What are the best needles/stylus to get.

[Mr Moo]

I dont know what a stylus is tbh.

 

Could someone explain this also

[LiquidEyes]

stylus = needle (?) Same thing I think.

 

How much are you willing to spend, and do you scratch?

[Aaron]

I've got a set of Ortofon Concordes with a Nightclub stylus. I think these are great, they seem to sit in the groove a lot nicer than the Stanton 505's i had originally, which is essential when cueing up and launching.

 

There is nothing worse when the needle jumps out when launching well apart from when the needle jumps mid mix, thus turning your smooth as a babys arse mix into a herd of buffalos.

[betty boop]

I dont know anything about decks, mixing or needles, but I have seen some really flashy, illuminous needles before.

 

Are these good ones?

[Shaney_R]

I use Stanton Discmaster II (Concordes)

 

- 0.7 mil spherical high polished diamond

 

- 2.5g tracking force

 

Twin Pack & Stylus' = £100

 

Seperate Stylus' = £24.95 each

 

These are really good and have excelled most carts and stylies ive had in the past.

 

 

[LiquidEyes]

Interesting. I've had Stanton 500s for about 6 years and I have never replaced them. And I have to admit, they jump out of the groove quite easily when back-queuing some records. Although the fact I have Vestax decks may be a factor as well. There's no way you could scratch with them without putting extra weight on the cartridge.

 

I'm pretty ignorant on the matter of replacing your stylus. I've got some questions of my own:

 

1. Are the cartridge and the stylus 'independent' of each other? I.e. can you put any stylus in any cartridge, or do you have to get a stylus of the same make as your cartridge?

 

2. Is general practice that you just replace the sylus (rather than the whole cartridge?

 

3. Would you only want to replace the whole cartridge if you wanted a different 'style' (e.g. one that is more suited to scratching)?

 

4. Is it fiddly installing a new stylus in a cartridge?

 

5. How long does a stylus normally last? (I haven't noticed any degredation of sound quality, although my stylus definitely picks up more fluff than it used to.)

 

6. Aaron, what's the going rate for Ortofon Concorde cartridges & compatible stylii?

Edited September 5, 2004 by LiquidEyes

[LiquidEyes]

P.S. I think I'm mixing up my terminolody. I may be confusing 'headshells' with 'cartridges'...?

[Shaney_R]

QUOTE (LiquidEyes @ Sep 5 2004, 20:22)

Interesting. I've had Stanton 500s for about 6 years and I have never replaced them. And I have to admit, they jump out of the groove quite easily when back-queuing some records. Although the fact I have Vestax decks may be a factor as well. There's no way you could scratch with them without putting extra weight on the cartridge. I'm pretty ignorant on the matter of replacing your stylus. I've got some questions of my own: 1. Are the cartridge and the stylus 'independent' of each other? I.e. can you put any stylus in any cartridge, or do you have to get a stylus of the same make as your cartridge? 2. Is general practice that you just replace the sylus (rather than the whole cartridge? 3. Would you only want to replace the whole cartridge if you wanted a different 'style' (e.g. one that is more suited to scratching)? 4. Is it fiddly installing a new stylus in a cartridge? 5. How long does a stylus normally last? (I haven't noticed any degredation of sound quality, although my stylus definitely picks up more fluff than it used to.) 6. Aaron, what's the going rate for Ortofon Concorde cartridges & compatible stylii?

1. Are the cartridge and the stylus 'independent' of each other? I.e. can you put any stylus in any cartridge, or do you have to get a stylus of the same make as your cartridge?

 

Most of them are independant to each other mate but it depends on what stylus as you can buy cheap universal ones to fit, its just finding them thats the problem.

 

 

2. Is general practice that you just replace the sylus (rather than the whole cartridge?

 

If your cartridge is fine then you should only have to replace the stylus, depending on how much you use the decks is the dependence of the life of stylus

 

3. Would you only want to replace the whole cartridge if you wanted a different 'style' (e.g. one that is more suited to scratching)?

 

Yes, that is exactly right mate.

 

4. Is it fiddly installing a new stylus in a cartridge?

 

Not if u have steady hand hehe, some carts and stylus can be fiddly, like my ortofn ones, which i use as a spare pair

 

 

 

[LiquidEyes]

Cool, cheers for the advice dude.

 

Daft question, but how do you know when to replace the stylii? Do you wait for the sound quality to be noticeably worse?

 

I think I read somewhere that worn old stylii can damage your records, but would the sound quality have degraded significantly anyway by this stage?

[Shaney_R]

yes mate they will start crackling alot, youll know when to change just by the sound and if they start jumping 2, they wont damage your records though, youd be suprised how much hammering a record can take mate.

 

Anytime 4 advice.

 

[LiquidEyes]

I'm puzzled by the descriptions of the various cartridges in (for example) Stanton's range.

 

E.g....

 

The Discmaster II is "designed exclusively for the needs of the competition scene".

The Trackmaster II "will satisfy the needs of a scratch / hip-hop DJ."

 

I don't see the distinction ... the only 'special' needs of competition DJs is that they need to scratch a lot, right?

 

The Discmaster II looks pretty inexpensive for a scratch cartridge ... they claim it can track really even with a relatively low pressure setting. So ... ummm ... what is the trade-off? I mean, why would you want to get a Trackmaster if a Discmaster is so good at tracking? Does it wear out more quickly, or something?

[Aaron]

I think you can get a pair of Ortofon Cartidges and Styli for about 100 - 120 quid.

 

Mine fell off the back of a lorry though so i got them a bit cheaper...

[Mr Moo]

I dont scratch, but its something I would look into in the future!

 

Im getting... wait for it... mk5's for my bday hopefully & a DJM 600 As its my 21st!

 

Decks are coming over from the states new, so im guessing Ill need needles/stylus/cartridge? I still dont know what the difference is! =/

 

So go with the stantons?

[Aaron]

Needles and Stylus are one and the same!

 

The cartidge is attached to the end of the tone arm. the needle attaches onto the end of the cartridge

[LiquidEyes]

Moo,

 

Don't get a DJM-600. Get a Xone:62 instead. It's about the same price but the Xone:62 *RULES*!