Pioneer CDJs + Mixer + Traktor

In another case of having for example 2 CDJ’s 1000 MK3 and DJM 800 – what is needed to connect these with a laptop and efficiently use Traktor?

CDJ 1000 dont have the HID support, therefore it cannot be used to control Traktor

On the other hand, CDJ 2000 Nexus do support for traktor, all you need is to plug in your 2 cdj 2000 NXS to your laptop, theres a little setup thing you need to do in CDJ 2000 for both of em and thats it, you can fully control traktor from your CDJ, no need to plug the mixer to the laptop (altough you can use DJM 900 NXS to control traktor, but I dont think its that necessary, if you already hooked your 2 CDJ’s to it)

Keep in mind if you running Traktor in Windows, you need to download ASIO driver for your traktor, the reason is so u can split the sound from Deck A and from Deck B

Mind you explaining in a little more detail how would I need to connect CDJ’s 1000 in order to be use them along with Traktor?

Its more complex, first u have to purchased a good interface sound cards, then you have to twiggle around with the cable plus connection then you need to get the timecode CD’s, its a LOT of mess, be more convenient just do as Terry suggested imo

For any non-usb/midi media player (like CDJ1000s) this is the way to hook up a system:

*) You need a (certified in case of Serato or Traktor software) external soundcard with at least two inputs/two outputs.
*) You need timecode enabled software (like Traktor Pro 2 Scratch)
*) You need timecode discs for each player
*) You hook up the audio output from each player (RCA) to the input of the sound card
*) You hook up the audio output from the soundcard to the input of the DJ Mixer (same channels that the players were originally hooked up too)
*) In the software you set it to listen to timecode on the inputs of the sound card and to send the output from the decks to the sound card outputs
*) You load a track in your software deck. Now you can use your player to start/stop and do other stuff.

Greetinx.

I don’t buy this Terry I am afraid. Do you think clubs will ever move away from having CDJs (or whatever the next iteration of this is) together with external mixer set ups installed?

Having a industry standard style set up ensures that whatever DJ turns up to play they can jump on the clubs installation with minimal fuss. If every DJ has to brings their own kit, sets up in between slots, things will end up going t*ts up at some stage.

That’s why the current Pioneer system suits pretty well if the DJ uses Audio CDs that is fine, If they use Record Box that’s fine also, If they use Traktor that can be catered for and even Serato with the SL box is doable. Even someone turning up with iToys can link up in some way.

Now not every club is going to have the newest whizz bang Pioneer set up so if a DJ turns up to play and they are au fait with the the CDJ workflow and they have the appropriate media with them (Audio CD, USB drive etc) happy days play on!

To say this is the stone age seems a bit odd as it covers all eventualities, something a club business should be doing.

To the OP the minimum CDJ for HID contol is the CDJ900 , mixer wise you could take your pick if you run through an NI Audio 6 (or above) or a DJM 850 as a minimum with a sound card built in.

Personally I would take a look at the XDJ-R1, it does Audio CD, does USB and works with Traktor, the main thing with it though is it emulates the CDJ work flow without the expense and more complex setup.

Ok, it’s really quite simple. If you are not using a controller when playing out, you can pretty much forget about hooking up the mixer to your PC. Even if it’s technically feasible, you’d have to have all the right drivers and mappings and be able to know how to use midi functions on a DJ mixer (as this is hardly ever as simple as it is on a controller).

What you do is hook up the CDJs to your laptop, 1 USB cable each. The CDJs remain connected to the mixer with RCA or digital cables. All the features on the CDJ work the same as they would when you were playing from a CD or USB stick. If you are lucky the display will even let you scroll through the tracks on your laptop. If not, you have to do your track browsing on the laptop, then load to deck A or B. Once loaded, you can use the player EXACTLY like you would with a CD or USB track loaded. Nothing more, nothing less. For the rest you just use the DJ mixer as it is. You could use keyboard shortcuts or mouse to do things in your DJ software, but I never do. The mixers usually have a few FX if I need them and filters and EQ’s.

Wrapping it up: in a club with midi-enabled CDJs, connect them with USB to your laptop. Use the mixer in “traditional” mode.

Greetinx.

What Terry meant by the stone age is because, the setting up CDJ-1000 and Traktor is just that “stone age”, we Digital DJ embraced more to the simplicity, so why bother with the complicated setup, if the more easiest solution available

I just “dislike” (because hate is such a strong and utterly negative word) the browsing function on CJD’s with a passion.
To have only one rotary knob to scroll through an entire collection on your USB stick is just ARRGGHHHHHHH ! (the needle strip on the 2000s helps, but only a little).

So, I will always hook up the CDJs to my laptop if at all possible. Another thing I like better is pre-listening to tracks on my DJ software. This way I just have to click the track in the browser and it plays, rather than having to load it into a deck, press play, then cue then load another track. For this purpose I run a simple mini-jack to dual-RCA cable into a free channel on the mixer and use the cue button to listen to it. Works like a charm.

Finally, if they have USB but not MIDI capable players, I use RekordKrate on my iPad to find tracks in my collection. That will tell me where they are on my USB stick (because I know playlist for example) so I can search for it very direct, making the awkward browser function at least somewhat bareable.

Greetinx.