Serato DJ Pro General Discussion

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 Serato DJ Pro General Discussion
Four Problems with the NS6 & ITCH
Talk about Serato DJ Pro, expansion packs and supported hardware

Four Problems with the NS6 & ITCH

Satsun 3:49 PM - 28 June, 2011
So far I've enjoyed the NS6. But I've encountered four problems. Any other NS6 owners having these issues?

#1
Try this: Load a track onto deck 1 and press play. Then load a track onto deck 3; press play. Use the the jog wheel to pitch bend deck 3 until it's in time with deck 1. Now switch layers back to deck 1. Use the jog wheel to pitch bend. Does the track on deck 1 jump a bar or two? Try going back and forth pitch bending and changing between decks 1 and 3. Do some extreme pitch bending and switch layers. Does jumping occur?

When I pitch bend with the jogs and go back and forth between decks on the same side of the mixer (1 & 3 or 2 & 4), I experience a jump in the track, almost as if the jog wheel is reading "scratch" for the first half-second of pitch bending. It does this even when I have scratch mode disengaged. Sync and beat grids are also disengaged. It doesn't happen every time, but often enough that I'm scared to use four decks in a live situation.

#2
Strip Search is incredibly jumpy. It's almost a guessing game as to where it will land. Sometimes I move my finger to the last 1/4 of the track and it jumps back to the beginning. Sometimes it seems to jump randomly. Is Strip Search really that inaccurate?

#3
Sometimes ITCH is unable to connect to the NS6. This isn't the "always unable to connect" firmware issue some people are experiencing. Sometimes ITCH connects fine. Other times I have to restart ITCH and turn the NS6 off and on to get connected. It can take three or four tries. It's a pain.

#4
ITCH occasionally freezes when closing. It's not slow to shut down--it freezes. Nor is it backing up the library. It forces me to restart my macbook.

Any thoughts on these issues?
Satsun 7:25 PM - 28 June, 2011
re #1

Is it better to just use the pitch bending buttons when working with decks on the same side of the mixer?
zanzibar1 7:53 PM - 28 June, 2011
Hey,

I had problems with itch not closing right. Might be a problem with your v2 database. Also try calibrating the ns6 to stop the jumping thing you mentioned.

God I hope serato don't fix all these little bug in 2.0.... I expect itch to be rock solid performance gear, its the only reason I haven't gone for traktor - serato is reliable. But with Itch, I really am starting to doubt that. My last gig I had to use v1.5....
zanzibar1 7:54 PM - 28 June, 2011
Quote:
od I hope serato don't fix all these little bug in 2.0.



haha! I was trying to write "don't mess up and fix these problems"!!
Kenso 5:25 AM - 29 June, 2011
Ive experienced 1-3, while testing at home. But I did a 5hour gig with no real problems, other than not realizing you have to "reacquire" the pitch fader after switching layers by manually matching the fader to the displayed bpm.

Strip search is a major disappointment. Even the manual "suggests" you dont use it to scroll, only to drop.
What kind of sh*t is that? And yeah, I could never get it to drop where I want it. Not only that, Its difficult to get your finger inside that little window. I think they missed the mark on this feature.
A_Jack 9:17 AM - 29 June, 2011
Sorry for hijacking the thread but I wanna ask that can you mix with this thing 100% flawlessly (aside from those problems) without using auto-sync at all? Like you would with CDJs
Satsun 4:16 PM - 29 June, 2011
@Kenso and A_Jack

I've also done gigs and experienced no real problems. "100% flawless mixing" and no auto sync. The problems I mention are occasional. That's what's so frustrating about #1. It makes me scared to use four decks. The jumps are unpredictable. Unpredictable is not a good thing in live situations.

