The iConnectMIDI is a small, powered MIDI hub that sports two sets of your normal MIDI in/out connections in addition to three USB ports in a compact interface. It’s a product that snuck up on me over this last year, something that I couldn’t help but pay attention to after hearing so much about it. It seemed interesting at first but I didn’t see at the time why I might need one. I have the Apple Camera Connection Kit which offers a USB port for MIDI on my iPad, do I need more than that? Then I watched this product make its way into studios in a slow but steady conquest. I started seeing the iConnect MIDI on user forums, in kit lists and as recommendations from fellow musicians who found this device indispensable for spontaneous moments of MIDI connectivity in the studio.

It’s worth noting that iConnectivity has been keeping pace with iOS music application development, as they have created a device that is built upon the latest MIDI functionality that has been developed for our iPads, iPhones, and iPods. The Calgary-based company seems dedicated to the iOS music movement, as they explain on their website, “the company is currently focused on hardware solutions for the music industry. iConnectivity is revolutionizing the music space through quality products that facilitate equipment communication integration between non-mobile and mobile devices. Enhancing creativity, expanding functionality and encouraging collaboration.”

MIDI for the Digital Age

The iConnectMIDI is an exciting device because it does something that no other MIDI interface on the market at this price range can do. As the company explains,”iConnectMIDI is an enhanced MIDI interface that enables communication between 5 pin MIDI, USB MIDI, Mac, PC and iOS devices – all at the same time.” That last part is the important part. While I’ve been able to plug my iPad into my Akai MPK Mini, or use the iPad over WiFi to control my computer, it’s usually a single connection from the iPad to another device. With the iConnectMIDI, you could have, say, a laptop, an iPad, and a few different midi controllers all sending signal to numerous pieces of hardware in your studio.While some of this workflow is possible with my existing setup, the iConnect MIDI shines with near-zero latency in a single box that can run the whole show.

The small box offers 2 sets of standard MIDI in/out ports, two sets of computer or iOS mini-USB ports, and one standard USB port that can support up to 8 controllers (USB hub not included). In total there are 12 MIDI connections available. The iConnect MIDI requires a power cable that unfortunately doesn’t charge your iOS device while it’s working, but otherwise works very well to power multiple USB MIDI Controllers.

Admittedly – a MIDI box is not a piece of gear that I usually get excited about. But iConnectMIDI has become a Swiss Army Knife of sorts in my studio, stepping in to route MIDI signal between devices that I previously could not have connected. On more than one occasion recently I found myself saying, “Oh wait, I CAN connect that,” due to the  plug-and-play nature of this device and multiple USB MIDI hubs. The iConnectMIDI has surpassed my expectations. I’ve never owned a MIDI interface that actually multiplies the possibilities of MIDI routing and this box is a fresh perspective on what we can do with current technology.

iConnect MIDI Specs
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The EQ8 has a Hi-Quality setting that is not enabled by default. We are able to find the Hi-Quality setting by right-clicking on the EQ8’s title bar and selecting “Hi-Quality” from the contextual menu that appears. Once that has been done, the EQ8 will be in Hi-Quality mode, but what exactly does that mean?

This is a question that took me quite a bit of investigation to find the answer to, and one that requires more explanation than I intended for these particular videos, but this series is all about sharing esoteric knowledge (as it relates to Live of course) so that is what I will do right now.

When Hi-Quality mode is enabled on the EQ8, the audio being fed into the EQ is oversampled by a factor of 2 (meaning the sample rate of the audio is doubled. If your session’s sample rate is 44.1kHz, enabling Hi-Quality will make the audio being fed into the EQ8 88.2kHz). Then the EQ changes are calculated at the doubled sample rate, and finally the audio as it  leaves the EQ is undersampled by a factor of 2, or basically brought back to it’s original sample rate.

