Maybe the reason the sound is moving further foward when doing a baby scratch is because the needle is jumping a bit on the way back, and because you are in relative mode it is not rewinding to the beggining of the sample every rub.

The fuzzy circles when calibrating i would imagine are your records getting warn out. (get some spare ones for scratching)

Eder,

I also advise checking your needles. It sounds like your needles may be a bit worn out.

it does the exact same thing to me in relative....especially on backspins and fast cuts..... if you backspin three rotations really fast, if your record is marked, the position of your point is going to change a little bit..... I think ftin's reasoning makes sense..... if the needle jumps off the record for a part of a second during a scratch or a backspin, in relative mode, it will change your positioning..... its not a big problem, but it means you have to look at the screen a little more than I like to

That also happens when you backspin, if the needle jumps a little bit/or skips while you spin back, then SSL needs some time to catch up with the controlsignal, and therefore the position of your points moves. This only applies in relative mode.

same problem here.

are you sure is a needle skipping issue?

mmm i have to make some experiments...

BC, I know definitly it happens when the needle skips, though I havent realized that it also happens if the needle does not skip. Usually I use onle the absolute mode, but I would like to use the relative mode when I want to have a "skip-proof" vinyl emulation (sample starts exact at the same angle on the whole record) but unfortunatly sometimes (when the needle skips) the angle/start positionc changes. I dont find this very helpful, this needs a fix.

thats the point... im not really sure about this, ill make some experiments and let you know.

I dont think its a needle skip necessarily as much as a really small lift off the record.... when backspinning for example or fast scratching, its not hard to picture the needle leaving the record for a fraction of a second.... those fractions could add up.... from what ive noticed its not a drastic change in the position on the record, its slight which would explain this

djpetey got it exactly right. And it is not just when the needle gets air, it is caused by the point where the record changes direction... (get ready for another in-depth explanation)

When the speed of your record goes from fast forward to fast backward (or vice versa) the speed must at some point travel through zero - also known as stopped. As the speed of the record approaches zero, the pitch of the signal drops toward zero as well as the signal level. To see what I mean scratch while in setup screen and you will see the circles shrink to nothing at each change of direction.

Around the zero-pitch (meaningless) and zero-loudness, the signal is virtually impossible to interpret, because it is below the noise floor of the digital codecs, and the user-definable threshold level of scratch live. This means that at every change in direction, relative mode looses track for a moment and then regains it. These add up.

Also, when you backspin very fast, the control signal may clip (circles turn into squares) which would also introduce inaccuracies. None of this happens in absolute mode, because scratch live resynchronises whenever it understands the noisemap.

Just wait until we introduce skip-free absolute mode, then you'll freak out - it will have the best of both worlds. Needle-dropping without skipping. And before the purists cry "but that's cheating..." let me counter by saying that it is no more cheating than skip-free battle breaks. Skipping is an unfortunate accident that can ruin the otherwise excellent performance of a highly skilled turntablist. But I know not everyone will see it that way, so yes, you will be able to turn it off.

That sounds interesting :)

I wanna hear more about this alleged battle mode..... can we get some hints? is skip free absolute mode part of that scheme? teasing people is bad

wow!!!

People who create battle routines often use little stickers to help align the needle with a particular sample very quickly. Battle mode will allow you to do the same thing in a scratch live way...

I f*cking concur...

that sounds VERY interesting - i love relative mode and find the scratching to be acceptable but i too get some drift. roll on SFAM.