Alright, so I'm very, very new to this, but basically what I'm wondering is can I use this with CD Decks and Ableton to drop loops/samples?

Basically I'd like to continue to use my CDJ's to mix but I'd like the option to use Ableton to drop various loops etc. in layers over the top... Reasonable?

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quote:

Originally posted by nem0nic It doesn't work this way. Currently, ReWire looks to be restricted to internal mode. This makes sense, since Torq is always a slave app.

Oh really?, damn I'm disappointed in that, I thought you could carry on using vinyl to mix and have Ableton keep track of the tempo for when you wanna drop loops and things, I was really interested in getting Torq for that feature, only other things that have me interested is VST plugins and midi support.

quote:

Originally posted by DannyO Oh really?, damn I'm disappointed in that, I thought you could carry on using vinyl to mix and have Ableton keep track of the tempo for when you wanna drop loops and things, I was really interested in getting Torq for that feature, only other things that have me interested is VST plugins and midi support.

Shit - I missed that - If it's true, there goes my desire to run this...

Are there any programs/ways to do this? Can I use the MIDI clock in my efx unit run to a MIDI device running off my laptop into Ableton and drop loops like that?

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I don't understand why people didn't see this comming. The whole point of ReWire is to slave one app to another. If you're going to use control vinyl/CDs and your decks to control the records, why are you looking for ReWire?

If it DID follow your decks, which one would it follow? What happens when you switch to the other deck? Or manipulate the deck?

It's the same reason why the Master Tempo doesn't work in external control mode (you'll notice that the SYNC arrows are grayed out in external control mode). Someone has to lose control. If you decide that the master clock has control, then the decks can't always be competing for it.

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quote:

Are there any programs/ways to do this? Can I use the MIDI clock in my efx unit run to a MIDI device running off my laptop into Ableton and drop loops like that?

If you have an external clock (like a hardware sequencer or MPC for instance), and you have a way to get MIDI data into your computer, then you can slave MIDI apps to that hardware device. Or, you can slave that device to your computer. But your decks will be independant of that.

The only vinyl control system that comes close in functionality to what you're looking for is the FS2/TDJS combo. In TDJS, you can assign one deck as your master clock and slave other decks and external devices to it. And unlike Torq, it generates MIDI clock data that tracks in real time. TDJS also supports OSC so you can synchronize apps on networked computers (as long as they also support OSC).

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nem0nic, can you make a video using torq with live ?

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Well that's pretty useless then... why would anyone run Torq like that? You could just use ableton alone if you want to go "all PC".

quote:

Originally posted by nem0nic It doesn't work this way. Currently, ReWire looks to be restricted to internal mode. This makes sense, since Torq is always a slave app.

After playing with it nonstop for the past 3 days, here are my thoughts so far:


PROS
For $299, it's an amazing product. I've used both FS2 and SSL (although the SSL setup I used was quite a while ago), and while some may think this is just a cheap knock-off of those, it's really a quality product. M-Audio definitely spent a lot of time with this one, and for the few bugs that I've found so far, I'm sure they'll be updated soon. They already released an updated driver for the Conectiv less than a week after this thing was released.

The VST ability awesome. I've been using the Waves C4 compressor with this in realtime, and it's caused no performance issues. And, the built-in efx are pretty damn good too.

Looping. Easy to use, on-the-fly looping. What more needs to be said?


CONS
While a track is playing, I sometimes hear the audio cut out for a few milliseconds. This happens every 10 seconds or so. It's quite annoying and I haven't quite determined the problem yet. I'm guessing it could have something to do with my carts (I'm using Ort Concordes; they have quite a low output).

The Conectiv interface is making a really bad hissing noise, which can be heard clearly in the mixer and in the output. It's so bad that I can't use this for anything live or anything recorded. I'm thinking it could have something to do with my USB ports, though, because it's the same exact hissing noise I get when I use my external SB Live interface. Perhaps I'll go pick up a cheap USB card today and see if that could do the trick.

Sounds pretty authentic, except when cutting Hip-Hop tracks. If I listen closely, I can hear the music stop for about 3ms before it starts moving back when I bring the record back. It's really not a big deal, as the listener would probably never notice (it's that subtle) but I notice it because I'm expecting it, and it's annoying.

