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Forum: VirtualDJ Technical Support

Sujet VDJ DVS/Timecode Pitch Accuracy Issue
Hi,

Recently acquired a VDJ license as i was recommended to give it a go by a good friend. I own a Rane Seventy MK2 (A-Trak Edition), and run 2x Reloop RP7000 MK2's with Serato Control Vinyl.

My Laptop is running on: - AMD Ryzen 7 4800H with Radeon Graphics, 2900 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s) and 16GB of RAM.

The issue i am having with the software is down to the accuracy of the pitch in software with DVS. When moving the pitch slider on the turntables. The readings vary significantly and are never consistent or truly represent where the pitch fader is.

I understand there is always wow and flutter when using turntables, but compared to my use with Serato there is quite a huge difference in performance comparisons.

Being new to VDJ it is quite possible i'm overlooking certain options and preferences that would fix this issue so any help on here is certainly appreciated.

I have attached 2x images where you can see the issues.
Image 1 - is showing the track played at ZERO pitch, both on the turntable and in software, however the tempo the track is being played at is faster than the original tempo.

Image 2 - shows the tempo after i moved the pitch +1 on the turntable and back again to ZERO, now showing a completely different reading, and now +0.1%.

This inaccuracy is consistent no matter where i move the pitch to and makes manual beatmatching/riding the pitch near on impossible to get anything locked in sync. At the extremes of the pitch range of +/- 8%, the reading in software can be anywhere from 7.7% to 7.9%, and again is never consistent.

None of the above issues i have in Serato, so really hope there is a work around for this as i'm actually really loving the functionality, customisation and aesthetic of VDJ

Really hoping for solution, appreciate any help and reply to the matter.


 

Posté Tue 13 Feb 24 @ 11:25 pm
Hi All, Liam is a great friend of mine and loves VDJ bar this problem, is there anyone who can help him at all. I use a controller and know nothing about DVS. Thanks if anyone can help.
 

Posté Sat 17 Feb 24 @ 10:38 pm
Tbh I have never found the skin readout to be reliable when using DVS...the BPM readout is always a bit off by a few tenths, especially at extremes (0 marker and the turntable pitch slider maximum).
However, this has not stopped me from using DVS, I just rely on my ears more for matching after roughly matching with the readout. Serato and Rekordbox definitely have a better smoothing algorithm when it comes to the pitch readout (unfortunately this has been reported before but hasn't really been addressed).

Wrt the photos
user26904309 wrote :

Image 1 - is showing the track played at ZERO pitch, both on the turntable and in software, however the tempo the track is being played at is faster than the original tempo.


The software skin pitch reading may read zero, but the turntable pitch (and what the software has interpreted it as) seems more to be the deciding factor for the DVS playback (the actual tempo being used is not zero). Are you using quartz lock when checking or are you trying to set the pitch to zero? The former is the more accurate method. It

user26904309 wrote :

Image 2 - shows the tempo after i moved the pitch +1 on the turntable and back again to ZERO, now showing a completely different reading, and now +0.1%.

This is the most common thing I experience, so you aren't alone here.

This problem hasn't really made beatmatching impossible for me though, it just makes beatmatching using the BPM readout less reliable. If you match by ear (with or without using the readout as a starting point), the decks do tend to retain sync properties like all the other software, plus/minus a little bit of nudging here and there.

There are two things that can throw off your actions when matching in terms of options:

  • timecodePitchSliderIgnoreBend

    This delays pitch reading display time (results in less fluctations being shown in the displayed BPM). You can switch this off to see if things improve, because sometimes I find the reading gets "stuck", especially at extremes
  • clone_from_deck

    The default behaviour of this also clones the deck pitch slider value, and this creates a range skew if the turntable pitch slider doesn't match the value. Use timecode_reset_pitch to get it to reset to the turntable pitch slider value.
 

Posté Sun 18 Feb 24 @ 2:27 am
DJ VinylTouch wrote :
Tbh I have never found the skin readout to be reliable when using DVS...the BPM readout is always a bit off by a few tenths, especially at extremes (0 marker and the turntable pitch slider maximum).
However, this has not stopped me from using DVS, I just rely on my ears more for matching after roughly matching with the readout. Serato and Rekordbox definitely have a better smoothing algorithm when it comes to the pitch readout (unfortunately this has been reported before but hasn't really been addressed).

Wrt the photos
user26904309 wrote :

Image 1 - is showing the track played at ZERO pitch, both on the turntable and in software, however the tempo the track is being played at is faster than the original tempo.


The software skin pitch reading may read zero, but the turntable pitch (and what the software has interpreted it as) seems more to be the deciding factor for the DVS playback (the actual tempo being used is not zero). Are you using quartz lock when checking or are you trying to set the pitch to zero? The former is the more accurate method. It

user26904309 wrote :

Image 2 - shows the tempo after i moved the pitch +1 on the turntable and back again to ZERO, now showing a completely different reading, and now +0.1%.

This is the most common thing I experience, so you aren't alone here.

This problem hasn't really made beatmatching impossible for me though, it just makes beatmatching using the BPM readout less reliable. If you match by ear (with or without using the readout as a starting point), the decks do tend to retain sync properties like all the other software, plus/minus a little bit of nudging here and there.

