User manual


CrossDJ
Product
Range
C
USER MANUAL
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
MY
- CrossDJ
- Cross
- CrossDJ LE
- Using MixVibes Hardware
K
Fine DJ Solutions.
1
MixVibes
• Contact
For all technical or sales information, please contact your local reseller
or MixVibes directly:
MixVibes
4, rue de la Sablière
92230 Gennevilliers
FRANCE
www.mixvibes.com
• Technical Support
Please visit our online forum at http://forum.mixvibes.com
• Sales Questions
Please send an email to [email protected]
Copyright © 2012 MixVibes. All rights reserved.
The contents of this guide may change without prior notice. Best efforts
have been put forth to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this guide.
MixVibes is not liable for any errors, typographical or other, contained
herein. Except as specifically permitted herein, no portion of the information on this guide may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of MixVibes. Trademarks and trade names displayed on this guide are the property of their respective owners.
This guide may be updated from time to time. Please check our website at
http://www.mixvibes.com for updates.
Contents
2
Contents
1/Welcome /7
2/
Software Installation /10
2.1 Installation on Windows /10
2.2 Installation on Mac OS X /13
2.3Launching Cross /14
2.4License Key /14
3/
Basic Concepts of Digital DJing /15
3.1 Internal Mixer vs. External Mixer /15
3.2 Audio Sources: Audio Files vs. External Sources /18
3.3 Using Timecode to control Playback /19
3.4 Controlling Cross with the Keyboard and with DJ controllers /23
4/
Connect and Configure your Hardware /25
4.1 U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 in Internal Mixer Mode /25
4.2 U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 in External Mixer Mode /27
4.3 U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 and External Audio Sources /29
4.4 Cross and U46MK2 in Internal Mixer Mode /32
4.5 Cross and U46MK2 in External Mixer Mode /34
4.6 Cross and U46MK2 with Timecode /36
4.7 Cross and U46MK2 with External Audio Sources /41
4.8 Configuring other Soundcards /43
4.9 Using the MIDI Presets for DJ Controllers /49
4.10 Defining your own Presets and Controls /50
4.11 Using the Keyboard /59
3

5/
Configuring the CROSS Remote Apps /63
5.1 Setting up the Ad Hoc Network on Windows XP /64
5.2 Setting up the Ad Hoc Network on Windows 7 /67
5.3 Setting up the Ad Hoc Network on Mac OS X /71
5.4 Connecting the Remote App to Cross /72
6/
The CROSS User Interface /75
6.1 The Panels at a Glance /75
6.2 Changing the Screen Layout /81
7/
Importing and Mixing your Music /82
7.1 Importing Folders /82
7.2 Importing Tracks from iTunes /82
7.3 Importing Collections from other DJ Software /83
7.4 Analyzing imported Files /84
7.5 Using the Beatgrid Tools /86
7.6 Playback Control Modes /90
7.7Loading Tracks into the Players /91
7.8Your First Mix /93
7.9 A Closer Look at the Beatmatcher and the Sync Meter /95
7.10 Configuring the Crossfader /99
7.11 Customising the Players /100
7.12 Moving in a Track /101
7.13 Using the Preview Player /102
8/
Organizing your Music with the Browser /104
8.1Overview of the Browser /104
8.2 The Dock /104
8.3 The Browser Panel /106
8.4 Searching for Tracks /108
8.5 Using Playlists and Playlist Folders /109
8.6 Using Smartlists /111
8.7 Viewing and Editing Track Meta Information /115
4

8.8Locating Missing Tracks /116
8.9 Using more than one Collection /117
8.10Optimizing the Collection Database /117
9/
Advanced Features /118
9.1 Using the Pitch Controls /118
9.2 Snapping and quantizing Loops, Locators and Cue Points /121
9.3Looping /122
9.4 Using Cue Points /124
9.5 Using Locators (Hot Cues) /126
9.6Recording /128
9.7 Using Autoplay /130
10/ Using the Effects /132
10.1 Effect Unit Assignment and FX Selection /132
10.2 The different Effects /134
11/ Using the CROSS Samplers /137
11.1 Overview /137
11.2 Loading and Hot-Sampling /138
11.3 Changing Playback Parameters of Samples /139
11.4 Using Sample Banks /141
11.5 Samplers, Synchronisation, and Pitch Mode /144
12/ Backup your Data /149
A/ Default Keyboard Shortcuts /150
B/ Troubleshooting and FAQ /153
B.1 Software related Questions /153
B.2 Controller related Questions /155
C/
List of MIDI Messages /158
5

D/
U46MK2 Technical Specifications /163
D.1 Key Features /163
D.2 U46MK2 Front Panel /163
D.3 U46MK2 Rear Panel /164
E/
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 – Technical Specifications /166
F/
Safety Instructions /168
o
Index /170
6
1/
Welcome
Welcome
Thank you for choosing MixVibes Cross and welcome to the world of digital DJing.
MixVibes Cross is a great, compact, plug and play, digital vinyl and MIDI DJ software for Windows and for Mac OS X. MixVibes Cross will satisfy the expectations of
professional DJs who need a powerful and reliable DJ tool.
MixVibes Cross was designed to provide a simple and easy to use environment, so
you can focus on mixing tracks and having fun.
Take a few minutes to run through this manual and you’ll be on your way to making
great mixes on Cross in no time at all!
Be part of the MixVibes online community and share your experiences with other
DJs, find help and advice, and also check for available updates. See you online on
the forum (http://forum.mixvibes.com) or on the website (http://www.mixvibes.com).
Cross — The Software Versions
MixVibes Cross is available in different software versions and packages. The three
software versions are:
• Cross Cross is the most comprehensive version of the MixVibes Cross product family. Some feature highlights: Cross provides two players for playback
of normal tracks, two samplers with eight sample pads each to playback loops
and 1-shot samples. Playback can be controlled either with a controller or with
timecode vinyl and CDs. A big collection of effects allows creative mixing. The
ultra-precise beat synchronization will lock your mix forever with one click. The
professionals tools for media management and the user definable smart lists
with dynamic update help you to keep your tracks under control.
• CrossDJ The feature set of Cross and CrossDJ is almost identical: The only
thing you cannot do with CrossDJ is control playback with timecode vinyl or
timecode CDs.
• CrossDJ LE CrossDJ LE is only available bundled with various controllers or
other products from different manufacturers. CrossDJ LE offers less features
than Cross and CrossDJ. Additionally, CrossDJ LE can only be used with the
controller the software was bundled with. You cannot load or create MIDI presets for other controllers. More details can be found on the MixVibes website:
http://www.mixvibes.com/content/products/cross-comparison-chart
7
1/ Welcome
These three software versions are available in different packages and bundles:
• Cross Software Only You can buy the Cross software only package from the
MixVibes Download shop. Buying the software only might better suit your needs if
you already own an older MixVibes DVS system including timecode control vinyl/
CD and if you wish to update to Cross. Your control media from earlier MixVibes
DVS systems can be used with Cross as well. If you wish to start using Cross
without timecode, you can download the Cross software now and buy the timecode control vinyl/CD later at your MixVibes reseller.
• Cross PACK This package consists of the MixVibes Cross software, the USB
audio interface U46MK2 with 4 inputs (2x stereo, Line/Phono switchable) and 6
outputs (3x stereo), control vinyl and control CDs as well as the cables.
• CrossDJ Software Only CrossDJ is the software only package. CrossDJ is
compatible with every DJ MIDI controller and it includes many built-in MIDI
presets for a broad range of DJ controllers.
• U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 DJ Package This package consists of the DJ controller U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 with integrated soundcard and the CrossDJ software.
• U-MIX CONTROL 2 DJ Package This package consists of the DJ controller
U-MIX CONTROL 2 and the CrossDJ LE software.
• CrossDJ LE CrossDJ LE is only available bundled with various controllers or
other products from different manufacturers
Box Contents Cross PACK
• Cross installation disc
• U46MK2 USB audio interface
• 2x control CDs
• 2 x control vinyl (33 rpm, 12 inch)
• 1 x USB cable; 2 x RCA cable; 1 x RCA Y-adaptor
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 Box Contents
• CrossDJ installation disc
• U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 – USB DJ MIDI controller with four channel (2 x stereo)
internal audio interface
• 1 USB cable; 1 RCA cable; 1 male RCA to male mini jack (3.5 mm)
8
1/ Welcome
U-MIX CONTROL 2 Box Contents
• CrossDJ LE installation disc
• U-MIX CONTROL 2 - USB DJ MIDI controller
• 1 USB cable
CrossDJ LE Box Contents
• CrossDJ LE installation disc
• Controller of your manufacturer
• Further content may vary depending on the package you own
CrossDJ — Minimum System Requirements
(no timecode control)
• Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.6
• Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.1 GHz or equivalent
• 2 GB RAM
• Screen resolution 1280 x 720 pixels or higher
• One available USB port
• Hard drive space for music
Cross — Minimum System Requirements
(with timecode control)
• Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.6
• Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.8 GHz or Intel Core i3 @ 2.1 GHz
• 4 GB RAM
• Screen resolution 1280 x 720 pixels or higher
• One available USB port
• Hard drive space for music
Please have look at the safety notes for U46MK2 USB, U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2, and
U-MIX CONTROL 2 before using the audio interface or the controllers. The safety
notes can be found at the end of this manual.
9
2/
Software
Installation
Please login to our forum (http://forum.mixvibes.com) in order to register your
product and to check for the latest download version of MixVibes Cross.
Insert the installation disc into the CD-ROM drive of your computer and open the
drive in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. Check the filename of the installer application as it contains the version number of the software that will be installed.
If the version available on the MixVibes website is newer than the version on your
CD-ROM, we recommend installing the newer version instead of the one on the
CD-ROM.
2.1 Installation on Windows
1
Insert the installation disc into the CD-ROM drive of your computer. The
installation program will launch automatically. Or launch the installer that
you have downloaded from the MixVibes website.
ATTENTION Make sure that the hardware bundled with your version
of MixVibes Cross (for example U46MK2 if you are using Cross PACK,
or U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2, U-MIX CONTROL 2, or any other bundled
controller or audio interface), is not connected during the installation
on Windows.
This ensures that the drivers are installed first, before Windows detects the audio interface and performs the Plug&Play device installation. Without the drivers being installed first, Windows tries to search
for drivers, which should be avoided, as they are not installed yet.
If the installer does not start, open Windows Explorer, navigate to the Cross
installation disc and open it. Double-click on InstallCross.exe to launch the
installer manually.
2
Select your language and click OK.
10
2/ Software Installation
3
Read the license agreement and accept it by clicking I Agree.
4
Select the components you wish to install and click Next.
11
2/ Software Installation
5
Select the folder where Cross shall be installed. Click Next.
6
Select the folder in your Start menu where the Cross shortcut shall be created. Click Install to start the installation.
12
2/ Software Installation
7Once the installation is complete click Finish. If the checkbox Run Cross is
activated, Cross will launch automatically.
2.2 Installation on Mac OS X
1
Insert the Cross installation disc into the CD-ROM drive of your Mac.
2
Double-click the Cross icon on your desktop.
3
Drag and drop Cross onto your “Applications” folder.
13
2/ Software Installation
2.3 Launching Cross
Please connect your MixVibes device (audio interface U46MK2, hybrid controller
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2) before you launch Cross. Cross supports the automatic
audio configuration of all MixVibes devices which means that you do not need to
setup your audio routing manually.
NOTE FOR CrossDJ LE If you use CrossDJ LE then connect the controller from the software/hardware bundle to your computer before you launch
CrossDJ LE. If the controller is not connected CrossDJ LE will not start. If you
use CrossDJ it is not necessary to connect your controller before launching
CrossDJ.
Windows Go to Start > All Programs > MixVibes > CROSS and click the Cross
icon.
Mac OS X Go to Applications > Cross and double-click on Cross.
2.4 License Key
During the first launch of Cross you need to enter your license key in the following
dialog box:
The license key can be found on the sleeve of your installation disc. Enter it and
click Submit.
14
3/
Basic Concepts
of Digital DJing
MixVibes Cross is an extremely flexible DJ solution that can be used in various
setup scenarios. This flexibility can be a bit confusing at first sight. This chapter
provides a general overview of some of the basic concepts and terms used in the
world of digital DJing. If you are already familiar with the concepts of digital DJing
you may wish to skip this chapter. If you are using a digital DJ setup for the first
time, this chapter will help you to understand the different setup scenarios and
audio routing options that Cross has to offer.
3.1 Internal Mixer vs. External Mixer
Cross can be used with either an external mixer or by using the internal (= software) mixer that is integrated into the Cross software. The main differences between these setups are
• whether the audio from the Cross players and from the Cross samplers is
mixed in the internal software mixer or in the external hardware mixer
• what audio signal is sent from Cross to the outputs of your audio interface.
Internal Mixer Mode
In internal mixer mode the audio from the Cross players and the Cross samplers is
sent to the internal software mixer in Cross. The internal software mixer mixes the
audio signals depending on the position of the volume fader of the players/samplers, on the equalization you have made and depending on the cue/headphone
buttons of the players. Any audio changes resulting from activated FX will also be
mixed into the signal.
The internal mixing process of Cross sends two audio streams to your audio interface: one stream contains the MIX/MASTER signal that shall be made publicly
audible; the second stream contains the CUE signal that shall be audible in your
headphones.
To get optimum results you will need an audio interface that has two stereo outputs, like the MixVibes audio interface U46MK2. One of the outputs is used for the
mix/master signal, the other output channel is used for the cue signal. Because of
15
3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
the two stereo outputs needed, this routing architecture is called Dual Stereo. The
signal flow in this routing mode is illustrated in the following figure:
Cross Players
and Samplers
Cross Mixer
(Cue, Gain, EQ, FX)
A
B
C
D
Cue Signal
Mix Signal
USB
Mix
INPUT
1/2
L
R
Signal
OUTPUT
3/4
1/2
R
L
L
3/4
R
R
L
Audio Interface
L
R
Cue Signal
External Mixer Mode for Cross Players only
In external mixer mode the audio from the Cross players/samplers is mixed in
the external (hardware) mixer. When you are using a setup with two Cross players only, you will need an audio interface with two stereo outputs and a 2-channel
mixer. The signal flow for this configuration is shown in the following image:
Cross Player
Cross Mixer (FX)
A
B
Player A
Player B
Mix Signal
USB
INPUT
Audio
Interface
1/2
L
R
OUTPUT
3/4
L
R
1/2
L
R
MY
3/4
L
R
Player B
L
Player A
R
Cue Signal
The audio signal from player A and player B runs through the mixer/audio engine
of Cross; here only the effect signal is added to the signal. Then the audio of each
16
3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
player is sent via the USB port to the connected audio interface: the audio signal of
player A is sent to outputs 1/2, and the audio signal of player B is sent to outputs
3/4.
Each stereo output of the audio interface is connected with an RCA cable to the
external mixer. You will then use the mixer to perform equalization and to mix the
audio of both Cross players. The mix out signal of the mixer is sent to the external
speakers (or an amplifier) and the cue/headphone signal of the mixer sent to the
connected headphone.
External Mixer Mode for Cross Players and Cross Samplers
If you wish to use the Cross samplers in external mixer mode you can either use an
audio interface with two or with three stereo outputs.
For a soundcard with three stereo outputs you should select the routing mode
External Mixer Sampler. In this routing mode the audio of player A and player B is
routed to a separate output of the soundcard. The audio of sampler C and D will be
combined and sent to the third channel. You then can use the two volume faders
of the Cross mixer to set the volume of sampler C and sampler D (or even use the
volume faders that are available for each sample pad).
Cross Players/Samplers
Cross Mixer (FX)
A
B
C
D
Player A
Player B
Sampler C & D
USB
Audio
Interface
Mix Signal
Player A
Player B
L
Sampler C & D
R
Cue Signal
Each stereo output of the audio interface is connected with an RCA cable to the
external mixer. You can then use the mixer to perform equalization, and to mix
the audio of both Cross players and the combined audio of both Cross samplers.
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3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
The mix out signal of the mixer is sent to the external speakers (or an amplifier)
and the cue/headphone signal of the mixer is sent to the connected headphone.
If you wish to use both Cross players and the Cross samplers, but only have an
audio interface with stereo channels, you should use routing mode External Mixer
Cue. In this routing mode the audio of player A and sampler C are sent to one
output of your soundcard, and the audio of player B and sampler D is sent to the
second output. In this setup you will use the channel faders of the mixer to control
the volume of the combined player/sampler output and the volume faders in the
Cross mixer and the volume faders of each sample pad to control the volume of
the samples. The signal flow for this configuration is shown in the following figure:
Cross Players/Samplers
Cross Mixer (FX)
A
B
C
D
Player A
Sampler C
Player B
Sampler D
USB
Audio
Interface
INPUT
1/2
L
R
OUTPUT
3/4
L
R
1/2
L
R
3/4
L
R
Mix Signal
Player B
Sampler D
MY
L
R
Player A
Sampler C
Cue Signal
3.2 Audio Sources: Audio Files vs.
External Sources
Up to this point the setup scenarios describe use media files (wav, mp3, etc) as
audio sources. These files are loaded into the Cross players or into the Cross samplers. Start playback of the player or the sample pad to hear the track or sample.
As well as using media files you can also use external audio sources in Cross.
These external audio sources can come from any device that provides an audio
signal: a turntable, a CD player, an MP3 player such as an iPod™, an effect device,
18
3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
and so on. To be able to use external audio sources your audio interface needs to
be equipped with at least one input that you can connect the external source to.
The MixVibes audio interface U46MK2 for example provides two stereo inputs that
can be used to connect external devices and to integrate them into your setup. As
Cross is basically built on a setup with two players/decks, you can use a maximum
of two external audio sources at the same time. The external devices are internally
routed to one of the two Cross players.
The following figure illustrates the signal flow in internal mixing mode when using
external audio sources.
Cross Player A/B
Cross Mixer
(Cue, Gain, EQ, FX)
CD Audio
to Player A
Mix
Cue
Mix Signal
USB
INPUT
1/2
L
R
OUTPUT
3/4
L
R
1/2
L
R
3/4
L
R
L
R
Cue Signal
In this example a CD player is connected to the inputs 1/2 of the audio interface.
The input mode of player A (left part of the mixer panel) was set to Line In. You can
change the input mode by clicking on the letter A or B in the Cross mixer. When
the input mode is set to Line In the audio coming from the CD player is routed into
the Cross mixer and you can use the equalizer, the Cue button and the FX from
player A to modify the incoming CD audio. Once the audio from the external source
is inside the mixer the rest of the game is identical to using both players with media files: the Cross mixer sends the Mix out signal and the Cue signal to the two
output ports of your audio interface.
Of course, you can use external audio sources in external mixer mode as well. In
external mixing mode the incoming audio is passed through to the audio interface
output, making a little detour through the Cross audio engine.
3.3 Using Timecode to control Playback
Another choice you have with Cross is using control vinyl or control CDs to control
playback of the two players. In this timecode setup you will still play your digital
audio files, but the playback of the files is controlled by timecode media.
19
3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
NOTE Please note that the timecode functionality can only be used with the
Cross software, and not with CrossDJ or CrossDJ LE.
What’s inside the Timecode Signal?
The control media does not contain music, but a control signal constructed from
two sinus waves. The Cross timecode engine extracts three different types of information from the incoming timecode signal:
• Playback speed of the control vinyl or control CD, respectively,
• Playback direction (forward, backwards) and
• Current playback position of the control vinyl or of the control CD
The detection of the current playback speed isn’t too complicated because the
timecode engine knows the original frequency of the timecode signal. If the playback speed is slower than the original tempo, then the frequency of the incoming
timecode signal is lower than the original frequency. If the rotation speed of the
turntables or CD player is higher than 100%, then the frequency increases. The
timecode engine analyses the frequency of the incoming signal and uses the difference between the original and the incoming frequency to calculate the current
tempo. Cross can then adjust the playback speed of the deck to the playback speed
of the timecode medium.
Because Cross uses the frequency to calculate the speed you must never activate
the Master Tempo feature available on many CDJ players, because the Master
Tempo function corrects the tone pitch. This is unwanted when using timecode.
If you are using turntables, that always flutter, the BPM display on a Cross player
controlled by timecode is never stable; this reflects the flutter of the turntables.
For forward playback the frequency information is sufficient but it is not enough
to determine whether the timecode medium is moving forward or backwards. This
information is absolutely necessary when scratching or manual beat matching. To
detect the playback direction, the timecode signal is constructed from two sinus
waves, one for the left and another one for the right channel. The phases of both
waves are slightly shifted. This can be seen in the following figure that simulates
this (let’s assume the upper wave is for the left and the lower one for the right
channel).
20
3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
Left Channel
Right Channel
Cross uses this phase shifting to detect forward and backwards playback. When
the control vinyl is playing forward, the right channel will be ahead of the left channel. And when the control vinyl is playing backwards, the right channel will be
behind the left channel. Simply put, this is the trick by which the timecode engine
in Cross can detect the playback direction.
This is also the reason why Cross always requires the timecode signal of the left
and the right channel to function properly. If one channel is missing (maybe because one cable is not connected or because the contacts of the cartridge are
black or dirty) playback will not be possible.
How does Cross recognise the current playback position? Here timestamps are
used, which are binary coded into the timecode signal. If you have a very close look
at a piece of timecode vinyl you will see little data packages as small boxes, where
the position information is hidden.
The position detection is the most enhanced part of using timecode, and it is errorprone so this is why all digital vinyl systems use some kind of error detection and
correction. However, the better and clearer the timecode signal is, the more accurately the current position can be detected. Dusty or worn needles, dirty vinyl
or an unclean audio signal resulting from ground hum, defect cabling between
the turntable/CDJ and the audio interface or between the pick-up and cartridge
all have an impact on the timecode signal received by the timecode engine inside
Cross. In order to be able to use timecode properly not only should you make sure
that all Cross software settings are correct, but also that your “physical tools” are
in good condition.
Admittedly, the description above is greatly simplified. The goal was not to cover
the complex timecode processing in Cross, but rather to provide some technical
background about how a Digital Vinyl System (DVS) works in general, what is going
21
3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
on before the initial sound comes out of the speakers and to provide some helpful
knowledge for troubleshooting purposes.
The Signal Path when using Timecode
When using control media with timecode information the signal flow between the
different components is slightly different than in a setup without timecode. The following figure illustrates the signal path of the timecode signal and the audio signal
when Cross is configured for timecode usage with an external mixer.
Timecode
Audio
Mixer
USB
Timecode
Audio
In this setup the signal flows through the following four stations:
• The turntable and the CD player in the figure send timecode data to the con-
nected audio interface, here the U46MK2. Both devices are connected to the
inputs of the audio interface. Even when using turntables do not use phono
preamps; if you use an audio interface with a Line/Phono input switch like the
U46MK2, set it to Line. This ensures that Cross can deal with the raw input
signal:
• The incoming timecode data is sent from the inputs of the audio interface via
the USB connection to Cross and inside Cross to the players that are configured
for timecode usage.
• The timecode engine of Cross
modifies the audio signal of the assigned player
according to the tempo and direction and position of the timecode data. The
resulting audio signal is sent via the USB connection to the outputs of the audio
interface.
• The outputs of the audio interface are connected to the inputs of the mixer
where the audio signal is received. For both timecode vinyl and timecode CDs
the outputs of the audio interface need to be connected to the Line inputs of
the mixer.
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3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
This means for cabling:
• Connect the turntable/CDJ player to the inputs of your audio interface.
• Connect the outputs of the audio interface with the Line inputs of your mixer
even if you are using turntables/timecode vinyl.
3.4 Controlling Cross with the Keyboard and with
DJ controllers
You can use CrossDJ with the mouse alone. However this is not the quickest way to
access all the features. Things get much easier if you use a DJ controller.
If you bought the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 package, a controller that is perfectly
integrated with the Cross software is part of the bundle. U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 is
a hybrid controller with an integrated audio interface. Additionally, the jogwheels
on the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 are touch sensitive .
CrossDJ LE can be bundled with controllers from various manufacturers. The layout of the controls on the controller may vary, but you will find all controls that are
needed to perform your set.
There are plenty of other DJ controllers available on the market today. If the DJ
controller can send MIDI messages, it will work with Cross.
How does the Cross software know which action should be triggered when you
press a button on the controller or when you turn a knob or move a fader? Every
time you press a button on your controller, or move a knob or fader, the controller
sends a message to the Cross software. These messages are called MIDI messages as they use a protocol that is defined in the MIDI specification. MIDI is the
abbreviation of Musical Instrument Digital Interface, an interface definition from
23
3/ Basic Concepts of Digital DJing
the early 80s. The MIDI protocol is one of the components of the MIDI specification
and defines the structure and content of communication between a MIDI sender
(master) and a MIDI receiver (slave).
Whenever Cross receives a MIDI message, the software looks into a table that basically consists of two columns: one column contains information about the message and the second column contains information about the action, that shall be
triggered when that message is received. If there is a match between the incoming
message and a row in the table, the corresponding action is triggered.
The whole process of connecting a MIDI message to an action is called mapping.
The term mapping, or better controller mapping, is also used for the “tables” explained above. The tables contain the information of how one particular controller
is mapped to the action that Cross provides.
For many controllers Cross already provides ready-to-use mappings; so you do
not need to create the mapping yourself. The only thing you have to do is to tell
Cross on which USB port which controller is connected. This is explained in the
next chapter. The same mapping concept is also used for the keyboard. Cross contains a standard mapping for your keyboard. It allows access to the most important
actions. The default keyboard shortcuts are listed in the following chapters of this
manual.
24
4/
Connect and
Configure your
Hardware
This chapter explains how to connect your different hardware components. The
steps you need to perform depend on whether you use a controller, and if you wish
to use Cross in internal or external mixer mode. Also dependant is if you wish to
use external audio sources like a turntable, a CDJ player or an MP3 player with
your audio files on your computer and if you wish to use the timecode features of
Cross.
