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The history of LP12 starts in the 1970’s when it was a must have turntable. In fact your masculinity was doubted if did not have one. It was quite successful for a relatively expensive vinyl turntable then, and there were a variety of Linn and Naim systems were launched and which are still in the market. In the last ten years, LP12 has just been graded as just another addition to the already existing stock of turntables. It was quite expensive also and coasted around £4,480 pounds without cartridges.

The Linn Majik LP12 is the latest affordable version of the already existing version of LP12 turntable. It features solid base and standard armboard along with Mazak 8 platter and extremely low noise patented main bearing. This turntable is available in a variety of types and has a solid wood base board and is surmounted by a stainless steel which has the on and off buttons mounted on it. In order to get things moving, Majik LP12 turntable neoprene flat belt along with headshell and single piece carbon fiber armtube

This Linn Majik LP12 turntable features an internal power supply, Pro-Ject 9cc tonearm and Adikit MM cartridge. This latest high end turntable is highly intuitive and has an outstanding user interface. It is available in five different finishes and costs around £2000 pounds or $4000, which is obviously more than your basic and average turntable like the Numark TT 1650. It is capable of delivering outstanding sound quality. This turntable has its unique capability of bringing resolution, scale and at the same time wide bandwidth in order to rock the party.

The Rega P3-24 is a better version of the living legend Rega P3 turntable.P3-24 and delivers genuine hi-fi performance at any price. It has a highly simple and fresh design which incorporates a Medite Plinth with resin laminate overlay, low or almost negligible vibration 24V motor and, last but not least, a Rega’s RB301 tonearm. The tonearm provides extra rigidity by adding a three point mounting system and also the heavy duty phone cable which is equipped plated connectors. Rega P3-24 is quite a sleek and simple turntable which is relatively quite light weight.

Rega P3-24 turntable incorporates an impressive solid dust cover which is absolutely non-resonant and whenever the record side or the tonearm need to be changed, it just flips up gracefully with fluid motion. The setup of Rega P3-24 turntable is extremely simple and therefore it does not require any kind of extensive kit of adjustment tools just for start spinning. In order to align the cartridges, a protractor is included with this turntable. At extremely high volumes, this P3-24 turntable delivers very crisp and clear sound, and it is leaps and bounds beyond other Rega turntables like the Rega Planar 2. Rega P3-24 turntable has this quality of delivering true sound of any recording in comparison to any other type of turntable.

This P3-24 turntable from Rega is an affordable and solid unit which has the ability to reveal the sonic details as well. The package becomes all the more appealing once the company’s TTPSU power supply is added to the entire package. It gives a new life to the vinyl which sound even better when played on P3-24 turntable.

We have often read and heard that simplicity is the best policy, and this statement holds true for turntables as well. The best thing about them is that they are simpler in operation, have less complications, as a result there are very slim chances of anything actually going wrong. Well, there is the argument that simple things can be good performers, because of their straightforward design and elegance as well. One of the best manifestations of simplicity in turntables would come from the Revolver Turntables from Sundown Audio.

The Revolver turntable is a belt driven turntable with an extremely small motor that spins the platter by using a thin long rubber band. The main reason for using this rubber belt is to keep the vibrations produced from the motor from getting mixed with the music while playing the record. The Revolver turntable has a unique and unusual platter, which has been shaped out of a common particle board and has less resonance than the regular aluminum or plastic. However, it does lack a USB port for transferring music like the American Audio TTD-2400. Because it is almost non-resonant it requires a non slip, thin mat for coupling with the record. Aluminium is used mainly because of its non magnetic nature, as it will not interfere with or affect the magnetic phono cartridge.

The Revolver is a simple dual speed player with simple and intuitive speed changing or controlling options. This extremely simple turntable with amazing performance and outstanding playback sound quality is quite affordable and will fit into most budgets. It is a rare and welcome thing to have such a combination where simple good looks are accompanied by the Revolver’s engineering elegance.

The TTUSB is a simple, innovative and affordable turntable from ION, a new brand from Numark, the already renowned DJ equipment specialists. This all in one vinyl to digital turntable is equipped with a USB connection that lets users transfer their music from records to the computer; thereby easily digitising entire collections of vinyl records to either the Mac or PC. Once the records have been recorded onto your computer, your music becomes easily portable, as you have the option of either listening to the songs or music, or transferring it to the MP3 player or iPod or recording CDs.

