Error caused by Macbook or Kontrol S4 Mk3 ??

RadioKraak
RadioKraak Member Posts: 7 Newcomer
in Traktor Software & Hardware

Hi all,

I use Traktor over 15 years on a Macbook. Currently i have a Macbook Pro 2018 2,3ghz i5 8GB. I use a Kontrol S4 Mk3 + Kontrol F1.

After updating to Traktor Pro 4 i'm aware that my Macbook is a bit "slow". Stem seperation can't be done during a live set but i did not have any issues during a live set. I tested at home and did a couple of gigs with this setup without problems.

Last weekend i did another gig an after 3 hours the music just stopped. It was silent. Looking on my Macbook: On the screen everything looked fine and the deck was stil spinning. Looking on the S4: VU meters on my channels were still alive.

I looked like there was no master output. I checked the sound system but that wasn't the issue.

I quickly shut off Traktor, restarted the S4 and switched to Traktor Pro3 that is still installed.
Music started playing again and i was on my way but after a couple of minutes i heard the sound getting distorted and it was getting worse by the minute.

I then restarted my MacBook reconnected and restarted the S4 an tried again. The rest of the evening everything was working fine…..

Can you help me to determine what caused the problem? My MacBook worked fine even when it was silent so i thought the S4. After restarting the S4 and use it with Traktor 3 (did not restart my MacBook) there were still problems so that make me think it was my MacBook but i'm not sure….

Anyone?

This was the first time i had someting like this during a gig but wow… this is really *** up so i need know….

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Answers

  • supa_pep
    supa_pep Member Posts: 5 Newcomer

    Hi RadioKraak,

    I have not had the problems you describe - at least not with Traktor…
    However, some years ago I was still using a different DJ-software on a Macbook which was also already a bit older (just like yours) - and I had problems similar to yours:

    • Sound cutting out; all of a sudden & without warning.
    • Distorted sound.
    • The graphic "waterfall" (track's waves) started to "lag": They were not on time anymore, but about a second or so behind from what I heard out of the speakers.

    In my case, all these problems happened because I had set my sample-rates too high, and I was running too many decks (4 total). Moreover, that night I had forgotten to shut down everything not directly related/needed for DJing: after the gig, I found out that I had my WLAN still running… so, there were probably emails coming in, maybe an update started without me noticing… a lot of little things.

    However, each of these little things consumed a bit of CPU, a bit of RAM… and in the end, it was too much for my laptop!

    In your case, with you running STEMS as well, maybe your RAM was just full, so the new data (your songs) could not be processed the way it should? 8GB are not much these days (Apple keeps telling us that 1GB RAM/Mac is equal to 2GB/WIN - but I am sure that this is nonsense!

    You write you did NOT restart your computer, correct?

    Honestly: Since I've had Apple ciomputers (almost 12 yrs now), the FIRST THING I do whenever there's any problem, is RESTART THE MAC. Sometimes I feel a bit silly doing it, however in more than 50%, this solves the problem (fwiw)… sounds silly, I know.

    RadioKraak, I would try to replicate the situation: I would run TRAKTOR like you did that night, and at the same time, watch my "activity monitor". Inside this app, there's a window "memory" (sorry, I am German, so the name may be different in English), it is to be found in the top menu bar. Click → activity monitor will now show you the status of your RAM in real time (or, almost in real time). If this is the culprit, you will see it clearly!

    I understand that your experience must havew been traumatic - it would be for me, and probably for most of us here… so, I keep my fingers crossed and wish you luck, that you will find the reason for the problems you described. And, I do wish for you that in the future, you will always get to play and finish your sets without such problems!

    Marc

  • RadioKraak
    RadioKraak Member Posts: 7 Newcomer

    Hi Marc,

    Thank you for your extensive reply.
    I understand what you are saying and i also suspect my MacBook is the problem but there are a few things that make me doubt if it is really my MacBook.

    I use my MacBook for nothing else than DJing. So i have installed Traktor. Apple Music and Rekordbox, and nothing more. I don't have e-mail coming in or so. I tested it extensively at home (over 12 hours) and had no problems there.

    Next to that i know that when my MacBook is on it's limits at first the screen freezes. When i'm preparing at home and creating stems i have some issues but then the screen freezes or lags, the sound is distorting a little bit and thats it. In this case everything was working fine and in a split second it was dead silent. No distortion, no lag, nothing. Also my MacBook and Traktor kept running after the silence….

    I allready ordered a New Macbook (M3 16GB) because i don't want to take any risks. So if it is not the macbook causing the problems we will find out quickly.

    I'll keep you posted!

  • Djansen1987
    Djansen1987 Member Posts: 9 Member

    I have the same issue with Traktor Pro 4 and S4 mk3 but i run it on a windows 11 laptop with an i9 proccessor and 16 gb memory.

    This now already happed at 2 gigs in total 4 times. Last gig i switched back to Traktor Pro 3 and had no issue. Same problem @RadioKraak discribes. Couple of hours in to a gig it suddenly stopped audio output. It seems to be loosing connection to the controller for just a split second. also had it coming back after reattaching the controller without closing the software, but most of the time i had to close the software. Also tried a different usb cable which didn't help. Bought the Traktor pro 4 as a loose license as i bought the S4 mk3 after which also was a bummer as it comes with a license, so also my S4 mk3 controller is not older then 2 months really a bummer as i just start using the stems as instant karaoke versions if some one at the party would like to sing along with a song.

    Really hopes a fix would come soon for this!

  • RadioKraak
    RadioKraak Member Posts: 7 Newcomer

    Update:

    I bought a New Macbook Air (M3, 16GB, 512SSD). Installed Traktor Pro, attached my S4MK3 (directly with a USB C to B cable) and let it play for a couple of hours on all 4 decks with effects, filters etc. Also did some stem separation while playing decks. No problems so far….

