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I'm Tech Manager at The Arch (Brighton) and if using that setup with NXS2 kit then most clubs will already have all the decks and mixer connected by Ethernet, in that case you only need to plug in to USB on the mixer using just one USB cable.
Jamie be that DJ dude who totally keeps his cool when he takes over in a DJ booth at a full club at 1:00AM while nothing works... *casually and totally relaxed finding out cables and syntax files in the laptop while keeping the club running via a jackplug and Iphone...*
This was a wicked tutorial. I went to Pirate studios in a dj room and it completely wrecked my session when trying to get all this setup. Next time I think I will understand properly. Thank you very much
Thank you so much for this video. That was super helpfull. Just ordered 2x XDJ 1000mk2 and djm 450, so will use your setup guide as soon as they arrive!
What we have been waiting for a long time! Thanks crossfader. Video suggestion: how 2 hid mode DJs switch in a live setting without interupting music please. Thanks
TheCabz from the live dj’s laptop, unplug usb cable from muted channel (make 100% sure volume fader is muted on mixer) plug into your laptops usb port. Cue up track to mix in, check volume meters look level, and you’re g2g. Once you’ve taken the wheel you can swap the other usb cable into your laptop to control both decks.
The aggregator is so essential. You can always see if the players are recognized by your system. It is the first thing you have to check, in case something is not working like it should. Avoid stress : )
IMPORTANT: you need to upgrade your rekordbox plan in order to be able to use your laptop with CDJs. It will not work with the free plan. Learned this 30 mins before my gig lol
Hey man. What was happening when you were in this situation, was the CDJ 2000 trying to LINK without any success ? I think I'm in the same situation as you. Thanks in advance 🤙
@@PascalStifani hey, I can’t connect my laptop (rekordbox) to cdj 2000nxs2 until I bought a plan, activated and works. So if you can’t connect, that’s because you using free plan
dude thanks so much for thsi video - so much more detailed than all the Digital DJ tips ones which use old gear and leave so much important info out! that troubleshooting tip at 10 mins saved me after ages of frustration haha
I always say that if anyone has access to a CDJ setup, it's best to use a flash drive. But if you insist on using a laptop, a much easier solution is to connect your laptop via the Pro-DJ Link. Most clubs/ venues will already have a network hub set up with the CDJ's and Mixer. 1 Cat5 cable, and possibly a dongle, and you can link everything that was just explained in the video, but with much more ease. I believe you just connect the cable, and there will be a button that appears in Rekordbox that either says "link," or something similar. Click the button, and all the settings should be just fine, and the CDJ's will function as normal. Just as with HID mode, you'll still need the RCA's'/ Digital cables to send audio to the mixer. It's also easier on your CPU, because instead of relying on Rekordbox to play files and send audio out, essentially the CDJ's use the laptop as a flash drive. Side story- I worked at a club as a tech for a while, and when I discovered the Pro-DJ Link functionality worked with a laptop, I tested it with one of our resident's computers. He always insisted on having 2 flash drives, and his laptop connected to the mixer via USB in case something went wrong, and he needed to throw on Spotify (our players were old, and always needed help). When I showed him he could connect with a Cat5, and a USB cable for Spotify, he was thrilled. No more cable nests or forgetting drives at home, and his full library on both players.
im guessing he had a windows laptop. Macbook DJs are the worst at coming prepared. They dont have an ethernet jack, they often dont bother bringing a hub or the hub they bring doesn't have an ethernet jack and they have external drives already using the free ports ...goddamn macbook djs need to get their head out their ass. Sound tech's are not your personal IT helpdesk! figure out your own equipment! PS: Pro DJ link with rekordbox is pretty easy to connect to, just as your comment described.. I'm amazed at how few DJs use it.. always with Serato, Traktor.. and now virtual DJ
This tutorial applies also to Serato, except no diving in to the settings. Just plug them all in, select the channels on the CDJs, and you're done. Well it should be noted that with Serato you need to plug in the mixer. It won't work without it.
love your videos!! so informative and helpful, I had a gig on a festival for the first time and they had this setup with cdjs and 900 mixer but I had the trouble to use it on rekordbox because I didnt know of the aggregator, now I am informed! thank you !!
you can actually do fine with a single usb connection straight into the DJM, on the condition that all cdj's are being routed in the mixer via ethernet (which is rare but can be encountered)
To use HID mode we don't require RCA cable to be connected from CDJ to Mixer because it'll use the direct source from the Laptop & using 2 CDJ we still can use the other 2 channels which can be controlled through the laptop. Enabling us to use 4 decks even though having just 2, we just have to select 4 deck option if we wanted to use it that way otherwise if we don't then we can just keep it the same way. Let me know if I am wrong about this?!
I've been using a NuMark Mixtrack Platinum for parties and it gets the job done, and seeing you go through the features for CD-J's much more clearly. They're basically mixers with twice more features. But I have to say, Key Lock for the Platinum sucks. The sound has a tiny distort noise in the background. I don't know how they are on the CD-J's.
Can you explain is it better to use reckordbox on midi or external? When using xdjrx3? I know its not related to the video but seems you know these things very well
17:40 I still don't understand why Jamie is so explicit about 'telling the mixer' via the Pioneer software that the CDJ's are connected via the line input... This makes no sense at all since the sound goes straight from the laptop to the mixer via USB. The CDJ's are (in that specific situation) no more than just midi controllers which control the decks in Rekordbox. They do absolutely not more then that. You can even unplug the RCA line cables...
