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Before you can begin mixing with Traktor Pro 2 you need to make sure your soundcard and midi controllers are set up properly. We’ll start in the Audio setup tab of the preferences. Set your audio device to the soundcard you have connected. This could be your onboard internal soundcard, an external usb/firewire soundcard, or the soundcard in your mixer. Once you have selected the correct audio device go to the Output Routing tab.
Now that you have your soundcard selected it is time to tell Traktor where you want the audio from each deck to go. The first choice you have in this tab is the Mixing Mode. If you’re using a midi controller with your computer’s built in soundcard, you probably want to choose this option. Internal mixing takes advantage of Traktor’s built in mixer functions. If you’re going to use Traktor with a multi-channel soundcard and an external mixer, choose External. Traktor will automatically change these settings to what it considers optimal. Double check to make sure that all of the settings are correct before moving on to the Input Routing tab
If you are using the DVS functions of Traktor Scratch Pro or using Traktor’s Send FX, you want to make sure that all of your input settings are correct. It is easy to assign an audio source to an input by selecting the input from the dropdown menu. You should now have your audio set up correctly. Let’s move on to the Controller Manager tab and begin configuring your midi controller.
The controller manager tab is where you can map commands to your keyboard and midi controller. If you have a supported controller like the Pioneer CDJ-2000 or Native Instrument’s Kontrol X1, you can click the Add button and select it from the dropdown menu. This will load Traktor’s default settings for that controller. If your controller is not on the list, you have two options. The first is to add a generic midi device and map the controls yourself. The second is to use a TSI file that the controller manufacturer or another Traktor user has configured. To load a TSI file, click the import button and load the TSI from your hard drive.
After configuring your soundcard and controller you can test to make sure everything works by looking at Traktor’s top menu bar. Try turning a knob, pushing a button, or adjusting a fader on your midi controller. The circle next to CTRL should light up as well as the controller looking icon next to it. To test your audio configuration, check to see if the speaker icon is blue and that the volume meters to the right are displayed when you are playing a track. If for some reason your controller or soundcard are not working properly check to make sure they have enough power and are connected correctly.
Stay tuned for upcoming Traktor Pro 2 videos in this new series from The DJ Podcast.
The concepts and techniques demonstrated in this series can also be applied to Traktor Pro even if some options and features found in Traktor Pro 2 may be different from Traktor Pro.