yeah. it seems i kill it very easily, does anyone have any suggestions? it will just go off and virtual dj will screw up, audio will cut out. i am going to shoot some video of it actually happening.
It may be Windows Power management of your USB ports. Default settings, windows can turn your USB ports of the save power, this might be happening to you.
You can disable this through Device manager.
Try this,
First topic.
Hello Factory81,
If you can take the time to describe your problem, it will be easier to help you. "statically kill" is not a description: a description should list your configuration and the operations you do.
1) Your configuration
- do you mix with shoes which give you electrostatic shocks when you touch metal furnitures?
- What is your computer: laptop or desktop?
- Has the computer power cable a connection to the ground (is the power cable with 2 or 3 poles)?
2) What happens
- what you do at the moment you consider as a static issue: do you touch only the Rmx or have 1 hand on the Rmx and do you touch another device at the same time (amplifier, speakers, headphones or microphone connected to an amplifier...)?
- what you see on the screen: does the software stop or not, do you see a spark on the Rmx?
- what you hear in the speakers/headphones : does the sound stop or not in the speakers / do you hear the small noise of an electro-static discharge?
3) Solutions
- If the issue is not an electro-static issue, but problem of difference of potentials in the electric network.
If the issue happens when you touch another electric device at the same time as the Rmx (as a mixing table, an amplifier (or heaphones or a microphone plugged to an amplifier), amplified speakers, ), it is not an electro-static problem: it is a problem of difference of potential between the Rmx and the other device, which probably meansthe connection to the ground doesn't work (it means the ground of the computer and the ground of the other electric device are not at the same potential), so a short term solution is to plug the computer and the other device (the device you touch at the same time when you get the discharge generated by the difference of potential) on the same power supply, and a long term solution is to ask an electrician to check your electric network.
- If the issue is an electro-static issue
If the issue happens while you touch nothing else than DJ Console Rmx, then you should not mix again with these shoes, you should avoid mixing on a carpet. If it happens repeatedly even with normal shoes, then your laptop may lack a sufficient grounding. You can replace it by adding an ESD ground plug in a power plug and wiring this ground plug to a ground screw on rear of the Rmx (the phono ground screw).
You can find ESD ground plugs on websites as http://www.cobaeurope.com/esd-equipment.asp or http://www.gndzero.com/grounding_hardware_gap005.php .
Well the software can do any number of things....
It might fast forward faster than VDJ can even fast forward, the headphones might remain working or they may not. The speakers usually quit playing music.
It is a desktop computer. I mix without shoes and with shoes in a carpeted environment. The outlet is a 2 outlet that has a 3 prong converter to APC surge surpressors.
I basically touch anything metal on the RMX and it can mess up. (at times....lately I've been alright...I think it might be the extremely dry environment in Michigan during winter)
Hello factory81,
Did the issues you have met happen while you where touching
- only the DJ Console Rmx (and connected deviced as the computer, the connected headphones or the connected microphone)
- or while you were touching another device plugged to the electric home plug (speakers, mixing table, amplifier, or headphones plugged in these devices...)?
Knowing it can tell you whether the issue you have met is due to
- an electro-static shock (then the solution is to improve the grounding of the DJ Console Rmx or of the computer)
- or to a difference of potential (then the solution is to check the connection to the ground of the 2 devices you have touched).
Yeah. It seems I kill it very easily, does anyone have any suggestions? It will just go off and Virtual DJ will screw up, audio will cut out. I am going to shoot some video of it actually happening.
Factory81...
I had this same problem.. you're playing along and as long as you keep one hand on the deck, you're cool... if you get up and walk across the room or shift around in your chair too much, the next time you touch the case the lights flash and the music glitches out, stops completely, or keeps playing and the controls freeze, etc, but resetting the device and the software seems to bring it back...
try this:
Make sure you have a headphone plug that has metal all around the base of the jack, and use the top headphone jack instead of the one on the front. The idea is to get the signal ground for the headphones to connect physically to the metal of the front of the case. I believe the case is connected to the usb ground, so this connects the signal and the usb ground together. You'll notice that the top phone jack is slightly recessed into the panel and is neither totally insulated from the case (the other 1/4" jacks on the unit have a plastic collar) nor in full contact with the case (as it would be if it were physically screwed to the case with a nut and washer. This gives your ESD a little gap to jump across. Give it a try and see if it works... plug into the top jack, dance around a little, then touch the case... now unplug the headphones and try it.
