When scratching with a traditional record where the music “resides” on the vinyl itself, you can be certain that a sound you want to scratch will always be in the same place. In other words, the location of the sound or “hit point” is absolute. So long as the needle never skips to a position before or after the location, or to a different physical groove, the hit will always play whenever the rotation of the record causes the needle to cross that spot.

On the other hand, when using DJ software the location of the hit point can change for various reasons, which can make it challenging to pinpoint the location of the sound, relative to the position of the vinyl. For example, in relative mode picking up the needle will stop playback and the song position while the vinyl continues turning. When the needle is placed back on the vinyl, the song continues playing from the previous location, even though the vinyl has turned some number of degrees.

Setting the Relative Mode preference to Absolute Rotation Angle, or clicking the Absolute Rotation Angle (ARA) button locks the hit point to the position of the needle within a single rotation of the turntable. This means that correct sound will play every time the hit point passes under the needle.