I have Djay installed on my android tablet and want to run the audio to an old skool Vestax PMC 05 Pro 3 mixer via a splitter cable and RCA leads.
There are several reasons as to why I want to do this.
(1) I will have physical controls, crossfader, sliders, rotary EQ gains etc.
(2) I will have more control over what I hear through the headphones, ie Deck A, Deck B, master etc when cueing.
(3) The mixer is pre-amped so helps to boost the audio signal
(4) Using an external mixer will allow me (with a simple flick of the phono/line switch) to mix from Djay on my tablet to turntables and vice versa.
Unfortunately, there isnt a setting in the Djay app to split the audio into Deck A/Deck B. The only option is Cue/master. However, after changing a few settings, I did manage to get it roughly how I wanted it. These settings are as follows
(1) On the main settings page, toggle “split output” to “ON” and then have the slider set to 100% cue.
(2) In “general” toggle “maintain song load” to “OFF”
(3) In “mixer” toggle “FX routing” to “Pre-fader”
(4) In “advanced” toggle “pre-cueing” to “ON”
(5) Lastly, exit the settings and position the crossfader to one side (leave it there permanently)
The djay app is now ready to be connected to external mixer and works very well. Tempo will be protected when loading a track as a result of setting (2) and FX can be used on both channels as a result of setting (3).
I have been using the Djay app with my Vestax mixer like this for some time now and as far as I can see, there is only one problem with this setup.
Unfortunately the two SYNC buttons are not independent of each other when lining up the two tracks. They are when syncing the bpm, ie pressing SYNC A, syncs the bpm of Deck A to Deck B and pressing SYNC B, syncs the bpm of Deck B to Deck A but unfortunately when both tracks are playing, it doesnt matter which button you press as they both do the same thing. By this, I mean they both shift the track on the opposite side to where the crossfader is positioned and when using my external mixer, this shift is heard by the audience.
The solution to this is to press the play button on the next track and if the track is slightly out, manually tap the +/- buttons to line up the two tracks. Once lined up, you can then press the SYNC button to keep both tracks locked together and without the audience hearing the slight shift as Djay lines them up.
I do understand why the SYNC buttons are like this. Obviously when using Djay in the conventional way, it always protects the track that is currently playing but at the same time, I feel that, seeing as there are two of them, the user should be able to choose which button to press, effectively choosing which Deck to sync, despite the position of the crossfader.
It would be nice to either have an option like this in a future update or have an option for an external mixer mode as the app is already mostly capable of achieving this.
