Help with Pioneers

hyperd4eva

H&M SCARVES
VIP Junglist
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Hi,

Recently purchased some pioneers and have always used turntables. Few little things I was hoping people could shed light on.

Is there a good way of organising tracks and playlists onto USB? for example can I create a playlist on usb in order of what tracks I want to play?

What is master tempo and what does it do?

I have been using vinyl mode to queue up my mixes - is this much easier using the queue and start buttons?

I find the 'adjusting' of tracks with the outerwheel bloody horrible! is it normal for them to feel so flimsy and easy to skip the track out of sync when making adjustments?

Also any advise on best practices would be greatly appreciated, It feels like I am learning to mix all over again. the one thing I like is the fact I don't rely on traktor anymore and for whatever reason I feel like im using my ears a lot more than when I was using traktor.
 
But seriously...

Use direct vinyl mode, otherwise its hideously unreactive & using the sidewheel on standard vinyl mode is like walking in mud, its horrendous.

Use cue buttons for start points always, mainly cus you can jump back to them after cueing the mix up really quickly & easily, plus they're fucking great for Garage mixing to smash out the DJ EZ style build ups/turntablism etc

Master tempo is fucking awesome, it basically widens the pitch so you can speed hip hop up double for example, or slow d&b down to half... Its great for acapella mixing tunes that don't necessarily sit in the same tempo/bpm range.

As far as USB, fuck knows... Use CD's like a normal person :2thumbs:
 
Have you got Rekordbox...?

My mates use that with their USB's, you can set up all your hot cues prior to loading them & create playlists n shit... Might be worth checking that out?
 
But seriously...

Use direct vinyl mode, otherwise its hideously unreactive & using the sidewheel on standard vinyl mode is like walking in mud, its horrendous.

Use cue buttons for start points always, mainly cus you can jump back to them after cueing the mix up really quickly & easily, plus they're fucking great for Garage mixing to smash out the DJ EZ style build ups/turntablism etc

Master tempo is fucking awesome, it basically widens the pitch so you can speed hip hop up double for example, or slow d&b down to half... Its great for acapella mixing tunes that don't necessarily sit in the same tempo/bpm range.

As far as USB, fuck knows... Use CD's like a normal person :2thumbs:

ok cool, sounds good! cheers buddy!

So if I'm on vinyl control mode and using the jog wheel on the outside its more obvious in the sound than if I was to use it in CD mode or whatever?
 
Have you got Rekordbox...?

My mates use that with their USB's, you can set up all your hot cues prior to loading them & create playlists n shit... Might be worth checking that out?

yeah I was going to give that a go tonight mate. just want to get a feel for the best way to actually mix on them really. weren't sure if Vinyl mode was a good way to go
 
Yeah I use vinyl, but make sure the style or play type is set to "direct" on the knob above where you select the mode...

Its basically the same as the switch you get on vestax crossfaders, to have the fader set to instantly cut in as soon as it leaves contact with one side, as opposed to a gradual fade in like an upfader, just the vinyl version of it if you know what I mean..?

Essentially on direct, you don't get that horrible & unpredictable lag when you use the side-platter to pitch chase...
 
I'm gonna move this to dj's/turntablism though bro, you're more likely to get the tech heads in there, being able to give you more coherent advice than my inane ramblings :lol:
 
Yeah I use vinyl, but make sure the style or play type is set to "direct" on the knob above where you select the mode...

Its basically the same as the switch you get on vestax crossfaders, to have the fader set to instantly cut in as soon as it leaves contact with one side, as opposed to a gradual fade in like an upfader, just the vinyl version of it if you know what I mean..?

Essentially on direct, you don't get that horrible & unpredictable lag when you use the side-platter to pitch chase...

ah ok .. not sure it has that mode on the XDJ's looks like its just vinyl mode or no vinyl mode!
 
Always on Vinyl mode, the top of the platter acts like vinyl, whilst using the side allows you to make more minor adjustments with greater ease than vinyl.

You can either set hot cues in recordbox (assuming the xdj has a hot cue function). If it doesn't you can set normal cues in recordbox, or on the go on the cdj. You use the memory function to call the cue points up.

In terms of organising tracks, it's hard. I have mine broken down into folders like classics, rollers, deep, liquid etc etc that I use to try and narrow down the field, but it's nowhere near as easy to use as serato or traktor in terms of searching for tunes.
 
Always on Vinyl mode, the top of the platter acts like vinyl, whilst using the side allows you to make more minor adjustments with greater ease than vinyl.

You can either set hot cues in recordbox (assuming the xdj has a hot cue function). If it doesn't you can set normal cues in recordbox, or on the go on the cdj. You use the memory function to call the cue points up.

In terms of organising tracks, it's hard. I have mine broken down into folders like classics, rollers, deep, liquid etc etc that I use to try and narrow down the field, but it's nowhere near as easy to use as serato or traktor in terms of searching for tunes.

Cheers mate! hope you are all good. I guess its a case of just getting used to the feel etc. of them then really. and knowing my way around rekordbox. when you use the outer edge do you adjust the pitch alongside it to compensate or is there no need?
 
Cheers mate! hope you are all good. I guess its a case of just getting used to the feel etc. of them then really. and knowing my way around rekordbox. when you use the outer edge do you adjust the pitch alongside it to compensate or is there no need?

Yeah man, likewise :)

Yeah pretty much you just have to get used to the sensitivity which in every way is higher than on tts.

Ermm it depends, if i've got a tune locked enough i'll just give the wheel a nudge to get it in, then if it drifts too quickly i'll adjust with the pitch as well
 
I'd like to add that Master Tempo acts as a 'key lock' which means you can basically ride the pitch to change BPM without the song changing in pitch (at least should be doing this). This isn't exactly accurate or perfect but sometimes does the job.
 
So I have started using Master Tempo a lot more recently, and have found that playing out pretty much everyone uses this, Its good how you can make adjustments without affecting the song but I cannot help but feel like it does a lot of the work for you.. I guess this is just Pioneers in general after coming from Vinyl. Anyone had any problems when using the MT ?
 
So I have started using Master Tempo a lot more recently, and have found that playing out pretty much everyone uses this, Its good how you can make adjustments without affecting the song but I cannot help but feel like it does a lot of the work for you.. I guess this is just Pioneers in general after coming from Vinyl. Anyone had any problems when using the MT ?

don't use master tempo myself as I like the older set kinda sound? plus it seems to slow down the tracks playing I find as it's not adjusting the tempo as much
 
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