In the default setting Cross will configure all MixVibes audio interfaces automatically when they are plugged in. You can find the corresponding option Auto-select
MixVibes devices at startup on the Preferences/Audio dialog. If you have multiple
MixVibes audio interfaces Cross selects them in the following: U46MK2, U-MIX44
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2, and U-MIX CONTROL PRO.
4.1 U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 in Internal Mixer Mode
The U-MIX CONTROL PRO2 2 hybrid controller has an integrated audio interface
with two stereo outputs. One of the outputs is used for the Mix Out signal, the other
one is used for the Headphone/Cue signal.
1
Use the RCA cable and connect outputs 1/2 of your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2
to the sound system (amplifier, powered speakers, or home stereo).
2
Connect your headphones to one of the Headphones sockets on the front
panel of your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2.
3
If you wish to use a microphone connect it to the Microphone input on the
front panel of your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2.
4
Connect the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 with the USB cable to your computer.
5
Switch the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 on by setting the On/Off switch at the
rear panel of the controller to USB. If you are using Windows and if this
is the first time you have switched the controller on, please wait until the
necessary drives are installed.
25
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
MIXVIBES
SOFTWARE
SPEAKERS
9V
0.5A
DC IN
POWER
OFF
USB
OUTPUT
R
3/4
L
OUTPUT
R
1/2
R
L
LN PH
L
MIN MAX
INPUT
R
3/4
L
INPUT
R
1/2
L
REAR
USB
LN PH
MIN MAX
C.F. CUR VE
FRONT
TOUCH S E NS OR
LE VE L
MICROPHONE
HEADPHONES
L
R
6Launch Cross.
7Open the File menu and click Preferences or click on the Preferences button in the toolbar. Click the Audio tab to open the audio
settings panel. Here you can configure your audio settings.
8Open the upper list box Audio Device and select MixVibes ASIO U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2. You can leave the settings for sample rate and buffer size at
their default values.
9Open the list box Routing Mode and select Dual Stereo. This routing option
is to be used for internal mixing mode and if you use an audio interface with
two stereo outputs.
10Open the list box Output 1. On Windows select U-Mix Control Pro 1/U-Mix
Control Pro 2 and on OS X select output 1/2, if these outputs are not already selected. This output receives the Master out signal.
11Open the list box Output 2. On Windows select U-Mix Control Pro 3/U-Mix
Control Pro 4 and on OS X select output 3/4, if these outputs are not already
selected. This output receives the Cue/Monitor signal.
The routing image in the lower part of the dialog shows the how the audio
is routed from the Cross mixer to your audio interface. The Audio panel
should look as shown in the following figure:
26
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
4.2 U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 in External Mixer Mode
If you have an external mixer you can use this mixer to mix the audio coming from
the two Cross players. The mixer section of the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller
is disabled in this setup. However, all other controls of the controller are available
to add FX, to use the sample pads or to use locators, for example. The following
steps explain how to connect the components and how to configure the audio routing in Cross.
1
Use an RCA cable and connect outputs 1/2 of your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2
to Line input 1 of your mixer.
2
Use another RCA cable and connect outputs 3/4 of your U-MIX CONTROL
PRO 2 to a Line input 2 of your mixer.
3
Connect your headphones to the Headphones sockets on your mixer.
4
If you wish to use a microphone connect it to the Microphone input on your
mixer.
5
Connect the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 with the USB cable to your computer.
6
Switch the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 on by setting the On/Off switch at the
rear panel of the controller to USB. If you are using Windows and if this
is the first time you have switched the controller on, please wait until the
necessary drives are installed.
27
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
MIXVIBES
SOFTWARE
9V
0.5A
DC IN
POWER
OFF
USB
OUTPUT
R
3/4
L
OUTPUT
R
1/2
R
L
MIN MAX
INPUT
R
3/4
L
INPUT
R
1/2
L
LN PH
MIN MAX
TOUCH S E NS OR
LE VE L
MICROPHONE
LN PH
L
REAR
USB
MIXER
C.F. CUR VE
SPEAKERS
HEADPHONES
L
R
7Launch Cross.
8Open the File menu and click Preferences or click on the Preferences button in the toolbar. Click the Audio tab to open the audio
settings panel. Here you can configure your audio settings.
9Open the upper list box Audio Device and select MixVibes ASIO U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2. You can leave the settings for sample rate and buffer size at
their default values.
10Open the list box Routing Mode and select External Mixer Cue. Take a look
at the diagram in the lower part of the dialog box. You can see that the
CROSS MIXER connects the output of player A and sampler C to Output 1 of
your soundcard. Player B and sampler D are connected to Output 2.
28
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
11Open the list box Output 1. On Windows select U-Mix Control Pro 1/U-Mix
Control Pro 2 and on OS X select output 1/output 2. This output receives
the signal from player A and from sampler C.
12Open the list box Output 2. On Windows select U-Mix Control Pro 3/U-Mix
Control Pro 4 and on OS X select output 3/output 4. This output receives
the signal from player B and from sampler D.
4.3 U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 and External Audio
Sources
It is very easy to integrate external audio sources into your Cross setup. An internal
audio source can be a turntable, a CD player, an MP3 player or any other device
that provides a line level audio signal. You need an audio interface that has at least
one input; otherwise it is not possible to use external audio sources.
To configure external audio sources three steps need to be performed:
• Make the cable connection and configure the input mode of your audio interface
input port
• Route the external audio source as input channels into the Cross software
mixer
• Set the player input mode to Line In
29
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
ATTENTION Before proceeding with the configuration of external audio
sources make sure that you have configured Cross for either internal or external mixer mode as explained in the previous section.
Making the Cable Connections
The following steps explain how to connect the different components.
1
If you wish to connect a turntable, connect the ground of your turntable to
the ground lug on the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2.
2
Connect the outputs of your external audio source to the RCA inputs of your
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2. Plug the left device into inputs 1/2 and the right
device into inputs 3/4.
Make sure that the left channel (plug is usually white) is connected to the
white RCA sockets on the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2, and that the right channel (usually red) is connected to the red sockets.
MIXVIBES
SOFTWARE
CD PLAYER
MP3 / iPod
TURNTABLE
USB
LINE
LINE
9V
0.5A
DC IN
POWER
OFF
USB
OUTPUT
R
3/4
L
OUTPUT
R
1/2
R
L
LN PH
L
MIN MAX
3/4
L
INPUT
1/2
R
L
LN PH
MIN MAX
TOUCH SENSOR
LEVEL
3
INPUT
R
LN PH
PHONO
PHONO
REAR
LN PH
C.F. CURVE
Perform one of the following actions:
• Turntable with Phono Output Set the input selector for the inputs
where the turntable is connected to, to PHONO.
• Turntable with Line Output, CDJ Player, MP3 Player Set the input
selector for the inputs where the Line device is connected to LINE.
Routing External Audio into the Cross Mixer
Once your external audio source is connected to your audio interface you need to
tell Cross, which input port of your audio interface shall be assigned as Left Input
and as Right Input.
1Open the File menu and click on Preferences or click on the Preferences button in the toolbar. Open the Audio tab of the Cross
Preferences dialog.
30
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
2Open the list box Input 1 and select the input ports of your audio interface
to which the external device is connected. Input channel 1 can be used as
Line-In input for mixer channel A.
If you use U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 select U-Mix Control Pro 1/U-Mix Control Pro 2 on Windows or select input 1/input 2 on OS X.
3Open the list box Input 2 and select the input ports of your audio interface
to which the external device is connected. Input channel 2 can be used as
Line-In input for mixer channel B.
If you use U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 select U-Mix Control Pro 3/U-Mix Control Pro 4 on Windows or select input 3/input 4 on OS X.
4Open the Line/Phono dropdown list in section Input 1 and/or section Input
2. Select Line, if you connect a line-level device or select Phono if you connect a turntable without a pre-amplifier.
5
Use the Input Gain sliders next to the Line/Phono dropdown list to adjust
the input gain for your audio device. Make sure that the input level is high
enough but also that audio clipping is avoided. Setting the input gain is especially useful if you connect an MP3 player like the iPod.
Setting the Channel Source to Line-In
The last step that needs to be done is to set the Input Mode of the Cross channel to
Line-In, if you wish the external audio source to be heard through the mixer. The
input mode button can be found in the upper section of the Mixer panel.
31
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
Please note that the Line-In input of channel strip A is always fed by stereo input 1
and that Line-In input of channel strip B is always fed by stereo input 2.
Player A is set to
Input Mode Player
Player B is set to
Input Mode Line-In
You can set the input mode to Player or to Line-In.
• Player When the input mode is set to Player the audio from the media file is
sent to the Cross mixer.
• Line-In When the input mode is set to Line-In, the external audio signal is
sent to the Cross mixer. Which of the external inputs is sent to either player A
or B depends on the selection you made in the Cover panel of the player (see
previous section).
If you use either U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 or U-MIX CONTROL 2 you can set the input
mode on the controller by holding the SHIFT button and pressing the Headphones/
Source button.
4.4 Cross and U46MK2 in Internal Mixer Mode
If you have Cross PACK with the U46MK2 audio interface and wish to configure
your setup for internal mixer mode without using timecode, perform the following
steps.
In this configuration one of the stereo outputs of U46MK2 is used for the Master/
Mix Out signal, the other one is used for the Headphone/Cue signal.
1
Use the RCA cable and connect outputs 1/2 of your U46KM2 to the sound
system (amplifier, powered speakers, or home stereo).
2
Connect your headphones to outputs 3/4 of your U46MK2 by using the RCA
to mini-jack Y adapter included in the package.
32
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
MIXVIBES
SOFTWARE
SPEAKERS
USB
USB
L
HEADPHONES
L
ADAPTER
R
3
Connect the U46MK2 with the USB cable to your computer.
4
Switch the U46MK2 on by using the POWER button on the front side. If you
are using Windows and if this is the first time you have switched the soundcard on, please wait until the necessary drives are installed.
5Launch Cross.
6Open the File menu and click Preferences or click on the Preferences button in the toolbar. Click the Audio tab to open the audio
settings panel. Here you can configure your audio settings.
7Open the upper list box Audio Device and select MixVibes ASIO U46MK2
(Windows) or U46DJ (Mac OS X). You can leave the settings for sample rate
and buffer size at their default values.
8Open the list box Routing Mode and select Dual Stereo. This routing option
is to be used for internal mixing mode and if you use an audio interface with
two stereo outputs.
9Open the list box Output 1. Select U46DJ 1/U46DJ 2 on Windows or output
1/2 on OS X if these outputs are not already selected. This output receives
the Master out signal.
10Open the list box Output 2. Select U46DJ 3/U46DJ 4 on Windows or output
3/4 on OS X if these outputs are not already selected. This output receives
the Cue/Monitor signal.
33
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
The routing image in the lower part of the dialog shows the how the audio is routed
from the Cross mixer to your audio interface.
4.5 Cross and U46MK2 in External Mixer Mode
If you have an external mixer you can use this mixer to mix the audio coming from
the two Cross players. The following steps explain how to connect the components
and how to configure the audio routing in Cross.
1
Use an RCA cable and connect outputs 1/2 of your U46MK2 to Line input 1
of your mixer.
2
Use another RCA cable and connect outputs 3/4 of your U46MK2 to Line
input 2 of your mixer.
3
If you use a three channel mixer or a mixer with an FX return bus, use
another RCA cable and connect outputs 5/6 of your U46MK2 to the third
Line input of your mixer. You can use this third channel for the two Cross
samplers.
4
Connect your headphones to the Headphones sockets on your mixer.
5
If you wish to use a microphone connect it to the Microphone input of your
mixer.
34
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
MIXVIBES
SOFTWARE
USB
L
MICROPHONE
L
MIXER
REAR
USB
SPEAKERS
HEADPHONES
L
R
6
Connect the U46MK2 with the USB cable to your computer.
7
Switch the U46MK2 on by using the POWER button on the front side. If you
are using Windows and if this is the first time you have switched the soundcard on, please wait until the necessary drives are installed.
8Launch Cross.
9Open the File menu and click Preferences or click on the Preferences button in the toolbar. Click the Audio tab to open the audio
settings panel. Here you can configure your audio settings.
10Open the upper list box Audio Device and select MixVibes ASIO U46MK2
(Windows) or U46DJ (Mac OS X). You can leave the settings for sample rate
and buffer size at their default values.
11
Perform one of the following actions:
• If you have a two channel mixer open the list box Routing Mode and select External Mixer Cue. In this routing mode the audio of player A and
sampler C is routed to one output, and the audio of player B and sampler
D is routed to the second output (see the explanation on page 18).
• If you have a three channel mixer, open the list box Routing Mode and
select External Mixer Sampler. Take a look at the diagram in the lower
part of the dialog box. You can see that the CROSS MIXER connects the
output of player A to Output 1 of your soundcard. Player B is connected
to Output 2. The output of sampler C and D is connected to Output 3.
35
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
12
Check the list boxes Output 1, Output 2, and Output 3 and make sure that
the following options are selected:
• Output 1: U46DJ 1/U46DJ 2 (Windows) or output1/output 2 (OS X)
• Output 2: U46DJ 3/U46DJ 4 (Windows) or output3/output 4 (OS X)
• Output 3: U46DJ 5/U46DJ 6(Windows) or output5/output 6 (OS X)
4.6 Cross and U46MK2 with Timecode
As Cross is a Digital Vinyl System (DVS), you can use your turntable or your CDJ
player to control the playback of the decks with the timecode control media (vinyl and CD) from your Cross or Cross PACK package. This section explains which
steps you need to perform to get this setup up and running:
• Make the cable connection and configure the input mode of your audio interfaces input ports
• Perform your timecode setup and calibrate the timecode engine
• Assign the timecode inputs to the players
ATTENTION Before proceeding with the timecode configuration you should
make sure that you have configured Cross either for internal or external mixer mode as explained in the previous section.
36
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
Making the Cable Connections and Configuring the Inputs
The following steps explain how to connect the different components.
1
If you wish to connect a turntable, connect the ground of your turntable to
the ground lug on the U46MK2.
2
Connect the outputs of your external audio source to the RCA inputs of your
U46MK2. Plug the left device into inputs 1/2 and the right device into inputs
3/4.
Make sure that the left channel (plug is usually white) is connected to the
white RCA sockets on the U46MK2, and that the right channel (usually red)
is connected to the red RCA sockets.
MIXVIBES
SOFTWARE
TURNTABLE
CD PLAYER
CD PLAYER
TURNTABLE
LN PH
LINE
PHONO
3
FRONT
REAR
USB
Perform one of the following actions:
• Turntable with Phono Output for Timecode Vinyl Set the input selector for the inputs where the turntable is connected to, to LINE.
• Turntable with Line Output, CDJ Player Set the input selector for the
inputs where the line device is connected to, to LINE.
4Open the File menu and click on Preferences or click on the Preferences
button in the toolbar. Open the Audio tab of the Cross Preferences dialog.
5Open the list box Input 1 and select the input ports of your audio interface
to which the external device is connected.
If you use U46MK2 select U46DJ 1/U46DJ 2 on Windows and select input1/
input2 on OS X.
6Open the Line/Phono dropdownlist in section Input 1 and select Line if you
connect a line-level device or select Phono if you connect a turntable without a pre-amplifier.
37
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
7Open the list box Input 2 and select the input ports of your audio interface
to which the external device is connected.
If you use U46MK2 select U46DJ 3/U46DJ 4 on Windows and select input3/
input4 on OS X.
8Open the Line/Phono dropdownlist in section Input 2 and select Line if you
connect a line-level device or select Phono if you connect a turntable without a pre-amplifier.
Configuring Timecode Settings
Once your turntables/CDJ players are connected and their signal is routed, proceed as follows to configure the timecode settings and to calibrate the timecode
engine:
1Open the File menu and click on Preferences or click on the
Preferences button in the toolbar. Open the Vinyl/CD tab of the
Cross Preferences dialog.
2Activate Control Deck 1 and/or Control Deck 2 to enable external
timecode control.
Activating these checkboxes enables the timecode engine for the left control deck and the right control deck respectively. If you do not activate them,
the input signal is treated as an audio signal and not as a timecode signal.
3Open the list Control Media and select the timecode medium that you wish
to use on the left/right control deck. Choose one of the following options:
38
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
MV Vinyl, MV CD, 7” MV Vinyl or Sinus 3 kHz. Use one of the first three options depending on the MixVibes timecode media you wish to use.
Select Sinus 3kHz if you use a Denon DN-S3700 or DN-S1200 media player
in Hybrid MIDI mode and make sure that the player is set to the correct DVS
output control signal. More information about how to configure your Denon
media player can be found in the “Hybrid MIDI operation manual”, this can
be downloaded from the Denon website. Also make sure that you have updated your media player to the most current firmware version.
4
Start playback of your turntable/CDJ player. Set the pitch fader to zero and
make sure that the playback direction is forward. If your player has a Master Tempo function or any integrated effects, make sure that they are disabled because they interfere with the calibration and with using timecode
in general (see section 3.3, “Using Timecode to control Playback” on page
19 for more information).
5
Click the Calibrate buttons in sections Control Deck 1 and Control Deck 2.
Cross will automatically set the input gain level if you are using turntables
to an appropriate value to optimize the decoding quality.
Once the calibration is done the calibration graphs will display rings similar
to the ones shown in the following figure. Please note that the rings differ
slightly for control vinyl (control deck 1) and control CDs (control deck 2).
39
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
Quality The detected timecode quality is shown in percentage below the
calibration graph. The value must be 90% or higher for timecode to function
properly. If the value is between 70% and 90% the timecode signal detection is not optimal, but you should still be able to use timecode. If the value
is below 70% timecode usage is not possible.
L/R The Inv button in the L/R section can be used to invert the left and
the right timecode channel. Cross needs this information to distinguish between forward and backward playback. If the left and the right channel are
inverted (cabling, connections in the cartridge) Cross can detect this automatically during calibration and the Inv button will be activated. However, it
is better to connect the left and the right channel properly on the hardware
side.
P/A Some needles produce a phase inversion, that Cross can detect automatically during the calibration. In this case the Inv button in the P/A
section will be activated.
Threshold You can use the Threshold slider if there is rumbling, electrical problems (hum), bad ground or other noise when you use turntables.
The default setting for Threshold is –40dB. You can increase the value to
maybe –35dB to tell Cross that this noise shall be interpreted as silence.
To achieve better timecode sensitivity you may wish to lower the threshold,
maybe to –45dB.
6
Close the Preferences window.
7
Click on the Show/Hide Cover button at the inner side of the player to open
the cover panel. Use the buttons 1 and 2 to select which control deck (1 or
2) will control which player (A, B)
Assign Control Deck
to Player
Show/Hide Cover
Assign Control Deck
to Player
Show/Hide Cover
Timecode
Quality
The above image shows a standard configuration: control deck 1 is assigned to player A and control deck 2 is assigned to player B. The quality
meter in the lower section of the panel gives you a visual indication of the
timecode quality during playback.
40
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
4.7 Cross and U46MK2 with
External Audio Sources
It is very easy to integrate external audio sources into your Cross setup. An internal
audio source can be a turntable, a CD player, an MP3 player or any other device
that provides a line level audio signal. You need an audio interface that has at least
one input; otherwise it is not possible to use external audio sources.
To configure and use external audio sources several actions need to be done:
• Make the cable connection and configure the input mode of your audio interface
input port
• Route the external audio source as input channels into the Cross software
mixer
• Set the player input mode to Line In
ATTENTION Before proceeding with the configuration of external audio
sources make sure that you have configured Cross for either internal or external mixer mode as explained in the previous section.
Making the Cable Connections
The following steps explain how to connect the different components.
1
If you wish to connect a turntable, connect the ground of your turntable to
the ground lug on the U46MK2.
2
Connect the outputs of your external audio source to the RCA inputs of your
U46MK2. Plug the left device into inputs 1/2 and the right device into inputs
3/4.
Make sure that the left channel (plug is usually white) is connected to the
white RCA sockets on the U46MK2, and that the right channel (usually red)
is connected to the red RCA sockets.
41
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
MIXVIBES
SOFTWARE
MP3 / iPod
CD PLAYER
TURNTABLE
LN PH
L
LINE
PHONO
LINE
PHONO
3
LN PH
FRONT
L
REAR
USB
Perform one of the following actions:
• Turntable with Phono Output for Audio Vinyl Set the input selector
for the inputs where the turntable is connected to, to PHONO. The input
selector can be found on the front panel of the U46MK2.
• Turntable with Line Output, CDJ Player, MP3 Player Set the input
selector for the inputs where the Line device is connected to, to LINE.
Routing External Audio into Cross
Once your external audio source is connected to your audio interface you need to
tell Cross, which input port of your audio interface shall be assigned as Left Input
and as Right Input.
1Open the File menu and click on Preferences or click on the
Preferences button in the toolbar. Open the Audio tab of the
Cross Preferences dialog.
2Open the list box Input 1 and select the input ports of your audio
interface to which the external device is connected. Input 1 can be used as
input for channel strip A.
If you use U46MK2 select U46DJ 1/U46DJ 2 on Windows and select input1/
input2 on OS X.
3Open the list box Input 2 and select the input ports of your audio interface
to which the external device is connected. Input 2 can be used as input for
channel strip B.
If you use U46MK2 select U46DJ 3/U46DJ 4 on Windows and select input3/
input4 on OS X.
42
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
4Open the Line/Phono dropdown in section Input 1 and/or section Input 2.
Select Line, if you connect a line-level device or select Phono if you connect
a turntable without a pre-amplifier.
5
Use the Input Gain sliders next to the Line/Phono dropdown list to adjust
the input gain for your audio device. Make sure that the input level is high
enough but also that the audio clipping is avoided. Setting the input gain is
especially useful if you connect an MP3 player like the iPod.
6Open the Vinyl/CD tab of the Cross Preferences dialog.
7
Deactivate both Control Deck 1 and Control Deck 2 checkboxes.
The Vinyl/CD panel should look like this:
This step is necessary so that Cross knows the input contains an audio signal and not a timecode signal.
Set Source of Mixer Channel to Line-In
Once you have configured the routing for the Input 1 and Input 2 as described in the
previous section, you now can set the source of the mixer channel to Line-In. See
page 31 for a detailed description on how to proceed.
4.8 Configuring other Soundcards
If you use any audio interface other than the U46MK2 this section will provide all
the information that is necessary to get your soundcard up and running with Cross.
43
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
In general you can use any soundcard with Cross. However, using a soundcard
that has at least two stereo outputs gives the best results and a better experience.
If you wish to use Cross with timecode control media or if you wish to integrate
external audio sources, like a turntable, CD player, MP3 player etc into your setup,
then you will need an audio interface that has one stereo input for each device you
wish to connect.
1
Connect your equipment (audio interface, speakers/amplifier, headphones)
by performing one of the following actions:
• If you use Cross in internal mixer mode connect the speakers/your am-
plifier and your headphones to the corresponding outputs of your audio interface. Some DJ audio interfaces have a designated headphone
output, sometimes you can assign one of the available outputs as the
headphone output. Please consult the manual of your audio interface
for more information.
• If you use Cross in external mixer mode connect each stereo output of
your audio interface to a stereo input on your mixer.
2
If you wish to integrate external audio sources, like a turntable, a CD player
or an MP3 player, into your setup, perform the following actions:
• Connect the components you wish to use to the inputs of your audio
interface.
• If you are using a turntable that provides a Phono level signal and if your
audio interface has a switch to toggle the input between Phono and Line,
make sure that the switch is set to Phono.
3Open the File menu and click on Preferences. Open the Audio tab
of the Cross Preferences dialog.
4Open the Audio Device dropdown list and select the audio interface/driver that Cross shall use.
Windows If you are running Cross on Windows, the dropdown list shows
all audio drivers installed on your computer, even when the audio interface
is not currently connected.
The dropdown list on Windows contains two sections. One section is labelled DirectSound and the second one ASIO. Two drivers are often installed for the same audio interface; one using the ASIO protocol and the
other one using the DirectSound driver architecture. If both drivers are
available you should use the ASIO driver as ASIO drivers generally offer
better performance than DirectSound drivers (see sidebar on page 48 ).
44
4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
TIP If no ASIO driver for your audio interface is available you can
use the ASIO4ALL driver as an alternative. ASIO4ALL is a hardware
independent low latency ASIO driver for Windows audio devices and
acts as a layer between the DirectSound driver and the audio application, which here is Cross. Once you have installed ASIO4ALL
you need to configure the driver and tell it, which Windows audio
drivers it should use. Then you should select the ASIO4ALL driver in
the Cross audio setup.
Using ASIO4ALL can lead to better audio performance, to lower latency time and can help to avoid clicks and pops. Even though a
guarantee cannot be given, checking ASIO4ALL is definitely worth
while.
Please note that the latency time when using ASIO4ALL is always
greater than with a generic ASIO driver because the audio data from
Cross is first sent via the ASIO protocol to ASIO4ALL and then via the
WDM protocol to the audio interface. For this reason using ASIO4ALL should be seen more as a workaround.
OS X If you are running Cross on OS X only the currently available and
connected audio interface is shown. All drivers you see in the list are Core
Audio drivers.
5
Click the Sample Rate button with the sample rate you wish to use.
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4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
The default setting is 44.1 kHz, which is the same sampling rate used by
audio CDs. In most cases this default setting is acceptable.
By changing the sample rate you instruct Cross that all audio data it sends
to your audio interface has to be at the selected sample rate. This means
that even compressed audio file formats (like MP3), need to be re­sampled
by Cross before the audio is sent to the outside world.
