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Main-DJ-Mode

DJ Mode

As of version 2.8.0, QUP is two products in one install: Karaoke — the full KJ system with singer rotation, kiosk and cloud queueing — and DJ, a two-deck mixer with none of that. Only one runs at a time; switching between them takes a quick setting change and a restart.

Switching into DJ mode

  1. Click the Config icon (gear) in the top right corner of the main window.
  2. Select General from the left panel, then Startup Mode.
  3. Pick DJ.
  4. Close QUP and reopen it.

QUP now boots as a two-deck mixer instead of the karaoke system. Switching back to Karaoke works the same way, from the same pane — and your karaoke setup (media library, rotation history, settings) is untouched the whole time; DJ mode keeps its own separate layout and preferences.

Why a restart, not a live switch? Changing modes on a running process would mean tearing down and reopening the audio device mid-show, which isn't something QUP does safely yet. A restart sidesteps that instead of risking it — QUP tells you this in the Config pane when you make the change, and nothing about your current session is interrupted until you actually close and reopen.

The decks

Each of the two decks has:

  • Waveform — click-drag to seek. Click and hold to grab the record like a real platter: playback pauses while you hold it, dragging moves the track under a fixed playhead, and releasing resumes from wherever you let go.
  • Tempo fader — a vertical fader per deck, independent of the other.
  • 3-band EQ (HI / MID / LOW) per deck, plus a CUE button to preview into your headphones before it hits the room.
  • KEY and SYNC buttons next to the tempo fader.

Beatgrids and SYNC

QUP analyzes each track's BPM the first time it's loaded (or ahead of time, idle in the background) and stores a beatgrid alongside it. SYNC locks one deck's tempo to the other's using that beatgrid — it bends tempo to match phase, it never re-seeks the track, so a synced deck keeps the same musical content, just retimed to line up. Nudging a deck's tempo fader after SYNC is engaged still works; it rides on top of the synced base tempo rather than fighting it.

Scratch

Click and hold a deck's waveform to grab it, exactly as described above. While held, moving your mouse scrubs the audio at whatever speed and direction you drag — this is audible, so it behaves like touching a real record. Let go, and the track either keeps spinning at your last gesture's speed (a flick/throw) or settles back into normal playback, depending on how you released it.

Crossfader

A constant-power crossfader blends between the two decks, same physical control as karaoke's crossfader but wired to Deck A / Deck B instead of karaoke / filler.

Video decks

Load an MP4 into either deck and QUP mixes video the same way it mixes audio — each deck decodes and plays its own video independently, and the crossfader blends the picture along with the sound. Visuals (MilkDrop, if you have it turned on) render into the same display.

Auto DJ

Auto DJ runs a beatmatched set on its own once you arm it — useful for a break, or for filling time without riding both decks by hand.

  1. Build a crate — a named, saved list of tracks. Add to it by dragging a folder onto the crate pane, importing an .m3u playlist, or filling from a genre.
  2. You can keep more than one crate and switch which one is active; switching lands on the next transition, never one already in progress.
  3. Arm Auto DJ and it takes over: it loads the next track, analyzes it, engages SYNC, blends the transition, and commits — on repeat, looping the crate.
  4. Yield at any point — touch the crossfader, transport, or tempo fader and Auto DJ hands control back to you immediately. (Grabbing a deck to scratch does not yield on its own — that gesture has its own contract.)

Queuing songs to a deck

From the Song Browser, right-click a track and choose Queue to Deck A or Queue to Deck B — it's the first option on both the karaoke and filler lists in DJ mode.