Alright I am looking at getting 2 Numark TT-1700 belt drive turntables, a Behringer DX 500 Pro Mixer, Sony MDR-V600 headphones, Armadillo Case, mixmag limited edition DJ bag, and approx. 26 vinyls.

The asking price is 400 firm so my question is, is all of this worth 400 dollars, and I should mention the tables each need a new stylus and cartridge, about how much are these? Is there any specific things I should be looking for or at when I go and look at the tables?

And here's a pic of the whatever he has on his tables, can it be replaced with just any stylus/cartridge? Sorry if all of this sounds n00b but alas I am



Thanks

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Originally posted by Techno-Addict Alright I am looking at getting 2 Numark TT-1700 belt drive turntables, a Behringer DX 500 Pro Mixer, Sony MDR-V600 headphones, Armadillo Case, mixmag limited edition DJ bag, and approx. 26 vinyls. The asking price is 400 firm so my question is, is all of this worth 400 dollars, and I should mention the tables each need a new stylus and cartridge, about how much are these? Is there any specific things I should be looking for or at when I go and look at the tables? And here's a pic of the whatever he has on his tables, can it be replaced with just any stylus/cartridge? Sorry if all of this sounds n00b but alas I am Thanks

Belt drive is a big no no mate. If you want to have any enjoyment out of learning to mix you at least need to get a direct drive TT. The reason is because a) the tourque sucks (you try to adjust the record by touching the platter and it stops all together) and b) the belt has a short lifespan and will wear out and need to be replaced. For these reasons you seriously need to get a direct drive TT. Trust me, you'll have alot more enjoyment using one.

So if I can try them and the torque is fine, would it be worth considering at all, from what I read if I end up being any good at all I will want new tables within 3 months. However the one advantage I have read about belt driven tables is they will force you to pay extra close attention to the pitch so steeper learning curve but if you get good you will be excellent.

Thoughts?

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Originally posted by Techno-Addict So if I can try them and the torque is fine, would it be worth considering at all, from what I read if I end up being any good at all I will want new tables within 3 months. However the one advantage I have read about belt driven tables is they will force you to pay extra close attention to the pitch so steeper learning curve but if you get good you will be excellent. Thoughts?

Get cheap direct drives.

It is imperative you get Direct drive. Don't get Belt drive. Even if you get cheap direct drive you'll still get good practice at beat matching.

Don't get belt drive. Definetly not, don't let anyone tell you different.

Don't get belt drive

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**Man I'm Pretty**

with belt drive turntables, the main problem is the wow + flutter. it is not any where near as controllable as on a direct drive deck, because as the belt ages it will stretch more and more and thus have less hold on the pitch you want. not to mention all the other problems you may encounter that other people have spoken about.

definitely go for direct drive, if you want numark have a look at the tt-1650's, or look at the citronic pd1 (great budget deck). they are cheap as chips and great to start out on, although you will no doubt grow out of them after a while. its good practice learning on budget decks, you learn to concentrate harder on what you are doing with the deck, and you have to give them a lot of attention to keep a mix tight. you will find everything a peice of piss when you eventually replace your equipment for more proffesional stuff.

regarding the carts, have a look at the stanton 500al's. they are great for the price. so long as the decks have headshells you will be fine (when you buy brand new this is always the case), otherwise you will have to look at concorde style carts which attatch directly to the tonearm.

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MUGGETS

Ok, going to save more for DD, thanks for all of the tips but I am still unsure of the headthing or directly attaching to the tone arm, from the pics I had seen of his tables there was nothing on the tone arm it just kinda stopped so I think I would need the concordes If I was to buy them but I'm not.. so thank you again all

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Originally posted by Techno-Addict Ok, going to save more for DD, thanks for all of the tips but I am still unsure of the headthing or directly attaching to the tone arm, from the pics I had seen of his tables there was nothing on the tone arm it just kinda stopped so I think I would need the concordes If I was to buy them but I'm not.. so thank you again all

Well, if you were to buy them, thank god you're not, they should have orginally come with a headshell to mount the cartridge on if you want to mount on that's not an integrated cart (i.e. Ortofon Concordes, Shure Whitelables etc.). Whether he still has those is another question, but I guess this is a moot point anyways.

Replacement headshells are pretty ceap anyway. what, like $15 each?



This is the style of cartridge that doesn't need a headshell (Ortofon Nighclubs)


This is what a cartridge on a headshell looks like (Shure M44-7):


The photo you posted if of a cartridge mounted on a headshell. Either get headshells and that style of cartridge (such as the Sure M44-7), or integrated cartridges (such as the Ortofon Nightclubs)

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-tom