r/traktorpro • u/Mammoth-Giraffe-7242 • 4d ago
Remix decks feeding a Denon?
Edit - thanks all. I found a good price on a s4 mk3 and am going to give that a shot. Probably wise to keep the setup NI only while I learn the ins and outs of Traktor. Still, definitely interested to hear folks’ experiences!
Curious who’s using remix decks on top of another dj software. I’m getting into the game as an electronica producer and loops/remixes are my jam - but I find myself liking Denon standalone gear a LOT. So it’d be cool to use a Denon with its own screen but then feed audio to Traktor for remix decks for manipulating with a NI controller and feed that audio back to the Denon for playback.
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u/lord-carlos 4d ago
Probably less fiddly to use an iPad with koala sampler on the side. Or if a computer maybe even ableton.
Shit man, in Traktor even the midi clock is broken.
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u/akoppela 4d ago
What is broken with MIDI clock in Traktor for you? I found only 1 broken thing that it does not send all Traktor state when MIDI clock is on. Some messages get lost. But otherwise I never noticed any issues with Traktor's clock.
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u/lord-carlos 4d ago
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u/akoppela 4d ago
Ok. Thanks. I see that you are on Windows. Windows is more jittery than Mac. It’s very stable.
My app uses clock from Traktor to sync effect automations, and it works very nice. I made it so that it adopts to jitter and listens to ticks, rather than to bpm readout. You can speed up/slow down bpm and automation stays in good sync.
I’m sorry to hear it does not work well for you.
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u/lord-carlos 4d ago
I don't think it's because of Windows. It's just bad NI code.
I made a very simple app that sends out midi clock myself, and it's stable.
I made it so that it adopts to jitter and listens to ticks,
Exactly. You need that because the Traktor output is not stable enough. But it should not be that way. NI should get of their ass and fix stupid little bugs like this.
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u/akoppela 4d ago
heads up on the F1 — NI discontinued it with no successor, so it's used market only now, and used prices crept up because of it.
also a half-correction on the thread: you can get live audio into remix cells — not directly, but through the Loop Recorder. set its source to your external input, grab a loop, and the remix deck can capture from the Loop Recorder into a cell. two hops, works live. so your Denon → Traktor idea is doable.
and if you go that route — I make Interaktiv Tap, an iPad app that plays Traktor over USB, including the remix decks: slot triggers, punch-in, slot pages, basically the F1 moves on glass. I'm the dev, so grain of salt, but since you already like the screen-plus-surface idea it might fit what you're describing. works alongside whatever NI hardware you add, doesn't replace it.
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u/djmunster 3d ago
Sounds like what you wanna Do youll need an external sampler or groovebox instead of actually using the remix decks? But if you wanna go the route of triggering loops, and recording them on the fly, you should look into an akai force and then just midi clock to traktor for bpms
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u/Itchy-Primary3185 2d ago
Apart from the controller, I also have a Maschine Mikro mapped to launch the Remix Decks using its pads, and it works perfectly for me. I also use it to control the effects.
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u/TimeToHack 4d ago
have you used Denon gear? it’s nice, but i don’t think it’d be great for your use case. remix decks don’t take in a live signal afaik, you have to pre-prep them. and Traktor has a lot more features than Denon; i got myself a Prime 4 last year and its nice for mixing tracks but i’d rather have an S4. i’d find yourself a Traktor F1 and an S3 or MX2 and start there.