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Posted by sym on Jan-13-2003 02:53:

Advice on new Cartdriges

My sister just broke one of my stylii. I was gunna upgrade my cartridges anyway. I don't know what brand these ones are, They're gemini, nothing to brag about but they were doing the job of letting me practice... Just got my mixer about 3 Weeks ago, so they were fairly new....

Anyways... I wanted to get Ortofon Nighclubs. However these are kinda pricey, and was thinking of getting another model of Ortofons as i understand when it comes time to replace those stylii I could alwaysbuy nightclub ones.

Soooo... what I am asking is what are some good cartridges to buy? And where is a site based in US Perferably that has good prices...

Posted by sot on Jan-13-2003 03:05:

Get the Ortofon concorde's. I have em and there fucking great in terms of quality of sound and durability. I highly recomend these. If you live near a guitar center, i highly recomend you goto www.123dj.com check out the price on the ortofon concordes than print it out than goto guitar center and buy them there because they gurantee the lowest price. That's the best way to do things.

Posted by sym on Jan-17-2003 01:40:

^ bump

Posted by u4ea on Jan-17-2003 15:03:

Shure M44G

If you already have a set of headshells & you aren't looking to drop a bunch of money...I'd recommend picking up a pair of Shure M44Gs. They aren't as sexy as the Ortofons...but they have crystal clear highs and deep lows. I just purchased a pair, and I'm extremely satisfied with the clarity. They are also the easiest on your vinyl. I don't think you can buy a cartride that does less damage to your records. Even with their low tracking weight, the things just don't skip (assuming you have your tonearm balanced correctly). I don't want to start an argument with Ortofon users, hell, I think Ortofons are awesome. However, I've heard on various TA forums that the Ortofon needles wear down a bit faster than other needles...causing you to replace your styli more often.

I do the same thing that fellow TA Sot does...I research the product I want to buy, find the lowest price on the internet, print it out, and then bring it to Guitar Center so they can price match it. They were selling the M44Gs for $75/each. I found a place online (click here ) that sells them for 45/each. So, essentially I saved $60...that's 6 extra records I can buy now!

You can probably find them cheaper elsewhere...if you dig deep enough.

Posted by MERiDiAN5i2 on Jan-17-2003 20:20:

$45 is about the best you'll get for M44Gs - thats an EXCELLENT deal too.

seriously though, the M44Gs are nice. they track really well and dont wear your records.

the ortofon's DO sound better, though! My preference in the ortofon line is the scratch ones (they red ones) - they track really well and sound grrr-eat!

check eBay - I've seen LOTS of new ortofon's go cheaply!

Posted by The Greener on Jan-18-2003 09:38:

If you plan on getting new carts get bannana's, and leave the headshell era behind (unless you require turntable fidelity Quality beyond DJ quality setups).

1) any elliptical ortofon (not sure if they even make spherical)
2) Groovemaster II's, NOT Scratchmaster's(spherical) the GrooveII's(elliptical)are more $
3)(anything with elliptical and NOT spherical stylii)

Posted by JohnSmith on Jan-18-2003 18:38:

Except that elliptical stylii wear your records more!

I think i want to try getting some elliptical tips, and putting them on my stanton TMIISK carts.

then i can use the SK ones for practicing at home, and the elliptical ones for playing out or recording.

Posted by Alccode on Jan-18-2003 19:19:

Posted by Arsalan on Jan-18-2003 21:22:

quote:
Originally posted by JohnSmith
Except that elliptical stylii wear your records more!

I think i want to try getting some elliptical tips, and putting them on my stanton TMIISK carts.

then i can use the SK ones for practicing at home, and the elliptical ones for playing out or recording.

i read this review from this site and i think it was posted here so try a search...

anyways it said if you start playing your records with an elliptical tip then you will get better sound all the time but if you start with a spherical(or whatever) tip and then use eliptical tip it wouldn't make a dif in the sound, so pick 1 type and then stick to that unless you have tons of money

Posted by The Greener on Jan-19-2003 00:17:

quote:
Originally posted by JohnSmith
Except that elliptical stylii wear your records more!

I think i want to try getting some elliptical tips, and putting them on my stanton TMIISK carts.

then i can use the SK ones for practicing at home, and the elliptical ones for playing out or recording.

