Cartridge recommendations for DVS.

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Cartridge recommendations for DVS.

So I’ve been using Shure M44-7’s mounted on Technics headshells for many years after trying many others and not liking Ortofon Qberts but, my main turntable based DJ work these days are weddings which don’t require much scratching and I’m mostly using timecode - in fact maybe 2 gigs a year with actual vinyl.

I’m going through way too many stylus and the are not cheap - they snap or bend too easily and are very easily damaged and get worn too quickly. I never had this issue with Ortofons but I don’t know what models to look at these days other than Qberts which I won’t go back to.

I need to get something way more sturdy and longer lasting than M447s just for timecode use but that will track well. Wear and tear on the timecode is my least concern (although I do have 2 old pairs of Stanton 500al but honestly, I can hear my timecode crying when I use them).

What are you timecode users using these days? Anything I’ve missed whilst I’ve had my head buried in my Shure only ignorance? What’s gonna stand the rigours of the road but not be like dragging a nail over my timecode?

TIA.

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Ortofon OM Pro S. It comes both as a banana or headshell mount.

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If you’re having m-447s wear out too quickly, my suspicion is that you need to revisit your tonearm setup.

I could very much be wrong, but mine lasted fine.

Sent from my BBD100-2 using Tapatalk

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I’ve only ever used stanton 50’s and Shure M44-7’s w/DVS, and still have my original DVS vinyl.

Suspect you do need to the check your set-up

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Yeah I have one of those on my dining room turntable - only had it a few weeks so it’s under review.

Cheers guys. My TTs are well maintained and the tone arms regularly checked, but I’ll check again.

The M477s don’t wear out so quickly as much as they get damaged. They are too easily bent - it’s the design of them.
I’ve even bent them using the cleaning brush and yes I’m careful.

I play in a lot of barns, tipis, marquees and the dust and grit gets everywhere. Any wedding DJ that plays in barns will say the same. I throw timecode away because the grit is ridiculous. I’ve had to change timecode and carts mid-gig due to the crap that falls from the beams in a typical stone barn. You would be shocked.

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The stylii should not be bending that easily at all. I have put m44’s through hell and plenty of scratch DJ’s have as well. Have you tried using a stylus force scale to ensure your tonearm settings are correct? Are you using oem stylii replacements? The amazon/ebay knockoffs are complete junk.