Why did I have to Downgrade?

New to forum and quite new to digital age djing. Nevertheless, I've recently spent a great deal of money to upgrade my dj style and skills to the more modern type. I didnt want to be the type of dj that couldnt expand his horizons, nor get stuck in the 70's with my equipment/gear so I've been researching and researching tons of information over the past several months and finally decided to take the "plunge" into the 21st Century.
After researching and watching countless videos on Youtube, i decided to purchase the top 2 digital djing programs on the market. I spared no expense on my very 1st setup (as you can see at the end of my post by my setup list) however, I was very disappointed (putting it lightly) when I purchased the Z2 and upon setting it up, found that the mixer WASN'T communicating with the actual program (Traktor Pro 2.7.3) and after hours of trying to figure it out by myself and countless install/uninstall sessions, i finally called Traktor Support (which I also found a little less than enthusiastic about giving any kind of assistance, but,....I digress) and was told that I had to DOWNGRADE to 2.6.8 because my BRAND NEW and VERY EXPENSIVE mixer doesnt work "WELL" with the new program that it ACTUALLY CAME WITH! Are you SERIOUS?!!
In all fairness I will state that the downgrade version works without issues, but I just took a bit of offense to this happening. Or is it just me?
Thanks for allowing me to vent and I look forward to more positive experiences from my equipment as well as this forum.

 

You aren't losing anything by using a earlier version of the software I have a Z2 as well and i run 2.6.8, version 2.7 is really for the S8 and new hardware moving forward.

Now that you are getting into digital Djing a word of advice, don't ever run out to install the latest version of any software. Always wait a month or two to let things settle and do as much research as possible, almost all new software is riddled with new bugs and im not just talking about DJ software, upgrading your OS or other programs on your laptop can cause you problems in stability which is vital for DJing when things have to run perfect every time.

Don't let it discourage you this is just the nature of the digital age it isn't just Native instruments, serato has the same types of issues with their updates. The best way to think about it is like your cellphone different phones run different software and newer phones run newer software.

 

@DJKeo I appreciate your informative response my friend. And I'm no longer frustrated because my Z2 seems to be working seamlessly so far even though I had to stop to analyze my tracks (on day 3 now) but am feeling much better about it. i initially couldnt understand why, but it's all good now.

 

ok Fam', just wanted to give an update on how things are going with my setup thus far:

I was initially asked whether or not Traktor would work with my HP Pavilion All-In-One Pc and the answer is YES everything is working JUST FINE! I had to make some fine adjustments inside Traktor, but they were all pretty much simple ones. The most major issue was CPU usage kept peaking out on me so after researching that topic I made the following adjustments: adjusted Latency settings to 1024 sample/4ms, then I removed Remix screens, tempo faders, platter scopes,minute markers,cover art, phase meter, unclicked 'Show C & D" decks.
Keep in mind that I'm using the Z2 mixer which will STILL control some the items I "hidden" but now the program doenst have to "run" it needlessly. Here are some pics of my settings and a final pic of what my setup looks like. Look at how LOW that Load graph is tracking! Sweeeeeet!!

 

Still learning a lot, but for the most part it's coming along pretty smooth! Google+ NI Forum+ YouTube = SOME GOOD SHYT!
Lmaooooo! Hope this will help someone else!

 

ok two things one your tables are awesome!!!!!!!

2 that latency is way to high for scratching you want to be in the 10-12 range 28 is wow the delay has to be crazy. What type of computer are you running on what is the CPU? i3 i5 i7?

 

Thanks for the props! As for the latency settings, those were the ones that gave me the best consistency without cpu over-peaking and drop outs. I don't scratch I simply MIX so it's all good! The delay effect settings are still being worked out I'm just using these as a "starting point" recommended by another one of our fellow dj's on this forum.Finally the specs on my 2 pc's can be found here: http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c03524666-13
I'm still working hard on things because this is all new to me but I'm adapting pretty well thanks to all of you guys!

 

you are running on a PC right? did you tune up your computer to make it optimal for DJing? I definitely think you can get way down on the latency without sacrificing consistency and cpu peaking.

