D2 Director is a 3U rack-mountable dual-deck console designed for the needs of the modern DJ. With
a ground-breaking and easily accessible user interface, the plug and play design empowers the DJ to
quickly find, organize and perform tracks from connected USB storage devices. Songs can be
directed manually to decks or automatically played, jukebox-style.
Powerful tools such as the Crate and Profile View offer a digital slant on traditional DJ methods. The
Crate can be used to prepare and arrange your set in advance, during your performance or a mixture
of both. The Profile View offers a fast visual cueing aid, much like looking at the grooves on a record,
but better!
D2 Director boasts three USB connections for a wide variety of storage options. These include the
Apple iPod
®, thumb drives and external hard drives. Searching for artists, albums or tracks is made
super fast with the supplied USB keyboard.
D2 Director can play MP3, WAV and AAC* music formats stored on FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and HFS+
file systems.
FEATURES
Support for iPod, Flash keys, thumb drives, and external USB hard drives
USB computer keyboard supports searching for songs, artists and more - on USB drives or iPods
3U rackmount console
Scratching and Pitch-Bending
Seamless looping, stuttering
Pitch control
Large backlit display with revolutionary easy-to-use interface
Search quickly through songs
Track Profile visualisations
Three USB ports to connect iPods, USB thumb drives, hard drives or a keyboard
Formats supported: MP3, WAV and AAC*
Beatkeeper technology with TAP override function
Fader Start feature
Computer playlist support including many popular formats
Safe Software Updates for future enhancements. Go to www.numark.com for support.
IMPORTANT MESSAGES
D2 Director works best with the latest software installed. We strongly recommend that you check for software
updates right away, and continue to check regularly so you don't miss out on any of the good stuff! See “D2
Software Upgrades” section for details.
Don't Force It
USB devices fit into the USB socket one way around only. If the device does not push in
easily, don't force it – check that you have it the right way around!
Eject Before Pulling
When you're finished with a storage device, always properly eject it before unplugging, just
like with your home computer! Unplugging without ejecting can damage your data. See
“Ejecting a Library” section for details.
USB Hubs
You can plug a hub into each of your D2 Director USB ports, but you must not plug a hub into
a hub! We recommend you use only powered hubs for maximum reliability.
USB Gizmos
Mice, trackpads and other input devices will do nothing for your D2 Director. Most USB
keyboards are supported but we recommend you use the cool Numark keyboard supplied.
® iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S.A. and other countries.
* Protected AAC audio files downloaded from the iTunes Music Store cannot be accessed.
3
CONNECTION DIAGRAM
TO MIXER LINE INPUT
TO MIXER LINE INPUT
REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS
TO MASS STORAGE MEDIA USB DEVICE
TO INCLUDED KEYBOARD
TO FADER START COMPATIBLE MIXER
POWER
SOURCE TO MASS STORAGE MEDIA USB DEVI CE
FRONT PANEL
CONNECTIONS
(top left)
TO
1. Make sure the following items were in the box:
TO FADER START COMPATIBLE MIXER
• D2 Director
• Power adapter
• USB key drive
• USB keyboard
• 2 stereo RCA cables
• Quickstart Guide
• Safety Instruction Booklet
2. READ SAFETY INSTRUCTION BOOKLET BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT.
3. Study this connection diagram.
4. Place the D2 Director in an appropriate position for operation. You may:
Place the D2 Director on a flat surface.
Mount the D2 Director in a standard 19” 3u rackspace using four rack screws.
5. Make sure all devices are turned off and all faders and gain knobs are set to their lowest
level.
6. Connect the stereo outputs to mixer and/or other audio devices.
7. Plug all devices into AC power.
8. Switch everything on in the following order:
• D2 Director
• mixer
• amplifiers or output devices
9. Always reverse this operation by turning off devices in the following order:
• amplifiers or output devices
• mixer
• D2 Director
More information about this product may be found at http://www.numark.com/d2
4
REAR PANEL OVERVIEW
Power – Please plug the supplied power adapter (DC 12V 2A) and connect it to a power source. Please
1.
only use the supplied power adapter – using an alternate power adapter may result in damage to the D2
Director.
2. DC Restraint – You may use this restraint to secure the power adapter cord to the unit. This will prevent
the cord from being accidentally unplugged.
3. USB Inputs – Please attach your mass storage media to these two available USB ports* – a hub can be
used to expand to more USB inputs, but you should never plug a hub into a hub. We recommend you
use only powered hubs for maximum reliability. You may also connect the included USB keyboard to
one of these ports for quick navigation and searching.
Note: D2 Director can play MP3, WAV and AAC music formats stored on FAT16, FAT32, NTFS
(read-only) and HFS+ file systems.
4. Line Out (B) – This RCA connection will output the audio signal from deck B on the D2. Please use the
supplied stereo RCA cable to connect to a line-level input of your DJ mixer.
5. Line Out (A) – This RCA connection will output the audio signal from deck A on the D2. Please use the
supplied stereo RCA cable to connect to a line-level input of your DJ mixer.
6. Fader Start Connectors – Use these connectors to plug into your fader-start compatible mixer. Fader
Start allows you to remotely start playback on either deck from a fader-start compatible mixer. With this
feature, every time you move the crossfader on your mixer toward either side, the track loaded on that
deck will begin playing. To use the D2 with a fader-start compatible mixer, connect the supplied faderstart cables from the two connectors on the D2 to the fader-start connectors on your mixer.
FRONT PANEL OVERVIEW
1. Power Button – This button is used to turn the D2 on and off. Please always use this button when
powering off the unit. Unplugging the adapter or switching off power from an external source, such as a
power strip, may result in damage to the unit or the removable media. To power down the unit, please
hold the power button until the shutdown process completes.
2. USB Removable Media Input – Please attach your removable media to this USB port*.
3. Deck Section A – This area features the controls for deck A. Please see “Deck Controls (A and B)”
section of this manual for description of deck controls.
4. Deck Section B – This area features the controls for deck B. Please see “Deck Controls (A and B)”
section of this manual for description of deck controls.
5. Global Controls Section – This area features the LCD screen and the global controls of the D2. Please
see “Global Controls” for description of global controls.
*PLEASE REMEMBER TO ALWAYS EJECT YOUR USB MEDIA BEFORE PHYSICALLY
REMOVING IT, OTHERWISE THE DATA MAY BECOME CORRUPT AND UNUSABLE.
5
HOW TO WORK WITH D2 DIRECTOR
D2 Director introduces some revolutionary concepts for the Digital DJ, however working with the product is
quick and easy. Many of the digital features reflect traditional DJ techniques that you'll already be familiar
with. In fact there is no one correct way to work with D2 Director as you'll discover the more you experiment,
but here are the basics...
È Get Digital!
Before you can start with D2 Director you need to get your content into one of the supported digital
formats. “USB Device Compatibility” section of this manual covers this process in detail, but in brief you
should use your PC or Mac to convert your CDs, records and tapes into WAV, MP3 or AAC format. If
you already use digital media products such as personal MP3 players or PC DJ packages, then you
may already have your tracks in a suitable format. It's worth taking some care at this stage to ensure
your content is converted to a high standard. You might find products such as Numark's TTUSB
computer-attached turntable useful for getting your traditional media converted.
È Get Ready!
Before the gig, you should check that your portable media device or devices are loaded with the
content you need. To save time, you can use the Librarian tool in your PC to prepare a library for each
device (see “Creating a Library” section). It's always a good idea to carry a backup copy of your
content, a precaution which is really easy in the digital world.