And I completely agree that the strip search window is too narrow. And I have small fingers.
Satsun 4:16 PM - 29 June, 2011
@Kenso and A_Jack

I've also done gigs and experienced no real problems. "100% flawless mixing" and no auto sync. The problems I mention are occasional. That's what's so frustrating about #1. It makes me scared to use four decks. The jumps are unpredictable. Unpredictable is not a good thing in live situations.

And I completely agree that the strip search window is too narrow. And I have small fingers.
Quote:
Hey,

I had problems with itch not closing right. Might be a problem with your v2 database. Also try calibrating the ns6 to stop the jumping thing you mentioned.

God I hope serato don't fix all these little bug in 2.0.... I expect itch to be rock solid performance gear, its the only reason I haven't gone for traktor - serato is reliable. But with Itch, I really am starting to doubt that. My last gig I had to use v1.5....
Satsun 4:16 PM - 29 June, 2011
sorry for that last post
djredd504 8:59 PM - 3 July, 2011
Has anyone got the NS6 to work with a macbook pro? if so, how did you get past the hardware disconnected problem?
skratchworx 9:43 PM - 3 July, 2011
Installing the MIDI drivers worked for me recently. Right-click in the installer, show package contents, go to Content/Packages and double-click the Numark_NS6_midi.pkg.
djredd504 10:47 PM - 3 July, 2011
tried it but still didnt work...any other suggestions? i think i want this thing to work so bad...i guess i might have to stick to my scratch live without a solution...
djredd504 10:48 PM - 3 July, 2011
crazy thing is...it works on my old laptop which struggles and runs it kind of slow but it will not work with my macbook pro...ahhhhhhhhhh
Ragman 11:36 PM - 3 July, 2011
Quote:
Has anyone got the NS6 to work with a macbook pro? if so, how did you get past the hardware disconnected problem?
Mine work with my MBP from the jump. Never heard about a hardware disconnect problem on Macs.
hologram 1:16 AM - 4 July, 2011
Yeah that's a new one for me on not working with a MBP. Hmm I have one with thunder bolt let me hook my daughter's up and see what happens...
Kenso 1:27 AM - 4 July, 2011
Quote:
Has anyone got the NS6 to work with a macbook pro? if so, how did you get past the hardware disconnected problem?


It would help us to help you if you could post details regarding YOUR exact situation. And we must presume you did a search on this particular HELP topic?

There are a myriad of things that could be YOUR problem, so where do we start? I had this disconnected problem, so I did a SEARCH in the forum and found a few topics on it. However, my problem was that I did NOT use the included install disc. I thought I was updating "Itch", well I was, but the NS6 uses a different program called "Itch for NS6".
hologram 1:30 AM - 4 July, 2011
hmm 13inch pre thunder bolt, 17 inch pre thunder bolt. No issues
Did you load the new version of itch?
djredd504 6:45 AM - 4 July, 2011
another thread had a solution and its finally working...thanks guys.
djcerla 10:37 AM - 4 July, 2011
Quote:
Strip search is a major disappointment. Even the manual "suggests" you dont use it to scroll, only to drop.
What kind of sh*t is that?


It's a needle drop emulation.
Kenso 2:04 PM - 4 July, 2011
Yes djcerla. You are correct. I shouldn't get my panties all bunched up about it.
Most of the previews I watched misrepresented how the feature worked, with many people sliding their finger across in a nonchalant fashion. I guess that's not Numarks fault.

If I had to complain, and I already have, I'd say it is not very accurate.

Anyone have a tip to help me with dropping accurately? That would be great!
Personally, I think they shoulda made only one longer strip window instead of two small ones. I believe that would assist with accuracy, with the mechanism they deployed this.

