Deck controls
Manual loop
A manual loop is set by pressing an in point and an out point by hand rather than choosing a beat length. It can be any duration, including one the beatgrid does not describe.
In practice
Set manual loops at home and beat loops in the booth. By hand is for what the grid cannot describe.
Use the adjust function after setting the out point rather than trying to nail it first time — nudging the end while it repeats is far more accurate than a single press. On tracks with an unreliable grid, a manual loop is the only kind that will hold, which makes it the tool for disco, live recordings and anything hand played. Save the ones that work: a loop you set once and stored is a loop you never have to set under pressure again.
Any length
What it can capture
Adjust
How to get the out point right
Save it
So you set it once
Where these come from: Standard manual-loop practice on club players — documented behaviour, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the one-press version.
Why it matters
It is the loop for everything the automatic one cannot do: a section in an odd bar count, a record with no reliable grid, a live or hand-played track, or a fragment that starts somewhere other than on a beat. Those are exactly the cases where a beat loop produces something confidently wrong.
It is also slower and less forgiving, which is why it belongs in preparation rather than in a transition. Setting a manual loop cleanly under pressure is possible and rarely necessary — most of the time the right answer is to have set it at home and saved it.
Frequently asked
When should I use a manual loop instead of a beat loop?+
When the grid cannot describe what you want — an odd bar count, a live recording, a fragment that starts off the beat, or any track whose analysis is unreliable.
How do I get the out point exact?+
Set it roughly and then use the adjust function while it repeats. Nudging a looping section is far more accurate than trying to hit the point once.
Can I save a manual loop?+
On most players yes, as a saved loop stored with the track. That is the whole reason to do this work in preparation rather than mid-set.
Related terms
Beat loop
A beat loop repeats a section of fixed musical length, set with a single press: one, two, four or eight beats. The player places the in and out points from the beatgrid, so the loop is musically exact.
Loop out
Looping out holds the end of a track in a loop so it keeps playing while you bring the next one in. It replaces a fixed outro with one you can extend for as long as the transition needs.
Memory cue
A memory cue is a saved marker you navigate to rather than trigger. It appears on the waveform and the player jumps to it when you call it up, without playing until you tell it to.
Hot cue vs memory cue
A hot cue jumps straight to its point when pressed. A memory cue is a saved marker you step through and load into the deck’s cue position. One performs; the other navigates.
Explore: Audio looper · Beat loop · Memory cue · All DJ terms