Evidence status: source-reviewed written guide. No new screenshots, video, native audio, MIDI, microphone, or physical-device checks were made for this guide. Existing seven-tab capture tracks are historical v1.29.0 demonstrations, not v1.30 verification. The companion narration is an untimed draft awaiting recapture and timing.
What this tab does
Break-Wave provides two music decks, their mixer, one shared break playlist, a searchable music dock, Automix, and a four-panel performance hub. In the current eight-tab layout, open Break-Wave after Gigs and before Library. The original default navigation shortcut is still Alt+3; adding Gigs did not renumber it.
Deck A and the shared playlist occupy the left. The mixer and Automix sit in the middle. Deck B and the performance hub are on the right. The library dock runs below them. There is no separate Deck B playlist to maintain.
1. Prepare the music and audio path
Before a live song, open Settings → Audio & hardware → Audio Devices. Select Break-Wave (Deck) Output. For private listening, select a distinct Headphone Cue device. Cue cannot share the karaoke or Break-Wave output. Switching the deck or cue device restarts the decks and clears loaded tracks.
Return to Break-Wave. Under its playlist, enter your break-music folder or use Browse…. This is the break-music library, separate from the karaoke song catalog.
Use Search in the center panel to search artist or title in the dock. Use Explorer to browse folders, its breadcrumb trail, and Up to move toward the library root.
In a dock row, →A or →B loads a track directly onto that deck. + End adds it to the shared playlist. ⤒ Next adds it at the front of the playlist and affects the upcoming selection during a running set. Loading a deck is not the same as adding a playlist entry.
Use a track's analysis button or Analyze All for visible unanalyzed tracks to obtain BPM and Camelot key. A missing analysis value is not a playback failure. Automatic beat information still needs a listening check.
Identify under the playlist is a separate metadata-fingerprinting operation. It requires the Full version and the AcoustID application key configured in Settings. Do not confuse identity matching with BPM/key analysis.
Check: the intended folder and music appear, the deck title matches your selection, and the audio-engine error banner is absent. If the engine cannot start, the banner directs you to the Break-Wave output in Settings. A meter or moving waveform alone does not prove sound is reaching the room.
2. Build and preserve a playlist
Add several rights-cleared tracks with + End. Use each playlist row's ▲ and ▼ to reorder, ✕ to remove it from this playlist, or A/B to load it onto a deck. Removing a playlist row is not a file-delete operation. Click, Ctrl-click, or Shift-click to select rows; right-click offers the relevant actions for the selection.
Use Shuffle to randomize the list. Use the save icon, enter a playlist name, and press Save to keep a reusable playlist. The folder icon opens saved playlists; choosing one loads its contents. The delete control in that menu deletes the saved playlist, so check the name carefully. Save a useful hand-built order before experimenting with automated reordering.
During Automix, NOW marks the current track and NEXT marks the upcoming track. The playlist is the live queue: adding, moving, removing, or shuffling entries changes what the set plays next. Other eligible rows offer ▶ next. A lightning symbol marks a planned beat-locked transition into the following row; the wave symbol marks a timed fade.
3. Make a manual A-to-B transition
Load the first track on A and a second on B. Check both titles before starting.
Put the crossfader toward A, bring up A's channel fader, and start A with its Play button. Adjust the master gain and your external mixer conservatively. Watch channel and master meters; persistent LIMIT activity means gain reduction is occurring.
For private preparation, enable B's mixer 🎧 CUE and move the CUE/MASTER headphone blend toward CUE. This pre-fader headphone function is different from the deck's transport CUE, which pauses and returns the track to its beginning.
Start and align B. Play/Pause changes transport; the full waveform seeks. Hold either nudge button for a temporary slower/faster correction. The pitch fader changes rate within the selected range. KEY enables keylock so a rate adjustment preserves pitch; with keylock off, rate changes also shift pitch.
If the automatic beatgrid is wrong, tap TAP with the beat at least four times while playing. TAPPED ✕ clears the manual grid. BG analyzes the automatic grid and does not overwrite a manual tapped grid. SYNC on the Full version aligns to the other deck; check the result by ear.
Move the crossfader toward B, or use AF for AutoFade to the other side. Curve changes the crossfader response. Double-clicking the crossfader centers it; double-clicking master gain resets it.
Once B is carrying the room, pause or cue A before loading its next track. Use the eject control to unload a deck when appropriate.
Each deck also has four saved cue pads. Click an empty pad to save the current position; click a filled pad to jump there. Right-click or hold a filled pad to clear it. A jump preserves the transport's playing state, so test cue changes before using them live.
Mixer EQ gives each deck separate bands, a 0 reset for each band, and KILL toggles. A low fader, killed band, wrong crossfader position, or unsuitable master gain can explain unexpected sound even when the track is playing.
4. Plan and run Automix
Put the desired tracks in the Break-Wave playlist. Decide whether to allow same artist back-to-back. Off is the default; the planner avoids consecutive tracks by the same primary artist unless only that artist remains. The preference is saved per DJ profile.
