[Mecc]

Ok, I did my homework... I was obsessing over it.

My thoughts are on
2 1210 m5g. $1,040. I know Vestax is another option. I'm set on these m5gs.

1 Rane Ttm 56 Mixer $600-750. People suggest this over the Pioneer DJM 707, even 909 at the forums I'll link in a sec.

OR wait for a RANE TTM 57 which comes out this spring. Around $1000.

2 Shure M44-7 cartridges. around $100 for two.

Which totals around my 2k budget. I'm willing to stretch to 3k for an audiophile setup. Looks like I'll be getting a 3rd TT for playback. Perhaps a beltdriven one instead... Or another m5g, but with mods.

I found a VERY nice forum with lots of information on DJing and the like
Future Producers

I plan on DJing as a hobby. Prob do some house parties here an there. I've wanted to do it since I was a kid. I love music enough to get into it and I think I have time to dedicate to it.

What kind of music do you spin?

Don't have anything, yet. I plan on doing house, funk, soul, breakbeats. Though, I'm sure I'd have to get with the mainstream stuff for house parties. Hip-hop and what not.

My opinion would to not do any of the upgrades. It seems to me the KAB mods, however good they are for playback-only, render the 1200 impractical for DJing.

I suppose that makes sense. So get a 3rd table for audiophile use.

The Rega mod is interesting and I've been thinking of grabbing another 1200 and an rb250 and using it for playback. You can search on www.wavemusic.com 's forums for opinions of house DJs who've done the mod. I read a person who thought it made no difference, but others seem positive. The rega tonearm restricts you to using only one cart though, without having to mount and align a new cart every time you switch.

Thanks for the link. Ill look into it.

oh god dont spend so much money on that crap...trust me i know

I know... but I am awful with money. I have the worst case up upgradetitus there is. (Prob not) For example, I got an emu1212m and the 0404, within 3 months of getting an av710. I'm already thinking about balancing my HD650. Getting a lavry black and a balanced m3 or headroom max balanced. Actually the headroom is out of my range. I'm not that crazy yet. I haven't even finished my m3 yet. So, to avoid getting cheaper **** than wanting to upgrade, I've decided to just get top line stuff. The mk2 i could get for $800, while the m5g for $1040. I'm one of those people that live by the "you get what you pay for" line. But I still look for the best deals and I think I've found them on the m5g.

I'm also aware of the Vinyl vs CD thing. I just don't feel that CD would do it for me.

All that's left is to decide on what 3rd turntable to get. Willing to go upto 1k for a 3rd audiophile TT. And then what records to get. I got a couple stores around here I'll check out. I listen to anything. I dunno what DJ headphones I should look into. What an expensive hobby.

EDIT. Upon further research... i googled m5g rb250 and found Another thread here

get a pair of 1200s. the build quality is unbeatable, will fullfill all your DJing needs, and there are a whole slew of audiophile mods that can be done to them.

for starters:

silver litz tonarm wire.

outboard powersupply

vibration isolation footers

and any expensive tonearm (this will require research as to which ones don't mind being used for DJing purposes)

cartridges are your only place where you're completely screwed. you need a needle that tracks well in order to cue up a record, scratch, transform, or pretty much anything that a dj does. audiophile cartridges CANNOT be used for DJing... you can solve that simply by having one NICE cartridge for when you want to listen to music non-interactively as an audiophile, and a pair of DJ cartridges for when you want to play.

So, what I'm really asking/looking for is an audiophile set for a DJ. I'm either getting two m5gs without mods + an audiophile turntable or two m5gs modded. I am now leaning towards the second option because it sounds more practical.

I just read an article about a DJ using the Tone arm dampening fluid dampening system here Looks like the only mod that requires further investigation is the tonearm mod.

another thread.

ALL Origin Live and Rega arms are superb for dj use.

Here

hmmm... So my thoughts for now are, two m5g with modded arms,but which modded arms.
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/o.../silver_3.html
Two m5g with rb250 arms will run me about $1,600. But the Origin Live Silver Tonearm is like over $600.

Well, I think I've found the setup I want, but damn. It will be expensive. I'm going to start stock then upgrade as I go along.