what is this "cartridge" you speak of?

Bueller

@Weihovah: Newb.

shockwaver

four arms... but why...

alin0steglinski

$56,000??? I'll just buy four turntables

Weihovah

1 DJ not really impressed, signing in

rudeadly

I wonder what Q-Bert would do with this thing...

johnnyabnormal

Not impressed.

Collins1

If you're a DJ and you're still spinning vinyl, you're hurting. You know how much records weigh? Most use CDJs or Serato Scratch LIVE disks and a laptop.

alowishus

I don't understand why having four arms makes this like a fictional doctor. Perhaps you meant "...Frankenstein's monster..."?

Hap

@alowishus: The few vinyl DJs I know call those DJs "sell-outs." I don't know anything about DJing though. And unless you like the limited selection Serato gives you, then you're out of luck w/o vinyl.

UniComp

I'm just confused. Four arms but one platter? So you get 4 separate audio outputs from the same record? Each just a second or two off from the one next to it? What's the point?

Looks to me like something somebody put together just because they could but it really serves no useful purpose.

rsquared

This was originally envisioned in the 60's as a way to safely play Beatles records backwards.

Turn me on, dead man.

strider_mt2k

@UniComp: all good djs I see spin vinyl. The rest just bought some program or something with scratchpads and then downloaded their itunes into it.

redkamel

@WEGGLES90: um, yeah. I was being silly, relating to how most all media is read magnetically or optically now.... but you knew that. You did, right?

Bueller

@Bueller:
The needle.

WEGGLES90

man if audiophiles saw some dj trying to scratch with something like this they'd piss their pants...

[surprised i'm the first to note it's not for scratching... it's to make up for a small prick]

cabasse

@rsquared:

each arm probably imparts a slightly different tonality depending on what's desired for the style of music/age of vinyl, etc...

cabasse

@alin0steglinski: Because it's cool.

KGshark

@redkamel: Exactly! I don't know much about djing, but I don't think twice about a dj who isn't spinning vinyl.

supercollider

Oh, so THAT's how quadrophonic sound was made.

FredicvsMaximvs

Ye. I think that is so the DJ can play four different parts of a song. He can select which track he wants to hear by using x-faders and one copy of the record. In the past he would have to buy four copies of one song to do this. It saves money in the long run... like after the thousandth time he's had to do that.

OdeliaTermite

@supercollider: I don't think twice when confronted with comments by neophobes. Who cares what you use as long as it works and you like it? I don't write off any DJ medium....vinyl, cd's, midi mixer controllers, etc. They all have their pros and cons.

Regardless, purist douche bags will never admit to the deficits of their favorite rig and slag anything they don't understand. (that goes for any subject!) I remember a thread way back where some guy was being a dick about a midi controller I mentioned in here and was like, "good luck "scratching" with your midi controller..."

I posted this video after unboxing it and trying it out for the first time:

[www.johnnyrandom.com]

Predictably, he had no comment.

johnnyabnormal

This table is absolutely not meant for DJs. My best guess is that they made it to compare tonarm/cartridge setups in realtime.

TorrentFox

@TorrentFox: Even funnier would be if the mix was split into 4 stems so you could hear each through it's own cartridge. Stranger things have happened...

johnnyabnormal

@strider_mt2k: or...."I'm your boogie man, boogie man, turn me on!" Spin some Disco grooves, bring out the ball, some Quaalude/cocaine and glass table and relive the 70's.

kylo4

not for DJing...

otaking241

@johnnyabnormal: probably rip a gash in space and time.

yungjerry703

WIIKKI-WIIKKI-WAA-WAAA!

EricAlder

The HiFi market just pisses me off to no end.

halo00to14

@alin0steglinski: arms and carts have different tonal qualities, for those with too much disposable income and no room for 4 turntables, you just mount 4 arms, its more common in hifi land than you would think.

edd9000

Once again gizmodo shows the worst of the HiFi market. What about all the great turntables under $1,000? I know, lets show a $1,000,000 car and proclaim "ALL CARS SUCK!"

farcast

Ok, but why 3 motors?

One for each speed? [45, 33 & just in case you're rockin' the 78s?]

Or does each motor impart a different tonal quality? ;-)

ideaman2020

nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, in HiFi...

RoninianHoon

@ideaman2020: i think its to even out variations in the motors, thus reducing vibration, probably more voodoo snake oil however to charge you for 3 motors instead of one.

edd9000

@TorrentFox:

Not to mention no self respecting DJ would spin on a belt drive deck.

shaft0

@rsquared: If you mix the outputs together with descending volumes you'll have a pretty interesting echo-delay effect...

rekoil

@johnnyabnormal: Allright, foot in mouth.. That's pretty fantastic!

supercollider

Who mixes on belt drives anyway? Anyway, most DJ's are stuck making $9/hr working at a record store and living in their parent's basement. A $600 set of used Techs is big money for that crowd.

PaolaMoth

tables like this are for serious audiophiles. Four arms are available for use as each arm and cartridge has its own tracking and sounds characteristics. Having fours arms available is like having four different turntables so purists can listen to the best possible sound from one device. DJ's need not apply!

OrazioTiberius

Giz: I doubt that this TT is for DJs, all DJ Equipment ist Direcr Drive, this one has a belt drinve, thats a Home Stereo TT, the diffrent arms (and Systems & Needels) are for diffrent vinyls.

ClivePulvillus

@rsquared:
this setup is an enthusiast setup.
The reason for up to 4 arm are for testing different arms and/or pickup setups, without taking everything apart and having to do a 2 hour recalibration of the arm and pickup for every test.
Another reason that makes this setup unusable for a dj, is that it has a belt-drive. this coupled with an external motor gives a more precise speed (or rather, it did back in the day) and removes vibration and electrical/magnetical interferrence, but the downside of the belt-drive is that spin-up times to the correct speed are usually several seconds.

polle404

I don't think that it's for a dj or anything like that. Instead, it turns a vinyl recording nto a more abstract collection of noise than music; a new way of appreciating not only the content, but also the form.

SakinaHybris

4 different cartridges (the thing that holds the needle and picks up the sound) for different types of music bc the cartridges themselves have different sonic qualities, so I'm guessing four arms on one $56,000 turntable just means with all that cash, you don't even have to switch out the cartridge between dark side of the moon and the 9th...

DirtyFrench

Guys... this is obviously not for serious DJ'ing. This would not be as useful as say having 4 separate decks. This has got to be for the uber analog audiophile snob who wants to be able to load up for different cartridges at the same time and do some hardcore A vs. B vs. C vs. D comparos in order to find that magical combination that results in some sort of magical synergy that'll propel their $150k systems into pure audio nirvana. Or something like that.

ArleenStag

Love Gizmodo ignores the news that T-Mobile sold (pre-order) 1.5 Million Android phones, just to bring this story to its readers. So how much is Jobs paying you again gizmodo heheh http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/12/1-5-million-t-mobile-g1s-already-pre-ordered/2#comments

CameronActor

Sexy!!!! I would love to add this to my collection. If you have not heard a record played on a real audiophile system, then you are truly missing out.

HolbrookCrisus