Phase 2:
Hardware Setup
You get to know every button, every knob and every fader on your controller — what it does, when you use it, and why.
The goal of this phase: you stop looking at the controller while you mix. You feel it. That sounds overblown — it isn't. Anyone who has to stare at the controller while mixing has not practised enough.
What you learn in this phase
Connecting the FLX2
USB-C → computer, open rekordbox, the controller is detected automatically
Connecting headphones and speakers
Headphones to the FLX2 · speakers to master out · never to the computer
Knowing every section of the FLX2
Left = deck 1 · right = deck 2 · middle = mixer
Play / pause / cue button
Play starts · pause holds · cue jumps to the start point you set
Jog wheel — two zones, two functions
Top plate = vinyl mode (scratch/stop) · rim = pitch bend (brief tempo adjustment)
Tempo fader (pitch fader)
Lasting BPM control — centre = original BPM · up = faster
Channel fader & crossfader
Channel fader = volume of one channel · crossfader = blends between the two
EQ knobs (high / mid / low)
High = treble · mid = mids · low = bass — each one fully switchable off
Gain & level matching
Bringing tracks to the same loudness — before you mix them
Headphone cue button & mix knob
Which deck you hear in the headphones — the core of the DJ workflow
Sync button
Automatic BPM synchronisation — good for learning, but understand what it does
Setting loops (beat loop)
A section repeats exactly in time — your time tool while mixing
Hot cue buttons
Permanent position markers to jump to instantly — the most important performance buttons
What you can do after this phase
Every sentence is phrased so that you can check it yourself — on your own tracks, with a number rather than a feeling.
Cables the controller so that headphones and speakers run separately, and explains in 2 sentences what each path is for.
Correctly names 10 parts of the controller with their eyes closed.
Sets a cue point on the first beat in 3 tracks and jumps cleanly back to it 5 times.
Changes the tempo of a track 5 times and hits the original value exactly every time.
Separates channel fader, crossfader and the 3 EQ bands in use, and says in advance what will disappear when each is pulled out.
Prepares 3 tracks in the headphones without a single sound of them reaching the master.
Sets loops and hot cues on the device and judges for themselves, across 5 sync attempts, whether the result is right.
Practical assessment: blind on the gear
This is how you finish the phase on the gear — as a self-check with criteria you count off on your own material. The quiz tests what you know; this shows what you can do.
Show that you know your device without looking and that the basic moves are solid — in one session, without a break.
10 parts of the controller touched with your eyes closed and named correctly.
A cue point set on the first beat in each of 3 tracks and jumped back to cleanly 5 times.
3 tracks prepared in the headphones without a single sound reaching the master.
XP reward
200 XP
after completing this phase + passing the quiz