There’s nothing quite like a story about turntables to get sabres rattling. The passion exhibited by the Technics die-hards is striking, as is the more pragmatic approach from those who care more about the features than if it’ll last for decades. Thus posting is usually followed by a torrent of diverse opinions, ranging from “Technics for life” to “if only they’d added (insert long list of science fiction stuff)”. And this has certainly been the case with the Pioneer PLX-1000. So given the wide-ranging feeling surrounding just what the new Pioneer turntable does and doesn’t have, I’m wondering about exactly what you lot do really want, and if the manufacturers are delivering the turntable that you need.
Given the incredible success and complete love that Technics still garner, it’s no surprise that the current trend of new turntables appears to not deviate too far from the Technics blueprint. Indeed, most of the market to uses the super OEM Hanpin DJ-5500 as a base, but with a twist or two of their own to differentiate them from each other.
But what we end up with is a market rather dominated by the same decks, albeit with some differences. Of course there is Vestax doing its own thing with the PDX range, and Numark really changing things up with the TTXUSB, the latter in particular throwing the rulebook out of the window and really pushing style and design beyond what people are used to.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
This is where you come in. I want to know what you expect from new turntables. Do you want just the basics in a 1200 style? Perhaps a little more envelope pushing with some MIDI action via buttons and some sort of syncing? Or do you want everything including hardware air horns, sirens, touch screens, wifi, cup holders, Spotify, iPad docks, and just about everything that has yet to be invented?
Or do you just want Technics because nothing else will do?
Equally, do you have ideas of your own that you’d love to see happen? Share them here. I made a poll – please fill it in. Every bit of data helps.
[polldaddy poll=8196862]
NOTE: The Piorestanumartaxnics SLRPPDXSTR-120080003000150 shown is in bedroom mode (air horn points into room). Not available in any shops. Ever.
“NOTE: The Piorestanumartaxnics SLRPPDXSTR-120080003000150 shown is in bedroom mode (air horn points into room). Not available in any shops. Ever. ”
Aww Man, Thats exactly what I wanted!!
A turntable with hardware air horn can’t be that hard to do right?
My only question is how expensive would a recharge be (assuming a replaceable canister of air is used) or how loud is the compressor (assuming it’s self-recharging)
For the time being, being hooked up to a compressed air line is recommended, especially in US hip hop clubs.
lol… i wonder if they hit up a garage sale from the old jungle scene?
You added my airhorn idea to it. :)
Direct DVS platter control… Every time i see a thread about turntables, that’s all i want.
DVS by definition is digital vinyl system. in this case a constant digital tone is read from a piece of vinyl, this tone sets the tempo for the digital file being played, the tempo in turn is controlled by the pitch on the turntable.
what you are referring to is a motorized digital controller, not to be confused with DVS. it controls the software, but runs in internal mode instead.
Ok captain pedant, everyone knows what i meant.
I voted just the basics but cheaper, I own a pair of old 1210s and they work just fine. Have them set up with traktor as dvs. I saw the new pioneer ones and really liked them as they aren’t trying to cram loads of new tech in and are similar to Technics (maybe even better yet, only time will tell). Only thing with them is the price. .. too much for me to jump in just for the hell of it. For me a basic deck gives me more flexibility in some ways depending on what other add ons I choose
Answering the question, I believe a “next gen” turntable should have more features; wide pitch, reverse and maybe some form of midi control.
However, I think Pioneer have gone the right way with the PLX. Most vinyl DJs want Technics, so a solid Technics replacement makes sense, especially if these start showing up in clubs. (I dislike having to take turntables with me to gigs, but I dislike CDJs even more, lol).
My dream decks would be something along the lines of a 12″ Numark V7/Denon SC3900 crossed with a Reloop RP-8000. A Technics without the tonearm with no added controls would be an ideal cheaper alternative to that – allowing DJs to just use their preferred add-on controllers (Dicer, SP-1) or on-board mixer controls.
