RANE SL3 FOR SERATO SCRATCH LIVE • OPERATOR’S MANUAL 2.5.
Important Safety Instructions FCC Statement FCC Declaration of Conformity For the continued safety of yourself and others we recommend that you read the following safety and installation instructions. Keep this document in a safe location for future reference. Please heed all warnings and follow all instructions. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Introduction Copyright Notices Refer to the separate Quick Start guide that was included in the box. If you lose yours, a new copy (along with this manual and all other documentation) may be downloaded at dj.rane.com. To keep up with the latest tips, and to check for Scratch Live software updates, visit the Official Scratch Live Forum at serato.com © 2013 Rane Corporation. All rights reserved. Scratch Live and the Scratch Live logo are trademarks of Serato. Trademarked in the U.S. and other countries.
Contents Important Safety Instructions FCC Statement FCC Declaration of Conformity Introduction Wear Parts Copyright Notices Minimum System Requirements Check List 4 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 Getting Started System Overview Connecting the SL3 Turntable Setup CD Player Setup Kensington Security Slot Playing Regular Vinyl and CDs Power Supply USB Drivers ASIO (Windows) Core Audio (Macintosh) Control Panel Installing Scratch Live Core Audio and ASIO drivers Mac Windows Additional Windows Drivers Starting the Softwar
SP-6 Sample Player Loading the SP-6 Playing Samples SP-6 Instant Doubles SP-6 Play Modes SP-6 Pitch Controls SP-6 ‘Play From’ Selector SP-6 Track Overviews SP-6 Slot Volumes SP-6 Output Selector Individual Output Selectors SP-6 Sample Banks SP-6 Mute Buttons SP-6 MIDI 20 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 DJ-FX Plugin Ultra Knob Mode Super Knob Mode Effects BPM Multiplier Deck Assign Show Parameters Macro Edit Mode 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 MIDI Control MIDI Controller Setup Assigning Controls MIDI Outpu
Connect your CD players or turntables to the DECK INPUTS on the Rane SL3. If you use turntables, connect their ground wires to the ground terminal on either the SL3 or your mixer Getting Started *Optional Step: Connect an additional output (such as AUX OUT) from your mixer to the AUX INPUTS on the SL3 to record your set in Scratch Live. See “Recording” on page 29. 2.
Playing Regular Vinyl and CDs USB Drivers NOTE: the SL3 must be powered by USB or the supplied external power supply for the DECK THRUs to work. If external power is connected, the SL3 is self-powered and power is not used from the USB port. If external power is not connected, the SL3 draws power from the USB port. Power switching is automatic and the device continues to operate uninterrupted as long as a power sources is available.
Installing Scratch Live Windows Check for the latest download version of Scratch Live software at serato.com. If it is newer than what is on your CD-ROM, we recommend installing it instead. It is important that Windows users install the SL3 drivers as well as the Scratch Live software. The easiest way to do this is to allow the Scratch Live installer to do all the work. Mac 1. Insert the Software Installation CDROM and double-click the Scratch Live Installer.mpkg icon.
How to Calibrate Scratch Live Calibrating Scratch Live Since Scratch Live is controlled by an analog 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.
Importing and Playing Music 2. Once you have located your music, drag the folder or files you want to import onto the purple “ All...” icon. This is located to the left of your screen at the top of the crates and playlist window. If you wish to import all of your music, just drag your whole music folder onto this icon. TIP: You can also import by dragging files and folders directly from Windows Explorer (PC version) or Finder (Mac version) into the Scratch Live library.
Set Auto BPM Whitelabel. net The Serato Whitelabel Delivery Network is a unique system that allows record labels to digitally deliver promotional releases directly to DJs. To download Whitelabel audio files and sign up to receive updates on the latest promotional releases, visit whitelabel.net. Whitelabel Audio Files Whitelabel.net audio files are a unique format (file extension wl.mp3) developed by Serato.
The Control CD The control CD has two tracks. The first track is 15 minutes long and controls playback. The second track is 40 seconds long and controls vinyl scroll. Playback Control Main Screen Overview Vinyl Scroll The Control Record The control record has two sides. The first side is 10 minutes long and contains the Vinyl Scroll section. The second side is 15 minutes long. Scratch Live can be configured to work with records playing at either 33 RPM or 45 RPM, depending on your preference.
