Loops for cueing = cheating ?

Hey guys. I've been trying to teach myself how to mix for a few weeks now and I've always struggled a bit with bringing the new track in at the right time. I find that setting cue/memory points and using them the right way is difficult for me (I have a controller and no countdown for cue points that are coming up). I really want to learn how to mix properly, which means learning how to beatmatch by ear and relying on software as little as possible.

Now I've found out that by setting an 8 bar loop at the beginning of a phrase in my new track I can comfortably do finetuning before I bring it in (phasing), and I would just open the linefader and exit the loop once I feel like the new track has to be brought into the mix. Now: On my device (don't know how that is on others), the length of a loop is only roughly controlled by the user (how many bars), the line up with the beats (beatgrid?) and exact length is managed by the software.

Is it considered "cheating" if I rely on loops and their perfect "software length" when I'm cueing? As I already said I would like to learn the pure basics of mixing rather than relying on technological crutches... What do you think and how do you cue those tracks? Thanks for your help!

(I don't want to switch to vinyl or something, even if it's considered the purest form of DJing and maybe makes you learn the best way...)