I am a newbie to the DJ world and about to make some purchases. I know to buy the Technic 1200's. Will be spinning trance but also hip hop and want to be able to scratch. Does the mixer matter? Was thinking of getting the Vestax PCV 275. Also my understanding is that I need special cartridges to scratch...is this true?

thx in advance.

You don't need special cartridges, but it will be better if you have them..

And yes, the mixer matters, Check out the Roland DJ-1000+scratch fader.. it's very good for mixing, abd with the scratch fader it is also very good for scratching.

Another mixer which is good for both mixing and scratching is the Gemini UMX-9.

Check those out...

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I will check those mixers out.

If I was going to pick up those special cartridges, what would those be called? While I am at it, do I need any other special accessories for scratching?

Thanks again...I am glad I asked before I spent the $$$.

Check out those cartridges:

• Shure M44-7.. the best carts for scratching and also pretty good for mixing.
  
• Ortofon Concorde Scratch.. great cartridge
  for both mixing and scratching.
  
• Ortofon OM Scratch.. same as the concorde scratch only with out the headshell part.
  

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what the hell are cartridges?

Cartridge is the box that holds the stylus (the needle).

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oh okay

So i found a good site for the different mixers and descriptions.
http://www.123dj.com

What features of a mixer make it better for:
Scratching and hip hop?
Mixing Trance?

thx.

For mixing Trance you need a seperate EQ for each channel and you need it to be pretty powerfull.

For scratching you need a good scratch crossfader, if you can get a mixer with curve control it will be ideal..

Just tell me your budget and i'll help you.

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Nice. Thx. I think I would like to spend up in between $300 - $500 max on the mixer. Talking to a friend about turntables, I hear the vestax pdx 2000 is up and coming. It is not the standard technics, but I hear they are superior and getting recognition. know much about them too?

The PDX-2000's are trully great, but no one knows how much time they will last.. they just haven't been around long enough.

As for now, some ppl say they're better than 1200's and some say the 1200's are better... if you want to scratch alot, those are the ones for you! they are made for scratching, but they're also great for mixing. and theur torque is higher than 1200's.

For 300$-500$ you can buy yourself a Stanton SK-2F LTD.. which is a very good mixer for both scratching and mixing.. you also can get a Vestax PMC-05pro which is the standard mixer for scratching, and very good for mixing.. both have curve control.

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