I am trying Djay Pro AI 4 (Premium) with an Akai AMX mixer. This mixer is midi class compliant btw.
I have a Macbook, an iPad and an iPhone.
On the Mac I connect the mixer with an USB-A/C-adapter and I get sound through the mixer output and its headphone jack/pre-cueing. It works fine.
However on iPhone and iPad it does not work. I first tried the Apple Camera Adapter with an iPad charger + AMX and Djay does not play any sound (only if I set sound output to my iPad/iPhone, but I want it through the mixer of course). I then changed the iPad charger to a stronger charger which could output 3A+ and now I kind of get sound through the AMX output and headphones if my iDevice is set to internal or external in Djay BUT the sound is extremely distorted and sounds completely broken, i.e. not usable.
Any ideas? Why would this mixer work with Djay on Mac but not iPhone or iPad?
Also, if it will simply not work on iOS, is there any chance that it might be fixed through some update or should I just look for another mixer?
I don’t have that controller, but it’s sounding like it’s not getting enough power over the USB connection when connecting to the iPad. It looks like the AMX doesn’t have an external power supply option and can only be powered by USB. Are you using an official Apple camera connection kit with the charging port on it? I’ve used 3rd party camera connection kits before and some simply don’t work. If you are using the official Apple one, I’d suggest trying a higher wattage Apple charger like the one that came with your MacBook.
Hello @Slak_Jaw - thank you for your ideas! Yes, I do use the official Apple camera connector (the “big” one with lightning on the iOS device side and 1 female USB-A + 1 female lightning going out).
I just tried with the original Macbook charger as you suggested and the sound problem is the exact same as with the other, first charger I tried (which actually outputs more power than the Macbook one). The Macbook charger says 30W with up to 3A, the other charger says 65W with up to 3.25A. I use an official Apple cable for power (lightning on one side, USB-C on the other). The iPhone is a 13 Mini and the iPad a 2018 base model.
You’re right about the AMX being completely USB powered, I would just be surprised if it actually needs even more power than what I have tried so far … could that be?
Or could it be that the iPhone/iPad are somehow incompatible with the soundcard in the AMX?
It could very well be so. Thank you for your help @Slak_Jaw!
I’ll (rudely) ping @NathanielAlgo and @Cam_A as you are Algoriddim staff to ask if you have a database of compatible devices? Can you confirm that the Akai AMX soundcard is not compatible with specifically Djay on iOS/iPadOS? As described above it works fine on MacOS.
I wouldn’t know where else to ask, since I believe there is no longer any manufacturer support provided for this device (released in 2014/15, i.e. “old” in this fast moving world). All I know is that it is USB powered, midi class compliant and natively Serato supported just like other mixers that Djay fully support on iOS. But of course there could be other issues that I am unaware of.
After some more testing I can only assume (with my limited technical knowledge) that the problem indeed comes from Djay somehow.
There is a lesser known mobile DJ app called “DJ Player Pro” for iOS which I tested shortly and … lo and behold, it plays sound through the iPhone → Akai AMX → speakers/headphones, unlike Djay Pro AI. So it appears it is not an iPhone/iPad vs AMX or a power issue after all.
It’s just too bad that nobody from the Algoriddim team answered in this thread, because I really would have liked to continue using Djay. I am very aware that companies - especially nowadays - struggle with customer support (I work in the area myself) but I wish there would be a bit more openness towards subscribed customers. At least just to confirm they have or have not tried it. Maybe it’s not stable enough, or has input lag, or whatever the reason might be…
Thanks, yeah, that could be. I don’t know how big the company is or what kind of resources they have, they do however have a massive list of supported devices so I just assumed they’ve tried it. Maybe it’s just not a company priority.
The problem is all the gear they officially support with iOS + DVS (which would be my dream setup and should be possible with the AMX) are all in the range of 1300-2600 Euros. Them also giving a bit of attention to gear on other price levels would be so so cool. One can dream.
They have a good list of supported devices, but mostly from a relatively small group of manufacturers who officially support them. Also, there are quite a few affordable devices in there.