If you only use standard WAV files that have a sample rate of 44.1 kHz the
sound will not be improved when you change the sample rate to 88.2 kHz,
for example. However, if you use your own audio material that has a higher
sample rate it makes sense to change the sample rate that Cross will use.
6
Use the slider Buffer size to change the latency time of your audio interface. The default buffer size is 256 samples.
The latency time is a measure of the time it takes until an action in Cross
(like jumping to a locator) is audible. Generally speaking a latency time
around 10 milliseconds is considered an adequate and decent value.
TIP If you hear clicks and pops in the audio output of Cross or if the
audio output is interrupted then in most cases the solution is to increase the latency time. Why this helps and the reasons for the distortions are explained in the sidebar on page 48.
7
If you are using external audio sources open the list boxes Input 1 and Input
2 and select the inputs of your audio interface that the devices are connected to.
Once you select an input port you will see a slider that you can use to
change the input gain of that input, and a list box to select whether a Phono
level or a Line level device is connected.
8Open the list Output 1 and perform one of the following actions:
• If you use Cross in external mixer mode select the outputs of your audio
interface where Cross shall send the audio from player A to.
• If you use Cross in internal mixer mode select the outputs of your audio
interface where Cross shall send the Master/Mix signal to.
9Open the list Output 2 and perform one of the following actions:
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4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
• If you use Cross in external mixer mode select the outputs of your audio
interface where Cross shall send the audio from player B to.
• If you use Cross in internal mixer mode select the outputs of your audio
interface where Cross shall send the Cue/Headphone signal to.
9
If you are using external mixer mode. and if your mixer has at least three
channels and if your soundcard has at least three stereo outputs, open the
list Output 3 and select the third stereo output of your soundcard. This output will receive the audio of sampler C and D.
The outputs available in the list boxes depend on the audio interface/
driver that you selected in step 4. The screenshot above uses an
M-Audio FireWire soundcard as an example.
10Open the Routing Mode list box and select the routing mode you wish to
use.
Cross provides four different routing modes where each option supports a
different usage scenario:
• Dual Stereo Use this option if you have an audio interface with two stereo outputs and if you wish to use the internal Cross mixer. One output
is used for the Master/Mix out signal; the other one is used for the Cue/
Headphone signal.
• External Mixer Sampler Use this option if you use Cross in external
mixer mode and if you have a three channel mixer and a soundcard with
three stereo outputs. In this mode the output of each Cross player is
sent to a dedicated output on your audio interface and the audio of sampler C and D is sent to the third output.
• External Mixer Cue Use this option if you use Cross in external mixer
mode and if you have a two channel mixer and a soundcard with two
stereo outputs. In this mode the audio of player A and of sampler C is
sent to one output and the audio of player B is sent to the second output.
• Simple Stereo In this mode the sum of the Master and Cue/Monitor
signals are routed to one output on your audio interface. You can use
this option when using an audio interface with only one output (normally
the internal soundcard of your laptop).
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• Split Mono Use this option if you only have one stereo output. This is
usually the case with almost all soundcards that are integrated into laptops. Cross sends the Master/Mix out signal to the left channel of the
output and the Cue/Headphone signal to the right channel of the output.
You get two mono signals in this configuration but you are still able to
use the cue/monitor feature of Cross.
NOTE When using Split Mono or Simple Stereo you need only to
perform step 9 (setting output 1), as with both routing modes, only
one output is needed.
Sidebar: ASIO, Latency and Buffer Size
As a general rule the lower the latency time, the better. But: a low latency time can
cause some issues. One is caused by the method by which the audio data is sent
from the application (in our case Cross) to the audio interface (to be more precise:
to its digital-to-analogue converter, which transforms the audio data into audible
sound).
To guarantee a continuous data stream the audio drivers provide a data buffer.
Cross writes the generated audio data into this buffer. The audio driver then transfers the received data to the audio interface hardware and the hardware makes
the data audible. To achieve a lower latency the data buffer needs to be as small
as possible. With a small buffer the amount of audio data is very small and Cross
needs to update the data buffers more often to make sure that the data stream is
not interrupted.
The buffers need to be refreshed very rapidly after each action that is performed
in Cross, and the result of this action is audible because of the small size of the
buffers.
However, the problem here is that Cross needs to share the processor time with
other applications and the operating system. If Cross cannot update the data buffers quickly enough the data stream is interrupted. This can lead to either, disturbing clicks and popping noises or in the worst case to real “holes” in the audio
signal. And: a smaller buffer results in a higher CPU load because Cross needs to
write data into the buffers more frequently.
When larger data buffers are used, the clicks and pops disappear; the disadvantage is that this also increases the latency. Because of the larger buffers, it takes
more time for Cross to write new audio data into the buffers (i.e. until the data in
the buffers is “consumed”).
The actual latency time is also dependant on the buffer size and the number of
operating system layers the audio data needs to walk through until it reaches the
audio interface hardware. Mac users do not need to worry about this. The Core
Audio drivers were originally designed in a way that their latency time is quite low.
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To overcome these latency and other issues with earlier Windows audio drivers
(and as a way to improve sale of their own products) German company Steinberg
developed the ASIO protocol (Audio Stream Input/Output), which in 1997 became
an open standard, whereby other manufacturers could develop hardware and drivers that used this protocol. The main goals for the development of ASIO were to
give applications direct access to the input and output functions of the audio interface and so to avoid the need for data to be transported via several layers in the
operating system first. This results in a better data throughput and in a decrease
in latency time. At the same time, ASIO removed the previous restriction that only
one stereo output and one stereo input could be used and made it possible to create and support audio interfaces with several inputs and outputs.
4.9 Using the MIDI Presets for DJ Controllers
Cross comes with many MIDI presets which allow you to control the software from
your DJ controller. If you wish to use a DJ controller, please connect it to your
computer before launching Cross. Once you see the main window, perform the following steps to assign the MIDI port of your controller to one of the MIDI presets:
1Open the File menu and click Preferences. Click MIDI to open the
MIDI tab. For each MIDI port/controller Cross could detect, you will see a
tab with the controller name/port name at the top of the panel.
2
Click the tab with the controller name/port name, for which you wish to assign a MIDI preset.
3
Scroll through the list Controller and click the MIDI preset you wish to assign. The following image shows an example with one detected controller
(here MixVibes U-MIX CONTROL PRO). This controller is assigned to the
MIDI preset with the same name.
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4
Repeat steps 2 and 3 if you wish to use more than one controller.
MIDI Presets Documentation
To have the documentation of the MIDI preset at your fingertips you can print the
corresponding PDF file. On Windows browse to the folder with the Cross program
files and open the subfolder Documentation\MIDI Controllers. Search for the PDF
file with the documentation of your controller.
On Mac the PDF files are not installed by default. To access them insert your Cross
installation disc into the CD ROM drive. Double-click the Cross icon on your desktop. Finally open the Documentation/MIDI Controllers folder on the installation
disc and all available PDF files are shown.
All PDF files are also available on the MixVibes website (www.mixvibes.com). Open
the page Documentation in section Support and Downloads for your Cross product.
4.10 Defining your own Presets and Controls
The standard MIDI presets, also called controller mappings, that come with Cross
cannot be changed. Presets that cannot be changed are marked with the lock icon
in list Controller (see previous page).
However, you can create a duplicate of a standard MIDI preset and then use this
duplicate to make your own changes, such as deleting and adding controls. If there
is no MIDI preset available for the controller you wish to use, you can create your
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own, or you can import a MIDI preset that another CrossDJ has shared on the
MixVibes Forum.
Creating a Duplicate of a MIDI Preset
Perform the following steps to create a duplicate of one of the standard MIDI presets:
1Open the File menu and click Preferences. Click MIDI to open the MIDI tab.
2
Click the tab with the controller name/port name of the controller, which
MIDI presets shall be duplicated.
3
Scroll in list Controller and select the MIDI preset you wish to duplicate.
4
Click the button Duplicate Controller Mapping at the bottom of the
Controller list.
Cross opens the Controller Info dialog.
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5
Enter a name for the MIDI preset, like “My CDJ 400 Preset”, change the
version number and the author name in the two text boxes in the lower part
of the dialog. If you wish to change the icon for the duplicate, click Browse,
open the folder with the image file and click Open.
Finally click OK.
6
The duplicated preset is added to the end of list Controller. You can now
change and edit the mapped controls (see section “„Editing a MIDI Preset“
on page 53 ).
TIP If you wish to change the controller information, select the preset in list Controller and click the button Edit Controller Info.
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Creating a new MIDI Preset
If there is no default MIDI preset available for the controller you wish to use, you
can create your own. First add an empty mapping (this section) and then add the
controls to this mapping (next section). Perform the following steps to create a
new controller mapping:
1Open the File menu and click Preferences. Click MIDI to open the MIDI tab.
2
Click the tab with the controller name/port name of the controller, which
MIDI presets shall be duplicated.
3
Click the button Add Controller Mapping at the bottom of the Controller list. Cross opens the Controller Info dialog.
4
Enter a name for the MIDI preset like “Trigger Finger”, change the
version number and the author name in the two text boxes in the lower part
of the dialog. If you wish to change the icon for this controller mapping,
click Browse, open the folder with the image file and click Open.
Finally click OK.
5
The new controller mapping is added to the end of list Controller.
You can add controls to your new mapping (see section “Editing a MIDI Preset”
below).
Editing a MIDI Preset
Each MIDI preset/controller mapping consists of one or more controls. A control
is a function of Cross that can be controlled with a MIDI controller. All available
controls are grouped by the function categories that are shown in list Mappings of
the Preferences/MIDI dialog. You can open a category by clicking the Plus button
in front of the category name.
Inside each category you can see the controls that can be mapped to the buttons,
faders and knobs of your controller. In the following image the category FX 1 is
opened. There are different controls that you can assign to your controller, like
ON/OFF, Input Channel, Depth and Amount, for example.
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4/ Connect and Configure your Hardware
The control FX 1 | ON/OFF has been assigned to the controller. A grey button
shows information about the MIDI message that the button on the controller sends
to Cross. You can click this button to change the assignment between the control
and the button/knob/fader on your controller. At the very right you can see buttons
with a Minus sign and a Plus sign. Clicking the Minus button removes the mapping
for a control; clicking the Plus button opens a dialog where you can create a new
mapping.
Let’s have a look at some examples that will explain the basic steps and the different options for mapping a control.
1
Click the Plus button before the category with the control that you wish you
map. For this example open category FX 1.
2
Click the Add mapping button next to ON/OFF. The MIDI
control mapping windows is opened.
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3
Press/move the MIDI button/MIDI control that you want to assign to FX1 |
ON/OFF. Cross receives a MIDI event from your controller.
In section MIDI event you can see information about the MIDI event that was
received. In this example we have pressed a button. Buttons normally send
Note messages (here 0x46; the prefix 0x is shown as the shown number is
a hexadecimal value). MIDI events are sent on a particular MIDI channel; in
this example the controller was configured to send its messages on channel 10.
Now have a look at section Available Presets. For an event that was triggered by a button and that is mapped to a Cross control with On/Off states,
Cross provides two different presets. You can select one of the available
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presets to define how Cross shall react when this MIDI event is received. If
you choose Toggler Button then this event toggles the state of the mapped
control: if the current status is OFF the status will be set to ON; if the current status is ON then pressing the mapped button will set the state to OFF.
If you choose Holder Button, then the status of the control will change for
as long as the mapped button is held.
Additionally, you can activate the Invert check box in section Preset Options. If you have mapped a control as a Holder Button, the mapped feature
is On while the mapped button is held. However, if Invert is activated, the
mapped feature is Off, while the mapped button is held.
4Click OK to add the mapping to the MIDI preset.
5
Click the Add mapping button next to Amount. The MIDI control mapping
windows is opened.
6
Move a fader or a knob on your controller and have a look at the available
options.
For controls that are used to set a Cross control to a particular value and
where a fader or a knob is moved, the MIDI control mapping windows offers
the presets Direct Fader/Knob and Inc.-Dec Normal Fader/Knob. In general you should use Direct Fader/Knob for faders and knobs with a defined
start and end point and you should use Inc.-Dec Normal Fader/Knob for
endless encoders.
In section Preset Options you see the Invert option that you know already
from the first example. Use Invert for faders and knobs if you wish to invert
the meaning of the left/right or up/down movement or position of the MIDI
control.
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7
For controls like Amount that set a value, not only faders and knobs but
buttons can be used if you wish to set the value stepwise. Make sure that
the MIDI control mapping dialog for the Amount control is still open and
press a button on your controller. The available Preset Options change as
shown in the following figure:
Use the preset Direct Normal Button if you wish to set the control to a particular value. Use the Value field in the section Preset Option to define the
value in the range from 1 to 100.
Use the preset Normal Inc. Button or Normal Dec. Button if you wish to
change the value stepwise. Using Normal Inc. Button increases the value
and Normal Dec. Button decreases it. Then enter the step size into the
field Value. The step size can be in the range from 0.00 to 1.00. Additionally you can activate the AUTO-REPEAT option, if you want the value to be
decreased/increased not just once, but for as long as the mapped button is
held.
The two presets Normal Inc. Trigger and Normal Dec. Trigger lead to the
same result as using the corresponding button presets. However, for a
control mapped to a Trigger function Auto-Repeat options are not available.
8
Now open the category Application and click the Add Mapping button next
to Activate Next Player. Activate Next Player can be used to set the input
focus to one of the players. All commands that are mapped in the category
Current Player are sent to the player that is currently active.
9
Press a button on your controller and take a look at the available presets.
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Some of the controls do not have an On/Off state, like the FX On/Off control
you saw earlier. They are used only to trigger an action, like setting the input focus as Activate Next Player does. For these controls the presets Trigger Button and Trigger Note are available. If you use the preset Trigger
Button you can activated the Auto-Repeat option as shown in the previous
image. For the Trigger Note preset this option is not available.
This ends the introduction into how to map your own controls.
Importing a Mapping
If you have found a MIDI preset for your controller on the MixVibes forum or if you
received one from another Cross user, perform the following steps to import the
mapping.
1Open the File menu and click Preferences. Open the MIDI tab on
the Preferences dialog.
2
Select your MIDI device by clicking on its tab.
3
Click the Import Controller Mapping button in the lower part of
the Controller list.
4
Browse to the folder with the mapping file (file extension .mappings), select the file you wish to import and click Open.
5
Assign the imported mapping to the MIDI device by clicking the picture of
the mapping in list Controller.
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Exporting a Mapping
If you created a mapping for a controller and wish to share it on the MixVibes forum, perform the following steps to export the mapping into a file that can be uploaded.
1Open the File menu and click Preferences. Open the MIDI tab on
the Preferences dialog.
2
Select your MIDI device by clicking on its tab.
3
Click the Export Controller Mapping button in the lower part of the
Controller list.
4
Browse to the folder where you wish to save mapping file (file extension .mappings) and click Save.
4.11 Using the Keyboard
If your DJ controller is not currently available, or if you are preparing tracks or
playlists you can use your keyboard to access many of the Cross features. Cross
includes a keyboard mapping that is automatically activated when you launch the
software. Please have a look at the tables on page 110 and onwards for a complete
overview of the integrated shortcuts.
Player related shortcuts
Many of the keyboard shortcuts control the features of the two players, but only
one keyboard shortcut has been assigned. In these cases the mapped command is
sent to the currently activated player. Please have a look at the yellow and red bar
respectively that is visible above the track title if that player is active.
You can toggle the active status of the players by pressing the (ÿ) key.
Defining your own Shortcuts
If you wish to access a Cross feature for which a shortcut is not included in the
default mapping, you can define the shortcut yourself. This example shows how to
define a shortcut for the Kill Bass feature in the mixer.
1Open the File menu and click on Preferences. Click the Keyboard
tab.
The Controller list shows all keyboard mappings that are available. Please note the Lock icon, it indicates that the mapping is
embedded and cannot be changed. The Mappings list shows the different
command categories that can be assigned.
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As we wish to add two new keyboard shortcuts to an existing mapping the
easiest way is to duplicate an existing mapping and make the desired
changes there.
2
Click the Duplicate Controller Mapping button in the lower part of
the Controller list. The Controller Info dialog becomes opened.
3
Enter a descriptive text into the Model field and click OK.
Have a look at the list Controller. There are now three different keyboard
mappings available: the two embedded mappings and the duplicate you just
created. Only one of the mappings can be active at one time.
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4
Make sure that the duplicated mapping is selected in the list Controller.
5
Click the Plus button before the category Mixer to expand this node. You
now see all mappable commands and the shortcuts that are already defined for some of the commands.
6
Click the Add mapping button next to Bass Kill A. The
keyboard control mapping windows is opened.
7
Press the (F8) key. The pressed key is shown as a
keyboard event. You can now choose between two different presets. These
presets are identical to those you see when you create a mapping for a MIDI
controller.
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• Toggler Button A toggler button toggles the status of the mapped
command between On and Off.
• Holder Button A holder button activates the mapped command only
for as long as the key is held.
• You can use option Invert if you wish to invert the functionality of the
control (see page 45).
8
Leave preset Toggler Button activated and click OK to close the Keyboard
control mapping window.
9
Repeat steps 6 to 8, but this time add a mapping for the Bass Kill B command and assigned it to the [F9) key.
10
Close the Preferences dialog and check, if the new keys are working.
Importing and Exporting Keyboard Mappings
Keyboard mappings can be imported and exported in the same way as explained
for controller mappings (see page 47 and onwards). Make sure, that the Keyboard
panel of the Preferences dialog is open if you wish to import or export a keyboard
mapping.
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5/
Configuring the
Cross
Remote Apps
With the Cross remote apps you can control Cross remotely from your iPad, your
iPod touch, or from your iPhone. The remote apps simulate an external Wi-Fi external DJ controller. All mixing is done in the Cross software running on your
Mac or on your PC. In this setup your standard audio interface is used so you will
achieve the sound quality that you expect from professional DJ software.
Communication between Cross and the remote apps is bi-directional. This allows
sending commands from the remote app to Cross as you would expect. At the
same time the names of the loaded tracks and all playback information (current
tempo, current playback position, remaining play time and so on) are visible on the
remote app screen, because Cross can send this information to your remote app.
The Cross remote apps are available in the Apple App Store. Once you have purchased and installed the remote app you need to configure the wireless adapter
of your laptop. The steps you need to follow are slightly different depending on the
operating system you are using for Cross. The following sections contain detailed
information for Windows XP, Windows 7, and Mac OS X. Once the Wi-Fi network has
been created you can connect your Cross remote app to Cross.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
5.1 Setting up the Ad Hoc Network on Windows XP
Perform the following steps to configure an Ad Hoc network on Windows XP
1Open Control Panel and open the Network Connections applet.
2
Deactivate all internet connections. You can use your remote app while
your internet connections are active. However, for performance reasons
we recommend deactivating your internet connections.
Also deactivate your antivirus software and your firewall to make sure that
your remote app can connect to Cross via the wireless connection.
3
Right-click on Wireless Network Connection and select Properties.
4Open the Wireless Networks tab and click Add.
5
Enter a name for the network into the Network Name (SSID) field, deactivate the option The key is provided for me automatically, select WEP as
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
data encryption mode and enter a password of 5 or 13 characters into the
Network Key field. Finally click OK.
The new network should appear in the networks list, as shown in the following image.
6
Click on Advanced to open the Advanced dialog box. Make sure that option Computer-to-computer (ad hoc) networks only is selected and click
Close.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
7
Right-click the icon Wireless Connection icon in the notification area of the
Windows task bar. Select View Available Wireless Networks in the context
menu.
8
If the network you just created is not yet connected, select it in the networks
list and click Connect.
Windows will show the following dialog box informing you that the network
is activated and that it is waiting for devices to connect.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
9Open the Settings app on your iPad, go to Wi-Fi, turn Wi-Fi on if it is currently off and select the network you just created from the list of networks.
Enter the password you selected while creating the Ad Hoc network in Windows and tap Join.
Now continue as explained on page 61 to connect your remote app and Cross.
5.2 Setting up the Ad Hoc Network on Windows 7
Perform the following steps to configure an ad hoc network on Windows 7:
1
Right-click the icon Wireless Connections in the notification area of the
task bar. Select Open Network and Sharing Center in the context menu.
2
Deactivate all internet connections. You can use your remote app while
your internet connections are active. However, for performance reasons
we recommend deactivating your internet connections.
Also deactivate your antivirus software and your firewall to make sure that
your remote app can connect to Cross via the wireless connection.
3
In the Network and Sharing Center window click on Setup a new connection or network.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
4
In the Setup a new connection or network dialog click on Set up a wireless
ad hoc (computer-to-computer) network.
5
Enter a network name, select WEP in list Security type and enter a password of either 5 or 13 characters into the Security key field. Click Next.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
6
Windows will show the dialog you see in the following image. Click on Close
to return to the Network and Sharing Center.
The new network is created and is waiting for devices to connect:
7Open the Settings app on your iPad, go to Wi-Fi, turn Wi-Fi on if it is currently off. Then, in the list of networks select the network you just created.
Enter the password you selected while creating the Ad Hoc network in Windows and tap Join.
The Network and Sharing Center should now look as shown in the following figure:
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
It takes a while (often between 2 and 5 minutes) until the Network and
Sharing Center is updated and will show the connected status:
8
Close the Network and Sharing Center.
Now continue as explained on page 61 to connect your remote app to Cross.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
5.3 Setting up the Ad Hoc Network on Mac OS X
Perform the following steps to configure an ad hoc network on Mac OS X.
1
Click the AirPort icon in the menu bar and then click on Create Network.
2
Enter a name for the new network. Select 40-bit WEP in list Security, enter
a password into the Password and Verify fields and click OK.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
Now continue as explained in the next section to connect your remote app to Cross.
5.4 Connecting the Remote App to Cross
Once you have created the Ad Hoc network you need to connect your computer and
your iPad and then you must establish the connection between your remote app
and Cross by performing the following steps:
1Open the Settings app on your iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone, go to Wi-Fi, and
turn Wi­-Fi on if it is currently off. Select the network you have just created
from the list of networks. Enter the password you selected while creating
the Ad Hoc network and tap Join.
2
Go to Cross.
3Open the File menu and click Preferences. Click Remote to open the Remote tab.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
4
Make sure that the check box Use Remote Apps is activated.
5Launch the remote app on your on your iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone.
6
The start screen of your remote app shows the names of all computers
(not the network names) that are connected to the Ad Hoc network and that
are running Cross with Use Remote Apps activated on the Preferences/
Remote tab.
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5/ Configuring the Cross Remote Apps
7
Select the computer you wish to connect.
8
Return to Cross. On the Remote tab you see that a connection request from
your remote app has arrived. Click Accept to accept the connection.
The remote app will connect to Cross and the app should be ready to go.
TIP If the connection lags for more than 30 seconds, uncheck the Use Remote Apps checkbox in Cross and re-check it to reinitialize the connection. If
this does not help, restart Cross.
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6/
The Cross
User Interface
The user interface of Cross is composed of several panels, with each panel having
its own functionality. The feature set of some of the panels, such as the mixer, is
based on the functionality known from classic analogue DJing. Other features, as
Beatmatcher and the automatic sync, are tools unique to digital DJing.
6.1 The Panels at a Glance
The following figure shows the different panels of the Cross user interface.
Toolbar
Beatmatcher
FX-Zone
Player A (here: external control)
and Locators panel
Sync Zone
Player B (here: internal control)
without Locators Panel,
Mixer
Sampler C
Sampler D
Browser and Preview Player
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6/ The Cross User Interface
Selecting the User Interface Language
If the user interface is not in your language or the language you wish to use you
can change it. Open the File menu and click on Preferences. Make sure that the
Display tab is open. Open the list Language and select your preferred language.
The Toolbar
In the Toolbar at the top of the screen you find the Cross menu, the knobs to set
the master/cue volume, and some buttons to open the Preferences dialog, and to
start the Recorder. All elements of the toolbar are shown in the following figure:
Master Volume
Cue/Master Ratio
Headphones Volume
Limiter on/off
Fullscreen Mode
Open Preferences
Start/Stop Recorder
The Volume section has three knobs where you can control the Master out volume,
the Headphone volume and the ratio between the Monitor and the Mix signal that
is sent to the headphones.
The Master Volume can be set on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 with the Master knob
on the top panel of the controller. The right side of the front panel contains two
knobs to set the ratio between the Monitor and the Mix signal and the volume of
the headphones.
Master Volume
Cue/Master Ratio Headphones Level
You can use the button Start/Stop Recorder to record your mix, to record the audio
of the players, or to record both at the same time. More information about the Recorder can be found in section “Recording” on page 128 and onwards.
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6/ The Cross User Interface
The Beatmatcher and the Sync Zone
Below the toolbar you can see the Beatmatcher. If the Beatmatcher is not visible
on your screen, open the View menu and select Beatmatcher.
The Beatmatcher serves as a visual guide for getting your tracks beat synchronised. It displays the peak/transient information of the tracks currently playing in
the two players. For tracks that have a beatgrid, Cross can also show the grid on
the Beatmatcher. To enable the beatgrid, open the Preferences dialog, switch to
the Display tab and enable the activate the Beatgrids option.
Additionally, you can enable the Sync Zone by opening
the View menu and selecting Sync Zone. The Sync Zone
contains the Sync Meter and the settings for Snap and
Quantize. These options are explained in more detail in chapter 7 and chapter 9.
The FX Zone
Below the Beatmatcher you can see the FX Zone. If you do not see the FX Zone on
your screen, open the View menu and select FXs. The FX Zone allows you to control the two FX of Cross: select the effect you wish to use, activate the FX and use
the knob(s) in the FX zone to change the effect parameter.
FX 1
Assign FX to Channel
Set Effect Parameter
Select Effect
Assign FX to Channel
Set Effect Parameter
Select Effect
FX 2
FX On/Off
The FX Zone has two assignment lists: use them to assign the two FX to the players
or the samplers. It is also possible to use two effects on the audio of one player/one
sampler. Simply select the same player/sampler in both lists.
