Ben Nicky — Ben Nicky Live @ A State Of Trance, Rotterdam 2024
Hard Trance · 1h 15m · analysed 22 Aug 2026 · source: soundcloud.com
Public mix analysis — no affiliation or endorsement. This report measures a publicly available recording hosted on soundcloud.com. The scores are produced by SOONOS and do not imply any partnership with, or approval by, Ben Nicky.
In short
Ben Nicky Live @ A State Of Trance, Rotterdam 2024 by Ben Nicky scores 85/100 in the SOONOS analysis (festival ready). The strongest dimension is IDENTITY (92/100) and the weakest is TECHNIQUE (81/100).
Ben Nicky's ability to blend euphoric trance hooks with the raw power of hard dance creates a unique and highly effective festival experience.
Key takeaways
What weakened the set
- Long static loops (4×) — Sections sitting on the same loop without layering, EQ moves or tension shifts (32:00, 40:00, 64:00, 68:00). Long loops kill dancefloor momentum.
What to try next
- Experiment with longer, more atmospheric breakdowns to create even greater contrast before the final drops.
- Incorporate more live elements or unique edits to further distinguish the set from standard festival performances.
- Monitor the high-frequency balance during peak moments to ensure clarity without harshness.
Timestamped insights
Each moment below is tagged with how it was produced: “measured” comes from the DSP pass on the audio, “listening” comes from the multi-agent listening pass.
Smooth transition from the atmospheric intro into the main groove.
Effective energy handoff using standard festival mixing techniques.
Intentional reset
Strategic disruption
Strategic disruption
About this hard trance set
Ben Nicky Live @ A State Of Trance, Rotterdam 2024 is a hard trance DJ set by Ben Nicky, running 1h 15m. It was measured by the SOONOS multi-agent engine and scores 85/100 overall — festival ready.
The engine files this performance as “Promising”.
Ben Nicky's ability to blend euphoric trance hooks with the raw power of hard dance creates a unique and highly effective festival experience.
How the score breaks down
SOONOS scores this set across 5 weighted categories. The strongest is IDENTITY at 92/100; the weakest is TECHNIQUE at 81/100.
Analysis coverage for this file is 100% — the share of the set the engine could measure with full confidence.
Energy and structure
The energy curve was sampled at 20 points, moving between 20 and 98 on the SOONOS energy scale — a wide dynamic range across the set.
8 transitions were detected and scored individually.
Beat-grid measurement (DSP) reports 947.4 grid breaks per hour, with a median beat offset of 20 ms.
How this score is built
Measured layer (DSP): the audio file is analysed directly — beat grid, tempo stability, loudness and energy. These values are measurements, not opinions.
Listening layer: a multi-agent pass reads musical intent — programming, storytelling, coherence and crowd effect. This layer interprets, it does not measure.
Fusion and ceilings: the two layers are merged, and the measured layer always wins on execution. When the DSP hears an execution problem, it caps the final score even if the listening layer is positive.
Measured coverage for this file is 100% of the set.
Full SOONOS analysis
Ben Nicky's ability to blend euphoric trance hooks with the raw power of hard dance creates a unique and highly effective festival experience.
The 8 dimensions
Not available — the 8-dimension profile was not measured for this set.
Score breakdown
TECHNIQUE
How well did you execute?
25%81
TECHNIQUE
How well did you execute?
STORYTELLING
Did the mix go somewhere?
25%91
STORYTELLING
Did the mix go somewhere?
ENERGY
Did you control the room?
20%87
ENERGY
Did you control the room?
SURPRISE
Did you remain unpredictable?
15%82
SURPRISE
Did you remain unpredictable?
IDENTITY
Did the mix sound like you?
15%92
IDENTITY
Did the mix sound like you?
Energy arc
Transitions analysed (8)
Cinematic fade into driving kick
Smooth transition from the atmospheric intro into the main groove.
High-pass filter sweep and drop swap
Effective energy handoff using standard festival mixing techniques.
Perfect Drop Swap
intentional_reset
Minor EQ Overlap
Cinematic Handoff
strategic_disruption
Perfect Blend
Minor Level Jump
strategic_disruption
Peak Impact Cut
Technical subscores
85
EQ balance
94
Beat alignment
92
Energy control
96
Tempo stability
84
Loudness control
86
Musical coherence
86
Harmonic compatibility
86
Transition cleanliness
Measured (DSP)
20 ms
Beat-grid drift (median)
Typical gap between the two tracks' beats while they play together. Lower is tighter.
194 ms
Drift p95
Worst-case drift: 95% of the set stays tighter than this value.
4,466
Boundaries detected
Points where the audio changes track or section.
168
Hard cuts / h
Abrupt track changes per hour, with no blend between the two records.
44
Clipping events
Moments where the recording hits the ceiling and distorts.
336
Level jumps
Sudden volume steps between tracks.
Measurement confidence 99% · analysed on the full audio.
Recurring patterns
Long static loops (4×)
Sections sitting on the same loop without layering, EQ moves or tension shifts (32:00, 40:00, 64:00, 68:00). Long loops kill dancefloor momentum.
Timeline
- 0:05Cinematic Intro
- 5:10Mainstage Drop
- 9:45Melodic Peak
- 0:58Risky pressure or vibe dip
Coaching notes
- Experiment with longer, more atmospheric breakdowns to create even greater contrast before the final drops.
- Incorporate more live elements or unique edits to further distinguish the set from standard festival performances.
- Monitor the high-frequency balance during peak moments to ensure clarity without harshness.
Curious how your own set scores?
Methodology and limitations
This report is produced automatically from the published recording. It measures what is present in the audio file: a bad source encoding, a partial upload or a heavily processed broadcast version can change the measured values. Nothing here reflects the room, the crowd or the night itself.
Read the full SOONOS methodology →Questions about this analysis
- What score does Ben Nicky's Ben Nicky Live @ A State Of Trance, Rotterdam 2024 get?
- Ben Nicky Live @ A State Of Trance, Rotterdam 2024 scores 85/100 in the SOONOS Mix Database (festival ready), based on audio measurement plus multi-agent listening.
- How long is Ben Nicky Live @ A State Of Trance, Rotterdam 2024?
- The analysed recording runs 1h 15m.
- Which part of the mix scores best?
- IDENTITY is the strongest category at 92/100, while TECHNIQUE is the lowest at 81/100.
- How is this score calculated?
- SOONOS measures the audio with a DSP pass (beat grid, loudness, tempo, energy) and runs a multi-agent listening pass on top. Measured axes always override the listening layer, so an execution issue heard in the file caps the final score.
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