Vestax PDX 2000 has wide pitch, reverse and a nice straight tonearm…no midi but probably only a hack away
I own a pair of PDX-2000s, they’re fantastic turntables!
I’ve mentioned this before in the comments on DJWORX, but in my opinion Vestax’s Ultra Pitch is the best implementation of wide pitch on the market. With +/-50% on a separate, secondary pitch control, you maintain the accuracy of the standard +/-10% on the primary pitch control.
I’ve had my pair from new for well over 10 years, both working great, no problems at all & the startup speed is super quick. They’re a great turntable & you can pick them up quite cheap now.
I really like them too (owned pair of 2000mk2’s), but imho the build quality wasn’t so good (wobbling platters, no rubber coat on the bottom of the platter..) more attention to details and it would be a perfect turntable..
the problem with the PDX 2000 is that the tonearm is bad for regular vinyl, i use my turntables for both DJing and playing music as a hi-fi deck.
So S-Shaped is a better option for me, but it would have been nice if the tonarm on the Pioneer was swapable like on the Numark TTX for scratching.
All in all im happy that turntables are still alive because its in mky heart to drop a needle on the record, nothing can ever replace that and Pioneer finally comes out with a DJ deck after over 10 years of CDJ manufacturing. it’s about time.
I’ve found that I’m rather happy with the feature set my Stanton STR8-150’s have, although some days I wonder if I should have gone with the s-arm instead. It would be pretty neat to have the swappable tonearms Numark’s TTX’s have, or even out of the box Traktor support in the ReLoop RP-8000’s.
Ignoring the obvious answer of “relatively durable gear”, I also find dual start/stop buttons quite handy, not to mention adjustable start and braking times.
was thinking of a pair of the RP-7000’s for my Z2, but held off due to the surge issue when killing power on the deck.
Same. The surge and the lack of signal when you power down are both disappointing aspects of the RP7000. That white is killer, too, but oh well.
Can I have a mk2 with HID connection to Serato and 50% pitch? Thank you in advance!
I’m all for a solid, good quality tt with just a few new nice features like midi. The only thing I don’t like about the RP-8000 is the power switch not being separated from the motor power (like the ST150), and the platter speeding up briefly when the motor turns off. Minor quirks I could deal with though, it’s almost perfect.
Even 50% pitch on the PLX-1000 is too much.
I have one cheap OEM turntable with 78rpm, reverse, ultra-pitch… and never needed anything.
The Technics and now Pioneer have everything the DJ needs.
The best move by Pio was to put a 7″ single adaptor to their model so the well established Dicer can be fitted in.
+/- 50% is a musthave for ppl using ultrapitched scratch tools (more hand control at slower speed)
I believe the RP-8000 has gotten it as close to right as possible if your looking for the next generation of turntable. Keeping all the basics while giving you the ability to dive into the digital realm, all at a price $100.00 dollars more then you “Super Basic” Pioneer PLX-1000
I love the look of the PLX-1000 though. No lie, but at that price I am not overly excited about it. Give it midi functions, connect ability and native control to Serato like the RP-8000, then I could be ubber excited about it. But without those features….. this thing offers less then a Stanton ST-150 at over $100 dollars more.
I read a comment once, and the guy was saying how we don’t exactly need high torque, since that could be done via the software. in the pio story, someone said high torque TTs are difficult to beat juggle on, which is very true. we keep tALKING ABOUT COST, so I’d buy a turntable if the motor was smaller, lighter, cheaper, and I got more features and software. so trade the old direct drive motor ideas for newer embedded computer ideas, and there’s the future of turntables. a 9″ platter on the same size chassis could leave plenty of space for the optional midi buttons or touchscreen. but again we come right back to why turntables are being pushed onto people again, because they are simple machines that don’t require a lot of customer service……the ooposite being true for computers and midi
personally, I would like a motorized player that ran as a live sampler, to which I would connect my tv, and at any time I could rewind and scratch 20 seconds of audio or video. digging up stuff to scratch is just too much work
Interesting question, I can see 3 camps of DJs that would want 3 different turntables. All three were born from the 1200’s but needs grew further apart as a result of the music created and the crowds that followed particular genres of music. The DVS camp would probably put built like a tank, motor consistency, ease of use (button placement) at the top of their list. Controllerists would obviously value Midi/HID, more buttons/pads. And DJ’s that use turntables to play vinyl need sound quality, pitch control, and durability. Some things all 3 would like…Build quality being #1 on the list, but the sound quality of a turntable won’t matter much to a DVS user since the soundcard and software drive the sound quality and a House Music Dj playing vinyl could care less about any extra buttons.
