ProppFrexx ONAIR User-Forum

I still haven't found a way to use this complex software in the same way as, say, Dalet Plus or Dalet Galaxy.

I have a playlist set up and three faders in the mixer for each of the three players. Each fader is connected to a fader on the MIDI Korg nanoKontrol Studio. I have it scripted to start playing the next song in the corresponding fader in the app after "fader start".
Example: on a real mixer I pull the second fader, the playlist track that is completely on top starts playing in the software, it starts playing in the second deck because I pulled the second fader and all the audio is sent to the second virtual fader in the mixer in the app.

And I want to be able to switch the playlist to auto mode. The tracks to play themselves in the deck that was last active. That's deck number 2.
Then I want to specify that for the song "xxxxx", the autoplay will stop and wait until I pull the next fader again and that will start playing the next song according to the system I wrote above and if it's set up that way, to start the next song or wait for my instruction again.

(If you are familiar with Dalet software, I want to mimic the function that is marked with a string icon for each song.)

Thanks for the reply and thanks for doing what you do.

I am not really familiar with the Dalet software, and I don't try or want to mimic that

In ProppFrexx you have multiple DJ Players in a playlist (either 2, 3(default) or 4). Tracks in the playlist defines the order in which you want to play the tracks. But you load the tracks to the DJ Players in that order. Each next track is loaded to the next free deck.
As such, by default the order is sequential for the players, i.e. the players order will be A, B, C, A, B,C, A, ...
This means, the order (resp. the next free player) defines the order you have to use your faders.
Each DJ Player has a static assignment to a mixer output channel, so your fader order will also be A, B, C, A, B,C, A, ...

So for ProppFrexx the next fader-up movement defines which DJ Player starts playing and not which track is loaded to which player (note, that the tracks are anyhow already pre-loaded to the DJ Players!).
E.g. if the first track is loaded to Player A, you MUST use the fader (A) assigned to that player to start that track (you can not use any fader). The next track is then assigned to Player B (so you must use that exact fader (B), the following track is loaded to Player C/fader C etc.

So if you pull fader C before you pull fader B, you can even change the track order in ProppFrexx. And when you move the fader C down, it an stop player C etc. As such, ProppFrexx more work like in a 'regular DJ Setup'. I.e. each player acts like a deck to which a fixed fader is assigned.

From what you describe, it sounds, like whatever fader channel you use, Dalet always plays the next track in that channel. I.e. you can not change the order, nor do you have any assignment from a fader channel to a player (Dalet probably doesn't have players?).
So the order you pull/start faders doesn't define the playing order but just define where the next track of a playlist is being played.
This might be convenient in the first glance, but might also have some drawbacks. E.g. what happens, if you pull/start multiple faders? What happen, if two tracks are playing (you have two faders 'open') and you close one fader (which track is stopped)?

Regardless, ProppFrexx might work different and this is nothing, which will be cahnged.

However, ProppFrexx has a 'Live Assist' (manual) mode (see the related ribbon tab button), as well as an AutoPlay function, which can be toggled at any time. In addition you can also set various track settings/options within the playlist, to eg. AutoPLayNextTrack or StopAtEnd a track, to overrule those global settings. This also includes global functions like AutoLoad or AutoUnload the next/current track from the DJ Players etc.

I hope this helps you out...

First of all I would like to thank you for the lightning fast reply and I understand that you can't even copy other apps for licensing reasons, but still I just miss some features.
It partly helped me with getting some songs to play automatically and some not. Unfortunately, this still hasn't solved the problem of playback organization in individual players. Probably all the functions your software can't handle, or maybe I just don't know how to do it.

ProppFrexx OnAir is a great software and I would love to use it, but so far it is not able to provide me with everything I need.

I'm used to the fact that the order in which songs are played is not determined by the player, but just purely by the order in the playlist, if I want to play a second song I can't pull a different fader, I just have to move the song to a different place in the playlist. This works well for me, as I don't have time to look at the PC when broadcasting to see which fader to pull to get the right song or jingle to play. I know the order of the tracks well, I know what will play when and with my live input, I simply pull any fader and the correct sound plays. Some jingles are very fast and by the time I would check what deck it would play in, it would be too late.

