Traktor Pro 2 Poor Sound Quality
Apr 01, 2012 There are a number of things that can cause Traktor to sound considerably worse than CDJs. Arguably, the most common cause of sound quality problems is an incompetent user who doesn't have a grasp of dynamic range in digital systems. Mar 07, 2011 If you do have Traktor’s master limiter switched on, you can crank the volume further, but at the expense of sound quality again. The limiter is basically a compressor, which quietens down the loudest parts of the track, “filling out” the sound to give the impression of more volume.
Achieve optimal sound quality in Ableton Live with this guide of recommended practices and program settings.
Overview
Ableton Live excels as one of the music industry’s leading software for creating or recording musical ideas, transforming them into finished songs, and even performing them on the stage. Many may not know that Live is designed for performance. When using Live for performances, it is essential to minimize the CPU load to avoid crashes or unwanted system behavior. Luckily, by default, many of Live’s settings are optimized to improve playback and keep CPU usage low. This optimization is ideal for performance reasons, however, it doesn’t provide the highest sound quality output available from Live. Don’t sweat, because Live is one of the most versatile DAWs on the market, and you can believe they have implemented features that allow us to achieve high-quality sound for productions.
Below are some common settings you can enable to achieve higher quality output. Keep in mind that these settings will increase the CPU load.
High Quality Interpolation
Live offers a global ‘High Quality’ option that is available from the Preferences window. This window is accessed from the Options menu in Windows or the Live menu in OS X. Preferences can also be accessed with the [CTRL][,](PC) / [CMD][,](Mac) shortcut. With Live’s Preferences open, choose the ‘Audio’ tab and look for the ‘Default SR & Pitch Conversion’ switch. Enabling the switch to ‘High Quality’ will activate sample interpolation for all new clips by default. This means Live will use an advanced sample-rate conversion algorithm that provides better sound quality when recording and playing back audio. Samples processed with the Hi-Q algorithm generate less distortion, particularly at high frequencies, when transposing a sample and/or matching an imported audio sampling rate to the system’s sampling rate.
You can also change the High Quality Interpolation setting for individual samples at any time by double-clicking an audio clip to access its ‘Clip View’ settings and then clicking the ‘Hi-Q’ switch in the ‘Sample’ box.
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Optimizing Native Audio Effects and Instruments
There are different types of sound quality options available for several of Live’s native Audio Effects and Instruments. Many of these options are only available via the context menu that is accessed from a devices Title Bar using the shortcut [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac). Let’s explore how to achieve higher sound quality for various devices.
Chorus
Chorus offers a ‘Crisp’ option that can be toggled on or off via the context menu. Enabling this option will reduce aliasing and improve the sound quality, particularly with high frequency signals. This option is enabled by default, except when loading Sets made in earlier versions of Live that use Chorus.
Dynamic Tube
Dynamic Tube offers a ‘Hi-Quality’ mode that can be toggled on or off via the context menu. Enabling this option will reduce aliasing and improve the sound quality, particularly with high frequency signals.
EQ Eight
EQ Eight offers an ‘Oversampling’ option via the context menu. Enabling this option causes EQ Eight to internally process two times the current sample rate, which allows for smoother filter behavior when adjusting high frequencies.
Filters
New analog-modeled filters are available in Simpler, Sampler, Operator, and Auto Filter. These are based on classic vintage hardware models and will self-resonate, feedback, and distort beautifully. Between the different models, the ‘Clean’ circuit option is the most high-quality and CPU-efficient.
Flanger
Flanger offers a ‘Hi-Quality’ mode that can be toggled on or off via the context menu. Enabling Hi-Quality results in a brighter sound.
Glue Compressor
The Glue Compressor offers an ‘Oversampling’ option that can be toggled on or off via the context menu. Enabling this option causes the Glue Compressor to internally process at two times the current sampling rate, which may reduce aliasing and transient harshness. Note that with Oversampling enabled, the level may exceed 0 dB even with Soft Clip enabled.
Reverb
The Global Quality chooser menu located on Reverbs interface is where you can switch between reverb quality and performance. ‘Eco’ uses minimal CPU resources, while ‘High’ delivers the richest reverberation.
Saturator
Saturator offers a ‘Hi-Quality’ mode that can be toggled on or off via the context menu. Enabling this option will reduce aliasing and improve the sound quality, particularly with high frequency signals.
Operator
Live’s Operator Instrument minimizes aliasing by working in a high-quality ‘Antialias’ mode. This is on by default for new patches, but can be turned off in the global section. Antialias mode helps to minimize high frequency distortion. Disabling this mode reduces the CPU load as well.
Sampler
Live’s Sampler Instrument has a chooser menu labeled ‘Interpol,’ which offers different Interpolation modes. This is a global setting that uses advanced algorithms to process audio and determine the accuracy of transposed samples. From the chooser menu, select ‘Best’ to achieve the highest quality sound. Be aware that raising the quality level above ‘Normal’ will increase the CPU load.
Tip: You can save the high quality settings for each device to load as default every time you open a new Live Set by right-clicking the device’s Title Bar and choosing ‘Save as Default Preset’ from the context menu.
Optimizing for Better Conversion Quality
The three Convert commands are extremely helpful and can be used to generate some interesting results. They allow you to extract the musical information from audio clips and place it into MIDI clips on new tracks. For example, you can record yourself humming a bassline, and use the ‘Convert Melody to MIDI’ command to generate MIDI that can be used as a starting point for a new bass pattern. To achieve the best sound quality, it is recommended to use uncompressed, high-quality audio files such as .wav or .aiff. Lossy data formats such as .mp3 may result in unpredictable conversions, unless the recordings are at high bit rates.
