needles

[DieselBoyFusion]

alright I am looking for a good quality needle to use on my decks. I am not sure what brand is supposedly "the best". I am using newmarks right now because I have been having trouble with other brands. Any suggestions?

[edotdj]

Shure Whitelabels or Ortofon Concords are the way to go! DON'T waste money on Stanton Skipmasters. ;)

[vinyltap]

the best.

[Professor Roo]

go Shure M447s. These are the best for your money. You could spend 200 dollars and more on a pair of Ortofons, and they fuck up your tonearms, so don't buy them.

[Tasty]

I swear by the M44-7's, they're handy dandy, reliable, great sound response, they don't skip (unless you really try), and they don't bend your tonearms!!!!

Check out these you can cross reference and compare needles to your need....
Shure Needles website (http://www.needlz.com/)

[junglistsouljah]

Originally posted by Tasty
I swear by the M44-7's, they're handy dandy, reliable, great sound response, they don't skip (unless you really try), and they don't bend your tonearms!!!!


would be my recommendation!

[jeffrey]

I have been using Ortofon nite club's for about a year and they work great. They have a nice glowing green tip too.

[DRUM MACHINE]

Ortofon Concordes, They work for me.

[djslyck]

i use the ortofon concorde pro's, They have the best sound response for thier wieght, the wear on your records is negligable, and some of the best all around needles. The Ortofon Scratchmasters are good too, they have an oval tip as opposed to the pointed tip on the Pro's, so there is less record wear, however they are pricier and a little heavier.

[djowns]

The Shure m447's fucking TAKE THE CAKE!

There's no debate! They're bitches to make skip, and when setup improperly they simply WON'T skip no matter what! Shit, they track so well you can bang your head on the record while it's playing for a sound effect, and the needle won't skip!

Dope low end, with a bit lacking in the rest of the range, however the m44g series takes care of that, but loses SOIME tracking. It still smokes the ortofon series.

[hardhousetyrant]

Will out perform the best Shure needle...They Shure need to stick to making microphones.

[jtneal111]

I gotta recommend the m44-7's as well...they are great sounding needles and are very durable.

[corbettfields]

I'm happy with the Stanton Grovemaster Pro IIs - get th matched pair, V. nice

[ALATIN]

It depends, What are you using them for? Mixing or Scratching? Each needle fits each needle fits each person differently.

Ray

[Jmos]

Originally posted by edotdj
Shure Whitelabels or Ortofon Concords are the way to go! DON'T waste money on Stanton Skipmasters. ;)

and for those of us who arent blessed with lots of money, whats a cheaper yet still good choice?:confused:

[brainCandy909]

Ortofons wear down your records alot faster... the shure white lables are supost to have like 0 record wear...

[jasonbuss]

my outlook on carts....

i personally use the concord dj..

but if your looking for a good needle that wont break the budget and provides a decent freq coverage and if proper wieght managment is applied there are a few to choose from.

for integrated needles...
you have the numark plugs, stanton discmasters, trackmasters and groovemasters brigning up the lower end which are all good carts, and for the higher end you have of course the many versions of the concord's and the shure whitelabels...

for the headshell mounted needles...
you have the shure 35x's which are decent all around carts, along with the stanton 505's, 500's and craze's, stanton also has the 890's which are a lil more $

for scratching hands down in my opinion are the 44's, the 7's and g's offer differnt stability/freq each... you can also look at the ortofon scratch carts for the high end also...

with so many headshell mounted and integrated needles the main thing you want to do is look at the best value for your money, and with what makes you happy. needless to say most carts are found to be favs by certain types of djs, but that doesnt mean that one cart wont work for you or another type of dj because they arnt marketed that way.

just make sure you check the specifications on the needles you are looking at getting and seeing if it truly is what will work for you.

on a side note, many ortofon needles and replacement styli can be bought through radio shack stores (special ordered) cheaper than most dj speciality stores and online. most of the time the rep at the radio shack wont even know they can order these. bring the mfg part number and ask them to check. i get my replacement ortofon dj styli way less than the 37 a pop on most websites. you just have to have the store special order them.

jasonbuss

[tr0llaccount]

i really like my Shure 35xs. Half the price of Ortofons, won't fuck up the tone arm (connection) and i personally thing the overall sound quality is better.