DJM2000 Remix 4/8 Beat Loop "Sync"

Sorry for missing this one and not replying sooner...

Is your Sync Source set to Channel?

Sync source is set to master. 

That could be why - try changing it to Channel, as that deck would then become the master clock.

Okay I'll give that a try. 

Sorry, it's been a while since I've used the DJM2000 and am trying to give you this info from memory / the manual! Hopefully one of those settings will keep it in sync with the track. :)

Okay so I tried it with all 3 sync settings and here's what I found. It stays in time not by actually speeding up the loop stored in the mixer, but by hacking off the end (higher bpm)  / looping and then skipping back to the beginning (lower bpm). 

That sounds like the recording length is either incorrect or the beat grid is off from your track, but if it happens with every track, then I can't imagine it's the beat grid.

Are you running the latest firmware on the mixer?

I am using version 3.20 - the latest. 

Two issues at hand here:

When the tempo of Master deck is changed after Beat Slicer is enabled, the tempo of the recorded loop is not changed according to the Master tempo. The loop's tempo will stay the same as when it is recorded. This may be the reason why the user complains that the beatsliced loop is not synced with the Master tempo.

and...

When the BPM of the player is changed, the total time of beatsliced loops will be changed according to the BPM, which is just like when adjusting the time for Loop Out on CDJ.

I'm not exactly sure what that second comment means, as it seems to contradict the first statement -- but if I read it as "the end of the beatslice loop is adjusted shorter or longer," it makes a bit more sense.

Hopefully this will clarify:

"When the tempo of Master deck is changed after Beat Slicer is enabled, the tempo of the recorded loop is not changed according to the Master tempo. The loop's tempo will stay the same as when it is recorded. This may be the reason why the user complains that the beatsliced loop is not synced with the Master tempo." 

Correct. The actual speed of the sample does not change as it would on a CDJ. If I speed up the master BPM relative to the initial BPM of the loop, there is "less time" for the loop to play through. A CDJ adjusts to this time constriction by speeding up the track. The DJM Beastslicer adjusts to this constricted time by simply skipping back to the beginning of the loop before it is completely finished playing through. Thus the loop itself stays "in time", but the integrity of the audio is destroyed. For example, if the initial loop was 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1..., it might respond as follows: 1-2-3**-1-2-3**-1.... The stars represent where the sample resets to the beginning to stay in time with the master deck. Because the master deck is moving faster relatively, the sample must complete a cycle in less time. It does this not by speeding/pitching up the loop, but by truncating the audio to make a "shorter" loop. 

If the master BPM is sped down relative to the initial BPM of the loop, there is "more time" for the loop to play through. A CDJ adjusts to this time expansion by slowing down the track. The DJM Beastlier adjusts to this expanded time by looping through the audio and then skipping back to the beginning to keep the sample "in time". It thus stays in time with the deck, but the integrity of the audio is destroyed. Here's an example: The initial loop is 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1... what we have instead if we slow down the track is: 1-2-3-4-1-2**-1-2-3-4-1-2**-1... The stars represent where the beatslicer makes the loop reset to the beginning to keep in time with the master clock. Because the master clock is slower relative to the initially recorded BPM (which determines the actual time of a single cycle of our loop), the beat-slicer needs to come up with more "time". It does this not by pitching down the audio to match the new time dictated by the master bpm, but by going back to the beginning of the loop. 

I understand the technical of both (and your description was spot-on), but I'm not sure if that answered your question or just reaffirmed what you already knew?

I misinterpreted what you had posted. I think we're both on the same page here. Is there a reason the beat-slicer works likes this instead of actually staying synced like a CDJ would?

No idea, it would honestly have to be something I'd play around with in order to have a better grasp on it. Like I said, it's been a while since I've had a DJM-2000 for testing (and I'm unlikely to have another), so I'm a bit rusty on the mechanics of the beat slicer function, and I can read what they've sent and understand it but putting it to practice and testing to see the best use scenario is a different matter.

So I asked for a bit of a clarification from the engineers and here's the simple answer:

The DJM-2000 doesn't support stretching of the recording. If the tempo of Master becomes faster, the recorded loops will be cut off in the middle of the loop to compromise with the playback length. If the tempo of Master becomes slower, the recorded loops will be repeated half way also to compromise with the playback length.