If you are using Cross in internal mixer mode, you can use the assignment option
Master: in this mode the audio from all players/samplers is changed by the effect.
More information about the Cross effects can be found in chapter 10 starting on
page 132.
Player A and B
The largest area of the Cross user interface is occupied by the two players and, if
enabled, by the two samplers.
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The player on the left is player A (yellow); the player on the right is player B (red).
The waveform area shows a section from the track currently playing. You can use
the outer buttons to zoom in, zoom out and to reset the waveform to the default
zoom factor. The white vertical line is the play marker and marks the part of the
track that is currently audible.
Playback Info
Waveform with Beatgrid
Pitch Fader
Full Track Display
Loop Section
Transport/Control Modes
Locators
The outer panel of the players contains the pitch faders that work similarly to the
pitch faders that can be found on turntables and CDJ players.
The section in the header area of the players shows some vital playback information: the name of the track and the artist, the current time or the remaining time,
the current BPM and the current tempo change as a percentage value.
If a player is configured for timecode control, the transport section contains the
buttons to switch between the different timecode control modes (see image above).
Use the Loop section to create automatic and manual loops. You can use the Smart
Seek buttons in the Transport section to jump forward/backward in a track and
define the jump length in beats or fractions of a beat. Click the button Locators
to open the Locators panel. Locators are saved and named cue points in a track
that you can jump to. Chapter 9 starting on page 118 takes a closer look at these
features.
Playback Info
Waveform with Beatgrid
Pitch Fader
Full Track Display
Loop Section
Transport/Control Modes
If a player is configured for internal control, then the transport section contains the
Play/Pause and the Cue button; they work in a similar way to the corresponding
buttons on a CDJ player. The image above shows as an example the elements of
player, when the player is setup for internal control and when the Locators area
is hidden.
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Samplers C and D
In the following image you see one of the two samplers in Cross. If the samplers
are not visible on your screen, open the View menu and select Samplers.
Open Link Settings
Select Sample Bank
One Sample Pad
Each sampler provides eight sample pads. You can load one sample into each of
the pads. To make loading samples easy, you can create your own sample banks.
Each sample bank can contain up to eight samples; they can be loaded into a sampler at the same time. You can define various playback parameters for each sample in the pad: what type of sample it is, whether the sample is a loop or a 1-Shot
and whether the sample shall be played continuously, or until the end is reached
or only while you press the Play button for the pad.
All information about the samplers can be found in chapter 11, starting on page
137.
Mixer
There are two different views for the Mixer panel: one for internal mixer mode and
another one for external mixer mode. The Mixer panel in internal mixer mode has
all the controls that you would find on a classic DJ mixer:
• A Gain knob to set the Gain level and a Mute button to mute the audio of the
corresponding player/sampler.
• A 3 band equalizer for each player/sampler to control the cut/boost of the three
frequency ranges and a Kill button for each range to completely cut it.
• A bi-polar filter for each player/sampler.
• The Cue/Monitor buttons for each player and sampler. Activating the Cue but-
ton of a player sends the audio to the Headphones; the channel fader of the
corresponding player does not need to be up for the audio to be heard.
• The four channel faders control the volume of the two players and the two samplers.
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Internal Mixer Mode
External Mixer Mode
Gain/Mute
Filter A/B
Equalizer
Level Meter A/B
Filter
Channel Fader
Level Meter
Filter C/D
Channel Fader/
Level Meter C/D
Crossfader
the ratio between the left player/sampler and the right
• The crossfader controls
player/sampler. The crossfader curve can be freely configured. You find the
crossfader settings on the General tab of the Preferences dialog.
If you use U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 you can configure the shape of the crossfader
curve with the knob on the rear panel of the controller from a quick cut for
scratching or to a longer fade for mixing.
More information about the crossfader can be found in chapter 7 on page 99
and onwards.
In both mixer modes the Mixer panels show the pre-fader level of the player/sampler. Pre-fader means that the position of the channel fader and the cross fader
does not affect the level meter.
Again, in both mixer modes you can click in the header of the mixer on A or on B to
select the input mode for that channel fader.
Browser and Preview Player
The Browser panel allows you to access the tracks in your collection and your
iTunes library. This panel offers some sophisticated search features so you can
quickly find the track you wish to play next. The browser is explained in more detail
in chapter 7 on page 82 and onwards.
The preview player can be used to preview the track that is currently selected
in the browser. You do not need to load a track into the preview player, simply
press its Play button. The audio from the preview player can be heard in your headphones if you use internal mixer mode. If you use the routing mode External Mixer
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Cue the audio of the preview player is routed to the audio interface port configured
as Output 3.
6.2 Changing the Screen Layout
You can use the commands in the View menu or the corresponding keyboard
shortcuts to change the layout of Cross.
Using the Collection View Expanded command to toggle between the Browser
View and Mix View. In Browser View the players, samplers, and the mixer are
hidden to allow easier and faster browsing in your collection and playlists. In Mix
View the players and the mixer are visible and the browser occupies the remaining
space.
The Full Screen command does exactly what is says: it maximises the Cross window so that it occupies the complete screen.
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Importing and
Mixing
your Music
Before you can play and mix your audio files with Cross, the files should be imported into the track collection. Cross supports the following file types: MP3, WAV,
OGG, FLAC, AIFF, M4A and AAC. This chapter explains the basic steps that need to
be done and will then show you how to mix two tracks with Cross.
7.1 Importing Folders
Perform the following steps to import an entire music folder or disc:
1Open the File menu and click Import Directory.
2
Select a folder or a drive with the audio files you wish to import. Click OK.
3Cross will import all audio files from the selected drive or folder and its
subfolders into the collection. Once the import has been done, the files are
shown in the Collection panel of the browser.
TIP If you wish to import a single file only or a group of files from within
one folder, open the File menu, click Import File, select the file/s you wish to
import and click Open. To import a playlist in .m3u or .pls format open the File
menu, click Import Playlist, select the playlist file and click Open.
7.2 Importing Tracks from iTunes
If you use Apple’s iTunes® software to manage your track collection, you can access your iTunes® Library and playlists by clicking on the iTunes® tab in the Dock.
Perform the following steps to import tracks from iTunes®:
1
Click the iTunes® icon in the browser dock to open your iTunes
library. (If the iTunes icon is not visible, right-click the dock and
select iTunes.)
2
Select the tracks you wish to import.
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3
Perform one of the following actions:
• Drag and drop your selection onto the Collection icon in the dock.
• Right-click the selection and choose Add to Collection from the context
menu.
7.3 Importing Collections from other DJ Software
Cross makes it easy to import collections and tracks from Traktor, Rekordbox, and
from Virtual DJ. During the import not only the audio files are imported, but also
any playlists that you have created in the supported third party applications. Also
imported is certain track information, like beatgrids, cue points and – if applicable
– the first loop you set in the third party tool.
Perform the following steps to import the collection from another DJ software:
1Open the File menu and select Import Third Party Database. Cross opens a
dialog box where you can select the database file of the third party application.
2
Browse to the folder with the third party collection file:
• To import a Traktor collection, open the folder Native Instruments/
Trak­tor x.x.x below your documents folder. x.x.x represents the Traktor version you are using. If you changed the default location of the collection file (on the Preferences/File Management tab), open this folder
instead. Then select the file collection.nml.
• To import a Rekordbox playlist, open the folder where you exported
the Rekordbox playlist information to, and the select the file created by
Rekordbox.
• To import a Virtual DJ database, open the folder VirtualDJ below your
documents folder and select the file VirtualDJ Database vX.xml (X represents the version of the database format; the current version is 6).
3Click Open to start the import process.
Cross will import all audio files from the third party library into the Cross collection. When the import is done, you will find all audio tracks inside the Music node
of the collection.
If the imported collection contains playlists, Cross will import them and create
new entries directly below the Playlists node. The Traktor playlists can be found
in the node Playlists/import-Traktor, the Rekordbox playlists in the node Playlists/import-Rekordbox, and the VirtualDJ playlists in the node Playlists/importVirtualDJ. You can drag and drop the imported playlists to a new position in the
tree or rename them, if you wish to.
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Import of tracks that are already in the Cross collection
If the imported collection contains a track that is already in your collection, Cross
will open a message box as shown in the following figure:
• Click Yes if you wish Cross to read the tags from the file; these tags will replace
the tags already in the Cross collection.
• Click No, if you do not wish Cross to keep the tags that are already in the Cross
collection.
• Activate the check box Don‘t ask me again if you wish that all imported tracks
shall be handled in the same way as your current selection (Yes/No).
7.4 Analyzing imported Files
The tracks in your collection need to be analyzed before Cross can show the full
track display and the transient view of the track in the Beatmatcher. In order to use
the automatic beat and cycle synchronisation Cross provides, the BPM and the
beatgrid of the track also need to be analyzed. Tracks that are not analyzed when
you load them into the players will be automatically analyzed.
While the track is being analyzed,
the text “Analyzing” is shown in the
full track display.
However, it is a good practise to trigger the analysis of newly imported tracks before you load them. The advantage of analysis before use is that the transient view
and the full track display are available immediately after loading. If you load a track
that has not yet been analyzed it can take a while until the full track display and
the waveform in the Beatmatcher are visible. Also, as track analysis consumes
CPU time it could lead to crackling sounds and this is something you do not want
to hear during your set.
Perform the following steps to analyze tracks:
1
Make sure that the Collection tab is opened in the Browser.
2
Select the track/s you wish to analyze.
3
Right-click the selection and open the Analyze menu.
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4
Select one of the following options depending on what Cross is to analyze:
• Analyze all Use this option to analyze tracks that are new additions
to the collection. During the analysis Cross will do a gain analysis to
check, whether the signal strength needs to be raised or lowered when
the track is played. Furthermore, a peak analysis is done and the information collected is used to display the waveform of the audio in the
Beatmatcher and in the full track display on the player. Then, the BPM
of the track is detected and Cross sets the beatgrid for the track. The
beatgrid will help you to perform different kinds of beat sync operations
(more to be found below).
• Analyze Beatgrid/BPM only Use this option to make Cross analyze
the beatgrid and the BPM of the track only.
• Analyze Gain only Use this option if you only wish to analyze the gain
of the track, maybe if you have changed the gain and wish to restore it
to the default analysis.
• Analyze Peak only Use this option to only analyze the peaks of the
track. This is useful when you do not need the beatgrid or gain information, maybe because you use timecode.
Have a look at column A. (short for Analysis Status) and the column with the
icons, the Status column to see which tracks have been analyzed (a check
mark in column A.) or not. In the image above, the fifth track is currently
being analyzed and 2% of the analysis is complete.
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BPM Detection Range
Detecting the tempo of a track can sometimes be a bit tricky. Cross performs a
peak analysis to detect the beats, and then uses the data about the peaks to calculate the BPM. As not all transients/peaks in a track need to be beats, you can
“help” Cross by setting the BPM Detection Range on the Preferences/General
dialog.
Use the range that best fits your music genre: Slow is the best setting for Hip Hop,
Standard is the best choice for House/Techno, and you should to set the range to
Fast if you mainly spin Drum ’n’ Bass. Using a BPM detection range that does not
fit the genre of your tracks sometimes leads to a BPM value that is either, half as
small or twice as large then the real BPM of the track. These kinds of errors can be
easily corrected by using the beatgrid tools that are explained in the next section.
7.5 Using the Beatgrid Tools
As you can see in the previous section, Cross performs a BPM and beat analysis:
both values are used to define the initial beatgrid of a track. The beatgrid is initial,
because Cross offers several tools that you can use to change the beatgrid if necessary.
Before we take a close look at the beatgrid tools of Cross, we should start by defining some important terms and have a look at the visual representation of the
beatgrid as it is shown on the Beatmatcher and on the waveform of the players.
NOTE In order to see the beatgrid, you need to activate the checkbox Show
Beatgrids on the Display tab of the Preferences dialog. Activating this option
makes the grid visible on the Beatmatcher and on the waveform. Of course,
if no beatgrid has been analyzed, Cross cannot show it. In this case use the
command Analyze Beatgrid/BPM only as explained in the previous section.
The beatgrid information on the player is shown as vertical lines. A vertical line
with the height of the complete waveform represents a downbeat (i.e. the first beat
of a 4 beat bar). The first downbeat gridline that you see on the waveform serves
as the reference point of the grid and is marked with yellow triangles at both endpoints. All vertical gridlines that are marked with white triangles at the endpoints
represent another downbeat. The gridlines of the beatgrid have the same spacing
as Cross assumes that the tempo of the track is fixed and that it does not change
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over the duration of the track. The following rules apply to the beatgrid: The greater the spacing of the individual gridlines, the lower the track tempo. The smaller
the spacing, the higher the track tempo is.
The individual beats, half beats and quarter beats of one bar are symbolized by
shorter vertical lines. The number of shorter vertical lines that are visible depends
on the current zoom factor of the waveform display on the player and the Beatmatcher. The more zoomed in you are, the shorter the lines will appear. The grid
that was analyzed by Cross is called the base grid.
The Beatgrid Toolbar on the Player
The lower right corner of the player A and the lower left corner of player B contain
the button Show/Hide Beatgrid Editor. If you click the button to make the beatgrid
editor visible, a toolbar is displayed in the lower part of the waveform. This toolbar
contains all the buttons that you need, to make changes to the beatgrid.
When the Beatgrid toolbar is visible, Cross changes the display of the gridlines on
the player as well. As you can see in the following image, each beat is now represented by a vertical gridline with the same height of the waveform. These longer
grid lines make it easier to see whether the grid fits perfectly to the track or not.
You can use the following buttons of the beatgrid editor to change the active grid:
The first two buttons of the toolbar can be used to expand or to shrink the
distance between the gridlines. Shrinking the beat intervals increases the BPM of
the track: the gridlines are now closer to each other and this will lead to an increase in the tempo. Expanding the beat intervals decreases the BPM of the track:
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the gridlines are now further apart from each other and this will lead to a decrease
in the tempo.
With these two buttons you can move the first downbeat (the line that is
used as the reference point of the grid) to the left or to the right. When this downbeat is sitting at the right position (exactly on the transient) it makes it easier to use
the automatic sync features of Cross. It is good practice to zoom into the waveform
before you move the first downbeat or the grid.
Use this button to convert the beat closest to the current playback position
into a new downbeat. The button Define Downbeat is only active if the track has a
beatgrid; otherwise it is disabled. The new downbeat resets the cycle/bar/beatcounter of the track. This is useful if you use the “sync to cycle” feature of Cross.
Let’s have a look at an example track that shows how this works.
On the track in the following image a beatgrid analysis was performed. Cross has
set the downbeat at the very beginning of the track, even though the track starts
with 4 beats = 1 bar of silence. If we number the first beats of this track with a
Cycle.Bar.Beat schema, the counter for the beats is 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.2.1.
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4
1.2.1
Because the track starts with 4 beats of silence, this numbering is wrong and does
not reflect the real musical structure of that track. The fifth beat, which is the first
audible beat, should be 1.1.1. If you drag the waveform to this beat and click on
Define Downbeat, Cross adds a new downbeat marker to the grid (marked with
yellow triangles on player A and red ones on player B), and resets the internal
beatcounter.
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4
1.2.1
The internal beatcounter that Cross uses to automatically sync to the cycle/bar/
beat of the track in the other player, now has a correct value to do this synchronisation.
If the configured BPM detection range does not fit to the tempo of the
genre, you often get BPM values which are twice as large or half as small as the
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real tempo. To correct this kind of BPM error, you can use these two buttons to
halve or double the BPM value of the currently loaded track.
To delete all beatgrid information, click the Clear Beatgrid button. When the
track has no beatgrid, the button Analyze Beatgrid is shown. Click this button to
perform a BPM and a beatgrid analysis.
Using User Beatgrids
Sometimes tracks do not use a strict 4/4 signature throughout the whole track.
Let’s assume you have a track with a beat length that cannot divided by 4 without a
remainder, or another track with a tempo change where one part of the track has
a different BPM than the other. For those tracks you can add a user beatgrid. The
number of additional user beatgrids that you can add is unlimited.
When you add a user grid you actually set the position of a new downbeat (the first
beat of a bar) and this downbeat can be set to any position of the track.
To set a user beatgrid, drag the waveform to the desired position and click the
Add Beatgrid button on the Beatgrid Editor toolbar. The new user beatgrid serves
as the reference point of the grid from the position of the marker towards the end
of the track. The waveform before the user beatgrid marker is shown in grey indicating that this segment is not affected by the current downbeat marker. The
waveform behind the user beatgrid marker is shown in yellow/red (depending on
the player), indicating that this segment of the track is affected by the current
downbeat marker.
Setting a new user beatgrid also resets the bar and beat counter value to 1. You
can change the tempo of a new segment with the shrink/expand buttons only. Each
user beatgrid can have a different tempo.
If you wish to delete a user beatgrid, drag the waveform and make sure, that
the current playback position is behind the user beatgrid downbeat you wish to
delete. Then click the Delete Beatgrid button on the Beatgrid Editor toolbar.
Section „A closer Look at the Beat Matcher“ on page 95 in this manual will show
you, how the beatgrid of the track will help you, to either manually or automatically
synchronize the tracks in the two players.
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7.6 Playback Control Modes
You can configure the Cross players for either internal control or external control.
In internal control mode you use the software only to playback the tracks. In external control mode you use timecode control media to control playback of the tracks.
NOTE The external playback control modes described in this section are
only available in Cross, and not in CrossDJ or CrossDJ LE. Please have a look
at chapter 1 for more information about the different software versions of
MixVibes Cross.
Internal Control Mode
Internal control mode for a player is activated, if
• no input has been assigned to the player with the 1/2 assignment buttons in the
cover panel of the players, or if
• the checkbox Control Deck 1 and/or Control Deck 2 on the Vinyl/CD panel of
the Preferences window is deactivated, or if
• no input is configured on the Audio tab or the Vinyl/CD tab of the Preferences
window.
In this mode, use the software to control the playback independently of the control
vinyl/discs. Use this mode when you wish to control the playback using the mouse
& keyboard, and/or a MIDI controller.
You can see on the player if internal control mode is
active: in this case the Transport section of the player
shows the CUE, PLAY/PAUSE and the SYNC button.
External Control Modes
If Cross is configured for timecode usage as explained in chapter 4, the transport
section of the players contain three buttons which you can use to switch between
the different external control modes.
Absolute Mode In this mode, the playback position of the control vinyl/
disc corresponds precisely with the playback position of the audio file in
the player. So, if you lift the needle and drop it one minute further towards the end of the vinyl, the track will be played back from the new detected
position. Use the Absolute mode when you wish to use your turntable’s needle (or
the seek function on your CD player) to skip thru the track. If you are using CD
decks, you can also use their cueing and looping capabilities.
Relative Mode In this mode, the playback position of the control vinyl/
disc does not correspond with the playback position of the audio file in
the player. In relative mode the Cross timecode engine only detects the
playback speed and the playback direction, not the position information. If you lift
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the needle, the deck stops. If you then drop the needle at another location playback
resumes from the same position where the needle was lifted. It does not matter
where you drop the needle.
Flexible Mode In this mode, the timecode is disabled altogether, allowing you to pick up the needle or stop playback on your deck. Use the
Flexible mode when you need to deactivate the external control for any
reason without interrupting a mix:
• when Cross is in Relative mode, switch to Flexible to return to the beginning of
the time code without interrupting your mix.
• Cross will automatically switch to Flexible mode when the end of the time code
is reached while a track is still playing.
When in Flexible mode, clicking on the Flexible button stops playback.
External Control Modes and Non-Linear Features
The Cross players provide several non-linear features. Their use will lead to a
state, where the playback position of the timecode media and the playback position in the decks are no longer the same. These non-linear features are the hot
cues (locators), the Smart Seek feature, the Looping feature, the pitch fader, and
the SYNC button. If you are in relative mode these features are always available.
However, in absolute mode these features can only be used, if Cross can switch to
relative mode automatically. This setting can be found on the Vinyl/CD panel of the
Preferences window. It is called Automatic Control Mode Switching and must be
activated if you wish to use the non-linear features mentioned above.
7.7 Loading Tracks into the Players
Once your audio tracks are imported into the collection you can load them into the
players. Depending on your setup you can use a DJ controller, the timecode control
media (only available with Cross and not with CrossDJ and CrossDJ LE), the mouse
or the keyboard to load tracks. Almost any DJ controller like U-MIX CONTROL
PRO 2, will most likely have Browse and Load functions. Please have a look at the
manual of your controller or at the PDF file documenting the MIDI preset of your
controller (see section “Controlling Cross with the Keyboard and with DJ Controllers” page 23 for more information).
Loading Tracks with U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2/U-MIX CONTROL 2
Perform the following steps to select and load a track with the controller:
1
Use the Browse encoder to scroll through your collection.
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2Press Load A to load the selected track into player A, or press Load B to
load it into player B.
If you use a different controller than U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2, it will most likely
have Browse and Load controls as standard. Please have a look at the manual of
your controller or at the PDF file documenting the MIDI preset of your controller
(see „MIDI Presets Documentation“ on page 50 for more information).
Loading Tracks with the mouse
Perform one of the following actions to select and load a track:
• Drag and drop a track from the collection onto one of the players or onto the
upper (for player A) or lower (for player B) area of the Beatmatcher.
• Right-click the track and select Load in Player A or Load in Player B.
Loading Tracks with the Keyboard
Perform the following steps to select and load a track:
1
Use the keys (¼) and (½) to scroll through your collection and to select
the track you wish to load.
2Hold (Ctrl)+(ª) (Windows) or (cmd)+(alt) (Mac). Then press (æ) to load
the track into player A or press (Æ) to load the track into player B.
NOTE By default Cross loads the track completely into the memory of your
computer for quick access, which puts some load on the CPU. The amount of
memory that may be used by Cross can be configured with the Audio Cache
slider in Preferences/General. In most cases you will not need to change
the default setting. If you prefer your tracks to be streamed directly from the
audio files, set the Audio Cache slider to 0%.
Loading Tracks with Control Vinyl
The last track on both sides of the 12 inch control vinyl and on the B
side of the 7 inch record can be used to scroll in the browser: Put the
needle in the scroll zone and turn the vinyl to browse in your collection
until the track you wish to load is selected. While the needle is in the
scroll zone you can see the scroll icon on the timecode platter in the
cover area of the player.
Stop the record on the desired track, lift the needle and put it back to the beginning
of the vinyl to load the track.
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Loading Tracks with Control CDs
If you use control CDs you can skip to track 2 on the control CD to scroll through
your collection. Once track 2 is playing use the pitch fader on your CDJ player to
scroll: A negative pitch will scroll down and a positive pitch will scroll up.
NOTE The scrolling speed will vary with the pitch, so you should be careful
not to go too fast.
Once you have found the track you wish to load, reset the pitch to 0 to stop scrolling
and select track 1 to load it into the player.
Loading into playing Decks
Please note that the default security setting does not allow you to load a new track
if a deck is currently playing. This setting can be changed by deactivating the Security Mode checkbox on the General tab of the Preferences dialog.
However, this setting can protect you from accidentally loading a track into the
wrong player and it is best left activated.
7.8 Your First Mix
Once you have imported some tracks into the collection you are ready for your
first mix.
1Load a track into player A by using one of the techniques explained in the
previous section.
2
Start playback of the loaded track by starting playback of the control vinyl
(external control mode) or by clicking the Play button on player A.
3Open the channel fader for player A.
• If you are using one of the U-MIX CONTROL controllers or another DJ
MIDI controller, move the volume fader for player A upwards. Also make
sure that the cross fader is in the middle position or at the outer left
position.
• If you are using an external mixer, open the volume fader for the channel where you routed Output 1 to.
• If you do not use a controller, use the mouse and move the volume fader
for player A in the mixer upwards.
You should now hear the music in your speakers.
4Load your second track into player B and start playback of player B.
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5
While the track on deck A is playing to the public, press the Cue/Monitor
button for player B in internal mixer mode, or the corresponding Cue button on your mixer if you are using external mixer mode.
You now can pre-listen to the next track on deck B in your headphones
while the audience listens to the track being played on deck A over the
speakers.
6
The tempo of the tracks loaded in the two players is most likely not the
same. You need to match the tempo of both tracks, and synchronize the
beats of player B to player A to get a smooth transition. Use one or several
of the following techniques and tools:
• Adjust the tempo/BPM of the new track to match the one that is current-
ly playing by using the pitch fader on the player (internal control mode)
or the pitch fader on your turntable/CDJ player (external control mode).
• Once the two tracks are being playing at the same BPM, you need to
make sure, that their beats match.
You can achieve this by slowing down the record or by speeding it up.
In relative timecode mode and in internal control mode you can use the
pitch bend buttons on the user interface or the controller (see section
“Using the Pitch Controls” on page 118 for more information). The
pitch bend buttons are also used for slowing down/speeding up the playback of a deck temporarily. This shifts the playback position of the beats.
If you use U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2/ U-MIX CONTROL 2 or another controller with a jogwheel, use the jogwheel to perform the same action.
• If you wish Cross to take care of the tempo and beat adjustment, click
the SYNC button on the player with the new track. If you use U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2/ U-MIX CONTROL 2, press the SYNC button for player B.
Which action that is triggered by the SYNC button depends on the Sync
Mode setting that you can select in the General tab of the Preferences
dialog. Clicking SYNC always matches the tempo of the track to one or
the other player, and either, syncs to the beat, the bar or the cycle of the
other track. (See section „Using the Sync Meter“ on page 97 for more
information about the sync modes.)
• Use the Beatmatcher in combination with the Sync Meter in the Sync
Zone. The next section shows some examples of what you can read in
the Beatmatcher and how the Sync Meter can help you to synchronize
your tracks.
