Turntable Forum

Hi, I am a 100% newbie to any of this stuff and have no idea what I'm talking about, which is why I'm here to find out some information but please forgive me for not knowing anything about turntables.

Anyway, I wanna get into scratching really bad. I've always liked the sound and I produce a lot of old school hip hop and trip hop and sometimes jungle. I love the analog sound.
The thing is I want to add scratching to my own loops and beats, which means using mp3 files. However, I want to make sure it sounds analog and not digital.

Are there turntables or, some sort of equipment, which sounds like they're from the 90s but can also be used to scratch both mp3s and vinyls?

Yeah...

First of all....what you want is a "DJ" cartridge...they are designed for back queuing and "scratching".
You would destroy a regular cartridge by dong this.

Also, you want a direct drive TT.

Pair of technics SL-1200s or their clones from Numark or Stanton, an analog mixer for classic stuff, and this for mp3 https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... ratch-a10/

I'm no expert on this stuff, but used to check out what the DJs used when I went to clubs in the 90s. Nearly everyone except total newbies had Technics turntables, always SL-1200.

This is gonna cost you some money, make sure to get turntables specially setup for this stuff, you won't get too far with home hifi oriented equipment.

I think the digital system is smart, it avoided needing to get an expensive record collection, and also lets you access way more music than you would otherwise.

One of my most memorable club experiences though was a DJ who was scratching soul and R&B 45s. Never saw anything like it before or since, was very cool.

Honestly though the best thing you could do is make friends with guys who are into this and find out what they're using, and watch how they're using it. A good DJ can make or break a club, watching a good one working is pretty fascinating.

If a lot of your music is already in MP3 or some other computer format download a copy of Virtual DJ. It's free and may be exactly what you're looking for.