I agree...direct drive all the way (the 60s are only $10 more than the 50s)
And let me get in a word before this thread is flooded with "save up and buy technics" - I think there's something to be said for learning on crap equipment. It makes you a better dj. In the future, you'll be able to handle any type of equipment thrown at you at any gig, rather than throwing a hissy fit because the warehouse party your spinning at doesn't have techs and a A&H mixer. I learned to beatmatch on one gemini and one numark (both belt drives) with a Behringer $90 mixer with no eqs and the loosest scratch fader you've ever seen. Because of this, I developed a really good touch, and the fact that I had crappy equipment meant that I had to work that much harder and appreciate mixing more. And lets face it - most people who think they want to be a dj give up after a couple of months anyway, just like with golf and cooking and any other thing. If your kid wants to learn to play the keyboad, do you buy him a Korg Triton right off? No, you buy him a Casio, and then if he likes it and sticks with it and gets better and outgrows the Casio, it's on to bigger and better things. A decently treated pair of str8-50s will last you a year or more, after which you can pawn them off on some other beginner for $100. For anyone who wants to be a dj but is starting with no equipment, $450 can get you two decks with needles and a mixer, and you can probably get the store to throw in cables. You'll be up and running on gear you can fvck around with, take to friends houses and parties without having to worry about it all that much, and then if you decide djing is something for you, it's time to get serious.
And anyway, how are you ever going to appreciate the torque of a tech if you don't start at the bottom?
