When it comes to just starting out and building your DJ gear toolbox, you’re not going to have the most essential piece of the puzzle without a DJ turntable. The best beginners DJ turntable in our opinion is going to give you a mixture of the following: affordability, a sturdy build to last a while as a long-term investment, the ability to scratch, and also include some new-age technological advancements to give us a combination of that “classic and old-school”.
We found a main pick to get going but have also provided a few alternatives in case you felt like comparing and contrasting. Let’s first look into what to keep in mind while you shop for your beginner DJ turntable.
Picking the best DJ turntable for beginners:
In all cases when shopping for gear, and in particular a beginners DJ equipment setup, let’s talk money. Your budget is definitely a must, and in our opinion our main pick does a pretty good at job balancing our necessary “features and specs” while still providing some affordability (as compared to some other DJ turntables out there that go all the way up to $500+). As always, if you do find a starter turntable you feel is your style and don’t have the cash at hand just yet, we recommend trying to be patient and saving up some more — this will be long-term, and although you can always upgrade later, it’s still a big buy and we feel you’ll have this for at least the next 3-5 years.
Do you want to scratch or just spin? DJ turntables are of course famous for that well-known and legendary “scratching” we’ve seen DJ’s perform for the past 3-4 decades. Nowadays with the advancements of technology however with DJ controllers, MIDI and more, scratching is (unfortunately) becoming a bit more “rare”. At least, scratching with a “traditional vinyl record” is, considering DJ software nowadays provides us the ability to scratch using literal MP3’s and not even needing records. It’ll all depend on which route you want to go — we know some who want to learn how to scratch ASAP, while others just have a turntable handy next to their DJ laptop and other gear for some show as well as versatility.
Lastly, what type of DJ setup are you looking to build? Do you want a traditional 2 turntables, DJ mixer and speakers “analog” setup? Perhaps a digital-only with USB connection to your computer mixed and controlled using software? Or maybe a mixture of both to have a nice “hybrid” (which we love the most) DJ setup? This is a tough question and may be one to answer down the road; however, the question of whether you need 1 or 2 turntables at the moment is a big one. We recommend just buying one for now and using some software or a mixer to get going and learning. You can always buy another turntable and add your additional gear once you get the hang of it.
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