As much as the world loves the iconic Technics SL-1200, it was found to be lacking in a few DJ specific areas in comparison to more recent turntables. 8% pitch is pretty limiting for the more adventurous, and a lack of MIDI stands out in a MIDI driven world. But established modder DJ Backtrack is undaunted by such limitations (see his Vestax PDX 2000 MIDI mod), and has developed a kit that allows anyone to add ultra pitch and MIDI to a regular 1200.
WHAT IT DOES
Backtrack’s mod delivers 8, 16, 25 and 50% pitch changes via a boss mode combination of 33 and 44 button presses. The modes are identified by LED colour changes and flashing states. And with the same method, the mod brings MIDI pitch control (like the later Vestax PDXs), with a full two octave pitch controllable via a 5 pin MIDI port.
That sound you just heard was the collective jaw drop of the turntablist community and the thud of wallets against screens.
DJ Backtrack explains a little more:
I have tried to make the Technics go slow for many years. There has always been an issue below -20% where the platter starts to stutter.
Not until KAB USA (Kevin) released his 16rpm mod was there a solution. The three caps that has to be exchanged changes the filtering and makes it possible. Here is what Kevin said:
“That quote relates to the motor PLL in order to achieve 16rpm.
It was the one thing that others did not seem to know about. Others that tried to do this in the past.
My first involvement with this was developing a 16rpm mod for a university that used it with a curing oven to precisely rotate parts inside the oven.
That was back in the late 90’s.
That knowledge came in handy when this new dj request came along. That and some new technology that makes it rather easy to produce a stable, variable oscillator.
What you are doing of course, is far more refined.”
There are no patents or anything involved but Kevin is getting little money for every sold unit because it could not have been done with out his findings.
The USB port is there just to make support easy. With the Vestax mod I had to replace boards if there was any bugs. Now its just to plug in and send a new firmware file.
INSTALLATION
For modders, this is a doddle and full instructions are provided here. But for those less adept with a soldering (which for the record has an L in it) iron, it is recommended that some more skilled with resistors and wires carry out the necessary mods. The instructions are very clear, but as someone who is capable, you really don’t want to be unsoldering the wrong thing, or indeed attaching wires to other wrong things.
DO YOU WANT IT?
It’s not available in any shops. Bummer. So instead, you’ll need to email DJ Backtrack himself and have 160 euros per deck ready.
GALLERY
Uhm what?
I thought I was pretty clear. :)
Hey Mark,long time don’t hear from..lol.. I’m Putting the finishing touches on them Modded 10″ Technics..finally finishing them up.
“But for those less adept with a soldering (which for the record has an L in it) iron,” – Ho ho, fan of your work Mark! That one has always irked me too. :)
Every time I see “soddering”, the first thing I think of is a grass farmer rolling up strips of turf.
I wish he also brought a -/+ 6% range to the pitch for better precision while playing the same kind of music.
I still don’t get why Pioneer didn’t do it on the PLX-1000. Or even better : a wider pitch fader.
Any range is possible. I just choose the most common ones.
The resolution of the speed steps are below to 0.1% around zero. So you can get a 6% if you wanted to or even lower. There are 3 slots for speeds but 16% can easily be 6%
That’s good news!
Is this something I could easily do myself at any time? Or do I need to ask you the ranges I need when ordering?
Yes. Just ask or I can send an updated firmware later on with the ranges requested and you can update yourself
I love this idea but one reason why people hold on to 1200s and not use to something else is their “industry standard” reputation – you learn on 1200s at home, you can play on any other pair at clubs or anywhere else.
Once you get in to modding territory is it worth working in the confines of the 1200s anymore? Wouldn’t something with more torque, realistic pricing/availability but perhaps lacking in other areas be just as deserving? Perhaps you could then turn those Audio Technica hanpins in to a cheap and powerful beast? Just an idea!
This could improve John Beez fretless fader possibilities of success. Being limited at Vestax tt was a good deal. Now it could be paired with the standard amd force Pioneer to move into midi.
Good work Mr. Blacktrack! Congratulations!
If you want to create melodies without MIDI turntable you can also check out MIDI Note Fader, will let you use vertical x-fader movement to control MIDI pitch OR e.g. Traktor key, getting the same note-playing effect.
I saw it thanks ;)
This works with any MIDI device and isn’t new. People have been mapping key in Traktor since 2010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgCRVScNx-Y
I didn’t mean the key mapping is ‘new’, but afaik MNF is the first xy fader to work with native MIDI mapping as well – and as such can be easily mapped to key, or anything else in Traktor or Serato.
too bad the PDX2000 kit isn´t available anymore.
the schematic is, you can make it yourself :)
I know but this requires a knowledge of electronics and soldering etc. that excels mine by far unfortunately.
Might do and updated re-run in the future but for now I only have the time to make the Tech mod
The earlier the better ;)
Thanks for all your effort, it´s highly appreciated!
Impressive mod, and cures just about every shortcoming of a 1200. Kudos!
yesss
Shout out to Backtrack for making this awesome kit! Please do a kit for the Pioneer PLX-1000 turntable in the near future.
why 8/16%, and not the more musical 6/12% that even the numark ttx was offering a decade ago
Because it was kind of standard. But since people are asking about different ranges I will make a firmware with 6,12 and 50 and 6,12, 25. The mod can be updated by the user if wanted. The mod has a USB connector
Clean little PCB, nicely engineered.
thats really good to hear! congratulations for a well-thought-out design!
Backtrack, I know I saw another mod for a Technics 1200 that had custom s/w to run its own DVS mode (stand-a-lone): http://djtechtools.com/2016/04/20/hacking-technics-1200-midi-control/ Would be interesting to combine them both?
There are others at youtube too based on raspberry pi instead FPGAs and yes these are very interesting to combine :)
Like this:
http://pideck.com/
That is very interesting. Is it per deck scenario? Would need two screens, two Pis etc? How do I check if a soundcard is supported by ALSA?
It seems by other yt videos one raspi (3 model) can handle 2 decks. About alsa I suppose any class compliant soundcard should work with linux but checking xwax compatible soundcards (and mixxx too) could give anyone which soundcards are recomended. In some video I saw even a audio4dj (non class compliant) so maybe the list is even bigger.
Super Fresh, Kevin at Kab usa will be in the Scratch history books for the powerful knowledge he shared with us…You stayed true to your word by sharing the profits with Kevin. Ultimate respect for that…
Excellent job, Backtrack! Looks like it was worth the wait.
There was a tiny bit of a nudge from Rasteri and Focus somewhere in the story timeline :-) Symatic too…
If these are the finished versions I have a 1200 with straight arm itching for scratch, Let me know if you want me to cover the cost…Very exciting timesss.
Midi-in is actually just changing the turntable speed, so it’s not midi it’s another pitch mod?
Dope mod though. Wish I had the skills to do that mod.
How is that not MIDI? It’s just the way the incoming signal gets read – easy to hook e.g. a keyboard up to, or a MIDI Note Fader.
I wonder if I can hack my Rp8000 to do the same?!
The RP8000 already has ultrapitch doesn’t it? If you are referring to the MIDI-in feature, that could be done in a similar way as the PDX2000 MIDI mod that Backtrack invented – you would ‘hack’ the ultra-pitch in a similar way.