FAQ: Sports Audio DJ – Hammer of the Gods Software

Here we collect the most asked questions so that all can benefit from the knowledge.

What are the differences between the Free and Pro Version?

Sports Audio DJ recently changed from a Paid app in the App Store to a Freemium model so that basic features are available to try for free and more advanced features are available by purchasing the Pro Version via In-App Purchase. These are the key differences between the two versions:

Free: Limited to 3 Song Groups. Pro: You can have Unlimited Song Groups.

Free: Load up to 10 songs in a Song Group. Pro: You can load an Unlimited number of songs.

Free: Can not set sub-second Start/Stop timings on songs. Pro: You can set sub-second Start/Stop timings on songs.

Free: Does not allow for Group Tap Actions. Pro: Supports the Group Tap Action features including Group Action Menus

Free: Limited to current functionality. Pro: Will receive all future new features.

What are all the tap controls that can be performed on Songs in Sports Audio DJ?

Glad you asked, there are a lot of them when tapping on a Song:

Single, Double and Triple Tap on a sound: These taps are used on a Sound cell to either start or stop the playback of the sound. You can configure a different action for each tap style in the App Settings screen. A list of the start and stop actions and their meaning follows this FAQ item.

Single, Double and Triple Tap on the blue countdown timer: These will perform the same stop actions on the most currently playing sound.

Long Press on a sound: This will bring up the configurable settings for that sound.

Long Press on the blue countdown timer: This will perform an immediate stop of ALL playing sounds. Acts as the emergency stop.

Tap-Long Press on a sound: This will initiate the drag and drop feature to allow you to reorder the sounds within a Group. You can then drag the sound around to it's now location in the Group.

Tap-Tap-Long Press on a sound: This will present you with the Duplicate & Move options for a sound. You can

Duplicate the sound within a group.
Duplicate the sound into a different group.
Move the sound to a different group.

What do all these Tap Actions mean?

Well since you've asked, here is the list of what you can configure for your Single, Double and Triple taps on a sound cell:

Start Action Definitions:
START SOUND: Starts the sound based on its configured settings.

START SOUND NOW: Starts the sound ignoring any Fade-In settings.

START SOUND AT BEGINNING: Starts the playback at the beginning of the sound, ignoring any Start Time settings.

FADE IN SOUND: Starts the sound using the Fade-In settings from the Application Settings.

OVERLAY SOUND: Starts the sound while not stopping any currently playing sounds (overlay).

Playing Action Definitions:
STOP SOUND: Stops the sound based on its configured settings.

STOP SOUND NOW: Immediately stops the sound.

FADE OUT SOUND: Stops the sound using the Fade-Out settings of the sound or from the Application Settings.

START SOUND OVER: Immediately sets the sound to the very beginning of the sound regardless of the Start time settings.

What are the tap actions on the Song Groups?

There three main types of tap actions you can perform on a Song Group:

Open: Opens a Group, like you used to

Pick-A-Song: Allows Sports Audio DJ to randomly play a song in the Song Group without have to open and select one yourself. SADJ keeps track of the songs that have played to prevent any song in the group to play again. Each song in the group will play once before a new random order will be built.

Play as Playlist: Allows you to easily treat the songs in a Song Group as a Playlist. Now you don't have to go into each song and set the Play Next switch to have a Playlist. You can play the Playlist in several ways:

In Order - Once: Plays the songs in the Group in the order they are listed in the Group. It will play the Playlist once and stop.
In Order - Loop: Plays the songs in the Group in the order they are listed in the Group. It will play the Playlist in a continuous loop until you stop it by tapping on the Blue Countdown Timer or by double or triple tapping on the Group button.
Shuffle - Once: Plays the songs in the Group in a random order. It will play the Playlist once and stop.
Shuffle - Loop: Plays the songs in the Group in a random order. It will play the Playlist in a continuous loop until you stop it by tapping on the Blue Countdown Timer or by double or triple tapping on the Group button.

NOTE: If you do not assign one of the three Group Tap Actions to the Open action, you can still move between groups by swiping Left and Right to move from Group to Group.

What are the Song Groups Action Menus?

To access the Group Action Menus, you only need to perform a Long Press on the Song Group and the appropriate action menu will be displayed.

If nothing is playing, the Group Action menu will display the same actions as those that are possible via the Group Tap Actions.

If a Song Group is playing, the Group Action Menu will display the various ways you can stop it.

What is the little blue countdown timer for when I play a sound?

The blue countdown timer serves several purposes in addition to showing you the time remaining on the most recently playing sound:

It responds to the same Tap Actions (single, double, triple) for a playing sound as if you were tapping on the sound's cell. This way you don't need to keep the currently playing sound cell on screen to be able to stop it.
Performing a Long Press on the blue countdown timer will immediately stop ALL playing sounds to serve as an Emergency Stop, in case you find you need to.

What does Apple Music integration allow me to do?

Sports Audio DJ has integrated the ability to support sounds that come from Apple Music subscriptions. These songs can be used either by Streaming them or Downloaded to the device. We recommend downloading the sounds to you your device if you have the space to prevent any network (WiFi or Cellular) issues you may encounter at the sporting venue, but both modes will work.

