help with cdj400

[midlandsmixer]

First of all hello to everyone, as you can see this is my first post, back in the day i used to mix vinyl on my 1200s then when my kiddies came along i had to give up and sell

but my wife being an absolute peach has just got me a set of cdj 400s with a dim 400 mixer

this is all great but i am having real trouble beat matching, i seem to get it in then lose it very quick, as I'm a cdj virgin i was wondering am i doing the right thing, i am setting up the bpm to match each side bringing in the other channel on a correct beat but again lose the mix very quick, I'm also having trouble cueing tracks ( think its going to take me a while to adjust to the digital decks)


can anyone point me in the right direction for advice or does anyone know of any threads that may help me, there are so many buttons on these things its insane---bring back the old technics a lot less to contend with

anyway guys i would appreciate any advice or help as i do not want to give up these as my love for music is still massive


one last question wheres the best place to buy my house/dance cds

cheers

[midlandsmixer]

just to add - I'm a little confused do i need to get the temp MT to match as well as the BPM to get it 2 mix correctly? and also when ever i cue a track it goes back to the very start of the track???? have i got a setting incorrect on the cdj?

[Andrew B]

Welcome to the forums!

If you're used to vinyl, the easiest way is to just treat them like turntables. Put them in Vinyl mode and just cue like you would cue a record: press play, beatmatch, find a cue point, and release. You're overcomplicating things. Ignore the BPM counters, just use your ears.

[midlandsmixer]

Welcome to the forums!

If you're used to vinyl, the easiest way is to just treat them like turntables. Put them in Vinyl mode and just cue like you would cue a record: press play, beatmatch, find a cue point, and release. You're overcomplicating things. Ignore the BPM counters, just use your ears.

ok thanks dude...jut wanted to get the hang of the extra aids as well, after all isn't that one of the reasons why the function is there for you top see to help

but many thanks for reply, just can't get used to the jog wheel, i don't suppose you would no why when i cue it always goes back to the start of the track, its only happening on one cdj, have i got a button maybe pressed or setting that needs changing?

[Irrational_Fear]

With the CDJs if you press the CUE button while the track is PAUSED it will set a cue point at that exact spot. So you could pause the track near the start of the first beat, move the jog-wheel to get it right on the beat (as you would on a turntable) then press CUE and it will set a cue point at that spot. Once the cue-point is set, anytime whilst the track is playing you can press CUE and it will return instantly to that cue point you set.

By default the cue point will be the start of the track, so just follow the above to set the cue point on the first beat (or where-ever).

The way to think of it;

-Press CUE whilst the track is PAUSED to set a cue-point.

-Press CUE whilst the track is PLAYING to return to a set cue-point (or the start of the track if none have been set)

Takes a bit of getting used to at first (and can be frustrating), but quickly becomes second nature!

I'm speaking from experience of the CDJ900s but I'm pretty certain the cueing is the same on the 400s (and in fact the whole Pioneer range).

As for the bpm- the counters only give you a rough guide. For instance, on the 10% pitch resolution the bpm will go up/down in 0.05% increments. Therefore you if have the track set to 130bpm for example, you could feasibly move the pitch up & down a fair way before it changed to either 131 or 129bpm. For this reason, use the counter as a guide then fine tune the speed with your ears as you would do on a turntable. Oh, and I personally don't use the master tempo feature- it's designed to keep the pitch of the track the same while adjusting the speed, but I find that when it's engaged the players have a hard time staying at a fixed bpm (it seems to generate a slight 'wobble'). This obviously causes serious problems with mixing! Turn it off and there's no problem.

I hope some of that is of use!

[midlandsmixer]

With the CDJs if you press the CUE button while the track is PAUSED it will set a cue point at that exact spot. So you could pause the track near the start of the first beat, move the jog-wheel to get it right on the beat (as you would on a turntable) then press CUE and it will set a cue point at that spot. Once the cue-point is set, anytime whilst the track is playing you can press CUE and it will return instantly to that cue point you set.

By default the cue point will be the start of the track, so just follow the above to set the cue point on the first beat (or where-ever).

The way to think of it;

-Press CUE whilst the track is PAUSED to set a cue-point.

-Press CUE whilst the track is PLAYING to return to a set cue-point (or the start of the track if none have been set)

Takes a bit of getting used to at first (and can be frustrating), but quickly becomes second nature!

I'm speaking from experience of the CDJ900s but I'm pretty certain the cueing is the same on the 400s (and in fact the whole Pioneer range).

As for the bpm- the counters only give you a rough guide. For instance, on the 10% pitch resolution the bpm will go up/down in 0.05% increments. Therefore you if have the track set to 130bpm for example, you could feasibly move the pitch up & down a fair way before it changed to either 131 or 129bpm. For this reason, use the counter as a guide then fine tune the speed with your ears as you would do on a turntable. Oh, and I personally don't use the master tempo feature- it's designed to keep the pitch of the track the same while adjusting the speed, but I find that when it's engaged the players have a hard time staying at a fixed bpm (it seems to generate a slight 'wobble'). This obviously causes serious problems with mixing! Turn it off and there's no problem.

I hope some of that is of use!

Thankyou for taking the time to explain that, much appreciated i seem to be getting more familiar the more i use them, but the MT Tip is a good one thanks dude

[DJ Nutty]

Yeah master tempo on cdjs aint great, and it messes with the transients of the kicks sometimes