(Another N00b Question) Turntable 101's

Ok, Im going to try and word this as best as possible. Im in the market now for a Direct-Drive Turntable. that much I do know I want for the reason's of sampling and mainly scratching to drop over beats.

My question to you all is this....

What is the url to a website with accurate and extensive information on the basics of turntables, needles, mixers?

I have read wikipedia but I need more indepth knowledge on the subject so when I goto purchase my table, Mixer and needles I can make as less trips as possible to the music store.

thanks in advance
- Ya local internet neighborhood n00b

(Im hoping this question makes more sense then my previous one's if not I Quit, lmao)

For the most part any direct drive TT will work for you. Technics are always first choice but stanton, gemini etc will suite you just fine. The NEEDLE is where your importance is. I personally use a Shure M477 for my sampling. Been using them for a while. I personally dont scratch so for me its fine. If you plan on doing cuts tho, you may want to look into ortofon.

poundaproblem wrote:For the most part any direct drive TT will work for you. Technics are always first choice but stanton, gemini etc will suite you just fine. The NEEDLE is where your importance is. I personally use a Shure M477 for my sampling. Been using them for a while. I personally dont scratch so for me its fine. If you plan on doing cuts tho, you may want to look into ortofon.

Kool Beans, THANKS ALOT MAN! really appreciate it.

i bought a numark tt100 on ebay for $60.. its direct drive but since the purchase, i have read some less than stellar reviews about it.. ive read you really cant scratch with it, im hoping its ok for sampling purposes.. im still kinda lost about what i need to buy when buying new needles.. headshells, cartridges, & styli..

josephnicks wrote:i bought a numark tt100 on ebay for $60.. its direct drive but since the purchase, i have read some less than stellar reviews about it.. ive read you really cant scratch with it, im hoping its ok for sampling purposes.. im still kinda lost about what i need to buy when buying new needles.. headshells, cartridges, & styli..

If its a direct-drive then why isnt it working for scratching?

i haven't received it yet, but from what ive read its that its somewhat low torque and slow pick up after scratching..

Ahhh Got you, Damn I thought all Direct-Drive Turntables "was created equal" lol but all joking aside I thought all Direct-Drive's had the proper amount of torque?

Lol see this is why Im asking so many question

some more opinions in this recent thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=128546

as for torque: http://www.kabusa.com/1200agon.htm
I don't know how true it is, but I wouldn't trade my 1200s for anything else

Technics 1200's

Direct drive don't mean a thing...most of them budget DD's have the same amount of torque a belt drive has also the rumble, wow/flutter specs will suck.
A 1200 is direct drive but the motor isn't actually making contact with the platter..the platter is part of the motor. The motor on the TT-100 is loud as hell and to make things worse it's making total contact with the platter...you can even hear that shit when you press the stop/start button lol The transformer used is buzzy too. They have a "quartz lock" button but they are not actually quartz locked at all, the pitch also seems to be affected by your mains voltage also there is no arm height adjustment like it was advertised but the arm's if not messed with aren't that bad.

For what it is...a budget deck it wasn't bad though and does the job..just don't use Stanton's on them, Ortofon's work well with them arms and stick well to wax Stanton's didn't work well at all.
I had a set back in 2001 to about 2003


The classic and my fave cart "sky scraper" Stanton 680EL's wobbled like hell on those Numark's

poundaproblem wrote:I personally use a Shure M477 for my sampling. Been using them for a while. I personally dont scratch so for me its fine. If you plan on doing cuts tho, you may want to look into ortofon.

Aren't the M447s more aimed towards scratching? I've been using M44Gs for a while now and they stick to the vinyl like glue even with really low weight.

Yes there are a bunch of DJ's that cut on it. But most of the DJ's I know rock ortofons. I just meant that it was a good needle for me.

I am not going to say that a turntable isn't the most important thing but I have had great sounding music from belt driven and cheap direct drives. Right now I use a Stanton T.60 which has less torque than most belt drives.

My advice is get what you can afford and buy the best cartridge and phono preamp you can afford. Then run it through the best converters if you are computer based, or a good sampler.

This is only for sampling and listening. If you plan to DJ, scratch, etc, don't take my advice.

Direct drive ≠ good

the TT100 arrived in today, went to GC and copped the BBE pre amp and started choppin up some records i had here.. it sounded fairly good, although i cant honestly say ive sampled any other records before to compare it to. i noticed maybe some more clicks and pops than usual.. im guessing i need to invest in a better needle.. the needle it came with is audio technica.. when it comes to this side of music im completely clueless as far as needles/cartridges/styli/whatever..

this TT is gonna have to hold me down until i find room in my budget for a 1200