Torq 1.5 User Guide Chapter 1 89Torq 1.5 User Guide Chapter 15 89External Control Tab
This preference tab holds the options per taining to external vinyl and CD contr ol, as well as the option for enabling AM Putate mode.
External Control
When set to Yes, this option enables exter nal vinyl or CD control for the Decks. The Deck Pl ay/Pause buttons will also
change to Absolute/Relative butt ons when this option is enabled (see Exte rnal Control section earlier in this manu al).
✓ Note: The state of External Cont rol is also shown in the Toolbar. Clicking the Ex ternal Control icon will
turn External Control on and of f allowing you to toggle the state wit hout having to open the Preferences.
AMPutate Mode
This option enables AMPutate m ode, which allows one external control source to co ntrol either of the Decks. In
this mode, you can press the Vinyl butto n on the Deck you wish to control with record or CD. All other D ecks will
automatically switch to Hybrid or C DJ mode.
✓ Note: The state of AMPutate Mode is a lso shown in the Toolbar. Clicking the AMPutate icon will turn
AMPutate Mode on and off allowing you t o toggle the state without having to ope n the Preferences.
Lead In
Any practiced DJ knows that playing and scr atching records will eventually destroy them. I f the needle is exceptionally
heavy or if you scratch in the same place a lot , the grooves in the record can be eaten away thus ta rnishing the sound
quality. This frequently happens at t he beginning of records and is something DJs call “cue burn”.
With traditional records, cue burn w as something to pay attention to becaus e it didn’t sound very good. When using
control records like the Torq Vinyls, cue burn becomes a serious issue . This is due to the fact that you use the same t wo
records to play every song in your set all the time and bec ause Torq might not be able to track the motion in a section
of the vinyl with cue burn. If you’re using Absolute mode , every song will begin at the same place on the reco rd (at the
beginning). Constantly cueing and scr atching in this area will eat away at the grooves on the Torq Vinyl.
When using traditional records, sp otting cue burn is easy: you hear it. I t sounds like the record is really dirty (as if it had
been scrubbed with sandpaper). However, when using th e Torq Vinyl, you won’t hear cue burn because Torq will still
be playing pristine digital audio files . Instead of hearing the audio get scratc hy when your control records start getting
burned, you’ll find that Torq’s ability to follow the control records is compromi sed. This usually manifests itsel f right
at the beginning of each song—t he music will jump around erratically. This is because Torq is unable to d etermine the
proper location because the signal from t he control records has been damaged.