So I've purchased TRAKTOR S4 and it works fine, however with past Notebook DJ experiences with VirtualDJ and NUMARK DMC-2 I am aware that a laptop based setup sometimes cocks up.

Now in order to prevent suprises on occasional drive inn gigs, i would like to add a Pioneer CDJ unit as independent USB player that keeps on playing if the system hangs and I need to reboot the system

My first question would be which CDJ would be good enough for this job (USB stick and CD) the 350, or 850 or 900? It's not for stationary or primary use in gigs. but really as backup in it's own flighcase, do all new CDJ's now also work with the TRAKTOR SCRATCH timecode CD's? (so i can use it as a 3rd TRAKTOR controller if needed as well?

I also need to find out if the S4 will keep on playing from the CDJ when i would need to reset/reboot the laptop running TRAKTOR AND if this process goes without annoying loud POPS over the PA system (powering on the S4 on while the PA is on even with volume off is a VERY loud pop)

So, I would welcome some advice on how to tackle this, will the S4 suffice as standalone mixer for the CDJ, or should i connect the S4 to a 2nd mixer which then gets fed from both the S4 and the CDJ. And finally which CDJ is the best for this job?

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Last edited by Raphie on Aug-13-2011 at 23:13

ThnX! The pop is really a very loud power on pop, so first S4 on then PA no problem, other way around or powercycle the S4 on a running system > loud "power on" pop.

I will do some tests tomorrow with my ipod, just see if it keeps playing if i reboot the laptop and if this goes without anyoing power cycle pops

I've got no hum or orther distortion while playing, and have to say have not been able to hang TRAKTOR 2 Pro in several 3-4 hour sessions in the past couple of days. so maybe my redundancy scare is overkill, but better safe than sorry on stage right?

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just a quick update from my side

Decided to buy 2 PIO CDJ's 850 with ZUMO cases
going to use these on my Mackie D4. Pro mixer which will also get the main out from the S4 on it's aux feed
in that way whole traktor may colapse, i then can just mute the channel and continue via USB with both CDJ's

Currently importing my whole collection in recordbox and putting these on 2 32GB USB's with quantize and updated metadata
now i just need a nice flightcase for the D.4 Pro

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Last edited by Raphie on Aug-16-2011 at 16:19

Hi Raphie,

The way that I cover this type of even is as follows:

Rather than have an additional CDJ with me I just use the ones at the club. What I do is have two burnt CDs with me with tunes I like.

I will have exact copies of the same CD with a stack of tunes that I want to play. The first track will have and ambient intro so if there has been a crash it will make a bit more sense to the crowd rather than starting with just beats and build up. This way I can hit the CDJ closest to mo so that the break is pretty in the flow is pretty minimal.

The first track also has the next track mixed into it so that I get a bit more time to restart and sort stuff out. naturally I will disconnect the S4 from the club mixer during the boot up to avoid the pop.
If you are using time coded CDs then this would present a problem but I don't bother with beat matching these days. Too much fun playing with 4 decks to bother about sh!t like that.

In answer to your question about the CDJ, no the OS and Traktor need to be up and running to hanlde the music sources as the S4 doesn't work as a mixer in its own right (as far as I know).

To be honest I haven't had to call on that approach yet, but it's always in the back of my mind.

cheers
Nem

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Yeah, but i'm not really club caliber material. I'm more the party/wedding DJ, who starts with dance classics / top 40 and then depending on the audience has his one or 2 hours of electro and progressive at the end (if the audience goes with it)

so i come in with flightcases and own PA, always did virtual DJ with NUMARK DMC-2 and NUMARK CD's as backup up untill now.

But now transitioned to TRAKTOR Pro + SCRATCH and S4, hence whatever i take with me, it needs to be fully redundant and bulletproof for the night. as i charge roughly 500GBP a night for gear + gig, fucked up night is no pay...

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Thanks for the post Nemesis. I recently bought an S4, and while I don't have the same concerns as the OP, you made a good point. I like the idea of having a backup CD with two mixed tracks to give some time. A club should already have a CDJ available, and allow you to run the S4 into their mixer, so you can seamlessly transition. (this post is meant to apply to both OP and others in club environments)

What I was starting to get concerned about was stability. In the maybe six hours of using Traktor 2 on a minimal Win 7 Pro x64 install, I have had no crashes. Glad to hear OP hasn't either.

I'm using a 4+ year old Lenovo that works well to test it on, but was planning on buying a Macbook Air or Ultrabook, both of which come with an SSD. The SSD is the main thing, since loading time is reduced heavily. Now, I already own a latest-generation Macbook Air, but I wouldn't trust bringing a laptop with a bunch of software installed into an environment where stability is important (just playing it safe, as I've witnessed bizarre behavior with Lion at times, but no crashes).

So far, a clean system with just Traktor and S4 seems pretty stable to me. I would try to cut off the problem before it starts (like CalvP states), to the point where I would only be concerned with power, which shouldn't be a problem in a club, but could be in off-site ventures.

To Raphie: as far as I've tested, the S4 will not work as a standalone mixer, so you would need a second mixer and CDJ for full redundancy. You should have that now with the new CDJs you bought!

Honestly for this kind of event, won't a basic mp3 player do the job?

Simply Pre-record a mega party mix with about 10 minutes of music, you could even do a deamau5 style intro to make the cock-up look legit.

@2.04 for reference.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lunar Phase 7 Honestly for this kind of event, won't a basic mp3 player do the job? Simply Pre-record a mega party mix with about 10 minutes of music, you could even do a deamau5 style intro to make the cock-up look legit. @2.04 for reference.

I'm not usually that impressed by the man, but I have to admit that made me smile. Especially since people actually almost seemed to take some sort of pleasure from the fact that it was messing up.

It's actually given me an idea for a save me style track... gonna start the work now he he.

Cheers
Nem

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