Elliptical stylii wear LESS because the shape has More contact area in the Groove.
Spherical wear MORE because the shape allows point contact. less surface contact creating more friction.

DO the RESEARCH YOURSELF. Don't take what I or anyone says, but base your choice on your FACTS not speculation from others. I always do the reasearch, weigh the cost & benifits, and I went Elliptical.

Yo John Smith I haven't forgot buot' letting you use my GII Stylus. Will PM later

Posted by sym on Jan-20-2003 23:28:

So do Nightclub Concorde S's wear significantly on your records? I'm just using them for practice, but my parents said they would buy me a new set of carts since my sis broke mine...

Posted by Tsunami One on Jan-21-2003 02:17:

you get what you pay for.. if you have got the cash get the best. saves you $ in the long run as well.

Posted by -<:VenMys:>- on Jan-28-2003 00:27:

Personally, I wouldn't even worry about record wear, unless your a scratch DJ. You could play a record continuously 1000+ times and it will still sound the same as the first day you bought the record. Just take care of your vinyl really well and who gives a shit about record wear. I have the SHURE M44-7's and I'm really pleased with em'. I can't compare to Ortofon as I've never had experience with those, but when I was first getting into mixing, and buying my equipment, the salesman reccomended these. Plus, they're made for scratching also with a high output sound, which means record wear will be at a minimum. Those are my opinions.

Peace,

Steve

Posted by Acid John on Jan-28-2003 09:41:

well, yes record wear does matter.

i speak from experiance. i havent been djing that long, but luckily, my first record was kai tracid-trance & acid. i love it, and play it often. i have noticed that over time, the sound quality has gone down from when i first got it.

also, i'd like to do a little test sometime. buy two copies of the same record, get the same kind of carts, except one would be spherical, and the other elliptical. run the records at the same time, and max the volume on the soundsystem. i would want to cross back and forth between the records, and hear live...with no stop in sound, what the difference is in sound quality.

and about which wears records more...elliptical, or spherical, i read a little shure booklet thing i picked up last time i went out for records. it said that sphericals wear vinyl less than ellipticals. no offence, but im gunna trust shure, the company that makes the carts, about the difference

Posted by JohnSmith on Jan-28-2003 16:22:

quote:
Originally posted by The Greener
Elliptical stylii wear LESS because the shape has More contact area in the Groove.
Spherical wear MORE because the shape allows point contact. less surface contact creating more friction.

DO the RESEARCH YOURSELF. Don't take what I or anyone says, but base your choice on your FACTS not speculation from others. I always do the reasearch, weigh the cost & benifits, and I went Elliptical.

Yo John Smith I haven't forgot buot' letting you use my GII Stylus. Will PM later

cool, i'm waiting for the PM.

as for elliptical Vs spherical, i have heard "facts" from both sides saying one wears records less. common sense tells me that elliptical would wear MORE of the record, because it is contacting more of it. BUT it would wear those parts of the record LESS, because more surfact contact means less pressure.

and for your elliptical needles the extra part of the record that they would be wearing would not even be reachable by a spherical stylus, so you would never know.

so, elliptical seems the choice to go. besides they are more expensive, so they must be better right?

and.. to however said play a record 1000+ times and not notice a difference... your tranceaddict in training status is showing man.

records detioriate EVERY time you play them. maybe not much, but a bit. after 1000 plays i can almost guarantee i would notice a difference, especially if there was a decent amount of weight on there.

Posted by YellowG555 on Jan-28-2003 23:06:

I just got a pair of M44G's because I was worried about record wear from my nightclubs. The difference in highs is clear to me; the highs from the shures sound grainy at times while from the ortofons the highs are clear, although a bit muted in comparison. I can live with that small difference because of the less weight required by the shures, but if I do a broadcast or a recording, I'm going to stick my nightclubs on the tonearms.

The only other gripe I have with the shures is the inability to accurately tell where on the vinyl the needle is, since the cartridge is so wide. With the ortofons, it's easy to tell where the needle is at within seconds.

Not major issues with the shures, as I got them for $44 each, and they track extremely well without skipping for 1.5 grams of weight. Overall, they are good practice cartridges in my opinion, but for gigs, broadcasts/live events...I'd go with ortofons any day.

Posted by Phu on Jan-30-2003 08:39: