Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic Technics 1210MK2EB Professional Turntable Black

Go to any club, go to record shops nationwide, delve into the archives of dance and turntablism and you will find the trusty old SL1210 mentioned everywhere. Without these babies, the beat mixing DJ probably wouldn't exist.

The market nowadays is flooded with belt drive, direct drive copies of Technics, as well as the slightly higher standard competitors from Vestax. But for me, the age old Technics is STILL the deck of choice. It may be lacking some of the flashier tools of recent pretenders to the crown (i.e. Vestax's +/-50% ultra pitch ... but then again, who REALLY needs to be able to play a record at +50%?!) but what you ARE getting is solid reliability. You KNOW that the Technics is proven to be a quality deck, decades of usage in clubs, my decks have lasted 8 years and are still going as strong as ever! It does the job you need it to. It has on/off, a +/-8% pitch slider for the all important beat matching, 33 & 45 rpm modes and ... well thats it! What else do you really need?

The advantage of Technics over the many copies is the quality direct drive. It has a STRONG motor driving the decks round with magnets, no belts. So it starts quickly, maintains a decent constant speed (essential for beat matching consistantly) and it lasts for AGES. As for Technics vs its main rivals in the form of the Vestax series, well they have variable platter stop speeds, reverse function, but the Technics just FEELS better, and face it, if you go into a club, you're going to most likely be faced with Technics not Vestax. The only proper rival to these Technics is the new MK5 model. Keeps to the simple design but adds in a nice blue led, expanded pitch slider, non 'click' pitch slider (the only GRIPE about this model ... the dreaded 'green light' area around the 0% mark, a nightmare if you're mixing around that percentage ... very hard to get precise and accurace small changes due to ball bearings locking the pitch to 0% if you edge too close to it). For this reason, why not plump out the extra little bit of cash for the MK5.

To go with two of these decks, you'll need a mixer, the industry standard is the Pioneer DJM600, solid mixer, 4 channel if you so desire to expand your set up plus a cracking effects unit. For those with a bit more money, perhaps consider expanding out with Pioneer CDJ1000 CD decks. You won't find a better rival to Technics than these, plus they interact with the DJM600 mixer to create extreme DJ control. For an example of what a setup like that can do, check out James Zabiela's Sound In Motion CD.

What can I say about these? I could wax lyrical, but I don't think it's necessary.. If you're looking at this page on Amazon, then the chances are that you're a DJ. If I were you, I wouldn't look any further (unless you can afford to spend a little more on the Mk5 up-grades). Technics are unrivalled as far as DJ decks are concerned. As 'typical moody DJ' points out, Vestax are making a spirited attempt, but ultimately, they just don't feel as solid and have too many unnecessary extra features. The 1210 on the other hand, is an uncomplicated, over-egineered, hugely reliable work of genius! I have developed a huge love affair with mine over the last 10 years or so and would never consider any other brand.

The deck of decks, often challenged, never beaten. if your serious about djing or even just want to get started this is the deck for you featuring the kind of torque and performece that is demanded by top djs. Dispite being matched on spec by some rival turntables, this just outperforms everytime and this is the reason its been the industry standard for over 20 years, and is sure to stay it for more to come. It may not be loaded with (uneeded) gadgets but you can garentee if you ask any one in the buisness what decks they use they will say "1210s".