Making Traktor Audio 2 work with Djay 2.7 on iOS 8.X (procedure might work for other external sound interfaces.)
On a site note Quickly Backing up djay 2’s analysis data on your own harddrive or usb stick. is included in this fix.
Ok here we go
I downloaded and installed version 2.7.4 last Saturday on my iPad 3 retina iOS 8.1.2 and low & behold! All was working perfectly with my Native Instruments Audio 2 MK2 interface. Cueing using headphones and output both connected to the Audio 2 interface.
So finally I can use my iPad to work gigs?
With the festival season approaching that would be great news!
The next afternoon I fired up the iPad and Djay only to find out that NOTHING worked like it did the day before. There was some poor quality sound from the headphone output on the Audio 2 interface but nothing compared to how it all worked 20 hrs earlier. Native instruments Traktor was still working but I don’t regard that a valid IOS based replacement for the real deal. (I think Djay is as close as we can come).
Ok so the day before I used a fresh installation that worked. So maybe a preference issue? Using Funbox (its free to download, google it) I deleted the Djay prefs (they are located at
User Applications/djay2/Library/Preferences/com.algoriddim.djay2-ios).
1 make sure Djay 2 is not running on the iPad
2 start up iFunBox
3 navigate to User Applications/djay 2/Library/Preferences//
4 delete com.algoriddim.djay2-ios.plist Use mouse RIGHTclick to delete the file. See attached jpg for a visual representation.
If you want to backup Djay’s 2 analysis data of your music library you can just drag the folder named “Documents” from Applications/djay 2/ to your hard drive. Inside it there is a hidden folder named .algordiddim that contains the analysis data. When you have done a new installation of Djay drag the Documents folder back from your harddisk to Applications/djay 2/ on the iPad. Just make sure Djay is not running on the iPad when performing these actions. Your iTunes music library needs to be identical to the one you did the backup on. No music files are stored in the documents folder only the analysis data and samples are.
So how did I get the Audio 2 interface to work with the iPad?
The problem seems to be an odd combination of power, initialization of the audio 2 interface and the way IOS 8.1 handles usb in general. (yes the prefs of Djay 2 didn’t have anything to do with it but hey! you can backup your analysis data like a pro now).
If the iPad is fully charged there is no problem. If your battery indicates roughly 96% or less it will become an issue. The iPad will start the draw charging power from the Audio 2 interface and that seems to come at a price. The Audio 2 interface is rated for use with DC power 9V-20V. So we are all using those cheap 12V 1.5 Amp wall outlet adapters (I used one that came with an external harddrive). Well not so fast. When the iPad is charging it uses a lot of current and with cheap adapters the voltage will quickly collapse. Especially if Djay 2 is active. So you need a more robust power supply. This will also prevent you from getting humming sounds that can plague the master output. I use an 19V 2 Amp power supply that came with an Toshiba Laptop. No humming works perfectly even if the iPad is charging.
THE POWER SUPPLY IS IMPORTANT!
The Audio 2 interface will not initialize properly if it is only connected to an iPad and that iPad is running on roughly 96% battery or less.
Here are the steps to make it all work:
1 make sure all active application on the iPad are closed (double click home button and swipe them up to quit)
2 shut down the iPad (hold the top button untill turn off appears and turn it off). Completely shutting down might take a while a dim wait circle is visible.
3 connect the Native Instruments Audio 2 interface to the iPad (and connect the main output to whatever amplifier you want to use, the headphone connection to the headphones). Make sure you’ve read and understood what I wrote about power usage and adapters.
4 turn the iPad on and wait until it has started up
5 Confirm that physical audio volume on the iPad (right hand side top buttons) is all the way up and not muted. It turns out that the physical mute and volume buttons on the ipad are passed through to the Audio 2 interface (took me quiet a while to figure that one out).
6 start the music app (the default music app on your iPad aka iTunes). Start a song and make sure that you can hear it though the output of the Audio 2 interface (the green light will litt up on the beat if you don’t have the Audio 2 connected to an amplifier. You can use this as a visual confirmation). If the sound is coming from the headphone connector (and is muted) then you have a POWER issue. read above about the power issues! and start from step 1.
6 quit the music app (swipe up) and start Djay 2. Check in settings that the audio interface is recognized (picture 0. interface recognized)
7 Load a song on one of the decks and turn it on. Most likely you will NOT hear a thing. Confirm the Vue meter of the playing deck is having audio and the mix slider is toward the playing deck (so you should have heard the music play picture 1. mixer on).
8 go to the preferences and turn down the “Master Volume” down a bit. (picture 2. Master volume down a nodge)
THERE is your audio 
Master output works now and you can adjust the level of the master volume as needed. I like to leave some headroom for the extra bang so I usually put it at 85%. Leave the settings we will make the headphones work now.
9 Move the mixer slider to the opposite direction of the playing deck (so no audio from the master) then move it to the middle a tiny bit (so you can hear some muted audio from the master). (see picture; 3 Mixer almost off)
10 goto settings again and make sure under “Advanced” the “Show Cue/Mix Slider” is on (picture 4. show cue/mix slider) leave settings
11 goto settings. under “pre-cueing” put both sliders to the middle. (picture 5. cue in the midle)
12 when you put your headphone on your ears you might hear some dim sound. This is dripping in from the master output. On the physical Audio 2 interface box turn the headphone volume dial (the one on the right side of the box) all the way up (max cueing volume level from the headphone). Then goto the dial on the left side (the one that mixes cue with master output) turn it all the way up (meaning cue audio only).
Basically turn the volume of the headphone all the way up on the physical interface box (you can see the green light under headphone litt up) and then make the headphone audio cue only (the green light goes off again).
13 Now the Audio 2 interface should be properly initialized (that was what the turning dials in step 12 is for). In Djay press a playing deck’s headphone icon in order to cue that deck. That should work now but some master output might be audible as well.
14 Goto settings under “pre-cueing” turn the first slider all the way to the right (max volume headphone) or any volume you prefer. And turn the mix slider all the way to “cue” (left) or anyway you like it.
If you did all steps above all should work. In my configuration its 100% reproducible. (picture 6. my settings)
It all comes down to initializing the audio 2 interface manually and power regulations introduced in ios 8. I think Native instrument’s Traktor sends some kind of proprietary reset command to the audio 2 interface box in order to initialize the interface. Keep in mind that if the Audio 2 interface has no power (= not connected to iPad and no power supply connected) it will lose its settings and you’ll have to start over again. To cut back time before performing you can start with step 5 (so you don’t reboot the iPad) if that fails you have to start at step 1.
Just another tip:
If you are working clubs / festivals with serious PA equipment and you want to use your laptop/ipad/iphone then get rid of line signal levels as soon as possible so you don’t introduce (unintended?) noise and humming. I carry an stereo Direct Injection Box (DIB) with ground loop isolator with me. These boxes are cheap (Eu 45,-). Work without batteries and convert the line level signal to 2 XLR signals. My box is the SDI-1 by SYNC Audio Research and I can highly recommend it (no affiliation but donations are always appreciated).Keep your line leads as short as possible (and away from the power supply)
Now all I want is the ability to make multiple cue lists for different gigs.
cheers!
MixMasterG
twitter @ATGR_Production
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