Problems with Traktor Scratch 2

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Niz Naz

Active Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Location
Barbican, London
Hey I'm hoping someone can help me out here..

Got into mixing a year ago with midi. Made sense to start digital as I already had an extansive library & not enough funds for vinyl. However Id been djing on vinyl aswell with a mate & love using tuturntables & so recently delved into the words of timecode..

I've been using the Traktor scratch 2 software for a few weeks now & can't seem to get round this big issue with the tracks skipping and jittering. I've experienced audio dropouts too.
I've looked online for solutions & have done things to improve my laptops performance, and although the problem has become slighly less frequent it still persists. Has anyone got a solution to this problem? I'm going to be djing at the union after Xmas so need some help sharpish..

My set up is two 1210s condnected to a traktor s4 controller.
Some mates have said getting a MAC book would solve the problem but not too keen on Apple dominating the world..but if all else fails wouldn't completely mind coping one.

Thanks for any input/help.

---------- Post added at 12:12 ---------- Previous post was at 12:10 ----------

Just realised they may already be a thread about this, so sorry if that's the case...on my phone doing this so didn't think to check.
 
To be honest, my mate had the same problem with his Serato Scratch Live & windows PC laptop, changed to a Mac and now has no problem... I'm not saying rush out and buy one, but try with a different computer at least before you resign yourself to the idea.
 
Here's a couple possible solutions to your problem:

1. Disable background processes and programs. Make sure you have disabled your wireless internet and any virus protection software. Also shut down that firewall while you're offline and DJing. You can also go to Run>msconfig and disable any startup programs/services you don't use. Some typical services include "Fast User Switching" (only needed for systems with multiple users yet runs anyways on machines with a single user) and "Real Update" (the auto update service for Real Player). Also, if you have Windows auto-update enabled, disable it.

2. Adjust your performance options. Right Click "My Computer" and go to "Properties" and select the "Advanced" tab. Click on "Performance" settings. Set your processor scheduling to "Background Services" and Memory Usage to "System Cache." While you're here, you can also go to the "Visual" settings and select the "best performance" option.

3. Invest in more RAM. If you're running windows in a 32-bit environment you can max out your RAM at only 3GB, but if you're using a 64-bit environment go all out and load up 8GB (2 x 4GB). Always shoot for the same brand as well as increments. In other words, don't have one stick of RAM at 4GB and then 2 sticks at 2GB to achieve 8GB total, just pony up the cash and get two 4GB's for 8GB total.

Back in my PC days these usually helped when I was experiencing latency and other audio related issues. I've since migrated to the Mac juggernaut and haven't looked back.
 
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Firstly, a mac is not essential for DJing. Quite why you'd want to spend £1500 on a laptop to take it into a hostile situation like a rave is beyond me.

I got hold of a second hand HP lappy for £250, its a dedicated DJ machine mind. I dont use it on t'interwebz and its clean as a whistle. Turned off some windows shite and runs smooth as a nut.

Check this tool out: http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

It'll measure your USB latency on a time based graph. Red peaks are bad, green is good, you get the idea. Do what lostinthesound states and measure all the while with this little tool.

If your seeing all green and your still getting drop outs, go into the driver preferences of your NI soundcard and tweak the buffer value so you have a greater amount of buffer space. It will cause more latency, but thats something you have to deal with on PC's. Anywhere below 15ms you'll barely notice.

If you do go any buy another laptop, take that little program with you on a USB stick. Run it on everything you like, i3 proecssors and 4gigs of RAM mean fuck all if the drivers they install are shite.
 
Niz Naz said:
Thanks for all the advice people. I will have a go at some of the suggestions and get back to you all when I can.
Click to expand...

Disabling your wireless card might work. I started on traktor and always had the same problems, after a load of searching round it turned out it was a problem that windows has with some wireless cards. So disabling my wireless card did the trick for me...
I wouldn't fork out for an apple just to run traktor, as traktor really isn't all that CPU intensive especially if you aren't using the in built effects, any semi decent laptop should be more than quick enough to run it smoothly. If you want to produce though... might be worth considering an apple just because logic is the way to go (apparently!)
 
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