There's nothing to understand, he got it wrong. That whole section of the video is just confusing and useless, there was no point in going into the settings utility, the mixer was already good to go as soon as he connected it and selected it as an audio device, he just needed to select the "USB" in each channel's input selector switch and that's it. What he did was that he changed the settings of the USB Outputs of the mixer, which might be used to, for example, record the audio from a specific channel or the whole mix into a recording software or DAW, which has nothing to do with the topic of this tutorial.
@@erickrodriguez7872 Thanks for your confirmation. You might know an answer to this: I never got time to test this in a club (I only own a S9 mixer personally): I never got my sound samples working over a DJM900 mixer or alike. With my S9 or XDJ I can activate them on my performance pads or via my Laptop keyboard. But, when I plug in my Laptop to a DJM-900, those sample sounds don't get send to or via the DJM 900. Is this maybe a setting which I need to change?
v useful though a lot of tech to master and set up in advance, if you can access gear/venue etc. prefer plugging my controller straight into a line input
I can watch a million DJ tutorials, but I almost always end up with the Crossfader videos being the most helpful. I do have few a questions, one of which is more based on advice I'm getting from other DJ's, who have been telling me that I need a USB hub to connect my laptop to a DJM900 NXS2 + CDJ2000 NXS2 setup in order for another DJ to play B2B with me on USB's? Based on what you just demonstrated, that is incorrect. My other question is whether or not I can interact with my laptop to drag/drop tracks onto each deck and search playlists instead of using the interface on the CDJ?
i use rekordbox with pioneer xdj in exportmode with the link function. It works also with cdj, i find it much handier. But then rekordbox is just a big library
Hey guys. Great video as always. I've just switched from DDJ-1000 to a pair of XDJ 1000 Mk 2 at home and I can't get the aggregate device to appear in the RB audio settings. Anyone here have any idea what I'm doing wrong? RB detects the XDJ's as a controller but jusy wont play ball with the audio settings!
Always connect via your mixer! Use the USB to the DJM. Your audio quality is much better. (Save 3 A/D conversions), also you imidiatly unlock all 4 decks. You can play acapellas, samples and other tracks on the other 2 decks, and cue songs that are still not loaded yet (link cue). That way you don't need the agregator, you unleash the full potencial of the mixer and the software. Also, sir, what happens when you try to unplug one of those ubs's mid set to change DJ's? Yeah, on the mixer just plug on usb to B port and change input, and you're ready to go!
i agree with this, but i encountered a problem. My club uses 4 decks and the CDJ deck numbers are 1,2,3,4. when using rekordbox DJ in 2-deck mode. it shows Deck 1&2 which is a problem because it is the 2 left decks suppose to 1 left and 1 right... how do i fix this issue?
@@michaelpowter7247 Actually the natural numbering should be: 3-1-mixer-2-4. That way all the softwares recognize the correct numbering. If all the CDJ's are linked, turn them all off, turn on one, then go to settings and put the correct number, turn on another, put the correct number, and so on until you have them all with correct numbers. Also when you are using USB HID mode hold link and it shows "turn selector wheel to the correct deck". Do just that!
@@luckym_dj no, I dont want to arrange the CDJ numbers as 3124, I will lose some rekordbox functionality, like On-Air Display, and instant BPM detection. My fix is to use 3 USB cables.. 1 for the mixer, 1 for each CDJ and thus I am able to select the Deck number this way. I wish a future update will allow Deck number selection Via 1 USB cable to the mixer..
Great video!! I wasn’t able to select the aggregate device for the sampler output. The options were to choose either CDJs individually.. so the sampler would come out of whichever channel selected. Any advice on how to set up the sampler from rekordbox properly?
The Rekordbox button is used when you're connected via the pro dj link with an ethernet cable. Rekordbox on your computer is placed in export mode and it simply uses your rekordbox library almost like a usb stick if that makes sense.
Hi Crossfader - this is really helpful as I want to get new CDJs to play with my A&H mixer. I have played with the DDJ-400 and FLX6 and I really like all the pad modes (beat jump etc) - how would I replicate these without a Pioneer Linked Mixer?
Question: if you connect your mixer via USB (for instance using a S9), do you still need to connect the RCA's or 'tell the mixer' it's connected via Line? The CDJ's act as midi controllers right? Not like sound players...? 🤔
Very important thing is the version of cdjs cause if you dont the last can give conection errors. it's recommended to have the cdjs updated to version 1.85
It would be realy greate if you could make a vid about how to plug your Dj controller in a club, for example,I have my ddj 1000 and how to use your midi controller+ laptop with club's CDJs) I think that a lot of people also would be curious about it)
@@muratti72muc If you're used to your controller and realy practiced well + 2) it's more comfortable using big screen to track's waveform, tracks, 3) Eeasier to navigate your cue points and using it. Not like having a super small screen to properly see only the track's name and kinda smth about the track's structure(to go almost blind) yes if you play hundreds of time the same tracks - you'll remember, but because the world is moving so fast that smt you cannot and the audience to whom you perform doen't allow you to play that tracks... there a a lot of - you can point in one or another!
When using the USB straight to the mixer from the laptop do you also need the USBs plugged into the CDJs or can you take them out once you're plugged into the mixer? Thanks
the CDJs needs a digital signal, that's not working with the analog RCA cables. Laptop send a digital signal to the CDJs. The CDJ transforms it to a analog signal and sent it via the RCA analog cable to the mixer. When you use 3 USB cables you don't need the RCA cables anymore. I just play in HID mode with 3 USB cables, because of quantanize and the better soundcard of the mixer. Normally it's just plug and play, the recordbox software recognize the DJM and the CDJs automatically. Just select the cannel.