Why does this happen? It all has something to do with what is referred to as the Nyquist Point. The Nyquist Point is one half of your sample rate, so if your session’s sample rate is 44.1kHz, the Nyquist Point will be 22.05kHz, which is right at the upper limit of human hearing, and just beyond the furthest right edge of our EQ8’s GUI. Any audio that produces a frequency higher than the Nyquist Point cannot be accurately reproduced digitally and will have aliasing or digital distortion as a result.

Because of this, the EQ8’s frequency range was initially limited to 22kHz on the high end (when working on a session with a 44.1kHz sample rate).  If your EQ is in normal mode (not Hi-Quality), and you create a notch on the 4th EQ point (reduce the gain all the way on the 4th point), start to increase the Frequency on that 4th point. You’ll notice that as you get closer to the Nyquist Point (22kHz when working with a 44.1kHz sample rate), the curve of the EQ gets squashed so that the curve doesn’t extend beyond 22kHz. Now, enable Hi-Quality mode and try the same thing. Notice how the EQ curve remains intact no matter how close you get to the Nyquist point.

So what does this mean in terms of practical application? Well, it means that you will probably only notice the effect of the Hi-Quality EQ8  if you’re working on a session with a 44.1kHz sample rate, and the improvement will really only be noticeable on the higher frequency sounds effected by the Hi-Quality EQ8. As for specific instances for when you’d want to use the Hi-Quality setting and not, I think that is really for the individual to research a bit further, do a few A/B comparisons, and decide for themselves.

As I was doing my research for this post, I searched a few forums to help me gather the info I needed, and I also reached out directly to the Ableton HQ. Here is a very helpful and informative series of posts from the Ableton forums.

And below is the explanation for the Hi-Quality setting directly from Matt Jackson at Ableton HQ:

“The main difference is that the entire signal is oversampled in high quality mode.  Actually the slope isn’t changed.

To get technical, in normal mode with a project sampling rate of 44.1kHZ, you have a nyquist frequency of around 22kHZ, the limit of the EQ. Because – in the design process – the filter is derived from an analog prototype, which has no such a limit, all frequencies (and up to infinity) must be matched to the available frequency range of the digital filter, resulting in the squashed slope near nyquist frequency.

If you look at the EQ in normal mode, you’ll see the filter slopes warp as they get very close to the 22kHZ mark. If you change your project sampling rate to 88.2 or higher, you’ll see that this warping no longer happens.

- Thavius Beck

Our music production program is custom-tailored to fit your musical style. You can choose from several Digital Audio Workstations including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, or Propellerhead’s Reason.

After completing this program, you will leave with 4 completed tracks (EP), a remix entered in an active contest, a scored commercial to widen your scope, and the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Ableton Live.

What’s Included:

• Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
• Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
• Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
• Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
• Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
• Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

“So far the experience through Dubspot is incredible, and I can’t wait to go through the next levels. It’s just getting better each week, and I can not wait to start putting an EP together, not just being able to put a successful track together!” - Dan Carter, United Kingdom

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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When most people think of Ableton Live, they think of electronic musicians using it for live performance, and they think of glitchy sounding beats and warped audio. Live is great for all of those things, but one of the most powerful aspects of Live is how easy it is to route audio from one place to another within the software. Not only can you route audio from any MIDI or Audio track to any other Audio track, you can also send audio from one (or many) tracks to one of the Return channels, which gives you even more control over effects or options in terms of routing your signal.

What I did not know before was that you can also route audio from one Return channel to another Return channel by simply enabling the Sends on your Returns. Doing this gives you even more options in terms of routing your audio and manipulating it to your liking. In this video, we will put a Reverb on the A Return and a Ping Pong Delay on the B Return, enable the B Send on the A Return, and feed the output of the 100% wet Reverb into our Ping Pong Delay on the B Return (which is already set to Repitch mode). If you’ve been following this series, you might have an idea of where this is going…

Yet another technique to make your beats more sweet! – Thavius Beck

Our music production program is custom-tailored to fit your musical style. You can choose from several Digital Audio Workstations including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, or Propellerhead’s Reason.