7
Adjust the volume level by using the Gain knob. The Gain knob allows you to
set the overall level to match that of the track playing on the other deck.
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NOTE If you change the Gain level of a track, Cross stores the new
value in the collection file. If you load the track again, the changed gain
setting is automatically applied by default. You can disable the default
behaviour by opening the Preferences/General dialog and unchecking
the option Read track gain at load.
8
To make the blend from one track to another, move the crossfader from left
to right, or use the channels faders on your controller or external mixer.
NOTE The crossfader curve can be freely configured. You can use
either one of the predefined settings or configure a custom crossfader
curve. More information about the crossfader settings can be found in
section “Configuring the Crossfader” on page 99.
9You can also change the channel equalization of the mixer to make the
transition between the two tracks more smoothly.
10
Additionally you can use the effects and loops to highlight different parts of
an audio track.
7.9 A Closer Look at the Beatmatcher and the
Sync Meter
First let’s have a closer look at the Beatmatcher so we can understand what information it provides and how it can assist you in achieving the synchronisation of
two tracks. If the Beatmatcher is not visible, open the View menu and select Show/
Hide Beatmatcher. The Beatmatcher can display the peaks and the beatgrid of the
tracks loaded into the Cross players.
Then we will look at the Sync Meter that you can see in the middle part of the
Sync-Zone. If the Sync Zone is not visible, open the View menu and select Show/
Hide Sync Zone.
Peaks of the Track
The peaks display in the Beatmatcher shows a kind of level information of the
tracks currently loaded in the players. The peaks view is always on and cannot be
disabled. The peaks data is analyzed when you drag a new track onto one of the
players, or when you select Analyze all or Analyze Peak only in the context menu
for the tracks in the track browser.
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In both waveforms you can see several vertical lines. These lines represent the
peaks, or transients, in the track. Depending on the rhythm of the track, these
peaks may be the beats of the track, but they may not always be where the beats
are. The track in player A (upper waveform) shows some longer and some shorter
peak lines. In most cases the longer lines are there where the beats are. The beats
in player B are much more obvious; the part you see in the image is from the track
intro which has a clear beat.
If you move the waveform of player B by pitch bending to get two peak lines aligned
it becomes very clear, as you can see in the following image.
The larger distance between beats in player B implies that the tempo of that track
is slower than the track in player A. If you were to start playback of both tracks with
the image above as a starting point, the beats would only match for a short period
of time; quite soon the beats in player B will be heard later than the one in player
A. To correct this you would need to raise the playback BPM of player B.
The following image of the Beatmatcher shows a situation where the tempo of
both players is the same and where the beats are aligned: both tracks are now
synchronised.
However, the peaks view gives us no information as to whether the downbeat of
the track in player A and the downbeat of the track in player B are audible at the
same time. This information can be made visible by enabling the beatgrids for the
Beatmatcher.
Beatgrids of the Track
Since the introduction of the beatgrid features you can additionally display the
beatgrid of the track on the Beatmatcher as well. To make the beatgrid visible, activate option Show Beatgrids on the Display tab of the Preferences dialog. (Please
note, that this option makes the beatgrid visible both on the Beatmatcher and on
the waveform of the players.)
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The long vertical lines with the yellow triangles for player A and the red triangles
for player B at their endpoints represent the first downbeat of a 4 bar (=16 beats)
cycle. All other long vertical lines represent the downbeat of a bar (i.e. the first
beat of a 4 beat bar).
The shorter lines that you see at the top and the bottom of the peak display represent either another beat or a fraction of one beat. The number of shorter lines that
are shown varies depending on the zoom factor that you have set with the Zoom
slider at the right side of the Beat Matcher.
Using the Sync Meter
The Sync Meter in the Sync Zone shows the playback position of the two tracks in
the players, either related to one bar or to one cycle ( = 4 bars, 16 beats). The current mode of the Sync Meter is shown in the middle of the Sync Meter as 4 or 16. To
switch between the modes click the current Sync Meter value.
Sync-Meter Mode
4 Beats = 1 Bar
Sync-Meter Mode
16 Beats = 4 Bar
If the Sync Meter value is set to 4 the Sync Meter shows one quarter segment of
a circle for each beat in one bar. The yellow circle shows the playback position of
player A and the red circle shows the playback position of player B. As long as the
playback position of both tracks are not in sync related to one bar, you see the two
overlapping circles as shown in the following figure:
Once both players are playing the same beat of a bar, then the Sync Meter draws
one orange circle. This is shown in the following figure:
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If you take a look at the peaks in the Beatmatcher (with beatgrid display enabled),
you can see that the long vertical lines representing the downbeats are now vertically aligned. The Sync Meter in 4-beat mode (= Bar mode) and the peaks view
show the same kind of information and you can decide which one you wish to use
to get your tracks synchronized.
If you click the current Sync Meter value and switch it to 16-beat mode (= Cycle
mode), the Sync Meter shows whether the two tracks are playing the same beat of
the same bar, in relation to a cycle of four bars/16 beats. Imagine a beatcounter
that uses the following format to display the current playback position: Cycle.Bar.
Beat. If the playback position of player A is x.3.2 and the position of player B is x.3.4,
then they are not in sync in relation to the bar and beat number. For this scenario
the Sync Meter when in 16-beat mode will draw one yellow circle for the position of
player A and one red circle for showing the position of player B. In the Sync Meter
each quarter segment represents one bar; this means that one full circle is equal
to four bars.
Once the number of the bar and the number of the beat of both players are same,
then the Sync Meter in 16-beat mode will draw one orange circle only. If the cycles
of the two tracks are in sync, then the beats in a bar are also in sync.
The introduction of the three different synchronisation modes in Cross can help
you, to get both tracks automatically synced.
Setting the Synchronisation Mode
If you press the SYNC button on the players in Cross, the software always performs
a beat synchronisation; resulting in the beats of both tracks are played back at the
same time.
Because Cross uses beatgrids for all tracks it is possible to select between three
different synchronisation modes. The selected sync mode defines what will happen when you press/click the SYNC button. In order for this to work the tracks in
both players do need a beatgrid.
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You can configure the sync mode of Cross by opening the Preferences/General tab
and select the desired mode in list Sync Mode:
• Beat
If you select Beat mode, then pressing SYNC only syncs to the other
player’s beat. Both tracks are then running beat or phase synchronous.
• Bar
If you select Bar mode, then pressing SYNC synchronizes the track in
the player to the same beat number in a bar that is playing in the other player.
Both tracks are running bar synchronous.
• Cycle If you select Cycle mode, then pressing SYNC synchronizes the track in
the current player to the same bar and the same beat number in a cycle that is
playing in the other player. Both tracks are running cycle synchronous.
7.10 Configuring the Crossfader
Cross has several options to configure the crossfader. One setting, the assignment
between the left/right side of the crossfader and the Cross players and samplers
can be done on the crossfader itself: Click the buttons A/C to assign player A and
sampler C to the left side of the crossfader, and click the buttons B/D to assign
player C and sampler D to the right side. If the volume of the corresponding channel is controlled by the crossfader, the button is highlighted.
You can always use the channel faders C and D to change the volume of the two
samplers, if you disabled both samplers even when using external mixing mode.
More crossfader options can be found in the lower part of the Preferences/General dialog.
Use the checkbox Reverse crossfader to swap the assignments of the left/righ
side of the crossfader.
The listbox Crossfader curve preset offers three different standard shapes for
the crossfader curve. These presets should suit for most usage scenarios. In case
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none of the presets is 100% suitable, you can select the Custom option and then
use the slider below the listbox to shape your curve.
Option
Curve
Description
Constant Volume
This crossfader preset changes the volume of
both channels at a constant rate, providing an
even, neutral rise.
Constant Power
This crossfader preset creates a smooth, gradual
transition. This crossfade decreases the volume
slowly at first and then quickly toward the end of
the transition.
Mix
This curve leaves the volume of currently audible signal unchanged until the crossfader is in
its middle position. During the movement from
the outermost and the middle position the audio
assigned to the other side of the crossfader is
blended in linear. Behind the middle position the
volume of the faded in side stays unchanged, and
the volume of the channels assigned to the other
side decreases.
Custom
This is an example of a custom crossfader curve
allowing fast cuts.
NOTE If you are using the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 you can change the cross
fader curve on the rear panel on the controller as well. To have good control
of the crossfader curve you should change it either on the controller or in the
software: If you wish to change the crossfader curve on the controller, select
the Constant Volume preset in Cross. If you wish to change the curve setting
in the software, set the crossfader curve knob on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 to
its min position, before making adjustments in the software.
7.11 Customising the Players
You can customise players to make them better fit your needs. Some of the options
are available in the user interface.
Vinyl Mode/CD Mode
Waveform
Zoom
Scroll Mode
Lead In
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Waveform Zoom Use the three buttons at the outer side of the waveform to zoom
in, to zoom out and to reset the zoom to the default value.
Waveform Scroll Mode In the default setting the playback marker on the waveform is at a fixed position and the waveform moves underneath it during playback.
Click the Waveform Scroll Mode button, if you want the playback marker to move
and the waveform to be fixed.
Vinyl Mode/CD Mode This button is only available in internal control mode and
can be used to activate Vinyl mode. In Vinyl mode you can use the jogwheel of your
MIDI controller to scratch your media. You can press the (V) key instead to toggle
the Vinyl mode of the active player.
More player related settings can be found on the General tab and on the Display
tab of the Preferences dialog.
Lead In/Lead Out Use the two sliders Lead In and Lead Out on the General tab
to set the length of the Lead In and the Lead Out Marker.
End of Track Alarm Use this slider on the Display tab to set the remaining play
time of a track, during which the full track display shall blink red to warn you, that
you will soon reach the end of the track.
7.12 Moving in a Track
You have several options to change the playback position of a track:
• Use the jogwheel of U-MIX CONTROL PRO2/U-MIX CONTROL 2 to seek through
the track as long as the track is not playing. Holding the SHIFT button on the
controller seeks through the track at a higher speed.
• Click into the waveform or into the full track display. Playback continues from
where you clicked.
• Lift the needle and set it back at another position of the record if you are in
absolute mode and using control vinyl.
• Use the jogwheel or the Seek buttons on your CDJ player, if you are using control CDs.
You can use the Smart Seek controls to perform a beat jump forward in a track.
The Smart Seek controls reside in the transport section of the players. Click the
Smart Seek Length indicator to select the seek length (in beats or fractions of a
beat). Then click either on Smart Seek Backward or on Smart Seek Forward.
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Smart Seek Length
Smart Seek Backward
Smart Seek Forward
The Smart Seek actions can be performed with the keyboard and with U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2/U-MIX CONTROL 2 as well:
Action
U-MIX CONTROL
Select Length
+
(press)
Smart Seek
Backward
+
(turn left)
Smart Seek
Forward
+
(turn right)
Windows
Mac OS X
—
—
(Alt)+(æ)
(Alt)+(æ)
(Alt)+(Æ)
(Alt)+(Æ)
7.13 Using the Preview Player
If you have two tracks playing at the same time and are not sure, which track to
play next, you can use the preview deck to help make your selection.
Press the Play/Pause button to start playback of the track that is currently selected in the browser. Use the Seek slider to move through the track: the top of the
slider represents the beginning of the track.
Volume
Play/Pause
Seek through Track
The Volume knob allows you to change the volume level of the preview deck. If you
use Cross in internal mixer mode, the audio of the preview deck is sent to the Cue/
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Monitor output you configured. In external mixer mode you would need a mixer
with three channels and an audio interface with three stereo outputs, as the audio
of the preview deck is sent to the Cue output, which is routed to the outputs configured as Output 3 (on Preferences/Audio dialog).
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Organizing your
Music with the
Browser
The lower part of the Cross window contains the browser. You can use the browser to organize your music, to search for tracks, to create and use playlists, and
to manage your sample banks. You can use the following audio file formats with
Cross: MP3, AIFF, WAV, OGG, FLAC, M4A and AAC.
Before you can work with the audio files in the browser you need to import them
into the collection. The steps for importing tracks are explained in the sections on
page 82 and onwards. How to use the sample banks is explained in chapter 11
on page 137 and onwards.
8.1 Overview of the Browser
The browser section of Cross has two main panels: the dock panel and the browser
panel itself. The dock and its buttons allow you to quickly open different views of
your media. The main part of the browser section shows all media inside the list
that you have selected by clicking its button in the dock.
8.2 The Dock
The dock is the central component of the track management as it allows you to
open different views or different locations by clicking the corresponding button.
The dock can be customized: you can add buttons, remove buttons and change
their order.
By default the dock contains the following standard tabs:
• Collection Opens the Collection. The Collection list contains all tracks that
you have added to your collection. Additionally all your playlists and smart­lists
reside here. The History node contains information about the sets you have previously played.
The lists inside the History node are organized by year and month. Inside the
month node you will find a playlist for each session.
You can change the naming pattern by opening the Preferences/General dialog
and entering a new pattern into the text box History Node Naming Pattern. If
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you hover over the text box Cross displays the placeholders that can be used
in the pattern.
• Files Opens a list with all local and remote drives and folders of your com-
puter.
• iTunes Opens the iTunes library on your computer including all playlists that
you have created in iTunes.
• Prepare The Prepare button opens the Prepare window which is a holding
area for tracks, similar to when a DJ sifts through records in a record bag.
You can use the Prepare window to either prepare a set or to add tracks that
you may wish to play through the course of your gig. You can drag tracks or
complete folders from the track browser onto the Prepare icon in the dock. To
create a playlist from your Prepare list, right-click the tracks and select Add
to New Playlist.
• Autoplay The Autoplay list is a special playlist and can be used to let Cross
mix the tracks for you. More information can be found on page 130.
Organizing and Customizing the Dock
The dock can be customized in various ways:
• Drag a button in the dock to a new position if you wish to change the display
order of the buttons.
• Drag a button out of the dock to remove it.
• Right-click on the dock to open the context menu.
• The upper part of the context menu contains all default lists. Click on a menu
entry to show/hide the corresponding button in the dock.
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• The lower part of the context menu contains all user-defined entries/lists. Click
the name of an entry to remove its button from the dock.
• Drag any playlist, smartlist, sample bank, or folder from the browser tree and
drop it on the desired position on the dock to add a user-defined button.
8.3The Browser Panel
In the default setting the browser area contains a tree view and a list view of the
element you opened by clicking its button in the dock.
Dock
TreeView
Album Browser On/Off
Column Browser On/Off
The list that is shown at the right side of the browser panel contains all tracks
of the currently selected folder, playlist, sample bank, or any other element that
has been selected in the treeview or the in the dock. When a track contains meta
information, those are shown in the list. If no meta information is available then
the filename is shown.
You have several options to change and configure the list view:
• Sorting the list Click on one of the column headers to sort the list by this
column. The label of the clicked column will then contain a little arrow showing
the sort order (ascending/descending).
• Selecting columns Right-click on the name of one of the columns. Cross
opens a list with all available columns. Click the name of the column you wish
to show/hide.
• Changing the order of the columns Click one of the column headers and drag
it to another position to change the order of the columns.
The first column titled A. that you see in the previous figure informs you about the
analysis status of the track. Here you will see a question mark if the track is not yet
analyzed. A check mark tells you that the analysis has been done.
The second column indicates the quality of the track. The following icons are used:
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Icon
Quality
AAC
MP3, WAV, AIFF etc.
Perfect
Bitrate >= 256 kbps
Bitrate >= 320 kbps
Great
Bitrate >= 192 kbps
Bitrate >= 256 kbps
Good
Bitrate >= 160 kbps
Bitrate >= 192 kbps
Average
Bitrate >= 96 kbps
Bitrate >= 128 kbps
Poor
Bitrate >= 64 kbps
Bitrate >= 96 kbps
Buggy
Bitrate < 64 kbps
Bitrate < 96 kbps
The third column from the previous browser image contains information about the
status of the track. Here you can see if the track is loaded into player A or player
B, if the track has been played after you have launched cross or the status of the
track analysis and if the track is currently being analyzed.
The Title Bar
The title bar shows the current node name, the number of tracks and it contains
the search field and the buttons to open and close additional panels.
The Column Browser
Click the Column Browser button in the title bar to open the Column Browser
panel. In the default setting the column browser groups the tracks by three different properties that Cross extracts from the media files: Genre, Artist and Album.
You can refine and filter the list view by clicking an entry in any of the property
lists. To remove a property selection, click the X in the title bar of the property list.
Right-click any of the title bars to open the Visible Properties menu. Here you can
select another property for that list or you can click on Default to return to the
standard setting with the Genre, Artist and Album properties. You can drag and
drop the property header to change the order of the browsing columns.
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The Album Browser
If is easier for you to remember an album cover than the track name or artist,
you can open the Album Browser by clicking the third button in the title bar. If the
Column Browser is currently open, the attributes and the album covers also serve
as filters. To see all album covers you either need to close the Column Browser or
to deselect all currently activated properties. If you click on one of the covers, all
tracks of the selected album are shown in the list.
8.4 Searching for Tracks
Another way other than using the filter functionality of the Columns Browser and
Album Browser is entering the search criteria direct into the Search field that sits
at the right side of the title bar. Entering search words triggers a dynamic search
in your collection, i.e. Cross displays all tracks found that match the search criteria
entered so far.
In the default setting Cross searches in the Album, Artist, Genre and Title properties of your tracks. You can change the properties that Cross should search in by
clicking on the magnifying glass at the left side the Search field; this opens the
Active Properties menu.
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• Click on one of the properties, to include/exclude it from the search.
• Click on All to have Cross search in all available properties.
• Click on Default to restore the default property selection that is shown in the
previous image.
8.5 Using Playlists and Playlist Folders
Playlists can help you to prepare for a gig or to organize your music collection. You
can create playlists from scratch or use the playlists that you may have already
made in iTunes. Playlists are created in the Playlists node of your collection. As
with iTunes, this node can contain folders as well as playlists. This makes it possible to organise playlists hierarchically.
Creating Folders
To create a playlist folder, follow these steps:
1
Click the Collection button in the dock.
2
If you wish to create a folder at the highest level right-/ctrl-click the Playlists node. If you wish to create a folder at a lower level right-/ctrl-click the
parent folder.
3Select Create New Folder from the context menu.
A new folder with the name “Untitled Folder” is created and the name is
selected.
4
Enter the desired folder name and press [¢].
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NOTE If you wish to rename an existing folder, double-click the name to
enter edit mode, make your changes and press [¢].
Creating an Empty Playlist
To create an empty playlist, follow these steps:
1
Click the Collection button in the dock.
2Open the Playlists node if necessary.
3
If the new playlist is to reside in Playlists node, right-click node. If you wish
to create the playlist inside a playlist folder, right-click this folder.
4
Select Create new Playlist in the context/action menu.
A new playlist with the name “Untitled Playlist” is created and the name is
selected.
5
Enter the desired playlist name and press [¢].
NOTE If you wish to change the name of an existing playlist, double-click its
name to enter edit mode, make your changes and press [¢].
Creating a Playlist from inside the Listview
If you are currently in Listview and see some tracks that should be at the beginning
of a new playlist, proceed as follows:
1
Select the track or tracks in Listview.
2
Right-click the selection and choose Add to new Playlist. Cross opens the
following window:
3
Enter a name for the playlist and click OK.
The new playlist is created and the selected tracks are added to the playlist.
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Creating a Playlist from iTunes
If you have already created a playlist in iTunes you can import the list easily into
Cross by proceeding as follows:
1
Click the iTunes button in the dock.
2
Right-click the iTunes playlist that you wish to import.
3Select Export to Playlists to put the playlist directly below the Cross Playlists node.
Or:
Select Export to Playlists Folder and select the folder to where the iTunes
playlist shall be exported.
Adding, moving and deleting Tracks
Tracks can be added to a playlist by selecting them in the Listview, then by dragging them onto the icon of the playlist icon in the Treeview. If you have added a
playlist button for the target playlist to the dock, you can drag and drop the selected tracks onto this button.
Another way to add tracks to a playlist is by using the context menu in Listview.
Select the track/s you wish to add to an existing playlist. Then right-/ctrl-click the
selection. Click Add to Playlist and then select the desired playlist in the submenu
of this command.
New tracks are always added at the end of the playlist. To change the order of the
tracks in a playlist use drag & drop.
To delete a track from a playlist, right-/ctrl-click the track and choose Remove
from Playlist.
8.6Using Smartlists
Smartlists are another useful feature that help you to organize and find your
tracks. Smartlists are filters that are applied to your collection. A smartlist filter
can contain one or more conditions. Most of the conditions that can be used query
the meta information of your tracks, like the title, artist or tempo. Other conditions
query data that is stored in your collection, like the date the track was added, for
example.
Cross contains several pre-defined smartlists. To see which smartlists are available, click the Collection button in the dock and then open the Smartlists node in
the treeview.
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Click on one of the smartlist names. The filter contained in the smartlist definition is applied to your collection and the resulting tracks are shown in the listview
panel of the browser.
Let’s have a look at the inside of one of the pre-defined smartlists. This will help
you to define your own smartlists.
1
Right-click on the smartlist 115–135 BPM.
2Click Edit in the context menu.
Cross opens the panel with the smartlist editor.
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Filter Type: ALL or ANY
Have a look at the title bar of the smartlist editor. The title reads “Match
ALL of the following search criteria”. Cross supports two different types
of smartlist filters. For the type that is used here, all of the defined search
criteria must be met for a track to be displayed in the search results.
For the second type you will read “Match ANY of the following search criteria” in the title bar. With this type only one of the defined conditions must be
met for a track to be displayed in the search results.
You can simply change the filter type by clicking the title bar of the smartlist
editor.
Standard Options for Smartlists
The first three rows shown in the previous figure are standard options that
are available in all smartlists. The checkbox at the very beginning of the
row must be activated; otherwise the option is not applied.
Activate Auto Refresh if Cross is to update the search results while you
are defining the search criteria. If Auto Refresh is deactivated, the search
results will not update until the next time the smartlist is opened.
You can use the second row, Limit to, to limit the search results. As well as
the number of tracks, you can set a limit by file size (in MB or GB), or you
can define a limit of the total playing time of the tracks (either specified in
minutes or hours). You define a limit by opening the list box to select the
criteria. Then enter the desired value into the text box of that row.
3
Change the number of tracks from 25 to 40.
4
The last standard option is the sort order. Open the list box Ordered by in
the third row to get an idea of the available options.
5
All other rows contain the criteria that shall be used for this smartlist. In
this example the BPM of the track shall be used, and the BPM must be in
the range from 115 to 135. Open the listbox where currently BPM is selected to get an idea of the information fields that can be used.
6
Click the button with the Plus sign in the title bar of the smartlist Editor. A
new row is added at the bottom of the editor. We want to refine this smartlist and add a criteria that filters all House tracks.
7
Open the first listbox and select Genre.
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8Open the second listbox and select is.
9Open the third listbox and select House.
If there are tracks in your collection that meet both criteria they are now
shown in the Listview.
10
Click the title bar to change the filter type from ALL to ANY.
Now the Listview will show all tracks where the genre is house or where
the BPM of the track is inside the defined range.
11
Click the Minus button in front of the genre row. The row is deleted.
12
Click the OK button in the title bar to close the smartlist editor.
NOTE The button with the x in the title bar of the smartlist editor removes
all criteria.
Creating a new Smartlist
Smartlists are created in a similar way as playlists.
1Opening the collection by clicking the Collection button in the dock.
2
Right-/ctrl-click the Smartlists node and select Create New Smartlist if
you wish to create a new smartlist. Cross creates a new smartlist with the
name “Untitled Smartlist”. The name is selected and you can edit it.
NOTE If you wish to create a new folder node first, click Create New
Folder and then use the command to create a new smartlist.
3
Enter the desired name for the new smartlist and press (¢).
4
Define the criteria for the new smartlist as shown in the previous section.
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8.7 Viewing and Editing Track Meta Information
Most of the audio file formats that can be used with Cross allow the storage of
meta information about the file, like the artist or the release date of a track. You
can view and edit this meta information in either Listview or in the Info panel of
the browser.
Cross can write the changes you make either to the collection file only, or to the
collection file and to the tags of your audio track files. You can configure whether
Cross shall write the changes to the file tags or not on the Preferences/General
dialog by checking or unchecking the option Save changes in Tags.
To make changes in Listview, double-click the field you wish to edit, enter your
changes and press (¢). Some of the fields in Listview provide a listbox where you
can select one of the options. Other fields, like the audio format, are static, and
cannot be changed.
Another option is to use the Info panel of the browser to see all available information about a track and to make changes to a track. Select the file you want to edit
and click the Info button in the tool dock at the right side of the browser area.
The information about the selected track is grouped in categories. Click one of the
category names to see detailed information about this category. Please note that,
like in Listview, not all fields can be edited.
You can use the Info panel to add a cover image to a track. Click the ellipsis button,
select the image file, and click Open. If you wish to delete a cover image, click the
Delete button (with the x) that is visible below the cover art.
As well as the “standard” tags for audio files, Cross allows you to attach a colour
category to a track. Click the black square in the Labels section (or click the cor115
8/ Organizing your Music with the Browser
responding square in Listview), to open a listbox with the colours available. You
could use one colour for warming up tracks, another colour for peak-time tracks
or whatever kind of category you desire.
8.8 Locating Missing Tracks
If you move tracks from one folder to another or if you have changed the filename
of a file that is already in the collection, Cross will no longer be able to find the
track. The Status column in the Listview then shows a red warning icon, like the
one you see in the following image.
Right-/ctrl-click this row and select Relocate from the context menu. Browse to
the new file location, select the audio file and click Open.
If there is more than one track missing it is easier to use the Missing Tracks Resolver: Open the File menu and click Resolve all missing tracks. The Missing
Tracks Resolver window opens.
