Great starter for "baby DJs"
Written: Sep 19 '02 (Updated Dec 21 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap price, good for learning the basics
Cons: Buggy motor, belt drive system, cheap construction
The Bottom Line: Great for "baby DJs" based on (specs/price) who are first learning, but poorly built and wont last more than 1 year.
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| autoamerican's Full Review: Philips gemini® XL-200 Turntable |
When I decided I wanted to learn DJing about 5 years ago, I was overwhealmed by the prices involved - $500 EACH for a pair of SL-1200MK2 turntables by Technics, $200+ for a mixer, God knows how much for a decent pair of headphones, et cetera. By the time I was able to save up enough money for the equipment, something always came up that required my attention and I was left trying to stash it away again.
Finally a little while ago I bought my equipment, all Gemini products. I will admit that I went a lot cheaper than I wanted to, but I decided to get what I could get, when I could get it. With a PMX-40 mixer (a great mixer at the suggest price of over $100 that I got on a clerance sale for about $25) and a pair of GEMINI turntables, I was ready to get started.
Talk to any DJ and they'll tell you the industry standard is a direct drive, fully manual turntable - and the standard for those is the Technics SL-1200MK2 (I already own one of these but couldn't afford a pair of them). If you're just starting out, however, there's no need for equipment like that - think about it, when you're first taking up piano you don't begin on an antique Steinway!
These are modeled to look as close to the MK2s as possible, with the same color schemes and basic designs. There are many negatives, though: the belt drive system is buggy at best (if you set the speed at +/- 0, don't expect it to stay there long), the pitch slider won't lock at 0 like on an MK2, the tone arm and construction in general is very cheap and shaky, basically it's a piece of equipment you shouldn't expect to have for more than a year or two if you use it every day.
Well, then what's so good about it? It's just fine for learning DJing, and if you're buying these I can tell you right off the bat you're far from a professional. They are easy to use, easy to learn the controls, and while they are built very cheap (the grounding wire on one of mine disconnected days/weeks after I started using it, meaning I had to open it and fix it myself), if you take care of them they'll atleast last you unti you're good enough to warrant buying professional equipment (and if you're a little too rough with them while you're learning, you don't have to spend $500 to replace it).
A few tips to try and maintain the life of these units as long as possible:
1. Be as gentle as possible - I don't mean treat this with kid-gloves, but I do mean don't throw it around, drop it, bang it, hit it with things (accidentally, of course), or anything else. The TECHNICS SL-1200MK2 is built like a tank and will last you a life time, but this unit won't.
2. This is a belt drive unit, which is suitable for learning to DJ but not for doing it professionally. To preserve the life of the unit as much as possible, every so often (a few times a year) take the belts out and soak them in glycerin for a little while, rinse them off well and put them back in. You can get glycerin at most hobby shops, it helps to keep the rubber belts stretchy and soft, and keep them from stretching out of shape too fast.
3. Keep your dust covers on the units. Unless you have a case/coffin for your turntables (and once again, thats something only professional mobile DJs will need), you should keep the plastic hinged dust covers on the units and just open them up to practice or make a tape. Keeping the dust covers on may be inconvenient, but it's a lot cheaper to replace a plastic dust cover than the whole turntable. If/when you buy a case for your turntables & mixer, the case will have a removable top and the dust covers will not only be unnecessary but will get in the way.
Other recomendations - while these are good to start with, they are NOT the ideal units and I would not recomend them for everybody. A much better turntable to check out is the GEMINI XL-300. It's basically identical to the XL-200 units, but instead of a belt drive it's a direct drive unit. They are getting harder to find, though, since they've been discontinued by Gemini (or as I've heard). I picked up a pair a few months ago from www.hollywooddj.com for $96 a pair, but I had some rather negative experiences with this company (items out of stock listed as in stock on their webpages). Do a search online for GEMINI XL-300, you should find a few shops selling them online for not much more (or maybe even the same or cheaper) than the XL-200s.
Lastly, chances are if you're reading this, you're just getting started with DJing or you're thinking about it. A little advice I can give you as someone who's taken his first baby steps into this line:
1. Be patient. 'Nuff said ... the most rewarding things in life don't come easily, and this is no different.
2. Practice. Nobody is born knowing how to do things like this. Some people have a talent with it and will pick it up in a matter of hours, some people will practice for weeks or months before it "clicks". Don't get discouraged.
3. Find help. I learned that from a lot of the people I spoke to that DJing seems to be a sort of "secret society" ... DJs love to do shows (and show off a bit, too) but they're reluctant to spend any time to help other people. This of course isn't true for everybody, so go out there and find a friend, or a friend-of-a-friend, who's willing to show you the ropes. I never had anybody to help me out, and it's been slow going learning it on my own, but still very rewarding.
If you're interested in learning DJing for anything besides the love of the music, re-think the whole thing right now before you get in over your head. Most importantly, Good luck and have fun with it!
Recommended:
Yes
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autoamerican
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