Beat jump and performance features

XZ Mods adds performance features to the pads and deck keys: two pages of beat jump sizes you choose, gate cue, smart cue, key shift and KEY SYNC, and RAM tracks. Their settings live on one MODS page, PLAY. Every change saves to your USB as you make it.

#The PLAY page

Open MODS and choose PLAY in the section rail.

MODS · PLAY

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1. 1
   BEAT JUMP PADS

   Opens the beat jump editor. The numbers are your page 1 and page 2 sizes in beats.

2. 2
   GATE CUE

   Hot cues play only while you hold the pad. Off by default.

3. 3
   SMART CUE

   A hot cue press also moves the CUE point there. Off by default.

4. 4
   KEYS

   Opens the key page: key shift and KEY SYNC for all four decks.

5. 5
   RAM TRACKS

   Opens RAM TRACKS: copy a deck's track into memory.

6. 6
   BUTTON ABOVE LINK

   What the button above LINK does, alone and with SHIFT. See Controls on the player.

7. 7
   Dock

   Explains the highlighted row in plain words.

8. 8
   Works on

   The decks the highlighted feature works on, in mixer order 3 1 2 4. A dim number is a deck it does not work on, with the reason below.

If the cue engine has not reported on this USB loader, GATE CUE and SMART CUE show as SET UP GATE CUE and SET UP SMART CUE instead of switches. See Feature setup.

#Beat jump

In BEAT JUMP mode the eight pads form four pairs: A/B, C/D, E/F and G/H. The first pad of a pair jumps back, the second jumps forward, by the same number of beats. With a loop on, the loop moves by that amount instead.

You get two pages of sizes:

Page	How you select it	Default sizes A/B, C/D, E/F, G/H
Page 1	Press BEAT JUMP	1, 2, 4, 8 beats
Page 2	Hold SHIFT, press BEAT JUMP, let go of SHIFT	16, 32, 64, 128 beats (4, 8, 16, 32 bars)

1. Press BEAT JUMP for page 1, or SHIFT + BEAT JUMP for page 2.
2. Let go of SHIFT.
3. Press a pad. The first pad of a pair jumps back, the second forward.

Each deck remembers its own page. Choosing another pad mode and coming back with BEAT JUMP gives page 1 again. On page 2 the pads light warm red and amber, so you can see which page you are on. SHIFT + pad keeps its normal job on decks 1 and 2.

#Change the jump sizes

Open MODS > PLAY > BEAT JUMP PADS. The editor shows the pads as they sit on the deck: A to D on top, E to H below.

MODS · BEAT JUMP PADS

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1. 1
   PAGE 1

   Edit the sizes BEAT JUMP gives.

2. 2
   PAGE 2

   Edit the sizes SHIFT + BEAT JUMP gives. The filled tab is the page you are editing.

3. 3
   PAGE 1: STOCK or MY SIZES

   STOCK keeps the player's own 1, 2, 4 and 8 beats on page 1. MY SIZES uses yours. Page 2 always uses yours.

4. 4
   Pad pair

   Two pads with one size. The left pad jumps back, the right pad forward. The selected pair has a light outline.

5. 5
   Beats

   The size in beats.

6. 6
   Bars

   The same size in bars. 4 beats make 1 bar.

7. 7
   Readout

   The selected pair and its size.

8. 8
   Sizes

   Tap a size to give it to the selected pair. The filled size is the current one.

9. 9
   Dock

   What the highlighted control does.

10. 10
    Works on

    Beat jump works on all four decks.

1. Choose PAGE 1 or PAGE 2.
2. For page 1, choose PAGE 1: MY SIZES. With STOCK, page 1 keeps the player's own sizes.
3. Tap a pad in the pair you want to change.
4. Tap a size in the row along the bottom.

Without the touch screen, turn the rotary selector to a pair, push it, then turn to step the size. It stops at the smallest and largest size. Push or press BACK when you are done.

The sizes apply to every deck. UTILITY's own beat jump setting is separate and does not change them.

#Decks 3 and 4

Decks 3 and 4 use the same sizes and both pages. They jump along the track's beat grid, or by its BPM when there is no grid. A track with neither jumps at 120 BPM, as on decks 1 and 2. With a loop on, the loop moves.

#When a jump is refused

A jump the deck cannot make does nothing else. XZ Mods never silently shortens the selected distance. The screen shows why:

#Gate cue and smart cue

Both change what a hot cue pad does in HOT CUE mode. Turn them on in MODS > PLAY. Both are off by default, and each works on its own.

Feature	What a hot cue pad does
GATE CUE	The track plays from the hot cue only while you hold the pad. Let go and it jumps back to the hot cue and pauses. Use it to stab hot cues like samples. Press PLAY/PAUSE while you hold the pad to keep playing after you let go.
SMART CUE	Calling a hot cue also moves the CUE point there, so CUE takes you back to the last hot cue you used. Recording a new hot cue does not move it.

Gate cue and smart cue work on all four decks. On decks 1 and 2 they need the cue engine; see below.

