Serato DJ Pro General Discussion

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 Serato DJ Pro General Discussion
DJ PRO Autogain problem causing tracks to go into red clipping / distortion.
Talk about Serato DJ Pro, expansion packs and supported hardware

DJ PRO Autogain problem causing tracks to go into red clipping / distortion.

caliguy 5:42 PM - 19 July, 2018
I have been on Serato since the first version of Scratch Live.

Throughout Seratos history when there is a new version change the sound levels get changed causing distortion and clipping. DJ PRO auto gain has no effect on tracks to keep them from going past orange and into the red threshold even at the lowest setting of 89db.

I had to go back to Serato DJ 1.9.10 and return to using the Pioneer DDJ-SX2 instead of the DDJ-SX3 becuase the DDJ-SX3 is only compatible with DJ PRO latest version 2.0.3.

I re-analyzed some test tracks on DJ PRO and adjusted autogain to the lowest setting and I tried this on a PC and on a MAC and nothing works to curb the tracks from going into the red causing clipping.

The only thing that would work is to manualy adjust the gain of each individual track which would almost be impossible on a large libraby.

Some people are reporting improved sound on DJ PRO, but for those of us that had their settings perfectly set, the new DJ PRO has messed everything up YET AGAIN !

Can Serato stop messing around with the sound levels on different versions and stop breaking autogain once and for all !!!
DjSyndic8 7:51 PM - 19 July, 2018
Quote:
Can Serato stop messing around with the sound levels on different versions and stop breaking autogain once and for all !!!

I dont think auto gain has ever been address, it has to be working for it to break in the 1st place

Quote:
The only thing that would work is to manualy adjust the gain of each individual track which would almost be impossible on a large libraby.

I always leave room on my channel faders so I can increase or decrease my vol but some djs have their channel faders all the way up so its hard to adjust when music vol varies.
17tr2 8:46 PM - 19 July, 2018
Quote:
I have been on Serato since the first version of Scratch Live.

Throughout Seratos history when there is a new version change the sound levels get changed causing distortion and clipping. DJ PRO auto gain has no effect on tracks to keep them from going past orange and into the red threshold even at the lowest setting of 89db.

I had to go back to Serato DJ 1.9.10 and return to using the Pioneer DDJ-SX2 instead of the DDJ-SX3 becuase the DDJ-SX3 is only compatible with DJ PRO latest version 2.0.3.

I re-analyzed some test tracks on DJ PRO and adjusted autogain to the lowest setting and I tried this on a PC and on a MAC and nothing works to curb the tracks from going into the red causing clipping.

The only thing that would work is to manualy adjust the gain of each individual track which would almost be impossible on a large libraby.

Some people are reporting improved sound on DJ PRO, but for those of us that had their settings perfectly set, the new DJ PRO has messed everything up YET AGAIN !

Can Serato stop messing around with the sound levels on different versions and stop breaking autogain once and for all !!!


I believe I responded to an earlier post of yours in another thread. But if you missed it, you should be able to deal with this problem if you have an SX2. Put it in utilities mode and lower the global gain setting. Its covered in the owners manual.
DjSyndic8 1:24 AM - 20 July, 2018
Quote:
Quote:
I have been on Serato since the first version of Scratch Live.

Throughout Seratos history when there is a new version change the sound levels get changed causing distortion and clipping. DJ PRO auto gain has no effect on tracks to keep them from going past orange and into the red threshold even at the lowest setting of 89db.

I had to go back to Serato DJ 1.9.10 and return to using the Pioneer DDJ-SX2 instead of the DDJ-SX3 becuase the DDJ-SX3 is only compatible with DJ PRO latest version 2.0.3.

I re-analyzed some test tracks on DJ PRO and adjusted autogain to the lowest setting and I tried this on a PC and on a MAC and nothing works to curb the tracks from going into the red causing clipping.

The only thing that would work is to manualy adjust the gain of each individual track which would almost be impossible on a large libraby.

Some people are reporting improved sound on DJ PRO, but for those of us that had their settings perfectly set, the new DJ PRO has messed everything up YET AGAIN !

Can Serato stop messing around with the sound levels on different versions and stop breaking autogain once and for all !!!


I believe I responded to an earlier post of yours in another thread. But if you missed it, you should be able to deal with this problem if you have an SX2. Put it in utilities mode and lower the global gain setting. Its covered in the owners manual.

Thanks brođź‘Ť
caliguy 2:14 AM - 20 July, 2018
@DjSyndic8 Good point , but at least autogain was "useable" in other versions but now in DJ PRO nothing works to keep traks off of the red.