MASTER LIBRARY WORKING LIBRARY BACKUP LIBRARY
6
È Gig!
You got your content ready, now it's time to plug and play!
1. Prepare your Crate
D2 Director contains your virtual record Crate. Send tracks from the Library to the Crate to start
building your set, just like pulling and tilting records. Refer to “Using the Library” section of this
manual for more details. You can do this (and the next step) well in advance if you want and as
long as your media is not write protected your Crate will be automatically saved.
2. Order it how you want
Refine your set by ordering tracks in the Crate - or if you prefer to pick out the next track on the fly
then you can. Use the Crate in any way that suits your style.
3. Cue tracks out of the Crate
Send tracks from the Crate to decks as needed. If your Crate is carefully ordered then D2
Director can automatically cue the next track when a deck runs out. If you want to leave your set
unattended you can use a continuous mode to automatically play each track in turn. Refer to
“Track Loading” section for information on automatic track loading and playback.
4. Change the set any time you need to
The Crate is dynamic - change your mind at any time, insert requested tracks, re-order your set use the Crate as a tool to organise your performance.
5. Bypass the Crate for one-offs and last minute cues
You can send tracks from the Library direct to a deck if you want. This doesn't affect what's in the
Crate so you can mix your methods of working any way you like.
6. Perform the way you always did
Once a track is on a deck, you can cue, beat match, scratch and loop using familiar Numark deck
controls. D2 Director is fully multi-tasking, so you can work on your set using the Library and
Crate at any time, even while mixing on both decks.
Read on to learn how to get the most from your D2 Director!
7
THE GRAPHICAL INTERFACE
D2 Director boasts a ground breaking graphical interface, set to revolutionise your DJ experience. The
interface provides fast and friendly access to the advanced features of the product, and is designed to fit with
how you work. To make this possible, D2 Director is fully multitasking - you can instantly switch between
functions, and if one of them is busy for a while (perhaps building a new library) everything else remains
accessible.
In this section we'll explore the graphical interface, which takes no more than a few minutes to master, then
in later sections we can focus on the DJ features of D2 Director.
Switching On and Off
Use the power button in the top right corner of the D2 Director to switch on and off.
To switch on, press and release the power button. It will light up red and the D2 Director will start up. Take
care not to hold the power button down when switching on, as this will invoke Upgrader Mode (see “D2
Software Upgrades” section).
To switch off, press and hold the power button. A timer bar will appear on screen, filling from left to right as long as the
power button is held. The D2 Director will power off when the bar reaches the right hand side, which takes about three
seconds. This is to prevent accidental power down during a performance.
The Display
Central to D2 Director is the large graphical display. Some parts of this are dedicated to certain functions, while others
change depending on what you're doing.
DECK DISPLAY (A) DECK DISPLAY (B)
WORK AREA MENU BAR
Deck Displays
Playback information for each deck is always visible, no matter what you're doing. Here you can check what tracks are
cued, time information, pitch adjustment and other important data. See “Views” section for details.
WAIT – this symbol means that the deck is currently busy.
PAUSE – this symbol means that the deck is currently paused.
CUE – this symbol means that the deck is currently paused at the cue point.
PLAY – this symbol means that the deck is currently playing.
AUTOMATIC – indicates that Automatic track loading option is enabled.
CONTINUOUS – indicates that Continuous track loading option is enabled.
CYCLIC – indicates that Cyclic track loading option is enabled.
8
Menu Bar
At the bottom is the Menu Bar which shows any menu options that are
available. Each menu option is displayed above its physical menu button simply press the button to activate that option. The option will briefly highlight
to confirm you have selected it.
There are four physical menu buttons but a menu is not restricted to just four
options. When more options are available an arrow will appear indicating that
the next (right) or previous (left) menu buttons may be pressed to move to a
different page of options.
Work Area
The largest part of the display is dedicated to the
function you are currently using. The four main
functions - Library, Crate, View and Utility - each have
their own button to select them. The buttons light up
bright when their function is selected.
Progress Bar
When a large library is being created or updated (see “The Library” section) a Progress Bar will appear just above the
Menu Bar. The indicator fills from left to right to indicate how much work remains to be done.
Most functions of your D2 Director are instantaneous, but some intensive actions such as sending a large list of tracks to
the Crate can take a few seconds. If a function is expected to take more than a couple of seconds a spinning work
indicator is shown so you know work is in progress.
Using Lists
D2 Director makes extensive use of lists to give you fast access to your
tracks. Lists are displayed within the Work Area and are navigated using
the rotary Push Select knob and the Menu Bar.
To move up and down through a list simply rotate the Push Select knob.
A highlight on screen indicates which item is currently selected, and if the
list is too long to fit on screen all at once it will move up and down as you
rotate at the top or bottom of the Work Area. For long lists a bar at the
right of the Work Area shows how much of the list you can see, and how
far through the list you are.
If the currently highlighted item is something that can be selected simply
push the Push Select knob. Other options relating to the list or to the
currently highlighted item may appear in the Menu Bar.
The best way to get familiar with lists is to build and experiment with a
Library. See “The Library” section for details.
You can always identify what you
see in the Work Area from its title
bar.
Using Dialogs
A Dialog can appear in part or all of the Work Area and is used to send you information, to get a response, to allow you
to enter information or to change settings. Sometimes a Dialog may have its own Menu Bar, other times not. There will
always be a title so you know to what the Dialog refers.
9
Responding to Questions
When D2 Director needs to send you a messsage or ask you a
question it will do so with a Dialog. If a response is required the
options will appear in the Menu Bar. Select the desired option to
answer the question and the Dialog will close, returning you to
whatever you were doing.
In this example, D2 Director is responding to the DJ's command to
clear all tracks from the Crate by checking if he is really sure.
Changing Settings
A Dialog can be used to change settings, in which case each setting
is shown with the active setting highlighted. Its value can be changed
simply by rotating the Push Select knob - some settings have a textual
description for each value, others have a sliding bar. To change a
different setting, press the Push Select knob. Keep pressing to cycle
through all the settings in turn. Settings usually take effect
immediately.
In this example the DJ is changing the mode settings for Deck A.
Entering Text
A text entry box is used whenever you need to get some text into D2 Director, for example while searching for a track or
naming a playlist. Unlike other kinds of settings the text entry box has its own menu which works along with the Push
Select knob to make it easy to enter text with or without a keyboard. A highlighted box on the right shows the character
which you are about to enter and the menu can be used to delete the previous character (Delete), insert a space
(Space), switch between lower and upper case (Caps), and finsh entering text (Done).
If you have a USB keyboard connected to your D2 Director you can simply type text straight into a text entry box. This is
the fastest way to enter text. Use the left and right cursor keys to move around within the text you have entered. The
Enter and Tab keys complete text entry the same as the Done menu option.
If you do not have a keyboard connected you can enter characters using the Push Select knob. Rotate left or right to
move through each letter, numeral and symbol. To fix the desired character press the Push Select knob. When you're
finished, select Done.
10
THE LIBRARY
The Library is a collection of tracks which you can browse or search in many different ways. D2 Director
allows you to work with several libraries at the same time, either by connecting multiple storage devices or by
having multiple file partitions on one device. Whether you prefer to work with one hard disk with all your
tracks, or several flash memory keys with different themes, the choice is yours.
