Pioneer DMP-555 - Manual (Page 19)

19
En
ADVANCED OPERATIONS: CARD MIXING (dual mode)
7 CD and MEMORY CARD synchro playback
Aligning the beats of two different tracks is a basic technique that DJs must
master. To do this, the CARD TEMPO dial is rotated until the tempo of the
memory card playback matches the beat of the currently playing CD; the DJ
then presses the MIXOUT CARD CONTROL block’s LOOP START/STOP
button with the proper timing to align the two sources.
÷ While MIXOUT is turned OFF ([MIXOUT] button indicator is not lighted),
no memory card sound is produced from the AUDIO OUT connectors. Leave
the MIXOUT set to OFF while adjusting the memory card’s tempo and
practicing the start timing; when ready, set MIXOUT to ON and press the
LOOP START/STOP button at the desired instant to overlay the memory
card playback with the CD sound.
÷ If you fail to press LOOP START/STOP button with the correct timing,
press the button again to stop memory card playback. The playback will
enter cue pause mode at the beginning of the track (or at the CUE point if
one has been set). When ready, press the LOOP START/STOP button to
begin synchro card playback again.
÷ If the BPM of the two sources does not match perfectly, the tempo of the two
will begin to deviate. To correct the deviation, either rotate the CARD
TEMPO dial or move the TEMPO control slider. Use the displayed BPM
value as a reference while relying on your own ears and sense of timing.
÷ This function does not automatically match the timing of different sources,
so you can utilize advanced techniques such as deliberately playing back
two sources out of synch.
7 Measuring the BPM
To assist when playing a track without a published BPM, the player automati-
cally measures the BPM during playback. During measurement, the BPM indi-
cator flashes, and when measurement is complete, the BPM indicator lights
steadily. Measuring continues thereafter and the BPM value is automatically
updated; if the unit is unable to measure the BPM value, the BPM indicator
changes to a flashing display.
÷ BPM values are not written to CD-DA, so the BPM should be measured be-
fore beginning BPM synchro playback.
÷ When using the DJ software program “DJ Booth” to download tracks to an
SD memory card, the BPM value measured with “DJ Booth” can be re-
corded beforehand on the CARD.
÷ In the event no BPM value is prerecorded on the SD memory card, it will be
necessary to perform BPM measurement in the same way as for CD-DA.
7 BPM Synchro Playback
This function automatically matches the BPM of CD and memory card play-
back in accordance with the tempo rates of each source. BPM synchro can be
used only when the BPM rates of each source are known and the difference
between them is no more than ±16%.
÷ This function automatically synchronizes the playback tempo of the memory
card to that of the CD track. As a result, if the TEMPO control slider is used
to change the playback speed of the CD, the memory card’s playback speed
will follow and change as well.
÷ Note, however, that the memory card’s tempo can be adjusted within a maxi-
mum range of ±16%. As a result, if the CD’s TEMPO control slider is moved
too much, the memory card’s tempo may not be able to follow.
÷ In order to use BPM synchro playback, measurement of the BPM rates for
the two sources must be completed. When playing a track whose BPM rate
has been already written to the memory card, however, new BPM measure-
ment is not required, so BPM synchro playback can be started merely by
loading the card and selecting the desired track.
÷ By using the BPM synchro function, the DJ can devote his attention to ad-
justing the beat of the music.
The BPM synchro function defaults to OFF whenever the MIXOUT CARD
CONTROL block’s [SYNCHRO] button indicator is not lighted. When BPM
synchro playback is enabled, the [SYNCHRO] button indicator flashes, but
the memory card’s playback speed remains as it was before (synchro function
standby).
÷ If the SYNCHRO button is pressed while its indicator is flashing, the but-
ton indicator lights and BPM synchro playback begins (the memory card’s
playback speed changes to match that of the CD).
÷ During BPM synchro playback, press the SYNCHRO button to turn off the
BPM synchro function (the button’s indicator light also goes out). When
this is done, the memory card’s playback speed will stay the same, and will
not return to its original state, thus allowing the CARD TEMPO dial to be
rotated to change the speed as desired.
÷ During BPM synchro playback, the CARD TEMPO dial changes to oper-
ate as the PITCH BEND function. The tempo changes temporarily in ac-
cordance with the direction and amount the dial is rotated, but when the
rotation is stopped, the playback speed returns to its previous value; this is
a convenient function for adjusting slight deviations in beat.
÷ Even when BPM synchro function is set to OFF, if a different track is se-
lected, the unit will enter the BPM synchro standby mode.
7 BPM value input (BPM Edit function)
The DJ program software “DJ Booth” has been designed to allow track BPM
values to be recorded to an SD memory card. By using “DJ Booth” to play the
tracks of a memory card and detect their BPM rates, those values can be re-
corded on the SD memory card at the same time as you copy the track to the
card. However, the DMP-555’s BPM synchro function will not operate properly
if such copying is performed before the BPM rates have been detected, or if
wrong BPM values have been recorded. In addition, the accuracy with which
“DJ Booth” detects a track’s BPM rate may not precisely match the DMP-555’s
detection accuracy, with the result that some fine tuning and adjustment may
be necessary when using the BPM synchro function with CD playback.
To solve this problem, the DMP-555 has been provided with the ability to modify
the individual track BPM values pre-recorded on SD memory cards, and record
those new values on the card. This is the BPM Edit function.
÷ Since new data will be written to the memory card, the card’s write-protect
switch must be disabled before loading the card into the player.
÷ While the player is writing new data to the card, the slot indicator will flash
above the card slot. Never press the CARD EJECT button or dis-
connect power to the player while the indicator is flashing,
since data may be destroyed or the card may become unus-
able.
1. Set the source selector to CARD (the SOURCE SELECT
[CARD] button indicator lights), and begin playback of
the track whose BPM you wish to modify.
÷ When a BPM value has already been recorded for the track, the BPM value
will be displayed immediately after playback begins.
÷ If no BPM value has been written to the card, or if the actually measured
BPM value diverges greatly from the value previously recorded on the card,
the characters on the BPM display will flash, indicating that the player is
currently detecting the BPM value.
÷ To display the correct BPM value, move the TEMPO control slider to the
center position so that the TEMPO display shows 0.0%.
2. Hold the SYNCHRO button depressed for 2 seconds or
more to enter the EDIT MODE.
÷ The contents of the upper dot matrix display will change in the order [title]
= EDIT MODE = BPM EDIT. The card playback bit rate / BPM display
on the right side displays the BPM value recorded on the memory card,
while lower BPM display displays the actually measured BPM.
÷ Playback may stop, but in that event, merely press the PLAY/PAUSE but-
ton to resume play. When no loop is specifically set in the EDIT MODE,
playback automatically defaults to one-track loop playback. To modify the
BPM value of another track, use the TRACK SEARCH buttons to select
the new track.
¶ The BPM value of short tracks may not be measurable if the track has not
been defined well. In this event, set LOOP IN and LOOP OUT points to pro-
duce correct loop playback audio (we recommend that the “DJ Booth” pro-
gram’s CREATE function be used to set up the track again).