Speed/Tempo issue in Virtual DJ

[Centre Stage Discos]

There is an issue with the speed/tempo on Virtual DJ 2021 when used with the American Audio VMS 5.0 controller.

I cue a song, press play, and the pitch or tempo is noticeably slow. To correct the problem, I have to quickly move the pitch/tempo slider up and down to its extremities and back to centre to regain the correct speed/tempo. You can imagine how embarrassing this would be live.

I am fairly sure the problem is with Virtual DJ as this happened some years ago and I cannot remember the solution.

I have already posted about this months ago on the Virtual DJ forum and the suggestion given in the reply did not help. I really need to disable all vari-speed/pitch/tempo etc. functions in the mapping, but it's so complicated to me, I need clear instructions on how to do this.

I tried to get this issue fixed well in advance of any bookings, but we now have a wedding in just two days. Talk about last minute!

Thanks if anybody knows the solution.

John.

[Centre Stage Discos]

I think I may have solved this.

Perhaps it's nothing to do with the mapping after all, but I think it's more to do with the basic settings on the interface itself.

There is an option for DECK SETTINGS where you can select/deselect AUTO MATCH BPM and AUTO MATCH KEY. These are accessible via the tiniest little cog between the OUT and CUE buttons (left deck) and that has solved the issue ... so far.

There is just one other minor annoyance which I would like to get fixed if possible and I suspect this IS something to do with the mapping. The volume adjusts itself a second or two after starting a song. This must be some auto-levelling function, which I haven't been able to locate so far.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks again.

John.

[DJ Jules]

Also not a mapping issue.

It's normalising the levels of the song so it sounds the same as others you play. The irritating bit is that it does it after it's analysed the whole song, so if you drop a track on the deck for the first time and press play immediately, it might change the level once it's got to the end.

I have a feeling they might have fixed this in VDJ 2021 as I haven't had it recently. Either that or I haven't played any new songs recently (VDJ remembers the gain setting it picked once its analysed the track once).

[Centre Stage Discos]

Thanks Jules.

This is not such good news as I have the latest update in VDJ 2021. I can live with this but it's annoying - and potentially slightly embarrassing at a function. Your description fits exactly with how the level change happens, i.e. after the software has thought about it!

I imagine there is a way to correct this deep within the various settings, but since I don't understand the intricacies of this system - and am too scared to mess around in case I mess up something else, I will leave that side alone.

I will write directly to Virtual DJ about this. They have been extremely helpful in the past.

Cheers!

John.

[DJ Jules]

Thanks Jules.

This is not such good news as I have the latest update in VDJ 2021. I can live with this but it's annoying - and potentially slightly embarrassing at a function. Your description fits exactly with how the level change happens, i.e. after the software has thought about it!

I imagine there is a way to correct this deep within the various settings, but since I don't understand the intricacies of this system - and am too scared to mess around in case I mess up something else, I will leave that side alone.

I will write directly to Virtual DJ about this. They have been extremely helpful in the past.

Cheers!

John.

I've generally found that if you to the config options and type "level" or "gain" or "auto" into the filter, you'll find something that relates to the problem ;)

Julian

[Centre Stage Discos]

Er ... here's an admission. I didn't even realise that was a search box at the top. Why I overlooked this is beyond me. Maybe because the search bx was always populated with something. i.e. "cat:performance" I just scrolled through all the various screens and read down the list of options. A case of cannot being able to see the wood because of the trees I think. Thanks Jules.

[Centre Stage Discos]

"It'll be Alright on the Night" .... and it was. Phew!

There was one minor problem with a keyboard shortcut, which needs to be disabled, but everything went very well indeed and a good night was had ... etc.

Just a quick word of thanks again for your help Jules. Nice to be back into doing discos again. I now realise how much I have missed it all! Can't wait for the next one.

[Excalibur]

"It'll be Alright on the Night" .... and it was. Phew!

There was one minor problem with a keyboard shortcut, which needs to be disabled, but everything went very well indeed and a good night was had ... etc.

Just a quick word of thanks again for your help Nice to be back into doing discos again. I now realise how much I have missed it all! Can't wait for the next one.

Amen, Brother, Amen.

Watching this with interest, as I have a VMS5 which hasn't yet been commissioned by me. I'd like to make sure there are no big red flags before I start trying to fix something that ain't broke. ( As yet. Don't want to tempt fate).

[Centre Stage Discos]

Hi Excalibur.

The VMS5.0 is a very versatile controller and I feel that it is completely solid. It is Virtual DJ which has to be tweaked to suit your personal needs, but it would be the same with any controller. The last one I used was a Denon DN4500 and I had to make the same adjustments, more or less, with that. Oh, I had to do a firmware update on the Denon, that was the only other thing. In terms of reliability there's not a lot to go wrong, other than the speed or tempo suddenly changing by itself.

I think I am leaning towards wanting to disable all vari-speed aspects of the software. I doubt I will ever be mixing music again if all my gigs are weddings, although a 21st birthday party looms so I may still make use of it on occasion. (I love live mixing!)

So, my own personal checklist when commissioning any new controller would be:


1. Disable auto-tempo/key. Can be done from the main interface
2. Disable auto-gain.
3. Disable that damn cross-fader. (I passionately hate them!)
4. Disable the MathEngine (used for STEMS) if you don't want to lose audio quality. (V-DJ 2021)


I actually like the STEMS feature a lot. Very useful for a makeshift karaoke. But it comes at a cost. There is a loss in audio quality, such that you might think you're playing a very watery sounding low-bitrate mp3. It's just part of the trade-off which comes with using STEMS. Perhaps this will improve in time but the effect is subtle and I dare say some may not notice the difference.