PREPARING YOUR STORAGE DEVICE
D2 Director works with most USB storage devices that support the Mass Storage Class standard. See
“USB Device Compatibility” section for full details.
Use your PC or Macintosh computer to copy your WAV, MP3 and AAC format audio files to your USB
Storage Device. If your tracks are well tagged, you need not organise these in any particular way. D2
Director will make it easy to find the tracks you need. However, if your tracks are not well tagged, or if you
prefer to access them by folders, you should organise them in a way that makes most sense to you.
Playlists in the format PLS or M3U will be included in the library, if present. It's OK to have other kinds of
files on the storage device - D2 Director will simply ignore them. However, large quantities of unrelated
files will slow down creation of the library so we recommend you use devices that are dedicated to your
audio collection.
CREATING A LIBRARY
When your collection is prepared, the next step is to build a library. To access your tracks quickly later, D2
Director will take time to scan your device to note the tracks and playlists you have. The library is stored in
a special folder on the device titled ".library" which may be invisible depending on your computer settings.
If you want to erase a library, use the Librarian application or simply delete this folder, but in general you
should leave it alone.
There are two ways to build a library: either on the D2 Director itself or on your PC or Mac using the
Librarian tool.
Building with Librarian
The Librarian program, which runs on your PC or Mac computer, is the fastest way to build a library and offers
advantages such as building profiles (see “Profile View” section for details). Full documentation is included
with the program, which can be downloaded from http://www.numark.com/d2/.
Building with D2 Director
If you need to build a library away from your computer, you can
use the D2 Director itself. If your storage device has a Write
Protect switch, make sure it is in the off position, then insert the
device into one of the USB ports. Take care to get it the right way
around - the connection should be smooth, do not force it! After a
few seconds the New Library dialog will appear...
To build a library, select Library. The process will take anywhere
from a couple of seconds to a few hours, depending on how
many tracks are on your device. While the library is being built,
you can play tracks from other devices connected to different
USB ports. Once the library has started building, a progress bar
will appear to show how much work is remaining.
If the device is full, you will be warned and it will not be possible to build a library. If it is almost full, you will be
given the option to build a library but should be aware that you might run out of space. In either case it is
recommended that you eject the device, erase a few tracks using your PC/Mac and try again. In general, we
suggest that you do not fill devices beyond about 98% of capacity so D2 Director will have space for the library
and any playlists you may create later.
You could choose to skip building a library by selecting Files. In this case you will be able to access the device
immediately but only with the Files view - you will not have access to the advanced search and browsing
features. This could be useful if the device is on loan to play a request, or if you don't have time to build a
library.
When the library is built (or skipped) it is automatically loaded ready for use.
11
LOADING A LIBRARY
The library is saved onto its storage device so next time you insert the device it isn't necessary to go
through the entire procedure again. When a writable device which already contains a library is inserted,
the Loading Library dialog appears...
To load the existing library without checking for any changes,
select Load. The device is immediately available for use.
If the contents of the device have changed, for example
because you transferred some new tracks onto the device, or
deleted some old ones, you can update the library by selecting
Update. D2 Director will scan the device for changes and
update the library as needed. If you have added many new
tracks, this could take a while and the progress bar will appear.
Your library will be available for use when the update is
complete.
If a write-protected or NTFS device is connected a dialog will
appear to warn you about this. The dialog will note whether the
device contains a library (in which case it will be loaded) or no
library (in which case only Files view will be available).
USING A LIBRARY
Press the Library button to open the Library work area. If no library is loaded, you will be prompted to
insert some media (see “Loading a Library” above). Otherwise, each available library will be listed in the
menu bar. If you have several devices or partitions connected, there will be several libraries to choose
from.
Although you can interact with one library at a time, you can instantly switch between libraries by selecting
them from the Library menu. Each library has a unique name within the menu which indicates how it is
connected such as "USB 1" (see “Identifying Libraries” section for details). There is also a device name,
such as "Flash Key", which is displayed as the title of the currently selected library.
At the top level the library offers a list of methods to access your content. These are:
¸ Search Text search on Title, Album, Artist or All tags
¸ Track Browse by Track Title
¸ Album Browse by Album Title
¸ Artist Browse by Artist Name
¸ Genre Browse by Genre
¸ BPM Browse by BPM Range
¸ Year Browse by Year
¸ Playlist Browse by or Manage Playlists
¸ Files Browse by File View
Move through this list using the Push Select knob and press to select your desired option. Deeper levels
of the library all offer a Back option on the menu to return to the previous level.
12
Searching
Searching provides fast, direct access to a track or tracks by matching text that you enter. First, select
the type of search you want to perform...
Rotate the Push Select knob or use the arrow keys on the keyboard (if connected) to select the type of
search. The search type can be:
¸ All The text is matched against all the tags (not just Title, Album and Artist)
¸ Title The text is matched against track titles only
¸ Album The text is matched against album titles only
¸ Artist The text is matched against artist names only
Once you have selected the desired type of search, press
the Push Select knob (or Tab on the keyboard) to move
to the text entry box. Now start to enter the search text,
either by rotating the Push Select knob or with an
attached USB keyboard. The character you are entering
is previewed on the right side of the text box. Once you
have entered the desired search text, select Done from
the text entry menu (Tab or Enter on the keyboard). The
results will be displayed on the screen. You can now
move through the list using the Push Select knob, or
press again to move back to the search type option.
Please note that the first character you enter is a special
case - it is always matched against the first character of each tag. So, for example, to list all tracks with
a title starting with the letter "D", select a Title search and enter "D".
If a second character is entered, the search text is matched to any position within each tag. So, to
search for tracks on an album containing the word "Love", select an Album search, enter "LOVE"
(upper or lower case is not important) and select Done. The search will match tracks on any album with
the word "Love" in its title, such as "The Greatest Love Songs", "Love Boat" and "A Lovely Collection".
Note that searching always returns a list of tracks - you can narrow down by artist, album or other tags
and you will see the tracks that are contained within that album or by that artist, etc.
Except when entering text, the search screen offers a set of menu options which refer to the currently
highlighted track. If no track is highlighted then only the Back option is available.
¸ to A Send the track direct to deck A
¸ to B Send the track direct to deck B
¸ to Crate Send the track to the Crate
¸ Back Return to the Library top level
¸ Playlist Send the track to a playlist
¸ Info Get detailed info about the track
Menu options to send a track direct to a deck are not available if that deck is currently playing back.
You should first pause the deck and then select the option. This will reduce the chance of accidentally
replacing a track that could be in the mix.
Browsing
Browsing offers a different method to find tracks within your library, by navigating through structured lists. Six
browsing options are available, each of them narrowing down toward a list of tracks:
¸ Track Browse by Track Title
¸ Album Browse by Album Title then Track Title
¸ Artist Browse by Artist Name then Album Title then Track Title
¸ Genre Browse by Genre then Artist Name then Album Title then Track Title
¸ BPM Browse by BPM Range then Artist Name then Album Title then Track Title
¸ Year Browse by Year then Artist Name then Album Title then Track Title
13
Each list is navigated using the Push Select knob in the usual way, pressing to move to the next level, or
selecting the Back option from the menu to move to the previous level. At the top of each intermediate list is an
option "All". This means "All Tracks at this Level", so for example could mean "All tracks by this artist" if you
previously selected an artist and are viewing a list of albums by that artist. Sometimes there will be an option
"<Unknown>" for content where the particular tag has not been filled in.
As an example, let's browse for some dance music.
