Good Deal or Not? Help With New Purchase

[shr3dder]

i found this setup
wat do u guys reckon of this...im new to this stuff still but i too have little money would this be sufficient, or is there sumthin with the decks, eg. are they absolute SHOCKERS...




2 x TT1550 multi directional efficient belt drive turntable. DM950 2 channel + mic mixer, EQ on each channel, slide style cueing. HF125 flexible 7-position dual headphone.
thats $775 at the dj basement

i have a better set of headphone already as well i got a set of Sony MDR500DJ s

[phunkdust]

looks like a good starting kit if you're intending to be a turntablist/scratcher

but for DJing/mixing?

they're belt drive. i haven't used a belt drive deck yet that stays in pitch... they're also bastards to mix with since the pitch adjustment takes a second or two to take effect...

so, good kit for turntablism, but if you want to mix, save up for the direct drives.

keep in mind the cost of the vinyl... expect to be spending $100 at least per month if you want to build a good enough collection.

[Sean]

look to be honest id save your money, go buy a heap of vinyl and chill with freinds who already have a nice setup. its ok to buy that sort of setup. BUT, in aproximately 1 month after purchase you're gonna be wishing you'd bought technics.

belt drives suck for dj'ing they dont hold their tempo, theyre slow, awkward, and just all around yucky. especially when yout ry and pitch bend in the middle of a mix.

if you must buy decks now, i think there's an australia wide special on denon dpdj101, for like 399 each then spend a couple of hundred on a mixer. theyre not techs but theyre a hell of a lot better then anything else under 1000 each.

i was given a pair by a friend and yeah theyre useable and a hell of a lot better then any other non techs. ok im not using them for dj'ing right now (one's next to my pc, the other is in the lounge room for listening), but thats coz i have a nice pair of techs.

in summation, reffer to my first paragraph.

[plastikau]

i remember the first set of decks i bought were Gemini belt drives,got em home,set em up & realised after what i had read on other sites that i had made a mistake, anyway sold em off like a month or so later , bought 2x1200's & mixer (which is gemini & i love,unlike the decks) and can throw sets together with no probs at all...So yeah i'd save ur money,maybe have a look around shops,or on Ebay,or any trading post type magazines...

Good luck,like the others said,you will be alot happier with direct drives & check out citronic PD1 decks,i've heard they're all right

[shr3dder]

ok thanks for the help guys
i reckon i might save up more and have a dig around for some second hand 1200s then, or new if i have to
thanks for ur help

[shr3dder]

hmms i just came across another package somewhere else
its direct drive

This new pack features 2 Stanton 500B headshells, the 500B provides the perfect balance of reliability, ruggedness and optimum performance, 1 x DJ PRO 10 lightweight headphones with a new unique earcup and neckband, 1 x SMX201 2 channel mixer with 2 line / 2 phono inputs, 2 band EQ and gain control per channel, the cue section features cue level and cue pan, mic input with 2 band EQ, user replaceable crossfader, 2 x STR830 direct drive turntables with static balanced straight tonearms, also includes Stanton slipmats & dust covers .


thats $1080


maybe im dreaming in finding a cheap setup but i can try hey :)

[phunkdust]

yeah the stantons are not bad, they'll definately do the job... they dont have as much torque as the technics (torque is how strong the motor is)

[Sean]

nup just as bad. the 30s feel like a belt drive.

if ur shopping stanton then look up the str8-80's. theyre the best bang for the buck

[phunkdust]

you dont like them sean? i thought they were okay for budget direct drive, but i guess i havent had the chance to use them for more than a few minutes...

[Sean]

my friend got a pair a month or so a go. i was tearing my hair out after a few mixes. oh and they are already dieing

[phunkdust]

wow :-0

[polarbear]

isn't torque the something to do with the mass of the motor - or ballast?

buy technics.

