Hi DJ Xio,
if you like upload one of the songs that distorts all the time here: www.serato.com
and we will have a look to see if we can figure out the problem :)

Thanks,

I'll try to test today and see what the problem is....
however the rather low volume on the headphones happens with every single song.

Which gives me the impression that is the sound card, that is not up to par with what I had before. :s

The headphone output is rather low in my opinion as well. I usually keep the headphone level at max (and I actually CAN hear). I don't hear any distortion, so I may not have a trained/detailed ear as others, and I never really listened for distortion. I'll check it out later.

What kind of headphones are you using?

I'm using Pioneer Headphones...

I just hooked up the vci-300 to a mixer along with the denon dnd2500s and played both songs simultaneously to see volume level differences, and I've come to the conclusion that the VCI-300 runs its max at 0 dbs.

Let me explain...

When you turn the master level to the highest and the gain 3/4 through I was able to match the volume in the vci-300 to the denon.

Important to notice that the vci-300 did not distort with the master level to the max nor with the gain 3/4 of a way through.

What leads me to conclude that it's max setting is 0 dbs from a normal player.

In other words, the sound card is not bad, nor does it distort.

It just doesn't have the volume increase capabilities of a mixer...

Same applies to the headphones, when the master level is to its highest and the gain 3/4s or more applied, the volume levels on the headphone are loud... However it's not as loud as a mixer, cause the mixer amplifies volume levels to the point where it can distort sound from its loudness... This doesn't mean the sound card is bad, it just means... It runs everything at 0 dbs, and it won't amplify anymore...

It's just a matter of understanding how the unit works to get the best sound out of it.

Yesterday I was running it with the gains halfway and that's why it was so low...
Increasing the gains 3/4 th or even a little bit more, doesn't really distort the sound.

My biggest suggestion to knowing the safe lefel.... Run it as high as you can, without letting the red level stay on... as long as it's blinking, you're safe.

FINAL VERDICT:

I take back my post about the sound card, it's a matter of understanding how it works... It does just fine, especially if you hook it up to a club mixer.

BTW, everyday I'm loving this unit more and more...

Final rating 9 out 10.

Give me some effects, independent outputs, and a little more sound amplification capabilities and you get your perfect 10. oh, and if you give me a few sampling capabilities you get 11.

:)

That's all for now, good luck to everyone...

Now on to finding the perfect case, and even better... something that would allow me to carry everything while remaining hooked up so installation is every faster... almost like a mini rack...

We can always dream right? ;)

you could use a headphone amplifier like the Behringer Microamp HA400 to increase you overall headphone volume. its pretty cheap too. using a small small mixer to send your main out from the vci-300 may be a good option to give you good headroom on your volume such as a Mackie 402-VLZ3.

i plan on using this as my dedicated setup once the vci-300 goes on sale.
VCI-300 main out goes to 402-VLZ3 and headphone out from the VCI-300 goes to the Behringer microamp.

i do have one question though, is there an option to disable the crossfader on the vci-300?

Not currently. Things like this can be added in, but I don't see why (I mean, I suppose I know why.... I'm just sayin).

Say what?

some of us don't use the crossfader much unless its for scratching so it could be bothersome that i'll have to keep the crossfader in the middle to get sound from both channels on the main out.

Exactly. I have a friend (female DJ) who likes to only use the upfaders to blend. She has 2 matchbooks she puts on the sides of both of crossfader to keep it in the middle. So... I can understand why someone would want to disable the crossfader, but I've only seen that on larger mixers (like that old ass expensive rane mixer that's in every club in DC).

But since I use the crossfader, I'm a bit biased. ;-)

some smaller mixers do have that option as well. my rane empath has that as well as the pioneer djm-400 and numark dxm09. i wish they would add this feature. it would be easy for them since its software driven so i guess they could just ad an enable/disable option on the program without tinkering with the hardware.

are you saying that if you hook this up with an external mixer you wont be able to cue songs via the external mixer or the 300?

think he means via the mixer....

ive took hold of my VCI 300 today, im pretty impressed so far, good looping, tight mixes, but........

i also agree about the soundcard, there just doesnt seem to be a great deal of power out of it.....so i hooked it up to my allen & heath and...hey presto, problem solved, although like Xio im not entirely sure if there is a problem or not, doesnt seem like you can tweek any of the settings for volumes or anything in the software.

see what happens i suppose

I'm pretty excited for this! Just placed my order on pssl.com! :) I've been using serato for a long time and it'll be awesome to have something portable to travel with, practice and mess around with!

Maybe the sound would have been better if you had connected the speakers to the (balanced) TRS outputs of the VCI-300 instead of the (unbalanced) RCAs.

Also, if you are concerned about sound quality it would probably be a good idea to set up the speakers further apart then on the picture, like for example in the corners of the room.

Is it possible when you connect a option 9v 500mah adapter to the vci-300, the problem of the soundcard will be resolved?
Can annyone confirm this?