1. From the library top level select Genre, then move
to highlight and select Dance.
3. A list of albums by that artist (and within the Dance
genre) will appear. Select an album from the list.
Browse screens offer a set of menu options which refer to the currently highlighted item. If nothing is
highlighted, then only the Back option is available; if the item is a collection of tracks then to Crate and Playlist
are also available; or if the item is a track then all options are available.
¸ to A Send the track direct to deck A
¸ to B Send the track direct to deck B
¸ to Crate Send the track or collection of tracks to the crate
¸ Back Return to the previous level
¸ Playlist Send the track or collection of tracks to a playlist
¸ Info Get detailed info about the track
Please note that, as always, menu options to send a track direct to a deck are not available if that deck is
currently playing back. The deck will have to be paused before you can load a track to it.
You will have noticed that, unlike the search function, browsing offers the possibility to work with collections of
tracks at a time. For example, you could choose to send an entire album to a playlist, or an entire genre to the
crate. However, a collection of tracks can never be sent to a deck, which accommodates just one track at a
time. Use the crate if you want to play a collection of tracks in turn.
When you choose to send content to a playlist a list of playlists in the library will pop up. Move the highlight to
the playlist you want, and select Add from the menu, or select Cancel to change your mind. If there are no
playlists you must first create one using the Playlist option from the top level of the Library (see Working with
Playlists below).
You may also use the convenient Letter Picker feature to browse
and navigate large lists in the Library more quickly. Press and
rotate (while holding in) the Push Select knob to bring up the
Letter Picker – each click moves by one initial letter at a time and
only letters actually used in the list will appear. Then release the
Push Select knob to jump to the first entry with the selected initial
letter.
2. A list of artists with dance tracks will appear. Select an
artist from the list.
4. A list of dance tracks by your chosen artist (and from
the selected album) will appear. You can load the
tracks to either deck or send them to the crate.
14
File View
File view ("Files" from the top level of the library) is available
for any device, whether or not a library has been built. It
uses folder and filenames so is particularly useful if you
prefer to organise your content on disk instead of (or as well
as) with tags.
The view starts at the top level (root) of the device and lists
folders followed by tracks. Navigate with the Push Select
knob, pressing to move into folders and selecting Back from
the menu to return to the previous level.
The file view offers a set of menu options which refer to the currently highlighted track. If no track is
highlighted then only the Back option is available. Playlist is only available if the device has a library.
Working with Playlists
Playlists are list of tracks in a particular order. You can create as many playlists as you wish using D2
Director, and you can also create them on your PC or Mac in one of the supported formats (see
"Preparing your Storage Device" above). You might use them to save sets, or to organize tracks in a
personalised way. You can access and manage playlists from the Playlist option at the top level of the
library.
The order of tracks within the playlist is saved so it is possible to re-order them using the Push Select
knob. Highlight the track to be moved and press the control. Rotate to move the track through the list to
its new position and press again or select
original position select Undo.
¸ to A Send the track direct to deck A
¸ to B Send the track direct to deck B
¸ to Crate Send the track to the crate
¸ Back Return to the previous level
¸ Playlist Send the track to a playlist
•To add a new playlist select Add. A new playlist will appear in the list, with the default name
"New playlist 1/2/3/etc". Any playlists imported into the library from the storage device will
also appear in the list.
•To delete a playlist select Delete and then Remove to confirm. Once confirmed this cannot
be undone so take care!
•To rename a playlist select Rename. A dialog will pop up with a text box containing the
playlist name. Edit the text in the usual way, select Done then Rename to confirm.
•To copy the contents of one playlist to another select Playlist. It is possible to send a
playlist to itself in which case the contents will be duplicated once. The contents of a playlist
can be sent to the Crate by selecting the to Crate option.
•To browse a playlist, highlight it and press the Push Select knob. A list of tracks in order is
displayed with a set of menu options which refer to the currently highlighted track.
¸ to A Send the track direct to deck A
¸ to B Send the track direct to deck B
¸ to Crate Send the track or collection of tracks to the crate
¸ Back Return to the previous level
¸ Remove Remove the track from the playlist
¸ Clear Remove all tracks from the playlist (requires confirmation)
¸ Info Get detailed info about the track
Done to complete the operation. To drop the track back at its
15
EJECTING A LIBRARY
As with a PC or Mac computer it is very important to always eject a storage device
before unplugging it or cutting the power. This ensures that all files are properly
closed and that all data has been saved to the device. Failure to follow this instruction
can cause file system corruption which might render the device unusable (if this
happens, connect the device to your PC or Mac and follow the file system recovery
procedure for your particular operating system – see “Avoiding and Fixing Errors”
section).
To eject a library press the Eject button. This causes a list of
each active library to open...
Each library is listed with its short location name and longer
device name. Identify which library you wish to eject and
move the highlight over it. A message might appear at the
bottom of the work area:
In this case you must stop playback of the track or tracks
from that library before you can eject. This is to prevent
accidental ejection of a library which could be in the mix.
Another warning might appear:
In this case you are warned that some of the tracks in the
crate are stored on the library you have selected. If you
continue to eject these tracks will be removed from the
crate.
To proceed with ejecting select Eject from the menu. If there
are tracks in the crate you will be asked to confirm the
operation. Once the library or libraries for a particular device
have been ejected and are no longer present in the list it is
safe to physically remove the device. If you have more than
one device connected take care to remove the right one!
If you are going to switch off the player there is no need to eject the libraries first, provided you switch off
by holding the power button for three seconds and not by cutting the power.
16
THE CRATE
The crate is an innovative tool for the digital DJ based upon one of the oldest tricks of the trade...
For decades the vinyl DJ has used his record crate as a scratchpad for organizing a set. Records to be
played - or to be considered for play - are pulled out, turned and propped above the rest. When no longer
needed, the record is dropped back out of sight. Between mixes the DJ can spend time flicking through the
collection to find more records to pull out, or to locate requests.
The crate feature of the D2 Director can be viewed much like a conventional
record crate. In other words, the crate contains the tracks that you would like
to play in your session. You do not necessarily need to have tracks loaded in
your crate - you can always directly load them to either deck - however, the
crate offers a good way to keep all the music that you would like to use in your
session organized and easily accessible.
You might have many thousands of tracks using several different devices as
your music sources. Having to browse each library every time you want to
select the next track can be time-consuming and confusing. Instead, you can
send the tracks to your crate and then easily access them while you perform.
The crate also helps to prevent situations where you might reach for a track
that you have already played. When a track is replaced on deck it is thrown
out unless you specifically choose to pull it back into the crate.
WORKING WITH THE CRATE
In “The Library” we considered several different methods to load tracks into the crate, whether by
searching, browsing, from playlists or direct from folders on disk. Now we will discover how to work with
that crate.
Press the Crate button to open the crate work area.
The crate comprises a list of tracks and a menu as follows:
¸ to A Send the track to deck A
¸ to B Send the track to deck B
¸ swap A Swaps highlighted track with track on deck A
¸ swap B Swaps highlighted track with track on deck B
¸ pull A Pull the track on deck A back into the crate
¸ pull B Pull the track on deck B back into the crate
¸ Shuffle Shuffles the tracks in the crate
¸ Info Get detailed info about the track
¸ Remove Remove the track from the crate
¸ Clear Remove all tracks from the crate
A track can be sent to, swapped or pulled from an inactive deck only. If a track is playing on the deck you
must pause it before sending, swapping or pulling. An example of swapping a track is shown below.
