Xara Digital DJ - 2.0 Instruction Manual

2 Copyright

Copyright

This documentation is protected by law. All rights, especially the right of
duplication, circulation, and translation, are reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in the form of copies,
microfilms or other processes, or transmitted into a language used for
machines, especially data processing machines, without the express written
consent of the publisher.

All copyrights reserved.

All other product names are trademarks of the corresponding manufacturers.
Errors in and changes to the contents as well as program modifications
reserved.

Copyright © MAGIX AG, 2010 - 2011 and copyright © 2006 - 2011, Image
Line Software. All rights reserved.
MAGIX is a registered trademark of MAGIX AG.
Deckadance Copyright © 2006 - 2011 Image Line Software.
mufin is a registered trademark.
MAGIX Digital DJ 2 contains the mufin songaudiogen technology.

VST and ASIO are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies
GmbH.
Other mentioned product names may be registered trademarks of the
respective manufacturer.

Table of Contents 3

Table of Contents

Copyright 2
Support 5
Uninstalling the program 6
MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface 7

Quick start 1,2 3… 8
What's new in MAGIX Digital DJ 2? 9
Features 10
Upgrade MAGIX Digital DJ 2 11
System requirements 12
Don’t lose the beat! 12
Tooltips 13

Toolbar 14
Browser... 15
Track Window and Transport Controls 16

Track Display Colors 16
Upper controls 17
Waveform & Track Overview Windows 17
Lower Controls 19
Faders & Beat-phase Display 21

Tool window 25

Peakscope 25
Spectroscope 25
About 26

Effects 26
Function Window 28

Song Manager 29
Sampler 34
VST Host 35
MIDI settings 36
Vinyl/External Control 37
Relooper 43
Recording 44

4 Table of Contents

Settings 46

Audio settings 46
Audio (ASIO4ALL) PC Only 48
Settings 52

Shortcuts 56
Index 59

Support 5

Support

Dear MAGIX customer,

Our aim is to provide fast, convenient, solution-focused support at all times.
To this end, we offer a wide range of services:

 Unlimited web support:

As a registered MAGIX customer, you have unlimited access to web support
offered via the convenient MAGIX service portal on http://support.magix.net,
including an intelligent help assistant, high-quality FAQs, patches and user
reports that are constantly updated.
The only requirement for use is product registration at www.magix.com

 The online community, on-the-spot support and a platform for exchange:

MAGIX customers have free and unlimited access to the online community at
www.magix.info, which includes approx. 120,000 members and offers the
opportunity to ask members questions concerning MAGIX products as well as
use the search function to search for specific topics or answers. In addition to
questions & answers, the knowledge pool includes a glossary, video tutorials
and a discussion forum. The multiple experts, found round-the-clock at
www.magix.info guarantee quick answers, which sometimes come within
minutes of a question being posted.

 Email support for MAGIX products:

For every new MAGIX product you will receive, as of date purchase, 12
months of email based customer service.
Premium email support:
For priority support, or if you want the MAGIX support team to help with
non-MAGIX related hardware problems you can purchase a Premium email
support ticket. Log in at http://support.magix.net and click on "Purchase
access code", the ticket is for a specific problem, and is valid until it is solved,
it is not restricted to an email.

Please note: To be able to use the Premium email support and free product
email support via the Internet, you have to register your MAGIX product using
the serial number provided. This can be found on the CD case of your
installation CD or on the inside of the DVD box.

 Additional telephone service:

Besides the large number of free customer service offers, we also offer a
fee-based telephone customer service.

Here you can find a summary of our technical support telephone numbers:
http://support.magix.net/

6 Support

Mail (Europe): MAGIX Development Support, P.O. Box 20 09 14, 01194

Dresden, Germany

Mail (North America): MAGIX Customer Service, 1105 Terminal Way #302,
Reno, NV 89502, USA

Please make sure you have the following information at hand:

 Program version
 Configuration details (operating system, processor, memory, hard drive, etc.),

sound card configuration (type, driver)

 Information regarding other audio software installed

MAGIX Sales Department

You can reach the MAGIX Sales Department workdays for help with the
following questions and problems:

 Orders
 Product consulting (pre-purchase)
 Upgrade requests
 Returns

Europe

Monday - Friday, 09:00-16:00 GMT

U.K.: 0203 3189218
Denmark: 45 699 18763
Sweden: 46 852 500713
Finland: 35 89 42419023
Norway: 47 210 35843

North America

9 am to 4 pm EST Mon-Fri

Phone: [phone]

Uninstalling the program

If you would like to uninstall MAGIX Digital DJ 2, you can do so via the control
panel under "Software". Or go to "Programs > MAGIX > MAGIX Digital DJ 2 >
Service and Support > Uninstall MAGIX Digital DJ 2".