After completing this program, you will leave with 4 completed tracks (EP), a remix entered in an active contest, a scored commercial to widen your scope, and the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Ableton Live.

What’s Included:

• Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
• Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
• Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
• Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
• Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
• Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

“So far the experience through Dubspot is incredible, and I can’t wait to go through the next levels. It’s just getting better each week, and I can not wait to start putting an EP together, not just being able to put a successful track together!” - Dan Carter, United Kingdom

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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An Overview of Audio Effects

This week we’re taking a step back to the basics in order to give our beginner students and readers an overview on audio effects and how they work. If you’re just starting out on your audio production journey, you’ve most likely come across effects in your gear or software. These might be delay, reverb, distortion, compression, phase, flange, pitch-shift, ring modulators or filters. This article aims to get you familiar with these terms and what these devices do. In future installments of this series we will get a bit deeper on specific types of effects (as some subjects such as reverb require an article of their own.) For now we begin at the beginning…

What are Audio Effects?

Audio effects are devices (analog or digital) that are used to intentionally alter how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds. Effects can be subtle or extreme and they can be used in live or recording situations. A good example of audio effects are the “stomp-boxes” that many electric guitarists use to realize their desired sound. By chaining together many different types of effects units a musician can sculpt a unique tone. Almost all popular music benefits from creative use of effects, the only exception being an all-acoustic show (and even then there are usually effects involved). All commercial music is enhanced with effects and electronic music makes liberal use of these devices. With proper use they can really enhance your sound and take the listener to new sonic spaces.

A Brief History of Audio Effects

Modern day effects are all a result of the evolution of technology and the advent of recorded sound. Around the Mid 1940’s recording engineers started to use reel to reel tape machines to create delays, echos and sound effects. In addition to tape, microphone placement and movement were found to create sounds that had not previously been recorded. In 1948 Harry DeArmond, creator of the first guitar pickup, created the first stand-alone effects processor called the Trem-Trol by running the electric current of the signal through liquid to create a tremolo sound. This device was used by Bo Diddley and  led to more development in the guitar industry of the 1940’s and 50’s where guitar amplifiers started to introduce vibrato and reverb effects. Reverb was initially created by driving an electrical signal into a metal plate or spring to create multiple echos or reflections of a sound.

Back in the studio, recording engineers started to use echo chambers to create echo effects or a unique tone to their recordings. Echo chambers were usually long, low rectangular spaces made from sound-reflective materials such as concrete. They were fitted with a loudspeaker at one end and a microphone at the other to create an echo effect that was used on many recordings to enhance vocals. As they were often custom-made, these echo chambers became the sound signature of a given studio at that time. As technology developed, many reverb devices allowed for electronic re-creation of the echo chamber effect. Equalizers and compressors arrived in the studio in the 1950’s and 60’s with the Pultec equalizer which defined the sound of many recordings of that era.

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Hardware and Software Effects

Today audio effects devices come in both physical and digital form. Audio signals in electrical format are processed with physical (analog) hardware whereas audio signals in binary format (digital) are processed mathematically by software. Both methods can achieve similar results. In the physical world, effects are usually rack-mounted devices that have cables running to and from a mixing board or they can be something like guitar effect pedals which receive signal from the instrument and alter the signal as it flows to a mixer. On the digital side you can find effects in most music recording software packages. DAWs such as Ableton, Logic, Cubase and ProTools all come with audio effects built-in. Other software packages like Reason, Maschine, Traktor, Audacity, Peak, and Soundforge also come with audio effects. Audio effects are often simple devices that do one specific thing to a sound, although multi-effects processors are also popular for those who want many different effects in one package. It is also worth noting that many instruments (especially synthesizers) come with effects built-in to the machine.

