The fallout from NAMM 2019 has been immense. The DJ world waited with bated breath to see what the gathered hive mind of media types would think of the new DJ tailored SL-1200/1210 MK7 turntable. Well… hmmm. From a DJ perspective, the feedback has been less than positive. Some of you clearly like what you saw, but our own ProfessorBX lamented the drop in quality. And even the ever-positive Phil Morse from Digital DJ Tips gave it quite a slating (extra points for doing in their face on their stand). See — it’s not just us.
After the show, we were collectively shaking out heads and asking the question “why did Panasonic do this?”. It felt like they didn’t have a conversation with anyone before pressing go.
But rather than kicking a brand when it’s down, perhaps there’s another question that should be posed, one that offers hope and positivity.
WHAT IF?
What if Panasonic looked to the future instead of trading on the past?
What if they could properly built upon the rock solid foundation of the Technics brand?
What if the Technics brand could genuinely give the rest of the industry something to worry about?
What if there was a proper digital version of the legendary SL-1200?
What if there was an SL-DZ1200 MK2?
THERE COULD BE
As the video shows, with a few tweaks and put in the right hands, the original is more than capable of delivering a killer performance. And this is just a home-brew mod — now imagine what could be achieved by working with Panasonic’s considerable resources to make the digital deck from the ground up that the masses would buy.
INTERESTED?
As part of the DJWORX community, would you like to see the Technics brand push forward beyond their established heritage? Is there real interest in a proper digital 1200?
And to Panasonic — we are critical of the MK7 because we care. Since the start of our journey 15 years ago, all we have ever wanted is to help the DJ industry make better DJ gear. And we’d like to help you too. Let’s start a conversation together.
ABOUT THE VIDEO
We pushed out a cheeky teaser via social media a couple of days ago. Some spotted what it was immediately, others wanted it to be true, and some even went as far as ringing their local retailer to see if Technics really was pushing out a MK2. I’m not apologising — it was fun.
Concept and Production: Suresh Kara at Documovie
DZ Modification: SL-DZ1200 MKII Facebook Page
Skins: 12InchSkinz
Skills: DJ Prime Cuts