking led will indicate the "Master" (Left or Right Deck) while the solid led will indicate the "Salve" Deck.
Press any of these buttons to exit the Dual Deck mode. - MASTER TEMPO. Press this button to "lock" the track's pitch to its original key. The track's tempo will remain at the speed designated by the Tempo Fader.
Hold SHIFT down and then press this button to select the next % range for the Tempo fader (cycle through 8, 10, 16 and 50%) - TEMPO. Controls the track's playback tempo.
- BEAT SYNC. Press this button to automatically match the corresponding Deck's tempo with the opposite Deck's (or the Master Deck’s if using a 4 decks Skin) tempo and phase.
Hold SHIFT down and press this button to manually set the Deck as Master Deck so that the other Decks to synchronize with it. Manually setting a Deck as Master, will disable the automatic selection (mostly based on the Deck that is on-air). To return to the automatic Master-Deck selection, press the same MasterDeck button again. - KEY SYNC. Press this button to match the musical Key of the track with the Key of the Master deck (or the other deck if using a 2 decks skin). The change of the Key will be the smallest required to make it compatible with the other Key. Press again to reset Track's key to its original value.
PAD BUTTONS
The 8 Pad buttons offer various functions, depending on the selected mode. Each of the 4 Pad mode buttons offers 2 individual modes. One with the press of the mode button, and an additional mode with press of the mode button while SHIFT is held down. The 8 modes represent a page of the PADS section on the default VirtualDJ GUI, have been pre-assigned but can be customized https://www.virtualdj.com/manuals/virtualdj/interface/decks/decksadvanced/pads.html#controller
- PAD MODE. Press any of the 4 available Pad mode buttons to set the Pads to Hotcues,
Stems+FX Beatjump and Sampler mode.
Hold SHIFT down and then press any of the 4 available Pad mode buttons to set the Pads to Keycue, Pads FX, Loop and ScratchBank mode. (led will blink)
While holding one of the 4 Pad mode buttons, you can press a second Pad mode button and split the functionality of the Pads (top/bottom) between 2 modes. Read further info at https://www.virtualdj.com/manuals/virtualdj/interface/decks/decksadvanced/pads.html#split - PADS. The 8 Pad buttons offer different functionality depending on the selected mode.
PADS FX PAGE
This Pads page will be available only when the DDJ-GRV6 is connected and offers the following functionality
Pads 1 to 4 will apply the Echo FX of a different Beat length.
Pad 5 to 7 will apply the Cut FX of a different Beats length.
Pad 8 will apply the Flanger FX
Hold SHIFT down and then press a Pad button to apply different Effects.
Pads 1 to 3 will apply the Loop Roll FX of a different Beat length.
Pad 4 will apply the Reverb Effect.
Pad 5 to 8 will apply the Beat-Grid FX of a different pattern.
BROWSER CONTROLS
- LOAD. Press these buttons to load the selected Track from the Browser to the Decks 1 to 4.
Double-press the same buttons to load the Track from the other Deck (Clone)
Hold SHIFT and then press these buttons to unload the Track from the Deck. - BROWSE. Use this Encoder to scroll though the Tracks/Folders of the focused Browser List
Hold SHIFT down and then use the Encoder to scroll faster (-1/+5 Tracks per rotation click)
Push the Encoder to set focus to the next Browser List. - DISCOVER. Press this button to set focus to the "Ideas" folder of Browser and explore Genius and Live Feedback Ideas of what to play next
Hold SHIFT down and the use this button to show the "Alternative Remixes" tab in Sideview - BACK. Use this button to set focus to the Folders List of Browser. If focus is on Folders List, use the same button to open/close sub-folders
- VIEW. Use this button to cycle through the available Sideview Tabs (Automix, Sidelist, Karaoke etc)
Hold SHIFT down and then use this button to open/close the Info panel of Browser - PREVIEW. Use this button to add the selected Track to the Automix List
Hold SHIFT sown and then enable/disable the Prelisten Player (available in Info tab of Browser)
STEMS EFFECTS
This section applies Effects on the selected Stems. It is advised to apply the provided silkscreen overlay sticker to get the texts on the DDJ-GRV6 keys as described below.
- LEVEL. Adjust the 1st Parameter (usually Wet/Dry) of the selected Stems Effect
- STEMS ARM. Select/Arm the Stems you wish the Effect to apply to.
Note that these buttons do not mute/isolate the Stems of the Track.
Hold SHIFT down and select the Effect you wish to apply to the armed Stems. The 4 buttons have predefined the Effects Echo Out, Cut, Beat Grid and Delay) - STEMS BEAT. Press this button to select 1 beat or 1/2 beat length for the applied Stems FX
Hold SHIFT down and then press this button to select if the STEMS ROLL buttons (44) will act as toggle (on/off) or momentary (while pressed) - STEMS ROLL. Use these buttons to apply a Loop Roll effect to the armed Stems of Beats values of 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 or 1 beat.