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface 7

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface

Welcome to MAGIX Digital DJ 2, powered by Deckadance, the well-known
reference product for DJ software by Image Line!

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 was developed by DJs and for DJs. Real DJs were asked
about their wishes and requirements for such a program, and the lead
developer of MAGIX Digital DJ 2, L.S.D. (Luis Serrano), has significant
experience as a DJ. MAGIX Digital DJ 2 is the DJ software that offers you
everything to take your DJ performance to the next level.

Here you can see the MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface. Clicking on one of the
areas on the user interface will lead you to the topic associated with it.

The tool window and function windows will change their display depending
on the switches associated with them. The function window switches are

8 MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface

located toward the top of the interface (as shown) while the Tool window
switches run along the top of the window itself.

Note: Pay attention to the tooltips! They will display a short description of the
interface features as your mouse is placed over them.

Quick start 1,2 3…

We know: No one likes to read the manual. So here are 8 easy steps to DJ
fame!

1. Load the 2 demo tracks from the file browser in the top right (only visible

when maximized), by dragging and dropping them onto Decks A and B (1A
and 1B).

2. Note: Deck A may be playing at a different BPM to Deck B (2).

3. Click the SYNC button (3) on Deck B to adjust the tempo to match Deck A.

4. Slide the crossfader (4) left to hear only Deck A.

5. Press Play (5) to start Deck A.

6. Wait until the two beat-indicators are in time (6, Deck A top, Deck B

bottom).

7. Right-click (or Crtl+click) Deck B’s Play button (7). You can't hear Deck B

because the fader isn't pushed all the way to the left.

8. Move the crossfader (8) and hear both songs perfectly beat matched.

It’s that easy with MAGIX Digital DJ 2, but there is still lot of power hidden
away behind the interface, so we encourage you to read the manual so that
you get the most out of the program and take your DJing to the next level.

This is how MAGIX Digital DJ 2 starts...

At the heart of MAGIX Digital DJ 2 are the Decks, A and B as shown below.
The framed areas are constant and will remain unchanged by various settings.

All other areas & panels are dynamic changing to reflect the mode or settings
chosen.

Note: The multicolored spectral display of wave forms can be switched on and
off during playback by using the shortcut Ctrl + C. Low frequencies are
displayed in red, highs in blue. The yellow and green graduated colors will help
you to recognize the frequency height.

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface 9

Cue either deck by clicking and dragging on the wave displays. The center of
each display shows the playback position, so you can cue decks visually if you
don’t have a separate monitor mix set up. Beneath each wave display is a
song-length preview. You can click on the lower preview to jump to any point
in the track. The Play button beneath each deck will start playback of the
track. We will consider the transport functions in more detail later.

What's new in MAGIX Digital DJ 2?

 Improved beat recognition for even more perfect mixing. Beat recognition

has been completely revamped and now works more quickly and efficiently.

 Snap and Quant. There are two new play control functions: Snap guarantees

perfectly beat-matched loops and precisely placed cues, Quant enables
seamless skipping between cue points, it works in the Wave overview too.

 Song Manager. The new Song Manager enables quick and efficient access

to your music collection. In addition to the integrated databank function,
multiple playlists, real-time search and revised iTunes connection there are
also Smart Playlists and cover (artwork) display features.

 More formatsAs well as MP3, WAV and OGG the following formats are also

supported: AAC (*.m4a), FLAC, AIFF and WMA. (Note: only DRM free WMA
and AAC files are supported)

10 MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface

 Record your own mix: With the extra Windows Software MAGIX Music Editor

3 you can do much more than just record your mix, you can edit it with songs

or samples and compress audio files and master them.

 Native DJ-MIDI controller support: Just connect it up and off you go. Use

defined presets on the device for a genuine DJ feeling.

 More loops in the Sampler Section.

Features

 Two decks for playback of MP3 (ID3 V1 and V2), M4A, WAV, AIFF, WMA,

FLAC, M4A and OGG files

 64-bit high-end signal processing
 Song Manager with database function, real-time search, multiple playlists with

an unlimited number of entries, Smart Playlists and Autoplay list, CD cover
display, iTunes library integration.

 Native support for MIDI controllers for remote control of almost all program

functions.

 Integrated browser with favorites and search function.
 Drag & drop from external application to decks and playlist.
 Automix function including crossfades and automatic beat-synchronized

transitions (DJ style).

 Twelve outputs (6x stereo, only after Upgrade (view page 10)): master mix,

monitor
and samplers. Flexible monitoring options, for example, pre-fader listener
level, phone split. Flexible crossfader settings and bass crossfader

 Precise pitch control (faster/slower) in each deck
 Automatic beat recognition, beat grid and beat mix, auto sync for perfect

synchronization with seamless loops and beatwise jumping inside the track.

 mufin technology: sound-based analysis of all songs on the hard drive, find

similar songs with one click; quick insertion into the playlist or to the decks.

 Included effects (view page 26) (equalizer, filter, bit reduction, phaser/flanger,

e

-36dB +12dB, band killer -48dB.

 Relooper (view page 43) beat-slicing performance sampler.
 8

, deck A + B and others. Monitoring via headphones for the decks

tc.) and 3-band EQ with 3-band killer buttons, level controls for each band

Slot sampler with built-in samples

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface 11

Upgrade MAGIX Digital DJ 2

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 – powered by Deckadance, does more! You
can upgrade MAGIX Digital DJ 2 to "bigger" versions:
Deckadance House Edition or Club Edition.

By upgrading to Deckadance House Edition, you will receive the following
additional functions:

 User configured MIDI Mapping/Remapping.
 Editable relooper (view page 43) patterns

addition to a being free-standing program, Deckadance may be loaded as

 In

a VST instrument in any VST compatible host (such as MAGIX Music Maker).

 VSTi plug-in hosts for up to 8 VST effects or instruments, MIDI file playback

via VST instruments (hundreds of MIDI loops are included), VST host MIDI-IN /
THRU, to play loaded VST instruments using a controller.

 Load your own samples into the sampler (hundreds of samples and MIDIs are

included). Sample songs and trigger loops in time with the beat.

 ReCorder (view page 44) – record your DJ performance

hard drive!.

in realtime to your

By upgrading to Deckadance Club Edition, in addition to the
above-mentioned functions, you will also receive:

 External control via the record player (view page 37) (timecode vinyl) or CDJ

cks

de

 Supports all common timecode vinyl formats (Final Scratch, Torq,...),

learn-mode for total compatibility.

 Deckadance ultra accurate Control CDJ format.
 6 inputs: 2x stereo input for decks for looping through and sampling of analog

sources.

You can find the link to upgrade options in the MAGIX Digital DJ 2 "Help"
menu.

12 MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface

System requirements

Operating system

 Windows XP/Vista/7
 Mac OSX v10.4 (UB)

Minimum hardware requirements

 PC: Intel Pentium III (or similar), Athlon XP with DirectSound or ASIO

compatible sound card

 Mac: Intel Mac or G4 (1.25 GHz) with sound card with CoreAudio drivers,
 512 MB RAM, 200 MB hard disk space.
 Graphics card with min. resolution 1024 x 768

Don’t lose the beat!

If you regularly DJ, your ears will be coping with some
pretty harsh treatment, so there is nothing wussy about
protecting your valuable hearing. If you have
experienced ringing in your ears after a gig, then that is
a sign you have pushed your ears too far. Fortunately,
you can buy earplugs specifically designed for DJs
(search Google for ‘music earplugs’).

These attenuate all frequencies evenly, so they don’t affect your ability to hear
the mix (as it sounds). In fact, you will find it easier to hear the music wearing a
pair of these. Take advice from thousands of musicians and DJs who have
gone before you and protect your most valuable asset - don’t lose the beat!

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 user interface 13

Tooltips

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 offers realtime help
functions: To see the Help panel, click
on the HELP button just below the
master cross-fader and hold your
mouse cursor over anything that looks
like a control, including some that
don’t. The tooltips will explain the
function of each control element in
short.