Akai not being a DJ company and not officially supporting Algoriddim may be one of the problems, and the AMX being a device that was made for and supported by Serato may be another, on top of it being discontinued for quite a while now. I always wanted one as a relatively cheap DVS audio interface for Serato with a mixer included, but these days, even prices of “well-used” ones exceed the former MSRP prices, at least in my area.
Back to your point though, I would very much support your idea of a community-driven database of devices that are not officially supported by Algoriddim but confirmed working, maybe including possible issues of those devices. So I’ll follow your example and ping @NathanielAlgo and @Cam_A regarding that topic. This could just be a thread in the community here, with a pinned first post containing the list which is updated once in a while, so it wouldn’t be much work, and since being inofficial, it wouldn’t even be a liability for the company.
EDIT: One more thing: Have you tried a powered USB hub between the Camera connection kit and the AMX? I mean, it should not be a power issue if it works with DJ Player Pro, but I have seen weirder things happen, so it could be worth a shot.
As far as I know (and I could absolutely be wrong here), the Camera Connection Kit’s power socket is just for charging the iDevice, not powering the USB device connecting to it.
There certainly are for Djay, but if you want DVS support + iOS the cheapest mixer starts at around 1300 €.
Edit: I just noticed the have recently added the DJM-S5 to this list, that device is cheaper.
Edit 2: Apparently also Numark Scratch. Very nice. Now add the Akai AMX, Algoriddim.
This is true. But being a discontinued Serato mixer is also true for many other mixers that they support as far as I know.
Yeah, it’s crazy. I am lucky to have one. I love the portability and how much is packed into this mini device. I just wish I understood why Djay on iOS doesn’t work.
I love your idea of a list of compatible devices and issues. This type of open database would engage the community and could help people who are looking at Djay but are unsure because of the subscription model. And there are SO many mixers out there, I can understand if Algoriddim can’t keep up with them all. That’s why involving the users would be helpful for everyone.
And thank you for your idea, I don’t have a powered USB hub but I will try it as soon as I can. I also don’t think that’s the issue but it’s worth a try.
I use the AMX with my ipad pro&iPad 6th generation and a USB hub. It needs extra power. I do not have a problem.
With the official Apple camera connection kit.
Hello @AdT - thank you! This gives me hope that there is a solution after all.
So to understand this correctly: you connect your AMX USB-A-cable to a separately powered USB-hub, and then you connect this powered USB-hub to the Apple camera connection kit?
Can you send me a link to the USB hub you use or tell me the brand/model? I would then buy that exact one myself.
And from the Apple camera connection kit you separately power the iPad via its own lightning cable?
PS: I do have a USB hub that I can power separately but its “out”-cable is USB-C (it lets me connection USB-A devices to my Macbook which only has USB-C) and the Apple camera connection kit needs USB-A so I think I’d rather buy a new hub than use some kind of USB-A/C adapter because I want to make sure it’s as directly connected as possible.
@AdT Also could you explain how your sound options in Djay look? Just to make sure I’m not doing anything wrong there. I guess Mixer mode = Internal and then for Output = AMX ch1-2 and Headphones = AMX ch 3-4 is right.
Thank you so much for getting back about this! I actually decided against using Djay for now since there was no reponse and I couldn’t get it to work and I did not want to extend my subscription for something I can’t use. Maybe if Algoriddim will allow for a free month or something again (which they have done before) I will give it another shot. But all these subscription models are really getting on my nerves so for now I am on other software which do not require subscriptions… I hope Algoriddim will at some point rethink this model because it is very cool software. I just can’t justify paying 50€ for testing something which I don’t even know if it will work for me or not. But thank you again for responding, I appreciate it. Merry xmas!
Hey y’all I bought a cheap adapter usb hub to lightning. Used the mapping from dj tech tools and it mostly works, except I can’t figure out how to output through the AMX. I see the channels but not sure what they correspond to. I attached a turntable to the 1 and it looks like it’s channel 1-2. That worked fine for a dvs . Just need to output somewhere. And I assume the headphone precue won’t work either. Let me know!
Update. If I put it to ipad speaker then back it will play through the headphone jack. but I still can’t precue and no sound is going to the mixer, it just acts like a midi controller which is interesting but not ideal.