 

@ DJKeo Yes sir running pc. I haven't done any tuneups on the of itself because I wouldn't know where to start, but I will say that THAT particular pc is TOTALLY dedicated Traktor and Serato ONLY. No other software is on it My music is on an external hard drive as well. I use the 2nd pc for personal and internet usage. If you have any suggestions though, I'd be more than happy to try them.

 

*pc itself

 

https://www.native-instruments.com/...2/windows-7-tuning-tips-for-audio-processing/

here is a pretty good link to get you started. Also i would suggest turning off Wifi Lan bluetooth anything like that while dJing, your performance will improve dramatically if you are having issues.

Go into power settings make sure harddrive is on at all times and never goes to sleep, and make sure that the CPU is set to full power and not turning off or slowing down. Make sure USB never goes into idle mode as well. Those are the top 3 things you need to do

Once you get that out of the way go back and redo your latency you should get down to 192-256 range

 

Thanks again for the input. The link is for Windows 7 so I don't know how much will apply to mine since I have Windows 8.1 but I will definitely research and compare how much I CAN apply to my pc. Not being argumentative, because I'm respecting all your opinions and suggestions, but why is high latency a problem if it makes the program more stable for me?

 

you have to do the same things they are in different places but its all the same

 

@DJKeo ...I hope I didnt offend you by asking that last question. it was asked in good taste as in WANTING to UNDERSTAND/LEARN. Hit me back when you can. Thanks

 

Hahaha no worries, I always say tune your computer so that you can get the best out of your software and hardware whenever you play. I'm alot like you i started on records and I am more of a mix DJ I hardly scratch when i DJ clubs or parties. But because i started on vinyl i want my dj software to respond and feel like records and lag drives me crazy lol.

If you computer is running great with no dropouts or audio problems then great don't worry about it, but most people especially on PCs have issues and they are all related to some simple tweaks to their OS

 

Yes you're quite CORRECT! @DJKeo I'm totally in agreement. I'm currently reanalyzing my files again so it will be done in a few days and then I'll take the time to implement those pc tuneup tweaks you recommended. if you dont mind I'll also like to hit you up from time to time on your PM whenever I have a question or two, but dont worry, I wont be bothering you with crazy, simple stuff. i'm usually pretty good at researching before I ask for assistance. Thanks again for your efforts.

 

Yeah absolutely thats why I started posting on here I've been DJing for a long time and I have a PC so if I can help spread knowledge that I never had when i got started thats what this forum is supposed to be all about

If you need any help on anything PM me

 

@DJKeo and the rest of fam that have been keeping up with my progress: I've stripped my pc of just about any/all unwanted and unnecessary programs, and also I always disable internet connections (unless I'm having to upgrade Traktor), I've disabled all "hidden" and/or background programs or apps. I recently upgraded from 2.6.8 to 2.8.0 and thus far have ZERO issues, in fact, I'll have to say it's running pretty smoothly. The only 3 minor things I'm seeing is 1). the latency settings are still required to be set at 1024 and 3ms. It's just too unstable and "choppy" at 512, but this is just fine for my style because I dont scratch or do any particular turntablism "tricks",..I just MIX. 2). For some reason I cant seem to get the "remove duplicates from playlist" to work at all. It gives me the option tab but doesnt do anything. 3). Still waaay too many wrong BPM's especially for tracks starting at 111-120 (it always sets them at 55-68).
Other than those small things I'm progressing very well with this new style of djing. I dont want to become one of those "screen starers" so I set my mode to Browser so that I merely have to scroll for a track and simply go back to mixing by "ear" like I normally would do with my vinyls. I'm still having a bit of a time with learning the FX portion but I guess that will just take a bit more time. My 1st public function is a family reunion on the 20th of next month so I'm practicing at least 2 hrs a day (more on weekends) and making sure that any/all kinks are worked out before then. Thanks for all that have helped and continue to motivate me!

 

you can set the range for how your computer analyzes tracks that will help greatly with alot of your false BPM readings

 

I presently have it set at 75-115 since a good bit of my library is within that range. Should I set it higher?