Select the file you wish to relocate, click Relocate and browse to the new location
of the file. If you can no longer find the missing files, click Remove to delete the
file from the collection.
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8.9 Using more than one Collection
In the default setting you will organize your tracks and audio files by using one collection. However, if you use a great number of audio files, and if want to organize
them into different collection files, you can do this easily.
Creating a new Collection
Follow these steps to create a new collection:
1Open the File menu and click on Create Collection, or press the shortcut
(Ctrl]+[N) (Windows) or (cmd]+[N) (Mac). The Save new collection to dialog is opened.
2
Enter the name of the new collection.
3Click Save.
The new collection is created. Cross will open the new collection automatically.
TIP If you wish to save the open collection with a different name, open the
File menu, click Save collection as and enter the new filename for the current collection.
Opening another Collection
Perform one of the following actions to open another collection:
• Open the File menu, click on Recent Collection and click on the name of the
collection, you wish to open.
the File menu and click on Open Collection or press the shortcut
(Ctrl]+[O) (Windows) or (cmd]+[O) (Mac). Select the collection file in the Open
dialog and click Open.
• Open
NOTE On launch, Cross will automatically open the collection file that was
last used.
8.10 Optimizing the Collection Database
Cross stores all tracks and all playlists of your collection are stored in a database
file. When you make bigger changes to your collection, for example deleting multiple files, the database file can become fragmented. If the database file is fragmented it takes a bit longer to access your collection. You can defragment and optimize your collection by opening the File menu and selecting Optimize collection.
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Advanced
Features
This chapter explains the advanced features that are available in the Cross players. Some of these features will change the playback position in the track. These
features are: the pitch controls, the loop feature, the hot cues (locators) and the
cue point feature. If you are using timecode media, the first three features are
always available in relative mode. You can use them in absolute mode only when
the checkbox Automatic Control Mode Switching is activated. More information
about this setting can be found in section “External Control Modes and Non-Linear
Features” on page 91.
9.1 Using the Pitch Controls
Each Cross player has its own pitch fader that works in a similar way as the pitch
fader you know from a turntable or CDJ player. The main difference of the Cross
pitch faders is that they offer three different pitch modes: Speed, Master Tempo
and Hybrid.
Selecting the Pitch Mode
Perform one of the following actions to set the pitch mode:
• Click the Mode button in the lower part of the pitch section of the players. The
Mode button is labelled with the currently active pitch mode (i.e. Speed, MT for
Master Tempo, or Hybrid).
• If you are using the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller hold SHIFT and press the
BEND– button below the pitch fader.
• Press (ÿ) to switch to the player; then press (P).
What are the differences between the three pitch modes:
• Speed In Speed mode you can change the pitch like you would do with a normal DJ turntable. Changing the tempo of the player also changes the pitch of
the audio.
• MT, Master Tempo In Master Tempo mode you can change the playback
tempo without affecting the tone pitch. The Tempo mode thus has a similar
effect as the Master Tempo mode that is available on several CDJ-Players.
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In Master Tempo mode Cross uses a time stretching engine, which allows playback of audio at different tempos without changing the tonal key. When Master
Tempo mode is activated, the Pitch fader is no longer a pitch fader but more a
tempo fader, because a tempo change will not affect the pitch.
• Hybrid The Hybrid mode is a combination of Speed mode and Master Tempo
mode as it considers the percentage speed change.
-100%
Speed
Mode
-66%
-33%
Smooth
Transitions
0%
+33%
Master Tempo
Mode
+66%
Smooth
Transitions
+100%
Speed
Mode
In the range from –33% to +33% the fader behaves like Master Tempo mode.
Below -66% and above +66% the fader behaves like Speed mode. In the range
from –66% to -33% and between +33% to +66% the pitch is gradually increased
or decreased to smooth the pitch transitions. This mode delivers great results
as you get the best from Speed mode and Tempo mode. The sounds stays more
natural at extreme speed values, and you have a wide constant-pitch range
around 0% speed.
Changing the Tempo with the Pitch Fader
You can use the pitch faders or the Up-Arrow, Down-Arrow and Reset button in the
Pitch section of the player to change the playback tempo. The range to adjust the
tempo can be changed with the Range list on the Pitch section. If you use either
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 or U-MIX CONTROL 2 hold the SHIFT button and press the
BEND+/RANGE button to change the range of the pitch slider.
Click above/below
fader knob to
change tempo
Pitch Bend Up
Reset Tempo
Pitch Bend Down
Click to change
Pitch Range
Cross offers five different ranges and the range can be set individually for each
player. For example, if you select 16% and if the original tempo of a deck is 125
BPM, then you can increase or reduce the tempo maximum by 20 BPM.
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You can click above/below the pitch fader knob to change the tempo stepwise. The
tempo is changed in smaller increments if you hold the (ª) key while clicking the
button; you get larger increments if you hold the (ctrl) key. Click the Reset button
(or press (ª)+(0)) to set the tempo back to the original BPM of the track.
The two tempo fields below the Pitch section always show the current tempo as
BPM value and the percentage difference to the original BPM.
If you use control vinyl/CD it is good practise to set the pitch fader on the Cross
players to the middle position and control the tempo with the pitch faders on your
turntable/CD player even though it is possible to use both at the same time. If the
pitch fader on the player is not in its centre position, an exclamation mark is shown
on the relative button.
Pitch Bending
Two of the buttons in the Pitch section can be used for pitch bending. These buttons temporarily slow down ( ) or speed up the tempo ( ).
As soon as the buttons are released the previous tempo is restored. This corresponds to nudging a spinning record on a turntable and to the two pitch bend buttons found on CDJs. On a technical level pitch bending is used to move the phase
of a player. You may need this to get the beats of two tracks in sync, once they are
playing at the same tempo.
The acceleration and deceleration factor is always relative to the current tempo of
the deck. Cross provides options to configure three different percentage values,
fine, normal and coarse which allow you to pitch bend.
Follow these steps to configure the three pitch bend factors:
1
Go to the menu and click File/Preferences. Make sure that the General tab
is open
2
Use the three sliders to set the pitch bend factors for the different ranges.
NOTE The factor for Fine must be smaller than the one for Normal
and the factor for Normal must be smaller than the one for Coarse.
Pitch bending can be done with the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller, in the Cross
players with the mouse and with keyboard shortcuts, as the table on the following
page shows.
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Action
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 Player/Mouse
Normal Up
Keyboard
(D)
Normal Down
(E)
Coarse Up
–
(Ctrl)/(cmd)+
(Ctrl)/(cmd)+(D)
Coarse Down
–
(Ctrl)/(cmd)+
(Ctrl)/(cmd)+(E)
9.2 Snapping and quantizing Loops, Locators
and Cue Points
With the beatgrid feature loops, locators, and cue points can be set either at the
current playback position or they can automatically snap to the next beat, next 1/2
beat, next 1/4 beat or next 1/8 beat of the tracks’ beatgrid. The snap on/off settings
and the snap value settings are global parameters that can be configured in the
Snap section of the Sync Zone. If the Sync Zone is not visible, open the View menu
and select Sync Zone.
To enable the snap feature, click the SNAP button in the Sync Zone. You can set the
snap value by clicking the Snap Length indicator below the SNAP button.
Quantization
The quantize feature ensures that several actions you perform to change the playback position (like jumping to a locator or seeking through a track) are synchronized to the reference beatgrid. For all player related actions the reference beatgrid is the beatgrid of the track. The granularity for the quantization is defined by
the current selected quantize value.
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To enable the quantize feature, click the QUANTIZE button in the Sync Zone. Open
the list below the QUANTIZE button to select the quantize value.
9.3 Looping
Cross allows you to set loops in your tracks on the fly. You can either use the automatic loop feature with one of the predefined standard loop sizes or you can create
manual loops by setting the loop IN point and the loop OUT point.
Automatic Loops
Manual Loops
Loop Activation
NOTE If Cross is configured for timecode usage and if absolute mode is active when you create a loop, Cross will switch automatically to relative mode
as you create a loop. This is because during looping the playback position of
the control media and the playback position in the track are no longer the
same.
Using Automatic Loops
Each Cross player contains a loop section below the waveform. You can use the
loop section to set the length of automatic loops and to activate the loop at the
same time. Cross provides several default loop sizes, ranging from 1/32 beat up
to 32 beats.
Follow these steps to create an automatic loop:
1
Perform one of the following actions:
• Click the button Plus or Minus in the loop section until the desired loop
length is selected. Then click the Autoloop button.
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• Press (ÿ) to activate the player with the track you wish to set the loop.
Press (J) and (K) until the desired loop length is shown on the Autoloop
button. Press (U) to activate the auto loop.
• Turn the Loop encoder on the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller to select the desired loop length. Press the Loop encoder to activate the loop.
TURN: Select Loop Length
PRESS: Activate/deactivate Loop
Cross sets the loop start point at the current position of the playback marker, if Snap is disabled, or snaps it to the currently selected snap length, if
Snap is enabled. Then the loop is activated.
C
On the waveform the section of the track that is looped is highlighted with a
white triangle. In the full track display the looped part is shown in a bright
colour and the rest of the track in a dark colour.
2
While the loop is active you can:
• Change the loop length, by using the (J) and (K) keys, or by clicking
the buttons + (Expand Auto-Loop) or – (Shrink Auto-Loop) in the loop
section of the players, or by turning the Loop encoder on your U-MIX
CONTROL PRO 2 controller.
• Deactivate
the loop either by using the (L) key, or by clicking the
Autoloop button, or by pressing the Loop encoder on your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2.
Using Manual Loops
The length of manual loops can be set as needed. To create a manual loop you
need to define a loop in point as well as a loop out point.
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1
Move the waveform to the position of the desired loop in point, or wait until
playback reaches the position, where the loop in point shall be set.
2
Click the In button or press the (I) key.
3
Move the waveform to the position of the desired loop out point, or wait until
playback reaches the position, where the loop in point shall be set.
4
Click the Out button or press the (O) key.
The looped section of the track is marked in the waveform and in the full
track display. Additionally the loop is activated: the Loop button is now
highlighted.
Once they are created manual loops behave in the same way as automatic loops.
To change the loop size of a manual loop you can either set a new loop out point or
move the current one. This is explained in the next section.
Moving the Loop
Sometimes you will find that the loop is not exactly where you want it. The Smart
Seek feature of Cross makes it easy to move an activated loop:
1
First you need to define the Jump length by performing one of the following
actions:
• Click the Smart Seek Length display until the desired jump length is
shown.
• Hold the SHIFT button on your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller and
press the Loop encoder until the desired jump length is shown in the
Smart Seek Length display.
2
Now you can move the loop by performing one of the following actions:
• Click the Smart Seek Backward or the Smart Seek Forward button.
• Press (Alt)+(æ) to move the loop towards the begin of the track or
press (Alt)+(Æ) to move it towards the end of the track
• Hold the SHIFT button on your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller and
turn the Loop encoder.
9.4 Using Cue Points
If you load a track for the first time, Cross will create a cue point at the beginning
of the track. The cue point is symbolised on the waveform and in the full track display by a cue marker, which looks a little bit like a flag on a flagstaff.
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Cue/Stop
You can use the Cue/Stop button to start the playback at the position of the cue
point and to set the cue point position.
NOTE The Cue feature is not available if the player is currently configured
for timecode usage.
Setting the Cue Point
Use the Snap button and the Snap Length selector on the player to enable/disable
the Snap feature. Then perform one of the following actions to set the position of
the cue point:
• Click the Cue/Stop button while the track is paused.
• Press the shortcut (ª)+(C).
• Hold the SHIFT button on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 and press the CUE button
while the track is playing. When the player is paused press the CUE button.
(Note: SHIFT+CUE also works.)
TIP The last cue point that you set in a track is automatically stored in the
peak files.
Jumping to Cue Point and start Playback
Perform one of the following actions to jump to the cue point and to start playback:
• Press the (¢) key.
• Hold the SHIFT button and press PLAY/PAUSE on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 to
activate Cue/Play from the controller.
•
Hold the CUE button and press the PLAY/PAUSE button on U-MIX CONTROL
PRO 2. Playback will continue when you release both buttons.
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Jumping to Cue Point and start Playback temporarily
Perform one of the following actions to jump to the cue point and to start playback.
All actions set the play marker to the cue point position. The track is playing as
long as the button/key is pressed. If you release the button/key, playback is paused
and the play marker is set to the cue point position again.
• Click the Cue/Stop button in the player while the track is playing.
• Press the shortcut (C), while the track is playing.
• Press the CUE button on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 while the track is playing.
9.5 Using Locators (Hot Cues and Loops)
Several of the professional CDJ players allow you to store cue points in a track
either on a memory card or in the memory integrated into the CDJ player. You can
jump to a stored cue point – sometimes called hot cue – by pressing a button on
the CDJ player.
Cross allows you to store cue points as well; stored cue points are called locators.
A locator can either be a normal cue point, or a loop, or the IN point of a loop.
The locators are managed in the locator section below the players. If the locator
section is not visible, press the Locators button on one of the players. The locator
section informs you of the number and the position or name of the locators in the
currently loaded track.
NOTE If you use timecode in absolute mode when you jump to a locator,
Cross will switch automatically to relative mode because after the jump the
playback position of the control media and the playback position in the track
are no longer the same.
Locator Markers
Click to open/close
Locator Section
Locator Section
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9/ Advanced Features
Creating Locators and Jumping to Locators
Perform the following steps to create a locator:
1
Use the Snap button and the Snap Length selector in the Sync Zone to enable/disable the Snap feature. If the Snap feature is enabled, the new locator will snap to the next beat or portion of a beat depending on the Snap
Length value that has been selected.
2
Set the playback marker to the position where you wish to set the locator or
wait until playback reaches the desired locator position.
3
Perform one of the following steps. Please note that you can only set a locator if the locator button is not currently being used.:
• Click one of the locator buttons in the locator panel
• Use the (ÿ) key to set the focus to the player where you wish to set a
locator. Press (1) to set locator 1, (2) to set locator 2 etc.
•
Make sure that the LOC/SMP button on your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 is
set to LOC. Press one of the locator buttons 1, 2, 3, 4 to set locator 1,
2, 3, or 4.
Toggle between Locators/Sample Pads
BUTTON ONLY: Set/Select Locator
SHIFT+BUTTON: Delete Locator
The position of the Locator (time) is shown on the locator button. You can
assign a name to the locator; this will help you to keep your locators organized.
NOTE If LOOP is currently ON, the current loop will be stored and
not the current location. See section “Creating and Using Locators for
Loops” on the next page for more information.
4
Move the mouse onto the button with the number of the locator and click.
the number. Select Rename in the menu, enter the name for the locator
and press (¢).
You can use the same steps to change the name of the locator at any time.
The same keys/buttons from step 3 can be used to jump to a locator, once it is set.
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Creating and Using Locators for Loops
Perform the following steps to store a loop as a locator:
1
Create the loop you want to store by using the steps explained in section 9.3
on page 122 and onwards.
2
Click one of the locator buttons in the Locators panel, or use the keyboard
shortcuts or your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller as explained on the
previous page.
The IN point of the loop is stored as the position of the locator.
Once the loop is stored, you can click the corresponding locator button to jump to
the beginning of the loop; the loop is automatically activated.
Changing the Order of the Locators
If you wish to change the order of the locators, you can do so by using the mouse.
1
Point with the mouse to the button with the number of the locator you wish
to move.
2
Click the number of the source locator and drag it onto the number of the
target locator.
3
Release the mouse button. The positions of the source and the target locator are swapped.
Deleting Locators
Perform one of the following actions to delete a locator:
• Click the Delete button (with the X) next to the locator that you wish to delete.
• Use the (ÿ) key to set the focus to the player where you wish to delete a locator. Press (ª)+(1) to delete locator 1, (ª)+(1) to delete locator 2 etc.
• Make sure that the LOC/SMP button on your U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 is set to
LOC. Hold the SHIFT button and press one of the locator buttons 1, 2, 3, 4 on your
U-MIX CONTROL to delete locator 1, 2, 3, or 4.
9.6Recording
Cross has an integrated recorder that, if you use internal mixer mode, you can use
to record your mixes. Additionally Cross also allows you to record the audio from
each player. If you have an external mixer and wish to record your mixes you can
connect the Record Out or Booth output to an external recorder. This sections explains the settings for the mix recorder and how to record your mixes.
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Configuring the Mix Recorder
Before recording your first mix it is a good idea to open the Preferences dialog and
to configure the recording settings.
1
Go to the menu and click File/Preferences. Click the Recording
button to open the settings panel for the mix recorder.
2Option Automatically start recording is disabled by default. In
this configuration recording starts as soon as you press the Rec
button in the recorder panel. If you activate Automatically start recording,
clicking the Rec button puts the recorder in a waiting state; recording will
start as soon as you start playback in any of the two players.
3
Click the Browse button next to Recording directory to set the folder where
Cross shall save the recording.
If you use Windows the default folder is “My Music/MixVibes/Cross/Recordings” below your documents folder. On OS X the default folder is “Music/
MixVibes/Cross/Recordings” below your home directory.
4
Click into the Naming pattern text box, if you wish to change the change
the naming pattern that Cross shall use for your recordings. The default
filename is composed from the date/time the recording started.
Hover your mouse over the textbox Naming pattern to see the placeholders
that you can use in the pattern.
5Open the list Audio Format and select one of the four formats that Cross
provides.
If you select OGG (Ogg Vorbis format) you will see a slider where you can set
the quality: a higher number delivers better audio quality for the price of a
larger file size.
6
Select which audio streams shall be recorded by clicking the corresponding buttons in section Record Input.
You can record any combination of Audio from Player A, Audio from Player
B, and Audio from Master Mix. Each stream is recorded into a separate file.
If you record more than one stream, each filename will be extended by the
stream name (Player A, Player B, Master Mix).
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Recording your Mix
Once you have configured your recording settings follow these steps to record your
mix:
1
Click the button Start/stop recording in the toolbar to start recording.
2
If you activated Automatically start recording, start playback on any of the
players to start recording. Otherwise recording will start when you press
the Start/stop recording button.
During the recording you can see the duration of the recording next to
Start/stop recording button in the toolbar.
3
Click the button Start/stop recording again to stop recording.
TIP Digitize your Vinyl You can use the recorder to digitize your vinyl.
Connect your turntable to the corresponding inputs of your audio interface,
then configure the external audio source as described in section “Cross and
U46MK2 with External Audio Sources”. Play your vinyl on the connected turntable and let the Mix recorder digitize it.
9.7 Using Autoplay
Cross can automatic play the tracks you selected and moved into the Autoplay
panel. You can move tracks to Autoplay by selecting them in Listview and drag and
drop them onto the Autoplay button in the dock. You can also right-/ctrl-click on
one track or on several selected tracks and choose Add to Autoplay in the context
menu.
Then click the Autoplay button in the dock to open the Autoplay panel.
You can change the order of the tracks by dragging them as you would in any other
Listview. Use the Fade Time slider to configure the timing of the automatic fading.
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The A/B selector (next to the MIX button) must be set to a player that is currently
not playing. Finally click on MIX to start Autoplay.
If you wish to start again with the first track, once the last track in your
Autoplay has ended, click the Repeat button in the right area of the Autoplay list button bar.
To change the playback order randomly, click the Shuffle button. The new
playback order of the tracks will be indicated by the numbers in the #
column of the track list. .
You can click the SYNC button if you want that Cross automatically performs BPM transitions between the tracks. Please note that this feature
works best if the tracks in the autoplay list have a similar BPM.
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10/
Using the
Effects
Cross provides two effect units that can be freely assigned to the two players and
the two samplers. For example, you can use one effect unit for one player and the
other effect unit for one of the samplers. Or you can assign both effect units to the
same player or sampler, allowing you to change the audio signal by use two different effects at the same time.
When you are using Cross in internal mixer mode, you can assign the effect units
to the master signal. In this configuration the effect can be added to the audio from
both players and both samplers at the same time.
10.1 Effect Unit Assignment and FX Selection
All controls for the effect units can be found in the FX zone on the Cross user interface. If the FX zone is not visible, open the View menu and select Show/Hide FXs.
The effect units can be operated in two different modes: in one-dimensional mode
you control all FX parameters with one knob, the Amount knob. This makes using
the effects very easy and is the optimum configuration if you use one of the MixVibes U-MIX CONTROL controllers, as they have one knob. This configuration is
shown in the following figure:
In bidimensional mode the FX zone looks like this:
In this mode you can use the Amount knob and the Depth knob to change the parameters for the selected effect.
You can switch between one-dimensional and bidimensional mode by opening the
Preferences/General dialog and disabling/enabling the checkbox Use bidimensional FX.
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10/ Using the Effects
To use an effect perform the following steps:
1Open the FX Assignment dropdown list of FX1 or FX2 and select the input
channel for the effect.
If you have the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller, hold SHIFT and turn the
left or right FX SELECT encoder, to select the input for FX1 or FX2.
2Open the Effect Select dropdown list, and click the name of the effect you
wish to use.
On your U-MIX CONTROL controller turn the left or right FX SELECT knob
until the effect name is shown in section FX1 or section FX2.
3
If you wish to fade the effect signal into your mix, make sure that the
AMOUNT knob and/or DEPTH knob is at the Min position.
4
Click the ON button for FX1 or FX2, or press the left/right FX SELECT encoder on your U-MIX CONTROL to activate the effect.
5
Turn the AMOUNT knob and/or the DEPTH knob clock wise to make the effect signal audible and to change the effect specific parameters.
The AMOUNT knob and the DEPTH knob control the dry/wet ratio and other effect
parameters. The common behaviour of the knobs is, that at the min position only
the dry signal (the original signal from the player) can be heard.
NOTE In case you are missing the Bi-Filter option in the effect selection
list shown above: The bi-polar filter is now always available for each player
and each sampler. Use the knobs and buttons that can be found in the mixer
section to switch the filter on and to change it’s parameters.
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10.2The different Effects
The following sections give you more background information about the various
parameters that the AMOUNT and DEPTH knob change. To better understand this
section, you may wish to load some tracks and play with the effects, while you are
reading.
Low-Pass
Low-Pass is a Low-Pass filter (= High-Cut filter) that dampens the high frequencies, i.e. the low and the middle frequencies can pass through the filter.
Hi-Pass
Hi-Pass is a High-Pass filter (= Low-Cut filter), which dampens low frequencies,
i.e. the middle and the high frequencies can pass through the filter.
Echo
The Echo and the Delay effect (see next section) are delay effects where copies of
the original signal are inserted into the output. This results in an echoic impression.
Feedback Loop
Delay Effect
Wet Signal
Dry/Wet
Dry Signal
The Echo effect has a nice trail: keep the amount knob open and pause the player
to hear it.
Delay
The Delay effect is the second delay effect in the Cross FX suite; one of the main
differences between Echo and Delay is that Delay uses a fixed delay time of 1/2
beat; the delay time is in sync to the tempo of the current track. .
Phaser
The Phaser effect uses a phase-shifted copy of the input and mixes it with the original signal. When the original and the phase-shifted signal are combined it creates
one or several notches in the frequency spectrum; those frequencies are eliminated in the output signal. This creates the typical frequency sweep of the Phaser.
To get the phase shifted copy the signal is sent through an all-pass filter; this filter
type lets all frequencies pass through, but it changes the phase response.
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X-Phaser
The X-Phaser effect is a variation of the Phaser effect. Unlike the Phaser effect,
X-Phaser uses a fixed feedback value and the rate of the LFO used for the effect is
beat-synced to the current playing track.
Flanger
The Flanger effect adds a time-delayed copy of the original signal and the very
short delay time continuously changes. Because the delay time is very short this
isn’t perceived as an echo. Instead the delay creates kind of a filter effect producing notches in the frequency spectrum. The result is that groups of frequencies are
filtered. And because the delay time is changing those notches in the frequency
spectrum change as well. This in turn creates the typical dynamic swirl effect of
the Flanger.
Jet
The Jet effect is a variation of the Flanger effect.
Transform
Transform is a tremolo-style effect: it repetitively changes the amplitude (level) of
the player’s audio signal. The change of the amplitude sounds as if the audio needs
to pass a gate, those doors are rhythmically opened and closed.
Chopper
The Chopper effect is an auto filter that allows you to control the LFO rate and the
frequency ranges of the filter all with one knob. The Chopper effect uses a sine
waveform to control the LFO.
Crush
Crush is a distortion effect; changing the sample rate and the bit depth of the original audio signal creates the distortion.
Bliss
The Bliss effect is a white noise generator that is perfectly suited to build drama
into a mix.
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Brake
The Brake effect simulates the stopping of a turntable. The AMOUNT knob is used
to set the brake time, i.e. the time that it takes until the virtual turntable comes to a
complete stop. The duration can be set in a range from 6 seconds to half a second.
Set the brake time first, and then switch the effect on. While the brake effect is active, you can still shorten or lengthen the brake time by turning the AMOUNT knob.
Roll
The Roll effect is a beat repeater. When you engage the effect by pressing FX On
(the AMOUNT knob can be at the outermost left position), Cross takes an audio
sample (2 beats) from the player and stores it in an internal buffer.
Then, when you turn the AMOUNT knob clockwise, the audio from the player is
muted and only the sampled audio can be heard. The sampled audio is always
beat-synced to the BPM of the currently playing track.
You can use the AMOUNT knob to change the beat-length of the audio, which is
repetitively outputted by the effect. The length of the repeated loop is 2 beats while
the knob position is between 0 and 20; it is 1 beat when the knob is between 20 and
40; it is 1/2 beat between 40 and 60; it is 1/4 beat when the knob is between 60 and
80; and finally it is 1/8 beat when the knob is between 80 and 100.
