Cueing songs with Traktor via ZOOM

Hi all!
I've been throwing a few events via Zoom since Covid-19 and while it's easy to share sound and DJ with Traktor over the interface, I'm not able to cue songs since I'm sending sound to the computer. Any tips on a workaround?

Thanks!
Phil

 

On Mac it is possible create "composite" virtual sound device consisting of Zoom and your sound interface e.g. Traktor Kontrol Z1.
On Win the same using software/driver ASIO4All.

 

Awesome, thanks! Going to try this now!

 

Good news is, that it should work on Mac. At least it works for my friends.
Bad news is, that under Win, it is rather more complicated.

I ended up using two computers. One with Traktor, the other with Zoom. Audio goes from S5 to sound card that is attached to "Zoom" computer.

If I used Traktor and Zoom on one computer, S5 and Zoom simply did not work together. Usualy Zoom blocked Traktor so that Traktor did not play songs... Sometimes they worked together, but mostly not...
Z1 seemed to work with Zoom. But somehow Cueing was broadcasted and I did not find way to stop it.

It sort of seems to me that Zoom works better with worse quality audio interfaces. The thing is Zoom uses WASAPI and probably good quality audio interfaces do not have hi quality WASAPI drivers as producers expect that they will be used with ASIO drivers, not WASAPI ones.....

Still trying find the best Win solution. But it works OK with two computers. I already broadcasted twice twohours's gigs and dancers were satisfied with sound quality. It is not by far perfect quality to my opinion, but acceptable....

 

if you're on windows, check out VoiceMeeter. you get a whole bunch of routing options

 

Thanks, I'll try it. It looks great. I hope, it will work with Zoom. ASIO4All did not work for me. :-((( At least I did not find the way to make it work with Zoom.

 

on my mac I can change audio set up to the zoomS2 agg device i created but in output routing it doesn't show as a drop down in headphone or master output........its not an option that appears.

 

It should work. Friend of mine uses it. Well, she uses Z1 not S2, but it should be the same process... She followed that video. And she is not a computer wizard by any means.... So, I guess, it should be sort of easy.
Have you started Zoom before Traktor? And S2 before Zoom? It may be different on Mac, but on Win it is the way....

 

VoiceMeeter looks interesting.

I wonder if it can be used to route audio between Traktor and Ableton Live???

 

I haven't tried, but most probably yes. It shows up as another audio interface.... It works with Zoom, but so far I prefer to use two computers and audio interface between them. It is what NI recomends for better performance, if one does not have super powerfull computer.

 

I think i already had traktor open before zoom. Today i started Zoom first as you suggested and the output routing does now show up. Thanks for the tip

 

Hi all - here's another REALLY GREAT GUIDE to DJing and being able to cue songs with Zoom via Traktor

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...6dR1MRDYJJDud-dksqx-w8A0HLzW5M&urp=gmail_link

 

It took a lot of tinkering, but I have now found a way to make Zoom work with the S2 on Windows

I just added the info to my comprehensive guide on how to improve audio quality in Zoom, check it out:
https://jenswazel.com/zoom-audio-teacher-guide/

PS: The guide is still a work in progress. I welcome any feedback, corrections or additions. Thanks!
Also feel free to share the link, I want to make this info available to folks who need it.

 

Great, I will give it a try. ))
I gave up trying run Zoom and Traktor with S5 on one computer on Win many weeks ago..... So far I use two computers. One with Traktor and S5 and second with Zoom and audio interface connected to audiooutput of S5.... It works quite OK, but it takes time to set it up and InterConnect everything...
So, reducing the setup to one notebook and S5 would be pleasant.
By the way, what is your experience with sound quality of Zoom service? In my experience it is acceptable in most cases, but there are the days when the sound is terrible.
UPDATE:
The guide seems to be awesome. Great work.

What I do in my setup (2 PCs) is that I monitor Zoom perception on second computer. I have one Zoom session on each computer (two different Zoom user accounts), one broadcasting and one as receiving client. I check the sound quality on the client Zoom, time from time.
I do not experience big latency (Zoom brodcast to Zoom client) maybe 50-100 ms (it is still possible to speak, more or less, without disturbance while listening speach lagged by Zoom). If I am connected by LAN cable and router is freshly restarted few hours before broadcast.
In cace using wifi on both PCs and not reset router before using it, the latency was more than 1000 ms. Maybe 1500-2000 ms.
So, latency may be reduced to almost acceptable level in cases when latency plays role. Distant singing, co-playing.

 

Thank you! Glad it is useful. I just made another update. Turns out I also needed to enable the hardware buffer for the virtual cable in ASIO4ALL, so I could reduce overall latency with the S2. Got it down to 23ms, which is acceptable for live monitoring the mic signal (previously it was 52ms, which didn't work well.)

 

Wow, that is quite a dramatic difference! I have a number of users who want to practice singing together over Zoom but can't because of latency. I wonder if 50-100 ms could also be achieved if the two computers are not on the same LAN?

 

Hard to say, how it would be on two separate locations. But, I guess, it could be even better, because if it is in one location there is double the internet traffic. Data go from ZoomApp1 to Zoom datacentre and back to ZoomApp2. And at the same time from ZoomApp2 to Zoom Datacentre to ZoomApp1. It definitely goes via Zoom Datacentre and not only on local network, as I had up to 2 seconds latency when using wifi and not reset the router for long time.
But, I did not perform extensive tests, just one. And I did not measure the latency, I guessed it. Simply, it was as low that it did not disturbe me to speak much. But the lag was noticeable. Still, big difference comparing few seconds latency I experienced few minutes before I changed local network setup. I was surprised. I would not expect such a big difference in latency just because of local network....
I play today, so I make some tests again. It could have been an exception the week ago.

 

I didn't expect that either. Let me know what you find out...

 

OK, I tested again. If I had the both notebooks on wifi Zoom latency from one notebook to another was about 1500-1800 ms. (Less than two seconds, more than 1.5 s). If one notebook was on LAN and second wifi, latency was about half the number, say 800 ms (it was almost impossible to speak to notebook 1 while listening to notebook 2).
When the both notebookl on LAN Zoom latency was noticeable, but acceptable. It was possible to sing/speak to one notebook while listening on the second. One had the feeling of ambient space, like hall, or so.

I cannot say, if that is feature of my wifi, or it is sort of general rule.... But at least in my case latency is pretty low if using LAN and rather high if using wifi.
And in fact, I do not use the cables between computers and router, but HomePlug adaptors. So, using real cable might be even better.
I guess you do not write about using different datacenters in your materiál. It also may play role. I use European Zoom datacenter (located in France - I guess - there is FR). In past it was not possible to change datacenter and default was China or US. So, it also may play role in latency. And of course quality of internet provider. I have a cable 120/20 Mbit.
And one thing in your guide.
When music goes to Mic input of Zoom (e.g. Traktor on Win), "Use Original Sound" should be ON. In that case input signal stays unaltered. I checked it today and sound quality is much, much better comparing to "Use Original Sound OFF".

 

Thanks for trying this out! It confirms that LAN is helping with latency, which makes sense. I personally have a 500/50 cable with 8ms latency to a Vodafone test server. And yes, the signal goes through Zoom I guess, so yes their datacenter proximity would matter too.

As far as "Enable Original Sound", it does 2 things: turns off 2 noise suppression filters AND echo cancellation. I found that when you pass music through the Zoom mic, you do need to turn off the two noise suppression filters on Advanced Audio settings, but you do not need to enable original sound. This leaves echo cancellation on, which I like in case there is a portion of my call when I have interactions with others. Did you try that too? Or did echo cancellation make your sound quality worse?