Signal & Gear

Split Cue

A headphone mode that puts the cued track in one ear and the live mix in the other.

Split cue divides your headphones so the pre-fade channel plays in one ear (usually mono) and the master output plays in the other, instead of blending both together.

Why it matters

It lets you beatmatch the incoming track against what the crowd hears without a booth monitor, which is invaluable in loud rooms.

Related terms

Pre-Fade Listen (PFL)Cue Mix Knob

More in Signal & Gear

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Frequently asked questions

Split cue sends the cued track exclusively to one ear of your headphones and the live master mix to the other. This lets you monitor both simultaneously without switching between them, which is useful for beatmatching when you need to hear both tracks at the same time in separate ears.

It depends on the DJ. Split cue makes it easier to isolate each track because there is no crossfeed between ears, so you hear the beat patterns cleanly. Blended cue combines both signals so you can hear them interact, which some DJs find more natural. Most professionals try both early on and settle on what works for their ears and style.

No. Split cue only changes what is routed to your headphone output. The master output to the speakers is completely unaffected by whether split cue is on or off.

Hey, it's Ben Modigell 👋

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I DJ and produce as so I so — downtempo, minimal, dub house, tech house, and techno (releases on Spotify and SoundCloud, links above). Everything I write here comes from my own gigs, studio sessions, and library cleanups: the rules I follow, the failure modes I've actually hit, and the workflow I use when nobody's watching. If a technique didn't earn its place in my own sets, it doesn't make it into a tutorial.

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