Cueing songs with Traktor via ZOOM

Hi, not sure what was my yeaterdays setup. :-( I had switched off everything as you suggest, weeks ago. But when checking today, it was switched to auto. :-( I remember that Zoom installed itself yesterday, so maybe it was already switched to auto, when I tried yesterday. Not, sure.
But, it seems to me that I tried "Enable Original Sound" in past and the sound was better (with noice supression off), but may be wrong and it was about the same.... I will try next days....
I use headphones, so I do not need echo cancelation and "Enable Original Sound" works best for me anyway. I see, whether it is on or off. And it is easy to toggle it Off in case I feel I temporarily need echo cancelation.

 

I did some research and found that that "feedback" and "echo", while related, are very different: https://ivci.com/audio-feedback-vs-echo-whats-the-difference. So you using headphones prevents feedback (your mic being amplified through your local speakers), but not echo (your voice being echo'd on the other end). Thus, I recommend to not turn off Zoom's echo cancellation unless all other participants in a call are muted...

 

You are right. Anyway, I will check if "Enable Original Sound" really sounds better, or not, when the rest is set as you suggest. I want as good sound quality as possible. Others are muted during dancing session and cannot unmute. And when speaking in group no problém to switch it to "Original Sound Off". It is one click on the screen.
I let you know, if the sound is better, or not.

 

Hi all, I've spent the last 10 weeks DJing on Facebook Live and it's done my head in. I

know I could buy an interface, or use OBS/Twitch. There are also other devices that have a good multi stream capability as well.

What I really wanted was a few hops as possible. Ultimately what you need is SoundFlower from Github which is basically aggregates the audio feed from Traktor and Zoom recognises this feed. This video explains the how

 

You don't need SoundFlower. Just create an aggregate device. Please see section "Example: Traktor Pro (macOS)" in my Zoom Audio Guide: https://jenswazel.com/zoom-audio-teacher-guide/

 

Thank you for putting together such a comprehensive guide! Unfortunately I don't see ZoomAudioDevice in the device list.

 

You're welcome! ZoomAudioDevice is installed the first time you share computer sound in Zoom.

 

So, I have tested Zoom and my opinion is that there must be some extensive sound processing even if only Echo cancelation is On (Auto). :-(

Making Use Original sound active makes significant improvement to the sound. At least for my ears. I cannot describe, what Zoom does to the sound if there Use Original Sound is not active, but it does something on transients I guess and higher frequencies sound sort of strange.
It is well audible if you listen to sounds of sea waves, for example.
Do try it yourself, and you'll see. If you have a second computer or even smarphone it is easy.

 

Good inquiry! So how are you sharing the sound? I assume you are piping it into the Zoom microphone (where "original sound" would apply) as opposed to "share computer sound"?

 

,Yes, Zoom microphone. If using Zoom microphone for sharing or playing music, I would recomend to use Original Sound. When speaking one may switch it to Original Sound Off, so that echo cancelation takes effect.

 

Great. I changed my Zoom audio guide to recommened turning on original sound when playing music through Zoom microphone. I am also still hoping to find a way to route Traktor through share computer sound, but haven't succeeded yet. If you come up with something, please let me know!

 

Well, I gave up long time ago. I even do not use a single computer. I haven't tried the setup from your guide, yet. But at the end I feel comfortable using two maschines and I would do so even if I have managed to run Traktor and broadcasting Zoom on one computer. I would need second one to have a receiving Zoom for monitoring broadcast quality and for check if the sound broadcasted is on apropriate levels (No clipping or too low levels). I use Win mixer app to see receiving levels.
So, if I need two computers anyway, there is not much motivation to search for Zoom&Traktor on one computer. I use NI Komplete Audio 2 as audio interface between "Traktor computer" and "Zoom computer". I také audio output from NI Traktor S5 connect it to audioinputs of NI KA2 and feed it to microphone input of "Zoom computer". (I just need to find out how to make NI KA2 to send input stereo as stereo and not make it mono. So far I haven't found how to pan left input channel to left and right to right. :-( The both channels are moved to center, making mono from stereo....)

 

I found that Zoom by default sends mono instead stereo!!!!!!! :-( At least from the microphone. It is possible that Share Screen sends stereo, cannot check it.
So, it seems that I was broadcasting in mono for almost two months! :-( Actually, no-one complained. I do not have your guide at hand, so I do not know if you have covered it there.

To enable stereo, one has to enable it first on Zoom web configuration page.
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004830406-Enabling-stereo-audio
And than, enable Stereo Sound in Zoom App audio dialog. (Web configuration adds modifiable option to Zoom App).

Finally the sound sent via Zoom App is almost like going out of S5. Most people do not have good enought soundsystem or headphones to hear the difference, anyway...

If connected to the router by cable, Zoom shows latency send+receive 25-30 ms. So it might také 30 ms from one Zoom App to another.
I've checked "Turn on Original Sound" again and it makes significant difference if broadcasting stereo and even higher difference if broadcasting mono.

 

Yes, the stereo question is covered in my guide https://jenswazel.com/zoom-audio-teacher-guide/

Two notes:
- It does not matter whether participants have checked Enable Stereo Sound on their end. As soon as you enable it on your end, participants will hear a stereo signal.
- Make sure that your microphone is either sending a stereo signal, or that you set your mic to mono in your DJ program. Otherwise, participants will hear your voice only on one side,

 

It seemed to me I might read it in your guide about stereo. I probably forgot to set it up in Zoom after that, or Zoom has reset the settings to default since then, or I set it up on wrong Zoom account (I have two.). Now I know and check if stereo goes throw every time.

It still surprises me, that "Use Original Sound" has such a significant influence oin resulting sound... So far, I am finaly quite satisfied with Zoom music sound quality.

 

Back to Zoom DJing..... Corona hit the road, again.... :-(

Zoom has evolved quite a great deal to support better sound quality. What I found, it broadcasts stereo only if "Use Original Sound" is used, mono otherwise. And Stereo has to be ticked in Audio Extended setup.

The sound quality is fairly good. Not perfect, but average user with average soundsystem and average ears cannot complain at all....

 

Yes, from my new and updated Zoom Audio Guide that now includes all the new features (https://jenswazel.com/zoom-audio-guide/):

"NOTE: Use stereo audio also applies when sharing computer sound, and even then only gets turned on when you click Turn on Original Sound during the meeting. This is a bit confusing, since the other options - Disable echo cancellation and High fidelity music mode - only apply to the microphone."

 

Well, the worst, in my opinion, is that Stereo has to be activated somewhere deep on Zoom web configuration pages. :-( I do not understand, why it is not in aplication's UI by default.

I feel really embarrassed, that it took me two months of using Zoom for dancing sessions to notice that the broadcast is mono. :-( I probably understand the developer's intention behind it (avoid inexperienced user to switch it to stereo and have problems with bandwitch/quality/dropouts and so on.....). But still, something like warning that stereo means more data and should be used mostly for music and sparsely/not at all for speach, would do.

With the new datacenter in Germany the latency (when wired) is about 30-50 ms. Well, it is what Zoom presents, it seems to me be more. Maybe Zoom presents latency from datacenter to Zoom, not Zoom to Zoom. It is acceptably possible to speak to brodcasting Zoom while listening to own voice from receiving Zoom on other computer. But the delay is noticeable, of course...