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. 
Get 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.
Category Archives: Audio
Numark V7 Motorized Turntable Software Controller
Some 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.
Making Great Vinyl Records–United Record Pressing on Mastering For Vinyl
United Record Pressing has an interesting section on mastering for vinyl. There is plenty of advice there about the physical limitations of vinyl as a medium and what bands can do to make sure they get good fidelity from the finished product.
My only question about this section–having been written in 1997, is what has changed and updated since that time? Surely not the laws of physics with regard to how hot your master tracks can be before they overload and distort, or when too much treble becomes, er, troublesome. (Treblesome is not a word. But I almost used it here. Heh.)
Fortunately there are more recent discussions on the mastering to vinyl issue. Gearslutz.com has a thread from 2008 and another one here. CustomRecords.com throws its two cents worth in here, so you’ll have plenty to chew on. Continue reading Making Great Vinyl Records–United Record Pressing on Mastering For Vinyl
Introducing the Roland SP-404SX: Roland Updates SP-404 Sampler
The Roland SP-404 portable sampler is a battery-powered phrase sampler with a built-in mic for mobile sampling and resampling–perfect for DJs who love to throw in some extra oomph into their sets with tabletop gadgets above and beyond what Tracktor or any other laptop software or mixer-bound hardware gives.
Now Roland has released the Roland SP-404SX, the update to the SP-404. It has 29 DSP effects (filter, delay, subsonics, looper features and vox FX). You also get a dozen trigger pads, three control knobs, and a Sub Pad. The sequencer offers new shuffle features and 16-bit linear sampling.
The SP-404SX is priced well under $500, so this is not out of reach for a working DJ. Got turntables? Mics? Laptop and software? Add this to the mix for your secret weapon. And could you pre-load this with a pile of vinyl samples and hit the club with a pre-programmed plan of dancefloor attack? Oh yes.
P.S. Electronic Musician has an in-depth review of the Roland SP-404SX here…if you’re tempted, have a go.