To add songs to SADJ from Apple Music:

Via iTunes, just add the songs and sounds you want to use to your iTunes Library.
After you have added a sound to your iTunes Library you can decide at that time if you want to download the sound to your device or not. You can change that at anytime.
In SADJ, you can use the Add button and choose the iTunes Library option to find and select the song and sounds you want to use.
Once a sound has been added that came from Apple Music, you will see a little Apple Music logo icon appear in the Sound Cell of that song so that you know that is where the song is sourced from.

Limitations with Apple Music sounds:

While most functionality of SADJ is supported with Apple Music songs and sounds, there are a few limitations due to the handling of the Digital Rights Management in iOS:

Crossfade: Because Apple Music sounds must be played using a single master volume control, crossfading sounds from Apple Music isn't possible. If crossfade is important to you, import songs from iTunes that you own (purchased from iTunes or ripped from CDs, or MP3 files) or imported sound files. Normal Fade In and Fade Out are fully supported.
Overlay: Because of how DRM protections are implemented in iOS you can not have two Apple Music sounds overplayed on top of each other. You can overlay non-Apple Music sounds or one Apple Music sound and one or more non-Apple Music sounds overlay each other.
Streaming songs from Apple Music will require an internet connection, WiFi or Cellular. Downloaded songs do not require any internet access to be played.

What does Spotify Premium integration allow me to do?

Sports Audio DJ has integrated the ability to support songs that come from Spotify Premium subscriptions. These songs can be used either by Streaming them or Downloaded to the device. We recommend downloading the sounds to you your device (via the Spotify App) if you have the space to prevent network (WiFi or Cellular) issues you may encounter at the sporting venue, but both modes will work.

To add songs to SADJ from Spotify:

In the Settings screen, turn on Enable Spotify Support. SADJ will then authenticate via the Spotify app to confirm everything is good.
In SADJ, you can use the Add button and choose the Open Spotify Search option to find and select the songs and sounds you want to use from existing Playlists or search by song or artist name.
Once a sound has been added that came from Spotify, you will see a little Spotify logo icon appear in the Sound Cell of that song so that you know that is where the song is sourced from.

Limitations with Spotify sounds:

While most functionality of SADJ is supported with Apple Music songs and sounds, there are a few limitations due to the handling of the Digital Rights Management in iOS:

Due to the On-Demand nature of SADJ, a Spotify Premium account is required. The free Spotify accounts are not supported.
Crossfade: Because Spotify sounds must be played using a single master volume control, crossfading sounds from Spotify isn't possible. If crossfade is important to you, import songs from iTunes that you own (purchased from iTunes or ripped from CDs, or MP3 files) or imported sound files. Normal Fade In and Fade Out are fully supported.
Overlay: Because of how DRM protections are implemented in Spotify you can not have two Spotify sounds playing on top of each other. You can overlay non-Spotify sounds or one Spotify sound and one or more non-Spotify sounds.
Streaming Spotify songs will require internet access, WiFi or Cellular. For best performance, download the songs you want to use in SADJ to your device via the Spotify app.
To play downloaded music, Spotify requires internet access to initially authenticate a SADJ session but will play downloaded music without an internet connection after it has authenticated the account. Do not put Spotify into Off-Line Mode
The Spotify app will be running in the background so do not shut it down while using SADJ.

I'm upgrading my device, can I Backup and Restore my songs and configurations?

On your original device:

1) Go to the Main Menu and tap on the iCloud Backup & Restore option.
2) Tap on the Backup Now to iCloud Now button to kick off the backup.
3) Wait for the Backup process to complete.

On the new device (using the same Apple ID):

1) Download SADJ from the App Store.
2) Go to Main Menu and tap Restore Pro Version, this will bring the app from Free to Pro.
3) In the Main Menu tap the iCloud Backup & Restore option.
4) Tap the Restore from iCloud Now button to kick off the restore process.
5) When the restore is done shutdown SADJ by swiping up to show running apps, and swipe up on SADJ to shut it down.
6) Start SADJ back up and you’re good to go.

Can I copy my Sports Audio DJ setup to another device?

If both devices are using the same Apple ID, you can use the iCloud Backup & Restore feature in Sports Audio DJ.

On your device with your songs setup on them:

1) Go to the Main Menu and tap on the iCloud Backup & Restore option.
2) Tap on the Backup Now to iCloud Now button to kick off the backup.

On the device you want to copy/move your setup to (using the same Apple ID):

How do I use Audio Dropouts?

To have a section of a song where the audio drops out to allow for the audience to do all the singing (think Sweet Caroline "bah bah bah") you can now do this with the new Audio Dropouts feature.

On a song you want to perform an Audio Dropout on:

1) Preform a long-press on the song to open it's Settings screen.
2) Scroll to the bottom of the Settings screen to see the Manage Audio Dropouts button, tap it.
3) Tap the Add New Dropout to add a new Dropout to configure.
4) Tap the Play icon (circle with a triangle inside) to begin playing the song
5) When the part you want to drop out in is coming up you and Press and Hold the Dropout Tap Timing button to mark the start of a dropout, then release the button to mark the end of the dropout.
6) You can now fine tune the Start and Stop settings of the dropout to make it perfect.

Add as many dropouts to a song you want.
Select an existing Dropout to update it or tap Delete Dropout to remove it.