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Using the
Cross
Samplers
Welcome
The Cross samplers allow you to playback short audio files, samples, in your DJ
set. There are two samplers in Cross; you can load and use up to eight different
samples in each sampler. The content of a sampler can be saved as a sample bank
allowing you to load all eight samples quickly during a gig.
11.1 Overview
Let’s start this chapter with a quick overview of the user interface of the Cross
samplers. If the samplers are not visible on your screen, open the View menu and
select Samplers.
Save Sample Bank
Select and Load Sample Bank
Sync To Player
Beatclock
Enable/Disable Link
One Sample Pad
The image above shows sampler C. At the top of the sampler you see the Sample
Bank list showing the name of the currently loaded bank. When you made changes
to the bank, for example by loading a new sample into one of the pads, Cross adds
an asterisk (*) to the name, indicating that the changes made are not yet saved
in the sample bank. At any time that changes are being made the Save button is
shown: clicking the button saves the changes. The Save button is automatically
hidden if there are no unsaved changes.
In the heading of the sampler the Enable/Disable Link button is shown. If the Enable/Disable Link button is highlighted, all samples in the sampler can be synchronised (tempo and cycle) automatically to the tempo and beatclock of the player
above the player; i.e sampler C is synchronised to player A, and sampler D is syn137
11/ Using the Cross Samplers
chronised to player B. This mode is called Full Link mode and explained in more
detail on page 145 and onward
While the player and the sampler are synchronised, the circle of the beatclock is
yellow. If the player and the sampler are not in sync, the circle of the beatclock is
drawn in white. You then can press the SYNC button to re-sync the sampler to the
player.
You can click the Enable/Disable Link button to enable/disable the link between
the player and the sampler. If you are using the U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 controller, hold the SHIFT button and press the SYNC button to disable/enable the link
feature.
When the link feature is disabled, the header of the sampler show more controls
to change the BPM and to change sync options of the sampler. The synchronisation
features are covered in greater detail further onwards in this chapter.
The largest area of a sampler is used by the eight sample pads. Each pad can contain one sample. If a sample is loaded into a pad, the name of the sample and its
waveform is visible on the pad.
Pitch Mode setting
for current pad
Rolling Frequency
Mute/Unmute
Volume
Playback Mode
Clicking the pad number opens a context menu where you can set the Sync Mode
for one pad. For example, when you have loaded loops and 1-Shot samples, the
loops can be played at the same tempo that is used in the player, and the 1-Shot
samples can be played at their original speed. We will cover this later when we
discuss the synchronisation options available to you.
With the three buttons in the lower area of a pad you can control the volume, mute/
unmute a pad, you can set the playback mode (Loop, 1-Shot, Hold) and you can
change the rolling frequency, which is the length of the looping range.
11.2 Loading and Hot-Sampling
All pads in a sampler are empty when you start Cross. To load a sample from your
collection into a pad perform one of the following actions:
1
Open the collection and find the sample you wish to load.
2
Drag the sample from the browser onto the pad.
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The Hot-Sampling feature allows you to capture samples from a track loaded in a
player into a sample pad:
1
Use the Auto-Loop section in the player above the sampler to define the
length of the audio, that shall be captured.
2
Perform one of the following actions:
3
• Create a loop and activate it, if you wish to hot-sample the exact loop.
• Start playback of the player if you wish to capture on the fly.
Click the pad the sample shall be copied to. If you are using U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 make sure, that the LOC/SMP button is set to SMP, and press
one of the buttons 1 to 4 to copy the sample into pad 1 to 4.
If you capture on the fly, wait until the playback position in the player has
reached the start point of the audio that you wish to capture, before clicking
the pad.
Please note that the target pad must be empty if you use the Hot-Sampling
feature.
New samples that are created by Hot-Sampling are not automatically saved. If you wish to save a sample for later use, click the pad
number to open the context menu and then click Save to disk. The
sample will be saved in your Cross sample directory.
The default location of the sample directory is the folder MixVibes/
Samples below the music folder in your user‘s directory. You can
change this location by performing the following steps.
1
Click the Preferences icon in the toolbar, to open the Preferences dialog.
2Open the General tab.
3
Click the Browse button in section User samples directory:
4
Browse to the folder that you wish to use as your sample folder and click
Open.
11.3 Changing Playback Parameters of Samples
Once a sample is loaded into a pad, you can change several playback parameters.
Three of the parameters can be accessed with the three buttons in the lower area
of the pad.
Start/Stop Click the waveform area of the pad to start/stop playback of the sample. If you are using U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 make sure, that the LOC/SMP button is
set to SMP. Then press the buttons 1 to 4 to toggle the corresponding pad between
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playing and paused. If the sample is playing in, the border around the pad will be
blinking (playback modes HOLD and LOOP) or highlighted (1-SHOT mode).
Mute Click the icon with the speaker to mute/unmute the pad.
Volume Move the mouse on the speaker icon of a pad. Cross
shows the volume fader for the pad. Move the slider to change
the pad’s volume.
Sample Playback Mode
The middle button in the lower area of each pad shows the current playback mode.
You can change the playback mode by pressing the button. If you are using U-MIX
CONTROL PRO 2, make sure, that the LOC/SMP mode button is set to SMP. Then
hold the SHIFT button and press one of the buttons 1 to 4 to cycle through the different playback modes.
The following playback modes are available:
• LOOP In loop mode the playback of the sample starts if you click the pad.
Playback continues until you click the pad again to stop playback. The rolling
frequency of the sample (see below) is taken into account. If you start playback
of the sample the exact start position is dependent on the Quantize parameter
that you can configure in the Sync Zone: If quantize is enabled Cross ensures,
that the start position matches the configured quantize value. If the current
quantize setting causes a delayed start, the border of the pad will blink at a
high frequency to indicate that the pad is waiting for the next quantize value. If
quantize is disabled, playback starts immediately. While the sample is playing
the border of the pad will blink at a low frequency.
• HOLD In hold mode the sample starts to play when you click the pad; playback
stops when you release the mouse button. If you are using U-MIX CONTROL
PRO 2 the buttons 1 to 4 behave as if the sample corresponding to the pad is set
to hold mode. In hold mode the sample is always looped. If you have configured
a rolling frequency for the pad, this setting is taken into account. While the
sample is playing the border of the pad will blink at a low frequency
• 1-SHOT If you set playback mode to 1-SHOT, clicking the pad triggers playback until the end of the sample. Playback is automatically turned off when the
end of the sample is reached. The border of the pad is highlighted (on) while
the sample is playing.
Rolling Frequency Parameter
The rolling frequency setting is available for all samples where the playback mode
is set either to LOOP or to HOLD. The rolling frequency parameter defines the
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range in the sample that is looped. The default setting of the rolling frequency is
FULL; this means that the complete sample is played.
Let‘s assume, you have a kick drum that is 1 beat long and wish to use it in your
gig. If you play this sample with the rolling frequency set to FULL, the kickdrum
can be heard on any beat measure. If you decide that the kick is only to be heard
on the first beat of a bar, open the rolling frequency menu and select 4. Then the
sample is played every bar. If you select 16, the sample is played every cycle (= 4
bars = 16 beats).
You can use the rolling frequency parameter to shorten the audible part of a sample. Let’s assume you have a sample with a length of 8 beats. If you load it into a
pad and if the rolling frequency is set to FULL, playback of the sample starts every
8th beat. For this sample the rolling frequency settings FULL and 8 have the same
effect. If you set the rolling frequency setting to 4, at every 4th beat the playback
position of the sample is reset to the beginning of the file. The results is, that you
have shortened the sample: now only the first half of it can be heard. If you set the
rolling frequency to 2, the looping range is now only one quarter of the original
length of the sample.
If the looping range is shorter than the original length of the sample, Cross shows
two white lines on the waveform of the sample: The first line is the start point of
the looping range, the second one is the end point. An example can be seen in the
following figure.
White lines show
current looping range
Click to open
Rolling Frequency
menu
11.4 Using Sample Banks
Sample banks make using the Cross samplers much more convenient. The sample bank contains all the information about the samples loaded in the pad and all
playback parameters that can be changed.
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Sample banks can be easily loaded by opening the Sample Bank selector at the top
of the sampler and selecting the sample bank you wish to use. Furthermore, you
can manage the sample bank by re-ordering the samples in the pads.
Saving the current content of a Sampler as new Sample Bank
Perform the following steps to save the content of a sampler as a sample bank:
1
Click the Save to disk icon in the heading of the sampler.
The sample bank is saved under the name ‚New Sample Bank‘. If there are
already sample banks with the same name in the collection, Cross adds a
unique number to the name.
2Open the Cross browser by clicking the Collection button in the dock. Go to
the tree and open the node Sample Banks, if it is not already open.
3
Double-click the name of the new sample bank to enter edit mode.
4
Type a meaningful name and press (¢).
When you select a sample bank in the Sample Banks node, the list view on the right
side of the browser shows the samples, that are part of the sample banks, and
some attributes for each sample, that you can change (see image above). We will
discuss this further onwards in this section.
Creating an Empty Sample Bank
If you prefer, you can create an empty sample bank in the collection, and the use
different methods to populate the sample bank with samples:
1
Click the Collection button in the dock.
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2
Right-click on the node Sample Banks and select Create New Sample
Bank context/action menu.
A new sample bank with the name “Sample Bank” is created and the name
is selected.
3
Enter the desired sample bank name and press [¢].
NOTE If you wish to change the name of an existing sample bank, doubleclick its name to enter edit mode, make your changes and press [¢].
Creating a Sample Bank from inside the Listview
If you are currently in Listview and see some samples that should be in a new
sample bank, proceed as follows:
1
Select the sample or samples in the browser list.
2
Right-click the selection and choose Add to New Sample Bank. Cross
opens the following window:
3
Enter a name for the sample bank and click OK.
The new sample bank is created and the selected samples are added to this
sample bank.
Adding and deleting Samples
Samples can be added to a sample bank by selecting them in the Listview, then by
dragging them onto the icon of the sample bank in the Treeview. If you have added
a sample bank button for the target bank to the dock, you can drag and drop the
selected tracks onto this button.
Another way to add samples to a sample bank is by using the context menu in
Listview. Select the sample/s you wish to add to an existing sample bank. Then
right-/ctrl-click the selection. Click Add to Sample Bank and then select the desired sample bank in the submenu of this command.
To delete a track from a playlist, right-/ctrl-click the track and choose Remove
from Sample Bank.
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Changing Sample Properties
If you open a sample bank in the browser list by clicking the name of the sample
bank in the Sample Banks node, the right side of the browser shows the sample
banks pane with all the information about the contained samples.
Unlike the list view for playlists for example, you can change several properties
that affect how the samples are shown in the sampler, and how they will playback.
Use the Title column to change the text that is displayed on the pad. Use the columns Type and Instrument to categorize your samples. For example, you could
use “drumloop”, “fxs”, or “vocal” for the type property and “drum”, “synth”, and
“voice” for the instrument property. You can then use the Column Browser to filter
your samples collection by the attributes you entered. (The procedure for using the
Column Browser for samples is actually the same as for tracks and is explained
in chapter 8.)
If necessary you can also change the BPM of the sample: double-click in the BPM
cell for the sample you wish to change and enter the new BPM. To change the gain
value, double-click in the Gain cell of the sample that you wish to change. Then
lick the little Gain knob that is shown in the cell and drag up or down, to change
the Gain value.
Use the Pad Index column to change the assignment between a sample and its pad
in the sampler. Click the Pad Index cell for the sample you wish to move and select
the new index. The selected sample is moved to the new index. If another sample
was assigned to the target pad, this assignment is removed and set to No Index
(the Pad Index cell for this sample will be empty.)
The one setting that has not been covered yet, the Pitch Mode, is important as it
influences the way that samples are synchronized.
11.5 Samplers, Synchronisation, and Pitch Mode
The last section of this chapter covers the synchronisation of the samplers and the
players, and how individual samples in a sample bank are synchronized to the rest.
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Link Mode
The Link mode defines if the beatclocks of player A and sampler C are linked together or not, and if the beatclocks of player B and sampler D are linked or not. You
can enable/disable Link mode for A/C and B/D independently. To change the Link
mode setting for the left side, click the Enable/Disable Link button on sampler C.
To change it for the right side, click the Enable/Disable Link button on sampler D.
Regarding the Link mode settings, we can distinguish the following scenarios:
• Full Link Mode The BPM and the beat cycle of the player
and sampler on one side are linked and they are in sync. In
this state the circle of the beatclock in the header of the
sampler is drawn in yellow (sampler C) or in red (sampler D)..
• Relative Link Mode The system was in full link mode
when a transport operation like smart seek was triggered
in the linked player that was not cycle quantized. In relative link mode the tempo of player and sampler are the same, but they loose
the cycle sync state. In this state the circle of the beatclock in the header of the
sampler is drawn in white.
• Independent Mode The player and the sampler are not linked. Player and
sampler can use their own tempo (BPM) and they use their own beatclock.
Both Sides are working in Full Link Mode
This image shows the two samplers when Full Link mode is engaged for both sides
of the Cross user interface:
Both Enable/Disable Link buttons are highlighted, they look as shown in the previous image, and the circle in the Sync Meter on the samplers are drawn in yellow
(sampler C) or red (sampler D). Because A/C and B/D are linked, pressing the
SYNC button on player A or player B also performs a synchronization of the linked
sampler:
• If you press SYNC on player A the BPM and phase of player B is used to synchronize player A and sampler C.
• If you press SYNC on player B, the BPM and phase of player A is used to synchronize player B and sampler D.
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There are some exceptions. Take the first example and assume, that player B is
not running when you press SYNC. Then the beatclock of sampler D is used for the
synchronization process.
One Side was switched to Relative Link Mode
Cross will switch the link mode between player and sampler automatically from
Full Link Mode to Relative Link Mode when on the player any action is performed
that breaks the full link. In this mode the BPM remains shared between the player
and its linked sampler, only the cycle sync is lost.
When Cross switches the sampler to Relative Link Mode you
will see that the circle in the Cycle Meter of the sampler is
drawn in white. To recover the Full Link mode and get back to
a sampler “cycle-synced” to the player, you only need to click the SYNC button in
the header of the sampler.
One of the actions that can lead to the mode switch is a smart seek with a seek
length other than 16 beats. For example, if you seek by one beat, than the cycle
synchronisation between the player and the sampler is lost. However, player and
sampler are still playing at the same BPM. It can happen as well when the sampler was playing and the player was paused, and if you then start a new track in
the player.
If you use a quantize value of 16 beats the automatic switch to relative link mode
can be avoided.
One Side is linked, Player and Sampler on the other side are
independent
The following image shows a scenario, where player B and sampler D (right side)
are linked, and where player A and sampler C (left side) are independent.
The change in the Link settings has an impact on what happens, when you use the
SYNC button:
• If you press SYNC on player A, the BPM and phase of player B is used to syn-
chronize player A only. Sampler C is not synchronized as the left side is not
linked.
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• If you press SYNC on player B, the BPM and phase of player A is used to synchronize player B and sampler D, as the right side is linked.
The same rules apply if A/C are linked but B/D are not. You only need to swap
player/sampler in the rules above.
As player A and sampler C in this example are independent, you see additional
controls next to the Sync Meter. You can use these controls to start/stop the meter. Additionally, you can use the two pitch bend buttons to pitch bend the tempo of
the sampler up and down. And you can use the BPM field in the sampler‘s header
and enter a BPM for the sampler here. The pads in the sampler will follow the
tempo changes you make.
Independent Mode: Player and Sampler are not linked
Another Link configuration is shown in the following figure:
Here neither A/C nor B/D are linked. In this setup using the SYNC button on either
player A or player B, leads to a synchronisation of the two players only. Tempo and
beat cycle of sampler C and sampler D are not changed in any way by the synchronisation. The Sync Meter, pitch bend buttons and BPM field are now available in
both samplers, and you can use them to perform any necessary synchronisation
manually.
Pitch Bend Up/Down
Start Beatclock/
Reset Beatclock
Click and type new BPM
Click to return to Full Link Mode
Stop Beatclock
Click to switch Cycle Meter
between 4 or 16 Beats
Setting the Pitch mode for individual Pads
No matter which Link setting you use, it is important to understand, that each of
the pads in a sampler has it‘s own pitch mode. You can see the pitch mode for each
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pad either in the sample pane (open it by clicking on the name of a sample bank in
the Sample Banks node of the tree view in the browser). Then click in column Pitch
Mode for the sample you wish to change and click the mode you want to assign:
You can also click on the pad number of a sample in the sampler: this opens a
context menu, where the current mode is shown and where you can change the
mode if necessary.
If you use Master Tempo or Speed, the BPM of the sample is still synchronized
to the sampler (when the Link mode is off) or to the player linked to the sampler
(when Link mode is on). The difference between Master Tempo and Speed is the
same as in the pitch setting of the players: in Speed mode any tempo changes
resulting in a playback tempo that is different than the original tempo of the sample, results in a pitch change of the audio. In Master Tempo mode, Cross uses a
time stretching engine, which allows playback of audio at different tempos without
changing the tonal key.
Option None (disabled) is useful especially for 1-SHOT samples such as vocals
or other special effect samples that often sound better when played back at the
original tempo. If you choose this sync mode option the sample is always played
at the original tempo: this setting overrides any Link setting that is made for the
sampler. Also, any changes that you make to the BPM of the sampler while it is not
linked to the player, have no effect on samples where the sync mode is set to None.
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12/
Backup
your Data
It is good practice to back up the data files Cross creates, as well as your audio
tracks of course. In case of a hard drive failure a backup will help you to get your
Cross setup back to a running state very quickly.
To create a backup of the data files of Cross make sure to include the two following folders:
• Collection Folder The collection folder is the folder where the collection files
reside that you create with Cross. The collection files use the extension .db and
can be found in the following location:
• OSX /users/[UserName]/Music/Cross
• Windows XP C:\Document and Settings\[UserName]\Music\Cross
• Windows 7 C:\Users\[UserName]\Music\Cross
The collection file contains information about your tracks, their location and the
tags of your media files.
• Peak Folder In the default configuration the Peak folder resides below the
Collection folder. As long as you haven’t changed the Peak Files location on the
Preferences/General dialog, it is sufficient to save the content of the Collection
folder and all its subfolders.
In the case that you have changed the location of the Peak files you should
check its current location on the Preferences/General dialog and make sure,
that this folder is included in your backup scenario as well.
The peak files contain information that Cross gathers during the track analysis
and all playback information that you create. These are: the peaks/transients of
the track, the tempo (BPM), the locators, cue point, the track gain and information about any loops you have set.
In the worst case of a hard drive failure you want to ensure that the audio files of
the tracks that you imported into the collection are restored to your original location.
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A/
Default
Keyboard
Shortcuts
Collection and Track Management
Function
Windows
Mac OS X
Import File
(Ctrl)+(I)
(cmd)+(I)
New Collection
(Ctrl)+(N)
(cmd)+(N)
Open Collection
(Ctrl)+(O)
(cmd)+(O)
Save Collection
(Ctrl)+(S)
(cmd)+(S)
Save Collection As
(ª)+(Ctrl)+(S)
(ª)+(cmd)+(S)
Switching Layouts, Open Preferences
Function
Windows
Mac OS X
Full Screen
(F11)
(ª)+(cmd)+(F)
Expand/Collapse Collection
(F7)
—
Open Preferences dialog
(Ctrl)+(,)
(cmd)+(,)
Player: Activating, Loading and Playback
Function
Windows
Mac OS X
Toggle active Player
(ÿ), (ª)+(ÿ)
(ÿ), (ª)+(ÿ)
Toggle active browsable
(Ctrl)+(æ),
(Ctrl)+(Æ)
(cmd)+(æ),
(cmd)+(Æ)
Scroll through Collection
(Ctrl)+(¼),
(Ctrl)+(½)
(cmd)+(¼),
(cmd)+(½)
Load into Player A
(ª)+(Ctrl)+(æ)
(alt)+(cmd)+(æ)
Load into Player B
(ª)+(Ctrl)+(Æ)
(alt)+(cmd)+(Æ)
Empty Player A
(ª)+(Alt)+(æ)
(ª)+(alt)+(æ)
Empty Player B
(ª)+(Alt)+(Æ)
(ª)+(alt)+(Æ)
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A/ Default Keyboard Shortcuts
Function
Windows
Mac OS X
Play/Pause active player
(________) (spacebar)
(________) (spacebar)
Play/Pause all players
(ª)+(________)
(ª)+(________)
Smart Seek Backward
(Alt)+(æ)
(Alt)+(æ)
Smart Seek Forward
(Alt)+(Æ)
(Alt)+(Æ)
Vinyl Mode
(V)
(V)
Player: Cue Points, Looping
Function
Windows
Mac OS X
Set IN point
(I)
(I)
Set OUT point
(O)
(O)
Loop On/Off
(L)
(L)
Auto Loop, select length
(J), (K)
(J), (K)
Auto Loop, trigger
(U)
(U)
Player: Tempo, Pitching and Synchronisation
Function
Windows
Mac OS X
Tap Tempo
(T)
(T)
Tempo up, normal/fine
(F), (ª)+(F)
(F), (ª)+(F)
Tempo down, normal/fine
(R), (ª)+(R)
(R), (ª)+(R)
Tempo, reset pitch fader
(ª)+(0) (zero)
(ª)+(0) (zero)
Pitch Mode
(P)
(P)
Pitch Bend up
(D)
(D)
Pitch Bend up, fine
(ª)+(D)
(ª)+(D)
Pitch Bend up, coarse
(Ctrl)+(D)
(cmd)+(D)
Pitch Bend down
(E)
(E)
Pitch Bend down, fine
(ª)+(E)
(ª)+(E)
Pitch Bend down, coarse
(Ctrl)+(E)
(cmd)+(E)
Match active player to other (M)
(M)
Sync active player to other
(S)
(S)
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A/ Default Keyboard Shortcuts
Player: Cue Points and Locators
Function
Windows/Mac OS X
Cue
(C)
Cue/Play
(¢)
Set Cue
(ª)+(C)
Set/Delete Locator 1
(1)/(ª)+(1)
Set/Delete Locator 2
(2)/(ª)+(2)
Set/Delete Locator 3
(3)/(ª)+(3)
Set/Delete Locator 4
(4)/(ª)+(4)
Set/Delete Locator 5
(5)/(ª)+(5)
Set/Delete Locator 6
(6)/(ª)+(6)
Set/Delete Locator 7
(7)/(ª)+(7)
Set/Delete Locator 8
(8)/(ª)+(8)
Mixer
Function
Windows
Mac OS X
Cue/Monitor Player A
(A)
(B)
Cue/Monitor Player B
(B)
(B)
152
B/
Troubleshooting
and FAQ
B.1 Software related Questions
The audio tracks are not playing back
• Make sure you have selected the correct audio interface in the audio preferences window.
• Make sure you selected the correct audio inputs and outputs of your audio interface in the audio preferences window.
• Make sure you selected the correct Routing Mode in the audio preferences window.
There is no sound coming out of the speakers
• Check for activity on the output meter of the internal mixer. If there is no response from the meter, check all the controls of the mixer: faders, gain, kills,
etc.
• If you are in external mixer mode, check the connections from your audio interface to your mixer and from your mixer to your sound system. Make sure you
have the proper inputs selected on your mixer.
There are some audio dropouts or slow response
• Change the buffer size setting in the Audio preferences. If you hear crackling
sounds, it means your latency setting is too low, choose a larger buffer size and
test again.
• Close all applications that are not needed.
• Disable your anti-virus, spyware and firewall software.
• Turn off your computer’s wireless card (or disconnect from the Internet).
• Close all background processes that are currently not needed. For example on
Windows, press (Ctrl)+(Alt)+(Del), open the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and close the processes.
153
B/ Troubleshooting and FAQ
• If you are very serious about DJing, the first thing to do is partition your hard
drive and dedicate a clean install only to MixVibes. Make sure not to use the
internet if you have booted your system from the dedicated Cross partition. This
will avoid all potential worms and backdoors that can considerably slow down
your application.
Where do I find my license key/serial number?
The license key is printed on the back of the installation CD sleeve.
How do I recover my lost license key/serial number?
We recommend keeping your license key/serial number by registering on the forum, and entering it in the space provided. We’ll be able to recover it for you in case
you lose it. Please note that we cannot provide additional serial numbers.
How do I get software updates?
To download the latest version of your MixVibes software, you will need to be registered on the MixVibes Forum.
Follow these steps to register:
1
Go to the MixVibes at http://forum.mixvibes.com
2
Click on Register in the Board Index sidebar.
3
Read the terms and click on “I agree to the terms”.
4
Fill out your profile with your user name, a valid e-mail address, and a
password.
IMPORTANT You will need your software license key to complete the
registration. You will find the key on the back of your installation CD
sleeve.
5You will receive an e-mail with an activation link to complete the registration.
Follow these steps to download and install the update:
1Login to the forum and go to the Download Center.
2
Select your version of the MixVibes software and find the latest update.
3
Click the Download button near the bottom of the page.
4
Once the download is finished, extract the folder and run the EXE (PC) or
DMG (MAC) file.
154
B/ Troubleshooting and FAQ
Why do I hear an electrical sound while nothing is playing?
If you hear a rumbling sound in the background, this is a grounding problem. This
happens with laptops that have a power supply with a ground connection (3-pin
plugs). To correct this problem, use a ground loop isolator on the master output
of your mixer.
I have a particular MP3 that won’t play/plays badly/takes a
long time to load/crashes the program. What should I do?
In most cases the cause of this symptom is a corrupted file and it could be necessary to delete this file from your collection. There are some free tools available
that can check if a MP3 file is defect or not. Use your favourite search engine and
search for “mp3 checker”, download one of the available tools and test the MP3 file
that doesn’t play or that causes Cross to crash.