That's why it's important for me not to pre-load tracks into players as you suggested, but to load them up with a fader (fader start).
You correctly write that the order in which I start the faders does not determine the order of playback, it only determines where the next song in the playlist is played.
In your reply, you wonder what would happen if I triggered multiple faders - another major thing would happen for me that I would also expect from my future software, namely, two songs would start playing at the same time. Thus, I can run, say, a background track and an already prepared voicetrack and it will all play simultaneously. Or maybe an intro of song and a sweeper. Then if I turn off one fader, it stops playing whichever track is in whichever player, so if I stop fader 2, the music in player 2 stops playing.
This is convenient for me when i'm streaming news, for example. I know which jingles are going to be broadcast, and I know the order of the posts according to the paper script. Then I just pull any faders and the jingles start as they go in playlist, I don't have to look at the monitor and can concentrate on reading.
I understand that ProppFrexx may work on a different principle than other apps, but it would be good, and I like that about it, if we could choose which check-in method is most convenient for us. We have the ability to customize the look and feel, which I hugely welcome, we can change the number of decks, customize the layout, and we could also choose the way the songs are played, for example...

I apologize for the very long question, but this problem cannot be explained in a few words. Have a nice day.

Probably all the functions your software can't handle, or maybe I just don't know how to do it.

Maybe you just describe your exact need and exact use case (without trying to copy another software's behavior)...

I'm used to the fact that the order in which songs are played is not determined by the player, but just purely by the order in the playlist.

This is also the case in ProppFrexx! As explained, the order is not changed in or by the players, just us the faders in sequential order. You can even route ALL players to the same mixer channel and fader and control all via on fader...
And ...you can simply for example use the 'NextTrack' ribbon tab button to play the next track.

if I want to play a second song I can't pull a different fader, ...

See above, if you don't want to use a different fader, just route all players to the same mixer output channel.

...I just have to move the song to a different place in the playlist.

You can also in ProppFrexx move a track to a different location within the playlist.

as I don't have time to look at the PC when broadcasting to see which fader to pull to get the right song or jingle to play. I know the order of the tracks well, I know what will play when and with my live input, I simply pull any fader and the correct sound plays. Some jingles are very fast and by the time I would check what deck it would play in, it would be too late.

No need to look at your faders or PC also in ProppFrexx. Beside using only one fader, you can also use the feature called routing by Media Type (see the general settings, section Routing). This allows you to define an individual DJ Player routing per media type, i.e. you might use a dedicated mixer output channel for a specific media entry type, e.g. Jingles.

That's why it's important for me not to pre-load tracks into players as you suggested, but to load them up with a fader (fader start).

This is the way ProppFrexx is working, as pre-loading tracks is needed for a real instant start. E.g. large tracks might take some time to load otherwise, such a delay would be unacceptable.

another major thing would happen for me that I would also expect from my future software, namely, two songs would start playing at the same time. Thus, I can run, say, a background track and an already prepared voicetrack and it will all play simultaneously. Or maybe an intro of song and a sweeper. Then if I turn off one fader, it stops playing whichever track is in whichever player, so if I stop fader 2, the music in player 2 stops playing.

Fully supported by ProppFrexx!
But when you say "if I stop fader 2, the music in player 2 stops playing", this means you kind of need a 1:1 assignement of fader and player? This is exactly what ProppFrexx is doing and which you did not want in your previous comments - so I am a bit confused now...

Also take a look to the 'Alternative Routing' feature, which might be handy...
For News and other operations, Sweeper etc. ProppFrexx can even be controlled by a single button! (just PlayNext)...
Faders are else only needed to player a next track early, but even here ProppFRexx can do all that for you, no fader is even needed, just 'PlayNext...'

For the rest, I am probably not sure, how many faders you effectively use and how you want to use them.
So a few use case descriptions might help me out here.
No problem with longer descriptions, as else we might miss an important details...and I want to learn how people tend and want the UX.

You don't have it easy with me , I apologize for that and I'll try to describe my needs without being influenced by another app's features.

Your players affect the order of the songs you play to some extent. If I use three players, the first three songs in my playlist will load. If I pull fader 3, player 3(C) will start (I understand that this may not be the case, but I need it to be) and therefore the third track will start first, even though it is only third in the playlist.