Pause Deck B and select “swap B” Music loaded on Deck B is swapped with selected track.
17
The order of the crate is significant to D2 Director only in continuous play modes (see “Track Loading”
section). However, you may choose to maintain a play order as an aid to organizing your set. To move a
track in the crate first highlight it then press the Push Select knob. Rotate to move the track through the list
to its new position and press again or select Done to complete the operation. To drop the track back at its
original position select Undo. Note that a track pulled from a deck is always sent to the top of the crate
whereas tracks sent from the library always go to the bottom.
The Clear operation, which completely empties the crate, prompts for confirmation as it could be a little
inconvenient to do this by mistake during a performance!
You may also reorder tracks in the crate by holding down the Push Select knob on a selected track and
turning the knob to select its new position within the crate. When you release the Push Select knob, the
track will be moved to the selected location. If you are using a keyboard the same operation may be
achieved by pressing the Return key on the highlighted track and using the arrow keys to select its new
location. Pressing Return again will put the selected track at this location.
LOADING AND SAVING THE CRATE
The crate is stored automatically within the library from which its tracks have been sent. Each time a
library is loaded D2 Director checks whether it previously had tracks in the crate and, if so, offers the
option to restore them.
Select Load to restore tracks to the crate or select Ignore to
discard them. Once you have selected Ignore the crate data is
lost forever (of course the tracks are still in the library and can
be sent to the crate all over again).
You may be wondering what happens if your crate contains
tracks from multiple libraries. In this case parts of the crate are
stored within each library. To fully restore the crate, all of the
libraries must be reloaded by making sure that all the devices
used are connected to the D2 Director. If one library is not
connected, or should you choose to ignore the crate for that
library, a partial crate will be restored from the other libraries.
D2 Director will attempt to recreate the crate in the original
order, even if the libraries are loaded in no particular order. If this all sounds a little confusing then rest
assured that, in brief, D2 Director will simply try to do the most logical thing!
It is intended that the crate is a somewhat short term entity by nature. If you want to save a more
permanent running order you should consider using playlists which can easily be sent to the crate in one
operation (see “Working With Playlists”).
18
GLOBAL CONTROLS
This section contains the global
controls for the D2, such as
navigation and function controls, as
well as the Beatkeeper and a large
LCD screen to browse and monitor
your performance.
The features of the global section
are as follows:
1. PUSH SELECT – This knob
is used to navigate lists,
change settings, and operate
various parts of the User
Interface. It can be pressed
to select or change the
highlighted item, when
appropriate.
2. LCD – The large screen displays information about the D2, the decks, your attached removable media
and different menu options.
3. DISPLAY CONTRAST – You can use this knob to increase or decrease the contrast of the LCD.
4. LIBRARY – This button allows you to access the library of music stored on the removable media
connected to the D2. Please refer to the “Navigating the Library” section of this manual for more
information on how to browse and load music from your removable media.
5. CRATE – This button allows you to view the “Crate”. Any tracks that you send to the Crate will appear
in this list. While you are viewing the Crate, you can use the multifunctional buttons below the screen
to send tracks to either deck for mixing, pull them back into the Crate for later use if they are already
playing, or remove them from the Crate altogether. You may also switch the track order in the Crate, if
you would like, by pressing down the PUSH SELECT knob on a track and then rotating the knob while
it is pressed down – this will move the selected track up or down in the list. Please see “The Crate”
section of this manual for more information on the Crate feature.
6. UTILITY – Pressing this button will take you to the Utility menu where you can adjust display
preferences, restore settings to their factory default state and calibrate the pitch sliders. Please see
“Utility” section for details.
7. VIEW – You may use this button to access different information about the music playing on the decks.
The VIEW button will toggle between Track View and Profile View. Please see “Views” section for
more information.
8. < / > Buttons – These two buttons are used to scroll through available pages of selections, when
available. If there are additional pages to be viewed, the arrow segments above the buttons will be
highlighted. These buttons are also used to move the cursor when entering text.
9. Menu Buttons – These four buttons are used to select from available menu items displayed on the
screen. Depending on the menu that you are viewing, the functionality of these buttons will change.
The screen will display the function of the button directly above it.
10. EJECT – Press this button to select which mass storage device you would like to eject. When you
press this button, you will see a list of the devices currently attached to the D2. Select which device
you would like to eject, using the multifunctional buttons below the display.
Please note: Always eject your devices before physically removing them from the D2. If
you fail to eject a device before removing it, the data on the device may become corrupt
and unusable.
19
11. THE BEATKEEPER™ - The Beatkeeper™ automatically tracks beats based upon a combination of
frequencies and rhythm patterns in the music. It shows BPM in the display and outputs 4-count (a.k.a.
one measure) information about the music in a marching bar graph. The left bar represents the beat of
the music playing on the left (deck A), while the right bar represents the beat of the music playing on
the right (deck B). The middle bar will light up blue when the downbeats of the music playing on both
decks occur at the same time. However, please note that in order for the two songs to mix well
together, the downbeats should not only line up now and then, but should occur simultaneously over a
continuous period of time.
The Bar Graph: Most dance music and rock is set up in 4 beat increments called
measures. The bottom LED represents the 1
st
beat or “Down Beat”. Occasionally this
may not be correct or you may wish to reset it. To reset the downbeat on either deck
simply tap the TAP button at the new downbeat location as the music is playing or while
paused.
DECK CONTROLS (A AND B)
The D2 features two independent decks.
These decks are used for controlling
playback. The two decks feature identical
controls, so we will use Deck A as our
example (shown on the right).
The controls for each deck are as follows:
1. PLAY/STUTTER – Pressing this button
starts the music loaded on the
corresponding deck. A cue point is set
at the current position and the music
begins playing. Pressing this button
while the unit is playing will restart the
song from the cue point, which can be
used to create a "stutter" effect.
Please note: The D2 uses instant star
for tracks with silent or near-silent leadins. Such tracks automatically cue to
the start of the audio passage when
loaded to a deck. You can search or
freewheel back into the silent passage if
you wish to do so.
2. PAUSE – Stops the music playing on the corresponding deck. If you press and hold the PAUSE button
down for 1 second while paused, you will go back to the beginning of the track.
3. CUE – Returns and pauses the music at the last set Cue Point. The Cue Point is the last place where
PLAY/STUTTER was pressed or the start of the track, if it has not yet been pressed. You can audition
the music, starting at the Cue Point, by pressing and holding down the CUE button again – the music
will play for as long as the button is held down and once the button is released, will jump back and
pause at the Cue Point. You can also easily edit the cue point by spinning the jog wheel to a new
position while paused. As you spin the jog wheel, the music will sound. By stopping the jog wheel and
pressing PLAY, a new Cue Point is set.
Press
“PAUSE” Press “PLAY/STUTTER” P ress “CUE”
Rotate to new cue point
Returns and pauses at new Cue Point
20
4. JOG WHEEL – This wheel can be used for pitch bending, scratching and searching through the music
playing on the deck. The functionality of the wheel is determined by the two accompanying buttons –
SCRATCH and SEARCH.
While a track is playing on the deck, the jog wheel functions as a pitch bend. Pitch bending
temporarily speeds up (turn clockwise) or slows down (turn counter-clockwise) the music. This
technique is used when you are mixing two beat-matched tracks which may not be completely
synchronized. Hence, with pitch bending you can temporarily slow down or speed up the track
you are mixing so its beats “lock” with the beats of the track that is already playing.