Examples of Audio Effects

For each of the following types of effects we have provided an audio example to hear what the effect sounds like. This beat was made in Maschine and run through various effects in Ableton Live. The original (un-altered) beat comes first and each audio example after that is effected.

Original “Dry” Beat

Dynamics

Dynamic effects (aka amplitude effects) modify the volume of an instrument. These effects include compressors (which increase the loudness of a signal or stabilize volume), limiters (which limit the volume), and noise gates (which aim to eliminate artifacts like hum, hiss and vocal pops.) Dynamic effects can greatly enhance your mix but they are sensitive devices that require attention to detail. Compressors are widely used today in commercial music and sound louder for television and radio use.

Compressed Beat

Distortion

Distortion effects can create a harmonic (warm) or inharmonic (gritty) sound by amplifying an audio signal until it clips (gets too loud and cuts the shape of the waveform.) By changing this waveform shape the distortion effect creates overtones which color the sound. This is a popular effect/sound in rock music and it’s become widely-used in modern electronic music as well. Distorted signals tend to cut through a mix and bring warmth or grit to a tone.

Distorted Beat

Time Based

Time based effects alter the timing of a signal which can create short or long bursts of sound. These effects include reverb, delay and echo. These are among the most popular effects in electronic music with reverb and delay used liberally on most recordings. Reverb effects sometimes aim to re-create the sound of an acoustic space and they are sometimes based on “plate reverb” or “spring reverb” effects – which we will discuss further in an upcoming article.

Delayed Beat

Filter

Filter effects alter the frequency content of an audio signal. This is achieved by boosting or cutting specific frequencies in that signal. Popular filter effects include the Wah Wah pedal (used often in funk, ska, and psychedelic music) and equalizers (found on many devices from mixers to your car stereo.) Low-pass or Hi-pass filters appear on some synthesizers and audio mixers.

Filtered Beat

Modulation

Modulation effects create unique tonal properties by multiplying and altering a signal. Some of these effects use a “carrier wave” as a modulator to change an audio signal. Others will multiply your audio signal and then alter one of those versions to create unique tone. Modulation effects include chorus, flanger, phaser, ring modulator, tremolo, and vibrato. The ring modulator in particular is a unique sounding device which was used to create the “imperial code” in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Ring Modulated Beat

Phase Beat

Pitch / Frequency

Pitch and Frequency effects include pitch shifters and harmonizers. These effects modify the pitch of a sound by adding new frequencies to a signal or by simply altering the pitch. Pitch-shifters transpose (raise or lower) the note that is played at certain intervals. A harmonizer is a pitch-shifter that adds more notes to create harmony.

Frequency Shifted Beat

Michael Walsh is the Editor of Dubspot’s Blog, a producer of audio/visual art and a journalist living in Southern California. Read more of his work at soundsdefygravity.com

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Windows PC Optimization for DJs & Producers Pt 1 with DJ Endo

Today more and more DJs are using laptops as their main platforms for DJing, and use Digital Vinyl Systems (DVS) like Traktor Scratch Pro to control the music on their computers using Timecode vinyl, Timecode CDs and MIDI controllers. One of the main decisions for DJs entering the digital realm is what computer to get. While Macs are “plug and play”, and are great machines “right out of the box”, they can also be very expensive. PC’s can be significantly cheaper, and can work just as well as Macs if not better. There are many different brands of PC’s out there with varying price ranges. Someone that doesn’t have over $2,000 to blow on the new souped up MacBook Pro can get a PC that’s just as powerful for half the price. So why don’t they?

A common myth about PC’s and Windows is that DJ and production programs don’t run well on Windows. One reason people might think this is because they don’t know how to optimize their PC computer correctly for Audio. Another problem is that there are so many different brands of PC’s on the market, and so many combination of hardware and software that you can use that it can lead to compatibility issues and problems with the hardware interacting with each other. One last issue is that a lot of PC computers were designed and optimized to use with word processors and games, and aren’t tuned up right for DJing, Production and long term audio processing. One of the main reasons for this is because most PC users buy their PC’s for gaming and word processing. It is because of this, that you must tune up your PC computer to perform well with real time audio.