@17tr2 I appreciate your advice but the sound is already coming out distorted from Serato DJ PRO so if you universaly reduce the gain on your controller that will reduce the sound level but that doesnt do anything to reduce the distortion from the incoming sound from the Serato DJ PRO software.
dj_soo 5:45 PM - 20 July, 2018
Grab 1.7.8, after scanning your files in 2.0.3, rescan them using 1.7.8 with all the features like bpm and beatgrid turned off. This should help although it's not really ideal and a pain in the ass.
Iffy Ranx 2:03 AM - 26 November, 2018
I’m having this same issue. A lot my songs are far too loud and constantly peak in the red. As mentioned by the original poster, the only way I can rectify this is to lower the gain that Serato has set for it using the keyboard and mouse. Obviously this is far from practical and I find myself having to do this very often. Anybody else experiencing this? I’m using Serato DJ Pro 2.0.5
17tr2 2:16 PM - 26 November, 2018
"@17tr2 I appreciate your advice but the sound is already coming out distorted from Serato DJ PRO so if you universaly reduce the gain on your controller that will reduce the sound level but that doesnt do anything to reduce the distortion from the incoming sound from the Serato DJ PRO software."

Sorry that I didn't see this sooner. Anyway, sound doesn't come out of Serato DJ Pro. The PC is just used as a transport. The signal gets sent to the DAC (sound card) in the controller, and that's where everything happens. Either way, its a simple gain adjustment that shouldn't take more than a minute or two. If you haven't resolved the issue, you really have nothing to lose by trying it.
TurtleFaceBrownNoser 7:48 PM - 26 November, 2018
I have a Rane 72 and I do not experience this issue. Perhaps its because I am using the best of the best flagship cream of the crop? Or perhaps its because all my music is lossless and crem' de la crem'
WAV (hi-res): The standard format all CDs are encoded in. Great sound quality but it's uncompressed, meaning huge file sizes (especially for hi-res files). It has poor metadata support (that is, album artwork, artist and song title information).

AIFF (hi-res): Apple's alternative to WAV, with better metadata support. It is lossless and uncompressed (so big file sizes), but not massively popular.

FLAC (hi-res): This lossless compression format supports hi-res sample rates, takes up about half the space of WAV, and stores metadata. It's royalty-free and widely supported (though not by Apple) and is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing hi-res albums.

ALAC (hi-res): Apple's own lossless compression format also does hi-res, stores metadata and takes up half the space of WAV. An iTunes- and iOS-friendly alternative to FLAC.
17tr2 9:19 PM - 26 November, 2018
Quote:
I have a Rane 72 and I do not experience this issue. Perhaps its because I am using the best of the best flagship cream of the crop? Or perhaps its because all my music is lossless and crem' de la crem'
WAV (hi-res): The standard format all CDs are encoded in. Great sound quality but it's uncompressed, meaning huge file sizes (especially for hi-res files). It has poor metadata support (that is, album artwork, artist and song title information).

AIFF (hi-res): Apple's alternative to WAV, with better metadata support. It is lossless and uncompressed (so big file sizes), but not massively popular.

FLAC (hi-res): This lossless compression format supports hi-res sample rates, takes up about half the space of WAV, and stores metadata. It's royalty-free and widely supported (though not by Apple) and is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing hi-res albums.

ALAC (hi-res): Apple's own lossless compression format also does hi-res, stores metadata and takes up half the space of WAV. An iTunes- and iOS-friendly alternative to FLAC.


You almost have it. Just because formats like AIFF, FLAC, WAV and ALAC are lossless, doesn't mean they're hi-res. "Standard Res", is considered CD or its lossless file equivalent (16/44). Hi-res must be something higher like 26/96 or 24/192. So, for example, if you rip a CD to FLAC, its not hi-res. If you rip an SACD or DVD-A to FLAC, it is. (Assuming you know how to properly rip these type of discs)

Also, the part about ALAC being an iOS friendly alternative to FLAC isn't quite right. Apple products like iTunes don't support FLAC, but 3rd party software can. Its just like Mac OS. You can't play FLAC files in iTunes, but you can in Serato.

If you don't mind, where do you get your lossless music from? I see quite a few DJ's on this site looking for sources.
TurtleFaceBrownNoser 9:22 PM - 26 November, 2018
Quote:
Quote:
I have a Rane 72 and I do not experience this issue. Perhaps its because I am using the best of the best flagship cream of the crop? Or perhaps its because all my music is lossless and crem' de la crem'
WAV (hi-res): The standard format all CDs are encoded in. Great sound quality but it's uncompressed, meaning huge file sizes (especially for hi-res files). It has poor metadata support (that is, album artwork, artist and song title information).

AIFF (hi-res): Apple's alternative to WAV, with better metadata support. It is lossless and uncompressed (so big file sizes), but not massively popular.

FLAC (hi-res): This lossless compression format supports hi-res sample rates, takes up about half the space of WAV, and stores metadata. It's royalty-free and widely supported (though not by Apple) and is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing hi-res albums.

ALAC (hi-res): Apple's own lossless compression format also does hi-res, stores metadata and takes up half the space of WAV. An iTunes- and iOS-friendly alternative to FLAC.


