I have had my eye on the PLX-1000s for a while but too expensive so had no real intention of buying them… I’m currently a proud owner of set of 1210 MK2. However, the option to buy a cheaper than usual set of PLX-1000s has been presented to me, I would need to sell the 1210s to fund the purchase and now I have the choice I am frightening to make the jump.
The biggest selling point to me is the pitch range, I use Traktor exclusively and regularly mix different styles of music together, or mix music you can’t buy digitally so would be a vinyl rip.. basically a wide array of tunes with the pitches all over… If i load a track that is too slow i’m either forced to press sync or select something else and mark it down to increase the pitch manually later so that it can fit into sets. (i’m a turntable dj at heart so sync is usually avoided, i like proper beat matching)
This is where the need ends, I don’t want to buy a lower quality product, I’ve never seen them in the flesh, reviews are good but do they match up to the mighty Technics that basically last forever?
Has anyone doing anything similar and regretting it? loving it? Would love to hear some advice off DJs who have tried both.
And just a few days ago there was a thread on here with links to a video review exposing major feedback problems with the PLX 1000. Don’t know where the thread has gone, but here’s a
Not necessarily. If there’s vocals involved maybe, but if not, there’s no reason not to try (for example some people had quite cool results with playing house/techno records on 33 instead of 45, check this set if you’d like a taste )
When I run into this issue from time to time while playing DVS, I just sync the individual track and go back to normal pitching afterwards.
It’s only an issue when I am playing faster music… sometimes i will play a set up to 180bpm and slower tracks won’t be up to speed at +8 sometimes can be down to a slow produced track or slow vinyl rip. Only thing to do is press sync which is.. meh..
yeah either sync it or put it on 45 -8 but sometimes that can be too fast.
Thanks for the video will check it out later, will check out the set as well.
There’s a reason Technics have been considered the best DJ turntable ever made. Mine are 1996 vintage and have only been serviced once, work like a dream.
The deal has fell through anyway.. It would have been my 1210s + £300 cash for the brand new PLX-1000’s… the guy started ignoring me and then said he has had lots of offers and doesn’t know what to do, I instantly withdrew my offer, I had a 10% discount code for decks.co.uk so spent the money on some new Sennheiser HD25s instead.
I’m a little disappointed because I still have the pitch problem but probably a blessing in disguise, i love my Mk2s i’ve spent a lot of money on them replacing parts upgrading RCA’s etc and they are in great condition, something that will be hard to come by in the future.
Not a technical problem, just the limited pitch range of +/-8 when playing faster sets, i usually play sets between 175-180bpm. However the tempo’s of tracks can range from 140bpm (don’t ask) to 175bpm.. anything around 150bpm can’t be mixed as it’s still too slow at +8 (33rpm) or too fast at -8 (45 rpm)… Only option is to press SYNC which as a vinyl DJ i’d like to avoid or just not play the track.
I can manually adjust pitch in some audio editing software to bring it up to speed but this is tedious and i have hundreds of tunes that would need doing and it also causes problems when I do want to play these slower tracks at their actual speed in a slower set.
Have you tried adjusting the range pot under the platter. When I bought my last set the previous owner had set them up so the range was about ±12%. I have since wound it back so it is at 8%.
Give it a go it might be just enough for your needs (although it sounds you need it a bit extremer?!)
Go for the Plx man. People praise Tecnics(and they should because it’s a great product) as if they are being paid for it. Nothing is wrong with using other turntables. Friends of mine use the Numar ttx series. I see vids of people using the Audio Technicas. Babu has used the Vestax for years. I personally use the St 150s to practice on and make my mixes(and I dno’t have to put a piece of paper in the tonearm to keep it from skipping). I still have a pair of techs that I use for sampling and listening to vinyl because I don’t want to use a laptop every time I just want to listen to record. I have serato hooked up to the Stantons.
People will say, “tecnics will last forever”, well, I have a Gemini XL 500 turntable that still works perfectly that I’ve had the past 15 years or so. A friend of mine in 1998 used to dj at clubs with the PT 1000s. If you take care of your equipment, it will last a long time. This is similar to recording forums in which people make the bogus claims that any vocals recorded with microphones other than a U87 is not worthy. Whatever works for you is good. Don’t feel the need to have technics because everyone else has it. Be an innovator. And for those of you saying talking about 20 years down the line, I personally won’t be carrying around turntables 20 years from now because I’ll be about 60!. For those of you in your 20s, 20 years from now there will be bigger and better turntables than those out now. It’s called innovation.
The thing with DJ turntables is that there has been no real game changing innovation on top of the Technics sl1200 mk2 in the last 30 years. Manufactures of other DJ brands don’t build decks to the same build quality as Technics did. Take an OEM and a 1200 apart and you will see a big difference, the parts for tech’s are way easier to source and there are guides to repair pretty much everything on them. It’s not the same as say, cars where the old vintage models were built like tanks and more easily fixed, but the new models are so much better in every other way that it justify’s buying one. It’s more like Pioneer etc make a lesser quality replica.
That being said, if you can pick an OEM up at a cheap price and are happy to use them at home I would say go for it, but if you’re paying a similar price as a 1200 (provided you can get them) I don’t see the logic.
I can agree with your assessment. One of my biggest problems with 1200s is that it’s time consuming to fix the smallest problems. Changing a Tonearm holder is easy for me now, but if you don’t own small drill bits, you’d have to take the whole tone arm out to do it. Changing the light requires taking the turntable apart. Same as the on/off power knob. Trust me, the st 150 is built like a tank too. It’s just 20 lbs heavier. Techs aren’t hard to fix, but they aren’t quick jobs either.
I’ve owned st 150’s as well and you are right, they’re built like tanks. One thing in the OEM’s favor is that 1200’s can have hidden problems that someone who isn’t familiar with turntables might miss, so you need to make sure you do your home work and check them out in person preferably.
Really, for home use you can’t go wrong with either functionality wise, but I stand by my opinion that if you are paying full retail price for the new Pioneers you get a better deal going for some good condition Tech’s.
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!. For those of you in your 20s, 20 years from now there will be bigger and better turntables than those out now. It’s called innovation.