    After i think 6 hours the exact same thing happened: Silence… Everything is playing in Traktor, the S4 is playing as well. I can control everything in the software, i can load new tracks, the VU meter on the decks are showing signal so everything works as it should exept voor the Master output.

    The master VU doesn't do anything and on both the main XLR as the main RCA outputs there's no sound coming out.

    Exact the same thing as happened on my old setup during a gig.

    When i pulled out the cable and directy put it back in my Macbook the sound was back and everything played as it should.

    I'm really worried now. I have some gigs coming up and the music can just drop out any moment….

    Please help!

  • Djansen1987
    Djansen1987 Member Posts: 9 Member

    I now had the same issue during 4 gigs with traktor pro 4 and s4 mk3. Last gig i started using traktor pro 3 again and all worked fine! No fallouts, so it must be traktor 4 pro. Let me know if this also solves it for you

  • RadioKraak
    RadioKraak Member Posts: 7 Newcomer

    At home i put everything on and let it run for 12 hours straight. Then i had no issues.
    Last weekend i had a gig and it also worked without glitches so that was quite a releave.

    Sunday morning i installed it again at home and let it play for hours. After 5 hours the same problem appeared again: Everything works but no master out.

    So it seems i was lucky during my gig but this i can't trust Traktor Pro 4 and/or my Kontrol S4 mK3.

    Is there someone from NI self that can say something about this? I use Traktor for over 15 years but if i can't trust it anymore i'm considering switching to Rekordbox and a Pioneer/Alpha Teta controller…

  • ilove1981
    ilove1981 Member Posts: 133 Advisor

    Do you have to be doing anything to test this or are you literally putting on a playlist and hitting Cruise Mode to see what happens after a few hours? I may try the same thing: I have an 2019 Intel MacBook Pro.

  • RadioKraak
    RadioKraak Member Posts: 7 Newcomer

    I just put on some 32 beat loops and let them play. When im at home i put on some new tracks or just mix a few for fun, than put on some loops and let it play again…

  • Djansen1987
    Djansen1987 Member Posts: 9 Member

    What i noticed was it is sometimes behaving strang at the end of a track. So if you let a track play out, the track wave becomes red and start to blink. What somethings happen is that it looks like it is furtherthen the end of the track and it start blinking in a strange pattern, I think this is around the same time the software is going into the bug

  • Djansen1987
    Djansen1987 Member Posts: 9 Member

    Okay, last weekend had this issue again with traktor 3, so this is not the solution. i also found multiple other topics with the same issue, regratting that i bought the s4 mk3… Hope support has an solution for this.

    the shame on stage when the controller fails again and again is horrible!!

    all the times it happend it was while starting an new track, and the previous ended track was blinking red fast (end of song warning). It also seems like it was behind the end of the track, which might is programming wise and issue. The new song then plays for about 1 / 1,5 minutes and then stops. This could be well in 2 hours of playing to 30 minutes.

    All the time i could predict now when it happens when i see the fast blinking of the time marker. Also had a strange behaviour of the pitch bouncing between 2 digits while the pitch fader was still at 1 point. moving it up and down did not change anything, softly hitting the fader solved it. Again this is a totally new device used not more then 10 times and is transported safely in a expensive controller bag.

  • RadioKraak
    RadioKraak Member Posts: 7 Newcomer

    I feel for you.. the shame on stage is really horrible….

    Last 3 weekends i've had 3 gigs and no problems. To be sure i bought a tiny mixer and connected an ipad to it so i can put on music really quick while restarting my MacBook en controller but no errors so far last 3 gigs….

    The problem is that you can't predict it so you have the constant fear of dropping dead silent. No reaction from NI of whatsover is what really worries me.. is it a know problem, are they able to fix it with a new software of firmware update…

    DDJ AZ and Rekordbox is becoming more and more appealing….

  • ilove1981
    ilove1981 Member Posts: 133 Advisor

    I always have a separate audio mixer with my phone or iPad connected so I can jump in with another tune, bypassing my Traktor setup. That said, I've never had to use it for the reasons you've described above. If I understand you correctly, you're saying the red blinking end-of-track warning is sometimes much faster than normal and that's when you subsequently experience audio loss on the next track?

  • Djansen1987
    Djansen1987 Member Posts: 9 Member

    Yes that is for now an indicator for me this is about to happen. It blinks faster for my feeling then normal when reaching the end of the track. In the playback settings I always had configured it to stop playing at the end of a track, I changed this so in continues playing after the end of a track, and did not had it twice last Saturday. But this also might be luck. With my old denon dj panel (and this one) I also have a tablet connected as fall back but because the rca/auxiliary in runs through the software with this panel this does not work. With pioneer and denon the mic in and rca maintain to work when the software is closed. Had to find this out last weekend as well. So an external mixer is the only option. Any devices to recommend? I already have 5 channel mixer but this is wat to big for club gigs. (Crazy this should even be considered.)

    Als ik am search how to open an ticket with them about this, but could not find a page to contact support, all leads to this forum.

  • Djansen1987
    Djansen1987 Member Posts: 9 Member

    i managed to reproduce it, also have a ticket open with NI. Hope they van help me out.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX5WAL0prIQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edNDau4iESE

  • RadioKraak
    RadioKraak Member Posts: 7 Newcomer

    I'm not sure if the red light warning was blinking faster during my errors. It was live so i didn't take much time to reproduce or troubleshoot. But i hope NI will take this serious….

    For side mixer i have a Soundcraft Notepad 5. Small, balanced in and balanced (XLR out).

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