I'm looking into getting a new set of needles fairly soon and want to know what kind of needles you guys perfer. I'm buying these for mixing trance/house and not at all interested in scratching capabilities.

Which do you think have the best sound quality of the ones out there? Also which ones do you think have the best price/performance of their line?

Overall, I beleive the black ortofon concord needles to be the best.
Their frequency response is good, they are not a over-heavy needle so they won't damage your choons, they feel rather nice, have a good "wing" to pick them up off the needle, the heads can be easily and cheaply relaced, they are fairly tough and look fucking smart. This is of course taking into account the price. There are needles with better frequency resonse (stanton trackmasters ect) but I personally think they feel to "big" , they damage your records bad and they are expensive not only to buy , but also to replace stylus.
Hope this helped.

I agree that the Ortofons are best for mixing trance/house. I use the nightclubs with the bright yellow tip and they're awesome. They have a very clean stylus and the needle is very easy to see, making it a great needle for positioning on the vinyl. It holds the groove very well during backcuing and the sound quality is mint. However at 130 dollars per cartridge, they're mad expensive.

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Yep, the ortofons are best. The only negative about them is that if your needle weight is not perfect (I am obsessive about this) people I know have had to replace them (the stylus) after only 4 months, so make sure they are set up properly.

yeah! get the ortofons.. i've been using the nightclub s for the last 5 years or so and they still look and sound like new!.. if you the weight of the tone arm right the stylus should be able to last you at least a year

Well I think I'll second everybody's opinion, the Ortofon line is the absolutely best DJ cart you can get for your money right now ...
Myself, I prefer the blue Ortofon DJ tue to higher lateral compliance and stiffer suspension than the Nightclubs, which allows them to track better (skip less) while maintaining equal sound quality.
Also, most ortofon carts need relatively little tracking force (I'm running mine with 2.5 grams) compared to other carts which require up to 4-5 g to track properly.

I would definitely advise against the Stanton Track / Disk / Groovemaster and the iTrack series due to some VERY bad experiences with them (skipping, cart body falling apart, easily damaged stylus).

peace

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