In this article I will go over the most important tuning tips for tuning your PC for digital DJing and Audio. This tutorial is more geared towards Windows 7 users, but the same rules apply on all Windows systems. I would recommend bookmarking or printing out this article so you can refer back to it at any point if you ever have problems with Audio dropouts, artifacts or performance issues.

Windows PC Optimization for DJs & Producers Pt 2 with DJ Endo

Here are some things you can do to improve the performance of your PC:

1) Update your BIOS (Basic Input Output System).

BIOS Stands for “Basic Input Output System” which is a mini operating system that runs on a chip on your mainboard. It controls how the mainboard’s components interact with each other (on a hardware management level before windows gets into the mix). The BIOS update will improve the performance of your mainboard components by fixing bugs.

Updating your BIOS can improve your computers performance dramatically. To update your BIOS, visit your computer manufacturer’s, and download and install the latest BIOS update for your exact model number.

For example, here is where I downloaded all the Drivers for the Dell Studio XPS 1647 including the BIOS Drivers Audio Drivers, CD/DVD Firmware Updates, Chipset Drivers, and Graphics Card and Video Card updates for the Dell Studio XPS 1647 for example – Drivers & Downloads

2) Install the latest chipset drivers for your computer by visiting the manufacturer’s website and downloading the latest chipset drivers for your exact computer model.

A “Chipset” refers to a group of important processor chips on your computer’s mainboard, which handles things like hard drive and USB operation. Your computer comes with a generic chipset, but this was made as a “one size fits all” solution for being compatible with as many models as possible. Installing the manufacturer’s chipset drivers will usually give you much better performance.

3) Download and install any other drivers for any hardware components installed on your computer including Audio Drivers for Built in or external audio interfaces or controllers, and any other driver that the manufacturers recommend you download (network adapters, built in audio interfaces, FireWire controllers, graphics drivers etc.).

4) Disconnect everything from your computer except for your Audio Interface. See if you have audio dropouts with ONLY the Audio 8 DJ connected. Now plug in other USB devices one-by-one and see if you get Audio dropouts. If so, the device may be taking up too much USB power, and the drivers might have to be updated for that device. You might also try plugging in the device to another USB port on your computer because a different port might work better. If you’re plugging in bus-powered devices into a USB Hub, it might be hogging all of the power from the port, therefore causing problems and Audio dropouts. Also be sure your Internet is off. Wi-Fi is the number one cause of audio dropouts!

5) Always use ASIO Drivers. When you are choosing your soundcard in whatever DJ program you are using, make sure it says “ASIO” next to it. If you don’t have the option for ASIO, you can download ASIO4ALL at ASIO4ALL.com, which works for most soundcards. Once ASIO is installed, make sure you choose the ASIO driver, and NOT the direct sound or WASAPI driver when you are DJing. It’s important to note that a lot of Audio Interfaces that are designed for music recording and production come with their own ASIO drivers that are designed specifically for that device and have much better performance than the generic ASIO drivers.

6) Find what Latency Setting works best for you.

Latency is the delay that happens between when you perform an action (such as pushing a button, or scratching a timecode vinyl record) and when you hear a result (ex. The time it takes for an effect to turn on after I push a button on my Traktor Kontrol X1). Depending on how powerful your computer is, you can have close to no latency like 2-5 milliseconds (which the human can’t even perceive) vs. 50-80 ms (which you will notice a slightly significant delay and may be distracting).

It is generally true that the lower the latency is set to, the more the computer is strained and has to work. So you will need to find a good buffer size that works for your computer. In Traktor, there is a latency bar in preferences – Audio Setup where you can raise or lower the buffer size. I would try it at 512 ms, then try at other multiples of 128 such as 256, 128. If you do not see the Buffer Size box, you might be running an older version. In that case just raise and lower the latency bar until everything is running without any audio dropouts. When your computer has reached the correct latency setting, your CPU meter will be lower and the Audio will not have any dropouts.