No drivers are required for connecting this belt driven USB turntable to either a Mac or PC. It is not important to have a phono input in your music system; the ION TTUSB can be easily connected simply by using a switchable level output. The music can also be conveniently transferred through the use of the exclusive software suites from ION, such as Audacity, which can be used for advanced recording and editing. Moreover, the software programmes can also convert 78 rpm records, while the EZ Vinyl converter is capable of recording and converting the vinyl directly to the iTunes music library.

These USB based turntables are just perfect for digitising your vinyl records and also feature a 1/8 inch line input jack for connecting other music sources, such as cassette decks and also for converting your music to any digital format. The TTUSB turntable from ION will let you breathe new life into your old record collections.

The C.324 is the latest, high-end, and must-have CD turntable deck to come from Stanton. It boasts some amazing MP3 playback algorithms and great scratch abilities. Its impressive high quality build with sleek styling and good colour scheme of black and silver, will it into nearly any stylish and modern DJing environment. The unit is made up of hard dense plastic, which gives you the feel of beefy or heavy metal, but without the weight. Indeed, the rugged system is perfect for DJs who are frequently on the move.

It features a front loading CD slot, which grabs the CD and loads it for you in almost no time, and much faster than nearly any other CD turntable available on the market today. The top of the Stanton C.324 includes all the controls along with a blue LED display. There are four sample or cue buttons below the platter, which create cue points or use samples. This is one of those turntables that allow you to playback a sample and scratch at the same time.

The C.324 features a non-actively spinning platter, which provides good mixing and light scratching, with a quick response to start ups and stops. Manually cueing and scratching with the platter will definitely result in good sound emulation and an amazing sound control. It also features six selectable effects such as Filter, Pan, Echo, Flanger, Transform and Echo, which can be used in combination with the scratching and really provide some unique effects. The affordable Stanton C.324 package is a combination of excellent effects, solid playback, awesome sample loop capabilities and decent scratch abilities.

Undoubtedly CDs are able to give an amazing sound quality, but for many nothing in the world of audio can beat the warmth of the sound coming from a vinyl player. Mark my words when I say, vinyl isn’t dead. The SL1210M5G turntable from Technics, rightly captioned as the grand master of turntables, is the pinnacle of 1200 line of turntables. This turntable features a pitch control method exclusive to the SL1210M5G. It is a fusion of some extensive and unique features and Technics’ legendary reliability and ruggedness, which helps in coaxing most out of our collection of records.

The turntable is a complete digital solution which eliminates any hassles involved in matching the pitch ranges and also provides the user the option of choosing between the + 8 and + 16 range. You get the exceptional quality tracking experience with the exclusively constructed gimbal-mounted tone-arm and the Technics SL-1210 M 5’s oxygen free cable ensures an outstanding sound quality. This improved quality of tone-arm in M5G offers better skip resistance and break adjustment is also made more accessible.

The construction in terms of finish, style and colour scheme are all exclusive to SL1210M5G and it provides a unique metallic black finish, blue light for both the pitch ranges. And last, but not least, the brushed steel hardware used with the turntable is uniquely different than the usual plastic used by most other turntables.

The quality of any turntable is judged by certain standards, including accurate pitch, a high torque, superior sound and a quality tone arm with better skip resistance. The Technics SL1210M5G turntable has successfully delivered in all these arenas and remains practically unmatched in its quality.

Numark TTi is a fusion of USB connectivity, Numark’s legendry turntable performance and the convenience of an iPod. The Numark TTi USB turntable, which features a built-in iPod dock, helps you in transferring your entire vinyl collection into a digital format, or even directly to your iPod. All your records are archived to either MP3 or CD format with the help of software, which is included in the package. This revolutionary product is capable of recording the music directly to your iPod from any external audio input or vinyl records.

This turntable can be directly connected to the computer through its USB port and converts your collection of vinyl records to digital music. A wide range of software has been included for the expressed purpose of converting the vinyl records to digital music. These software programmes include the EZ application, which aids you in taking advantage of computer recording and primarily includes the EZ Vinyl Converter 2 (for hassle free recording in PC only), EZ Audio Converter (for hassle free recording in Mac only) and Audacity (for reducing vinyl noise and pops in both PC and Mac).

