VDJ7 Soft Takeover or Non-MIDI Mixer
Last edit by SuperAceMan, Atomix Productions on Thu 25 Feb 16 @ 2:58 pm
Q. The pitch slider, volume slider or gain knob does not work or sometimes fails to respond on my MIDI controller or mixer
When using a MIDI controller or external DJ audio mixer you may find that the on-screen pitch slider, volume slider and/or gain knobs do not respond or works intermittently. This may be because you are either using a non-MIDI capable real hardware DJ audio mixer (E.g: Pioneer DJM-300) or a MIDI controller that has a real hardware audio mixer built into it (E.g: Numark MixDeck.)
Otherwise if you are using a MIDI controller only (E.g: Hercules DJ Console, Numark MixTrack, etc.) it may be caused by 'soft take-over', which is applied by default to the following controls on most MIDI controllers:
Hardware audio mixer
Most traditional hardware audio DJ mixers are not MIDI capable. The mixer section of some MIDI controllers such as Numark MixDeck are also not MIDI capable.
This means that it is not possible for them to update the on-screen controls in VirtualDJ. For an external hardware audio mixer, this is also not necessary - To see where the controls are, simply look at the real knobs and sliders on your real mixer.
If your mixer does have MIDI capabilities but is not currently mapped, please see MIDI mapping an external DJ mixer.
What is soft take-over?
Soft take-over is a safety feature that will prevent any changes from being made until the slider or knob on the controller is moved to the correct position, as indicated by the on-screen sliders/knobs on the VirtualDJ skin.
This is to prevent a sudden change in pitch, volume or gain (As appropriate) that might occur otherwise.
A mismatch between the hardware and software knobs/slider positions can occur due to auto BPM matching features of the software and automatic gain.
NOTE: On some controllers, the soft-takeover may be implemented in the firmware of the controller itself. This is usually the case for 4 deck controllers with two layers (Buttons to toggle between decks 1&3 and 2&4.) Some controllers may allow you to optionally disable this if you wish. Please consult the user manual and/or contact the manufacturer for further information.
Pitch:
If you prefer to manually beat match, then to avoid a pitch mismatch every time you load a new song, you should disable the following options under CONFIG -> Options: Auto Pitch Matching and Pitch Reset on Load. Both of these options will change the software pitch slider position appropriately on song load, resulting in a mismatch.
Also, if you use the SYNC button or automix then this will change the pitch of the song as appropriate to match the BPM, resulting in a pitch mismatch.
Gain:
The amount of gain will change from one song to another, depending on how much VirtualDJ determined was needed when analysing the song.
In most cases, the gain determined by VirtualDJ will normally be correct and you should not need to make any manual adjustments.
When loading a song for the first time, make sure that you do not start playing it until it has loaded in full, otherwise the gain may be too high/low and will then suddenly 'jump' to the correct automatically determined level once song loading completes and VirtualDJ has been able to detect the correct value.
To avoid this, we would recommend pre-analysing your music collection - Please see: Pre-analysing_your_music_collection
Disabling soft take-over:
Providing that the soft take-over is being performed by VirtualDJ and not by the hardware firmware of the MIDI controller itself, then you can optionally disable it by editing the mappings for the appropriate controls.
PITCH - Change the mapping to either pitch or pitch_relative (To make relative adjustments from the slider's current position.)
GAIN - Change the mapping to either gain or gain_relative
VOLUME - Change the mapping to either volume or volume_relative
CROSSFADER - Change the mapping to either crossfader crossfader_relative
EQ_HIGH - Change the mapping to: eq_high
EQ_MID - Change the mapping to: eq_mid
EQ_LOW - Change the mapping to: eq_low
If this does not disable the soft take-over then it means that it is implemented in the hardware firmware of the MIDI controller itself. Some controllers may allow you to disable this. Please refer to the user manual that was included with the controller for details.
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When using a MIDI controller or external DJ audio mixer you may find that the on-screen pitch slider, volume slider and/or gain knobs do not respond or works intermittently. This may be because you are either using a non-MIDI capable real hardware DJ audio mixer (E.g: Pioneer DJM-300) or a MIDI controller that has a real hardware audio mixer built into it (E.g: Numark MixDeck.)
Otherwise if you are using a MIDI controller only (E.g: Hercules DJ Console, Numark MixTrack, etc.) it may be caused by 'soft take-over', which is applied by default to the following controls on most MIDI controllers:
- Pitch sliders
- Volume sliders
- Crossfader
- Gain knobs
Hardware audio mixer
Most traditional hardware audio DJ mixers are not MIDI capable. The mixer section of some MIDI controllers such as Numark MixDeck are also not MIDI capable.
This means that it is not possible for them to update the on-screen controls in VirtualDJ. For an external hardware audio mixer, this is also not necessary - To see where the controls are, simply look at the real knobs and sliders on your real mixer.
If your mixer does have MIDI capabilities but is not currently mapped, please see MIDI mapping an external DJ mixer.
What is soft take-over?
Soft take-over is a safety feature that will prevent any changes from being made until the slider or knob on the controller is moved to the correct position, as indicated by the on-screen sliders/knobs on the VirtualDJ skin.
This is to prevent a sudden change in pitch, volume or gain (As appropriate) that might occur otherwise.
A mismatch between the hardware and software knobs/slider positions can occur due to auto BPM matching features of the software and automatic gain.
NOTE: On some controllers, the soft-takeover may be implemented in the firmware of the controller itself. This is usually the case for 4 deck controllers with two layers (Buttons to toggle between decks 1&3 and 2&4.) Some controllers may allow you to optionally disable this if you wish. Please consult the user manual and/or contact the manufacturer for further information.
Pitch:
If you prefer to manually beat match, then to avoid a pitch mismatch every time you load a new song, you should disable the following options under CONFIG -> Options: Auto Pitch Matching and Pitch Reset on Load. Both of these options will change the software pitch slider position appropriately on song load, resulting in a mismatch.
Also, if you use the SYNC button or automix then this will change the pitch of the song as appropriate to match the BPM, resulting in a pitch mismatch.
Gain:
The amount of gain will change from one song to another, depending on how much VirtualDJ determined was needed when analysing the song.
In most cases, the gain determined by VirtualDJ will normally be correct and you should not need to make any manual adjustments.
When loading a song for the first time, make sure that you do not start playing it until it has loaded in full, otherwise the gain may be too high/low and will then suddenly 'jump' to the correct automatically determined level once song loading completes and VirtualDJ has been able to detect the correct value.
To avoid this, we would recommend pre-analysing your music collection - Please see: Pre-analysing_your_music_collection
Disabling soft take-over:
Providing that the soft take-over is being performed by VirtualDJ and not by the hardware firmware of the MIDI controller itself, then you can optionally disable it by editing the mappings for the appropriate controls.
PITCH - Change the mapping to either pitch or pitch_relative (To make relative adjustments from the slider's current position.)
GAIN - Change the mapping to either gain or gain_relative
VOLUME - Change the mapping to either volume or volume_relative
CROSSFADER - Change the mapping to either crossfader crossfader_relative
EQ_HIGH - Change the mapping to: eq_high
EQ_MID - Change the mapping to: eq_mid
EQ_LOW - Change the mapping to: eq_low
If this does not disable the soft take-over then it means that it is implemented in the hardware firmware of the MIDI controller itself. Some controllers may allow you to disable this. Please refer to the user manual that was included with the controller for details.