To activate or deactivate tooltips, click
on Show tooltipsbelow in the Setup
dialog (view page 52). There, you can
set the

Please note that control elements for left and right-clicking (Ctrl + Click) often
have different functions. Therefore, you should also try clicking on everything
you clicked on with the left mouse button using the right mouse button to see
what might happen.

correct language for Tooltips.

You will see that a lot of things work automatically with a right-click, such as
right-clicking the play button on the second deck play while the first is playing,
that the second with be played synchronously.

Note: Trying out left and right clicks shouldn't be done during a live set. But
right-click functions of the relooper, the play button and the sampler play
button (when you know exactly what they do) are especially useful for live
sets.

14 Toolbar

Toolbar

At the top in the Toolbar you will find a range of settings:

 Audio - Opens the audio setup dialog (view page 46). Here you can set the

tputs and sound card drivers.

ou

 TAP - Tap tempo. Tap this button 4 to 8 times and the average tapping

speed will be set in the BPM window.

 Tempo - Displayed in BPM (32 to 256). Double-click the number display to

enter a specific BPM. The tempo can also be changed with the TAP button or
click on the 'fine-tune' +/- switches and drag up/down for fast changes. By
right clicking on the +/- buttons in Acceleration mode you can change the
velocity sensitivity i.e how the speed of the mouse affects tempo change.

 Help – Opens a menu with access to the help, the electronic manual and

various online functions.

- Help/product manual (PDF) - Since you are reading this, you've

obviously already know what this is good for:)

- Online tutorial video opens an Internet page with tutorial videos for

the program

- Online update / Online registration / Online upgrade This menu will

lead you to the MAGIX Internet page for program updates, registration
and upgrades.

- magix.info - the Multimedia Community connects you with

magix.info

- About MAGIX Digital DJ 2 Displays copyright info and version

number of MAGIX Digital DJ 2.

You can access the other settings (file and general options) by using the
[Setup] button among the Function switches on the main interface.

Browser... 15

Browser...

Note: In version 2 of you can access the Song Manager, a music database

with real-time search, playlists etc using the Playlist (view page 29) button.
The file browser is only really required if you want to load a file, which is no
longer in your music collection's folder (e.g. in your download folder).

Display files on the computer The file
browser displays a drive's complete folder
structure. With the usual +/- symbols you
can open and close subfolders, double
clicking takes you into the folder. The current
path is displayed in the title bar, by clicking
on this bar you can select another drive. You
can go up one level higher by using the up
arrow button next to it.

Dragging & dropping files and folders - You
can load individual song by dragging a file
from the Browser and dropping it onto the
Track Window of the desired deck.

MAGIX Digital DJ 2 will start beat-detection automatically when a song is
loaded. You can start playing the song before the beat detection process is
completed. Songs and the whole folder (inc subfolders) can be dragged and
dropped into playlists or the Song Manager (view page 32)'s Automix list (view
page 29).

w player - To preview a file right click on the item and select

Previe

"Preview". A preview player window will open (as shown below) and the file will
play on the Headphone (monitor output) channel as selected in the Audio
Settings (view page 46).

16 Track Window and Transport Controls

Track Window and Transport Controls

The track window contains a waveform display, which shows a part of the
track, together with beat and cue markers in high magnification. A lower
'Track Overview' window that displays the entire song (this can be clicked to
jump to the specified location). Below these windows are several different
controls for playback, cueing and mixing:

Track Display Colors

Ctrl+C will activate/deactivate the spectral analysis and display mode.

Beat analysis also includes frequency content, displaying the most prominent
frequencies in the mix. Red indicates low frequencies (bass, drums etc), yellow

through to green are mid frequencies (often associated with vocals), while blue
shades are high frequencies (cymbals, hats etc). With some practice, these
colors will help you identify breaks, vocals, bass, drums and other common
sounds in your tracks.

Track Window and Transport Controls 17

Upper controls

 Artist, Title & Album - Displays track information (if stored in meta data).
 Tempo – The song's tempo.
 Pitch - The difference between the song's analyzed BPM and the song's

playback tempo in percent. This value also represents the position of the
Pitch fader (view page 19). Just like turntables the pitch is linked to the

yback speed.

pla

 Lock (symbol) - Locks the pitch of the track. If the pitch is locked you can

change the playback speed with the pitch fader, without affecting the pitch of
the track. Be aware that moving the pitch fader drastically results in clearly
audible sound degradations.