This USB turntable, in combination with its included EZ application software, helps you in digitally archiving your entire collection in just a few mouse clicks. The Numark TTi turntable includes a universal iPod dock, which supports all model iPods. It can easily be stepped up and no special drivers are required for doing so. For instant playback from either iPod or Vinyl records, it can be easily and quickly connected to any mixer through its integrated line-level RCA output and the speed of the playback can also be easily adjusted through the included pitch controller.

DJ Needles, most commonly known as the stylus or styli, are some of the most important parts of the turntable. From the end of the tone arm to the vinyl, there are a total of three parts which collectively make up the extension. The first is the head shell followed by the cartridge and then finally the needle. With every turntable a standard pair of needles and cartridges is provided, though you do have a variety of other advanced options to choose from.

Selecting the right needles or styli and dj cartridge is no big deal, as there are only two types of styli currently available on the market. The needle diamond tip can be either spherical or elliptical, with each one capable of performing a specific function, and the decision is based primarily on preference. Similar to how the decision between vinyl turntables and CD DJ turntables, such as the Technics SL-DZ1200, is based on personal taste and goals. The Spherical styli are best suited for a scratching and battle DJ. The main reason for this is that they stay in the groove of the record much better than the elliptical, thereby having the highest skip resistance and a very high output based application. Elliptical styli, on the other hand, are more suitable for beat mixing and hi-fi systems where the main function is playback. They deliver amazing playback sound quality, which is quite true to the original sound recording, since they have a lower tracking force that is easier on the vinyl.

If you are DJing at clubs and parties, you will need a more durable and robust pair of DJ needles. The selection of your needle will totally depend on the style of music you intend to play and also on the type of DJ you want to be, like a battle or mix DJ.

DJ CD players have been available in the market for quite some time now and, gradually down the line as the years passed by, they have become quite DJ friendly. A good DJ CD player would be one which can not only emulate all the features that can be achieved using a vinyl turntable, but also has some additional benefits and features. DJs can choose from the two types of CD players available in the market, rock mount and table top.

A table top CD player is quite similar in function, as well as design, to normal vinyl DJ turntables. As the name table top indicates, they can be placed flat on the table. Pioneer is the leader in the production of these types of DJ CD players, and the Pioneer CDJ 1000 MK3 is at the top of the entire available range. There are also a wide range of quality Denon table top CD players available in the market, such as the Denon DN-S1000 compact CD/MP3 player, Denon DN-S3500 and Denon DN-S5000. The second type of DJ CD players are rack mount. As is clear from the name, they are built to fit into a rack. These CD players are most popular among mobile DJs.

Any good DJ CD player should include all the important features like pitch control, sampler and effects, cue points, support both CD and MP3 music files and should allow scratching if required. This can be accomplished by providing both the platter and jog dial option, and, lastly, it should have a digital output.

Final Scratch is a special type of a kit from Stanton that allows the user to manipulate MP3 songs on a computer using special records from a turntable. Although this concept sounds like rocket science, the way it works is actually quite simple. The special records only carry a time code, not the actual songs they will manipulate.

This time code carried by the records is then translated by the converter into a digital signal, which is then sent to the computer running the included Final Scratch programme. The Stanton Final Scratch programme then uses the digital signal to simulate the effect of scratching on MP3s, and in fact succeeds admirably in this manner. Only MP3 files are mixed or scratched, and no real vinyl records are ever used, even though you mimic the vinyl scratching technique using the specialised turntables. In other words, you will be able to achieve the same effects of scratching a vinyl record on a turntable like the American Audio TTD-2400, but with MP3 files. With this software you do needn’t worry about carrying a record case all the time, all you need is a laptop with all the required songs stored in it.

The Stanton Final Scratch kit includes one scratch amplifier with its power supply, one USB and four stereo phone leads, three final scratch vinyls and one installation CD for your laptop. Everything included in the kit are of a nice build quality, the cable is quite long at around 2 metres, and the amplifier, although quite lightweight and plastic, is quite well designed. The software is quite intuitive and has an amazing user interface.

With good knowledge and proper care of this kit, this software proves to be a very useful tool for any professional or aspiring DJ.