If I directed everything to a single player, that would partially solve the problem, it would be like I just kept hitting Play Next, but I'd lose the function of mixing up to three songs at once.

Routing by audio type already sounds better, but it's still not as free a choice.

Yes, I want 1:1 fader assignment to a player, but it bothers me that the music is also tied to a specific player. I have a song in my playlist and I want to be able to play it in any player. Unfortunately I can't do that because the song is already pre-bound there.

So let me try to describe my needs and how to use it: I have a playlist already prepared, arranged exactly the way I want the songs to play in sequence.
I'll add how I have ProppFrexx set up. I have three new faders in the mixpult in application, named after the decks - A, B, C. The sound from the decks is sent to the corresponding faders - A -> A, B->B, C->C. On the mixer in the app, I have it set to use the fader start function, so that starting fader A, starts deck A and so on.
Now let's describe the physical mixer, it's not a mixer but MIDI (Korg nanoKontrolStudio) the three faders I have mapped to the three faders A, B, C in the mixer in the app. Fader 1 on MIDI controls fader A in the app. I hope this is clear.

Let's imagine that now there is a block of songs in the broadcast, I have set the automatic to play the songs by themselves. There are already news jingles after the last song, so the playback stops after the last song.(I can already do that).I come into the studio with the news, sit down at the microphone, and when it's, say, eight o'clock to the second exactly, I manually start the jingle. I want to do that by pulling the fader on the MIDI.The jingle is triggered by the "fader start".In this case, your settings are still sufficient, when I see that the jingle is loaded in deck B, I pull fader 2.

Then I finish a phrase and see that I need to drop a jingle for example a transition, blindly pull any fader on MIDI and I want the next jingle in the sequence to start. Only now, if I hadn't looked at the monitor and found it ready in deck B, I would have pulled fader 1, so deck A would have triggered and a completely different song would be heard on the broadcast to follow later.

By having the fader set to 1:1 so while all three players are playing I can influence the volume of each track.
Let's take an example: Deck A - here is the back of the song of the jingle, Deck B - here is the voiceover of our station, Deck C - here is the beginning of the song.
When can this situation happen? Often in our broadcasts. For example, when the news ends. The back song of the jingle is playing, I'm still saying the last line, then I play the intro of the song, stop talking, play the voiceover, turn off the back song of the jingle, keep playing the song and the voiceover is ejected.

I don't crank the fader with the song to max, but slowly increase the volume, by having the decks sounds individually separated, it only affects the song sound and the voiceover and backing track play at 100% volume. That's why I can't use just one fader, because I want to influence the volume of the decks individually.
And to make it not so easy, I have one last condition. When the news is over, the songs will play automatically again. Only one fader will be plugged in, so the sound from the two decks won't be heard, and I have set it to autoplay, only when the next song loads into one deck I have ummuted. That's why it's important to me that the autoplay is triggered in the last active deck.

So this was my way of using it. A lot of impossible conditions, huh? I know...

For your last ‘condition’ there is exactly the Alternative Routing feature existing. Ie. when you turn off LiveAssist (resp. switch to AutoPlay) mode, you only need one fader up and not all - so this also already exists.

So the only option which is currently missing is the feature, that during LiveAssist mode (manual playback), you still have individual faders which control an assigned deck, but it might change the order in which players are used resp. pre-loaded. Ie. any closed fader can be used to start the exact next track of the playlist and the next track will then be played in that player (instead of the currently loaded one).

The reason for preloading tracks to the players within ProppFrexx is quite simple, as the WaveForm rendering, ACPD, ReplayGain, BPM detection and even the TAG reading itself might take 1 to 4 seconds (depending on your computer and IO sub-system). This time however is too long to start that calculation when you pull the fader
So I might need to swap players on the fly when you pull a different fader as the pre-assigned.

I will look into that, if this might be possible. But note, that I am due to the holiday season not able to do so in the next 5 weeks…

But thanks for your explanation!

I thank you for your willingness! You have very fast and quality customer support and I appreciate that. Your software is top notch and I will try to use all the settings that are available to me so far. Thank you for the conversation and have a nice day.