I have the same problem with the NS7! With the same Mac, except for the HD, 320Gb.

I have exactly the same problem since 1 year whith a PC (-2.16Ghz - 4gb ram-)
I 'll try to change the USB Cable, maybe this :
www.digixo.com
A usb cable with 1200 mbps..

I have the exact same problem and specs as the first poster. It happened about 4-5 times over 5 hours of playing last night.

Hello, please check your buffer setting its possible that it has been altered by the update.
Also ensure you have the latest drivers installed.

What is your specification?

It seems as all the mac users (Snow leopard 10.6.4) have got this bug which Serato cant actually pin point or reproduce in their set up. The thread of the bug report which I opened has now been closed since the release 1.7. So no one actually knows when this problem is going to be resolved, but any help or suggestions would be useful!

I've tired everything possible along with a number of other Serato users, but still get these drop out glitches..

My specs are a MBP 2.4GHz with 4Gb RAM and mac isx 10.6.4.

Is anyone having these drop outs who is NOT on a Macbook Pro 2.4GHz 10.6.4 ..???

YES I AM!!!!!!! On Saturday night I was DJ'ing a huge wedding. It was a big deal for a very affluent family. I charged over $1300 with lighting and ceremony. I am using a MBP , 2.53 GHZ Core 2 duo, 4 gb ram, 500 g HD installed (not external). The limlter light came on all night after about 2 hrs in (see picture). I even restarted everything at one point. And the real pain is that even as a powered unit their is NO WAY to play music on the NS7 without a computer running itch plugged in (unless there is something I am unaware of). I thought I would be able to at least run my iPod off of the AUX input, since it is a powered unit. This is a HUGE drawback!!
I would really like to hear from Numark and itch support about these issues. .

Hello, all MP3 files should be at Zero DB if you are overgaining the output or turned the overdrive to high the limiter will kick in to protect your unit.
The NS7 will passthrough audio when the USB cable is not connected.

Sorry to hear that man. I'm not touching 1.7 until it's been properly sorted out. It's not only just an unfinished product but a threat to your reputation. Long live 1.5.

word to that. do you know where i could re-downloadit? i deleted it of my HD

Here is the link to 1.5 download.
www.serato.com

Thanks. You da man Bigupnash!

Hey man no worries. Hopefully they'll sort it out pretty soon coz its not funny anymore.

why itch will make such mistake? so bad to release 1.7 with out bugs fix . im running on mac pro 2.66ghz 8gb ram 500HD. and im having same drop put problem.

Here is what I noticed after installing the updated release 1.7
#1 --- Songs locking up while playing. System would freeze up, then would kick back in.
#2 --- Program and computer would lock up, then free itself and resume play.
#3 --- Every song had to rescan as if it was the first time I used it.
#4 --- Was not able to add songs by clicking on file and searching the folders. Had to open a window and drag the song onto the player.
#5 --- Sat night completely shut down on me and would not let another song load. So I ended up shutting down 15 mins early.
While djing last night, I ran across the files having to be scanned again. No cue points were saved. Again couldn't access any folders using the files tab. Repeated drop outs, and at the end of the night, when I shut down. I clicked yes to back up files and the program locked up and gave me the not responding error message.

Anyone else having any of the same issues that I came across?

Best Regards,

Dj E-Man

Yes, to #1, #2, #3, Plus my limiter light kept going on and the waveforms were choppy as shite. Luckily my vinyl skills helped once I could drop on a cue point. If I needed to beatmatch via itch I woulda been screwed.

A-Live

1.7 is real mess right now guys. I'm only managing to keep my job and reputation intact because of 1.5

Yo, I am friends with DJ Eskei83 out of Germany who is an itch tester and promoter internationally. I am going to contact him for some answers to these questions. He is really good about getting back to me

Meanwhile... I personally cannot promote 1.7 for my club and private gigs at this time. I want to love it but I cant.


Check out his videos here:
www.google.com

Dj E-Man, I've been having the problems #1, 2 and 3.
And last Sunday morning, I was using only the ITCH 1.7 (the NS7 wasn't connected) to scan new songs and create cue points. For my surprise, it scanned every song that i've played on Saturday night. This is the first time it happens.
Regards,
Fernando Figueiredo

Is there a fix planned for this? Unplugging the USB is really not an ideal workaround. It's especially disastrous for djs who aren't even aware that you can get sound through by unplugging the USB.