You almost have it. Just because formats like AIFF, FLAC, WAV and ALAC are lossless, doesn't mean they're hi-res. "Standard Res", is considered CD or its lossless file equivalent (16/44). Hi-res must be something higher like 26/96 or 24/192. So, for example, if you rip a CD to FLAC, its not hi-res. If you rip an SACD or DVD-A to FLAC, it is. (Assuming you know how to properly rip these type of discs)

Also, the part about ALAC being an iOS friendly alternative to FLAC isn't quite right. Apple products like iTunes don't support FLAC, but 3rd party software can. Its just like Mac OS. You can't play FLAC files in iTunes, but you can in Serato.

If you don't mind, where do you get your lossless music from? I see quite a few DJ's on this site looking for sources.


I purchase CD's and transfer them.
defjamblaster 4:52 AM - 1 January, 2019
i was told recently my files were turned up too loud , maybe it's due to the new settings? i came here todo some research before i was going to reanalyze my library to get all the levels close to the same, but at a lower setting (used to be set at 96). looks like that might not help anything?
HK1200 6:09 PM - 1 January, 2019
I use SSL to apply autogain. Has always seemed to work fine for me.
defjamblaster 9:48 PM - 1 January, 2019
Does it affect the perceived loudness of the tracks? I think that's the main thing I'm looking to achieve.
DjSyndic8 10:28 PM - 1 January, 2019
Quote:
i was told recently my files were turned up too loud , maybe it's due to the new settings? i came here todo some research before i was going to reanalyze my library to get all the levels close to the same, but at a lower setting (used to be set at 96). looks like that might not help anything?


look into "Platinum notes" bro I use it when I have clipping on my tracks or the volume is too low the latest is version 4 I love it and also a good investment as a DJ
defjamblaster 11:03 PM - 1 January, 2019
Quote:
Quote:
i was told recently my files were turned up too loud , maybe it's due to the new settings? i came here todo some research before i was going to reanalyze my library to get all the levels close to the same, but at a lower setting (used to be set at 96). looks like that might not help anything?


look into "Platinum notes" bro I use it when I have clipping on my tracks or the volume is too low the latest is version 4 I love it and also a good investment as a DJ




thanks, that looks awesome and intimidating at the same time lol. i believe i'd need to recreate my custom crates after using it, correct?
DjSyndic8 12:00 AM - 2 January, 2019
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Quote:
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i was told recently my files were turned up too loud , maybe it's due to the new settings? i came here todo some research before i was going to reanalyze my library to get all the levels close to the same, but at a lower setting (used to be set at 96). looks like that might not help anything?


look into "Platinum notes" bro I use it when I have clipping on my tracks or the volume is too low the latest is version 4 I love it and also a good investment as a DJ




thanks, that looks awesome and intimidating at the same time lol. i believe i'd need to recreate my custom crates after using it, correct?


also look into a small java app called "itch sync" I use it all the time to sync my folders into crates easy AZ once you set it up one time... every time you add new tracks to your folders you hit the app and it automatically syncs your songs and folders to crates I swear by it makes my library management so easy bro:)
sotosoul 4:47 AM - 5 January, 2019
Out of curiosity, have you tried to lower the autogain dB value from within the settings? The default is 92 dB I think. Try to lower it all the way to 89 and let us know
defjamblaster 5:50 AM - 5 January, 2019
I have not yet, I'm still wondering if the auto gain affects the perceived volume, or just turns each track up to whatever number regardless of how it ends up sounding.
sotosoul 1:09 PM - 5 January, 2019
I had a similar problem with Denon DS1 + Serato DJ Pro: even through all tracks have been analysed in previous serato versions with auto-gain enabled, I can hear some crackling noises with nearly all tracks unless I lower the track gain value. Overall gain was left to its default value at 92 dB. Last night, I experimented with lowering it to 89 dB and I *think* this may have helped
defjamblaster 5:58 PM - 5 January, 2019
My hesitation is that it's gonna take hours but I'm not sure what it actually does. If I knew it was adjusting the loudness, no problem letting it redo the whole library
dj_soo 6:31 PM - 5 January, 2019
It doesn’t - just switch it and the next track you load will have the volume adjusted
defjamblaster 7:06 PM - 7 January, 2019
Quote:

also look into a small java app called "itch sync" I use it all the time to sync my folders into crates easy AZ once you set it up one time... every time you add new tracks to your folders you hit the app and it automatically syncs your songs and folders to crates I swear by it makes my library management so easy bro:)


this syncs into serato crates or itunes? i use itunes to make my crates
Hanginon 7:29 PM - 7 January, 2019
Quote:
this syncs into serato crates or itunes? i use itunes to make my crates

It sync's to Serato's crates.

Read here the dis-advantages of using iTunes -
pariscreative.com
defjamblaster 7:42 PM - 7 January, 2019
man, i use a lot of smart crates. those are not as good in serato directly in my experience, but i'll read the article to see if he's got some solutions
subclubharri 9:31 PM - 15 February, 2020
even with auto gain lowered to 89 db I still have tracks going into red and distortion