7) Figure Out What is causing the problem. Sometimes it is hard to figure out what is causing problems with your PC’s performance. Here are a couple free applications you can download that will help you figure out the cause of your problems.

DPC Latency Checker

Download DPC Latency Checker Here:

DPC Latency Checker will give you a graphical chart that will show you how much CPU your computer is using. Just install the application and run it for two minutes while your DJ program is running and you will see a chart that shows you if your computer can handle the programs your running or not. If the bars are Green, that is good. If the bars are yellow or red, that means some applications or processes might be straining your computer and causing audio dropouts or distortion.

Here is an example of good results:

Here is an example of bad results:

7-2) If your DPC Latency Monitor is showing yellow or Red spikes, you will want to download LatencyMon here.

After you’ve launched LatencyMon, click on the play button to begin analyzing the processes that are running on your computer.

Now click on the “Drivers” Tab to see the results of the Driver Monitoring. Then click twice on the Highest Execution (ms) tab to sort by what’s causing the highest values. You might have to expand the window to see Highest Execution Column.

In this screen shot, you can see that everything is lower than 1, which means they are not problematic. However, multiple drivers that are lower than 1 (.8, .4) may equal more than one (.8+.4 = 1.2) which can be problematic. So you will want to disable as many of these drivers as you can in the windows device manager. If you don’t know how to disable a device, search the web to find out what the device is, and how to disable it.

You can download a PDF with a list of known drivers that are known to cause High Execution values here.

Now that we know what devices are causing issues with CPU, we can then go to Windows Device Manager and de-activate problematic devices. Before moving forward it is VERY important that you do not de-activate a device that windows needs to run properly. Here is a list of devices that you should NOT deactivate:

System Time, Keyboard, SystemCMOS/real time clock, Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System, Numeric data processor, Primary IDE Channel, Secondary IDE Channel, Graphics Controller, Ultra ATA Storage Controllers. In General, you should not deactivate anything which is listed in the branch “System Devices.”

De-Activating Devices in the System Manager:

Right click on the “Computer” icon on your desktop, and then select Properties – Device Manager.

In the device manager, find the device that LatencyMon reported as problematic. As long as the device isn’t in the list above (necessary devices for windows to run) you can disable it by right clicking and choosing “deactivate” (NOT UNINSTALL!).

You can disable these devices to preserve system resources, even if they weren’t detected as problematic:

Here are some processes you can disable in the Windows Device Manager:

Batteries – Disable Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery

Network Adapters: Disable all of these to turn off your WiFi. Always make sure your WiFi is off when you’re DJing. You can additionally do this by clicking on the arrow on your dock to show all open applications, and right clicking on your WIFI application and turning it off.

Turn off Windows Update in Control Panel – System and Security – Windows Update.

Network Adapter, WLAN card, Bluetooth port, Infared Port, ACPI complaint battery, Trackpad (only if a mouse is connected), Video Camera, DVD Drive, Any third party component that is not an essential part of the system (be careful).

9) Even though your computer is optimized to save as much energy as possible, this can cause problems when running audio applications. Here is how to optimize your PC’s energy settings for digital DJing and music production:

Click on Start – Control Panel – System and Security – Power Options. Set the power scheme to “Higher Performance.” If this isn’t available, click on “Show additional plans” first, and then click on “change plan settings.” On the next page, set both “Turn off the display” and “put the computer to sleep” to “Never.”

Then click “Change advanced power settings.” In the window that opens make sure you have the following settings:

Hard Disc – Turn off hard disk after – Setting (Minutes) = Never
Sleep – Sleep after – Setting (Minutes) = Never
USB Settings – USB selective suspend setting – setting = Disabled
Display – Turn Off Display After – Setting (Minutes) = Never
Processor power management – Minimum processor state – Setting = 100%
Processor power management – Maximum processor state – Setting = 100%

10) A lot of computers come with an application that will take over the control of the energy settings of the computer. This will override your energy settings in the Windows Energy options. If you have an application like this, deactivate it.

