Brand new or used?

I'm taking a poll on the following:

1. Would you buy a pair BRAND NEW Numark TT-200 direct drive turntables at $175 each? OR Would you buy a pair of USED Technics SL-1200mk2 (old school) direct drive turntables at $600 for the pair.


I plan to add a turntable w/mixer set up to my exsisting home studio that includes the MPC2500, Alesis 8 channel mixer, Cubase, M-Audio 25 key controller

I've always been a fan of Technics and have a good amount of experience with them ( mixing, scratching, beat juggling, and sampling). And to be honest... I need a hook up like the next man, but I'm not always a fan of buying things USED because of previous wear and tear.

I understand technology has advanced over the years and other manufactures have been able to produce compatibable turntable designs recently like Numark, Stanton and Vestax but they aren't 1200's...

Maybe I'm just a "BRAND WHORE" but who can blame me.

The budget is $600 max. so... hopefully i can get opinions from the forum.

thanks in advance.

What do you plan on using this turntable for? If your going to scratch go with the techs and if your just going to sample then go with the Numarks.

I'd get the techs personally, but that's just me.

Vestax!!! FTW

it all depends on your application for the decks
listen to explicit-
scratching/mixing etc. get the techs

just sampling get the numarks


or get Vestaxs haha sorry!

i plan on using the tables for sampling and light scratching... nothing like Q-Bert but more like Primo... i also plan to add the Rane TTM57SL w/Serato.

thanks for the replies.

If you go with the Technics, those will be the last decks you'll ever need... might not be the case with others though...

m:t:c wrote:If you go with the Technics, those will be the last decks you'll ever need... might not be the case with others though...

ugh i hate when people say that.

techs arent the be all end all will last forever decks, they are known to have problems as well.

but thats just the innovation side of me which is the reason why i own a vestax C1

This is funny... I went to the local shop today and was ready to buy the Numark TT-200. Cash in hand. I went to the shelf where the Numark turntable was located, and to my surprise there was a USED Technics 1200mk2 for $149 right next to it ! Except for a bad RCA connection (which the shop guy did change for me), a tone arm that could be replaced in the near future, and a few cigarette burns (i think) the 1200 was good. It didn't have the top cover or the 45 disc, but it did have all four footstands attached (lol).

so guess what i did???

Technics forever!

Peace

WHYuHATEtheGAME wrote:This is funny... I went to the local shop today and was ready to buy the Numark TT-200. Cash in hand. I went to the shelf where the Numark turntable was located, and to my surprise there was a USED Technics 1200mk2 for $149 right next to it ! Except for a bad RCA connection (which the shop guy did change for me), a tone arm that could be replaced in the near future, and a few cigarette burns (i think) the 1200 was good. It didn't have the top cover or the 45 disc, but it did have all four footstands attached (lol).

so guess what i did???

Technics forever!

Peace

Good choice cuz after you said you were going to do light scratching then the Techs are the way to go... If your ever going to just sample then go with a cheap TT and just buy good needles but if your going to do more than just sampling then Techs are the route. Peace

now i have a dilema...

when i have the 1200 (without stand-alone mixer) plugged straight into a 8 channel mixer or the mpc, the sound level seems low.

for example, when playing the turntable through the 8 channel (line in 5/6) and attempting to beat out a pattern on the mpc (line in 7/8)... the sounds from the turntable is much lower than the mpc when the levels on the mixer are set equally.

also, when i record into the mpc and go to trim the sample there are no waves (peaks or valleys). that's not normal, right?

I think the answer is to connect the turntable to a stand-alone mixer then to the mpc or 8 channel mixer...but not sure. PLEASE HELP???

the cartridge is a stanton 500 and looks ok. the one RCA plug (white) was replaced at the shop.

WHYuHATEtheGAME wrote:now i have a dilema...
when i have the 1200 (without stand-alone mixer) plugged straight into a 8 channel mixer or the mpc, the sound level seems low.

Heres the deal,
Most turntables put out whats called a "phono" signal which is much lower than your CD players, tape deck & MPC's "line" signal. If you've ever looked at the back of a DJ mixer and notice that at least for the main two channels theres inputs for both line and phono. So for your case your gonna need a DJ mixer or a turntable preamp. I say get the DJ mixer since you said you'd like to scratch...
Congrats on your "new 2 you" Technic 1200!

thanks for the confirmation... it helps.

i was already convinced getting the DJ mixer was my next step, but needed to ask and be absolutely sure.


"gotta learn how to walk before you start runnin' ish!"


peace.

yeah, thank the riaa for that - you need a phono preamp for that like kneebone said (such is built in every dj mixer for instance), because the signal is not only at a very low level but also distorted somehow and the preamp eliminates that distortion and brings the signal level up to useable values. if you have an stereo receiver or an device like that with a phono in and a line out you can use this as a workaround for the time being till you can afford that rane mixer.

peace jo

selecta jo wrote:yeah, thank the riaa for that - you need a phono preamp for that like kneebone said (such is built in every dj mixer for instance), because the signal is not only at a very low level but also distorted somehow and the preamp eliminates that distortion and brings the signal level up to useable values. if you have an stereo receiver or an device like that with a phono in and a line out you can use this as a workaround for the time being till you can afford that rane mixer.

peace jo

respect.

i do have a seperate receiver (duh, i should've thought of that) and will try it out.

the shop where i go to has a few Numark mixers for cheap (under $100) and i was considering getting one for now and also use as a spare when the Rane arrives in a few months. so i was going to go with that option if have an itch that needs to be scratched.

peace.

selecta jo wrote:if you have an stereo receiver or an device like that with a phono in and a line out you can use this as a workaround for the time being.

Fa Sho Jo, I totally went brain dead on that solution...good one.