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Forum: VirtualDJ Technical Support

Tópico: Volume level setting
Hello, esteemed group.

I have a question regarding volume level settings. I'll get straight to the point.

I have two controllers: FLX4 and DDJ-1000. Previously, I was using Serato, where everything was simple – I just set AutoGain to 92dB, and the sound was fine. In Virtual DJ, however, there’s a bit more tweaking involved.

Here’s my current setup:

AutoGain: Auto + Remember
controllerTakeoverMode: Pickup
resetGainOnLoad: Yes
GainSliderIncludesAutoGain: No
zeroDB: -6dB (this was recommended by another user)

However, I feel like this is a bit too quiet because the sound on my external mixer peaks at -6dB.

Could anyone share the most optimal settings for these controllers? Honestly, I’ve been struggling with this for a few days now. I even played a few gigs but kept adjusting things because something always felt off.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The equipment I use:

Laptop: Lenovo P52 with Windows 11
Software: Virtual DJ v2025 (build 8528)
 
Mensajes Tue 18 Mar 25 @ 1:02 pm
Set autoGain to auto (so that you don't accidentally get a track's gain wrong)
Set gainSliderIncludesAutoGain to yes (so that it's easy to know that 12'o clock on the gain slider is where it should be equal loudness compared to other songs)
Set zeroDb to 0dB or -3dB if -6dB is too quiet
 
Maybe the auto + remember setting name needs redefined as it really confuses a lot of people. They don't think the remember part is for manual adjustment.
 
Adion wrote :
Set autoGain to auto (so that you don't accidentally get a track's gain wrong)
Set gainSliderIncludesAutoGain to yes (so that it's easy to know that 12'o clock on the gain slider is where it should be equal loudness compared to other songs)
Set zeroDb to 0dB or -3dB if -6dB is too quiet


Hmm, there's one small problem – I'm a mobile DJ, and my music repertoire ranges from club music to tracks from the '60s and '70s. After analysis, these older tracks play much quieter compared to newer ones. If I choose the auto option, I’ll always have to adjust the volume of such tracks manually. However, with the auto + remember option, I only need to make the adjustment once.
 
kradcliffe wrote :
Maybe the auto + remember setting name needs redefined as it really confuses a lot of people. They don't think the remember part is for manual adjustment.


Yes, I know this well because I've watched around 100 tutorials, but nowhere is it shown from a practical perspective. I've always aimed to keep the signal from the controller at the right level, close to 0dB—just like I did in Serato DJ Pro and even earlier, before the era of controllers, when I played on a standalone console.

I'm wondering if there's any point in setting zeroDb to a specific level, like -3dB, when I manually adjust the audio level to be close to 0dB anyway.
 
user30368063 wrote :
Hmm, there's one small problem – I'm a mobile DJ, and my music repertoire ranges from club music to tracks from the '60s and '70s. After analysis, these older tracks play much quieter compared to newer ones. If I choose the auto option, I’ll always have to adjust the volume of such tracks manually. However, with the auto + remember option, I only need to make the adjustment once.

No, you may have to adjust when switching genres, but not all the time / always.
First of all keep in mind that autogain is doing a "replay gain analysis", not a peak analysis.
This means that for the most part, the autogain algorith will bring older and newer tracks quite close in perceived loudness. You may have to use gain to compensate for a soft intro on a track or to smooth out the difference in compression when switching between genres on some cases, but generally speaking, autogain does a very good job at keeping the RMS volume of different tracks consistent.
 
user30368063 wrote :

Yes, I know this well because I've watched around 100 tutorials, but nowhere is it shown from a practical perspective. I've always aimed to keep the signal from the controller at the right level, close to 0dB—just like I did in Serato DJ Pro and even earlier, before the era of controllers, when I played on a standalone console.

I'm wondering if there's any point in setting zeroDb to a specific level, like -3dB, when I manually adjust the audio level to be close to 0dB anyway.



In VirtualDJ "zerodb" setting is the equivalent of the 92db "target" volume on Serato.

Now, digital audio is different in some regards from analog audio, but I'll try to not be technical here.
What you need to keep your eye on, is the limiter, and not the VU.
In VirtualDJ you just don't want to hit the limiter. Not because of distortion (the limiter will prevent that since it's a brickwall limiter) but because it will start altering the dynamics of your tracks.
Generally speaking, the higher the "zerodb" setting is, the closer you are operating near the limiter floor.
Which means that you have less headroom for applying positive EQ (if needed) or mess around with effects that can easily overload the output (e.g. echo)
So.. generally speaking, it is recommended to play by leaving some headroom, thus the -6db setting recommendation.
With the default/recommended settings, zerodb=-6db this means that all tracks will more or less have equal loudness when gain sliders are set at 12 o clock position, and that overall loudness value is -6db from peaking on the digital domain.
With the default/recommended settings, all the job is done when you load a track.
Now if you manually adjust every track to some random gain value, zerodb doesn't matter anymore.
zerodb only dictates the initial gain of the deck, and only with gain sliders at 12 o clock position

PS1: If by lowering zerodb you feel that you have less volume, you can raise the master volume knob.
All Pioneer gear will provide more than enough power to drive any amp at it's full load with zerodb at -9db or even -12db and master volume knob at unity (2 o clock position)
So, there's no reason to keep the zerodb setting high, unless you use analog gear you have to match.
PS: Controllers like DDJ-1000 are designed to be used with -6db or -9db headroom.
You CAN run them with 0db headroom, but the master volume knob will be at 11/12 o clock position and the output of your controller will be allready overloading your amp..
 
user30368063 wrote :
older tracks play much quieter compared to newer ones


This is not a fault of VirtualDJ or AutoGain. It's simply due to the difference in mastering methods over the decades. Modern music is very compressed. Older music has more dynamic range.

If you want your old tracks to sound more compressed and "modern" then use the LoudMax plugin either on each deck or on the master output.
 
I don't use VirtualDJ Auto Gain at all. I use PN10 (Platinum Notes 10) to level the gain I want out of my music and the music sound much cleaner, level at all times, you might need to level the bass a bit other than that it doesn't really matter if is old 60, 70, 80, 90 or modern.!!!
 
I have one more question. Is the automatic Master Level setting at 100% correct? It is set this way when connecting a controller. However, with zeroDB set to -6 and Master at 100%, on an external mixer, with the faders and Gain set to 0, the main output reads -10 dB.


How do you set up your equipment when using VirtualDJ 2025?
 
What you can do is use the ONINIT script for your controller / mixer to set the appropriate zeroDB setting when it connects.

I have separate levels for my MCX8000, FLX10 and Prime Go+

setting 'zerodb' '-1db'