I’ve just picked up a Denon Prime Go primarily to be able to have something only for my ceremony system and also have access to my whole Serato library and crates.
I think I have done the conversion correctly but I’m wondering if the actual conversion of the library is only done once and then it is a matter of syncing back and forth depending on if I’m making changes in LXN or on the Prime device. Am I supposed to be using Engine DJ on the desktop for anything in this case or it is just skipped.
Is there an in depth tutorial somewhere about doing this. I a little confused on if I’m supposed to be doing something in Engine DJ on the desktop aswell as syncing with LXN?
I’m brand new to Engine and I can get my head around using the Engine app in windows but I’m also mixing it with being able to sync with LXN and I’m more confused than this message probably is. lol
I would appreciate any help you can send my way.
Hi!
There is an article on the Lexicon workflow here. Basically you maintain your library in Lexicon and sync to your DJ app or Denon device whenever you need to.
There is also a lot of information in the manual.
Regarding Engine DJ desktop, you don’t need to use it. There are two ways to use Lexicon with Denon gear:
- Use Lexicon and sync directly to a Denon device (use the Target option on the Sync page). This skips Engine DJ desktop.
- Use Lexicon and sync to Engine DJ desktop (set Target to Computer). Then use Engine DJ desktop to send your tracks to the device. This is effectively the same as the first way but has the extra step.
You only really need to use Engine DJ desktop if you want change device settings or use SoundSwitch.
You can sync from your Denon device back to Lexicon as well (put the Source option on the device for that), in case you made changes on the device that you want to see back in Lexicon.
Ahhh,
So eventually I do want to be able to use Soundswitch using my Control One without having to use a laptop so I may have to go through Engine DJ in that case.
Sorry Christiaan, the manual is the first place I go. I guess I didn’t realize that I really shouldn’t be going to Engine DJ at all after syncing from LXN to my selected drive I’m using for the Prime device.
I did a test last night of a couple of playlists straight from LXN to the external drive I’m going to use with the Prime Go and I was able to see them and play tracks from the Prime Go afterwards when I plugged the external drive in. So essentially, There would be no other steps for me here unless I want to use SoundSwitch?
I let the whole database sync from LXN to the drive today and have just started to analyze the music in the Engine DJ app but I don’t need to do this correct? Unless I want to use SoundSwitch again.
It was going to take a while and have just stopped the analyzation process.
Will there be any sort of conflict with files if I let the anaylyze process continue and then send to the device from Engine DJ also so I can use SoundSwitch or should I simply be using Engine DJ by itself for this once I’ve synced from LXN to Engine DJ?
Finally, my main Library is still Serato for using in Serato with a Pioneer controller. Hopefully I haven’t done anything to that library and I can still update playlists and music the same way as I was and all I need to do is change and tell LXN what library I am sycning or importing?
I hope this makes sense.
Going to read your workflow blog now.
There should not be any conflicts, you can use both. I think most users use one of the 2 methods, not both, so if you do run into something odd then let me know.
The downside of only use LXC without Engine is that you’ll have to let your Denon device do the analysis (bit longer track load time) and you won’t see cover art on your device.
If you use Engine DJ desktop, then be sure to keep beatgrid locks on (sync option) so you won’t lose your LXC beatgrids. Then you can safely analyze in Engine and send it to the device.
If you only imported from Serato then your Serato will be totally untouched and the same. You can keep using Serato as your main library manager if you prefer. Then you just import from Serato to LXC and then sync to Engine. Although it would be easiest to use LXC as your main library manager and then sync to both Serato and Engine, whenever you need either.
Great, thanks Christiaan.
Yes, I’m doing a mixture of all but managing in LXN.
Not sure what’s going on with all my beatgrids though, a large amount are not correct at all and a lot that are right are out of sync (shifted). I ran the whole library through beatshift correction but nothing changed even though LXN said beatshift corrections have been saved for 29844 tracks.
Thanks for your help.
Did you sync to Engine again after the beatshift correction? Otherwise Engine doesn’t know about the changes
I sent it straight to the external that plugs into the Prime Go. I will sync it to engine and then send that to the external and try that but my grids are clearly off inside LXN if I look at any song.
Looks like the cue is good though? The beatshift moves both grid and cues so if the cues are good, I expect the grid to also have changed
this particular tack was cued manually.
SoundSwitch uses grids for lighting so if the grids are off the light pulses are off also.
Yeah I understand, the beatshift thing is a real problem. The correction utility fixes like 95% of the tracks but not all of them.