However, one thing that works REALLY well is the SKIP feature. Aghaaaa!
djcerla 2:19 PM - 4 July, 2011
BTW on my NS6 I can scrub accurately.
dj-freestyle 12:41 AM - 5 July, 2011
Love the skip. For getting to vocals and stuff at gigs it really comes in handy
djredd504 4:51 AM - 5 July, 2011
does the ns6 have a tone lock feature? if so, where is it located?
Ragman 9:11 PM - 5 July, 2011
If you mean tempo lock (never heard of tone lock) the answer is yes. It's the second button above the pitch sliders and it's called Master Tempo.
DJred24 2:46 AM - 7 July, 2011
Key lock would be more accurate to my understanding of TONE. Tone is sound
DjDuran500 3:30 AM - 21 August, 2011
I have also had some problems with itch. The first being that last night at a gig i was holding the + pitch bend button on the left track and then found myself with no button at all. I don't abuse my equipment by any means, and it pushed the button down into the machine. Would this be under warranty???? What would you do????

Also another problem is that with my macbook 2,4ghz with 4gb of ram, i experience issues where I will be holding the jog wheel down, in the same spot, and the track is constantly jumping around, i dont get it. Also the beatsync bar ( the one that turns white when your bpms are lined up) tends not to work anymore. I don't use it to mix with, but it is a good guideline, and now its no more. Also, even if i have cue points loaded into a track, the lights for the cues (1,2,3,4,5) will not light up but can still be used.

Another problem is that like others stated previously, itch has a hard time shutting down. all the time. And no I'm not backing up libraries either.

Also when i go to load a song sometimes my screen will completely freeze up for about 15-30 seconds , though not altering the sound at all, thank god.

Should I just exchange this thing for a new one guys? I'm looking for advice. I have an ns7 that i can use when i ship the 6.
Crox 6:58 AM - 21 August, 2011
^^Did you update the firmware yet? If not, I would suggest you do so. I had a few issues with my unit, too, before I updated the firmware.
djcerla 10:06 AM - 21 August, 2011
@ DJduran

Yes, it looks like you have a faulty unit. You're under warranty, just contact Numark support.
Djov 3:11 PM - 21 August, 2011
we need deck 3 & 4 disable/enable capability in the software...
DjDuran500 9:48 PM - 21 August, 2011
I updated my firmware when I first took the unit out of the box. That was approx. 2 weeks ago. Would it be the same firmware?
DjDuran500 9:49 PM - 21 August, 2011
Quote:
we need deck 3 & 4 disable/enable capability in the software...

and this guy is right. If we aren't going to be using all 4 tracks all the time we should be able to hide the other 2.
DjDuran500 6:10 PM - 22 August, 2011
I just emailed numark, i hope they can help me! Have you guys had to work with customer support before? DO you think they will fix my broken button? The unit is only 2 weeks old.
dj-freestyle 6:30 PM - 24 August, 2011
I exchanged one for a friend at guitar center yesterday and it was past thirty days and numark ok it for the store so you shouldnt have any issues. Just call tech support first and start a problem ticket. Thats important.
ineedlotsofhelp 12:54 AM - 9 February, 2012
i just bought an asus laptop and its still tells me hardware disconnected ive called numark alot and they told me to install the drivers and i tried that then it said error (timed out) can someone plz help me i really dont want to send everything back it cost alot so if anyone has help plz let me know thnks
dj lashes 1:57 AM - 9 February, 2012
Quote:

#2
Strip Search is incredibly jumpy. It's almost a guessing game as to where it will land. Sometimes I move my finger to the last 1/4 of the track and it jumps back to the beginning. Sometimes it seems to jump randomly. Is Strip Search really that inaccurate?


+1 i dont ever use it waste of time
djcerla 9:59 AM - 9 February, 2012
Strip Search was never meant to scrub tracks. It's more like a needle drop, so you have to briefly touch the point where you want the track to jump; holding the finger would produce the unpredictable behavior you're experiencing
dj lashes 3:15 PM - 9 February, 2012
Quote:
Strip Search was never meant to scrub tracks. It's more like a needle drop, so you have to briefly touch the point where you want the track to jump; holding the finger would produce the unpredictable behavior you're experiencing

ok thanks djcerla let me give it a try it out.