Additional Tips for Achieving Optimal Sound Quality
Below is a list provided by Ableton of recommended practices and program settings for users looking to achieve optimal audio quality in Live.
- Decide which sample rate to use for a project prior to beginning work, rather than changing the sample rate while working on the project.
- Record audio into Live using high-quality hardware components (audio interface, cables, etc.) at the highest sample rate and bit depth your interface and computer will support.
- Avoid using samples that are at different sample rates within the same project. If you want to work with such files, we recommend that you first convert them to the sample rate set for your audio interface in an offline application that is optimized for this task.
- For all audio clips, disable both the Warp and Fade options in the Clip View.
- Do not adjust the Transpose and Detune controls for any clips.
- Always render at 32-bit.
Please note that these practices will achieve optimal audio quality, but disable some of Live‘s functionality — in particular, stretching and synchronization.
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42375
When I’ve taught friends to DJ, one of the things I try to get across early is the importance of matching the levels of the two tracks being mixed. A sudden big drop in the volume is a surefire way to lose energy on the dance floor – or even clear it if you’re really unlucky! The way Traktor handles metering and the labels on its volume controls can lure you into making a real mess of your levels.
When I first realised this on switching from CDJs and an analogue mixer to using Traktor and a sound card, it prompted me to take a deeper look into the best way to get the level right. Today I’m going to explain why turning the master volume down in Traktor is essential if you mix “in the box”, ie in internal mode – which if you use a DJ controller, is exactly what you do.
The problem:
You may have already run into this problem. You’ve just dropped a dancefloor-filling track, but when you try to smoothly bring in the next tune, it’s too quiet. Faders and the main volume control are already all the way up, and there’s nowhere left to go. If you’ve got the master limiter disabled, turning the channel’s gain further just results in nasty distortion. If you do have Traktor’s master limiter switched on, you can crank the volume further, but at the expense of sound quality again.
The limiter is basically a compressor, which quietens down the loudest parts of the track, “filling out” the sound to give the impression of more volume. (You know you are hitting the limiter when the red lights on Traktor’s output meters come on.)
As most dance tracks released these days are already heavily compressed, adding further compression is not a good idea if you want your set to sound good (see the Loudness Wars video for more info on the effects of over-compression).
Traktor Pro 2 Mac
The solution:
I’ll explain the whys and wherefores in a moment, but here’s the simple solution to the problem:
- Turn Traktor’s master output control down – somewhere around -10dB works well (assuming you have a decent sound card)
- Turn the gain on the amp or analogue mixer you’re plugged in to up to compensate if necessary – this will give you plenty of headroom, so when you drop that track that hasn’t been mastered quite so loud, you can crank up the channel gains in Traktor without worrying about distortion
Tip: If you can, sound check before your set with a track that you know is quiet – make sure it sounds loud enough and that you aren’t clipping (driving into the red) the in-house equipment that you are hooked up to.
Why it works…
The key to understanding what’s going on here is to understand what the “0dB” setting means in Traktor. dB (short for “decibel”) is a relative measure of volume – it tells you the difference between two levels.
Many analogue mixers have “0dB” marked on the VU meter – this usually corresponds to 0dBV, which means it is measuring the difference between the current level and an output voltage of 1 volt. You can push the level above this and still get a nice clean output from most mixers – on the best ones, up to +20dB on the mixer’s output meter.
But in Traktor, 0dB means “maximum output”. If you are using a good DJ sound card (or controller with a decent one built-in), this could mean you are putting out up to a walloping +20dBV. Leaving the master gain set to 0dB in Traktor is like turning every control on your mixer right up to maximum at the start of your set. Not a good idea. So why would Native Instruments choose to mark the gain control like this? Well, it’s actually fairly common for digital equipment to designate 0dB as the maximum output. If you had auto gain turned off and were using Traktor in external mixer mode, sending each tune out to your sound card at maximum volume wouldn’t be such a bad thing, as most DJ mixers can handle a pretty hot signal coming in.
Traktor Pro 2 Poor Sound Quality Download
Why use -10dB?
Earlier I suggested -10dB as a good setting for your master. There are a couple of reasons why.
The first is simply experience; I’ve found this gives enough headroom to level match tracks without slamming into the limiter. If you play lots of older tracks you might find you need to use an even lower setting.
The second reason is related to the actual output voltage you are sending to the next thing in the audio chain. If you’ve every played on a big system with a sound engineer, you’ve probably been asked to “keep it out of the red” – ie to stick to a maximum of 0dB on the mixer. A clean 0dBV signal allows the guy running the system to crank it up to full volume without worrying about it being destroyed.
I use a Motu UltraLite sound card which has a maximum output around 17dBV, so in theory I should set my master output in Traktor to -17dB or lower in order to give a real output of 0dBV. If I was hooking my sound card up directly to a pro amplifier or a big sound system, that’s what I would do. In most cases though, digital DJs hook up their kit to one of the mixer inputs. DJ mixers are usually optimised these days for the relatively hot output level from a Pioneer CDJ (around 6dBV). Bringing the master level up in Traktor to -10dB with my set up gives a similar level on my mixer as I get with a CDJ.
Remember…
The key thing to take away here is that 0dB in Traktor really means maximum output. Using a master setting of -10dB (or even much lower) will give you a fighting chance of keeping the levels kicking on the dancefloor without distorting.
Traktor Pro 2 Software
• This was a guest post by Colin Brown, who is a DJ with over 10 years’ experience, and who is also system tech for the Babble Collective Soundsystem.
Do you have level problems when using Traktor to DJ out and about with? Have you battled with a sound engineer about how the settings should be? Let us know in the comments.