Hi again,

I've had my CDJ-400's for 8 months now and so far only used the cd and mp3 functions when playing live.

At home I've experimented with Traktor, Numark Cue/Virtual DJ aswell as Pioneers DJS. However, no matter what I try there is always an annoying lag/latency when trying to mix making it feel awkward... if I also add some effects into the mix, the sound gets really distorted and "laggy" and is no where near an acceptable level for using it live. (However I have not tried it with the CDJ's newest firmware update 1.30 yet)

My laptop is a HP 13" 2.0 ghz dual core with 2GB of RAM boght at the same time as my CDJ's.

Could anyone sort this out for me or give me some pointers? Is my hardware too weak, or could there be any other issues? (No, I'm not running a thousand windows processes in the background that's hogging performance)

quote:

perimented with Traktor, Numark Cue/Virtual DJ aswell as Pioneers DJS. However, no matter what I try there is always an annoying lag/latency when trying to mix making it feel awkward... if I also add some effects into the mix, the sound gets really distorted and "laggy" and

Try adjusting the buffer size of you sound card. Latency issues can usually be fixed by getting the buffer size right. Your hardware is almost certainly adequate for what you want to do.

Ken is correct - I've used the CDJ400 and other MIDI devices with various software apps and it really depends on the soundcard settings. MIDI is more laggy than HID control (this is an inherent trait of MIDI, after all, it was designed and implemented without much change around 30 years ago).

Try updating the firmware and give it a whirl, you should find DJS the best of the bunch ... but even it (as software) is kinda laggy in comparison to other HIDs such as Serato.

Yea... I've tried poking at the latency settings but never really gotten it to the point i want it...

At what latencies are you guys running your machines/soundcards at?

It doesn't matter what we have them at - every different configuration will require a different setting.

Just how "laggy" is it?

Well.... I can mix two songs together... but within 20 seconds both of them will "slow down", just noticably for a few seconds, and then speed up to their original speed again. It sounds like my machine is pulling to much weight, kind of like starting in a upwards position with your car running in a too high gear.


And that's if I'm not throwing any effects into the mix at all - in which case the songs immediatley slows down and fills upp with digital jitter and other bull crap.


In other words, it's not possible to preform any kind of live gig under these circumstances, and quite frankly it's not even fun to play around at home - just annoying.

That's bad if the actual music is slowing down. My understanding of "laggy" is the response of your actions on the cdj (vinyl jog wheel for example) VS the action in the computer. That is midi latency.

What you are describing is altogether different.

From the sound of it either slowing of your actual system (what does the CPU indicator say when it's "slowing down") or perhaps your midi settings are wrong and you are inadvertently triggering the jog wheel and slowing it down that way?

Wait for the P-Man to chime in.

Yeah, if it's the audio itself which is changing in speed then there are other factors at play outside the control. What kind of apps are you running in the background? Having the most powerful computer doesn't help if it's busy with tons of other garbage going on.