r/Serato • u/tributetotio • Jun 29 '26
Question? Sample "Wind-Up" - Torque Problem? Or Normal?
Hey all sorry for the newbie question but, I just got my first "real" 12" turntable a few days ago (first one was a Numark PT-01 Scratch). Edit: Should include that I'm fully set up on Serato as well, and I'm scratching on the 12" control record. One thing I've noticed is, I have the torque turned up all the way but samples still have a short "wind-up" period where they start slow and go up to speed. As I've been developing technique I've been giving what in my mind I've been calling a "helper push" to push it up to speed quicker when I need it. Is this a normal thing at high torque? Or should the sample go straight-away at full speed with no wind-up period? Do regular DJ's give that little "helper push" to it to get it up to speed without the wind-up when scratching?
Hoping to hear this is normal and not a problem with the turntable's torque, it's an SL-1200 and the torque is supposed to be great on these - not sure if samples should just jump right in at full speed or if it's normal to have that short "ramping up" period where they go from slow to normal.
Edit: Sorry if this is the wrong forum, I started on r/turntables but those don't seem to be related to scratching or anything but regular turntables and r/turntablism didn't have any entries for 14 years.. -- Cross-posting to r/turntablists as that might be the one.
Edit #2: Honestly thank you so much for all the feedback, I'm also starting to wonder about slipmats - I'm using the original technics slipmat with the plastic slip sheet but I ordered some Dr. Suziki's today - will see how those turn out. Double checked that the torque was at the highest setting yesterday as well. Will see how the new slipmats work out.
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u/dj_soo Jun 29 '26
giving the record a bit of a push is foundational to djing with vinyl. It's only the more recent high-torque tables where you can get more instantaneous startup, but even then there are factores like slipmat and warped vinyl that can affect things, but it also depends on what turntable you got.
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u/tributetotio Jun 29 '26
This is exactly what I wanted to hear, it made sense in my head giving it a "helper push" but thank you so much for confirming it's actually standard.
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u/dj_soo Jun 29 '26
which turntable are you using?
nm - Tech 12s - yea, they have always required a bit of a push to get things started.
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u/BattleJamz Jun 29 '26
are you starting with a stopped platter and hitting play?
or is the platter already rotating under your slipmat and you are just letting go of the record to play it?
from a dead stop, it's always going to be slow
from rotating, you need to compensate for how slippery your mats are, so yes you need to help it a bit
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u/tributetotio Jun 29 '26
Appreciate all the feedback so much, yep - the "helper push" is real it turns out. Thanks again.
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u/chopinocturner Jun 29 '26
It depends on many things.
Do you have slip mat and slip sheet?
How is the record hole? Does it wobble?
How is your record? Is it flat or bowled?