The trigger behavior depends on the Toggle/Momentary mode you select from the SHIFT+button (43)
Hold SHIFT down and then use these buttons to apply a Cut effect to the armed Stems of Beats values of 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 or 1 beat.
The trigger behavior depends on the Toggle/Momentary mode you select from the SHIFT+button (43) - STEMS FX ON. Use this Latch Lock/On button to enable/disable the selected Effect to the armed Stems
FRONT & REAR PANELS
- USB POWER: Use a USB-C cable to connect DDJ-GRV6 with a USB power adapter. This connection is required for proper functionality
- USB PC: Use a USB-C cable to connect DDJ-GRV6 with a USB port of a computer.
- BOOTH OUT: Booth signal output (RCA Un-Balanced). The strength of the signal is controlled by “BOOTH LEVEL” knob (9) on the top panel mixer section. Use it to connect your booth speakers, or an amp that needs different sound output level than master output.
- MASTER OUT2: Master signal output connectors (RCA – Unbalanced). Use it to connect with another mixer, or consumer grade amplifier. The level of this output is controlled from the LASTER LEVEL knob (8) at the top panel
- MASTER OUT1: Master signal output connectors (TRS – Balanced). Use this to connect on your pro grade amplifier or self-powered speakers. The level of this output is controlled from the LASTER LEVEL knob (8) at the top panel
- MIC ATT: Adjust the Attenuation of the Microphone Input
- MIC INPUT: Connect a microphone using a TRS Jack connector.
- HEADPHONES CONNECTOR: Connect your headphones. Both sizes (3.5mm and 6.35mm ( 1⁄4 in)) are offered.
- HEADPHONES LEVEL: Adjust the level of the Headphones output
- HEADPHONES MIX: Adjust how the Channels and the Master Output will blend at the Headphones Channel.
- MIC VOLUME: Adjust the level of the Microphone Input (connection at the rear panel)
Notes :
- The Microphone Input is not part of the USB Audio Interface and its signal is directly routed to the Master Output of the DDJ-GRV6 (connections at the rear panel). If a different USB sound-card is used for Master Output of VirtualDJ, the audio of the Microphone Input will not be heard.
- The Headphones Volume knob at the front panel is applying its own hardware output to the Headphones Channel. The position will be reflected to the VirtualDJ GUI, but the knob on the GUI will not affect the Headphones output (fake mode)
ADVANCED SETUP
CONTROLLER SPECIFIC SETTINGS
There are a few settings available when the DDJ-GRV6 is connected, to disable Demo mode, send Microphone to Booth, Record Mic. etc.
Open VirtualDJ Settings, select the OPTIONS tab and then the CONTROLLER sub-category.
- DDJGRV6-demoMode: Set the time that the controller will enter 'Demo Mode' if left alone without any operation
- DDJGRV6-autoStandby: Set whether the device should automatically enter standby mode
- DDJGRV6-micRecord: If set to Yes, the signal from the Microphone inputs will be recorded/broadcasted along with your mix.
- DDJGRV6-micToBooth: Set whether the mic should be audible on Booth Output
- DDJGRV6-slipModeFlash: Set whether or not the pads should blink when slip mode gets enabled
- DDJGRV6-slipButtonLed: Set whether or not the slip button should blink when slip mode gets enabled
- DDJGRV6-FaderStartEnable: Enable auto-start/stop when Volume Faders or Crossfader are moved from/to Minimum position when SHIFT is pressed
- DDJGRV6-crossfaderCutLag: Adjust the crossfader cut point
Recording & Broadcasting
The device offers the ability to record the Master Output along with the Microphone Input directly from VirtualDJ record button (in the MASTER center panel), as long as the DDJGRV6-micRecord setting above is enabled. The dedicated Recording input channel is already pre-configured, so no further adjustments need to be done.
In case the Recorded volume is low or not providing good quality (since VirtualDJ is just listening to this Input to record), or you wish to not record it along with your mix, you could remove the "record" line from Audio setup and still record your mix without the signal from the Microphone.
MICROPHONE INPUT
The DDJ-GRV6 offers a Microphone Inputs (connection at the rear panel) and Level controls from the top panel. The audio signals from this input is directly routed to the Master Output of the device.
The Microphone input is not part of the USB Audio interface, so cannot be added in VirtualDJ Audio setup and will not control the software Microphone section in the MASTER panel of VirtualDJ GUI and vice versa.
However, as mentioned in the Recording section, both Microphone Input and your mix can be recorded via the REC button of VirtualDJ via the dedicated recording input channel of the Audio interface.
