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Portable Turntable Quality

HaSTeHaSTe 1 Post
edited December 2006 in Strut Central
I am currently travelling the world and I am sick of not being able to be able to make any music while travelling, so I am going to buy a laptop and possibly a portable turntable just so I can stop myself from going crazy. I was just curious about the audio quality of the two flagship portable turntables out there - ie the Numark and the Vestax. I don't expect them to be high quality, as they are essentially designed for previewing music - but has anyone actually used them to sample with? Or is the fidelity too low on these turntables? I'm not a super pedantic audiophile, but just to give you an idea at home when sampling I use a special stylus I bought and a dedicated phono preamp (instead of the ones on my DJ mixer).

  Comments

  • HairyBelafonteHairyBelafonte 1,202 Posts


    I personally think the vestax/numark offerings are crap, notsomuch fidelty-wise, just that they are quiet and shoddily built. i would venture to say as far as fidelity
    goes, this would be one of the better:

  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    Can't beat the name either. I had the Numark for a bit, sold it though. I wouldn't try sampling from a portable turntable, you'll just frustrate yourself. I also feel like using a portable turntable makes me impatient with records and stops me from taking risks, which is not cool.
  • HairyBelafonteHairyBelafonte 1,202 Posts
    I also feel like using a portable turntable makes me impatient with records and stops me from taking risks, which is not cool.

    the whole reason i use a portable is to lessen my risk of bringing home
    records.
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    I also feel like using a portable turntable makes me impatient with records and stops me from taking risks, which is not cool.

    Huh??? Why is risking money on potential crap a good thing? If anything having a portable with you increases the volume of quality vinyl you get for your dollar.
  • yoigotbeatsyoigotbeats 1,667 Posts
    I also feel like using a portable turntable makes me impatient with records and stops me from taking risks, which is not cool.

    Huh??? Why is risking money on potential crap a good thing? If anything having a portable with you increases the volume of quality vinyl you get for your dollar.



    and I have an extra sound burger in the box if you're in need......
  • Deejay_OMDeejay_OM 695 Posts
    I also feel like using a portable turntable makes me impatient with records and stops me from taking risks, which is not cool.

    Huh??? Why is risking money on potential crap a good thing? If anything having a portable with you increases the volume of quality vinyl you get for your dollar.



    and I have an extra sound burger in the box if you're in need......

    got an extra needle? a fellow soulstrutter...whose sock got caught up in mine caused some damage...haynes should my burger...
  • IronfeetIronfeet 516 Posts
    I think the Sony Portable needs to be looked into for what you want it for... the white one that you can stick on the wall and play... I forget the model number, wish I never got rid of mine... oh well...
  • Young_PhonicsYoung_Phonics 8,039 Posts
    I also feel like using a portable turntable makes me impatient with records and stops me from taking risks, which is not cool.

    the whole reason i use a portable is to lessen my risk of bringing home
    records.

    Real Talk!

    My man only has the best Firestone Christmas joints, none of that filler weak shit!
  • crossingscrossings 946 Posts
    i bought a numark pt-01 a while back with the original intention of sampling from it onto my SP... i figured since the sp-404 could run on batteries i may as well have a fully portable music making setup. overall, it's a great, very convenient portable turntable. but truth be told, it sucks for anything other than just previewing/playing records on... the portables [i'm including the vestax one here as well] have a tendency to amplify static more than a decent turntable would... therefore, even sampling from a brand new record is frustrating because of the amount of added noise... and sometimes you just need a sample to sound clean. in most cases, after finding my loop on a certain record, i would end up downloading the mp3 of the same song and sampling from my laptop instead just to avoid all the static. again, the posrtables are great for what they are: a turntable you can take with you digging or on the road... but for recording off of, the quality is lacking heavily... and this is coming from a guy into raw dirty beats. hope this helps.
  • BlackmarksBlackmarks 155 Posts
    i've listened to the gp3, the numark jawn, the vestax, and i really think that the big-bird that
    twoply gave me has the best sound. . .
  • pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
    i have the vestax and its a piece of junk. The tonearm got some stupid problem with it with the connections. I have to tear it open and solder a bunch of shit which sucks. And the fidelty is
    i dont bring it out with me to record stores, cause most of the owners out here hate that shit and give me mad grief over it so i stopped even trying. I bought it mainly to sample, but its way to trebley and i get a mean rumble that goes thru the output with it so its baiscally useless for that application. Its been sitting on my bar now gathering dust for well over 3 months.
  • motown67motown67 4,513 Posts
    If you don't want to sped that much money the Fisher Price portable is the best. It's just as good as the Numark's, etc. and only a fraction of the price. If you've got some money to burn then go get a Soundburger. They have home stereo sound quality. Both can be found on eBay usually.
  • schoggischoggi 298 Posts
    this one is great! came out in 1996 or 98 on Vacuum Records (japan).
    only found this pic, one of our old flyers! it has a blue lid aswell... pitch, line out...

  • davesrecordsdavesrecords 1,802 Posts
    i've listened to the gp3, the numark jawn, the vestax, and i really think that the big-bird that
    twoply gave me has the best sound. . .

    same experience. the fisher price i bought for $12 off ebay is the best one i have. the gp3 broke after about 2 years of heavy listening. this fisher price is nice (other than the fact you can't plug it into the wall). not the big bird but the red one. plays loud, is solid. i used to have issues with playing stuff out loud without headphones but i don't really care anymore.

    the gp3 plays too quietly. it's fine in home situations (when it's not broken) but at conventions or in the "field" it's way too quiet.

    i don't know if you can hook the fp up to the computer though. someone told me a long time ago how to do it but i can't remember the instructions.
  • yoigotbeatsyoigotbeats 1,667 Posts
    got an extra needle?

    I do indeed - I'll bring it with me round new years.

    I use the gp-3 when I'm rolling locally, take the burger on trips (and hook it into my computer with imic), and have the phonorgan when I wanna get all D'angelo over tracks!!!
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