Deft

I've never had a creative block, as I've never created anything. Don't think my brain is wired for creating music. I think most people struggle with "productivity" in their life. I have a list of things I keep meaning to do: properly practice and become next level at scratching, python programming wizard, a big book on calculus I want to get through, hit a 3:30 km running pace over 5km, should really have learnt conversational punjabi by now, etc. Trying to get that balance of enjoyment vs slog, having some measurable goals or projects to work on. Fundamentally, though some will say it is a bit of a cop out, there are only 24 hours in a day and I have plenty of shit to do most days. OK I could juggle stuff around and it would give me a few clear hours a day, that's probably enough to get good or do something. I'm looking forward to retirement, then I'll have no excuses.

I've got a brand new m44g setup too, not got any m447 styli. Can't see they are much different to each other, but I need to refine my real vinyl touch before I unveil my verdict. I've got used to a skipless Rane Twelve where my true heavy handed creativity can be unleashed. The torque on this 1210GR feels a bit weak, but perhaps that is just what Technics were always like.

Well I'll be fucked if I can tell a difference between the tracking performance of the 3 Ortofon needles! Lolz, good thing I'm not in the reviewing game anymore. Man I don't miss skipping vinyl when I'm scratching one bit.

Booooo just tuned in to narrowly miss Jon. How do I rewind this Twitch shit!

Hilariously, there is not enough space on a Kallax unit to put a turntable battle style. I spent yesterday evening switching between Ortofon VNL 2 Vs Shure m44g Vs Shure N97xE/V15Vx to see if I could tell audio quality differences. I struggled a bit. I knew all these spare carts and headshells would come in handy one day. Listening to vinyl again on a new mixer has confused my ears. Plus doing all my day to day listening on my Sony WH-1000X M3 doesn't help either.

Now my vinyl is back on display, clearly some of it has seen better days. Dirty paw prints etc. Anyone used a vinyl cleaning gadget, e.g. https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/vc-s2-alu/ Or more budget https://www.spincare.co.uk/products/spincare-vinyl-record-lp-cleaning-machine-system-accessories-inc-drying-rack I recall washing a random piece of vinyl in soapy water once, not sure why.

First impressions. The cartridge is quite tall.

Fun to have a real turntable setup after god knows how long, must be 4-5 years since I had one. This 1210GR just feels like a normal Technics 1200/1210mk2. Glad I didn't get the standard mk7, as the reviews made it sound a bit shit. Still dreaming of the SL-1210GAE. If I'd punted some money into GME shares this morning I would have made enough to cover it.

Got mine today. Turntable should arrive tonight too. Time to break out my 20 yr old copy of Hee Haw Brayks.

To be fair mine is 11 years old, 100,000 miles, no major issues so far.

Finally a hipster wagon. Who are all these wankers buying vinyl nowadays. I'm waiting for my diesel car to implode so I can get on the futuristic electric bandwagon. I've probably only driven a couple of hundred miles in the last year, compared to normally 10,000.

Not guilty. Mine would have been Dutch gabba. Mark did all the photos and screenshots I think.

Alternatively, do what I do at the smallest equipment issue, just throw the thing in the bin and drop a few thousand on another piece of crap.

You know that mixer is 15 years old now. Holy crap. What an amazing review I wrote. https://www.skratchworx.com/reviews/ttm57sl.php My best guess - are you sure it's not a software setting in Scratch Live somewhere?

Uh-oh they are shipping from Germany. What happened to DV247 eh. I look forward to some Brexit import tax of a thousand quid.

ORDERED to go with my new turntable

I almost bought one of these, but chickened out. I've ordered a SL-1210GR instead.

Toblerone was empty, cos I ate the fucker like a true Partridge. I've still got the empty box, but at the moment I have yet to decide a suitable display position.

I don't throw around the term game changer too much, but I'd feel sad using a normal toilet now. Will definitely get another one when re-do our actual bathrooms. Our cloakroom looks a bit more pimpin' than the DJ room.

We have had a load of work done through the rest of the house, including taking walls out, putting in steel beams, new flooring, relocation of various radiators and plumbing, new electrics etc. So this one radiator wasn't such a big deal. Still had to dig out channels in the concrete floor to re-route the pipe work. So at least it wasn't me doing all the hard work. Having said that our plumbers were a bit crap, so maybe I should have tried to do it myself!

One of the many benefits of being a midget. I'm a mere 166cm tall so it's about right for me! Also, for fact fans. Height to top of Kallax storage is 77cm, which means top of Rane One platters is about 87cm.

I might have, for a nano-second, but not a regular occurrence. That Serato Remote thing sounds good. The wife has an ancient iPad I could steal.

@Dan My initial reactions after using it for an hour or so is roughly what I expected. I always thought the Rane Twelve scratch performance was plenty good enough, and this is the same thing (no surprise). My frame of reference is a bit skewed, as I don't think I have ever scratched with real 7" records before. The acrylic disc thing on these (fake record) are quite light and slippery. My Rane Twelve has a real vinyl record on it (one of the first batches), but someone was saying they switched to this acrylic disc on those too. I'd be tempted to put a heavier real record on these, though I expect I'll get used to it. If you are constantly switching between real vinyl and this it could get annoying. It's a nice size / format. I'm looking forward to actually doing some mixing, and I need to learn all the Serato features / effects / buttons on this thing which I've never used before. I used to just open Serato and cut, and never did anything else. The overall size means it feels a bit cramped for cutting. I'm strong hand on the record and tend to flap about and move my hand a lot, and you just kinda run out of space with 7". Crossfader seems nice enough, and you can adjust the cut-in distance in software (thank fuck, the first thing I did was notice there was too much distance for me...). Upfaders are stiff garbage and I caught my finger nails on the metal panel groove / gap between the mixer and turntable bits. Again, even after 30 mins of cutting you start to adjust your hands / style a bit. Realistically, I can't believe anyone prefers cutting on this kind of setup vs. a 12" format and proper scratch mixer. That's the compromise you expect. The platters have pretty strong torque. I'm a bit old fashioned and stuck in the past. If I could get 2x Rane Twelves (with pitch bend buttons), and use my Scratchbox I'd be good (basically my Technics and simple mixer setup circa 1997). Having said that, I haven't quite got the space for that anymore - and having all the Serato features accessible on your hardware should be fun. Like I said before, I'd tried mapping things to my Nanopad but I can't get on with generic mapping and no hardware labelling. But in the end, like I said at the beginning - it's what I expected looking at the thing. No obvious issues with buttons / build quality. @Mutis Mayfield YOU KNOW ME, I'M A JOKER. But more seriously, I have Serato running on my desktop computer which is a 90 degree head turn away - so am kinda interested in a ready to go solution on a tablet or phone, rather than investing in a separate laptop just for running Serato so I can stare at a screen directly in front of me. I could Google, but does Serato run on iPads / iPad pros? That would work OK and someone else in the house would get some use out of it more than they would a laptop on a stand.

Well, it was the last room to get done in the house. We had originally planned for some crazy geometric wallpaper on the back wall but didn't bother. Moved the radiator over to the left, got a new TV wall mounted. IKEA worktop for the PCs, just screwed into a frame on the wall. Kallax for the records. I seem to have not left enough room for an actual turntable. I might wall mount my speakers to free up some tabletop. New Rane One arrived today to complete the room.

Gear4Music, they had 2 in stock yesterday, seems like they are both gone now. Did seem a bit thin on the ground. Was worried it was a pretend stock count, but they've shipped something which is arriving today.