Start-with-Incoming (deep dive)

The Menubar toggle that controls how an Auto Run Mode transition starts is summarized in Transport Controls. This page is the deeper reference: when to reach for each path, what changes during the transition, and how the choice interacts with Tempo Ramp and Blind Mode.

Auto Run Mode has two start triggers:

• Press Play (the default). You arm and the Arm button shows PLAY. The transition starts when you press it. The incoming deck's state is not consulted.
• Start-with-Incoming (the opt-in). Toggle the chain-link icon in the Menubar's transition group. Now the transition starts when Fusor Studio sees the incoming deck begin playing.

Both paths land in the same place: a transition running in Auto Run Mode. They differ in who fires the start gun.

When to use each path

Press Play (default)

Use this when you want to choose the start moment yourself:

• You want to start the transition at a specific musical bar rather than the moment the deck begins playing.
• You want to start the transition before the incoming deck is playing (see Tempo Ramp interaction below for the Traktor consequence).
• You want to start the incoming deck early and beatmatch by ear, then trigger the transition when the mix is ready.
• You're rehearsing a transition and want full control over the start.

This is the default because it works in every setup (with or without telemetry) and it never surprises you with an unscheduled start.

Start-with-Incoming

Turn the opt-in on when you want hands-free start as soon as the incoming deck cues:

• You're driving a routine set where every transition begins exactly when the incoming track does.
• You've already cued the incoming track and just want the transition to fire on first beat.
• You're stacking transitions back to back and don't want to reach for Play between them.

The toggle only takes effect with an app that broadcasts deck-playing telemetry.

The chain-link toggle

Start-with-Incoming has its own icon in the Menubar transition group: a two-link chain sitting between the Mode toggle (stopwatch icon) and the Tempo Ramp toggle (rising-trend icon). The icon reads as "the transition is linked to the incoming deck."

Hovering the toggle shows a tooltip naming the current state. The toggle also has several states in which it can't be clicked at all (mid-run, in Blind Mode, and when the incoming deck is already playing), and there the tooltip explains why. Those conditions are tabulated in Transport Controls.

Clicking the toggle on also auto-arms the player. Clicking it off disarms. The common case ("I want this transition to fire when the incoming deck cues") is a single click.

Clicking the toggle from Manual Run Mode

In Manual Run Mode, clicking the toggle switches to Auto Run Mode and arms the player in one click. The tooltip in that state reads:

Start-with-Incoming: switch to Auto Run Mode and arm.

It's the fast path from "I'm scrubbing manually" to "I'm armed and waiting for the incoming deck."

Session-level, persistent across transitions

Start-with-Incoming is a session-level preference. Once you turn it on, it stays on for every subsequent transition. The player returns to unarmed after each transition, but the opt-in stays active.

Two things clear it: clicking the toggle off, and switching the Mode toggle to Manual. The opt-in is an Auto Run Mode concept, so leaving Auto takes it with you. Worth knowing if you drop into Manual for one transition and expect to find it still on afterwards.

A trip through Blind Mode does not clear it. The toggle is disabled while Blind Mode is on, but Fusor Studio remembers the setting underneath; turn Blind Mode off and the opt-in takes effect again.

Otherwise you can drive a whole set with one click at the start of the night: every transition fires when its incoming deck plays, no further input needed.

The setting does not persist across app restarts. Each new session begins with the opt-in off (press-Play default).

What changes between the two paths

The Arm / Play button

With press-Play (default) and the player loaded but not running, the Arm button shows PLAY. There is no separate "arm then play"; the button arms and starts on the same press. The label and Play icon are yellow.

With Start-with-Incoming on and the player armed, the Arm button shows the solid dot (yellow when armed, low-contrast when not). Pressing it disarms; the transition itself starts when telemetry confirms the incoming deck has begun playing.

The status line

Press-Play, armed: the status line reads "Armed: Press Play to start".

Start-with-Incoming, armed: the status line reads "Armed: starts with incoming deck" while the player waits for the incoming deck to start playing.

Pause and resume

Press-Play runs can pause and resume freely regardless of the incoming deck's state. Press Pause mid-transition to hold; press Play again to resume. The press-Play gate owns the start and the resume; neither requires telemetry.

Start-with-Incoming runs require the incoming deck to be playing to resume from a paused state. If you pause a transition that started this way and then stop the incoming deck, resume waits for the incoming deck to come back.

Tempo Ramp interaction (Traktor only)

Traktor's tempo sync requires the incoming deck to be playing before the ramp can take effect. When both of these hold:

• Press-Play is active (the default), and
• You press Play before the incoming deck is playing,

then Fusor Studio queues the ramp rather than firing it, and warns you when it eventually lands mid-transition.

That warning is the cost of choosing press-Play and using it early: a ramp that runs once the incoming deck is already audible can produce a hearable pitch shift. Fusor Studio fires it anyway, because skipping it would leave the decks out of sync, but it tells you so you can adjust your fader work.

Start-with-Incoming never hits this case. The transition can't start until the incoming deck is playing, so the ramp always fires up front. If you're running Traktor and tempo ramps matter to you, that's a genuine argument for the opt-in.

How the run ends

Neither start path changes how a transition finishes. Both wait at 100% for the outgoing deck to stop, both offer the End button as the way to commit early, and both swap roles on completion. That whole sequence is described once, in Completion and role swap.

Blind Mode and Start-with-Incoming

Blind Mode leaves press-Play as the only path. The opt-in needs to see the incoming deck start playing, and that is exactly what Blind Mode stops Fusor Studio doing, so the toggle is disabled. See Session-level, persistent across transitions for what that does to your setting.

The press-Play default needs no special case: arm shows PLAY, press it, the transition starts, exactly as it does while Online. See Blind Mode for the full picture of what changes when telemetry isn't flowing.

Tips

• The fastest way to arm an Auto Run Mode transition is just press the PLAY button. No toggles needed. That's the default.
• Turn Start-with-Incoming on once at the start of a routine set and every transition stays hands-free until you toggle it off.
• The blinking yellow Tempo Ramp button is your signal that you pressed Play early. Either give the incoming deck time to start (clean ramp) or accept the mid-transition warning (audible ramp, but the decks stay in sync).
• Choosing between press-Play and Start-with-Incoming only changes when the transition starts. The fusor itself, the role assignment, and everything downstream are unchanged.