Word of warning - if the MathEngine is enabled so you can run the STEMS feature, then you disable it without re-starting V-DJ, the STEMS feature won't work, but the degraded audio quality still exists. You'll need to restart V-DJ.

I also notice a very minor glitch/stutter, just a second or so into the start of a song. It probably happens to roughly every one in four songs and is so subtle that it would never be noticed at a gig. I am still yet to work out where this is coming from. Maybe a buffer issue.

[Nakatomi]

Some tracks' stems work better with than others but in most cases I tend to only use it for going from one (key compatible) track to another so any quality loss is usually masked very well by the mix.

As for VDJ's default settings oh my GOD.. auto do this, auto fettle that.. they're annoying as heck. No, *I* decide whether to key shift, or sync tempos etc thankyou very much!

[Centre Stage Discos]

I suppose they must be catering for the majority. I can imagine there are more DJs who would take advantage of these facilities than those who won't need them.

[Nakatomi]

I suppose they must be catering for the majority. I can imagine there are more DJs who would take advantage of these facilities than those who won't need them.

Oh I take advantage of VDJ features alright - I just don't want IT messing with what I intend to do. For what it's worth I think a lot of DJs out there using VDJ aren't actually DJing but merely dragging tracks into the automix column. Look at how few DJs now use anything for a controller as a clue....

I'll sometimes shift the next track up or down a semitone (or 3 if it's an instrumental) to match the key of what's playing now. Sometimes I like to have auto pitch lock turned on, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I want to mix the next track in. Sometimes I don't, so I don't need its key or speed changed thankyou very much VDJ!

[Excalibur]

For what it's worth I think a lot of DJs out there using VDJ aren't actually DJing but merely dragging tracks into the automix column. Look at how few DJs now use anything for a controller as a clue....


Wash your mouth out with soap!! :mad: How dare you insult the vast majority of diligent and engaged DJs all over the land! :eek::eek:



As a lifelong user of little more than volume faders and play buttons, I am in awe of those people who use all the bells and whistles on their machines. One time at BPM, while waiting for friends, I spent a happy half hour or so listening to the folk playing their stuff. I admire the skill of anyone in any walk of life who is so good at what they do, that it looks so easy.

However, Justin: I have seen those DJs to whom you refer. Oh My Lord! :zip: ( Unless you corner me at BPM over a coffee). ;):)

[Nakatomi]

Wash your mouth out with soap!! :mad: How dare you insult the vast majority of diligent and engaged DJs all over the land! :eek::eek:



As a lifelong user of little more than volume faders and play buttons, I am in awe of those people who use all the bells and whistles on their machines. One time at BPM, while waiting for friends, I spent a happy half hour or so listening to the folk playing their stuff. I admire the skill of anyone in any walk of life who is so good at what they do, that it looks so easy.

However, Justin: I have seen those DJs to whom you refer. Oh My Lord! :zip: ( Unless you corner me at BPM over a coffee). ;):)

I know you're not one for all the bells & whistles Peter but I don't hold any less regard for you for that. Any DJ who still uses faders & actual buttons is to be lauded.

That's another thing about virtual djs default settings actually. Automix always sounds like amateur hour on the default settings. Even moreso if the mix points aren't set on tracks.

[mattydj50]

I know you're not one for all the bells & whistles Peter but I don't hold any less regard for you for that. Any DJ who still uses faders & actual buttons is to be lauded.

That's another thing about virtual djs default settings actually. Automix always sounds like amateur hour on the default settings. Even moreso if the mix points aren't set on tracks.

Via my hotel residency, I was accused recently by a bride that I used the auto program on my computer recently as I wanted an easy night.

So I took great delight in responding that, as a techno dinosaur still playing from CDs, I don't have a computer to DJ with and the only auto facility I have is five of them on the end of each arm, which I use to manually select the CD, put it in the player and press the play button.

[Excalibur]

Via my hotel residency, I was accused recently by a bride that I used the auto program on my computer recently as I wanted an easy night.

So I took great delight in responding that, as a techno dinosaur still playing from CDs, I don't have a computer to DJ with and the only auto facility I have is five of them on the end of each arm, which I use to manually select the CD, put it in the player and press the play button.

And oh how delighted I was to hear that you were the offender, and not me. :D For one awful moment, I feared that it was the gig where I started the music, loaded up autoplay, and nipped off to McDonalds for a coffee*.


* And for those of you who still can't spot my whimsies, the libations at one of Ronald's emporiums ( emporia? ) take place after the gig, never during. The more sceptical among us may perhaps wonder if Matthew's bride was perhaps angling for a reduction, on the grounds of finding fault with the lad over something, anything. I reckon Sir Francis* may be spot on.

* Come on, don't make me have to explain everything. Google " House Of Cards". :)

[Nakatomi]

And oh how delighted I was to hear that you were the offender, and not me. :D For one awful moment, I feared that it was the gig where I started the music, loaded up autoplay, and nipped off to McDonalds for a coffee*.


* And for those of you who still can't spot my whimsies, the libations at one of Ronald's emporiums ( emporia? ) take place after the gig, never during. The more sceptical among us may perhaps wonder if Matthew's bride was perhaps angling for a reduction, on the grounds of finding fault with the lad over something, anything. I reckon Sir Francis* may be spot on.

* Come on, don't make me have to explain everything. Google " House Of Cards". :)

Funny you should say that Peter. In the mists of time when I was 'somebody else's guy' I'd sometimes have to work alongside another colleague working for the same character in a different room in the venue. Imagine my surprise as a staff member asked me if I could 'sort his music out' because it'd stopped while he was OUT GETTING A MCDONALD'S :lol:

Ahhh automix. You gotta love it ddontcha

See also:. Annoying Xmas party guests with less well known modern rnb in the hope they'll leave early. Gawd I wish I'd thought of that!