11) Disable Power saving option of the USB ports

In the device manager (Start – Control Panel – System and Security – System – Device Manager), in the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section, right click each “USB Root Hub”, choose “Properties” – “Power Management” and uncheck the “allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” option.

12) Install Microsoft Hotfix for USB Spikes – There is a known issue with CPU Spikes causing Audio dropouts on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. You can download the hotfix for this here.

13) Disable Aero – Aero is the Graphical User Interface (GUI) used by Windows 7 by default. This can cause audio dropouts. You can disable this by right clicking on the desktop and choosing “Personalize.” You can then scroll down and select a color scheme from the “Basic and High Contrast Themes” section, such as windows classic.

14) Graphic Card Tools – Some Graphic Card Tools like ATI Power Play and Nvidia Powermizer interface with real-time audio, since they prioritize the graphic card performance over other processes in the system.  Try to disable or uninstall these tools by going to Control Panel – Programs – Programs and Features.

15) Processor Scheduling – Processor Scheduling prioritizes “Backround Services” vs. Programs. While you might think Background services don’t need to be prioritized, the driver for your soundcard is actually a background service! You want your computer to give more priority to your soundcard drivers so you don’t get audio dropouts. To do this, do the following:

Right click the “Computer” icon on your desktop. Then select Properties – Advanced System Settings.

On the “Advanced” tab under “Performance” click the “Settings” button.

Also on the “Advanced” tab under “Performance” click the “Settings…” button

Again, on the ”Advanced” tab under “Performance Options” select “background services”.

If your Audio performance worsens after following the steps above, change the settings back to “Programs”

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Native Instruments product specialist and Dubspot Instructor Mike Henderson aka DJ Endo explains and demonstrates the incredible audio processing, DJing, and performance possibilities of Dell’s powerful Studio XPS laptop running Windows 7. In this new video Endo creates a next level Traktor DJ setup called The Mothership.  Using the Studio XPS laptop along with NI’s Audio 8 interface and the Kensington USB hub, Endo connects a series of Native Instruments next generation DJ controllers and gear including a mapped-out Maschine for auto-synching and beat-matchining, two Traktor Kontrol X1 for browsing/scrolling through tracks, controlling effects panels, and Traktor Kontrol S4 for advanced controllerisms using the decks. Lastly, Endo goes into Traktor and shows us how to navigate the preferences, device setups, and load up the Settings for The Mothership (click link to download settings.)

DJ Endo and DJ Shiftee are the designers of Dubspot’s upcoming Digital Djing with Traktor program, which you can find more details about below. You can listen to his mixes on SoundCloud, follow him on Twitter, & find him on Facebook.

Digital DJing w/ Traktor Pro 2 Program

Three levels / 12 sessions / 21 hours of hands-on instruction + labs

Courses:

• Digital DJing w/ Traktor Pro 2 Level 1: Introduction to DJing
• Digital DJing w/ Traktor Pro 2 Level 2: Phrase Mixing
• Digital DJing w/ Traktor Pro 2 Level 3: Beyond The Beatmatch

To reflect this renaissance, Dubspot has created the Digital DJing with Traktor program. In both our physical and online schools, students will learn how to DJ entirely with Traktor’s cutting-edge technology. An emphasis will be placed on the concepts of DJing rather than simply learning how to use the software. Starting with a historical overview, students will learn the fundamental concepts of the DJ via Traktor’s intuitive interface. They will then begin to delve into the vast array of new possibilities offered by this groundbreaking software, recording their work along the way. Students will leave with finished DJ mixes, a thorough introduction to DJing with Traktor, and a skill set and knowledge base perfect for further development.

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