The Korg Handytraxx Play finally got me learning to scratch

About 20 years ago, I bought a turntable with the idea that it would be a staple of my music-making setup. I dreamed of learning to scratch and digging through dollar bin vinyl for samples. Instead, it just got hooked up to a stereo. But a few months ago, I got my hands on the Korg Handytraxx Play. While it still sat around collecting dust longer than I’d like to admit, it finally helped me accomplish a goal I’ve had for more than two decades — I started learning to scratch.

The Handytraxx is completely self-contained. It’s a battery-powered turntable in a suitcase with a built-in speaker and fader. It tucks away neatly like a piece of luggage, so it’s easy to stick out of the way and forget about. But that’s what makes it great. When I want to sample something to my SP-404 or practice scratching (I’m still very bad at it), I can take it out, set it up on my desk, and get to work. I wish I had the time to take proper lessons, but I’m having a blast scratching along to practice routines on YouTube.

When I need to make space to get some writing done or test another piece of gear, it closes up and slides neatly between the couch in my office and the wall. I live in NYC, so it’s still tight quarters. My office is also my wife’s office, my recording studio, and our guest bedroom.

The Handytraxx has a lot of unique features, some of which worked out better than others. One, the whole control panel comes out and can be reversed to accommodate left- or right-handed scratchers. The fader can also be reversed depending on your preference. I’m right-handed, but this still allowed me to experiment with a few different layouts until I found out what was most comfortable for me.

More interesting are the built-in looper and effects. The DJ-style filter is the sort of thing that sounds great on paper, but is less useful in practice. You can use it to transition between a loop captured from one record to a new record, but it’s clunky. There’s also a dub-style delay. It sounds really nice, though it would be even better if you could tap in the tempo, rather than just turning a knob and hoping for the best. At least the button to turn it on is in easy reach of the fader, so you can slap some echo on your scratching, but just be warned that it also affects any recorded loops.

While part of the pitch is the portability, there are some mildly annoying things to keep in mind if you plan to drag the Handytraxx Play around to record stores to go crate digging. First, the latches are just awful. Maybe it’s my unit, but they constantly get stuck. (Korg hasn’t gotten back to me on this one.) I’ve had them pop off completely when opening it, and the lid won’t close unless they’re perfectly aligned (which is a pain). There is also a small gap at the bottom between the lid and the base of the unit. It might not seem like a big deal until you pick up the Handytraxx, and the slipmat comes flying out through that slit.

I’m not going crate digging with the Handytraxx. These are minor issues for something that just comes around the house with me and needs to get out of the way when not in use. The fact that it can be powered by six AAs for up to 11 hours is handy for practicing in my office, the kitchen, or the living room. Or, if I have the sudden urge to listen to vinyl in my backyard, for some reason. The built-in speakers are nothing to write home about, so you probably wouldn’t use them to listen to music anyway. There’s a headphone jack and RCA outs, but even still, as a record player, the Handytraxx is merely mediocre — especially for $500.

I was expecting the looper to be the killer feature. It seemed perfect for grabbing a drum break or a quick instrumental passage to practice over. In reality, it’s one of the worst-designed loopers I’ve ever used. There are basically two logical ways to start and stop a looper. Either you press a button, and it starts recording the moment you hit it; then you press it again to stop recording. Or, you press and hold a button, and it stops recording when you let go.

Never, in my entire life, have I come across a looper that you arm by holding down a button, that only starts recording once you let go, and that you need to press again to stop. Once you understand that bizarre quirk, it’s not difficult to capture a smooth loop. But it took me days to figure out why everything was just a little bit off, why every loop kicked in just a fraction of a second later than I expected.

All of these minor issues disappear when I fire up a loop in Ableton and just start scratching. The no-fuss design of its core features make it easy to dive in, and the fader feels great. The needle does have a tendency to jump every so often if you’re too rough with it, but as a novice, it’s not hampering me too much.

I did end up buying a Practice Yo! Cuts 7-inch, which has helped a lot. (And I do recommend using a 7-inch on the Handytraxx. It can play standard 12-inch vinyl, but the smaller platter can lead to some unevenness.) It turns out that finding an appropriate record to scratch is harder than I expected. And even though I have a sizable collection of dollar-bin 45s, I didn’t really want to ruin my vintage copy of the “McDonald’s Menu Song” by scratching it up.

I definitely made a mistake all those years ago when I bought a regular turntable to learn scratching on. It was rooted in place and I still needed to buy a mixer — there were a lot of hurdles to clear. As a novice, I think a portable self-contained unit is the way to go if you’re just getting started.

The Handytraxx Play turned out to be perfect for my needs, but I would not suggest everyone run out and buy one. It’s expensive at $499.99, and it has a lot of quirks. If I were buying something to learn scratching with, I’d opt for something cheaper. The Reloop Spin is $349.99, the Stanton STX is $249, and the Numark PT01 is $169. They all lack some of the more advanced features of the Handytraxx, they’re not as pretty, and I can’t vouch for their build quality. But they seem better suited to someone just looking to test the waters. The Handytraxx will be more appealing to someone looking for a slightly more upscale portablism experience who has already mastered the basics.

Photography by Terrence O’Brien / The Verge