This method works for me... I returned one already because of this problem because to me this is not a good solution. I shouldn't have to have headphones plugged into this to stop if from screwing up, and it essentially means I cant use the front headphone jack because that one turns off when you connect one on the top. I shouldn't have to buy all sorts of extra crap to make it work, tear up my carpet, DJ without my freaking shoes on or wear anti-stat bags on my hands. I can touch the case of my computer without it crashing... I can touch any one of my synths without it crashing, I can touch any of my effects or my patchbay. I should be able to use this, in my studio or any other environment, without it quitting every time I touch it.
I was hoping it was a manufacturing flaw in that particular unit. Unfortunately a brand new one does the exact same thing... PLUS on the new one one of the lights is only about half as bright as the rest, AND the knobs don't line up with the knobs onscreen. (adjust knobs onscreen to 12 oclock, knobs on deck are at 2 oclock...) maybe there's some way to calibrate these.
BTW. This is not an OS issue or an configuration issue. This is an ESD issue. I have tested both the problem and the solution on PC desktop, PC laptop, and a Mac laptop running both on batteries and on wall power.
I had high hopes for this device, but an fast becoming disillusioned with it.
and MaxdJack, one of the devices you have pictured is an outlet tester, not a ground plug...
Well the device seems to have "fixed itself". I bought this thing for $229 at Guitar Center open box. I needed to manually flash the firmware to get it up, and I have no idea what its history was. It was basically BNIB. I am using it in incredibly dry times of the year (winter) and I do wear socks on carpet.
I do not have the problem nearly as bad as I did before, and now you could actually say DJ a for a couple hours no problem.
Mine did something simliar this week and decided to start acting better... we had alot of rain here recently and things are much more humid than they were a couple weeks ago (winter here as well). But this still doesn't solve the problem and buying a humidifier or hoping for perfect weather conditions is even less of a solution than tearing up your carpet...
In other words, I disagree that it has "fixed itself". I don't think I'd call it fixed until the problem is addressed, and the solution works under all reasonable conditions. Are you planning on taking your RMX out to play at any venues? Being able to DJ only at the uncarpeted, ESD protection equiped, humidity-controlled venues may limit your options somewhat.
I'm wondering if there is the potential for damage to the internals. Even though the unit seems OK after a reset, if the case is improperly grounded and you're hitting the electronics with a couple hundered volts of ESD, enough to screw it up temporarily, what is the effect of this long-term?
Hello Xjn,
Electro-static shocks have no potential damages: FCC and CE electric devices are not damaged by electro-static discharges.
If the problem is really an electro-static issue, you can also simply solve it with a thin copper wire (a wire with a plastic sheath):
- strip the plasic sheath off the wire on both ends
- wind one end of the copper wire around one of the 2 phono ground contacts on the rear panel
- partly unscrew one of the 2 screws keeping the aluminum case on the rear panel
- wind the other end of the copper wire around this screw, and fix again the screw on its aluminum case
and it should be OK, you should no longer have any electro-static issue, since the aluminium case will be fully grounded.
I am not sure it is an electro-static issue, it can also be a problem of difference of potentials between the power plug where the computer in powered and the power plug of another engine (as the speaker amplifier), in case you have not a proper ground connection).
Thank you Max...
Thats actually a really good suggestion and I will try it. I could have sworn my continuity tester / multimeter said they were already connected (the case and the ground posts) but I could be wrong about that... will check again when I get home...
I had tried wiring the ground posts to my computer case, rack ground, etc etc but had not tried the case itself to the ground posts.
It has gotten pretty humid for the middle of winter here over the past couple days so it might take a little while to dry out. Once I can reliably make the thing quit again I'll give your method a try.
Thanks!
