Absolute or Relative for time-code? What do you use?
So. Pretty simple question.
Do you use Absolute or Relative control while using time-code? Why?
I started mixing mainly using absolute, just because it made sense to me from coming off the limited vinyl I had practiced with at first. When I got my dicers however, I switched to using relative most of the time. But I’m finding myself annoyed at times because I can’t jump into the middle of tracks as easily as I could before (without using the computer directly) and I’m thinking about mainly going back to absolute. But that disables the dicers from being able to loop/jump around with cue points.
How do you guys get around this? Looking to see what other people do, to get a better idea of what might work best for me.
Honestly I like using relative, but it’s kind of a pain in the ass to setup cue points for every single track I’m going to be playing. I understand the point of it (to jump about easier) but, it’s that whole “prep” thing I dislike.
There’s not a lot you can do really. It switches to relative automatically when you engage a loop or cue jump because the location of the needle is now offset from the position of the ‘virtual needle’. And once that has happened there’s no way of getting it back without the music jumping.
I have it set to ‘absolute on lead-in’ so the record starts in absolute so I can skip through it etc, and then relative happens if it happens…
I use “smart relative” in vdj… it’s the best of both worlds, I can needle drop and hotcue at the same time with this setting… I also find with straight absolute I tend to cue burn timecode’s much faster and eventually run out of lead in time to skip past the burnt section.
Same here. Used to be relative all the way, now I use this most of the time just so I can play in a more traditional style with just the browser view.
If I’m at a gig and people are arseing about too close to the decks I’ll pop into relative for sure.
In DJ Decks - you can set up a button to toggle ABS/REL. Play in REL, and switch to ABS for needle dropping. Once you’re finished needle dropping, switch back to REL… (Once you’re back in REL, don’t switch to ABS unless you are sure you wnat to hear the jump).
I use relative, i dont like the possibility of a skip when i’m cuing, especially with my pretty bad needles! I can get away with relative now that my TT’s are set up correctly but i just don’t like risking it!
for vinyl absolute allows you to jump the needle, if you have sticker drift it should also eliminate that so you can beatjuggle like on real vinyl. For cdj’s it allows you to set a cue point and loop using the cdj payers controls.
I use relative all day every day. It helps when I’m a dumbass and accidentally knock the needle. I don’t have to worry about picking up the needle and moving it back to the exact outer rim of the vinyl in a dark environment (I know vinyl purists will have a dig at me for that but I couldn’t care less). Most importantly though, I use relative to avoid cue burn on my timecode. If I’m cueing from the outside rim for just about every song I play, I’m going to burn a non-responsive hole in that sucker right quick. Considering I’m not swapping my timecode every track like I would be with vinyl, that’s pretty important to note. With relative I can cue from anywhere on the record, thus significantly reducing my wear overall. Occasionally this will get me in the situation where my needle’s in the center-most groove and “skipping”, but then I can set Traktor to internal playback for a second with my X1 and place the needle more on the outside, then resume relative mode. Absolute mode is pretty much outdated aside from being able to needle drop; personally I’d far rather use cue points or my waveform stripe to perform that function, so I really don’t see the benefit. I suppose abs “feels” a bit more like vinyl, but timecode doesn’t have the same visual feedback of real vinyl so all you’re doing is handicapping yourself. YMMV.
I’ve been using looping a little bit more lately for working with some transitions and build ups (something the dicers are really great with) and that’s why I’ve been on relative. Haven’t had a chance to play around yet, but just checked out the setting. Going to check out if Needle drop to Absolute Position is what I’ve been looking for.
Not often do I really bump the needles around, and cue burn isn’t a huge concern of mine (control vinyl is cheap enough, and I have spares). But having the proper amount of control is important.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that with SSL, if you try and use a cue point or loop while in absolute, it just doesn’t work. As opposed to Traktor (from what I’ve been reading) where it automatically switches to relative.
I do like the fact that if I’m running in relative and forget to move the needle, once it hits internal mode I can move the needle back, and it will automatically switch back to relative mode. Handy stuff.