For discussion about setting up your studio and advice on the gear and equipment within it.
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By n4l Sun Sep 02, 2012 1:24 pm
I'm looking for a turntable for sampling purposes.
I found a nice SL-23A, there's also SL-D1 and D3 and they're in the same price range, which one of them is the best?
Also I think I'm going to need a phono pre-amp and I have no clue what or where to look for.
The turntables are somewhere in between the 50 to 150 euros and I'm looking for an amplifier for the same price.
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By Ill-Green Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:48 pm
Any turntable will do for sampling, just make sure you're able to replace the entire headshell and stylus. Needles for sampling must have a magnetic cartrige, most cheap turntables come with cheap stylus and all. And some don't even let you switch the headshells, so if you're able to do those things with a good priced turntable then you're good.

Best of the best is Technic 12s. But if you want good stuff at a reasonable budget, look for S shaped arms, check if its direct drive or belt drive (you'll want direct drive since you'll be sampling and will be spinning the record back and forth to capture a sample).

A dj mixer would be good or even a small studio mixer for a phono amp, but check the turntable you are buying to see if it has a switch for PHONO and LINE. If it has it then no need for a phono amp. Maybe a preamp or equalizer in between the record player and the MPC would be better. But if it doesn't have that switch, then you'll need a mixer or phono amp and you can add an EQ in there while you're at it.
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By tapedeck Tue Sep 04, 2012 3:32 am
also any old component / hi-fi system with a phono in and a tape / rec out would work as a preamp.

like an old receiver / amp type deal.

you can usually find those cheap used.
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By golfdogz Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:31 am
dont be afraid to go to the vinylengine.com forum if you havnt already.

those guys over on that one are mega turntable nerds and know everything about every turntable ever.

and heres a comparison chart of all the technics turntables..
http://web.archive.org/web/200604211805 ... tables.htm

n4l wrote:Best of the best is Technic 12s. But if you want good stuff at a reasonable budget, look for S shaped arms, check if its direct drive or belt drive (you'll want direct drive since you'll be sampling and will be spinning the record back and forth to capture a sample).


if you're gonna go backwards make sure you stick with a DJ stylus - not as good for sound but wont get ruined by going backwards.. stay with a speherical stylus vs elliptical

actually - of all the turntables you mentioned i would personally go with the D1 cos its the only manual of the bunch.. semi auto and auto is just more that can go wrong with those old TT's.. and there's nothing worse than when they **** up and drag back across your vinyl before lifting up.

also if you can actually go see them - or others - generally the heavier the better...apparently - less vibrations of the unit = better sound. Im about to open up my sl-1500 and layer any empty space on the underside of the platter with flashing tape to add extra dampening and weight to it.. it may or may not make a difference :lol:
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By konc3pt Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:13 pm
as others mentioned, any turntable will do...I know some prefer direct drive over belt driven. Im using basic numark tt200...for amp using older technics home entertainment surround sound amp, before that was using vintage pioneer amp picked up at garage sale for $20
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By Tag One The Fader Fiend Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:53 pm
konc3pt wrote:as others mentioned, any turntable will do...I know some prefer direct drive over belt driven. Im using basic numark tt200...for amp using older technics home entertainment surround sound amp, before that was using vintage pioneer amp picked up at garage sale for $20


I agree with Konc3pt, I'm using a Vestax QFO LE DX at the moment to sample from and I'm enjoying it :nod:
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By Ian Canefire Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:05 pm
I am a fan of the Stanton STR100 high torque with straight tone arm.
I also use stanton cartridges.
Unlike most DJ's I own two different turntables...one has a striaght arm and the other bent....also the cartridges are different in my two arms. One gives me more bass than the other.
The Stanton is phenomenal...stops on a dime, line in connectivity, and a digital SPDIF output as well as the regular RCA. It also has lots of speed varying percentages and key correction.
Cheers
Ian
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By Tag One The Fader Fiend Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:14 pm
Ian Canefire wrote:I am a fan of the Stanton STR100 high torque with straight tone arm.
I also use stanton cartridges.
Unlike most DJ's I own two different turntables...one has a striaght arm and the other bent....also the cartridges are different in my two arms. One gives me more bass than the other.
The Stanton is phenomenal...stops on a dime, line in connectivity, and a digital SPDIF output as well as the regular RCA. It also has lots of speed varying percentages and key correction.
Cheers
Ian


I like these Ian, It's a very nice turntable. Did see a pair on eBay cheap but coped the Vestax PDX-3000's instead.
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By n4l Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:33 pm
Yeah well maybe I'll just buy a cheap 100 euro turntable, I need to buy an audio interface and studio monitors that I've wanted for a year now but couldn't afford..

Check out the American Audio TTD 2400.
Looks cool, just like SL-1200 but plastic and of course not that good quality.
But it'll get the sampling part done, thats what I'm buying it for.

Any suggestions on the stylus and do I still need the preamp?

And thanks for the tips, I appreciate it.
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By n4l Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:39 pm
I'm a little confused right now..
I thought stylus and cartridge were the same thing, but Thomann.de has them categorized seperately, but they look the same..? :hmmm:
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By golfdogz Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:51 am
konc3pt wrote:How about the preamp?


after a bit of a search and review of various forums i ended up going with the ART DJ PRE II

seemed to get good reviews vs its affordable price, after shipping i paid around 70 Australian - purchased from the UK im definately happy with it.

nice and neutral so it doesnt really add much colour - which you would either want or not.. but it definately does the job of converting phono signal to line level.

- but then i should mention not long after buying it i picked up an old marantz amp which has a turntable phono input and a tape out - for 50 bucks - which does the same job. sounds just as good, probably better with maybe clearer bass.. but downside is all the space it takes up
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By n4l Thu Sep 06, 2012 11:55 am
golfdogz wrote:
konc3pt wrote:How about the preamp?


after a bit of a search and review of various forums i ended up going with the ART DJ PRE II

seemed to get good reviews vs its affordable price, after shipping i paid around 70 Australian - purchased from the UK im definately happy with it.

nice and neutral so it doesnt really add much colour - which you would either want or not.. but it definately does the job of converting phono signal to line level.

- but then i should mention not long after buying it i picked up an old marantz amp which has a turntable phono input and a tape out - for 50 bucks - which does the same job. sounds just as good, probably better with maybe clearer bass.. but downside is all the space it takes up


You know I have to buy a turntable, audio interface and the preamp, so is there anything that has a preamp and something that I can hook up my MPC, turntable, computer and monitors/speakers at the same time, in one package?

I'd rather buy one solid quality piece of gear than buy 5 cheap different things for different purposes.