opinions needed (cartridge related)

speakmumbles

Im torn between the shure m447's and the qbert ortofons. For the past 8 years ive had the ortofon pro s, and they have worked well for me but they do burn out records, so i have to be careful when using them with my collection. from what ive heard the m447's dont burn out records, but i like the design of the ortofons. has anyone tried the qberts? or any opinions on a better cartridge for scratching,sampling and listening? thanks.

Blow_Fly

:5pager:

keithvanhorn

i've used m44's for a long time, but since i never change records anymore, ive been going through stylii (sp?) like crazy. dirt builds up and even with a stylus brush, i cant get that much longevity out of them. yesterday i made a deal with some guy on ebay for an ortofon qbert concorde. the tips on ortofons are much clearer than with the shures, so i should be able to knock the dust off easier. i hope.

Tabnetic

or any opinions on a better cartridge for scratching,sampling and listening? thanks.

is that your priority in that order? ortofons are responsive, won't skip, sound good, and burn the shit out of your records if you cut. i have the club ones (the neon green tips with black). i use them when i spin out, or perform, and if care more about sound quality/needle skippage than my records longevity.

the 447's are great for cutting and if you calibrate them correctly they will sit in the groove. they don't burn records as much, but they also don't sound as good as ortofon. for sampling i use the shure white labels, for spinning the ortofons, for cutting the 447's.

sindian

the 447's are great for cutting and if you calibrate them correctly they will sit in the groove. they don't burn records as much, but they also don't sound as good as ortofon. for sampling i use the shure white labels, for spinning the ortofons, for cutting the 447's.

How do you calibrate the 447s? Just curious.

piedpiper

I recommend Ortofon due to the excellent sound quality and the design.

Burning the records does not depend on the cartridge itself that much, but on the weight you put on them and how much you are scratching aso. Using the same adjustement for scratching as for listening to raers will always fuck your records up in the long run.

pjl2000xl

the 447's are great for cutting and if you calibrate them correctly they will sit in the groove. they don't burn records as much, but they also don't sound as good as ortofon. for sampling i use the shure white labels, for spinning the ortofons, for cutting the 447's.

How do you calibrate the 447s? Just curious.

you take the tone arm and move it so its dangling between the platter and the pitch fader. You then take the counter weight and move it till it keeps the tone arm kind of suspended in the air like balanced. Kinda like a see saw thats in a straight line hanging there. Then you set the dial on the weight to 0, then move the weight till it goes to 3.5 I think thats the calibration and best tracking weight for the 447's.

sindian

the 447's are great for cutting and if you calibrate them correctly they will sit in the groove. they don't burn records as much, but they also don't sound as good as ortofon. for sampling i use the shure white labels, for spinning the ortofons, for cutting the 447's.

How do you calibrate the 447s? Just curious.

you take the tone arm and move it so its dangling between the platter and the pitch fader. You then take the counter weight and move it till it keeps the tone arm kind of suspended in the air like balanced. Kinda like a see saw thats in a straight line hanging there. Then you set the dial on the weight to 0, then move the weight till it goes to 3.5 I think thats the calibration and best tracking weight for the 447's.

Thanks for the info. How do you set the height, anti-skating, and the cartridge position on the headshell?

Tabnetic

the 447's are great for cutting and if you calibrate them correctly they will sit in the groove. they don't burn records as much, but they also don't sound as good as ortofon. for sampling i use the shure white labels, for spinning the ortofons, for cutting the 447's.

How do you calibrate the 447s? Just curious.

you take the tone arm and move it so its dangling between the platter and the pitch fader. You then take the counter weight and move it till it keeps the tone arm kind of suspended in the air like balanced. Kinda like a see saw thats in a straight line hanging there. Then you set the dial on the weight to 0, then move the weight till it goes to 3.5 I think thats the calibration and best tracking weight for the 447's.

Thanks for the info. How do you set the height, anti-skating, and the cartridge position on the headshell?

a certain degree of this is trial and error. while lowendtheory is right about how to get a starting point, you need to play with placement of the cartridge on the headshell as well. mine are flush to the front, i typically have the weight flipped around and all the way to the hilt of the tonearm and adjust height depending on what i'm doing. if i'm doing a rough scratch routine, the height goes up cause i need torque. long story short, you gotta play with what works for you, depending on what you're doing, and how heavy-handed you are.

anti skate should be turned to 0 if you're cutting, sometimes you put it to equal of what your tracking force is, but this is a tricky thing. what it does is essentially tighten the wires within the tonearm to cause the arm to pull in the opposite direction that the physics of the record are forcing it to do, hence the tonearm won't skate...but i would stay away from it if you're cutting.