Sound quality

I recently bought an xdj rx, and I'm having a couple of issues with the sound quality from it. Sometimes, when I'm mixing two tracks, the sound seems a bit poor quality. Other tracks it seems to sort of add a phantom beat almost. It doesn't appear to be recording this beat, but on one track, creeper, by Benjamin damage and doc daneeka, it seems like it's adding a slight beat, every four beats, just after the final breakdown. It like every fourth beat, the mix goes out of sync slightly, then corrects itself, until the next fourth beat, if that makes any sense? It doesn't record this anomaly, which seems even stranger! 

So, just some tips on getting the best sound quality from the unit. Also, if anyone can help me with that particular track, that would be great, although that's probably far too specific a problem! 

Are you possibly using Master Tempo with the pitch at more than 8%?

The pitch isn't that high, no. I play house and techno mostly, at around 126-128 bpm. 

Have you checked the beat grid on those tracks?

What is the file format of the Creeper track? Is it encoded variable bitrate (VBR) or constant (CBR)?

That track is a 320 CBR track. I've just listened to it through my headphones on my laptop, and it appears on that too. It's supposed to be like that. :-(

Should I only be playing 320kb/s CBR tracks on there, for the best possible sound?

Also, I have analyzed most of my library using Mr Questionman, as that seems to be the preferred (free) software for doing so. How can I tell if they're VBR? Is it a case of any that are not CBR must be VBR? I assume some on here must be familiar with the software...

I've never heard of Mr. Questionman before - I suggest you try MP3val, it will check your files for errors.

The easy tell if a track is VBR is if the bitrate of the track isn't 320, 256, 128 ... one of the common bitrates of CBR, but rather an odd number instead, like 212.

Where is it you hear the beat - you say not in the recording, does it happen over the master output or just the headphones? Does it happen consistently? What if you play the track outside of rekordbox?

Mr questionman is the same sort of thing I think. It  tells you what bit rate they are, and also what type of lame encoding it is. 

I thought that was the case. All of my mp3s are now 320 km/s, I deleted all of the ones that weren't. 

No, that particular track is like that all the time. I had only listened to it on my laptop through the speakers on that. I tried it through my headphones on my laptop, it's meant to be like that. Strange production technique, I suppose. 

Final question, hopefully! What is the best output to use? I've been using phono to phono on my stereo, might an xlr cable to phono give me a better sound?

In all fairness, it's probably just because I'm getting used to the unit. I'm like this every time I get a new mixer! At least I won't have to worry about that once I'm used to it!

Okay, so it's just the track then. Good to know.

Provided the run between your controller and stereo isn't greater than 20 feet of RCA, you won't really benefit from running a balanced XLR that distance, even then, you'd probably have to exceed 50' before you noticed any difference in noise over the signal.

Let us know if you have any other questions, we're here to help!

"All of my mp3s are now 320 km/s"

I know its a typo but its very funny.

I mostly play super gabba pitched at +100% 😉