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View Full Version : TUTORIAL: Traktor Pro broadcasting with Mixtrack Pro



DeeJay Psy
04-28-2013, 08:43 AM
Hi guys,
I am new to the site, and just wanted to share my experience on how to set all this up correctly, as i have just spent 3 days trying to get this working!
I'll explain first...
I have a mixtrack pro dj controller, Traktor Pro v2.6, a Dell Dual Core i6 laptop with onboard soundcard, and am interested in broadcasting to an internet server (in this instance, caster.fm).
I tried the simple way of setting up my server details inside of Traktor, but unfortunately, Traktor only streams OGG format, and not MP3, therefore it would not work!
After 3 days of searching and trying different methods, i finally found a solution that will work without having to buy extra leads.
Due to the mixtrack pro needing the Asio4all drivers installed in order to sync with my laptop soundcard, it was a lot more of a battle than it should have been.
I'm not gonna bore you with all the trial and errors i had, but instead, will show you the sequence i used to get this to work in the end...

First of all in my instance, i set up a free caster.fm account in order to stream over the net.
Next i downloaded and installed a program called VAC (Virtual Audio Cable).
I left the settings in VAC as they were by default.
Next thing is to right click on the speaker icon near the clock on your desktop, and select Playback Devices. Then make Line 1 VAC the default device. (You can change this back to your onboard sound card when you are not streaming)
Next i downloaded and installed a program called BUTT (Broadcast Using This Tool).
Once you open this program, in the settings, you will see options to add server and stream info's.
The server info you will get from caster.fm, or whatever server you are using to broadcast.
Also in these settings you will see an option to choose the Audio Device for the program. Choose Line 1 (VAC).
Once you've filled in all these details, leave BUTT running. You can just minimize it if you want.
Then open up Traktor.
In Traktor's Audio Setup menu, under Audio Device, select ASIO4ALLv2 (if you dont have it, download and install it)
Next to Latency, click Settings.
I'm not sure how important this is, but for me, i have deselected my onboard soundcard, and have made sure that VAC and MixTrack Pro are selected.
Close the ASIO4ALL config utility.
Next, click Output Routing.
Select Internal Mixing Mode
Output Monitor on my setup is (L) 11:MixTrack Pro 3 and (R) 12:MixTrack Pro 4, which is my headphones out of the dj controller.
Output Master on my setup is (L) 1:Virtual Cable 1 1, and (R) 2:Virtual Cable 1 2
Your setup my vary slightly, but this was mine in any case.
Next thing is to close the preferences window and load a track up in the controller and press play.
If you now look at your BUTT program, you should see the levels dancing as sound plays through the program via the line 1 input you selected earlier. You might have to click on the level indicator as the default is set to not display anything.
Now click the play button on the program, and if you have entered the server information correctly, it should connect to your server and start broadcasting.
You can use another pc, or i used my iPhone to connect to the stream and make sure it was playing.
There was a latency of about 10s from live to internet, but that is not an issue for me.
And thats it!
3 days of trying different methods in order to sort this issue out, but at last i can stream music live to the internet using Traktor!
I have found that the connection order is important though.
Once i start my laptop, i need to do things in this order...
1. Startup BUTT
2. Startup Traktor
Logging onto your server, etc is not important. It can be done at any point before you click the play button on BUTT.
If i startup Traktor first, i get no playback through the BUTT program. I dunno why, but it seems as though BUTT needs to be ready and waiting in order to receive the signal from Traktor.
I hope that this helps someone else out there, as i could not find a definitive guide on how to do this.
Let me know if this has helped you in any way, or if you have any suggestions or comments.
Cheers guys, and happy DJ'ing
Psy
:tup:

KLH
04-28-2013, 10:23 AM
Nice write up, I just have a small question...


I have a mixtrack pro dj controller, Traktor Pro v2.6, a Dell Dual Core i6 laptop with onboard soundcard...
Are you using an i5 or an i7? i6 doesn't exist...

Also, what's your CPU utilization when you're using TP, VAC, ASIO4ALL, BUTT, and broadcasting?

-KLH

DeeJay Psy
04-28-2013, 01:33 PM
Oops, my bad. A typo. I have an i7 processor.
Utilization sits at around 10-20% maximum during mixing a set with TP, VAC, ASIO4ALL, BUTT & broadcasting all at the same time, not to mention 100 processes running in task manager!
So really not even breaking a sweat to be honest...
:music:

DeeJay Psy
04-29-2013, 04:52 AM
Just in case anyone was wondering why this setup took me 3 days to figure out, it was mainly due to the right combination of programs/drivers running at the same time.
I was having major difficulties getting my MixTrack Pro to send a signal out on the USB to the laptops soundcard, and to send a headphone monitor out of the controller at the same time!
If i got the headphone monitor working ok, then it was utilizing the soundcard in a way that didnt facilitate routing from there, into a program to stream to the net.
Then if i got it streaming to the net perfectly, the hedphone ouput on the controller could not be selected in the Traktor program.
It was just a matter of finding the correct combination in order to get the correct input/ouput setting to be selected in Traktor's Audio setup.
If Traktor could broadcast in MP3, it would be such a simple solution of setting up the broadcast server settings using only Traktor, but unfortunately, they do not support this as yet!
Peace
Psy

KLH
04-29-2013, 07:18 AM
If Traktor could broadcast in MP3, it would be such a simple solution of setting up the broadcast server settings using only Traktor, but unfortunately, they do not support this as yet!
For commercial products to encode into MP3, the product company requires a license. I'm sure that NI doesn't want to do that... thus using an open source product.

-KLH