The BPM analysis sucks. On about 1/4 of my tracks, the BPM that it found was completely inaccurate. Not that I really pay attention to it anyway, but still disappointing nonetheless.

The software sucks. That's about as simple and blunt as I can put it. If there was a way I could get this to work with Traktor it would be awesome. I just find that the Torq software has too many bells and whistles. I want simplicity.

Last edited by djkoolaide on Oct-09-2006 at 13:43

LOL sounds like many of the supposed advantages people expected over Serato are non existant. But still a good price for a vinyl control system.

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Latest Mix

Last edited by Zild on Oct-09-2006 at 13:51

Forgot to mention the relative mode. Pretty wicked, and works as they say it should!

quote:

Well that's pretty useless then... why would anyone run Torq like that? You could just use ableton alone if you want to go "all PC".

DJing with Ableton alone right now is alot like getting to a gig and pressing play on a mix CD. Ableton is still not the real time DJing app it could be. That's why alot of DJs are using it in conjunction with their existing setup - but not by itself.

quote:

While a track is playing, I sometimes hear the audio cut out for a few milliseconds. This happens every 10 seconds or so. It's quite annoying and I haven't quite determined the problem yet.

It's your computer. Any regular interruption like that is almost always a device driver polling your CPU. I'm going to guess that you're running a laptop and have wireless on while testing. Try turning off wireless and see if the problem goes away. You could also try going into SERVICES and turning off the "Zero Wireless Configuration" service.

If you want to monitor your computer for these kinds of services, go to http://www.thesycon.com/eng/free_download.shtml and download the dpclat.exe program, then run it. It will give you a good look at whats going on on your computer. If dpclat indicates you have these kinds of services running (shown as yellow or red spikes in the graph), then download http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/tools/RATT.mspx and use this Microsoft tool to find out what services are the problem.

You can also check out my XP audio tweak guide at http://www.nem0nic.com/index.php?op...id=33&Itemid=48 and use that as a reference.

quote:

The Conectiv interface is making a really bad hissing noise, which can be heard clearly in the mixer and in the output. It's so bad that I can't use this for anything live or anything recorded. I'm thinking it could have something to do with my USB ports, though, because it's the same exact hissing noise I get when I use my external SB Live interface.

Sounds like you have a ground loop. Try this experiment before you go out and spend any more money.

Turn off all your kit, including the computer. Now, go and get one of these...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...ctId=2104010&cp

If you don't have one around, find a grounded extension cord and cut a ground peg off one side if it (doesn't matter which side, you're just lifting the ground). Use this cord or adapter on the power cord for your computer (plug the computer into the adapter/ground lift, then into the wall).

If you are running a laptop, unplug the power cord completely and run off batteries for the test instead.

Now, turn everything back on and look for the sound again. If it's gone, you have a ground loop. http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/

I use an Ebtech HumX to get rid of mine and it rocks.

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LOL sounds like many of the supposed advantages people expected over Serato are non existant. But still a good price for a vinyl control system.

For DJs that ONLY need vinyl control, SSL is still the option I would recommend. But if you want ANY other features, almost any other vinyl control system is more suitable than SSL, because SSL isn't feature rich. If you need independant key and pitch (for harmonic mixing), advanced looping options, effects, or MIDI, then packages like Torq, FS2/TDJS, and Mixvibes are more appropriate for you. And Torq is offered at a price point that is well under most of the other systems out there. So it looks like it has some very clear advantages over alot of the other programs on the market.

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quote:

Originally posted by nem0nic DJing with Ableton alone right now is alot like getting to a gig and pressing play on a mix CD. Ableton is still not the real time DJing app it could be. That's why alot of DJs are using it in conjunction with their existing setup - but not by itself.

I agree with you there! My point though was that if Torq disables external control in ReWire mode, than you might as well just use ableton by itself (as you're not using decks in any case). It's equivalent to using something like Traktor with Ableton, just an odd combination in my mind.

But who knows, perhaps they will enable this in a future upgrade?

So far I'm pretty happy with the package. I think I'll have a lot of fun with it.