While a track is paused, you can use the jog wheel to seek through the music to a new cue point
location. Pressing PLAY/STUTTER following this will set the cue point at this location.
In Scratch Mode, the jog wheel allows you to scratch the music in much the same way that a DJ
scratches a vinyl record. As the music is playing, you can move the jog wheel back and forth to
create a scratching effect. When you stop the wheel, normal playback will resume. To resume
with no gap in the audio, “push off” by scratching forward at approximately normal playback
speed before releasing the wheel.
In Search Mode, the jog wheel allows you to quickly scan and search through the music playing.
When Scratch Mode is enabled, turning the jog wheel will quickly fast forward and rewind.
5. SCRATCH – Use this button to engage Scratch Mode. Scratch Mode allows you to “scratch” the music
on the deck by moving the jog wheel forward and backward.
6. SEARCH – Use this button to engage Search Mode. Search Mode allows you to use the jog wheel to
quickly scan through the current track. If you do not touch the wheel for 8 seconds you will
automatically exit Search Mode.
7. PITCH SLIDER – Each deck features a pitch slider which is used to control the speed of the music.
Moving the slider toward “-” results in a lower pitch (and slower tempo) of the music, while moving the
slider toward “+” results in a higher pitch (and faster tempo) of the music.
8. PITCH BUTTON – This button adjusts the range of control the Pitch Slider has on the overall speed of
music. Pressing the button will cycle through pitch ranges of ± 0, 6, 12, 25, and +25/-100%. Selecting
0 will deactivate the pitch slider.
Note: Different pitch ranges allow for different precision over the speed of the music. Selecting a
smaller pitch range, such as ±6%, allows you to have more precise control over the speed of the
music. Selecting a larger pitch range, such as +25/-100%, allows for more extreme speed
adjustments and can be used for interesting effects.
9. TAP – Pressing this button in time with the beat will help the Beatkeeper detect the proper tempo.
Holding the button for 1 seconds will cause the BPM counter to reset and recalculate.
10. MODE – Pressing this button will bring up deck options, such as Track Loading, Time Display and
Fader Start. You can use the PUSH SELECT knob to dial in the desired values and pressing down on
the knob will move on to the next option. Pressing MODE button again will exit the deck options dialog.
Track Loading – Manual, Automatic, Continuous, Cyclic
Time Display – Elapsed, Remaining
Fader Start – Off, Cue, Pause (please see Fader Start Connectors in “Rear Panel Overview”
section for more information on Fader Start)
21
Looping Controls
The D2 features seamless looping, which means that if
you define a loop, there is no delay when the music
loops back to the beginning. This looping feature lets
you be very creative with your mixes, allowing you to
extend desired sections of a song for as long as you
want, or create remixes on the fly.
11.
LOOP IN - This is the point where you would like a loop to start. By default, a “loop in” point is automatically
set to the current cue point (defaulting to the the beginning of the track) unless a new “loop in” point is set. To
define a new "loop in" point, press the LOOP IN button when the song reaches the desired point where you
would like a loop to begin. The LOOP IN button will light, indicating a new "loop in" point has been set. You
can now press the RELOOP button to immediately go back to the "loop in" point and begin playing. If you wish
to change the "loop in" point, just press the LOOP IN button again.
Please note: The LOOP IN button can also be used to create a live cue point. Once you press LOOP IN, a
cue point will be set at that location in the music. You can always return to this cue point by holding down CUE
and pressing the LOOP IN button – the deck will pause and return to the LOOP IN point. You can resume
playback from this point by pressing the PLAY button.
12. LOOP OUT - Sets the end point of the loop. The first time you press LOOP OUT while a song is playing, the
LOOP OUT button will blink and the song will begin playing in a seamless loop starting from the “loop in” point
and ending at the “loop out” point. To release or end the loop, press LOOP OUT a second time and play will
continue forward when the song passes the previously set loop out point. The LOOP OUT button will then be
continuously lit, indicating that the loop is now in memory for re-looping purposes.
Please note: The LOOP OUT button can also be used to create a live cue point. Once you press LOOP OUT,
a cue point will be set at that location in the music. You can always return to this cue point by holding down
CUE and pressing the LOOP OUT button – the deck will pause and return to the LOOP OUT point. You can
resume playback from this point by pressing the PLAY button.
13. RELOOP - Repeats play “stutters” from the “Loop In” point. If a loop has been set, it plays and repeats a
previously set loop, until it is released by pressing LOOP OUT a second time.
Press LOOP IN to set the beginning of the loop,
then press LOOP OUT to set the end point of the
loop. Once you press LOOP OUT, the D2 will loop
between these two points. If you press LOOP OUT
again, the D2 will exit the loop and continue playing
normally.
If you press LOOP IN but
then decide you want to
set a different "Loop In"
point, just press LOOP IN
again. Then press LOOP
OUT to start looping
between the in and out
points.
The "Loop In" point can also be used
as a way to "stutter" play beginning
from a certain point in a song. Just
press LOOP IN to set the "Stutter”
point, then press RELOOP to begin
play from the “Stutter” point. Each
time you press RELOOP, the D2 will
jump back to the “Stutter” point and
play from that point.
22
DECK MODE SETTINGS (A AND B)
MODE buttons, located near the pitch sliders of each deck, can be pressed to pop up the settings dialog for
Deck A or B. The appropriate button lights up blue while active. Press again to close the dialog.
Use the Mode Settings dialogs to adjust those settings for each deck which do not have their own dedicated
button.
TRACK LOADING
Choose how you want songs loaded and played from the Crate.
Manual
Tracks are loaded to deck manually, by you. When songs are finished they return to the start and
pause.
Automatic
The next song (at the top of the Crate) will be loaded to deck, and cued at the start.
Continuous
Like Automatic, but the next song will automatically start to play.
Cyclic
Like Continuous, but after each song has played it is sent back to the bottom of the Crate, creating a
never ending sequence of playback.
For the modes which automatically load the deck, the following conditions must be met for D2 Director to
load the next song:
This is to prevent automatic loading while you're cueing or mixing on the deck.
Tip: For continuous looping play of a collection of songs, send your collection to the crate then choose Cyclic from the
Track Loading option. This works for either or both decks at once! The songs will play continuously from the crate until you
pause the decks.
TIME DISPLAY
Set the time code display mode.
Elapsed
Display time elapsed (count up) on the deck.
Remaining
The previous song has fully played out
The previous song is paused having played more
- or -
than 75% through
Display time remaining (count down) on the deck.
FADER START
Configure fader start function if a compatible mixer is connected.
Off
Ignore fader start signals.
Cue
Return the play position to the cue point and pause after fading away from the deck. Resume
playback when starting to fade back toward the deck.
Pause
Similar to Cue, but pauses at the current position instead of the Cue point.
Tech note: D2 Director uses the widely supported 5V Pulse method of fader start signalling. For
cable setup, refer to “Connection Diagram” section of this manual. Refer to your mixer's manual to
check compatibility.
23
VIEWS
You may use the VIEW button to access different information about the music playing on the decks. The
VIEW button will toggle between Track View and Profile View, as explained below.
TRACK VIEW
Track View displays extra information about the tracks loaded on
each deck, other than that shown on the deck displays at the top
of the screen.
PROFILE VIEW
A track profile is a visual representation of a song, designed for quick and easy identification of phrases
within that song, differentiated by their "energy". Distinct from a waveform, a profile doesn't show every small
detail of the track, just the big changes in terms of energy.