[driload]

torque is a term championed in the automotive industries

most efficiently (if not perfectly) defined as the force needed to move an idle gear into full rotation



thats if memory serves me correct.... someone please look it up before quoting me


serves the purpose of this issue though.


id debate wether torque is REALLY a huge concern in begginer/intermediate turntables anyway. its not something that should define the budget i would suggest. if you can mix good on 'average' decks then you will be ready to handle to often CRAP condition a lot of niteclub turntables are in

if you go from perfectly tuned SL1200's to a crap well-well-used pair of decks you might get a shock


anyway, that deal seems a bit boring. second hand you can get better cheaper but its wether you want to go second hand or not.


oh, and dont start me on "dj" headphones.

had to use one of those "multi-position" dj headphones at a gig once when my broke.... bloody things, folding into 1908097907 positions like origami

if you cant rest one cup behind one ear when cue'ing then i dont know what your problem is. origami headphones make me want to cry... im already clumsy, i dont want a crowd to see that even more

[phunkdust]

torque measures how much force the drive motor can apply to the platter... high-torque turntables (such as the technics) will take less time for the pitch adjustment to take effect.

buy second hand technics (if u cant afford new)

look at gemini too... not as much torque but they are half the price of the technics, and they are built well.

[shr3dder]

ok thanks for the help pplz, i reckon i might have a look around for second hand ones then maybe..coz i really cant afford technics unless i wait another year...


any CHEAP suggestions?

[Sean]

torque not only dictates how fast the table reacts to tempo changes, but it also dictates how the table reacts the physical input you give when pitch bending (twisting the spindle, scratching, slowing down the plattter).

gemini's new run around the same price as 2nd hand techs

shr3dder: just get a 2nd job and get some techs.

[shr3dder]

Yeah its looking that way
thanks for all the help guys, looks like i was dreaming with the idea of cheap purchases :)
thanks :):)

[EnglishBob]

don't buy belt drive!!! I did - and I've still got them, and they're still shite!

However, you do get the added pleasure of going over to your mates with 1210's and feel like you're mixing in a dream! So I suppose the only upside is that if you can mix on crappy belt drives you can mix on anything. But that shouldn't be your motivation for making a purchase. Keep saving...

[Bracko]

Cheap dex...... I went through this 6 months ago when I was buying mine. This is what I thought

Stanton- someone said they only get good after the STR-80's their dead right! anything below that I would have chucked out the window by now.

Ominitronic (spelt??) a friend of mine has a set of them, their actually the frist deck i eva touched:D their okay, the model escapes me now...

Dennon, Amercian DJ and numark- i was told not to buy any of these brands due to poor quality, as in they don't last. However take that with a grain of salt because a salesman told me that.

Gemini- These are the dex i bought, SA600 to be exact, direct drive with 1.2kg/cm torque, Techs have 1.5 and vastex have 2.1
bought them in march/ April of this year, this is what I think of them.

afta 2 months i thought they were shit and was almost about to sell them and take out a loan for techs. Then i realised it was me who was shit......;)

startup touqre is okay, no real probs there, where the problem lies when mixing is that Gemini is a VERY light touch, everything slides around with little force required. the platter, the pitch control...

on the whole, they work and i believe the will keep on working for a while yet, Ive taken them apart and from what I can see the construction is fairly good, some cheap materials here and there but if i'm nice to them they'll be good to me for a while yet!!

i do love these dex, they shit me at times but they work, and they bring me the music i LOVE

[House of God]

Hey Shredder.....(is that from the teenage mutant ninja turtles?)

anyway...

checkout http://www.users.bigpond.com/mikk/index.htm

that has great prices there....

although second hand...they are prolly local and you can always check em out...also not being mainstream the sellers are most likely more genuine than your newspaper flogitoff seller..hopefully:)

Ok well dont dispair:)

Kirk.

[Tristan]

did you ever get anyone to lend you a setup HOG?

[shr3dder]

thanks very much for that site dood... :D

and yeah my name is from ninja turtles :)

[DeXX]

Agree with all here. Have played on other turnies and the others (except pdx2000) have all felt like shit. Not as much fun - i imagine learning on them would be fucking frustrating and take heaps longer. I kept my eyes and ears open and waited until good deals popped up. Ended up with:

1200 MKII @ $300 (!) off friend who needed money to buy PDX2000 setup at similarly ridiculous price. Was a year old in brand new cond + new cart.

Pioneer DJM300S + Sennheiser HD200 cans for $550. Both in perfect condition.

1200 MKII @ $850 brand new with ortofon cart and a couple free pieces of vinyl.

All up $1700 in perfect condition, with a couple bits of vinyl :) Love this set up, have had no troubles with any of it. Would love a 600 but that can wait!


Just hang out and look on all forum boards, trading posts etc for really good deals and buy em in pieces if you have to.