Technics: RIP?

http://www.google.com/search?aq=1&oq=technics+dis&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=technics+discontinued

It's not very often that we have anything to post about Technics but rumours abound about the 1210MK5G being discontinued. So being the dutiful DJ hack that I am, rather than post rumour, I got FACTS. Clarification came from Panasonic UK to squash rumours. And It's not what you might think.

So here goes - the 1200MK5 and 1210MK5 WILL be discontinued leaving the 1210MK5G as the top of the range and most definitely NOT discontinued. It never was a limited edition, just a flagship special edition model. And the 1200 and 1210 MK2 will continue as normal. So now there's some distance between the MK2 and MK5G models instead having a middle MK5 deck to confuse matters. So it's vanilla Technics or the more expensive piano black extra pitched blue light luxury model left in the range.

^from jan 2007 fwiw

Most talk seems to be coming from Australasia for some reason: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/29868/technics-turntables-to-be-discontinued

http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=13154

Panasonic has confirmed that it ceased the production of its Technics-branded analogue turntables this autumn.

After more than 35 years as a leading manufacturer of analogue turntables, Panasonic has regretfully taken the decision to leave this market. However, Panasonic will continue to sell headphones under the Technics brand.

We are sure that retailers and consumers will understand that our product range has to reflect the accelerating transformation of the entire audio market from analogue to digital.

In addition, the number of component suppliers serving the analogue market has dwindled in recent years and we brought forward the decision to leave the market rather than risk being unable to fulfill future orders because of a lack of parts.

Panasonic employees who have been working on the analogue turntable range have been redeployed elsewhere within Panasonic – many of them continuing to work in Panasonic’s Audio Video Business Unit.

Wow, that is some dumb-ass timing imo.

i'm surprised saturation wasn't reached a long time ago.. they don't really depreciate in value. i can see the same 1210s that exist today just getting resold and resold for the next 100 years

Well, at least we'll have headphones.

still this sucks, that is the gold standard

but I guess audiophile people with money go up-market?

Xxpost, yeah, thank God these things stay in good condition for 20+ years.

That being said mine are a little bit messed up, and my plan was to get brand new ones next September (the assumption being that I'll be moving somewhere else then. I should hope you'll still be able to buy them at that time).

Ehhh. I still think I'm in denial though, and I'm hoping someone's going to, I dunno, buy out the patents and take over or something. Otherwise, I dunno, I guess people are going to have to start buying Stantons or something?

I was lucky, I got an SL-1210 MK2 a year or so ago, £122.

While awaiting its arrival, I saw a bunch in second-hand shops for a similar price, trashed to hell. Fortunately, the one I got is immaculate.

Yeah, I think most that buy vinyl but aren't picky about quality aren't willing to pay more than a few hundred dollars for a turntable, while the people that buy vinyl and aren't picky aren't willing to buy anything that not a few thousand dollars. DJ's (whom I assume make up the resounding majority of tech 12" buyers) I suppose either have turntables or have switched to something else, and I'd imagine the new markets that would be buying them are just going straight to laptop DJ'ing/whatever anyways. Sigh.

Meaning, I guess, there will just be extensive craigstlist etc. networks of Tech 12 trade?

So glad I finally got two about a year and a half ago. Still sad to see this happening. As the tune is space said above, this is a gold standard ending production and that doesn't seem right.

I'm breaking back into DJ-ing after a pretty long break, and I was shocked, when starting to research stuff, to learn that the 1200s were discontinued... It didn't take long to find a couple of nice-condition used decks--one from eBay, one from craigslist--for reasonable prices, but what the hell?! Weird timing is right; I mean, isn't vinyl more popular now than it has been in ages? And aren't 1200s considered some sort of gold standard?

iirc one main problem as Technics tells it is that all the components they had to buy from other manufacturers were disappearing/becoming scarce

also watch out when buying 1200's on eBay. heard some shipping horror stories.

I guess I'll just have to see... My craigslist one is serenading me right now, and I'm pretty stunned at how great a shape it's in. I'd also forgotten how freaking heavy these things are; I think they weigh close to 30 pounds!

they don't call them the 'wheels of steel' for nothing!

It's such a lovely piece of machinery, it really is. I think I'm going to stay up all night playing with it. It's fun to pitch stuff down a lot when you're a little bit drunk.

It's fun to pitch stuff down a lot when you're a little bit drunk.

agreed--i love doing this

if you pick up the platter and undo the screws underneath (be careful), you'll find the circuitboard underneath. (make sure the turntable is not plugged in when you do this!) you should see a couple of little potentiometers. one of them controls the pitch adjustment. if you tweak that, you can alter your decks so that you can pitch the speed up and down, beyond +/-8 -- you can make it go to +/- 12 pretty easily.

you can also tweak the braking speed so the turntable stops and starts super ultra fast. you should see another little potentiometer which says 'brake' next to it. if you turn that little pot a bit to the right, you can get it to brake faster.

hours of fun for the whole family. be careful and have a multimeter with you, they're fucking useful

Wow, this is pure wizardry! Why is this like the coolest thing I've done in years? What are your favorite records currently to downpitch?

haha geeta you are rumbled!! my 1210s better be PRISTINE when i come to collect them in like 10 years

also watch out when buying 1200's on eBay. heard some shipping horror stories.

― ⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 4 October 2011 04:39 (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I bought one off e-bay, it was about £120, with packing at around £20 extra.

