All you need to know about DJ Decks and other DJ equipment.

DJ decks (or turntables) have simple characteristics, here's how to identify them:

Motor:

A DJ deck will normally have a direct drive motor, this is where the platter is directly driven by the motor. It offers higher torque and more consistency in its speed. Belt drive turntables have a lower powered motor which turns the platter by pulling it with a belt. These are generally budget models for beginners.

Pitch control:

All DJ decks will have a pitch control in order to speed up or slow down the platter to get one song in time with the other. This is the fader usually located on the right hand side of the turntable. On some decks the pitch range is variable, meaning that you can switch the range of the fader to offer different levels of accuracy or to create effects by speeding the platter up to 50% faster.

Tone arm:

Again, an essential part of any turntable. The tone arm holds the headshell and cartridge. This is balanced by a counter weight at the back of the arm. Recent research found a straight tone arm is more stable for scratching with where as the S shaped arm offers slightly improved sound quality. For different styles of DJ'ing and indeed different DJ's, the setting up of the tone arm is essential, the more adjustments one has on a tone arm, the wider the scope or choice of cartridges, stylus and settings a DJ has.