Press AUTOMIX to reorder the actual playlist. Planning is available on the free tier, even though a lock icon may appear. Read the mix summary and inspect the new order.
New mix tries another random order. Undo reorder restores the pre-plan order while that undo remains available. Manual playlist edits, loading a saved list, or starting a set can clear that undo. Changing the same-artist checkbox affects the next plan, not an already-created order.
Press Start to run the playlist in its current order. Starting and running Automix requires the Full version. You do not need to press AUTOMIX first; a deliberate hand-built order can be played as it stands.
Check NOW, NEXT, the active deck, and the transition/countdown status. Edit the shared playlist when you need to change upcoming music. SKIP begins the next transition immediately.
STOP stops Automix scheduling while the current music keeps playing. It is not a mute button. PANIC makes an immediate clean cut to the current track; it is not a general silence-all control. Use the deck transport or the appropriate break-stop control when the intention is to stop the music.
If RESUME appears, it continues the stopped set using the playlist as it stands, excluding tracks already played. Pressing AUTOMIX again creates another order instead.
The phone's Play Break, a mapped MIDI Automix-start action, and the end-of-song break action can plan a fresh mix before starting. Do not assume these entry points preserve the same order as the tab's Start button. Free-tier break playback uses the first playlist track rather than a paid automatic set.
5. Use all four performance-hub panels
Master & Routing
Tempo multiplier and Pitch affect both music decks together. Reset master restores multiplier 1 and pitch 0. Soundboard effects, drums, and recorded loops keep their own speed. Deck rate and keylock still apply; the UI describes a combined playback-speed limit of 0.4–2.1×.
Choose a separate output route for soundboard, drums, and looper: Main speakers, Headphones, Main + headphones, or Mute. Headphone routes require an active cue output. Outputs use the devices chosen in Settings. Headphone-only audio stays off the main speakers if the headphone output disconnects.
The Hub limiter limits the combined soundboard, drums, and loops. Adjust its threshold and watch Reduction. The engine's final output safety limiter stays active independently.
Soundboard
The twelve pads trigger the included effects. Their displayed keys work while this panel is visible and keyboard focus is not in a text field. Start at a low soundboard volume; the saved level also affects remote and MIDI triggers.
Choose EDIT PADS, click a pad, and select a custom audio file to assign your own sample. DONE returns to triggering sounds. In edit mode, a custom pad's ✕ restores its built-in sound. Confirm the assigned filename and audition privately before a show. These controls use existing files; moving a custom sample can make its saved assignment unavailable.
Drum Sequencer
Choose a preset or turn steps on and off in the 16-step matrix. Set BPM, SWING, and LEVEL, then press START. SYNC A/B copies the selected deck's effective tempo when available. Track S and M buttons solo or mute drum voices. CLR clears the pattern.
The LIVE PADS can be clicked or played with the displayed Q–I keys. With REC ARMED and the sequencer running, hits are quantized into the pattern. Disarm recording when you only want live hits.
The LOOPER records the microphone for 1, 2, 4, or 8 bars with REC MIC, or adds audio with LOAD FILE. Recording requires microphone access and starts on the next bar when the sequencer is running. Check the status for count-in, recording, capture success, or a microphone error. Each loop layer has play/pause, level, and remove controls. Prevent microphone-to-speaker feedback before recording.
Pro FX Rack
Deck A and Deck B have separate HPF/LPF, Echo/Delay, Reverb/Space, and Flanger/Jet modules. Enable the intended module, adjust MIX and INTENSITY, and choose a delay division when using delay. Each deck's rack RESET clears its FX state.
The hub's larger RESET DECK A/B resets deck rate to 1.00×, keylock off, EQ to 0 dB, band kills off, and that deck's FX off. It leaves the channel fader alone. It does not mean “stop everything,” and Reset master is a separate control.
6. Finish safely and verify the result
Stop Automix deliberately, then confirm whether either deck is still playing. Pause/cue decks when silence is required.
Stop the sequencer and any loop layers before leaving performance work. Switching among the four hub panels keeps their components mounted; leaving the whole Break-Wave tab destroys the local drum/looper panel. Do not rely on unsaved patterns or loops surviving a tab change or restart.
A playing music deck can continue across a main-tab switch. Leaving Break-Wave is not a stop command. After app recovery, restored deck tracks are loaded stopped, not automatically played.
Recheck output routes, cue blend, faders, EQ kills, FX toggles, and master controls if audio is missing or unexpectedly altered.
The plan summary and New mix control are local panel state and can disappear after leaving and reopening the tab. Reinspect the actual playlist and available Undo reorder, rather than assuming a visible summary proves the whole state.
For a real-show acceptance check, listen through the intended main and cue devices, make one safe manual transition, run a disposable Automix queue, and confirm that a deliberate stop really silences the intended path. This guide does not claim those checks were run.