little help?

Hi casket hands.

Because the VCI-300 only has the limited USB power to amplify the signal with (USB ports pass out low power) - the output will be lower than mains-powered hardware. Because of this, trying to volume match using the VCI-300 master and channel gains etc will result in the internal limiter being activated, and the sound 'squashed' and 'flattened' as you compress teh signal more and more (this is in place to stop clipping).

The best way to amplify this signal is to use either the sub-mixer (dj mixer etc) gain or trim to get unity gain with other sound sources such as CD players, decks etc. Once you have done this, there should be no difference in sound quality, as this is an amplification issue. The components of the VCI-300 are all very good :D
The basics of gain structure are here in more detail:
www.serato.com

Basically you should keep a clean signal in each stage (without clipping). If you introduce any distortion/clipping into the chain early, each stage will amplify that and make it worse... so a mixer will be able to easily amplify the VCI-300 output signal to unity gain without clipping. (Unless you're clipping all the signals in this stage!)

Running the individual VCI-300 channel gains so you are hitting one red is good. Having the master volume around midnight (12 o'clock) is the most ideal sound level.

As always a shielded RCA will yield the best results so you don't pick up any interference.

Even though the sound is being mixed internally in the ITCH software before being fed through the VCI-300 as a soundcard, as long as your computer is able to play the tracks, the sound quality will be more than fine.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Sorry for the late reply!

thanks a lot for the detailed reply. I guess I have been cranking the deck gains to get a little more oomph out of the signal. I'll try to curb the habit from now on.
one quick follow up, do my computer hardware or USB cable have any effect on the sound quality? For instance, will my computer's sound card or processor affect the proper output of sound. I'm not one to fall prey to worrying of this sort, but I have noticed most of the serato DJs using macbooks. Is there any reason a macbook might have more sound fidelity than an equivalent PC?

With the sound quality, if the processor is able to play back the music (ie. if it's above minimum specs) then that will be using the software algorithms to process the audio properly, any more CPU or RAM won't have any effect.

As for USB - if you are getting USB dropouts or interference, getting a shielded USB may be a good idea, but that would be rare.

Your computer's soundcard is not being used at all when ITCH and the VCI-300 is working, the VCI-300 is basically your soundcard and the control surface in one.

A Macbook is basically a known stable and efficient computer - they are often better made, and use better components (hence can give a lot more 'oomph' compared to other laptops with similar processors). But the only difference with a really good computer will be lower latency (for faster control surface response).

So basically, your sound quality will be pro audio quality if the computer can run ITCH and the VCI-300 without dropouts, it's just a matter of amplification of that signal.
:D

Great, that's what I thought, just thought I would run it past someone that knew for sure. Thanks for the help!

Excellent. :D
Good luck!

Try Platinum Notes i had the same problem use PN and it eliminates clipping and distortion, which is rife in digital tracks, leaving you with a warm crisp sound similar to vinyl. Get it it's worth it