Visual Aids Main Waveform Display When the track is playing several waveforms are displayed. Each shows a different aspect of the track being played. This view provides a closeup of the track, including color coding to show the frequency of the sound; red representing low frequency bass, green representing mid-frequencies and blue representing high-frequency treble sounds. You can also switch to a three-band spectrum view by holding the ctrl key and clicking on the waveform.
Tap Tempo Censor Track Gain For tracks with no BPM information, there is a tap tempo button displayed where the BPM usually is, in the song info area. Pressing altspace bar activates the tempo tapper (press alt-space bar a second time to activate the tempo tapper on the Right Virtual Deck). Tap the space bar along with the beat. After you’ve tapped the first beat, you can switch to double time tapping, half time, start of each bar etc.
Display Modes Library Views Scratch Live gives you the option of four different display modes to suit your style of performance. The Display Mode buttons are located in the top left of the Main Screen. The available display modes are: You can choose between four different library views which allow for visual browsing using text and album art. Select your Library View by using the buttons in the bottom left area of the main screen.
Absolute Mode Relative Mode ABS mode is the default mode, and most closely resembles the properties of normal vinyl. The beginning of the track is mapped to the start of the record, and by picking up the tone arm and moving the needle to another part of the record (needle dropping) you can move to a different position within the track. ABS mode faithfully reproduces the movement of vinyl control records, including stops, starts, scratching, needle dropping, rubbing and other turntablist techniques.
Internal Mode INT mode allows playing tracks without external vinyl (or CD) control. INT mode has a start / stop function and a virtual pitch slider. Holding down the shift key moves the pitch slider slowly. Holding the ctrl key and clicking on the pitch slider resets the pitch to zero. Scratch Live automatically switches to INT mode when the end of the control record is reached; you can switch back to REL mode by placing the needle in the first five minutes of the control record.
Cue Points TIP: Zoom in on the waveform using the – and + keys and ‘scrub’ to the desired position for greater accuracy when setting cue points. Looping Enable Hot Cues To turn on hot cues, check Enable Hot Cues in the Playback tab on the Setup screen. When Hot Cues are enabled, you can set cue points simply by pressing the number keys 1 through 0 (no ctrl modifier required). Note that you can only add cues this way if the cue point slots are empty. See “Enable Hot Cues” on page 32.
will be green. Press the x button to clear the loop. If you click on the locked loop symbol, a red border will appear. This indicates the loop is locked, and you will not be able to adjust the end points or delete the loop until you unlock it, by clicking on the number again. NOTE: Looping applies to REL and INT modes. Auto-Looping Auto-looping allows you to create loops instantly. If the track has a BPM value simply click the number of beats you wish to loop and Scratch Live will create the loop for you.
SP-6 Sample Player The SP-6 Sample Player allows you to play up to six sources of audio, in addition to the tracks playing on the Virtual Decks. Any audio file in your Scratch Live library can be loaded to any one of the six slots, allowing playback of short samples, sound effects, or full length tracks. The SP-6 is enabled when the SL 3 is plugged in, but not operational in the offline player mode. Click on the SP-6 button to access the sample player window.
SP-6 Pitch Controls There are individual Pitch Slider, Bend, Nudge, and Keylock controls for each sample slot. The BPM is also displayed next to the pitch slider. If no BPM is present in the tracks ID3 tag, the pitch of the track is displayed as a percentage. Click and drag the pitch slider to make regular pitch adjustments. Hold the shift key and move the pitch slider to make fine pitch adjustments. Click on the + and – buttons to nudge the track into time.
Super Knob Mode DJ-FX Plugin The DJ-FX Plugin gives you control of two FX units, each with three chained effects slots per unit. Each FX unit has two control modes: Ultra Knob Mode and Super Knob Mode, both of which can be fully customized. The DJ-FX plugin opens in Ultra Knob Mode by default. To enable the DJ-FX Plugin, go to the Plugins tab in the Setup screen, choose DJ-FX and check Enable DJ-FX Plugin. Once enabled, the DJ-FX panel button appears in the panels area on the main screen.
