turntable News

[Akeel]

Here's some product news for y'all.

I've got the Technics 1200 MK5 in stock at Masterplan right now. This is the first of 3 new models technics is introducing this year. It includes a heavier duty tone arm and adjustable breaking. The Technics 1210 MK5 is the same as the one above except in black.

At the end of June the new flagship turntable from technics the MK5G will be shipping that includes digital pitch adjust and display of up to + or - 16, blue LED's reverse, adjustable start and stop, and more....MSRP on this is around 1300 bucks. each.

For entry level turntables, i'm really impressed with the new American Audio entry. (formally American DJ). For less than 500 bucks this turntable has 33/45/78, reverse, + or - 20, quartz lock, integrated chassis, adjustable start and stop on the fly(only turntable to currently offer this) and blue LED's all round. And the torque is stronger than the technics M3D and MK2.

I've tested this last turntable pretty extensively and for the money, its definately a great deal. I dont know if I would trade my 1200's in for this just yet, but for someone looking to get a quality deck with a low price, this is a good bet.

If anyone wants to come in and try the Vestax PDX-2000 decks, setup with studio reference monitors and the brand new Vestax 180 mixer (which does not have EQ's but actually 3 seperate frequency isolators per channel). come in to Masterplan anytime from Wednesday to Saturday and ask for me.

[oliver]

the thing that interests me the most is the +/- 16 pitch on that... nice ;)

if only technics would come out with a turntable that has the seperate pitch and tempo controls.... so useful.

a question, how does, if at all, digital pitch adjustment differ from analog? pros, cons?

[Akeel]

the only company to ever make a true digital pitch adjust is vestax. its available on the PDX-8000 and the D3S. How this works is instead of increasing the speed that the platter is rotating at, the single is digitally processed to a higher pitch before being sent to the mixer. As far as I know, the platter does rotate faster but theoretically could stay constant. Adjustments are thus made by using a pitch control rather than touching the record

The technics "digital" pitch control, is not really digital but computerized would be a better term. Instead of the standard mechanical control to adjust pitch, it is now controlled by a chip, so the sensitivity can be adjusted from + or - 8 range, to a + or - 16 range.

The idea behind digital pitch adjustment is to eventually be able to allow turntables to distinguish between "pitch", "tempo" and "pitch control" on a turntable.

Pitch = the harmonic range of a song, an easy example of this would be when you play an acapella and the key changes because it has been sped up so it sounds like chipmunks. Thats the pitch or key of a track.

tempo = this is how fast the song is played or the Beats Per Minute in a track (BPM)

Pitch control = on a turntable, when you speed up a track, you not only increase its tempo, but also its pitch at the same time, since you are playing the record faster or slower than the speed it was cut at.

Digital pitch control is to allow you to spin your vinyl faster, without increasing record wear or changing the pitch of the song, just making the tempo faster.

This has been around on dj cd players for awhile, but is still relatively new to turntables.

Pros
- less wear on vinyl from not being spun at high revolutions
- pitch and tempo can be altered seperately or together
- digitally processed signal, which if used in conjunction with a digital output could make higher quality recordings.

Cons
- scratching cues wont be as accurate since the vinyl is rotating at a different speed then the record is being played
- another feature that could go wrong
- still new technology and not tested or supported fully by the majority of the dj market (pro and amateur).
- digitally processed signal might not process scratched/old/dirty records properly

I have yet to fully test a digital pitch turntable... but now i'm going to look into it some more and see if i can get those vestax ones in on demo.

I want a turntable with Master Tempo, that would be too sweet. I could speed it up as much as I wanted and not change the pitch at all.

[Rytalin]

Akeel.... I'm looking at the specs on the PDX 8000 right now and I don't see anything about having separate key and tempo control on it.

If there's no separate pitch/key and tempo control, then digital pitch control doesn't work much differently than analog control. The pitch slider is just digitized first, which makes it alot easier to have multiple pitch range settings, incorparate pitch bending control and pitch readout. People argue that you can get alot more accuacy with analog control, but honestly, if you use a 12 bit resolution or more to digitize the slider position, its gonna have the same sort of accuracy as an analog control. And it'll probaly be a bit more resistant to wear and tear as well.

[Cinto]

All i have to say is i still love my MKII's by far! never had a problem with them yet.."knock on wood" though i would like the +/- 16 but i've had my tables for 5 years come mid june! and they are holding up to my standards well!

but it's awsome to hear that the new designs are rockin! wouldn't mind tryin em out sometime though!

cinto

[Akeel]

Originally posted by Rytalin
Akeel.... I'm looking at the specs on the PDX 8000 right now and I don't see anything about having separate key and tempo control on it.

Your right, it doesnt. Thats what is in development for future models.

[Rytalin]

I'm hoping to see turntables/cd decks soon that utilize the MPEX algorithm for tempo and pitch control. (its the high end algorithm used in Cubase SX, and maybe Logic as well)... its pretty much seamless.

Or maybe a DSP that automatically locks itself onto the beat and slices it in realtime a la Recycle.

:)

dammit, now I 'm getting all excited

[Moon]

the new american audio entry sounds interesting. to be honest the mk5's sound like a waste of money.... i mean if you have the cash to get some pimped out decks with blue lights then go for it. but the m3d's and the mk2's are pretty darn solid. i beat the shit outta my decks and they still do the job right.

but akeel, interesting about the digital pitch controls. when are you working at masterplan till? i used to drop by often.... shawn (i think that was his name?) was the one who knew his stuff but seemed like masterplan had a big change in staff eh? didnt really go for a while cuz everyone i was talking to were top 40 djs.... and someone telling me there that sasha's choice for needles were the stanton 520sk's was pretty funny. but i'm glad you're in though when im in the area i'll definetly drop by.

[Akeel]

I think vestax will eventually come out on top. they actually consult with dj's for product development, where as Panasonic (technics parent company) is simply copying whats hot right now for the M5G. Vestax is constantly innovating and creating new things, like the Vestax faderboard, something like a mixer and keyboard combined.

K-Pryde - I'll be working at masterplan for the whole summer for sure, and maybe longer depending on if I go back to Halifax or not. Yeah, I'm positive I know who you talked to about the "sasha" thing...heh not to worry that person is sticking to lighting from here on in. I'm in Wed to Sat, come by anytime.

Rytalin - what i would be worried about then is losing signal quality, i mean granted if you use a high enough bit rate that shouldnt be a problem, but what if the signal gets processed at the turntable, then again at the mixer if your running an effect...and then say you have all that going through an isolator. that is a rare scenario but not a very far off one. I would think with all that digital processing you would end up with something sounding really shitty and processed. And i'm not a vinyl purist by any means, i'm just thinking that all that processing cant be a good thing.

[Rytalin]

Originally posted by Akeel
I think vestax will eventually come out on top. they actually
Rytalin - what i would be worried about then is losing signal quality, i mean granted if you use a high enough bit rate that shouldnt be a problem, but what if the signal gets processed at the turntable, then again at the mixer if your running an effect...and then say you have all that going through an isolator. that is a rare scenario but not a very far off one. I would think with all that digital processing you would end up with something sounding really shitty and processed. And i'm not a vinyl purist by any means, i'm just thinking that all that processing cant be a good thing.

That's why I'm hoping they use something along the lines (or better than) the MPEX algorithm. cos it does the job pretty seemlessly.

Even the algorithms used in Acid 3 are pretty damn good. I timecompressed a bunch of psytrance from 144 bpm to 180.. they kinda lost a bit of low end punch, but the tracks all still sound good for the most part.