DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
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DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
1–10 of 49 posts
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#2It's pretty incredible how bad nearly all new turntables are. I have a 20 year old pair of 1200s that are better than just about anything you can buy today.
With that said... two of my favorite djs right now, who are talented vinyl djs, often bring their own gear to events and they use the Pioneer PLX. I wouldn't be surprised if they've modded them somehow though. In my short time with some PLXs it seems the tone arm was not very well built.
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#3It's pretty incredible how bad nearly all new turntables are. I have a 20 year old pair of 1200s that are better than just about anything you can buy today. With that said... two of my favorite djs right now, who are talented vinyl djs, often bring their own gear to events and they use the Pioneer PLX. I wouldn't be surprised if they've modded them somehow though. In my short time with some PLXs it seems the tone arm…
Really? You would say that the 1200s are better than a new top of the line Reloop?
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#4It's pretty incredible how bad nearly all new turntables are. I have a 20 year old pair of 1200s that are better than just about anything you can buy today. With that said... two of my favorite djs right now, who are talented vinyl djs, often bring their own gear to events and they use the Pioneer PLX. I wouldn't be surprised if they've modded them somehow though. In my short time with some PLXs it seems the tone arm…
Really? You would say that the 1200s are better than a new top of the line Reloop?
I can speak on this owning a pair of Technics 1200 mk2 I bought new in 1995 and a pair of Reloop RP8000mk2 I bought two years ago. What might be confusing is many DJ turntables are made by the same company now, and are reffered to as "super oem", so the small things are changed, like logos, but they come from the same factory. My Reloops weight close to the same amount as the Technics but the base allows for more rumble through the feet. If you tap the body, you can clearly hear this compared to the Technics.
The tonearm on the Reloop has bearing that have a small amount of play, on my Technics, they are extremely solid after 100's hours of play time. But the biggest issue is the Reloop has the flutter at 0.5%, while the Technics at 0.05%. Doesn't sound like a huge issue, but when playing a song on Reloop, the beats per minute will fluctuate from 100 to 100.5 to 99.5, non-stop. The Technics has the same flutter but at a much lower tolerance, so you don't see this appear. Performance, they both do well on startup and stop, and of course improved RCA jacks.
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#5I bought a pair of Technics 1210 Mk2s[1] back in 1996 and gigged them 2 or 3 nights a week for about 4 years.
They still run exactly like new and are about the most reliable machines I own.
I have a few tips for anyone getting to turntable DJing:
1. Feedback from speakers is picked up[sic] through both L and R channels but is inverted on one of them, I forget which. Combining the channels as mono cancels it out, a bit like active noise cancelling. If you have a mixer with a mono/stereo switch it's easy to test this out by tapping the deck as it's playing. Stereo depends on fixed listener position relative to speakers anyway so almost never miss it in a venue.
2. If you really want the effect (including very high record wear and poor sound quality) of a straight tonearm you can angle your cartridge outwards on the headshell.
3. You're probably going to turn the bias to zero so that your arm doesn't jump off the record when you back cue. However, if you ever have record that skips at particular spot when playing, either due to a bit of dirt or damage, you can turn bias back on for a moment and the stylus will usually ride past it just fine. When you're playing in front of a crowd that's a handy get out of jail card.
4. For DJing you'll want a spherical stylus as it will track better when moving the record backwards. You can get better sound quality from an elliptical stylus if you're just playing or recording from vinyl though. The absolute best sound quality is from a stylus shaped like a record cutting lathe tip but never ever use that for DJing.
5. Clean your stylus.
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? You would say that the 1200s are better than a new top of the line Reloop?
I can speak on this owning a pair of Technics 1200 mk2 I bought new in 1995 and a pair of Reloop RP8000mk2 I bought two years ago. What might be confusing is many DJ turntables are made by the same company now, and are reffered to as "super oem", so the small things are changed, like logos, but they come from the same factory. My Reloops weight close to the same amount as the Technics but the base allows for more rum…
How would something like the audio technica lp1240 stack up? I’ve heard great things about them but they don’t seem super popular.
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#7This comparison is from 2016. In the meantime Technics started making sl1200mk7 and (way more expensive) sl1200gr / g models.
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#8It's pretty incredible how bad nearly all new turntables are. I have a 20 year old pair of 1200s that are better than just about anything you can buy today. With that said... two of my favorite djs right now, who are talented vinyl djs, often bring their own gear to events and they use the Pioneer PLX. I wouldn't be surprised if they've modded them somehow though. In my short time with some PLXs it seems the tone arm…
Also have a pair of 1210's I've had now for 22 years - they still work as good as the day I first took them out of the box, even though they've been dragged all over the place.
If looked after, they're almost bomb-proof.
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#9I bought a pair of Technics 1210 Mk2s[1] back in 1996 and gigged them 2 or 3 nights a week for about 4 years. They still run exactly like new and are about the most reliable machines I own. I have a few tips for anyone getting to turntable DJing: 1. Feedback from speakers is picked up[sic] through both L and R channels but is inverted on one of them, I forget which. Combining the channels as mono cancels it out, a bi…
Yep. This is the only buyers guide you need. If you're serious about dj turntables, just get the Technics. Nothing else comes close.
Re: DJ Turntables: Buying Guide by Vekked (2016)
#10i mean, i love vinyl and spent a lot of time on the wheels of steel back in the day. But who isnt using a digital controller these days?