Linking Maschine with Traktor on a Windows Pc/Laptop

Hello everyone, I will go straight to the point : i own maschine mk2 + pioneer ddj sx mapped for traktor + traktor pro 2 + windows 7 64bit on a laptop. I want to use maschine simultaneously with my sx in traktor. I have made some progress using "loopbe1“ and other software acting as a virtual midi(since windows do not have traktor virtual midi, like the Mac). I have established a link between them but its not stable at all, it goes out of sync very fast, therefore i cannot perform or rely on that. What is my objective : to slave maschine into one of traktors deck ( C" for example) in order to be able to hear maschine sounds in my headphones(CUE) before i bring the volume up. If i purchase an audio interface like: "roland quad capture" (i mention this one because i found one at half the original price), would this help me sync maschine and traktor without the issues of the virtual midi programs (loosing sync). Also want to mention when i sync and slave maschine to traktor, the maschine's Play button stays lit(no control over it) and continues to play until i either mute the audio or remove sounds via step sequencer... Please if anyone could help with some tips, pointers etc. I would very much appreciate!

 

This topic continually comes up here, and I don't think people understand how much configuration is required to actually sync Maschine and Traktor as standalone programs in Windows. It can be done, but I think the biggest misconception is that you cannot do it without a multi-client ASIO driver app, such as Jack or ASIO Link Pro. The ASIO driver routing is probably the most complicated part, particularly if you are using Jack like I am. After months of trial and error, I have successfully sync'd maschine and traktor, with maschine and Ableton slaved to Traktor's clock, Ableton serving as the output host, Jack as a multi-client ASIO driver and loopbe1 for virtual midi tempo sync. I tested it out last night for the first time in awhile, and was surprised how well everything sounded and was sync'd up. I was only running 8-10% CPU in the Ableton and Maschine meters too.

Setting up Ableton (or your DAW of choice) as the host to capture Maschine and Traktor audio outputs is fairly simple. You just setup individual tracks for each, then route to the DAW's master channel. Setting up loopbe1 is fairly easy too. Once installed, you just add it as a MIDI Clock Sync port via Traktor's device controller. Setup in Maschine is simple too. After you launch Traktor as the host, launch Maschine and choose the "Sync to External Clock" option and activate the MIDI input for Loopbe1. This will deactivate Maschine's transport controls since it will be slaved to Traktor's clock. I've midi mapped the tempo sync and clock send outputs in Traktor to my Launchpad for ease of controlling Maschine playback and sync. The loopbe1 is not perfect by any means, as it can lose sync particularly when changing out tracks or jumping hot cues in Traktor. It also will not sync if the "sync" button is activated on the playing Traktor deck. I've found the best method is to only use the deck sync buttons for transitions to between songs, and then deactivating the sync as soon as the deck is "on air".

Now comes the tricky park, which is the multi-client ASIO driver routing. I'm not going to attempt to explain the Jack Audio Connection kit here. I'd suggest doing some google or youtube searches first to see what you are getting into. Jack is freeware, but its unsupported software that is quite old and quite finicky to configure properly in windows. There are a lot of people out there that will say to avoid Jack at all costs, but I can say that once its configured properly , it works very well in routing ASIO outputs and can achieve lower latency than almost any other driver out there. I would only consider Jack if you are using Windows 7/8. I'm not sure its even been tested in Windows 10. If you are interested in using Jack and need assistance, send me a private message and I'll try to help you out. The alternative is a program called ASIO Link Pro, which is supported software that is compatible with Windows 10, but costs around $50.

 

Thank you for your reply! I appreciate, so it is difficult indeed. I've seen a few videos where people connect maschine and traktor with midi cables, but with : Traktor Kontrol S4 which has midi ports. My ddj sx does not have, i can only use its soundcard. Thats why i had the idea of buying a separate soundcard with asio drivers and low latency that has midi ports so i can link maschine into it and route the signals between them. I had maschine for a while and thought its not possible and i was using it occasionally, when i saw once carl cox in a live performance using the kontrol s8, 2 cdjs and a maschine all together.

 

Connecting with midi cables does nothing more than allowing midi signals to be sent to/from each device. I'm not even sure what good it would be having Maschine's midi signals going into Traktor, since I believe all that Traktor can do with midi signals is use it for controls, or clock/tempo. Yes, you could use Maschine as a midi controller for Traktor, but I don't think that's what you are trying to achieve. Its entirely different if you want to send the actual audio output from Maschine into Traktor. That's not done via midi. In my case, I don't route one into the other, but rather route both audio outputs from Maschine and Traktor into my DAW *(Ableton9) and use a midi clock channel (loopbe1) for syncing those two audio streams as they arrive into the DAW.