Now when you adjust the Ultra or Super Knob you will see the parameter knob move within the range that you just specified. Any parameters not customized but linked to the Super or Ultra Knob will behave as normal. You can save any macro mappings you have made to an effect by clicking the Save button by the Super Knob, and save effects combinations made in Ultra Knob Mode by clicking the Save button by the Ultra Knob.
Assign MIDI to Other Controls Native Controller Support Controls which are not normally visible are available for assignment when in MIDI assign mode by clicking on the Show MIDI Panel button. This will open up a panel allowing MIDI assignment for controls including library navigation as well as additional Deck functions such as fine pitch control and extended cue and looping features.
TIP: Check the ‘Protect library’ option in the Library tab of the Setup screen to prevent changes to your crates. If you do delete a crate by accident, you can get it back from the recycle bin / trash. Crate files have the extension .crate. You can then choose the following inclusion /exclusion criteria: • Contains • Is • Does not contain • Is not Subcrates Check the Match all of the following Rules option so that tracks must match all the set rules to be added to the crate.
Prepare Window The Prepare window is a holding area for tracks, much like preparing a set by lifting records part way out of your record bag. You can drag tracks (or whole crates) from the main track list into the Prepare window, or simply drag them onto the Prepare button. These tracks will be removed from the Prepare window once they have been played. All tracks in the Prepare window will be discarded when you exit Scratch Live. TIP: Use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-p to add tracks to the Prepare window.
Uploading Serato Playlists Editing ID3 tags Adding Album Art Once you have finished your session, or to upload a previous history session, select the desired session in the History panel. Click the Format dropdown box, select Serato Playlists and click the Export button. You will receive the following warning: Much of the information associated with each file can be edited from within Scratch Live. Double click on the attribute within the main library to edit the attribute.
File Management TIP: Drag and drop files, folders, or drives onto the Relocate Lost Files button from the Files pane. This is useful if you know the location of your files, as it only scans the drag and drop location, with faster relocation. Deleting Crates and Tracks To delete tracks from your library, select the track and use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-delete. Make sure you have the Protect library option unchecked in the Library tab of the Setup screen.
Recording Recordings can be loaded onto the Decks, renamed, and managed like other files. Recordings are saved as 24-bit, 48 kHz stereo AIFF files by default. Recordings are saved in “My Documents\My Music\_Serato_\ Recording” in Windows XP, “Libraries\ Music\_Serato_\Recording” in Windows 7, and “~/Music/_Serato_/Recording Temp” on a Mac. Record Gain Knob Sampling From Vinyl You can use the SL3 interface to sample from vinyl or any other sound source.
Using LiveFeed LiveFeed First locate the LiveFeed files in your library. Type “livefeed” into the search box and you will see: LiveFeed - Rane SL3 Aux In LiveFeed - Rane SL3 Aux In (Gated) -x dB. LiveFeed allows you to stream the Aux input from the SL3 to a Virtual Deck. For instance, you can connect any available mixer output to the SL 3 Aux In to record a section of your set.
KEY Keyboard Shortcuts ctrl - L ctrl - R ctrl - F ctrl - A ctrl - C ctrl - E ctrl - V ctrl - X ctrl - Z shift - ctrl - shift - ctrl - These actions can be accessed directly from the computer keyboard. NOTE: Playback, cue and speed controls use Shift or Caps Lock. You can turn this off in the Setup screen. See “Playback Keys Use Shift” on page 32.
Hardware Playback USB Buffer Size (Latency) Track End Warning Scratch Live processes audio in small chunks. When smaller chunks are used, the movement of the record is translated into audio more often, which results in a lower overall system latency. However, this requires more processing and therefore a higher CPU load, so lower buffer size settings require a more powerful computer to produce uninterrupted audio. If you want tighter control, try decreasing this setting.
Use Auto Gain Play From Start Auto gain enables you to set a uniform volume level for the tracks in your library. When a track is in auto gain mode, the track gain knob appears recessed. Check this box to enable auto gain. Provided you have analyzed your files, your tracks will now be loaded with the auto gain applied. Next to this box is a drop down menu, in which you set the target gain volume level. To find the optimum setting, load a track with an average volume level onto one of the Virtual Decks.