Just a quick update... got out the multimeter when I got home and tried it out. My multimeter has a continuity tester in it. The idea behind this is that it measures electrical reistance and beeps when the probes measure a very low resistance, somewhere close to 0 ohms. So touch the probes together, "BEEEEP" good electrical connection... touch one probe to each ground post "BEEEEP" same thing... This is kinda fidly on aluminum, you have to scratch the probe on the case a little because aluminum ozidizes pretty easily and that oxidized layer is a poor conductor... just scratch it back and forth a little. OR touch one of the shiny case screws instead. Don't try it on the black painted part you'll get no connection until you scratch through the paint.
I tested continuity between the ground post and the case and got OPEN (no connection) between the two... just as you said.
BUT when I plug a pair of headphones with a metal colar into the top jack I get CLOSED, meaning the ground post and case are now connected... !!!
It seems your method is just a more direct way of connecting these two grounds. If I connect the ground plug to one of the case screws with a wire, the case will be grounded just like it is with the metal colar headphone plug... meaning I'll be able to use the front jack instead if I want to.
This looks like it will fix things and be useable. Just what I was hoping for. I hope Hercules knows about this and changes this in future models because this was frustrating the hell out of me and I'm sure other people as well. I bet ESD is what caused my console to fail its first automatic firmware update too...
I will try this for awhile and report back. Feeling much better about things now.
Thanks!
it may be windows power management of your usb ports. default settings, windows can turn your usb ports of the save power, this might be happening to you.
you can disable this through device manager.
try this,
first topic.
hello factory81,
if you can take the time to describe your problem, it will be easier to help you. "statically kill" is not a description: a description should list your configuration and the operations you do.
1) your configuration
- do you mix with shoes which give you electrostatic shocks when you touch metal furnitures?
- what is your computer: laptop or desktop?
- has the computer power cable a connection to the ground (is the power cable with 2 or 3 poles)?
2) what happens
- what you do at the moment you consider as a static issue: do you touch only the rmx or have 1 hand on the rmx and do you touch another device at the same time (amplifier, speakers, headphones or microphone connected to an amplifier...)?
- what you see on the screen: does the software stop or not, do you see a spark on the rmx?
- what you hear in the speakers/headphones : does the sound stop or not in the speakers / do you hear the small noise of an electro-static discharge?
3) solutions
- if the issue is not an electro-static issue, but problem of difference of potentials in the electric network.
if the issue happens when you touch another electric device at the same time as the rmx (as a mixing table, an amplifier (or heaphones or a microphone plugged to an amplifier), amplified speakers, ), it is not an electro-static problem: it is a problem of difference of potential between the rmx and the other device, which probably meansthe connection to the ground doesnt work (it means the ground of the computer and the ground of the other electric device are not at the same potential), so a short term solution is to plug the computer and the other device (the device you touch at the same time when you get the discharge generated by the difference of potential) on the same power supply, and a long term solution is to ask an electrician to check your electric network.
- if the issue is an electro-static issue
if the issue happens while you touch nothing else than dj console rmx, then you should not mix again with these shoes, you should avoid mixing on a carpet. if it happens repeatedly even with normal shoes, then your laptop may lack a sufficient grounding. you can replace it by adding an esd ground plug in a power plug and wiring this ground plug to a ground screw on rear of the rmx (the phono ground screw).
you can find esd ground plugs on websites as http://www.cobaeurope.com/esd-equipment.asp or http://www.gndzero.com/grounding_hardware_gap005.php .
well the software can do any number of things....
it might fast forward faster than vdj can even fast forward, the headphones might remain working or they may not. the speakers usually quit playing music.
it is a desktop computer. i mix without shoes and with shoes in a carpeted environment. the outlet is a 2 outlet that has a 3 prong converter to apc surge surpressors.
i basically touch anything metal on the rmx and it can mess up. (at times....lately ive been alright...i think it might be the extremely dry environment in michigan during winter)
hello factory81,
did the issues you have met happen while you where touching
- only the dj console rmx (and connected deviced as the computer, the connected headphones or the connected microphone)
- or while you were touching another device plugged to the electric home plug (speakers, mixing table, amplifier, or headphones plugged in these devices...)?
knowing it can tell you whether the issue you have met is due to
- an electro-static shock (then the solution is to improve the grounding of the dj console rmx or of the computer)
- or to a difference of potential (then the solution is to check the connection to the ground of the 2 devices you have touched).
