TT200/500 vs Tech 12's new vs used

[Inverted314]

Whats good FP?

Looking to get back into production and leave computers for good and get setup with hardware. Anyways I'm getting a MPC1k and I plan to make mostly sampled beats. With my budget after I get the MPC and some affordable monitors that leaves money for turntables. From my calculations I'm only going to have enough money for one turntable, which will be fine for sampling. However I don't want a cheaper turntable dedicated for sampling because when I get some more money I want to get another deck and a mixer to learn DJ cutting/mixing/scratching. I want to be able to apply scratches and cuts to my beats.

ANYWAYS, my question is, as legendary as Technics are, I also know they are well over 25 years old and competition has increased dramatically in the last few years. Basically I want to know if I should go with a NEW Numark TT200/500 (is the 500 much better for scratching and should I just take the 200 off the list?) or should I opt for a used, older 1200 Mk2?

I appreciate any help!
Thanks everyone

- V

 

[Strat]

im looking to get either a mpd24 or 32 and went to the mpc forums to see what i should get. i bumped into turntable threads. according to some "experts" over there, for sampling, a direct drive table is not good. so on that thread they came up with some wierd old table that was best for sampling. and some cartridge and stylus aimed for audio quality as opposed to scratching.

in my noob opinion i found those threads ridiculous. i dont see nothing wrong with my tt500. these are tt200 in action (i just posted in another thread)..
technics is living off their name if u ask me.









but. thats if ur gonna use computers. i think ur hustlin backwards leaving computers/technology behind. but hey, thats jus my noob opinion.

scratch perverts

 

[Renaissance31]

As someone who's used both, I can tell you that Technics are nice, but TT500s and TTX's have comparable torque for scratching. Belt drive vs. direct drive doesn't matter that much (most pros use 1200's anyway.) TT200's are a little weak, but if you're just sampling I imagine anything would work.

The cartridge is kind of important, just get a nice Ortofon/Shure cart that says it's for sound quality rather than scratching.

On a side note, I know Alchemist uses a TT500, if that matters at all. Any deck will do though if you just want to record sound.

 

[Inverted314]

Remember guys, I plan on getting a second turntable and mixer later on so i have a scratching setup. Here is my next question - Are needles and heads so important that I should have a dedicated turntable with sound quality head and a seperate pair of decks for scratching? I've never owned a turntable before so I don't know how long it takes to swap needles.

but. thats if ur gonna use computers. i think ur hustlin backwards leaving computers/technology behind. but hey, thats jus my noob opinion.

Believe me bro, I've tried. I REALLY wanted to go the computer route because it's cheaper, and so versatile, but I just get too distracted for it to work. When I try and make a beat in FL studio or something I get distracted and start going on to ebay and web browsing. Im kinda a computer addict so Im trying to get away from that. Also I would need a new computer. My laptop sucks and freezes all the time, something I definately dont want in the middle of a dope beat.

 

[Strat]

the best numark table is supposed to be the ttxusb. goes from tt200, tt500, ttx1, ttx, ttxusb.
just like technics started with the sl-1200 but had it almost perfected with the sl-1200 mkII. same goes with the other tables. i dont know how many years there are btwn the sl-1200 and the 1200 mkII. but i know the numark ttxusb is supposed to be bug free. stay away from the earlier models of the tt500 and ttx (called ttx1). there are some ttx1 owners who say they have no problems. but ur better off not taking a chance with a used item without warranty.
im always against using anything new just coz its has many features. be it hardware or software. give it a few more years for them to perfect it.
i dont know about whether the tt500 is perfected now or not. mine dont have any issues. got them used about 4 months ago.

there'r many decks out there that are supposed to be better than the technics (stanton str8-150, vestax PDX2000 MKII, numark ttxusb, ttx, tt500 ). if u just want to play safe u use the techs. coz u see big names using it. but there'r other big names who use other decks too.
with techs there'r so many of them out there u can get parts for them easy. then again u can get parts for numark tables too. but the tech guys will be quick to point out how they broke down coz they are of lower quality. well, those old numark models were ****ty. and u can use those ****ty decks parts with ur new ones..

spec wise the tech 1200 mkII is in the same class as the tt200. its been outclassed by the 500 and the ttx.

 

[Renaissance31]

The TT200 is waaay behind any 1200/1210. The torque just isn't there. The TT500 is about up with it though, as is the TTX.

If you want to scratch, sample, and not spend much money, then get either a TT200/500 or a Stanton STR8-100, or anything better than those for as cheap as you can on Craigslist. Also, search youtube for a video by ellaskins about buying used turntables, he has some good advice in that.

For carts, the ones I use are the Stanton 520's, and they're pretty good for the money. I think they run like 50 a piece. My only complaint would be that they're a little quiet, but you can fix that with a mixer. If you want to go high end, the M44-7's are the industry standard for scratching. Those run around 100 but some w/ headshells. Headshell choice is pretty irrelevant (but I think the Stanton ones look coolest )