The NS7 should pass through audio at all times regardless of what's going on with the itch, the computer, or the usb cable.

It was at 0 db. and the NS7 did not pass the audio through. It shut down when the laptop was disconnected. I already emailed Numark as well. This seems to be unique!

With the USB connected the unit will upstream audio to ITCH with the USB disconnected it becomes an analog passthrough. This was nessary electrically to allow recording and routing of external audio.

I dont want to come off as negative but my NS7 that I purchased less than 2 months ago does NOT pass the audio through. I have tried on numerous occassions. This has caused me serious issues when I have had dead air! I have sent a help request to both Serato and Numark but havent heard anything back. This is making me and my business look bad.

FCF, I always scan my files and create my queue points without having the NS7 plugged in. After scanning and when I close the program the files are saved. Just when I re-open the program with the NS7 attached, the files don't have the queue points, and have to scan before I play em.

I just talked to another guy in my area and he said he was having the same problems. Turned the beat grid off and he hasn't had a problem with it since. I guess I will try that.

I'm not sure I understand why Itch needs to be running in order for audio to pass from the aux and mic inputs to the NS7 Outputs. After all, the NS7 is perfectly capable of playing stuff form the computer if you have it setup to work as a soundcard.

My impression was that control signals, not audio, are going upstream from the NS7 to the computer and that sound generated by the computer is being sent downstream to the NS7 and all sound is routed through the soundboard on the NS7, mixed in with whatever is coming in through Mic or Aux.

I'm not an electrical engineer, but I know enough to say this doesn't smell right. I'd like to hear an academic explanation from an EE as to why it should be such an issue to allow sound to passthrough while USB is plugged in yet Itch is not running. This soundpath should be in the analog mixer and not even related to USB (and indeed, the fact that you can play sound with USB disconnected implies it is analog).

It's as if my iphone could only work when iTunes is running if it's connected to the computer. Yet I can have it connected and receive calls and play music all without any program running or not running or the computer off or on.

And imagine if you tried DJ swapping... you have to start your aux play while itch is running and unplug the computer without turning off itch and then you have to plug it in to another computer that is already running itch... but if the act of connecting an hot USB cable to a running program caused itch to hang or crash, then DJ#2 would cause the sound from Aux to instantly die as he is trying to hook up his computer.

For the record I am suffering the same drop out issues with all the tweaks recommended above. All these issues started happening only after the upgrade to 1.7.

Numark get these issues fixed, I had a huge party last night and had to experience to the hosts of the party why 'I had so many drop outs' I NEVER had these issues with my NS7 and 1.5.

We need to fix this, as it will begin to make the NS7 look like its not ready for Primetime.

Using a Macbook Pro Core Duo comment above

Hi Sorry to hear your having an issue also.
Would you mind making a separate topic to avoid confusion or giving us a call with your specifications and details of the problem and I will do my best to help you.

There are 4 Other Forum Topics dedicated to this.

Please send me a Private Email to start yet another conversation. This is not an isolated issue, many users are mentioning the drops offs.

I've had the dropouts with my Macbook Pro and my DX since March when I bought it. It is yet to be solved. Serato released 1.7 knowing these dropouts were a problem but since it's only seeming to effect some of use with Macbooks I guess they felt it was okay to go ahead and release it.

If I could go back to 1.5 and use my DX I would but I can't. So I'm going on my 7th month of having a useless controller and program. PLEASE SERATO, I know it's hard to figure everything out but I am still ready thread after thread about those of us suffering from the dropouts. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!

Can everyone please check if tags are being written to tracks when they are ejected? This can be seen in the status bar above the left virtual deck.

Also can everyone please confirm if they are using Beat Grid, or if it is disabled in the Setup screen.

Cheers.

Beat Grid disabled.

Ok, stupid question: How do you eject a track? Or do you mean when you load a new track to displace a current track?

Beat Grid enabled/disabled and no tags rewriting post eject

Disabled and what do you mean ejected?

When a track is removed from a deck (ie. you've loaded a new track) tags may be written to them. This may be very very fast, so it may not be easy to see if it is happening.

Can you open up your Activity Monitor, or Task Manager (Performance tab) and see if there is any spiking of the CPU?

I will pay attention next time.

This is off topic but I'm analyzing my songs on a mac pro rather than my mbp.

what files should I copy ont omy mbp once the mac pro finishes analyzing my files?

The data that is created when analyzing is written to the track, so just move the music files over. Make sure that it is these tracks that you play, and not the other non-analyzed files as they will look the same.

ah okay. I will do that.

I uninstalled Itch using zapp and reinstalled it and analyzed all my external hdd songs from a mac.
Later I will copy that mac's serato folder into my mbp and scan the remaining internal hdd songs and call it a day.
After that everything will work like a charm?

Hopefully :D

lol...
Quick question. When I close itch with music on my external only, it closes fast..but when I do it with my internal hdd it takes a while.

I'm glad i read up on this...i'm pretty new to this but was looking for some quick advice...i picked up a NS7 a few months ago and really haven't got to successfully use it because of major latency issues. Well turns out my PC laptop wasn't specked out enough...i thought i only needed to upgrade my memory so i went from 2GB RAM to 4GB RAM, and of course i still was getting problems. Called Numark and was told i was still underspecked...currently my specs are at: Intel Celeron Processor 900, Win 7 (64 Bit), 4GB DDR3, 250GB HDD. Dude at Numark basically told me i'm fugged so i need to know if it's worth the $ to upgrade my processor or if i should get a different laptop...Mac? Right now, after reading these posts i'm wondering what kind of Mac i should get and if i should be using itch 1.5 instead of 1.7...if i used 1.5 right now would it work w/ the current setup i got?

Any help on this would be appreciated!

Intel Celeron is a crappy processor in general I`ve had nothing but problems when I used it for Scratch Live. If you wanna go with windows stick with Core 2 Duos but if you want the best and something that will last you long and not give you much problems than get a mac. Any macbook pro would do well just as long as its 2gb or above.

I had a Dell Studio XPS 2,4 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4Gb 1067MHz DDR3, 320GB HD with Windows Vista 64B and bought a MacBook Pro 2,6GHz, 4Gb 1067Mhz DDR3, 320GB HD with Snow Leopard 10.6.4 32B. Mac is faster than Dell and much more stable.

Thanks latinblood and FC...i'm gonna probably end up picking up a macbook in the end...numark and serato should probably say that working w/ Macs will acheive better results in their marketing info for the NS7.

These are the logs I got after I did 4 days of music scan after doing a fresh install...

9/24/10 1:14:47 AM MIDIServer[6529] MIDIServer [6529] starting; arch=x86_64
9/24/10 1:14:47 AM MIDIServer[6529] PlugIn Numark NS7 MIDI Driver.plugin -- /Library/Audio/MIDI Drivers/ does not contain a supported architecture.
9/24/10 1:14:47 AM MIDIServer[6529] MIDIServer relaunching because a 32-bit driver was found
9/24/10 1:14:47 AM MIDIServer[6529] MIDIServer [6529] starting; arch=i386
9/24/10 1:17:31 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:17:31 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGSOrderWindowList
9/24/10 1:17:31 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:17:31 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
9/24/10 1:18:43 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:18:43 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSBindWindowBacking: cannot map backing data shmem
9/24/10 1:18:43 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:18:43 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Unable to lock window
9/24/10 1:18:48 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:18:48 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSBindWindowBacking: cannot map backing data shmem
9/24/10 1:18:48 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:18:48 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Unable to lock window
9/24/10 1:19:49 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:19:49 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSBindWindowBacking: cannot map backing data shmem
9/24/10 1:19:49 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:19:49 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Unable to lock window
9/24/10 1:19:58 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:19:58 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSBindWindowBacking: cannot map backing data shmem
9/24/10 1:19:58 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:19:58 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Unable to lock window

It started working after 2-3 minutes but it lagged/skipped

Here's another one that just happened

9/24/10 1:29:09 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:29:08 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSBindWindowBacking: cannot map backing data shmem
9/24/10 1:29:09 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:29:08 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Unable to lock window
9/24/10 1:29:20 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:29:20 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSBindWindowBacking: cannot map backing data shmem
9/24/10 1:29:20 AM [0x0-0x8a08a].com.serato.itch[6526] Fri Sep 24 01:29:20 Ali-Kabas-MacBook-Pro.local ITCH[6526] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: _CGSLockWindow: Unable to lock window

Spiking, yes.

aaarghghhhhhh..!!! 1.7 is killing me SMALLS..... CPU... LIMITER...MIDI light indicators liight up like the 4 of july on my mac... lag of songs and waveforms all jacked up...WTF...!! y is my cpu light coming on..?? neva did b4..???