There are two things that can throw off your actions when matching in terms of options:

  • timecodePitchSliderIgnoreBend

    This delays pitch reading display time (results in less fluctations being shown in the displayed BPM). You can switch this off to see if things improve, because sometimes I find the reading gets "stuck", especially at extremes
  • clone_from_deck

    The default behaviour of this also clones the deck pitch slider value, and this creates a range skew if the turntable pitch slider doesn't match the value. Use timecode_reset_pitch to get it to reset to the turntable pitch slider value.



Thankyou for the in-depth reply mate, i will try out the settings you have stated and see if there is any improvement. When using Serato i generally never look at the screen readouts anyway when mixing, i trust my ears and ride the pitch accordingly, it just seems with VDJ this method is proving more difficult to get a mix locked in without drifting. I was just under the assumption the issue might align with the accuracy issues shown with the on screen pitch. It's not impossible, but in comparison it's making these longer blends harder to pull off consistently.

When calibrating the decks i have the pitch locked at zero, and the quartz lock engaged to make sure it's as accurate as possible.

It really is a shame this issue hasn't been addressed. I did come across another thread with a similar issue but this was with the CD timecode. If anything i would have thought that format would have been more accurate, so frustrating this is a common problem across all timecode formats.

It seems VDJ is more polished and catered to the controller users, which is a shame because out of all the software i have tried over the years i really want to love this one, but this is a pretty big gripe i have currently.

I have emailed VDJ directly, but the response was not at all helpful. So thankyou for understanding the issue and the helpful reply.
 

Posté Sun 18 Feb 24 @ 12:19 pm
hs911PRO InfinityMember since 2021
Hi,

i would like to join the topic because this behavior is similar to me and makes virtual dj unusable in timecode mode for me. the first idea was, that my 10y old i7 laptop is too poor, so i tried a new one, but:

- Quartz enabled on 1210 shows always +0,2 in VDJ, which means ~0,2 BPM
- Even when playing a track with Timecode, the display shows no reliable BPM which means that it varies ±1BPM!
- Ignore Pitch Bend Setting takes 3 Seconds to show an update, so useless

This means: When i mix with timecodes and 100% by ear, the software shows for example 137,6 for Deck A and 138,4 for Deck B. This is absolutely annoying..

Since i buyed VDJ to replace Traktor, its a showstopper for me at the moment. Maybe someone has a good idea, whats wrong in my flow.

Thanks and Greetings,
hs
 

Posté Tue 16 Apr 24 @ 11:24 pm
@hs911 I guess you've read the previous set of messages on this thread to get a feel for the state of DVS in VirtualDJ. I personally don't think the behaviour is a show stopper/DVS is unusable at all - you just have be more aware of the need for/do more adjustments to get things right. The DVS behaviour is definitely different from Traktor (I've used Traktor DVS with a Z2 exclusively for 2-3 years before VirtualDJ, as well as Serato and Rekordbox DVS with a DJM-S9 for similar time periods).
The key is not to depend on the skin readout for your adjustments, but your ears...the skin readout helps for an initial setting but it doesn't necessarily reflect what the software is using as the speed of the turntable at a particular moment in time.
I also probably would recommend turning off timecodeSliderIgnoreBend, (especially if you are relying on response being as fast as possible (like doing pitch fader toneplay tricks)) and (only if you do a lot of instant doubles in your mixing and expect the turntable pitch slider to tell the truth about the track speed value always) remapping your instant double mappings on controllers to include
& timecode_pitch_reset

I do agree though that the reliability of the skin readout could be better (it does seem to stabilize on seemingly wrong values (especially noticeable as the default and many other skin shows 2 decimal places, but I've never seen it stablize, for the same track on both decks, on values that are outside of 0.5 of each other as a tolerance, unless my needle was dirty or something)...hopefully devs would improve it (the gold standard there is Serato, not even Traktor gives as fast/accurate response on skin readout as it). But for the DVS sounds, whether not you can mix or perform turntablist type things on it, give it a longer try with more by ear awareness...VirtualDJ actually performs pretty well.



 

Posté Tue 16 Apr 24 @ 11:52 pm
hs911PRO InfinityMember since 2021
thanks for your reply, i totally agree with you.
but to change the type of mixing by using your ears only is the wrong direction in my opinion. we did this for centuries and we still do so when using vinyl. but everything is becoming more and more digital so there is a good reason for accepting this and use the advantages. if i have one eye on the BPM to verify quickly that my adjustment was correct, i am much more faster than hearing the track 30 more seconds to check if the beats run out of sync. and this is what is not working with VDJ because after 2 minutes, the running track decides to have 0,5 BPM more than at the beginning, without habing touched the pitch...
 

Posté Wed 17 Apr 24 @ 8:09 am
I agree that the readout should be better...I honestly don't know why it is still slightly unreliable in readout at this stage. However I'm also saying that, while the readout still behaves this way (and we wait on a fix/interest in fixing it), still give it a try with your mixing (I had the same frustration too), once you get the hang of it, you'll actually be better at mixing overall. I've noticed that I actually got better with turntables since coming over. All of this not aimed as a defense for current behaviour (I definitely hope to see it improved)...but it is an appeal to say you haven't wasted money...the DVS functionality, outside of the readout problem, is very good, and controller compatibility/flexibility is the best amongst all the software I mentioned that I tried. The devs are very active directly in these forums too (I've not see that on the competitiors forums).
 

Posté Wed 17 Apr 24 @ 8:33 pm
Just don’t pay attention to anything past the decimal point unless it’s higher then .5

It’s honestly not that bad 👌🏾
 

Posté Thu 18 Apr 24 @ 4:39 am