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Rockit can be used with a single sound card, or with
multiple cards for better sound and cueing ability.
Most desktop and laptop computers, come
with low quality internal sound cards, and are only
useful for home applications, such as Windows sounds,
etc. By utilizing an external USB or FIREWIRE sound
card, you will increase your sound quality, and be able
to utilize the cueing facilities built in to Rockit, or
even run each deck to separate mixer channels for the
ultimate in sound. Here are a few sample setups, and
below you will find a small listing of sound cards that
our users recommend, and instructions on how to map
Rockit's deck outputs to the cards.
Basic
Single Laptop Output
Here we would employ a
laptop computer with a single sound output. No cueing is
available with this configuration, but it is well
suitable for the startup digital DJ. Simply pick up a
cable at Radio Shack (part # 42-2551), that has an 1/8"
stereo to dual RCA jacks, connect to the headphone
output (this laptop has no speaker or line out - line
out would be preferred if available), then connect to
your mixer device, or powered speakers.
One
Internal, one External Output
In this configuration, we
would use the internal sound of the laptop for cue
monitoring on the computer, and an external USB sound
device for the mains output to the mixer or speakers.
Please note, the sound card picture is a representation,
and not necessarily the card of choice.
Two
External Split Main Deck Output
This is the preferred laptop
setup for optimum fidelity and monitoring capability.
You would actually be doing the mixing and monitoring
off your mixer, and each deck in RockIt is mapped to a
separate sound device running to a separate mixer
channel. You will get much finer control of your
monitoring this way, and since each deck has a dedicated
sound device, the sound will be much cleaner.
Two
Main Deck Outputs to Dual USB Mixer
This is the easiest laptop
setup for optimum fidelity and monitoring capability.
New USB enabled mixers have two sound cards built in,
and you simply connect the USB cables to your computer.
No software drivers are needed with most of these mixers
(when running on Windows XP), so it's easy plug and
play! In this particular setup, a Numark CM200USB mixer,
with 2 USB inputs, is connected via two USB cables to
the computer, and each deck is mapped to a separate
channel on the mixer.
Sound Cards and Links
These are in no
particular order, but this is a small sampling of
external sound cards available, and links to more
information. We do not recommend any hardware
specifically, so read the reviews, ask other DJs on the
DJ message boards, etc.
Most of these sound cards / mixers can be purchased from
Amazon or their affiliates
Setting up Rockit's Deck
Mappings
Rockit can accommodate any number of
sound cards, that is only limited by Windows itself.
Each main deck, the jukebox and the effects player, can
all be mapped to separate sound cards if desired. To map
a main deck's output, go to Config->Audio Decks. You will see the following screen:
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In this example, only one sound card is
available, so all four mappings point to the same card,
and monitoring is not available. If you have multiple
sound cards, they will show up when you click the arrows
for the drop down boxes.
USB sound cards will usually show as
USB Audio Codec, and sometimes a number after them,
if you have more than one USB card. You simply select
the appropriate card for the mains and monitors, and
click the Save button to activate the change.
Notes: Please insure you have your
sound cards plugged in before starting Rockit, as it
reads the list from Windows on startup.
Also, if you remove a sound card while
Rockit is running, you will generally get a DirectSound
error. This error will generally require Rockit to be
restarted, so it can refresh its list of devices
available.
Vista Notes: We've noted that
Windows Vista is sometimes very slow to pick up new
devices, when they are plugged in. We have seen it take
as long as 10-20 minutes to recognize a new sound
device. Because of this, we recommend you have your
devices plugged in before you start Vista, to insure
they are available from the get go. |
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