For a while now I’ve been thinking about maybe buying turntables (well, of course I’ve got the crappy belt-driven ones I bought 10 years ago, but they haven’t been turned on in ages and I’m not gonna bother with them in any case) and trying out DVS (I already have the TSP license as I bought it during the 50%-sale last year to get the Audio8). I really need to learn how to beatmatch and it would be nice to play some stuff which only got released on vinyl. Now a couple days ago I got the paycheck from my sidejob, so I got some spare cash atm and could go for it.
I think my decision towards getting decks is pretty much made (having to decline a gig I had otherwise gotten because the pre-requisite was me playing on timecode pretty much tipped me over). Now the question that remains is of course which decks to get, my budget is still somewhat slim (let’s say 700-800€ is the absolute maximum I recon). I only plan on using the decks at home, that’s something to be kept in mind.
The options I’ve come up with so far are:
Cheapo-option: a good friend of mine bought 2 Numark TT-200 a couple years ago, but never really got into mixing. So he wants to sell one of those (but I’m sure I could somehow convince him to give me both, if I give him another turntable in return for him to be able to listen to his vinyl records). Haven’t explicitely asked him yet, but I guess that would set me back about 300€ (thus leaving money to spend on some other music toys, maybe a second mixer - for some reason an Ecler Nuo 2.0 seems attractive to me)
buying 2 Super-OEM turntables (most likely the Synq X-TRM1 which I’ve found for 300€ at some online shop), costing me all in all probably about 700-750€ (with 2 Ortofon Concordes, could probably cut that one if I kept on using the one M44-7 I have and just bought another system for turntable no. 2)
buying to 2nd hand 12x0s, going for 300+€ on ebay. Could cost about as much as option 2, but potentially a bit more.
So, are there any other good options I haven’t found yet? Would maybe the TT-200s suffice for me learning to play on DVS/vinyl? How much better would the other options be?
They go for around the £3/400 mark in england, I’d assume pretty similar in germany. tbh, I dont know why you’d consider numarks when the 1210’s are so close in price.
You already have an excellent 4 channel mixer for you to plug the extra channels from the audio 8 into. Forget the ecler, get another X1 for decks 3 & 4. Dream setup.
and buy some more timecode, because when you get a taste for DVS on techs youre gonna rinse the shit outta that vinyl
technics 1200’s, 1210’s, or stanton 150’s (regular or straight)
any of those are going to give you the best performance and last you the longest no point in investing that much money into gear that’s not going to last you orwill need upgrading when your turntable skills exceed their function
Well, the Numark are out of the picture. But I’m still not completely sold on 1200s, point being that a brand-new (non-Stanton) super OEM would cost me less than a 2nd hand Technics.
Technics are easier to repair/sell on, and will probably sell on for the same you paid for them
Soon as you open the super oem box, youll lose half the value.
Used working Technics > everything else (on value for £)
Ok, ive read a few reviews on the Synq X-TRM1, it looks like a good table and has a fair bit of positive feedback.
I myself had stanton T.80’s before my techs, these are based on the OEM design too. But the plasic feels cheap, the pitch fader was horrid and the torque was pitiful. This in no way bears reflection on the Synq, just my personal experience. I would not buy a super OEM table again.
What Hoodless says is also true, those second hand techs will sell for the same as you bought them. Im surprised they are so expensive over there tbh. I thought the whole ‘theyve gone out of production’ thing had passed.
When I tried to shift my Stantons it took months and I got nowhere near what I paid for them.
stanton T.80’s are not super OEM. I guarantee you.
I also think buying them (or any turntable) new is foolish, they devalue too quickly. Buy them second hand and you can sell them for the same price you got them for. I’ve seen super OEM turntables go for £80.
Really!!! you diss the stanton 150 and recommend the 80?.. You have no idea what you are talking about. what’s wrong with ti being oem? I know people who swear by them and they are the only stanton turntable worht buying imo. Have you ever used a 150? A lot of people like them BETTER than technics. Build quality is on par with technics and it has STRONGER torque…
Tech’s all day long, they are robust, easy to repair/modify, you can sell them on for what you paid and will last a long time!
Stanton 150’s very close second call, just don’t hold their value as well as Techs but NOT far off.. Better torque though which can be nice but also a bitch to repair/modify/find parts for.
Numark TTX, great deck all round brilliance but just doesn’t hold value, earlier models had overheating issues (easy fix if you know electronics). Hard to find parts as its very digital.
I bought Techs 3 years ago that were 2 years old (so now 5 years old) and i can sell them for 200 quid MORE than i bought them for, that’s why you should buy Techs.
the Synq XTRM1 is also an excellent turntable. Its guts are the same as the stanton 150.
fyi
all these tables have the same guts give or take a few feature specific to each
So, I just took the plunge and bought two 1210s (1x Mk2, 1x M3D) through a classified ad. All in all it cost me 700€, but they look brand new and came with carts, a cheap Behringer mixer and 120 records (like the mixer those are probably all crap, but even if I get only a Euro each on ebay it’s a good deal).
Now finding space to set them up properly is gonna be a bit harder, but I’ll see about that…
