THE DECKS FOR THE BEGINNER (Numark TT1510)

Member Name:

Product:	Numark TT1510
Date:	22/08/01 (1309 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: feather touch start/stop

Disadvantages: not an instant start up

Ahhhh, dance music, thumping drums, throbbing basslines, hard hitting riffs, and at the end of it all, happy clubbers. Everybody has experienced dance music at some point, and most will have listened to smooth mixing between two tracks, but how many have actually tried it themselves?

The Numark TT-1510 is the ultimate beginners deck. It has all the features that a DJ could need, such as a feather touch start/stop button, along with an excellent anti-skate feature, and a curved tone arm, which is balanced by the counter-weight.

The deck comes complete with a clip to hold the tone arm in position when not in use, as well as a dust cap to cover the stylus, (needle), which also comes as part of the package. Obviously, you also get the dust cover for the deck to keep it tidy.

This deck is a belt-drive turntable, which basically means that the platter is rotated by a motor, via the use of a belt, wrapped around the underside of the platter. This means that the platter does not have the same instant start up that you would achieve with a direct drive turntable, but this deck does the job perfectly, encouraging the DJ to push the record off rather than just letting it go.

The decks are relatively easy to set up, obviously they come with instructions, but all the leads are colour co-ordinated, so all you have to do is plug the red leads into the red socket on the deck and mixer, and the white lead into the white socket. There are also earth wires that need to be connected from the decks to the mixer. All together, the system should take about 20 minutes to set up. Each component of the system needs an individual power supply, so it is a good idea to buy a few adaptors.

Of course, as well as decks and mixer, you will also need an output source. With these decks, you may be able to plug into the back of your hi-fi, if you have the auxilary input option and a red/white socket on the back, or it may be that you need to purchase speak
er separately, and most DJ retailers will do a deal which includes the decks, mixer, speakers, and all leads, slipmats etc that you need.

I own a pair of these decks and have been playing on them ever since I bought them. I also bought the Bluedog Mixer at the same time, which, if you buy a package including these decks from a DJ retailer, is usually the mixer you will receive.

They seem to have an attraction if you are a lover of dance music, as I am. I can't keep away from them, and now spend most of my money on vinyls so I can DJ in my room.
Obviously, not everybody can DJ, it does take a certain amount of musical knowledge and sense of rhythm to be able to DJ and mix tracks effectively, so decks may not be best suited to any dance fanatic. It may be that you purchase these decks, and then discover that you cannot DJ, which would be a waste of £200. The advice I would give anyone in this position is to find someone who has a DJ set already, and ask to try them out, and maybe practice a bit, to see if you have the potential. This way, you can find out whether DJing is really a hobby for you.

Altogether, I think that these decks would be a really good investment for anyone who wanted to start DJing, and seeing that they only cost about £180 for a pair, or even £200 for a set including the mixer, DJing won't break the bank.

Summary: