Anyone ever tried live streaming audio from their DJ controllers on a Mac?

Old Forum djay Pro for Mac
1

Why is this so complicated? Mac used to be the choice of artists for a reason. Now they won’t even take audio from your DJ controller.

I would be interested in hearing some ideas. So far it seems like I have to purchase another audio interface, which seems absurd. I have a Mixon 4.

2

the Mixon4 is great because you can use the booth output to use an external box like the Evermix Box or iRig Stream :slight_smile: so you can use the normal RCA for your amp and the booth output for your external audio interface :wink:

3

You could use Rogue Amoeba’s Loopback Audio to internally route audio from an app (such as DJ software) to another app — such as a streaming app. Their other product Audio Hijack can do this too, with an emphasis on recording & applying tweaks to an audio stream. Those two tools are far better than anything I’ve seen on Windows, and each of those on their own can accomplish what you’re looking for.

I use them to route audio from Djay Pro to some VJ software but they would be perfect for streaming a DJ session.

4

Theoretically yes. You don’t need both. But, I’m not sure you’d get much better audio. Plus you can try Sound Siphon for free for 14 days.

And OBS is open source and works on every OS imaginable, so I wouldn’t blame Apple… While it is a great tool for DJs, millions more people use it for other things. Like podcasts. Or YouTube broadcast software. It should recognize most MIDI devices

5

Again, it depends on what your definition of streaming is, how professional you want it to sound/look, etc. I mean, you could point an iPad or iPhone at yourself, log into Facebook Live, and hit “Go Live” but it will sound like hammered dog crap.

Or I suppose you could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on studio gear, to run your own server.

That’s what makes OBS so attractive. It’s free, open source, so you can tweak it however you please.

Regardless, you’ll have to have some way to output your signal to stream to the internet.

6

Lol could’ve told you that. That’s why I didn’t have it on my list.

Your best bet is to get a couple cheap webcams. Thought they are sold out pretty much everywhere. Back at Christmas, I got 2 Wyze cams. Technically they are security cameras, but Wyze issued a firmware update to use as webcams due to the shortage.

They are surprisingly high quality for the price. Plus they have magnets and 3M adhesive to attach to walls, controllers, etc.

7

Since WFH, I’ve had a lot of spare time on my hands, and researched a ton of options. Watched the digitaldjtips tutorial and honestly, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Especially when using your iPhone/iPad/Android as your main streaming device.

Something seemingly easy, is actually kinda complicated. At least, at bit involved. But ultimately it depends on the type of streaming you are doing. Are you wanting to add webcams? Or just straight audio stream to Mixcloud or Soundcloud?

I get what Jason is saying. Loopback is a nice way of fixing a complicated problem. But you won’t need that for your controller. It really is more beneficial to controllers lacking a second output, which is kinda the whole point of the software, anyway. You already have a huge leg up on a lot of people with more “portable” controllers", in the fact you have booth outputs. This saves you a huge headache getting great audio.

By the way, just for the single Loopback plug in - its $100. There is another similar app that does exactly the same thing, and costs 1/2 as much - called Sound Siphon. 

I will break this down to how I did it for ME. So, it may not apply to you, or others. What I’m using:

Since my MBP only has the 2 ports, this was a hurdle I had to get over first. My goal was to charge my MBP, have a port for my SB3, have 2 USB ports for webcams, and I lucked into this hub having an HDMI port. If you click on the link, you’ll see how it fits perfectly with that generation of Macbook. Especially since mine is Space Gray. Since one of the Thunderports is a throughput, you can charge your Mac and the hub, giving the hub all the power you need, without a bulky adapter adding to the already huge mess of wires.

Sound Siphon is extremely visual, meaning even an idiot like me was able to configure it, in about 2 minutes. Which kinda pissed me off, actually. Since I’d been wracking my brain for over a week on how to do it.

  1. Once you have OBS and Sound Siphon downloaded. Go ahead and start djay Pro like normal, with your controller plugged in.

  2. Then fire up Sound Siphon. It will basically ask you what you want to do. Which is create a “virtual” booth output to send the output signal to OBS (or other broadcast software)

  3. Open OBS and create your Scenes. If you don’t know how, or never used OBS, its actually pretty easy, once you get the basics down. There’s a crap-ton of tutorials you can Google, and some get really deep in the weeds and complicate things way too much for what you’re probably trying to accomplish. 

  4. Once you get your cameras (if you are using them) set up, add to your Scene. Click the “+” symbol and select “Add Audio Input Capture”. If everything is set up correctly, you’ll be able to see “Sound Siphon” as one of your drop down menu selections. Click on Sound Siphon. Click Add to Scene.

  5. Go back to djay Pro. Cue up a song and hit play. 

  6. Go back to OBS. Again, if everything is done correctly, you’ll see “Audio Input Capture” in the mixer section (see attached screenshot), and you SHOULD see the signal levels coming from djay Pro/your controller. 
    At this point, there are some settings you’ll have to adjust for streaming, namely the stream key, and link to where you’ll be streaming. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, click “Custom”, type in the link and the stream key that site will give you. On the bottom right of OBS, there is a preview button, record button and a live stream button. When you are ready to stream, go LIVE. 

Its best to have a secondary device (phone, tablet, another computer) to keep an eye on the stream. Doing it from the same laptop you’re DJing from will yield less-than-desirable results, and could ultimately crash your stream. 

Adding cameras is dead simple, as is adding video through the HDMI port. You can set OBS to auto switch camera angles, or you can do it manually. Plus there are like a 1000 ways you can set hotkeys to do this - probably from a secondary keypad, or separate computer altogether. 

Is this the only way to do it? NO. Did it work for me and what I wanted to accomplish? ABSOLUTELY.

Now, avoiding getting your stream blocked, is another story, entirely. MixCloud Pro with streaming video is in Beta stage, so while it does work, its a little buggy. You’re on your own with FB, or other social media outlets. 

Hope this helps. Feel free to HMU if you have any questions. Have a good strong stream!

8

Just bought one… I can suggest a website that probably has stocks since ik media (producer) has not… BTW i m streaming without usining it via ons on mac with an audio loop software add on… fell free to contact me directly ing.camporese@gmail.com

9

The iRig is what I’m currently trying to get. Sold out everywhere – but the website says it’s on backorder.

I love the Mixon 4 – cheap, crappy buttons and all.

10

Thanks for the reply.

Would that still maintain all the functionality of the DJ controller?

11

Thanks for posting this. 

You would think that OBS would simply recognize one’s DJ controller as a source and everyone lives happily ever after. I guess that’s Apple’s doing though.

I want to keep it simple: no mic, one camera shot of the decks. But I DO want the best sound I can afford (a couple hundred bucks)

If I get another interface like the iRig Stream (to my iphone) I don’t need to use Sound Siphon, correct?

12

Do I even need OBS?

13

Thanks for all the feedback. After some experimentation I’ve decided to go with an iRig Stream and OBS, using just my cellphone camera (Epoccam) and my laptop’s camera. 

OBS isn’t as daunting as it seems after you spend a while fiddling with it.

14

Update: don’t use Epoccam, it’s a POS.

15

Oddly, it works fine via WiFi but the USB won’t maintain a connection. 

16