By NaJade · DJ in Bangkok · Published October 20, 2026
This guide is part of how to learn to DJ: the complete guide.
The crowd hears one song. You hear two. Cueing is how you live in both at once.
Before you can beatmatch, before you can blend, you need to hear the next track without the room hearing it. That is all headphone cueing is: a private channel from one deck straight to your ears. Every DJ mixer and controller has it, and almost every beginner sets it up slightly wrong — cue mix at the wrong position, headphones too loud, both ears covered. Fix those three things and mixing gets noticeably easier overnight.
To cue in DJ headphones, press the CUE (or PFL) button on the channel you want to preview, turn the cue mix knob fully to CUE, and set the headphone level so it sits just above the room. Keep one ear on the headphones and one on the speakers, then match the new track to what the crowd is hearing.
What the Cue Section Actually Does
Every mixer — standalone or built into a controller — has a separate headphone bus. It is a second mix that only goes to the headphone socket, never to the master output. The cue section decides what goes into that bus.
| Control | Also called | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Cue button | PFL, headphone cue | Sends that channel to your headphones, before the channel fader |
| Cue mix | Cue/Master, Mixing | Blends between cued channels and the master output in your headphones |
| Headphone level | Phones volume | Overall loudness in your headphones only |
| Split cue | Split, Mono split | Puts the cue in one ear and the master in the other |
| Booth level | Booth out | Volume of the monitor speaker pointing at you |
The key word is pre-fader. PFL stands for pre-fader listen, which means you hear the cued channel even with its fader all the way down. That is the whole trick: the incoming track is silent to the room but loud in your ears. For a tour of the rest of the mixer, see how to use a DJ mixer.
Step by Step: Cueing Your Next Track
- Load the next track on the deck that is not playing, and keep its channel fader down.
- Press that channel’s cue button. It lights up. Make sure the cue on the live channel is off, or you will hear both at once.
- Turn the cue mix fully to CUE. Now your headphones only carry the incoming track — no confusion about which kick is which.
- Set the headphone level. Loud enough to hear clearly over the room, no louder. If you are straining, turn down the booth monitor rather than turning up the phones.
- Wear one ear on, one ear off. Headphone ear hears the new track, open ear hears the room. Your brain compares the two.
- Beatmatch in the headphones. Start the track on the one, adjust tempo until the kicks lock. The full method is in the beginner’s guide to beatmatching.
- Bring it in. Raise the channel fader, then switch your cue to the new channel so you can hear it clearly as it takes over.
Notice that cueing has nothing to do with the channel fader or EQ. You can have the bass fully cut and the fader closed and still hear everything in your headphones. That is why it is worth checking your levels with proper gain staging before the track goes live — the headphones do not tell you how loud it will be in the room.
Cue Mix, Split Cue and the One-Ear Method
There are three common ways to listen, and most working DJs use more than one depending on the room.
| Method | How to set it | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| One ear on, one off | Cue mix on CUE, headphone cup on one ear | Clubs with a good booth monitor — the standard |
| Cue mix blend | Cue mix halfway, both cups on | Bad or no monitor, or practising at home quietly |
| Split cue | Split switch on: cue left, master right | Laptop or controller setups without a monitor |
Split cue is useful when the booth monitor is weak or missing, which happens more often than you would think at events. Digital DJ Tips has a good explainer on when it helps. The downside is that both sounds are in mono and very close to your head, so it is harder to judge how the room feels. Treat it as a backup, not a habit.
Whatever you use, the cue mix should usually sit on CUE when you are beatmatching. Blending master into the headphones is handy for checking a transition, but it makes it much harder to hear which kick drum belongs to which track.
When You Hear Nothing (or the Wrong Thing)
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No sound in headphones | Headphone level at zero, or no cue button pressed | Press cue, raise phones level |
| Hearing only the master | Cue mix turned to MASTER | Turn cue mix fully to CUE |
| Hearing both tracks | Cue pressed on both channels | Cue only the incoming deck |
| Laptop audio only, no cue | Software output set to laptop speakers | Select the controller as the audio device |
| Distorted headphones | Phones level or channel gain too hot | Lower the gain, then the phones level |
The laptop one catches a lot of beginners. If you plug headphones straight into a laptop, you only get the master — there is no separate cue path. A controller or audio interface with its own headphone socket is what makes cueing possible. More on this in the DJ headphones guide and the best DJ headphones for beginners.
Protect Your Ears While You Cue
Headphone volume creeps. You start at a sensible level, the room gets louder, you turn up, and three hours later your ears are ringing. The World Health Organization lists loud music through personal audio and venues among the main avoidable causes of hearing loss. Three habits help: turn the booth monitor down before turning the phones up, take the headphones off between transitions, and wear earplugs in the open ear. More in DJ hearing protection.
A Note From NaJade
When I started, I wore both cups on and cranked the cue mix halfway because that was how it looked in videos. I could never tell which kick was which. A DJ I respect in Bangkok watched me struggle for ten minutes, reached over, turned the cue mix fully to CUE and lifted one cup off my ear. The mix locked in less than a minute. Nothing about my skill had changed — just what I was listening to. These days I cue the incoming track, keep the monitor at a level I can actually trust, and take the headphones off completely once the blend is done. It sounds small. It is the foundation everything else sits on.
Related: how to beatmatch, how to use a DJ mixer, choosing DJ headphones, and protecting your hearing. Background reading: Cue (audio) on Wikipedia.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you cue a song in DJ headphones?
What does the cue mix knob do?
What is split cue on a DJ controller?
Why can’t I hear anything in my DJ headphones?
Should I wear both headphone cups when DJing?
Can I DJ without headphones?
About the Author
NaJade is a Bangkok-based DJ playing progressive house, melodic EDM, pop, and Thai music across clubs, rooftops, and weddings in Thailand. He teaches beatmatching and mixing to beginners both in person in Bangkok and online over Zoom. When he’s not behind the decks, he’s documenting the journey on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.