If you find the file that caused the problem, please go to the MixVibes forum and
inform our support team about the issue. By reporting damaged or corrupt files,
you can help the developers to improve Cross’ ability to handle damaged MP3 files
in future versions.
The time code quality is bad
• Check for proper connections of your turntables’ ground wires.
• Make sure your needles are clean and not damaged.
• Make sure there is no dust on your records and needles.
• Make sure your cables are in good condition. Troubleshoot by using a different
cable.
• Make sure your decks are properly connected to your audio interface.
• Make sure the right and left channels are not inverted.
• Make sure your control media is not scratched.
B.2 Controller related Questions
The U-MIX CONTROL controller has no effect on Cross
If the Power LED is OFF:
• Check that the POWER switch on the rear of the controller is not set to OFF or
to the AC position.
• Check/change the USB cable and turn the POWER switch on the rear to the
USB position.
• Use an adaptor and set the POWER switch on the rear to the AC position.
155
B/ Troubleshooting and FAQ
If the Power LED is ON:
• Try to connect the controller to another USB port.
• Close the software. Reconnect the USB cable of the controller and make sure
that it is powered correctly. Restart Cross.
How can I determine the firmware version of
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 and U-MIX CONTROL 2?
1
Make sure your controller is connected via USB to the computer.
2
Power the device OFF.
3
Press and hold the buttons SHIFT and BASS_B on the controller.
4
Switch the controller on while pressing the buttons SHIFT and BASS_B.
5
The firmware version (X.Y.) is encoded into the LEDs. The LEDs for player A
show the major version number (X), the LEDs for player B the minor version
number (Y).
• X (on player A): 1 (PITCH MODE), 2 (SELECT), 3 (LOCATOR1), 4 (LOCATOR2), 5 (LOCATOR3), 6 (VINYL), 7 (BEND-), 8 (BEND+), 9 (SYNC)
• Y (on player B): 1 (PITCH MODE), 2 (SELECT), 3 (LOCATOR1), 4 (LOCATOR2), 5 (LOCATOR3), 6 (VINYL), 7 (BEND-), 8 (BEND+), 9 (SYNC)
6Press SHIFT to return to normal mode.
How can I upgrade the firmware of my controller?
1
Make sure your controller is connected via USB to the computer.
2
Power the device OFF.
3
Press and hold the buttons SHIFT and BROWSE on the controller.
4
Switch the controller on while pressing the buttons SHIFT and BROWSE.
5
Release the buttons SHIFT and BROWSE. The buttons Source A and Source
B should light up now.
6
A new drive named “midiUpgDisk” should be found on your system.
7
Drag and drop the firmware file onto the “midiUpgDisk” drive. Make sure
that you use the correct firmware file for your controller.
• The firmware files for U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 use the following naming
pattern: U-MIX_PRO2_*V*.bin
• The firmware files for U-MIX CONTROL PRO use the following naming
pattern: U-MIX_PRO_*V*.bin
• The
firmware files for U-MIX CONTROL 2 use the following naming
pattern: U-MIX_2_*V*.bin
156
B/ Troubleshooting and FAQ
8
9
Once the firmware file is dropped the upgrade process begins. LEDs on the
controller inform you about the update progress:
• Update Data 30% = KILL BASS A/B are flashing
• Update Data 60% = KILL MID A/B are flashing
• Update Data 90% = KILL TREB A/B are flashing
• Update Success = LOAD A/B are flashing
• Update Error = LOAD A/B are off
After the firmware is updated, the LEDs will turn off.
Can I use U-MIX CONTROL PRO or U-MIX CONTROL 2 with other
DJ software than CrossDJ/CrossDJ LE?
Yes, both U-MIX CONTROL controllers are standard MIDI controllers that send
MIDI commands. U-MIX CONTROL PRO and U-MIX CONTROL 2 can be used with
any software that accepts MIDI commands.
157
C/
List of MIDI
Messages
The controls in the two player sections, in the mixer section and in the general
section of U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2/U-MIX CONTROL 2 send their messages on the
following MIDI channels:
• Player A: MIDI channel 1
• Player B: MIDI channel 2
• Mixer: MIDI channel 3
• Shift + Player A: MIDI channel 4
• Shift + Player B: MIDI channel 5
• Shift + Mixer: MIDI channel 6
Player Section (Controller to Computer)
Control Name
Message Type
Key/Note/Value MIDI Channel
Cue
Note On/Off
0x1
A=1, B=2
Play
Note On/Off
0x2
A=1, B=2
Sync
Note On/Off
0x3
A=1, B=2
Pitchbend –
Note On/Off
0x4
A=1, B=2
Pitchbend +
Note On/Off
0x5
A=1, B=2
Pitchbend Slider
Pitchbend
0xE
A=1, B=2
(Vinyl) 1
Note On/Off
0x7
A=1, B=2
LOC/SMP 2
Note On/Off
0x8
A=1, B=2
Jog
Mode 3
Note On/Off
0x8
A=1, B=2
Loop (push)
Note On/Off
0xD
A=1, B=2
Control Change
0xD
A=1, B=2
Note On/Off
0xE
A=1, B=2
Control Change
0xE
A=1, B=2
Control Change
0xF
A=1, B=2
Pitch
Loop (turn)
4
FX Select (push)
FX Select (turn)
FX Amount
4
158
C/ List of MIDI Messages
Control Name
Message Type
Key/Note/Value MIDI Channel
Select 3
Note On/Off
0x9
A=1, B=2
3
Note On/Off
0xA
A=1, B=2
Locator 2 (Select = off) 3
Note On/Off
0xB
A=1, B=2
Locator 3 (Select = off)
3
Note On/Off
0xC
A=1, B=2
Locator 4 (Select = off) 3
Note On/Off
0x18
A=1, B=2
Locator 5 (Select = off) 3
Note On/Off
0x19
A=1, B=2
Locator 6 (Select = off) 3
Note On/Off
0x1A
A=1, B=2
On/Off
0x9
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Button 2 (LOC/SMP = off)2 Note On/Off
0xA
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Button 3 (LOC/SMP = off)2 Note On/Off
0xB
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Button 4 (LOC/SMP = off)2 Note On/Off
0xC
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Button 1 (LOC/SMP = on)2 Note On/Off
0x18
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Button 2 (LOC/SMP = on)2 Note On/Off
0x19
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Button 3 (LOC/SMP = on)2 Note On/Off
0x1A
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Button 4 (LOC/SMP = on)2 Note On/Off
0x1B
Shift off: A=1, B=2
Shift on: A=4, B=5
Locator 1 (Select = off)
Button 1 (LOC/SMP = off)
2 Note
1
Button is labelled VINYL on U-MIX CONTROL PRO and U-MIX CONTROL 2 and
labelled JOG on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2.
2
This button is available on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 only.
3
This button is available on U-MIX CONTROL PRO and U-MIX CONTROL 2 only.
4
Relative Encoder, see section on page 161.
Jogwheels (Controller to Computer)
The jogwheels on U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 are touch sensitive and the jogwheels on
U-MIX CONTROL 2 are not. For this reason the messages sent by the jogwheels are
slightly different. The first table shows the MIDI messages for U-MIX CONTROL 2:
159
C/ List of MIDI Messages
Condition
Message
Type
CC Number
Value
MIDI Channel
Wheel is touched
and turned
Control
Change
0x16
Forward:
0x41 – 0x7F
Rewind:
0x3F–0x00
A=1, B=2
Wheel is no longer Control
turned
Change
0x16
0x40
A=1, B=2
The following table shows the MIDI messages sent by U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 :
Condition
Message
Type
Key/Note,
CC Number
Value
MIDI Channel
Wheel detects an
initial contact
Note On/
Note Off
0x16
0x00 = release,
0x7F = push
A=1, B=2
Top wheel is
Control
touched and wheel Change
is turned
0x16
Forward:
0x41 – 0x7F
Rewind:
0x3F–0x00
A=1, B=2
Top wheel is no
longer turned
Control
Change
0x16
0x40
A=1, B=2
Outer wheel is
touched and
turned
Control
Change
0x17
Forward:
0x41 – 0x7F
Rewind:
0x3F–0x00
A=1, B=2
Outer wheel is no
longer turned
Control
Change
0x17
0x40
A=1, B=2
Mixer Section (Controller to Computer)
Control Name
Message Type
Key/Note
MIDI Channel
Headphones Monitor
Note On/Off
0x10
A=1, B=2
Gain
Control Change
0x11
A=1, B=2
EQ Treb (turn)
Control Change
0x12
A=1, B=2
EQ Treb Kill (push)
Note On/Off
0x12
A=1, B=2
EQ Mid (turn)
Control Change
0x13
A=1, B=2
EQ Mid Kill (push)
Note On/Off
0x13
A=1, B=2
EQ Bass (turn)
Control Change
0x14
A=1, B=2
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C/ List of MIDI Messages
Control Name
Message Type
Key/Note
MIDI Channel
EQ Bass Kill (push)
Note On/Off
0x14
A=1, B=2
Volume Fader
Control Change
0x15
A=1, B=2
Cross Fader
Control Change
0x1
3
Master Volume
Control Change
0x3
3
Monitor Mix (Front Panel)Control Change
0x7
3
Browser Section (Controller to Computer)
Control Name
Browse (push)
Browse (turn)
1
Message Type
Key/Note
MIDI Channel
Note On/Off
0x4
3
Control Change 0x4
3
Load A
Control Change 0x5
3
Load B
Note On/Off
0x6
3
Shift Button
Note On/Off
0x2
3
1
Relative Encoder, see section below.
Relative Encoders
Several of the knobs act as relative encoders, i.e. their value field will indicate a
relative change. 0 means that no change occurred, values 01 to 63 describe a positive change and values 127 down to 64 describe a negative change.
Value
Description
0x00
No change occurred. Control is stationary.
0x01
The controller incremented its value by 1 since the last report
0x02
The controller incremented its value by 2 since the last report
…
…
0x3F
The controller incremented its value by 63 since the last report
0x40
The controller decremented its value by 64 since the last report
0x41
The controller decremented its value by 63 since the last report
0x7E
The controller decremented its value by 2 since the last report
0x7F
The controller decremented its value by 1 since the last report
161
C/ List of MIDI Messages
LED (Computer to Controller)
The following table shows the MIDI messages for the different LEDs on the controller.
Control Name
Message Type
Key/Note
MIDI Channel
Master Clip
Note On/Off
0x3
3
Treb
Note On/Off
0x12
A=1, B=2
Mid
Note On/Off
0x13
A=1, B=2
Bass
Note On/Off
0x14
A=1, B=2
FX *
Note On/Off
A=1, B=2
0xE = yellow
0x1C = red
0x1D = orange
Loop
Note On/Off
0xD
A=1, B=2
* On U-MIX CONTROL PRO and U-MIX CONTROL 2 the FX LED is always yellow for
player A and always red for player B. The three-colour LED is available only on
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2.
You can send a value to these LEDs and to all buttons with an integrated LED to
control the LED state. The following table shows the values you can use:
Value
LED Status
0x7F (=127 decimal)
LED is On
0x00 (=0 decimal)
LED is Off
0x14 (=20 decimal)
LED blinks every 0,2s
0x28 (=40 decimal)
LED blinks every 0,4s
0x3C (=60 decimal)
LED blinks every 0,6s
0x50 (=80 decimal)
LED blinks every 0,8s
0x64 (=100 decimal)
LED blinks every second
162
D/
U46MK2
Technical
Specifications
D.1 Key Features
• 4-in 6-out multi purpose USB audio interface
• 2 Phono inputs and 4 Line inputs
• MIC inputs with gain control
• +48V phantom power for condenser microphone
• Direct instrument input for electrical guitars (Hi-Z) with gain control
• 6 line level analog outputs with separate Mix outputs
• Headphone out with level control
• 4 channel recording and 6 channel playback at the same time – Full Duplex
• 4-in 6-out at 44.1 kHz, 4-in 4-out at 48 kHz.
• Compatible with Microsoft® Windows XP (Service pack 2 strongly recommended), Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Mac OSX.
• WDM, MME, ASIO, DirectSound and CoreAudio support.
D.2 U46MK2 Front Panel
1
•
Channel 1/2 Input Connector
Input source (MIC/LINE/PHONO) selector
This is where you select input sources of channel 1/2.
163
D/ U46MK2 Technical Specifications
• MIC input connector
Connect your Microphone to this balanced 1/4” connector.
• Gain control for MIC input
Control input level of microphone
Channel 3/4 Input Connector
2
• Input source (Hi-Z/LINE/PHONO) selector
This is where you select input sources of channel 3/4.
• Hi-Z input connector
Connect an electric guitar or bass guitar to this unbalanced 1/4” connector. Only an unbalanced 1/4” phone jack connection is available for
this setting.
• Gain control for Hi-Z input: Control the input level of the E-guitar input
Headphone output with Headphone volume control
3
Monitor all input sources and output sources through the headphone output. Output level can be adjusted with the control knob.
Power Switch
4
D.3 U46MK2 Rear Panel
1
External Power Supply Connector
If you use a microphone that requires phantom power, especially with a
laptop computer, it is strongly recommended to use a DC +9V/500mA
adapter (not included). When you turn on the U46MK2 or when you turn on/
off phantom power, the current peak level might go over 500mA.
2
USB Connector
Connects the USB cable to the computer.
164
D/ U46MK2 Technical Specifications
3
Mix Out
You can monitor all input sources and output sources through the Mix output. Usually, you would use Mix Out to connect to powered monitor speakers.
4
Output 1–6
You can use these outputs to connect to various external devices or to a 5.1
surround system.
5
Input 1–4
The turntable inputs and line level inputs share the same connectors. The
RCA turntable inputs feed an RIAA equalized preamp designed to accept
moving magnet type phono cartridges.
6
Mix Ground Plug
When you use a turntable, connect the ground lead from your turntable to
the ground plug to help prevent ground hum.
165
E/
U-MIX CONTROL
PRO 2 – Technical
Specifications
General Information
• Dimensions: 375mm (W) X 202.6mm (D) X 64 mm (H)
• Weight: 1.86kg
• Power Source DC: 6V, 1.5A
• Ambient Temperature 23 +/- 2 degC
• Relative Humidity 65% +/- 5%
• NOTE: Measurements can be carried out between 5 degC to 35 degC and 45%
to 85% relative humidity.
Features
• USB MIDI Controller + Digital Mixer
• 2 touch sensitive Jogwheels
• 2 external Phono/Line Input
USB Slave Player Section
(Signal Format: MP3, 128KBPS, SONY SOUND FORGE8.0)
• Output Level
Output 1/2/3/4: 2V +/-1dB (1 KHZ, 0dB, TCD782 TRK2)
Phones Out: 1.3V +/-1dB (1 KHZ, 0dB, TCD782 TRK2)
• Frequency Response:
Output 1/2/3/4: 17-16 KHz +/-2dB (TCD781 TRK1, 4, 16)
• THD+N:
Output 1/2/3/4: less than 0.02% (TCD782 TRK2, W/20KHz LPF, A-WEIGHTED)
• SN Ratio:
Output 1/2/3/4: more than 70dB (TCD782 TRK2, 8, W/20KHz LPF, A-WEIGHTED)
• LR Separation:
Output 1/2/3/4: more than 70dB AT 1KHz (TCD782 TRK2, 9, 11, W/20KHz LPF,
A-WEIGHTED)
166
E/ U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 – Technical Specifications
Recording And Playback
• Line 1 KHz, 6dBV Input
Output1/2/3/4: 5dBV (2V) +/-2dB THD+N: less than 0.05% (W/20KHz LPF, A-WEIGHTED)
• Phono 1 KHz, -41dBV Input
Output1/2/3/4: 0dBV (1V) +/-2dB
THD+N: less than 0.05% (W/20KHz LPF, A-WEIGHTED)
Maximum Input
(1 KHz, Master Output, THD=1%, EQ Flat, Maximum Gain)
• Line: more than +4dBV
• Phono: more Than -36dBV
Maximum Output
(EQ Flat, Maximum Gain, THD=1%, Load=100K Ohm)
• Output 1/2/3/4: more than +6dBV (2V)
• Phones: more than +1.6dBV (1.2V) LOAD=32 OHM
Mic Player Section
• Mic Level: 10K Ohm/-54dBV (Out1/2/3/4:0dB (1V)+/-1dB)
• Mic THD+N: less than 0.15%@1KHz (w/20kHz LPF, A-WEIGHTED)
• Mic S/N: more than 64dB
Note
The specifications are subject to change to any improvement by negotiations in
advance.
167
F/
Safety
Instructions
These safety instructions apply if you are using the controllers U-MIX CONTROL
PRO 2 and U-MIX CONTROL 2 or the USB audio interface U46MK2.
• Read these Instructions.
• Keep these Instructions.
• Heed all Warnings.
• Follow all Instructions.
• Do not use this apparatus near water.
• Clean only with a damp cloth.
• Do not block any of the ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the
manufacturer’s instructions.
• Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves,
or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat.
• Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized plug. The wide blade is provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an
electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.
• Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at the
plug, convenience receptacles, and point where they exit from the apparatus.
• Only use attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer.
• Use only with a cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table specified by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution when moving
the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.
• Unplug this apparatus during lighting storms or when unused for long periods
of time.
• Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Serving is required when the
apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as the power-supply cord or
plug is damaged. Also if liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the
apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.
168
F/ Safety Instructions
WARNING
To reduce the risk of the fire or electric shock, do not expose this apparatus to
rain or moisture. The apparatus shall not be exposed to dripping or splashing
and that no objects filled with liquids, such as vases, shall be placed on the
apparatus.
CAUTION
CAUTION To reduce the risk of electric shock,
do not remove any cover. No user-serviceable
parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified service
personnel only.
The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within the equilateral
triangle is intended to alert the use to the presence of uninsulated
“dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure that may be of
sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock.
The exclamation point within the equilateral triangle is intended to
alert the user to the presence of important operation and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying this
appliance.
CAUTION
To prevent electric shock, do not use this polarized plug with an extension cord,
receptacle or other outlet unless the blades can be fully inserted to prevent the
exposure of a blade.
169
Index
1-Shot, sample playback mode 140
A
Absolute Mode 90
Add Beatgrid 89
Add track to playlist 111
Album Browser 108
Amount, effect 132
Analyze all 85
Analyze Beatgrid/BPM only 85
Analyze Gain only 85
Analyze Peak only 85
Analyzing media files 84
ASIO4ALL 45
Audio Cache, setting 92
Audio Files
analyzing 84
moving in 101
Audio Sources, external 18
Automatically start recording 129
Automatic Loops 122
Autoplay 130
repeat 131
shuffle 131
sync 131
B
Backup 149
Backwards Playback and Timecode 20
Bar, synchronisation mode 99
Beatgrid
add 89
analysis 85
delete 89
expand/shrink 87
move downbeat 88
show on player and Beatmatcher 96
user beatgrids 89
Beatgrid Tools 86
Beatmatcher 77, 95
Beat Repeater 136
Beat, synchronisation mode 99
Bi-Filter, effect 136
Bi-polar filter 79
Bliss, effect 135
BPM Detection Range 86
BPM Display and timecode 20
Brake, effect 136
Browser
active properties 108
create new folder 109
dock 104
Browser Panel 106
Buffer size 46
C
Calibrate 39
CDJ Player
integration of 18
Master Tempo 20
CD Mode, player 101
Channel fader 79
Chopper, effect 135
Coarse, pitch bending 121
Collection Folder 149
Collection View Expanded 81
Column Browser 107
Constant Power, crossfader setting
100
Constant Volume, crossfader setting
100
Control Deck 38
Controller, mapping architecture 23
Control Mode
absolute 90
flexible 91
170
Index
Control Mode (cont.)
internal 90
relative 90
CROSS
Remote Apps 63
software versions 7
Crossfader 80
curve preset 99
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 80
Crush, effect 135
Cue/Monitor buttons 79
Cycle, synchronisation mode 99
D
Data backup 149
Define Downbeat 88
Delay, effect 134
Delete
beatgrid 89
track from playlist 111
Depth, effect 132
Digitize your Vinyl 130
Distortion Effect 135
Dock in Browser 104
customizing 105
Dual Stereo, routing mode 16, 26, 47
E
Echo, effect 134
Effects
amount 132
Bliss 135
Brake 136
Chopper 135
Crush 135
Delay 134
depth 132
Echo 134
Flanger 135
Hi-Pass 134
Jet 135
Low-Pass 134
master channel 133
Phaser 134
Roll 136
Transform 135
Effects (cont.)
Use bidimensional FX 132
X-Phaser 135
Enable/Disable Link 145
End of Track Alarm, setting 101
Equalizer 79
External Audio Sources 18
External Mixer Cue, routing mode 18,
35, 47
External Mixer Mode 16
configuring U-MIX CONTROL
PRO 2 27
signal flow 16
timecode 22
External Mixer Sampler, routing mode
17, 35, 47
F
Flanger, effect 135
Flexible Mode 91
Folder, create new 109
Forward Playback and Timecode 20
Full Link Mode 145
Full Screen 81
FX Zone 77, 132
G
Gain analysis 85
Gain knob 79
H
Hi-Pass, effect 134
Hold, sample playback mode 140
Hot Cues, see Locators
Hot-Sampling 138
Hybrid, Pitch Mode 119
I
Import
collections from other
DJ software 83
Directory 82
file 82
folders 82
playlist 82
tracks from iTunes 82
171
Index
Independent Mode 145, 147
Input 1, setting 42
Input 2, setting 42
Input Gain, sliders 43
Installation
Mac OS X 13
Windows 10
Internal Mixer Mode 15
Signal flow 16
iTunes 82
J
Jet, effect 135
L
Language setting 76
Lead In/Lead Out, setting 101
License Key 14
Limiter, toolbar 76
Link mode, sampler 145
Load
sample from collection 138
tracks 91
Locate missing tracks 116
Locators 126
and snap setting 127
change order 128
change/set name 127
deleting 128
for loops 128
jumping to 127
setting 127
Loop
create 122
move 124
sample playback mode 140
Low-Pass, effect 134
M
Master Channel, effects 133
Master Tempo
and CDJ-Player 20
Pitch Mode 118
MIDI messages 23
MIDI Presets 49
Missing tracks 116
Mix, crossfader setting 100
Mixer
bi-polar filter 79
channel faders 79
cross fader 80
Cue/Monitor buttons 79
equalizer 79
gain knob 79
Mute button 79
Mixer Mode
external 16
internal 15
Mixer panel 79
Mix Recorder
configuration 129
recording 130
Move tracks in playlist 111
MP3 Player, integration of 18
Mute button, mixer panel 79
Mute sample 138
N
Naming Pattern, recording 129
P
Pad Index, sample bank 144
Peak analysis 85
Peak Folder 149
Phaser, effect 134
Pitch Bending 120
Pitch Fader 119
Pitch Mode 118, 147
Playback mode, sample 138
Player
CD mode 101
end of track alarm 101
lead in/lead out 101
overview 77
vinyl mode 101
waveform scroll mode 101
waveform zoom 101
Playlist
add tracks 111
create empty 110
create from iTunes 111
create from listview 110
172
Index
Playlist (cont.)
delete tracks 111
move tracks 111
Preview Player 102
Q
Quality of the track 106
Quantization 121
R
Range, pitch fader 119
Recording, see Mix Recorder
Rekordbox playlist 83
Relative Link Mode 145
Relocate 116
Remote Apps 63
setup on Windows 7 67
setup on Windows XP 64
Roll, effect 136
Rolling Frequency Parameter 140
Routing Mode 47
S
Sample
change Instrument property 144
change Type property 144
hot-sampling 138
load from collection 138
mute 138
pitch mode 147
playback mode 138, 140
rolling frequency 140
save to disk 139
start/stop 139
unmute 138
Sample Banks
change pad index 144
create empty 142
create from listview 143
edit sample properties 144
load 142
rename 142
save 137, 141
Sample directory, setting 139
Samplers
link mode 145
open samplers panel 137
overview 79
using effects 133
Save changes in Tags 115
Searching for Tracks 108
Security Mode, setting 93
Show Beatgrids 96
Simple Stereo, routing mode 47
Smartlists 111
create new 114
edit 112
Smart Seek 101
Snap Length 121
Snapping 121
Speed, Pitch Mode 118
Split Mono, routing mode 48
Start sample 139
Stop sample 139
Synchronisation
players and samplers 144, 147
select mode 98
Sync Meter 97
in sampler 147
Sync Zone 77
Quantize 121
Snap 121
T
Timecode
CDJ Master Tempo 20
detecting forward/backwards 20
external mixer 22
functional princip 20
playback speed 20
position detection 21
timecode signal 20
turntable flutter 20
Timecode Control Mode
absolute mode 90
flexible mode 91
relative mode 90
Timecode Settings 38
Timecode Setup 36
173
Index
Toolbar 76
limiter 76
volume section 76
Track Meta Information 115
Tracks Resolver 116
Traktor collection 83
Transform, effect 135
Turntable Brake, effect 136
U
U46MK2 ,technical specifications 163
U-MIX CONTROL PRO 2 23
activate effect 133
activate loop 123
change sample playback mode 140
configuring for external mixer
mode 27
crossfader curve 80
enable/disable link between player
and sampler 138
hot-sampling 139
loading tracks 91
master volume 76
MIDI messages 158
move loop 124
pitch bending 120
pitch controls 94
select effect 133
select input for FX 133
select loop length 123
smart seek 102
start/stop sample 139
SYNC button 94
technical specifications 166
using cue points 125
using locators 127
Unmute sample 138
Use bidimensional FX 132
User sample directory, setting 139
V
Vinyl Mode, player 101
Virtual DJ database 83
Volume, sample 138
Volume section, toolbar 76
W
Waveform Scroll Mode, button 101
Waveform Zoom 101
White Noise Generator 135
X
X-Phaser, effect 135
174
MixVibes