#Feature setup

When the cue engine has not reported on a deck, MODS shows a short setup instead of the switch. It checks the feature on a loaded USB track in four steps: detect, choose deck, enable and test.

MODS · FEATURE SETUP

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1. 1
   Feature

   The feature this setup checks.

2. 2
   Steps

   The four steps. The button at the bottom always runs the next one.

3. 3
   Deck

   Choose deck 1 or deck 2.

4. 4
   What to do

   The instruction for the current step.

5. 5
   Track

   The track loaded on the chosen deck.

6. 6
   Status

   FEATURE DETECTED, or what to do when it is missing.

7. 7
   Next step

   Runs the step. Missing support keeps its reason on the screen.

1. Load a track from USB on deck 1 or deck 2.
2. Press DETECT FEATURE.
3. Choose the deck, then enable the feature.
4. Close MODS and test it: hold and release a hot cue for gate cue, or call a hot cue and check that the cue point follows for smart cue.
5. Reopen the setup and confirm.

If the status still asks you to load a USB track while one is loaded, prepare the USB again with the current XZ Mods app.

#Keys and KEY SYNC

XZ Mods can move the key of any deck a semitone at a time, and match a deck's key to the master deck with KEY SYNC. The master can be any deck, 1 to 4. The key display then shows the key the track plays in now.

#From the deck

1. Load tracks with analysed keys, and make the deck you want to match to the tempo master.
2. Hold SHIFT and press SYNC on the deck you want to move. On a side that drives deck 3 or 4, this moves that deck.
3. The deck shifts to a key that fits the master deck and MASTER TEMPO turns on. A notice shows the new key and the master deck, with RELATIVE KEY when it matches the relative major or minor.

To end KEY SYNC, press SHIFT + SYNC again, or press MASTER TEMPO. Both return the deck to its own key and put MASTER TEMPO back the way it was. After that, MASTER TEMPO does its normal job.

KEY SYNC changes the key only. The tempo, SYNC and the master deck stay as they were.

All four decks can hold key shifts and KEY SYNC together. Before starting a new shift on deck 3 or 4, the player checks its measured audio workload. If there is too little headroom, it shows KEY SHIFT REFUSED: AUDIO LOAD TOO HIGH and leaves the current keys unchanged. Shifts already in use keep running. SYSTEM READOUT shows render times and the number of active key shifters.

If KEY SYNC cannot work, a notice or the deck's key display shows why for a few seconds:

Message	What to do
KEY ENGINE OFF: SET UP KEYS	This USB loader has no key engine. Open MODS > PLAY > KEYS and press SET UP KEYS, or prepare the USB again with the current XZ Mods app.
DECK 1 TRACK HAS NO KEY (or another deck)	The track on this deck has no analysed key. Analyse it in your DJ software.
LOAD AN ANALYZED TRACK / SET UP KEYS	The deck has no track with an analysed key. Load one.
LOAD A KEYED TRACK ON DECK 2 (or another deck)	The master deck has no track with an analysed key.
THIS DECK IS MASTER, MAKE DECK 2 MASTER FIRST	The deck you pressed is the master, so there is nothing to match. Make another deck the master. On the KEYS page the master deck has no KEY SYNC button and says it is the master.
SELECT ONE LOCAL MASTER / SET UP KEYS	No deck on this player is the tempo master. Press MASTER on the deck to match to.
VERIFY MASTER PLAYING KEY / SET UP KEYS	The master deck's playing key is not known yet. Let it play a moment, then try again.
MASTER CHANGED / RETRY KEY SYNC, TRACK CHANGED / RETRY KEY CONTROL	The master or the track changed before the key moved. Press again.
KEY SHIFT REFUSED: AUDIO LOAD TOO HIGH	Measured audio work leaves too little headroom for a new shift. Existing shifts keep running. Check SYSTEM READOUT and retry when the load falls.
SHIFT OUT OF RANGE, KEY RANGE IS -12 TO +12 SEMITONES	The key that fits is further away than the deck can shift.
EMERGENCY LOOP / LOAD NEXT TRACK	The deck lost its track and loops. Load another track first.

#The KEYS page

MODS > PLAY > KEYS does the same from the screen, and adds key shift by semitones. On the play screen, tapping a deck's key opens the same controls for that deck.

MODS · KEYS

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1. 1
   Deck

   Choose deck 1, 2, 3 or 4. Where there is room, a tab adds USB DECK for decks 1 and 2 and SOFTWARE for decks 3 and 4.

2. 2
   KEY DOWN

   Lowers the deck's key one semitone.

3. 3
   RESET

   Shows the current shift. Press it to return the deck to its own key.

4. 4
   KEY UP

   Raises the deck's key one semitone.

5. 5
   KEY SYNC

   Shifts the deck to a key that fits the master deck, as SHIFT + SYNC does.

6. 6
   Deck keys

   Each deck's own key, the key it plays in now, the cents and SYNC or MASTER. The rows are empty in this picture.

7. 7
   Works on

   Key shift and KEY SYNC work on all four decks.