I think the dream solution would be a modular turntable that could plug in different parts to fit needs. Having 3 different tables ( or even 2 as Reloop does) sounds good but in reality not sure it would work for 1 basic reason. The necessary price difference between models. What would happen ( and where I think the Reloop RP-8000 turntable will lose out) is that you can buy the cheaper turntable with no midi / and or pads and get a 3rd party Dicer, DDJ-SP1, etc and have more features and close to the same price if not lower.
Which brings me to why I think the PLX is designed the way it is. It is the best way to keep happy all three camps. The hardest DJ camp to keep happy would be the Controllerists but the addition of a DDJ-SP1 to the PLX is a good option. The DVS camp is happy because they get a cool looking 1200 clone that they know like the back of their hands, and the vinyl DJs get sound quality.
So I would say Pioneer made the only turntable they could given the current needs of the market and the products that they already had in place to complement it.
and I’m not a Pioneer fanboy. My current setup is a Vestax PMC-580 Pro (one of the best mixers ever made in my opinion) a pair of CDJ-900’s and a pair of Reloop RP-4000 M3D’s.. But I will be getting the PLX’s when they are available. I didn’t want to pay $1200 for a pair of used 1200’s with no warranty, high repair costs, etc. and the Vestax PDX’s were even more than that. I could have purchased the Stanton’s. They are quality turntables, but like a lot of people, all other things being equal, I want my equipment to match…and the PLX seems to be at the right price point for me.
Integrating some sort of DVS is only a matter of software implementation. Stanton scs.1d or V7 are examples… Implement it inside a regular turntable is easy as put the cdx/hdx motor (with dedicated encoder for platter and vinyl) and output whatever Midi/Hid signal you need (and DVs host support)
So this step is probably solved soon by Reloop/Pioneer for Serato and… Well about traktor the same “hack” is more or less hybrid mode (transforming the encoder signal into a “readable by traktor” sinus…) so… Why not to make a new kind of gear?
Let me explain.
Imagine a groovebox (or Trigger finger pro pseudo groovebox) with integrated sequencer (tfp has it implemented in standalone use) and imagine shape it around a turntable. Put some pads for perform (like Ns7mk2) and create your tunes in realtime (remix deck with Digitalwarrior/Traxus approarches could do it just right now)
Then you can scratch the whole tune (Do you remember what was missing in the Serato The Bridge?) and bump!
You have the best integration between Traktor and Maschine.
i don’t mind the deck being basic i just want a proper accompanying midi controller, that pioneer serato thing is pretty good but still a few things id like to change for my personal preferences
i would love a light weight option (maybe even 7″) i have traveled to many places by plane where there are just not any turntables for rent. light weight would save me a lot of trouble.
i’d be happy with either the new pioneer TT or the Reloop 7000 if either one had the same rez as a tech-12.
I think the modularity is the key.
Imagine a CDJ style 12″ stuff.
Many djs have NEVER touched any vinyl in their life, but they played on CDJ or controller. They would like big platters also.
It could be cheap and light.
The button pushers could buy expensions for it,
the vinly guys could buy motor for it and tonearm. S/straight.
The encoder and touch fans can add other modules.
An Intel Atom (new gen) could give the win/os whatever option for low price, even dual touch screen.
