Hi, I need your assistance as I’m desperately trying not to quit on Djay pro as I like this app so much.
I have a Hercules Dj starlight and when I connect the master output and play music on my home speakers the high frequencies sound slightly distorted.
When I play the same track on rekordbox for iOS, having the same controller (used just as an audio interface in rekordbox app), it sound so much cleaner and deeper and I don’t understand why.
I’ve tried by disabling auto gain, audio limiter, headroom set to none. But still I get that slight distortion that I can notice.
Is there any way to disable stems in the app? Maybe the constant stem thing is causing the distortion and I don’t use them anyway.
I’m seriously thinking of buying a pioneer flx2 and start using rekordbox only.
Hi @GP_NS, thanks for the details about your setup and the issue. This is very helpful. Can you please share your actual iOS version # and djay version # though?
Are you using the exact same hardware and cables when you test on Rekordbox?
Are you using the Rekordbox app on iOS or on a laptop?
Is your iPhone also connected to power and charging using your original Apple charger and cable?
Have you tried using a different cable between your iPhone and the Starlight?
When I try rekordbox I’m switching apps on my iPhone.
I quit Djay, open rekordbox and vice versa. I do not change anything. It’s the same device same hardware switching between the two apps and comparing.
And rekordbox on iPhone sounds so much better.
But it doesn’t have the features that Djay has and it locks you in the Pioneer environment while Djay gives you so many options.
But still if the sound is distorting I can’t do anything but switch to rekordbox
The iPhone is connected to power and I’m using an original apple cable with an aftermarket brick from Baseus.
I’ve already tried different cable with the starlight
Thanks for the additional info @GP_NS. This is very helpful. Can you please try to capture a short video comparing the sound quality between both apps, upload it to your Google Drive/Dropbox, enable sharing permissions, then share a link to the video here? Thanks!
I can’t record a video as the distortion is very light and I don’t think it will be audible through a smartphone mic . Also I use my main phone to use Djay and don’t have a second device available.
I also enabled the limiter the auto gain and output headroom to -6 and I think it now is closer to the rekordbox output.
I don’t know maybe it’s just my idea but I think rekordbox output is cleaner. Maybe it’s the eq they use which is familiar to my ear as I’m playing professionally for years in all pioneer cdjs and mixers.
I must find a big sound system to test the starlight with Djay. On Monday I I’ll visit a studio and will reply about the sound quality here
Okay thanks for the additional info @GP_NS. Glad to hear you found settings that you’re happier with. Looking forward to hearing more from you on Monday.
Hi, I checked the setup in bigger speakers and I think it sounded fine.
Not perfect as the starlight sound card is not top quality but still descent.
I also had another question.
When I connect an audio interface in Djay Pro iOS, how can I check in what output quality the device works?
How many kHz, bit depth etc
That’s good to hear regarding the sound quality on bigger speakers @GP_NS. Thanks for letting me know. Regarding the output quality, this is set automatically on iOS and cannot be viewed or adjusted like on macOS or Windows.
I have encountered this same random problem (distorted audio) with the Hercules Starlight and djay Pro. It’s why I only use the Hercules Starlight as a MIDI controller with djay Pro.
The master and headphone volume knobs on the Starlight are both analog and directly control the voltage (meaning they do not send MIDI signals). When I do get the distorted audio in djay Pro, there’s some sort of interference between the master and headphone outputs. Pre-cueing through the MacBook’s headphone jack helped, but even then, the distortion occasionally came back.
The DJ2Go2 Touch never had this problem, I suspect it controls volume through MIDI/Software.
Confusingly, the distorted audio disappears when I switch to Serato, using the exact same hardware setup - and the audio distortion never occurs in Serato. When I switch back to djay Pro, the audio distortion will randomly come back. (Makes me wonder if the beat-matched lights in Serato (or lack of it in djay Pro) might be part of the problem.
This is all random enough (and confusing enough) that I gave up trying to troubleshoot the problem.
Thanks for sharing @Michael_Wisniewski. Are you creating an aggregate audio device on your Mac when you experience this distortion? Splitting the main output and pre-cueing across 2 devices creates an aggregate audio device setup. I’ve had several users experience audio issues when for example playing the main audio through their Mac built-in speakers while sending the pre-cue output to their DJ controller. If you are aggregating the audio on macOS, you could try adjusting the settings in the “Audio MIDI Setup” system app to see if that helps:
While djay is running and configured with an aggregate device, select the “Aggregate-Audio-Device” device in the “Audio Devices” window of Audio MIDI Setup.
Try disabling “Drift Correction” for one or both devices that are being aggregated.
Try adjusting the sample rate of the aggregate device.
Try changing the “clock source” of the aggregate device.
If that doesn’t solve your issue, I recommend that you send both the main and pre-cueing audio to the same device.