With MASTER TEMPO on, the key holds while the tempo moves. Without it, the tempo changes the key too, and the key display shows that.

When the key engine has not reported, the buttons show an amber dot, the dock says NOT READY and SET UP KEYS appears. It opens a short setup that checks the key engine and the chosen deck's track, and ends with a live test:

#The key on the MODERN play screen modern

In MODERN each deck's panel beside its waveform shows its key. With PLAYING KEY on, the big key is the key the track plays in now, after tempo and key shift.

MODERN · KEY SYNC

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1. 1
   Key panel

   KEY SYNC, the key the deck plays in now, the cents left over and the track's own key.

2. 2
   Deck in its own key

   Deck 1 plays in its own key, so the panel shows only KEY and the key.

3. 3
   MT

   MASTER TEMPO. It blinks while KEY SYNC holds on that deck.

#The key on the CLASSIC play screen classic

In CLASSIC, XZ Mods draws the playing key where the player shows its beat countdown, under the key:

#PLAYING KEY

PLAYING KEY is on by default. Turn it off in MODS > SCREEN to show the track's own key instead. In CLASSIC, off brings the beat countdown back. Key notation (AS ON THE USB, MUSICAL or WHEEL) is set on the same page; see Screen, interfaces and themes.

Decks 3 and 4 show their playing key too, after tempo and key shift. Until a software deck reports it, the deck shows the track's own key.

#RAM tracks experimental

RAM TRACKS copies the track on a deck into the player's memory. The deck then plays from memory, so it keeps playing if the music USB goes out. It works on all four decks. Decks 3 and 4 need the loopback cable connected to start a copy.

MODS · RAM TRACKS

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1. 1
   Deck

   Choose deck 1, 2, 3 or 4.

2. 2
   State

   The deck and the state of its RAM copy.

3. 3
   Source

   The track loaded on that deck, or what to do next.

4. 4
   Progress

   How much of the track is copied, in MiB.

5. 5
   Memory

   How much of the 128 MiB the copies use, prepared stems apart, then each deck's copy and state.

6. 6
   Action

   The one next step for this state: set up, choose a track, load, cancel, retry or release.

7. 7
   Scope

   What RAM holds for this deck. COPIES AUDIO / STEMS STAY ON USB means only the original audio goes into RAM.

8. 8
   Reason

   Why the feature is not available. Here the RAM engine is missing.

1. Load a track from USB on the deck.
2. Open MODS > PLAY > RAM TRACKS and choose that deck.
3. Press LOAD TRACK INTO RAM. Keep the USB connected while it copies.
4. Wait for ORIGINAL AUDIO IN RAM.

A track that plays is also copied on its own when there is room. CANCEL COPY or RELEASE RAM COPY stops that for the loaded track.

When a copy does not fit, the page says why and offers the next step:

• One track per deck. Each file can be up to 64 MiB, and all four decks together up to 128 MiB. The player always keeps 64 MiB of its memory free.
• RAM TRACKS copies the original audio. On decks 1 and 2, the line under the action button says what else is held; see the table below.
• On decks 3 and 4 the waveform, beat grid and cues already loaded stay with the copy when the USB goes out. Cues you change then are kept for the session and not written to a USB.
• If the loopback cable goes out, decks 3 and 4 keep their copies and pause, as they do without RAM. They do not start again on their own when the cable returns.
• Loading another track on the deck drops its RAM copy.

#When the music USB goes out experimental

A deck with its whole track in RAM keeps playing when the music USB goes out. The waveform was read from the USB, so the deck's lane cannot draw it any more. A teal card takes its place: WHOLE TRACK IN RAM · PLAYABLE, and under it how to get the waveform back.

Everything else about the deck stays on screen: title and artist, time and remain, BPM, tempo, key, the lamps, the hot cues and the playhead.

PLAY · CLASSIC

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1. 1
   RAM card

   The deck plays its whole track from RAM. The second line says how to get the waveform back.

To get the waveform back, reinsert the same USB or insert another, then load a track from it. The card goes as soon as the deck has a waveform to draw again. Loading a track also ends the deck's RAM copy, as it always does.

On decks 3 and 4 the waveform loaded before the USB went out stays, so the card shows there only if the waveform had not loaded yet.

#Quantize

On decks 1 and 2, quantize is the player's own: DECK QUANTIZE and UTILITY work as without XZ Mods. In MODERN each deck shows its QUANTIZE lamp and beat value above its time. You can hide them in MODS > SCREEN > LAMPS AND TITLES.

While a side drives deck 3 or 4:

Key	Action
DECK QUANTIZE	Switches quantize for every deck. Decks 1 and 2 switch through the player as before.
SHIFT + DECK QUANTIZE	Switches quantize only for the deck of that side.

With quantize on, decks 3 and 4 put cue points, loop in and out, hot cues and beat and slip loops on the beat grid, at a one-beat value. SYNC then also locks the deck to the master's beat. Four decks has the rest of what decks 3 and 4 do.