You can push the level above this and still get a nice clean output from most mixers – on the best ones, up to +20dB on the mixer’s output meter. Many analogue mixers have “0dB” marked on the VU meter – this usually corresponds to 0dBV, which means it is measuring the difference between the current level and an output voltage of 1 volt.

dB (short for “decibel”) is a relative measure of volume – it tells you the difference between two levels. The key to understanding what’s going on here is to understand what the “0dB” setting means in Traktor. Tip: If you can, sound check before your set with a track that you know is quiet – make sure it sounds loud enough and that you aren’t clipping (driving into the red) the in-house equipment that you are hooked up to. Turn the gain on the amp or analogue mixer you’re plugged in to up to compensate if necessary – this will give you plenty of headroom, so when you drop that track that hasn’t been mastered quite so loud, you can crank up the channel gains in Traktor without worrying about distortion.Turn Traktor’s master output control down – somewhere around -10dB works well (assuming you have a decent sound card).I’ll explain the whys and wherefores in a moment, but here’s the simple solution to the problem: (You know you are hitting the limiter when the red lights on Traktor’s output meters come on.)Īs most dance tracks released these days are already heavily compressed, adding further compression is not a good idea if you want your set to sound good (see the Loudness Wars video for more info on the effects of over-compression). The limiter is basically a compressor, which quietens down the loudest parts of the track, “filling out” the sound to give the impression of more volume. If you do have Traktor’s master limiter switched on, you can crank the volume further, but at the expense of sound quality again. Faders and the main volume control are already all the way up, and there’s nowhere left to go. If you’ve got the master limiter disabled, turning the channel’s gain further just results in nasty distortion. You’ve just dropped a dancefloor-filling track, but when you try to smoothly bring in the next tune, it’s too quiet. You may have already run into this problem.

When I first realised this on switching from CDJs and an analogue mixer to using Traktor and a sound card, it prompted me to take a deeper look into the best way to get the level right. Today I’m going to explain why turning the master volume down in Traktor is essential if you mix “in the box”, ie in internal mode – which if you use a DJ controller, is exactly what you do. A sudden big drop in the volume is a surefire way to lose energy on the dance floor – or even clear it if you’re really unlucky! The way Traktor handles metering and the labels on its volume controls can lure you into making a real mess of your levels. When I’ve taught friends to DJ, one of the things I try to get across early is the importance of matching the levels of the two tracks being mixed. To DJ successfully in bars, lounges or clubs using Traktor, you need to understand how it handles volume.

Setting up a traktor s2 with djpro