Standard Effects Mapping

This page describes how to use the standard Mixxx mapping for effects sections on controllers with the typical layout of 4 knobs (or 3 knobs + 1 encoder) and 4 buttons for effects. It allows you to switch between controlling all 3 effects of a chain or controlling each parameter of one effect.

By default, 3 knobs are used for controlling effect metaknobs and the buttons under them toggle each effect on/off. To temporarily toggle an effect on/off, press and hold an effect enable button. The 4th knob is used for the mix (dry/wet) knob of the whole chain. On controllers designed for Serato, the "Beats" encoder is used as the mix knob.

The button next to the mix knob is used for focusing effects. On controllers designed for Serato, this button is labeled "Tap". While holding this button pressed, the enable buttons for each effect switch to choosing which effect is focused. When an effect is focused,

• the knobs switch to controlling the first 3 parameters of that effect instead of the metaknobs of each effect in the chain;
• the buttons switch to controlling the first 3 button parameters of the effect; and
• the enable buttons of the effects in the chain can still be accessed by pressing the parameter buttons with shift, although the enable switches will not be shown on the LEDs until the effect is unfocused.

The LED of the focus button indicates whether any effect is focused. When its LED is on, you can hold the button down to see which effect is focused without having to look at the computer screen. To unfocus the effect, you can short press the focus button. The focused effect is remembered, so when you short press the focus button again, the previously focused effect will be refocused (it is not remembered when you shut down Mixxx though). Alternatively, if you want to keep all the parameters showing on screen, you can press and hold the focus button, then press the button of the focused effect to unfocus it. Showing all the parameters without having an effect focused is helpful for experimenting with different ways of linking parameters to the metaknob.

When the focus button is pressed with shift, it toggles the EffectUnit between controlling different EffectUnits in Mixxx. Typically this is used to toggle between EffectUnits 1 & 3 or 2 & 4, like deck toggle buttons.

To load different effects, hold shift and turn the knob for an effect.

FIXME: Make a video to demonstrate all this.