The profile is split into three shades of grey, with black making up
the total number of variations to four. The white portions of the
track indicate high energy and volume, graduating down to the
black sections representing quieter phrases. The length of each
profile is scaled to exactly fit the available work area, so the entire
track is always visible.
Tip: Use Track Profiles to identify the breaks in a song, much like
the changes you see on a vinyl record when viewed using a light
across the grooves. Skipping to these breaks is quick and easy
using the Push Select knob.
Creating Track Profiles
Working with Track Profiles
¸ Artist Name of the Artist
¸ Album Title of the Album
¸ Year Year of release
¸ Device The device on which the track is stored
Profiles can only be generated using the Librarian tool (see “Building With Librarian” section). For a
large library this can take a while, as the entire track must be analysed. Allow several seconds per
track on a fast computer.
The workarea is split into two sections, the upper for Deck A, and the lower for Deck B.
• Time Indicators
Above and below the profiles are markers which indicate the length of each track separated by
minutes, with smaller indents for 30 seconds and 15 seconds.
• Skipping through phrases
Use the Push Select knob to seek through the song, having first unlocked the deck (see below).
With each rotation of the control, you can skip through to the next change in the song. Press the
Rotary Controller in to switch decks. You will see a flashing vertical cursor for the deck which is
currently selected. Its position in the profile is representative of the playback position in the song.
• Unlocking control
The decks are locked to prevent accidental seeking through a
track which might be in the mix. Select Unlock A or Unlock B to
unlock the required deck. Relock a deck by selecting Lock A or
Lock B.
24
UTILITY
The Utility button gives access to System information and
settings.
The main utility work area displays the unit serial number. This
information is useful if you need to contact Customer Care or
check for firmware updates at the Numark web site.
Tip: It is strongly advised that you periodically compare your
firmware version with that available at the Numark web site,
and install any more recent version that may be available.
New software will be posted regularly to add features and fix
problems. See “D2 Software Upgrades” section for details.
Further utility screens are accessed from the menu as follows.
Display
From here the display brightness can be adjusted.
Also, a scale of shades from black to white is shown on screen as
an aid to setting the display contrast. Adjust the contrast by
rotating the Display Contrast knob located to the left of the
display until the left most segment of the scale is black, the right
most is white, and three shades can be identified in between.
Restore
This operation will reset the unit to default settings. Select
Restore to proceed, or press Utilty or another function button to
cancel. Just to be really sure, you will be asked one more time if
this is something you want to do. Select Yes or No as
appropriate.
The default settings are:
Pitch Range 12%
Track Loading - Manual
Time Display - Elapsed
Fader Start - Off
Display Brightness - Mid way
Note that the calibration (see below) will not be reset by this operation.
25
Calibrate
This function is used to calibrate the pitch sliders. Your D2
Director has been pre-calibrated at the factory, but the
characteristics of the sliders may change slightly over time. If the
top, center and bottom positions no longer align with the expected
pitch range you should run this calibration routine.
Select Calibrate, then when prompted:
1. Move both sliders to the fully upward position (to the -%
symbol)
2. Select Next
3. Move both sliders to the center position
4. Select Next
5. Move both sliders to the fully downward position (to the +% symbol)
6. Select Next
NEXT
NEXT
NEXT
Calibration is now complete. Press the Utility button to exit.
Note: If you mix up the calibration procedure by swapping over the minus and plus ends of the
scale, the pitch slider will have no effect! Simply re-run the calibration.
Updates
The Updates page shows the current software version of the D2
Director. Please check http://www.numark.com/d2/ regularly for
available software upgrades. If the version of the software
upgrade on the website is higher than the version of the current
software on your D2 Director, please follow the upgrade procedure
outlined in the next section of this manual.
26
y
D2 SOFTWARE UPGRADES
As we continue to improve and add functionality to D2 Director for the best user experience, software
upgrades may be released at our web site. Please check www.numark.com/d2 regularly for software
upgrades and the latest news from Numark.
UPGRADE PROCEDURE
D2 Director features a failsafe upgrade procedure. Should an upgrade fail part way through for any
reason (including loss of power) the upgrade process should be restarted from the beginning. However,
for your convenience we recommend that you take care to ensure that power is not interrupted until the
process is complete.
1. Download the software upgrade (.UPG) file to your computer.
2. Copy the .UPG file to the top level of a USB storage device compatible with D2 Director. You
should erase any earlier .UPG files from the device. If more than one upgrade file is present the
upgrader will use the first one it finds.
3. With the D2 powered off, connect the USB device to any USB port.
4. Remove any other connected storage devices.
5. With the DC power jack connected, press and hold the power button until you see the message
"Waiting for Media" on screen. This will take about four seconds, after which you can release the
power button. If the unit does not display this message switch off and try again, taking care not to
release the power button too early.
6. After a few seconds, provided D2 Director is able to locate the connected .UPG file, the message
"Any key updates to version ..." will be displayed.
7. The version of the firmware upgrade is indicated.
8. Press any button (except power!).
9. The firmware upgrade will be loaded, a process which can take up to about a minute. After
several seconds a progress indicator will be shown to give you an idea of the work remaining.
10. Once the update procedure has completed a message will confirm successful loading. Select OK
and the unit will switch off.
11. The upgrade procedure is now complete. Now you may power on the D2 as you would normally.
Be sure to read the release notes at the Numark web site so you'll know what's new!
Note: If D2 Director detects that the upgrade file is identical to the firmware already loaded, it will
not load the update.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT UPGRADING
The D2 Director upgrade procedure may only be performed with a FAT-formatted USB device.
To check if your USB device is formatted with the FAT file system;
•Under Windows, right-click the device in your Explorer, select Properties and check the File System
category. Please make sure that it says FAT, FAT16, or FAT32.
•Under MacOS, hold down Apple, click the device and select Get Info. Check the Format category and make
sure that it says “MS-DOS File System (FAT16)” or “MS-DOS File System (FAT32)”.
If your device is not formatted with the FAT file system, you will need to reformat it before using it for upgrading:
•Under Windows, right-click the device in your Explorer and select Format. Under the File system tab select
FAT and click Start to format the device.
•Under MacOS(10.4), go to Applications -> Utilities and double-click on Disk Utility. Select the device from
the browser on the left and then select the Erase tab. Under Volume Format, please select “MS-DOS File
System” and then press the Erase button below to format the device.
PLEASE NOTE: Formatting a device will erase any of the data which is currently on the device. Please make sure
ou save all data you wish to keep to your hard-drive first.
27
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
If you have a keyboard connected to your D2 Director, you can access some handy shortcuts:
TEXT ENTRY
Used in the text entry 'widget'; when searching and during renaming playlists etc.
(When not editing)
•Return = starts editing
(When editing)
• Cursor left / right = move caret
• Return / Enter = DONE and move focus to next field
• Escape = DONE but leave focus on this widget
• Home / End = beginning / end of string
• Backspace = Delete backwards
• Delete = Delete forwards
• Caps-lock and number-lock are honoured
LISTS
Used when browsing the library
• Left (or) Up = Same as rotating PUSH SELECT knob anti-clockwise
• Right (or) Down = Same as rotating PUSH SELECT knob rotary clockwise
• Return = Select (same as PUSH SELECT press)
• Page up / down = Page up / down
• Ctrl-Page up / down = Top / bottom of list
• Escape = go back up one level
SLIDER
• Left (or) Up = Move slider left
• Right (or) Down = Move slider right
• Ctrl-left / right / up / down = Move to beginning / end of slider
COMBO BOX
• Left / Up = Previous item
• Right / Down = Next item
GENERAL
• Tab = move focus to next field
• Shift-tab = move focus to previous field
MENU BUTTONS
• CTRL + 1,2,3,4 = Buttons one through four of the function buttons
• CTRL + Cursor Left / Right = Pages left and right for available menu pages.