It turned out to be absolutely perfect conditionwise. And the increase in sound quality from my previous turntable that died, is ... well.

What I need is new cartridges, actually..

I have cartridges but no turntable. Though I'm looking to get one (or maybe 2) online. But I've been too indecisive. And if anyone knows where to get a good turntable in London for cheap...

Do a gumtree search for turntable and limit it to people in London,

I picked up my Rega P3 with Korus cartridge from one of those stores that eBay peoples stuff for a profit.

it was £200+ but apparently the cartridge is more than that on its own, so it was a bargain.

for a new one the raga that Rough Trade is doing is a great buy for a new turntable.

haha tracer i did this to my own pair of 1200s! there are four. the other two (your two) are in storage in williamsburg, blissfully un-modded

or i could try using all four simultaneously, and practice being jeff mills or something

my old friend mark, who builds his own synthesizers etc., hacked his old geminis so that he can theoretically pitch up and down from -infinity to +infinity

the awesome thing is that 1200s are really well built so even if they break (or you find a less than perfect one for sale), if you live near a metropolitan area you can probably find someone who can fix them easily.

yeah, they're built like tanks, and they're direct drive of course, so no changing pesky belts or anything

if i had the money, though, i'd upgrade to a Rega, since i mostly just listen to records at home anyway, and i don't really DJ, except for my friends

hmmn. What's the deal with Regas? (I know nothing about non-dj turntables)

I think the demand for these might have dropped because so many pro DJs are leaving vinyl, while home-listener vinyl consumers are choosing cheaper turntables, or turntables marketed as "audiophile".

Or both, ie the Project turntables.

i dont think pro djs are dropping turntables though, just vinyl. serato still uses turntables

I thought the same but I've been seeing more and more Djs using serato with cdjs these days.

I've still got my trusty Pro-Ject Xpression III for "home listening," though the one Technics 1200 that's arrived so far is currently hooked up... I'm not abandoning vinyl, that's for sure.

OK I'm just confusing myself by looking at turntables online.

All I presently have is a bunch of records and a pair of headphones. Is there some way to listen to said records without spending an arm and a leg on a pre-amp a receiver and a turntable? And not have it sound terrible/be hard on my records?

I thought the same but I've been seeing more and more Djs using serato with cdjs these days.

― Hills Like White Broncos (EDB), Tuesday, October 4, 2011 10:42 AM (21 minutes ago)

my anecdotal observations say this is otm too

and as a DJ who never scratches, using CDJs with serato is much more ideal than using turntables with serato. unless of course i want to play a lot of my vinyl in the same set, i guess.

hmm come to think of it i've noticed many djs using those now too.

also the dudes i know who are more into tech house and IDM are telling me that traktor is what most non-hip-hop djs are using now, especially in europe.

more anecdotal evidence: the only 2 djs i saw in croatia last week were using traktor

that i haven't noticed; serato is def the gold standard in chicago

I just bought the Traktor Kontrol S4 and it's made mixing really fun again. Using a CDJ or turntable to control data on a laptop is stupid. They make controllers that interact with the software directly. Using something else like a CDJ or Turntable AND a mixer just defeats the purpose of using software. The guys who do it only do it for appearances.

also the setup time for one of those traktor controllers is like sixty seconds and it weighs like what, 2lbs?

it's very fast. everything plugs in the back and I just connect to the house sound via 1/4" or RCA. Total setup from launching Traktor to playing sound out of a club system is about 2-3 minutes depending on the size of my library at the time.

well, its also a lot more intuitive than clicking buttons. if the controller has that kind of physical process to it, then I can understand it, but imo tables aren't just for 'appearances'

djing via mouse clicks is extremely unsatisfying / weirdly difficult & removes me from the process ime

deej how else are you using serato

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/dj/traktor-kontrol-s4/

watch some demo videos on youtube

no mouse clicking necessary

deej how else are you using serato

― ⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, October 4, 2011 4:47 PM (44 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

im talking about mixing?

use the control records, mix the tracks?

right, but you need to do mouse clicks to find your tracks, drag + drop them on your decks

the traktor kontroller works the same way as using 2 decks and a mixer, it just might be a little weird at first if you're coming from turntables instead of CDJs, but if you're a competent DJ it should take all of a day to get comfortable with it

EDB, what's your budget?

"right, but you need to do mouse clicks to find your tracks, drag + drop them on your decks"

i'm not talking about missing the 'flipping through my records' part

but yeah i mean if there's an intuitive system to it -- i've never used kontroller before! -- then I can understand it -- I just remember mixing from ableton once & really hating it

or like, mixing from traktor the actual program, without control records

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/dj/traktor-kontrol-s4/

watch some demo videos on youtube

― brotherlovesdub, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 12:21 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

There's a knob on the mixer where you scroll tracks and push to load. It's great, seriously, no need to touch the laptop or use a mouse.

are the spin-wheel-thingies relatively similar to Pioneer CDJs?

in terms of intuitive feel, response, control, etc

mixing w/ traktor is way more intuitive for me than beatmatching w/ vinyl

deej u ain't go no yeezy in serato? >:(

yes, the jogwheels are similar. they have many different levels of control that you can set depending on how you want them to react.

EDB, what's your budget?

― elan, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 6:00 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'd venture to say $500 or so (The problem is that I'm presently overseas while my regular set up is at home, I'd like to not spend a lot of money on something that might end up redundant).