Stanton Starts Getting Serious
Written: Jul 08 '03 (Updated Jul 09 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Digital output, Key Lock, Reverse Playback, High Torque, +/-25% Pitch
Cons: Power button and cable access, plastic base
The Bottom Line: This is a fabulous table for a beginner, it has lots of features that you'd pay hundreds more for on any Technics. Eventually you may have to upgrade, though.
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| cinemafia's Full Review: Stanton STR8-100 Turntable |
Buying your first real set of DJ-ing equipment is a tough decision. Do you listen to everybody and their momma and drop $500 a deck on Technics or Vestax's? Well, years ago, of course you would. Not today.
Comapnies like Stanton, Numark and Gemini have come a long way since the 80's in terms of quality, features and design. And, while Gemini attempts to mimic the Technics, comapnies like Stanton and Numark are really pushing the envelope. The Stanton ST-150 and the Numark TTX1 are now the most advanced turntables in the world in terms of torque, multifunctionality, and lots of other features.
But, besides that, the bottom line is that they are CHEAPER than Technics or Vestax tables. This inherently is going to translate into some cheapening of materials. With all that in mind, my wife and I decided to go for a Stanton Titanium DJ Pack. At $650 from Guitar Center, it was really as much as we could afford. I would have liked to spend the extra $350 to get a set of Numark TTX1's, but my wife wanted to start DJ-ing ASAP and we didn't have time to save up.
The Titanium Pack includes two STR8-100's, which I knew were close to being Stanton's flagship but also a compromise of cash over caution. Let's face it, Stanton is known for their incredible cartridges, headphones and mixers, but not for their tables. Despite this, I was impressed with the STR8-100's. First of all, they look very good. As much as I like the Numark TTX1's, for instance, they don't look nearly as good in person as they do on Numark's website!
Looks aside, the first thing I wanted to see was how all the buttons felt. From the reviews here, I expected them to be flimsy. They actually weren't bad! The buttons feel solid and responsive. The pitch control knob is pretty smooth...not as so as the TTX1 or a Vestax, but still not jerky. Now, while all of the top materials seem choice, the bottom half of the table is still plastic. Sure, this isn't ideal, but the table is stil fairly heavy and doesn't seem to slip or slide while scratching.
On to the features: here's where the STR8-100 really shines!
The torque on the 100 is fairly high, 2.2kg/cm is more than enough to get your discs back to full speed almost instantly from a stop or after scratching. The reverse playback is also very handy, and it only takes about a full second to go from full-speed forward to backward or vice versa, though you can easily use your mixer's crossfader to hide the switch and just get a constant "back-and-forth" loop. The wide pitch range of +/-8 to 25% is also welcome, making the Technics' +/-8% only seem dated. The top-of-the-line Stanton STR8/ST-150 and the Numark TTX1 are now the only tables in the world that can do +/-50%, but a range that wide is really more for effect than necessary for beatmatching, etc.
The best feature though is the key lock. I've heard some mixed reviews of this feature, so maybe I can clear it up for everyone. The STR8-100, like some of the other new high-end turntables coming to the market, is a "digital turntable". All this means is that the turntable has an internal analog-to-digital converter. This means that you can use the turntable with a mixer or amp that does NOT have a traditional phono input (and has no need for ground wires) and you have a SP/DIF output for recording direct to DAT or a computer with a good sound card. Plus, it has a DSP that performs a pitch shift when changing the rpm of the table.
What happens inside the turntable is the same thing that happens in a professional audio software program like ProTools, Peak or Logic. When you change the RPM of the turntable and enable the key lock, the DSP pitch-shifts the tone of the melody, vocals, etc. either up or down to be exactly what they were at normal speed. As with the nature of this technology no matter what application n which it is used, the effect sounds better when the speed is increased than when it is decreased. Go slower and you get a stuttering effects, which although great for certain sounds, makes vocals unnatural.
Yes, the effect only works at the disc's native speed, so you can't play a 33.333rpm record at 45 or 78rpm and expect to be able to keep the same tone, but you still have a wide +/-25% range in which the effect works perfectly when beatmatching or even for effects while scratching. For instance, if you have a disc with a period of constant tone, you can use the key lock and pitch shift in conjunction to play that note like an instrument. You can keep backcueing the tone while turning the key lock off and on and sliding the pitch all the way back and forth to get a sort of three tone melody going.
Okay, so I've gone over all the high points of the table, lets talk about the low ones. First and foremost, the power switch. As mentioned in another review, it's on the underside back of the unit making it very difficult to turn it off and on, and impossible to turn off and on if you have it turned sideways (as any DJ would) because the mixer in between will block the switch completely on the right-hand table. The best way around this is to have everything turned on all the time but plugged into a power strip that you can turn on and off from the floor. I have both tables, a mixer, an amp/speakers and a table lamp all plugged into one power strip so I can turn everything on and off at once with my foot.
Next, while there is a nifty place to store spare headshells, there's really no other storage on the unit. Sure, this isn't that important, but most turntables have a little indentation or pocket of some kind where you can stow 45 adapters, needle protectors or even small screwdrivers, etc. There is no such thing on the STR8-100, so if you're at a club you may find that you'll easily lose a 45 adapter or needle protector by sitting it somewhere and forgetting about it. I also wish there was a better way to route the cables. Any DJ who scratches (and that is what this table is made for) is going to have the tables sideways, and having the cables sticking out the back gets messy. It would be fine if they came with a right-angled power cord and RCA cables.
So, that's it. So far not a lot to complain about. My wife and I will have to run them through the paces amd over time see how well they hold up. Expect updates!
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Update: (7/9/03)
The Stanton STR8/ST-150's both have all-steel construction and come with right-angled cables, thus they are perhaps perfect. I would highly recommend the 150's if you have the means, though if your're even considering a new pair of Vestax's or Technics, you do already. ;-)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cinemafia
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Member: Alex Wichman
Location: Los Angeles, California
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 4 members
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