HOW TO CALiBRATe SCRATCH Live
With music playing in the background, put your
needle on the record with the turntable
stopped
.
If you are using CD players, the same rules
apply. Have the CD deck paused or stopped
while calibrating.
Click and hold the estimate button until the slider
stops moving. Moving the threshold slider to the
left will make Scratch Live more sensitive to slow
record movement, but also more sensitive to
background noise.
Repeat the process for each deck
Things to remember:
• Your needle must be on the record.
• Your turntable (or CD player) must be
stationary.
• The background music playing must be at a
similar level to which you will play your set at.
• You should calibrate Scratch Live every time
you play.
TiP: if the slider jumps to the far right,
then you have a problem with noise in your
turntables/CD players/mixer. Check all your
connections and make sure your equipment
is well earthed. in some situations you will
not be able to improve the signal quality, and
you will have to play on regardless. in this
situation, stick to rel mode.
the ScOpeS
The scopes on the setup screen in Scratch Live
display the input signal as a phase diagram. The
key factors to look at on the scope display are
crisp clean lines, round shape, and the tracking
percentage in the lower right corner.
Start both turntables or CD players. You will
see green rings appear in the scope view,
as
shown above.
CALiBRATinG
ScRatch LIve
Since Scratch Live is controlled by an analogue
signal, there is no guarantee of what state that
signal will be in by the time the software gets to
interpret it. Therefore, Scratch Live needs to be
able to handle a wide range of signals, and be
configurable to use them optimally. Calibrating
is just configuring the software to your situation.
Calibration is equally important for both vinyl
and CD users of Scratch Live.
There are two parts to the Scratch Live control
signal: The directional tone, and the noise map.
Listening to the control vinyl, the directional tone
is the 1 kHz tone. The noise map sounds like
random noise over the top of the tone.
The directional tone provides the current
speed and direction of the record, while the
noise map tells the software precisely where on
the record the needle is currently.
the nOISe thReShOLd
A threshold is a lower limit, below which a
process will not occur. In the case of Scratch
Live, the noise threshold is the limit below which
the input signal will not be interpreted as control
signal; in other words if it’s below the threshold,
it is considered noise and ignored.
This setting is necessary because a stylus is
very sensitive, and will inevitably pick up noise
from the environment as well as the signal on the
record, especially in the noisy environment of a
live show.
pLayIng ReguLaR vInyL and cdS
nOTe: the SL 3 must be powered by USB or
the supplied external power supply for the
DeCk THRUs to work.
While Scratch Live is not running, and the
SL 3 is powered by the external supply, the deck
thrus on the SL 3 will always be on, allowing
you to play regular CDs and vinyl with your CD
players or turntables.
When the SL 3 is powered by the universal
power supply, and then Scratch Live is launched,
the deck thrus are still on. This allows a laptop to
be connected during a set (when using the deck
thrus) with no audio interruption.
If the SL 3 is not powered by the universal
power supply when Scratch Live is launched
(USB connected), the deck thrus will be off, but
can be turned on in Scratch Live.
To turn the thrus off and on in Scratch Live,
click on the thru button for the respective
channel in Scratch Live. This will change the
state of the channels to thru mode, sending
audio direct from the SL 3 inputs to your mixer.
See “THRU BUTTOnS” On PAGe 13.
pOWeR SuppLy
Connect the barrel connector of the power
supply to the 7.5 VDC jack on the SL 3. Plug
the power supply into an AC outlet. The yellow
POWER indicator will light on the SL 3.
The universal power supply includes different
input plugs for the USA, Europe, UK and
Australia. The USA plug is attached at the factory
— you may need to replace it in your country.
To remove a plug,
PUSH the button
while turning the outer
rim counterclockwise.
To attach a plug,
rotate it to fit into
the supply and turn
clockwise until it locks
in place.
The power supply is regulated 7.5 volts DC, 1
amp, using a P6 type barrel plug. Any substitute
must meet these specifications.
-(5.5mm)
+(2.5mm)
LOCK
LOCK
PUSH
OPEN
OPEN
RANE SL 3
FOR
SERATO SCRATCH LIVE •
OPERATOR’S MANUAL
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