 Key - When the tempo is locked (see below) you can change the deck pitch

by dragging vertically, (+/- 12 semi-tones) without affecting the tempo.

Above it the current playback position is displayed and beneath it the
remaining time.

Waveform & Track Overview Windows

The waveform display and scaled-down track overview help for cueing certain
song positions. The current play position is displayed by the red vertical line in
the middle of the Waveform window.

Cueing

"Cueing" means choosing a specific point to begin playback from.

Left-click inside the Waveform Display window and move your mouse (or
transport controller) left-and right to move the Playback Position marker to the
desired part of the track.

The track overview display beneath the waveform display shows the entire
track, regardless of its length. By left clicking in this field you can jump to the
desired position quicker, it is not as accurate however. The QUANT and SNAP
(see below (view page 19)) functions can help out by ensuring
remained beat matched.

the the tracks

18 Track Window and Transport Controls

Cue-Marker

The cue marker is used to skip to specific positions. Four cue markers can be
set per song, these will be saved along with the analysis data from the song
and will thus be available the next time you load the song.

The control elements for cue markers function in different ways depending on
they are used during playback or when the track is paused.

When playback is paused the cue markers are set: first select the desired cue
marker with the small number button 1 to 4 which are next to the CUE button,
then position the play cursor with the mouse (see above) at the desired
position in the song and click on the CUE button. (You can also just play the
song and stop it at the desired point with the CUE button.)

Tip: If the SNAP button is activated, the cue markers will always be placed on
whole beats.

If you now click on the CUE button the song will always be played from this
point, and stopped when you release it. By doing this you can create a
"Stutter" effect.

If the CUE button is clicked during playback, it will stop and the cue marker
will jump to the set point. By clicking on the marker buttons 1 - 4 you can
jump to the various cue markers, without interrupting playback.

This results in the following workflow:

1. When preparing tracks you will be looking for interesting parts in the track

and setting cue markers at these points.

2. During the set you can load tracks onto the inactive deck and begin

playback over the monitor.

3. Now you can quickly listen to the different cue markers, from 1 -4.

4. If you have found a good cue point click on the CUE button, now the track

will be stopped and ready for the perfect transition.

Tip: If the QUANT button is activated, leaps between cue points will be in time,
perfect for real-time remixing.

Note: A cue marker cannot be moved as such, instead you have to place it
afresh. This only works when stopped, during playback it will skip to the saved
position.

Track Window and Transport Controls 19

Deck-Gain

On the inside of the waveform display of the corresponding deck you will find
the gain control for the individual track. There are two options here:

 Track Gain - The level of individual tracks can be corrected using the extra

manual gain trim control. Click and drag vertically.

 A (Auto-gain button) - The button above the 'Deck gain' slider, activates the

auto-gain control engine. This automatically adjusts the track level in such a
way that the perceived track volume is consistently loud. If Auto gain is
activated, manual gain control is hidden.

Lower Controls

 Play - Left-click to start the song playing. Right-click to start in sync with the

other deck.

Note: When Automix (view page 32) is selected, the Play button for the active
deck is disabled.

 CUE Stops the deck and skips the selected cue position to (1..4), see

Cue-Marker (view page 18)

 Load -

open a file browser and dump the selected track into the deck.

 LOOP (Loop and continue) - Loops a section of the song when clicked.

Select the loop length using the arrows immediately to the right of the LEAP
button. On release, the song will continue playing from the end of the loop.

 LEAP (Leap after loop) - Loops a section of the song when clicked. Select

the loop length using the arrows immediately to the right of the LEAP button.
On release, the song will resume from the point it would have reached if
looping had not occurred. Keep an eye on the playback marker in the Track
Window and you will notice the leap position is shown as a dashed line
moving forward while the LEAP loop plays.

 Length Indicator & +/- buttons - To the right of the LOOP/LEAP buttons

there are three buttons. The length indicator (above) can be clicked so that
loops/leaps are synced to the nearest beat/bar. Loops/Leaps can be
lengthened or shortened using the +/- buttons.

 Pitch Slider - Move the slider to change the speed of the song (down is faster

and up slower). The range can be adjusted on the General Settings page

To the right of the Play button is the quick-load button, which will