Just bought a Vestax PDX 2000

Unsystematic

Unsystematic

New member
I just bought a Vestax PDX 2000 and am wondering what are some good quality needles to use within the $50 to $100 price range? I am new to turntables and will mainly be using it for taking samples off of LP's for my samplers but would like to use it for some light scratching too. What would be a good all around needle?:sing:
 
the shure 447 is nice

i have a shure whitelabel. it sounds great, supossedly less wear than ortofon... but if you were going to mix i'd say get ortofon
 
for some needles that are cheap but good the stanton 520sk dj craze signature works great. nice tracking and low cue burn.
 
i hade those craze needles man. They skip . Now i got a pair of shure m447 with like no weight on them and i cant make skip. Plus i seen videos of craze using shure needlez
 
Unsystematic said:
I just bought a Vestax PDX 2000 and am wondering what are some good quality needles to use within the $50 to $100 price range? I am new to turntables and will mainly be using it for taking samples off of LP's for my samplers but would like to use it for some light scratching too. What would be a good all around needle?:sing:
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For sampling you'll want an audiophile cart. If you buy a DJ one go for the Ortofon NiteClub.

For scratching (heavy) then you'll want a Shure M44-7 but we're talking serious turntablism. If you're only going to be doing the occasional scratch then the Ortofon NC will do you fine.

An alternative is the Shure M44-G but it's not going to sound as good as the Ortofon. You actually may be better off buying a Shure M44-7 for scratching and an audiophile cart for sampling (I have no idea what to recommend here but I'm sure others do).
 
An alternative is the Shure M44-G but it's not going to sound as good as the Ortofon. You actually may be better off buying a Shure M44-7 for scratching and an audiophile cart for sampling (I have no idea what to recommend here but I'm sure others do).
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If you get Ortofon NC: just get a Ortofon OM20 or OM30 audiophile styli and replace the NC styli for sampling.
The stylis are interchangeable between Ortofon DJ and Hifi carts.

Note that you will ruin the audiophile styli if you backcue, so be careful when cueing.

If you live in the US you could also check up on Grado carts as an alternative to Ortofons.
The sound isn´t as crisp as the Ortofons but Grado has well defined bass and mids.
--TeEm
 
but keep in mind the concords are designed to be used on a s shaped tone arm. the pdx is straight. while u can use a concord... it wil skip like crazy if u try to scratch with it. if u really want an ortofon.. get a head shell mount, not a concord. and if u want ONLY sound quality then get pickering. but that is strictly sound quality, no scratching. i guess ur best bet is an ortofon.. but make sure u get a headshell mount
 
WOW!

you know your rich when you buy a 400$ turntable JUST to sample off of...lol

congrats.
 
um.... is he supossed to sample off of a cheap deck? that defeats the purpose of sampling in the first place.
 
..........

Well if you simply wanted to sample something - you'd get much much better results from a $150 hifi turntable than a PDX-2000.
Also i can't see how using a concorde cart makes any difference than using a normal headshell in a straight arm deck? They're both built to have the same overhang / height etc.
Anyone know something i'm not aware of here?
 
You're right about that, concorde or OM won't make any difference. I've tried a concorde on a straight arm and i can gurantee that it won't skip. However, be sure to go for spherical stylus because elliptical needles will probably make record wear higher with straight arms, especially if you plan to scratch.
 
personally, my fav cartridge is the Ortofon OM Scratch.

Tracks really well, doesnt cost much, looks nice, and sounds great! The ortofon scratch are really nice.

I've seen OM Scratch carts with an extra stylii or two go for $75 or so on eBay, brand new.

If you think about the ortofon vs the shure...
For $80 or so, you can get a headshell OM cartridge with 2 or 3 stylii... the ortofons certainly sound better, and the red scratch stylii tracks really well. the shure M447 will cost you between 50 and 70 dollars depending where you get it, and it has no extra stylii.. you do the math!

I'll stick with ORTOFON!
 
Thanks again for the tips! I bought the PDX not just to sample but for some scratching in the future. Yeah, I shelled out some cash, but I figured if I have the cash, go for some decent equipment so I won't have to spend the extra time and money selling old gear and upgrading. I've done my research and made a thorough decision. :cheers:
 
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I read somewhere about how the Vestax are geared more towards scratching. That's the purpose of me getting them. In the meantime I 'll use the vinyls I pick up for sampling here and there for my MPC 60 and ASR-X Pro, while practicing the technique..




:cheers:
 
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