Drop To Cue Points (REL Mode) Library Uncheck this option to remove files and crates from your library. Check this option to lock your library and prevent accidental file or crate deletion while using Scratch Live. Enabling this option will also lock all file tags and crate names, so that no text can be changed. This option triggers the corresponding cue point when the needle is repositioned into one of the first five one-minute sections on the control vinyl.
Font Size Show Album Art On Deck Serato Video Adjust this slider to increase and decrease the font size for the main library and crates area. Check this option to show the album art for your song next to the track information display on each Virtual Deck. TIP: You can also use the keyboard shortcuts ctrl + and ctrl – to increase and decrease the font size. Plugins This optional software plugin for Scratch Live adds the ability to play and mix video files.
Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions The audio playback is dropping out / clicking / popping Scratch Live is not getting a clear signal from the record, or your computer is not able to process quickly enough. Go to the Setup screen and check the scope views. When the record is playing, the circles should be round, and the value in the bottom right corner should be close to 100%. If this is not the case, you need to calibrate. See “Calibrating Scratch Live” on page 9.
Corrupt File Descriptions and Diagnoses Corrupt file: This MP3 contains invalid frames. This MP3 contains frames which do not conform strictly to the official MP3 specification. Scratch Live can not be certain that this file will play back 100% accurately. Corrupt file: This file contains corrupt frames that may result in audible glitches. This file contains two or more contiguous corrupt frames. Since corrupt frames are replaced with silence, this could result in what might sound like an audio glitch.
Scope Reading and Fixes Most of the problems that occur with Scratch Live can be attributed to it not getting a good reading of the control signal from your records or CDs. These examples show what the scopes on the setup screen can look like to help solve possible problems. Some problems cause similar looking scopes, e.g., if your scopes look like the Dusty Needle one, the cause could be a damaged needle. GOOD SIGNAL - Clean signal with 100% tracking.
RECORD BURN - This section of the control vinyl has been worn. Swap sides or use the track start offset. LEFT CHANNEL MISSING - The signal from the needle is not reaching the SL3. Check the cable and cartridge wiring. RIGHT CHANNEL MISSING - The signal from the needle is not reaching the SL3. Check the cable and cartridge wiring. BAD RECORD BURN - Your record is badly worn and Scratch Live is unable to track. Swap sides or get new vinyl ASAP.
SL3 Specifications Computer interface USB 2.0 High Speed USB Power Requirement 400 mA, 5.0 Volts USB Audio Channels Six Record and Six Playback External Power Supply 1060 mA, 7.5 Volts Converters 24-bit / 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz sample rate DAC Dynamic Range 104 dB, A-weighted Line Thru Dynamic Range 101 dB, A-weighted Phono Thru Dynamic Range 98 dB, A-weighted Frequency Response 20 Hz to 20 kHz -3, +0 dB THD+N 0.
Declaration of Conformity Application of Council Directive: 2002/96/EC 2004/108/EC Standard(s) to which conformity is declared: EN55103-1:1996 EN55103-2:1996 EN50581:2012 ENVIRONMENT E2 SERIAL NUMBERS 850000-950000 CE MARK WAS FIRST AFFIXED IN: 2008 2011/65/EU Manufacturer: Rane Corporation 10802 47th Avenue West Mukilteo WA 98275-5000 USA This equipment has been tested and found to be in compliance with all applicable standards and regulations applying to the EU’s Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) dir
Factory Authorized Service Your unit may someday need to be serviced by the Rane Factory if you live in the USA. International customers should contact your dealer or distributor for service. You must call the Rane factory before shipping. Please do not return your unit to Rane without prior authorization. Rane Corporation To obtain service or a Return Authorization in the USA, please phone 425-355-6000 or Fax 425-347-7757 Limited Warranties Limited U.S.A.
Warranty Procedure - Valid in U.S.A. Only NOTICE! You must complete and return the warranty card or register your product online to extend the Warranty from 2 years to 3 years! TO VALIDATE YOUR EXTENDED WARRANTY: Use the postcard that came in the box with your unit, or go to www.rane.com and click on New Product Registration. Fill out the warranty completely, being sure to include the model and serial number of the unit since this is how warranties are tracked. If your Rane product was purchased in the U.S.
RANE SL3 FOR SERATO SCRATCH LIVE • OPERATOR’S MANUAL 2.5.