GENERAL SHORTCUTS
• Ctrl + F = Goes to search ALL for the current library, similar to pressing F1
• Ctrl + L = Goes to Library window
• Ctrl + C = Goes to Crate window
• Ctrl + U = Goes to Utility window
• Ctrl + V = Goes to View window
• Ctrl + E = Goes to Eject window
• Escape - Cancel any popup windows
• F1 = Open search browser for current library, set to "All" and put keyboard focus in the text entry widget
• F2 = begins a "Title" search
• F3 = begins an "Album" search
• F4 = begins an "Artist" search
• F5 = Browse by Genre
• F6 = Browse by BPM (with correctly tagged tracks)
• F7 = Browse by Year
• F8 = Playlist menu
• F9 = Files (File browse the device directly)
• F10 = Library (press again to change to next library, if available)
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USB DEVICE COMPATIBILITY
This section explores the technical aspects of connecting USB devices to D2 Director. For many users much
of the detail will be irrelevant - the player will simply do the expected thing. However, it is a good idea to
familiarise yourself with this information so you are prepared for any unexpected issue that might occur while
working.
USB CONNECTION
SUPPORTED STORAGE DEVICES
IDENTIFYING LIBRARIES
D2 Director is a USB Media player. It has no storage of its own, but rather external storage is connected via up to
three USB ports (one at the front, two at the rear). This allows three devices to be connected directly to the unit,
which is ample for most situations. However, USB hubs are also supported for extending the possibilities to at
least twelve devices. Hubs must be connected directly to the D2 Director; connecting a hub to a hub is not
supported.
The USB specification limits the amount of power a USB port can provide. Some devices, particularly motorised
devices such as hard drives, require more power than can be taken from one port and so ship with an AC Adapter
or a second USB cable. Please be sure to use the adapter or cable to ensure reliable operation. We recommend
that hubs should be of the powered type to ensure that sufficient power is available for the devices connected to
them, especially if any of those devices are motorised.
When connecting to the USB ports, take care to get the plug the right way around. Forcing a plug the wrong way
could damage the connectors both of your device and D2 Director. For your convenience you may choose to
connect USB extension cables to the D2 Director ports, and your devices to the cables. This is fine however you
should avoid the use of excessively long (greater than 1 meter / 40 inch) extensions as these can cause unreliable
operation.
D2 Director is compatible with most USB storage devices that support the Mass Storage Class standard. This
includes USB hard drives, flash memory keys, flash card adapters and personal music players. Devices that
require device driver installation on your PC or Mac might not be compatible. Devices must comply with the USB
1.0, 1.1 or 2.0 standards including the specification for bus powering (no device may draw more than 500mA from
one port).
Although D2 Director has been tested with a wide variety of devices, it is of course impossible to test with all of the
thousands of variants that exist. If you discover a compatibility issue, please let us know, stating the type, make
and model of the device and where and when you bought it. It is likely that any problem is due to the device
deviating from the USB standard, however sometimes it is possible to accommodate even these devices in a
future firmware update.
D2 Director supports devices with multiple partitions. Each partition that contains a supported file system will show
up as a separate library. When ejecting, be sure to eject all of the partitions before removing such a device.
If your device has a Write Protect switch we recommend setting it to Off. D2 Director can work with write protected
devices but some functionality will be lost, such as creation of playlists and saving of the crate. A device must be
write enabled to create a library, however an existing library on a write protected device can be loaded.
Each library in use has a unique name which indicates how it is connected, like this:
¸ USB 1 Front USB Port
¸ USB 2, USB 3 Rear USB Port 2/3
¸ USB 1-1 Port 1 of a hub connected to the front USB Port
¸ USB 1-4 Port 4 of a hub connected to the front USB Port
¸ USB 1b The second partition on the Front USB Port
¸ USB 1-2c The third partition on Port 2 of a hub connected to the front USB Port
In most cases, for simple devices connected direct to the unit, you will simply see USB 1, USB 2 or USB 3.
29
Each library also has a device name which is displayed within the user interface. This name is taken from the
storage device itself and will vary from device to device, manufacturer to manufacturer. Examples include:
¸ USB DISK
¸ Hard Disk Drive
¸ iPod
Some badly behaved devices, often flash memory keys, provide gibberish titles. For your convenience, you can
set your own title by creating a file named volume_name.txt in the top level directory. The file should contain your
desired title in plain text up to 20 characters.
SUPPORTED FILE SYSTEMS
AVOIDING AND FIXING ERRORS
DEFRAGMENTATION
KEEPING YOUR DATA SAFE
Supported file systems are FAT16, FAT32, HFS+ and NTFS (the latter is supported read-only). The FAT16 and
FAT32 file systems are commonly used by pre-formatted media devices and are compatible with the vast majority
of computer systems. NTFS is commonly used by Windows computers, especially for larger drives. HFS+ is the
default format for the Apple Macintosh computer, and is also the default file system for the Apple iPod personal
music player.
In general, we recommend formatting devices with FAT32 whenever possible, as this is the most widely supported
format. Windows XP does not support formatting hard drives larger than 32GB with FAT32. However, there are
free programs available that do support this.
Note for NTFS:
The NTFS file system is supported Read-Only on D2 Director. This limits the functionality slightly, and
requires that you use the Librarian tool to build a library (see below). When possible we recommend
formatting FAT32 instead.
If none of this means very much to you, don't panic! Most USB storage devices come ready formatted in a format
likely to be compatible with D2 Director.
The most important advice to remember is ALWAYS EJECT THE LIBRARY before removing it or switching off
(see “Ejecting a Library” section for details). Failure to do so can and will lead to file system corruption which could
be extremely inconvenient while working. This advice applies equally when disconnecting media from your PC both Windows and MacOS provide methods to safely remove devices.
This is particularly important for HFS+ media which must be connected to a Macintosh computer after unsafe
removal before it can be used again with D2 Director.
If you think your media may have become corrupted you should connect it to your PC or Macintosh computer for
maintenance. Under Windows, bring up the device properties and select "Check Now" on the Tools tab. Under
MacOS, run the Disk Utility application.
During normal use a storage device can become fragmented. Fragmentation is a condition whereby files become
split up into many parts. This is invisible to the user but degrades performance, potentially slowing down library
access and causing glitches during playback. From time to time you should defragment your media to ensure
reliable operation. Under Windows, run the Disk Defragmenter program. MacOS does not include a
defragmentation program as HFS+ does not suffer from this problem. However, both commercial and free
programs are available to perform this task for non HFS+ media.
Just as it is important to backup your PC hard drive, it is equally critical to always backup your data for D2
Director. No media is infallible - every flash key, hard drive or flash card has a finite life and it is your responsibility
to ensure your data is safe and secure. Never ever gig with the sole copy of your content, always work with a
backup and preferably carry another backup with you in case a device fails (or is lost or stolen) while you work.
While you take the time to make your backups, consider how lucky you are to be able to carry two complete
copies of all your tracks in your pocket or a small bag. Take simple precautions and embrace the digital age!
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