 

Thank you, i appreciate! I wish there was more easier options to make traktor and maschine work in harmony together without a trillion configs and external software and whatnot.... just use a plain cable or a software made by NI themselves or a special soundcard made for that.. I will update if i find something. Cheers

 

No doubt. There's been a lot of people asking NI for direct integration of Maschine and Traktor. In my opinion, it would increase their marketability for DJs to use maschine too, but I think NI may have other priorities.

 

I guess my final solution and less stressful would be to route maschine's output in one of my Traktor's deck C or D so i can hear it in my headphones and sync by ear and use the "restart" button as an actual CUE button till the beats match together and raise the channel fader up when its sync'd. Except i don't know yet how to assign it on one of my decks

 

"assign" it with a cable
your ddj-sx has audio-input afaik

 

i've never heard of anyone getting traktor and maschine to stay in sync. getting the transport controls to work in concert is not difficult but the tempo drifting makes the setup unusable for anyone that wants the beats to be in sync.

 

J K how can i link them, my maschine has midi in and out and my sx has RCA and XLR. Unless there's cables that converts midi to RCA.

 

get a midicable to sync maschine and traktor over maschines midi-interface. (both ends of the cable into maschine)
get a 3.5mm jack-to-rca cable or solder one for routing audio from your laptop into your controllers audiointerface. or sum with some mini-mixer if offset is too high

 

Will try that, thank you for the advice. Need to check out cables at the local dj store. I remember once I've connected a guitar into my C deck using RCA and used the eq knobs and channel fader to amplify the sound if needed. Altho deck C was switched to accept sound from external source and route sound into my xlr speakers

 

I must be charting new territory then, because I've achieved this. Without any tempo drift either if the "on air" deck sync is deactivated and only using deck sync when crossfading, mixing or transitioning songs. Again, I've accomplished this using Jack to route Traktor and Maschine standalone outputs into the DAW (Ableton9) with Traktor sending its midi clock out to Loopbe1. Its quite stable actually with latency less than 17ms and CPU load around 15%. You have to be very careful with fx and plug-ins, however, as efficiency is the key to making this work. I'm going to start experimenting using Maschine as a VST inside Ableton to see if I can accomplish the same with similar CPU/latency loads. If so, I'll have multi-track control of Maschine with real-time synchronization in Traktor .

 

by "usable" i mean being able to perform a typical traktor dj set using deck sync, fx, loops, etc. if i weren't going to use those things then i'd forget about traktor and just warp tracks in ableton and play them there. that ain't my thing tho. anyways... good luck. glad to hear things are working out for you

 

Not sure why anybody would even bother doing this, Use VirtualDJ instead, you can load Maschine directly in a deck and control it like you would any audio file, but it is still fully usable Maschine.

 

Interesting, never tried it, i stopped using VDJ since 2009. It sure has its perks but i find Traktor more advanced and got used to it plus i bought it with license... I just want to plug maschine in deck C and have cue in my headphones and be able to use channel volume fader, thats all.

 

Interesting. Out of curiosity, I happen to stumble across your YT on this same topic. This is an intriguing concept of integrating VST instruments into DJ control software. But as a long-time Traktor and S4 user, its difficult to just jump ship and make the leap to VDJ8 . Still, it amazes me that NI hasn't implemented something like this into Traktor.

On a side note, I ran another test last night and was able to have two decks playing, utilize Traktor fx and Ableton fx, and sync Maschine with only 5% CPU load and no clipping.

 

Syncing is easy enough if you want to mess about, but just loading Maschine into a deck in VDJ is a lot simpler, the scratch algo in VDJ is now the best in the business now that Adion is the lead coder (DJD) and the skinning system allows you to make it look and act however you like (making it look and work like Traktor would be a fairly trivial task)
Don't get me wrong here by the way, i was a huge fan of Traktor, but the whole idea that you can only DVS with NIs poor soundcards and not RPMs and so on, plus add in to this the length of time it has been that remix decks stayed stagnant (Seriously, if you own Maschine then Tracktor should just load Maschine as a remix deck obviously) and the fact that NI only really have any interest in moving controllers forward and not the software.

It's just the same ol same ol
Maschine = Great but the software is out of date
Traktor = Great but the software is out of date

 

I feel it's the beginning of the end for NI right now for it's DJ/groovebox range. If they don't perform well at NAMM it will be the final nail in the coffin I think. That gives them around a month.

 

Actually i would say they are clearly on target for their particular demographic, they no longer see Maschine as for musicians but for groovers that will buy lots of expansions, and they no longer see Traktor as for serious Turntablist/Controllerists but for god posers who will buy a lot of stem based content from some other god poser.
In that regard they are right on the money and i suspect are doing extremely well