Category Archives: gear

Shure Whitelabel Integrated Phono Cartridge

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Shure Whitelabel D2 Phono Cartridge record needleA hundred dollar record needle? Well, the DJ in me wants to correct that line to read phono cartridge, but yes, this Shure Whitelabel integrated phono cartridge DOES sell for $100+. Since it’s aimed at party DJs and club DJs, it’s built for heavy-duty use rather than casual record spins–there’s something to be said for a record needle built to withstand an evening of abuse in the club.

And since a DJ can write off the expense of high-end record needles as a legitimate business expense, why not?

Replacement needles are essential for any vinyl junkie, but even more so for the people who spin for a living. What some like about this one, aside from the gold plated connectors or the forward mass design made for better center-of-gravity conditions for playing and scratching, is the color scheme. It’s kinda hard to see a black phono cartridge against the black vinyl in the dim light of a club.

Some record lovers thing a record needle is a record needle. Others are quite picky. We fall somewhere in the middle. It’s enough to be able to spin the LPs at home with decent sound quality from a typical, well-designed phono cartridge…but anybody who wants to play for hours on end three or four nights a week? A rugged design plus the Shure Whitelabel cartridge’s adjustable overhang (50mm – 54mm to help maintain the forward and backward adjustment of a standard-mount headshell, letting you tweak the adjustment whether you’ve got an S-arm or a straight-arm turntable) means you should probably take a look at a couple of these.

Stanton T92 USB Turntable

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Stanton-T92-USB-turntable

After you’ve purchased a couple of Goblin LPs and the Escape From New York soundtrack on vinyl, if you’re put the cart before the horse and need a turntable to play them on, you should give serious thought to a USB turntable like the Stanton T92. Yes, you can purchase turntables made in the old school mode, with just a couple of RCA outs, but why when you can get the Stanton T92 USB turntable with its USB plus SPDIF outputs.

Yes, the Stanton T92 has RCA outs, and they’re switchable between line and phono. Add to that the pitch control and direct-drive motor and you’ve got yourself a sweet little deck you can use for converting the vinyl to MP3 (including those dusty old 78 RPM vinyl records), doing a DJ battle or just chilling out to the Deep Red soundtrack.

The Stanton T92 USB turntable is not yet a part of the Turntabling gear rack, but the price is right and the high-torque direct-drive and SPDIF out is making not getting one a bit difficult. We’re just waiting to hear from a user or two to throw a review our way and cinch the deal. If you’re in the know, drop a comment and give a review–we’d love to know what you think.

Got Record Needles For Your ION TTUSB Turntable?

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If you own an ION TTUSB turntable, sooner or later you’ll need a replacement record needle so you can continue burning your vinyl collection to MP3. Do you have any idea where to get replacement record needles for the the Ion TTUSB or ION TTUSB10? Now you do. Ion TTUSB record needleGet replacement needles here for your ION USB turntable and keep those MP3s coming. Oh, and while you’re at it you could put together a mega-mix or DJ demo of your favorite 60s and 70s soundtrack sounds and give us a link to your DJ mixage…we’d be happy to tell the world about your amazing good taste. Did we mention these replacement needles are inexpensive? Just under 20 bucks before taxes and shipping from Zzounds.com.

Numark V7 Motorized Turntable Software Controller

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Numark V7Some people are attracted to the Numark V7 because of the direct-drive motorized turntable platter. High and low torque options? You got it. Serato suuport? Scratch LIVE libraries. Yes. Compatible with all DJ mixers, blah, blah blah. The thing that caught our eyes here is the ability to use this motorized turntable controller between two DJs with two laptop setups. You can create up to four virtual DJ decks with the V7.

I admit I’ve never done a DJ battle and have no personal use for the hand-off feature…but I know plenty of people who do. And then there are the crazy collaborative mutants who want to create their own riffs, samples, mashup insanity, you name it. Two people in a room, the back-n-forth between four decks with one controller. A case of beer, a burst of creativity and sleep deprivation all add up to serious mayhem potential. That’s on V7 shared between two DJs. Convenient and loaded with possibilities for the right sick minds who can think outside the DJ booth.

The Numark V7 handoff feature has so many other potential uses and abuses beyond the standard DJ set…get crazy with the cheese-whiz with the V7–and PLEASE be sure to send us the results of your sonic experiments using the Numark V7. Throbbing Gristle meets Erasure at King Tubby’s, anyone?

Specs include support for Mac and Windows, so cross platform types won’t be let down here.