Pitch drifting (TCV)

by **sakaana** on 23 Sep 2008, 00:30

As posted to the other forum (suggestions) i think i noticed some "more extrem" pitch drifting @ DVS 7 compared to the latest V6 version.

Below you can find my config reports, the first one was made with the "phono option - no" setting, the second with "yes".
When i`m right this option means if the used card has built in RIAA pre-amps, correct ? So in my case (M-Audio Conectiv) it should be set to "no", right ?

Maybe you can tell me if my reports look okay, i`m especially interested in the vinyl stats values:

What does that mean for example, mine are around 0.245/0.249
"Volume optimum=0.370" ?
Should that volume be close to the "volume optimum" ?
Needles on these turntables are Ortofon Digitrack.

When i check the vinyl/cd configuration tab i can see that the VU meters reach the first red point which should be okay.

However, would be nice if you could check my reports and might give some advise what i could do better.

Report 1: Phono = no

Config Report:

Report 2 - Phono = yes

Config Report:

TIA !

by **sakaana** on 24 Sep 2008, 18:27

Edit: What i found out is that i get a higher max level on the decks when calibrating the decks with the "installation wizard" instead of the "calibrate" buttons into the "vinyl/cd" setup page - does that make sense ?

Anyway, about the drifting: Same result here, it looks like the installation wizard calibration is more accurate compared to the "calibrate" button into the settings . hmmmm ?!
However it feels real good now i think !

by **ldorio** on 25 Sep 2008, 14:48

Hey Sakaana

A couple quick questions/suggestions:

First of all, what timecode percentage are you getting in the calibration screen? I personally can always get 99-100%. I've found that getting lower percentages can be caused by other issues which can be confusing.

For instance, on my old machine, I noticed the timecode percentage was dropping below 90% whenever a track was loading - this turned out to be caused by the thread priority of MixVibesDvs7.exe not being high enough. I compensated by going into my task manager, going to processes, and right clicking and messing with the thread priority there - I took it all the way up to Realtime. (This is NOT typical, as my new lappy does not require this at all).

Also ASIO latency plays a part in it - if your computer and/or drivers are not able to run super aggressively, it could manifest itself as showing a lower timecode percentage. Try going up to the next highest setting in your ASIO control panel, and see if that fixes.

Last but not least, I see you're using the preamps on the Connectiv box. You may want to instead try it in LINE mode (and then of course recalibrate). This is said to have better performance, and I can understand why - a phono preamp is no more than GAIN+ RIAA EQ, which adds a substantial amount of bass among other things. Since the timecode signal is 1kHz, an RIAA EQ will not in any way help with timecode tracking in the software.

Also, when you say 'pitch drifting' can you explain the magnitude of the drift and the frequency of it? Is it on both decks? Does it seem to have a pattern to it? What needles are you using?

by **polocorp** on 25 Sep 2008, 16:59

Below you can find my config reports, the first one was made with the "phono option - no" setting, the second with "yes".
When i`m right this option means if the used card has built in RIAA pre-amps, correct ? So in my case (M-Audio Conectiv) it should be set to "no", right ?

Well... the connectiv has phono pre-amps so it depends on how you have set your switch.

In your configuration, you should set your switch to phono input and then your output go to the mixer line so you can easily switch back to vinyl. In this case, choose 'phono option-yes'. It allows you to gwet real phono sound quality and not a digital emulation of it.

HOWEVER, ldorio is right, it has recently been shown that setting you inputs/output to line level (phono option-no) is more accurate for drastic backspins... (a fix is coming up in the next update) Let me know if you feel a difference in your beatmatching with these settings.

What does that mean for example, mine are around 0.245/0.249
"Volume optimum=0.370" ?
Should that volume be close to the "volume optimum" ?
Needles on these turntables are Ortofon Digitrack.

0.370 is the correct value for the volume optimum

Edit: What i found out is that i get a higher max level on the decks when calibrating the decks with the "installation wizard" instead of the "calibrate" buttons into the "vinyl/cd" setup page - does that make sense ?

A few Dbs in difference will not change anything in your beatmaching performance. If you are going to compete for scratching it's lways good to tweak the manual calibration so you hit exactly the limit of saturation.

by **ldorio** on 25 Sep 2008, 22:26

In your configuration, you should set your switch to phono input and then your output go to the mixer line so you can easily switch back to vinyl. In this case, choose 'phono option-yes'. It allows you to gwet real phono sound quality and not a digital emulation of it.

Yes, agreed, that will probably provide good performance. The only other option I would consider would be if you have a very high quality DJ Mixer which you know has very high grade phono preamps (read: Allen & Heath, Rodec, Formula Sound), then I would consider using home built Y-cables using low-capacitance, high quality studio grade cable. Then run the turntable to both your mixer's phono section and the interface. That's if you are a sound quality nut. I am. :lol:

by **sakaana** on 26 Sep 2008, 01:24

Thanks to both of you ! I ll check both options (phono yes/no) and tell you if there is a difference. I made some tests today and i think it was okay when using the "installation wizard".
My notebook (Core2Duo / 2.2GHZ / Intel GM965) can run the very lowest settings so there shouldn `t be any ASIO issue.

However i noticed something strange earlier: Anything was calibrated, 100% TC signal and it worked great, but when i did a config report with both decks playing one of them showed be 0.00 "volume max left/right" ?

BTW: When i tick "bypass EQ" into the settings (since i use my external mixer only) does that affect the limiter too ? I mean does the limiter still work when this is checked ?

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