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Thread: Numark M6 USB 4 channel mixer - use with serato and turntables?

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    Numark M6 USB 4 channel mixer - use with serato and turntables?

    Hi there!

    I'm an old DJ that's been on and off of it for the past 25 years or so and I'm looking to "update" myself technologically.

    I currently play with 2 technics turntables, CDJs (pioneer CDJ 850s) and a Numark M6 USB 4 channel mixer.

    I recently used serato (sorry, new to this stuff) at a friend's place, and I'd like to get myself hooked up to it so that I can use MP3s from my collection and manipulate them via my pioneer CDJs 850.

    Could someone tell me if this would be possible, or whether my equipment is too old for this? I've tried to do some research online but can't seem to find anything. The idea is to be able to play vinyl and mix it with MP3s via serato and vice versa. I'm over uploading MP3s onto USB keys and burning, CDs, etc. ha!

    Any help would be much appreciated!!

    Thx so much.

  2. #2
    According to the Serato DJ site, your decks are officially supported via HID interface. So you can control Serato DJ Pro just by connecting a USB cable from them to your laptop.

    https://serato.com/dj/hardware/pioneer-cdj-850

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    Quote Originally Posted by light-o-matic View Post
    According to the Serato DJ site, your decks are officially supported via HID interface. So you can control Serato DJ Pro just by connecting a USB cable from them to your laptop.

    https://serato.com/dj/hardware/pioneer-cdj-850
    Thx so much! I read this as well, but the idea would be to mix in vinyl as well (from a physical mixer), in addition to MP3s via the CDJs also plugged into the physical mixer.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by mista View Post
    Thx so much! I read this as well, but the idea would be to mix in vinyl as well (from a physical mixer), in addition to MP3s via the CDJs also plugged into the physical mixer.
    Well, you can definitely do that, since your mixer will have two channels being used with Serato and the other two will be free for turntables.
    The catch is that, according to the Serato site, you still have to use a Serato audio interface to output the audio from Serato.. the decks audio outputs aren't used, they are only used as controllers. So, if you want to be able to play two turntables, two decks from Serato, and also still play regular CDs sometimes.. that's six sources total. So on your M6 what you'd have to do is to share channels 1 & 2 with both the turntables and the CDJ's regular output.. and then use channels 3 and 4 for your Serato interface outputs. And that will allow you to mix back and forth from CD to vinyl to Serato any way you like. But if you want to mix let's say two vinyl tracks at the same time as a CD, you wouldn't be able to... But once you get into Serato you may very well not use CD much anymore anyway.

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    Quote Originally Posted by light-o-matic View Post
    Well, you can definitely do that, since your mixer will have two channels being used with Serato and the other two will be free for turntables.
    The catch is that, according to the Serato site, you still have to use a Serato audio interface to output the audio from Serato.. the decks audio outputs aren't used, they are only used as controllers. So, if you want to be able to play two turntables, two decks from Serato, and also still play regular CDs sometimes.. that's six sources total. So on your M6 what you'd have to do is to share channels 1 & 2 with both the turntables and the CDJ's regular output.. and then use channels 3 and 4 for your Serato interface outputs. And that will allow you to mix back and forth from CD to vinyl to Serato any way you like. But if you want to mix let's say two vinyl tracks at the same time as a CD, you wouldn't be able to... But once you get into Serato you may very well not use CD much anymore anyway.
    Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate it! I don't know that I totally understand, and I guess I should actually clarify that I would probably not be using CDs as at all, given that using Serato/MP3s would ultimately replace that function. What I'd want to be able to do is control the MP3s with my CDJs, the way I would normally do so if I had a USB key plugged in or a CD playing, but using the serato software. Is this possible, or would I have to do something else? Not totally sure I understand what "audio interface" refers to. I'd ideally want to do this via the mixer, and based on what you've mentioned it sounds like this would be possible. I guess what I don't understand is how the link between the serato software and the CDjs happen, via the mixer given that the mixer is a bit older.