What file type are these tracks, MP3 or something else?
Can you upload a few so I can check the here? You can upload with this link
all MP3s.
Just uploaded a few.
Thank you for your help, I can’t imagine how busy you would be replying to individual people.
Thanks. I gave them a quick test but they seem to be corrected by the beatshift correction utility here.
This is what I did:
- Added the tracks to Serato
- Set cues on the first beat
- Imported into LXC, cues were offset as expected
- Ran beatshift correction
- Cues are now correct in LXC
- Export to Engine, cues also correct
Can you try that process again? Make sure to turn off the Merge option when importing or it will keep the old data including beatshift info.
I will but I probably shouldn’t till after my gig on Sunday.
I have my main serato library in Dropbox and when I make changes a sync happens and depending on the amount of tracks I’m doing, the sync has taken a day and a half sometimes 3 days and I still have prep to do.
I’m assuming that will happen if I have merge off or will it only change what ever tracks I set the grid for?
Also, everything was alright though, well mostly except for the tracks I haven’t bothered to go in a do beatgridding for in serato. A lot of them were fine with the analyze process in Serato already, the house and dance stuff of course.
With merge off, it will delete all your tracks and playlists in LXC prior to importing. Basically a clean start.
With merge on, it will keep all tracks and playlists and update existing and add new tracks. It won’t delete anything. You can use the Specific Fields option to only import certain fields, like beatgrid and cues in this case.
I think maybe some of these tracks were offset already in Serato? Is that possible? When I looked at your MP3’s in Serato, the cues were not always spot on the beat so maybe it was simply that…
What sync is taking 3 days? From Lexicon? Or a dropbox sync?
So should my very first import from Serato into LXN have used my Serato beatgrids?
I thought that was the case but since then I have sync’d back to Serato from LXN before using beatshift correction.
Okay, I’ve obviously been doing some stuff in LXN so I should probably do a full sync back to Serato first before doing this or I’ll be overwriting what I’ve done in LXN correct?
Then I’ll go into Serato and follow the steps you took and then import back to LXN correct?
Anytime I make a change in Serato my tracks in Dropbox sync. Anytime i do something in LXN and sync to Serato, Dropbox syncs because a change is being made to Serato I’m assuming.
The very first time I synced back to Serato from LXN, everything had changes so that took about 3 days. From that point, i’ve tried to only import or sync specific playlists to minimize that but a couple of weeks ago it all of a sudden synced my whole library again, not sure why and I’m hoping I can figure that out so it does,'t try to do that a day before a gig.
Yes that sounds right.
I think Dropbox is syncing all your music files because Serato stores cues inside each file. So Lexicon does that too in order for Serato to be able to read them. Which triggers the Dropbox sync in pretty much each file.
If you manage your library in Lexicon, you could change how you backup your files though. Because Lexicon has all your cues/grids/etc in one database file, you don’t need to upload your files each time a cue changes. So if you keep your music files backed up in another way than Dropbox, it could be much faster. You can upload them all to Lexicon with the Pro plan (unlimited cloud storage), or you could use a program called FreeFileSync and mirror your music to an external drive.
Yes, I was using FreeFile Sync for years when I was using an external Serato drive but I have put them in Dropbox now because I had to put my music internal and I need a way to prep in my studio/office and then sync to my main laptop and backup. I did have it all working correctly including the serato folder and then I had to take one part of the whole thing away because Soundswitch wouldn’t look through my symbolic link to the music folder I created in Dropbox, it was still looking for it on the C/Users folder. A shame.
Anyway, Dropbox is where I’m keeping things for now.
I understand what you’re saying though.
Just about to try what you did and noticed my Grids in Serato are bang on but the cue has been shifted now, I’m assuming from beatshift correction in LXN.
Attcaching two images of the same track, one in Serato and one in LXN.
I had just manually cued and made sure the grid was correct in LXN a few weeks ago for this track but I guess it moved when I did the beatshift correction lastnight.
The cue and grid are the same in LXC but not in Serato, why is that?
Should be imported as the same and if beatshift moves them, they are both moved
yes, very weird.
I have to step out for a dr’s appointment.
I’ll get back to it when i get back.
Okay,
Just reimported back to LXN with merge off.
The grids are off at the moment but my cue labeled “NEW” is in line with it. I deleted the old cue in Serato and place a new one on the beat.
If I scroll to the next cue (originally in my file) that and the rest are on the beats. So. I am just running beat correction but I assume those cues that are good but not on the grid will be moved and the
NEW one at the beginning will move with the grid to be correct.