Everyone else apart from Bigupnash - it would be better now if you started a new help thread, giving a clear and detailed description of your issue and your full computer specs (make, model, CPU type, CPU speed, RAM, operating system and version, and list all USB devices). We can then help you without cluttering things up further.
Cheers.

serato.com
Here's mine
serato.com

Cheers. We'll keep helping you over there. Cheers.

Model Name: MacBook
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB41.00C1.B00

snow leopard
MAC OS X VERS: 10.6.4

Sorry, I mean , is everyone able to start a new Help thread. Here is the link on how to do that: serato.com (click).
Thanks.

I switched back to 1.5 and haven't had a problem since.

I switched back and still had problems so I deleted everything including 1.5, serato scratch and went back to 1.7. Had a gig last night with no problem. Maybe Scratch live with messing up my Itch files.

dont think so!

It did not crash so I'm happy for now.

u mean ur itch 1.7 is work well..? what system are u using?

Yea, 1.7 works (when I keep the window maximized). read my previous post.
I use a V7(have 2) and a ttm57sl and it worked on 2 gigs. I also have a NS7 but I'm sure it should work.

The problems could had been from having both Itch and Scratch. Both of them shared the same folder so something went wrong on the upgrades. Now I just have Itch installed and not Scratch.

What's also amazing is analyzing songs is much more faster than before.

wow! pls cant u test it with the ns7?i use ns7 with a mac pro 2.66hz 8GBRam 500Gb seagate momentous xt ssd drive.

and im useing itunes as my playlist. pls advice

lol. here's my suggestions. Just delete everything.

Install appzapper on mac, remove itch (and scratch)
Delete the two serato folder in the music folder.
Delete the two scratch folders in your external seagate.

install 1.7 and you shouldn't crash anymore. My ns7 is in my basement and its too much work to bring it up. I will test it sometimes later this week (thu or fri).
Also when you dj, keep the windows maximized at all times. I also use itunes as my playlist too.

1 issue that still happens is my limiter tend to turn on but the audio and itch does not freeze.
the ttm57sl is kinda weird ever since I upgraded the firmware so I will test my ns7 to see if it still hits the limiter.

Expect a comment on thu or friday.

what about the derop out issue .. wil that stop?

yep, no audio/usb drop out and nothing freezes, just the limiter light turns on.

thats so much.. how do i download the appzapper?

appzapper.com

thanks bro.

I played with my NS7 for about 1-2 last night and no issue. I can safely say I have exited the doom zone. Do as I said, delete everything serato related and reinstall everything. Remove other DJ software you don't use (I removed traktor pro and some other native instrument software)

But i have order Dj software i use.. how do i fgo about it.

I don't understand that line. Sorry english is my second language.

Anyway have just (currently djing) and no audio drop. im using itch in the window version tooo and no audio drop. good shit

Adding a "powered" external usb hub works for me. I connect the NS7 directly to the mac and all else on the second hub. NB: Connecting the NS7 to the hub wont work, well in my case that is.

After re-installing, is it possible to import your old history and crates?

Your database is located where your music is saved in the root of the drive this should be imported automatically but it never hurts to back this up first.

Sbangs - I posted a month ago about some issues I was having. The problems stopped when I switched back to 1.5. I am glad that I did so before competing in the dj competition. Now that the competition is over. I figured lets give 1.7 another shot.

I have already noticed that by clicking on FILES tab and browsing through my folders, my music is still now being showed. In order to see music I have to go to my hard drive and access the folder. Any solution to this yet. As far as all of the other previous errors I'll let you know after tonights performance.

Lol im sucha dumb ass, you meant "Other".

I say give it a shot...uninstall all other software but to be honest I think most of the problem is the itch trying to resize itself (minimize or maximize).
Definitely make sure your graphic card is the best performance and not energy saver (check your system preference)
Uninstall everything and reinstall everything.

I had a small crash last night..but I was surfing the web and had chrome open and shit load of services running the minute I got online. No wonder they say turn off your wireless card...

Here what happen. I was on chrome, opened up a web page, turned off wireless card, went back in itch and added a new tab in a playlist...tried to move it and it froze. So I restarted and unplugged my firewire external hdd and played without it because my firewire tend to make itch a lil slow when accessing some songs....i didnt have a backup system available..

I think this is to teach me to carry a backup system...not sure why I dont..im so stupid. I will just bring my mackie vlz3 small mixer and use my phone as a backup mp3 player while my ns7 restarts.
I have another gig tonight so I will see if it happens again..

-- DJ Kaba