Turntables are the basic tools of a DJ. But with so many on the market, how do you go about choosing something that caters to your needs? As its a pretty big investment, its worth knowing what you get for your money.
Belt driven v. Direct drive. which to go for?
You'll find two primary designs for driving the platter; belt drive and direct drive. Belt drives have the motor unit that operates the plate offset from the heart of the platter, along with a belt or rubber band that is looped around a shaft extending through the motor, and also attaches to the underside of the platter.
On the other hand, Direct drive is a totally different arrangement. The actual motor is beneath the plate and directly turns the spindle and platter. Many tables like the Technics, and Numark use a strong magnet beneath the platter, and a different one on the motor. It is intended to enhance torque as soon as the motor starts spinning. Some like the STR8 from Stanton count on the extra weight of the platter sitting over the spindle to turn.
For the money you're likely to want the most accurate equipment you can afford. Belt driven decks won't offer you this precision because of its inherent design. So at the end of the day, direct drive is the way to go.
As the saying goes you get what you pay for. The less expensive decks are usually belt driven. For Direct drive we need to move up a price point. Once you get into this sector, then its all about features and power of the motor. Like cars, the higher end decks are packed with extras, some you might not even need. So its best to take your time selecting.
Fade away...
The slider you see on the side is the pitch control. This basically lets you vary the speed of rotation. Why would you want to do this? Beatmatching is the answer. For a DJ to blend one track into another he/she will need to match the incoming record with the outgoing one. That's how mixing is done. The usual speed increments is plus or minus 8 percent, but some can double that. A good way to learn the technique is to get yourself a beat maker program. It'll teach you the principals of beat count, bars and bpm.
All torque no action...
Extending the earlier car analogy further, torque in a turntable refers to the rotation output of the platter. For scratch DJs, high torque is essential. This is all dependent on the quality of the engine i.e motor in this case.
Finally we get to the turntable arms that hold the needle. Here we also have two types, Straight or S shape. The difference in shape does serve a functions and not merely for cosmetic purposes. S arms guide the needle towards the center of the record so therefore has a smoother action. Straight arms on the other hand is useful for scratch DJ's because it's less likely to skip.
So the choice is up to you and your budget. Do your research thoroughly, ask other DJs their opinions as they will have hands-on experience. Remember if you buy cheap you may have to buy twice.
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