One for the browsing and average feedback for the VDJ/Traktor/Serato options; another as a vinyl replacemt for interactive cue marks, real “label flow”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOj9D72ZZyE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gomQonGAj3w
If the vinyl is a flexible, thin Amoled display, the image latency could be super low, and the usefull ideas from these two videos could be done.
Motorized fader like the SCS.1d for many options.
Modular mixer in the middle.
The entire concept should be like LEGO
I have more ideas :)
dude, I’m cringing every time I see you stop that platter with your hand. for the love of god!!!
just the basics. What you learn at home on the basics. You can do it in a club or other place too. If you don’t bring your tables to the venue.
I’m so glad to see the TTXUSB receiving the recognition it deserves. It’s a terrific machine.
I just want an inexpenisve “2 decks n a mixer” solution that WORKS. In my area a pair of 1200’s goes for 850 at the MINIMUM.. Hopefully DjTech can come through for me.
1200s for life, I’ve owned five of them and know how they react.
I’d kind of like a digital pitch read out. The only reason is to know whether my pitch was calibrated or not. I wouldn’t know how off my pitch was without Serato and, regardless of everyone having a digital DJ software of some sort, it would be nice to have. Interchangeable tonearms sound nice, but I don’t know how well they worked with the Numarks. Adjustable torque. Hmm….I don’t see a need for MIDI, but I’m sure there are a lot of DJ’s who would love built in Dicers. To me it seems like more to go wrong and added cost. They definitely need to make this thing cheaper. I get that it’s on par with the M5G and all that, but will it be $100 better than what’s out right now? We’ll see.
Pioneer should create a nexus with a display screen and usb/rekordbox support. Goodbye DVS!
I’ve got basic turntables for days… and if I need another there’s still plenty of fresh stock collecting dust in the stores (and of course loads of unappreciated used 1200s available).
If we’re talking about a “next generation” turntable, then yes I absolutely want some next level capability to go along with it. Vinyl will of course always work how it works (although I suppose a company could incorporate a sampler into a deck), so the only buyers seeking a next gen deck should be ones who intend to pair the deck with software …and in this case, MIDI capability makes perfect sense.
I Have a idea for Technics turntable called
DSL 1200mK 1R
No Knob, Power Switch or Knob, or On off
No Start/Stop Switch
No SpeedSelector (45-33-1/3r.p.m.)
No target light button
No pitch control
No reset button
A switch similar to a macbook pro’s turn on and off button will be On Off switch for this, It will also illuminate the Technics DSL 1200mk 1R logo in white as standard
All will be displayed on retina touchscreen along with the target light ,reset activation an adjusting start/ braking
Adjusts tempo range can be 8,10,16 an 50 %.
Platter illustrated shown sideways and displayed on retina screen as dots like the platter we love to see an have today.
Quartz locking on all speeds well be colour coordinated green +8% yellow 0% red -8% and well be found where the pitch control unit is in all mk2,3,4,5,mk5g an mk6 models.
The motor should be Direct Drive Quartz lock like you was playing on your Serato’s internal mode, no fluctuation or burrs.
Technics EPA 250 tonearm with anti skipping tonearm system. Located towards the back of the base is a small metallic knob which lessens left/right movement of the tonearm during hard scratch play, just like the Mk5G.
An this well all be in white aluminium finish to match SE-R1 .
Now thats what i call a God like turntable that has new an old look’s
Thats all I’am saying.
schrachhead’s dream: something like PDX-3000 series – separated +/- 50% ultrapitch and +/- 10% finepitch, straight skipless tonearm, reverse, adjustable start & break, pitch reset and midi, detachable cables, integrated grounding, but PLEASE IN HIGH QUALITY, with attention to detail (no cheap plastic materials), with rubber coated bottom of the platter, which won’t be WOBBLING.. to be honest I would like to see the vestax turntable manufactured at least in quality of TTX USB