    Sorry, total ignoramus here, but if you have the patience with me, I'd love any more tips.

    Thanks so much!!

  6. #6
    Greetings mista,

    Quote Originally Posted by mista View Post
    What I'd want to be able to do is control the MP3s with my CDJs, the way I would normally do so if I had a USB key plugged in or a CD playing, but using the serato software. Is this possible, or would I have to do something else?
    The answer to both is yes. It's possible if you're using a compatible audio interface.

    Quote Originally Posted by mista View Post
    Not totally sure I understand what "audio interface" refers to. I'd ideally want to do this via the mixer, and based on what you've mentioned it sounds like this would be possible. I guess what I don't understand is how the link between the serato software and the CDjs happen, via the mixer given that the mixer is a bit older.
    You can use your current mixer with an additional interface, e.g. one of the SL boxes or the DJS1 from the link above, otherwise you'll need to replace it with one of the mixers from the link. HTH

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    Note that you can control your mp3s with the turntables also and you won't need the cdjs at all.

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    Quote Originally Posted by stomp View Post
    Note that you can control your mp3s with the turntables also and you won't need the cdjs at all.
    Thx so much! And how does one control mp3s with the turntables? I guess this is done using "fake" records and then via the audio interface? THx! If this is the case, would I also see what the pitch/bpm is set at within the serato software based on what I had the pitch set at on my turntable? If this is also the case, maybe there is absolutely no point in having CDJs at all??

    And if all my assumptions are not totally off, would serato "auto detect" whether I'm playing a real record or a "fake" serato record?
    Last edited by mista; 02-07-2019 at 07:33 PM.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by mista View Post
    Thx so much! And how does one control mp3s with the turntables? I guess this is done using "fake" records and then via the audio interface?
    Correct, the "fake" records contain a signal, known as 'timecode', that communicates with the software, in this case Serato, telling it what the turntable is doing.

    Quote Originally Posted by mista View Post
    THx! If this is the case, would I also see what the pitch/bpm is set at within the serato software based on what I had the pitch set at on my turntable?
    Sort of, Serato displays the current BPM of the loaded files and this updates in real time with changes to the pitch slider, but also changes to the platter if, for example, you slow the record by hand.

    Quote Originally Posted by mista View Post
    If this is also the case, maybe there is absolutely no point in having CDJs at all??
    That's a matter for you to decide, I've personally never owned a CDJ but I'm not a club DJ so I've never 'needed' to own or regularly use one.

    Quote Originally Posted by mista View Post
    And if all my assumptions are not totally off, would serato "auto detect" whether I'm playing a real record or a "fake" serato record?
    No, depending on the hardware you're using with it, you'll need to physically switch from USB to phono or click on the relevant button within the software which changes from ABS (absolute mode) to REL (relative mode) to INT (internal mode) to THRU (through mode). The last option is only available when there isn't a physical switch on the attached hardware, e.g. on a Rane SL box. HTH

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spy View Post
    Correct, the "fake" records contain a signal, known as 'timecode', that communicates with the software, in this case Serato, telling it what the turntable is doing.



    Sort of, Serato displays the current BPM of the loaded files and this updates in real time with changes to the pitch slider, but also changes to the platter if, for example, you slow the record by hand.



    That's a matter for you to decide, I've personally never owned a CDJ but I'm not a club DJ so I've never 'needed' to own or regularly use one.



    No, depending on the hardware you're using with it, you'll need to physically switch from USB to phono or click on the relevant button within the software which changes from ABS (absolute mode) to REL (relative mode) to INT (internal mode) to THRU (through mode). The last option is only available when there isn't a physical switch on the attached hardware, e.g. on a Rane SL box. HTH
    Thank you so much, Spy. Very kind of you to answer all of my questions with such detail. I really appreciate it! Lastly, I'm wondering if there are any mixers out there that would autodetect the use of a record vs. a timecode record. I'd be willing to upgrade my mixer and get rid of my CDjs altogether if this is something that's out there. Thanks again for all your help!!

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