Just got myself an Akai AP 206...

[Supervillain]

.. and seem to have som serious problems with it. When i play a record it keeps repeating itself at some places, this is the same no matter wich album i play. Have a theory that it needs to be som settings made but don't have any manual for it so now i ask around here.

I am in the stage of buying a new needle to. I do a lot of sampling, into my Akai s3000xl and some scratches to. What kind of needle fits and wich one would you guys recommend?
Any tips about a pricy okay phono-preamp would also be very helpful.

I really hope someone can help me with this cause i am going nuts about it.

Really thankful for any help!

Cheerio!

[poppachubby]

It's most likely your tracking force. The counterweight on the back of the tonearm adjusts this. Most cartridges require between 1.5 - 2.0 grams of force. What kind of cartridge is on it right now?

The other problem with this is that the calibration could very well be innaccurate, so that setting it to 2.0g is in fact, incorrect.

To fix this, you need to rebalance the tonearm by "floating" it.

First, unlock the arm and hang onto both ends.

Next, using the counterweight, adjust it forward, or backwards until the arm is in a floating state, and resting perfectly level. No more forward than backwards, nice and level.

This is zero, adjust the value dial to read so (the weight will have a dial with numbers on it, that spins freely from the weight).

Now, put the tonearm back into its resting position. Reattach the cart and adjust the weight to the recommended amount. Of course, we need to know what kind of cart you have to determine this.

There is a small chance that your record is in poor condition to make the stylus skip, but I doubt it.

As far as cart and stage recommendations, how much would you like to spend? If you can't tell what kind of cart you currently have, take a photo and post it.

[JohnMichael]

Sounds like you may have dirty and damaged records. I would try cleaning them to see if that helps. Oh and by the way the cartridge must be mounted before you zero the arm. Then you need to hold on to the rear of the counterweight and adjust the scale to zero and then adjust the weight to the proper tracking force.

[poppachubby]

Edited John, you should just have gone into my post and fixed it.

[02audionoob]

If you want to scratch you need a DJ cartridge, like these...

http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=DJOR008&Category_Code=DJOR

[Supervillain]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help me. Been trying som other forums before this and all you get is arrogant bastard who's whole life surrounds by the slogan "I know so much but i won't tell you".

poppachubby: What do you mean by stulys skip? And isnt it specific what kind of cart i use to what kind of player.. i mean you can't use certain carts to all players? My budget is around 100-150 US Dollars. I'm not to sure that i want to spend too much money on a new cart since my player isnt the most fancy machine, but hey, i'm no einstein in this business so...
By the way, i will get pics up by the weekend. Too much at work right now.

[poppachubby]

poppachubby: What do you mean by stulys skip?

If the tracking force isn't heavy enough, the needle can jump right out of the groove.




And isnt it specific what kind of cart i use to what kind of player.. i mean you can't use certain carts to all players?

There are moving magnet and moving coil cartridges. For this table you'll want a moving magnet cart. Aside from this, there are two types of connection on a tonearm, P-Mount and Standard mount. If you want to scratch, they have carts for this. noob gave you a link but check out the Needle Doctor. You must be familiar with the DJ affiliated companies? Stanton is probably the most popular. Numark is another.

www.needledoctor.com



My budget is around 100-150 US Dollars. I'm not to sure that i want to spend too much money on a new cart since my player isnt the most fancy machine

You can get a cart with a couple of needles for $150, which will be for scratching. If you want to enjoy your table for listening, you'll want a proper cart. The DJ cart will work for listening obviously, but it won't be the greatest fidelity.

[02audionoob]

So where we are with this is primarily two issues...

We need to make sure you accurately executed the procedure for setting tracking force. It's not easily understood by the average person. That part about floating the arm to dead level and turning the dial to zero without turning the weight is not always all that intuitive or clear.

Then you'll need to consider how important the DJ functions like scratching are. As poppachubby said...some high-fidelity is lost in the cartridges that can tolerate scratching.

For high-fidelity in your price range, I like the Shure M97XE...poppachubby can back me up on that one. I suspect he'd also agree the Ortofon 2M Red is a good one. The AudioTechnica AT95E and AT95HE are good cartridges at good prices. However...if you want to have the option to scratch, I like the Ortofon that I original linked because it's pre-aligned for that style arm. Most cartridges are going to require very careful alignment on the headshell. The Ortofon body replaces the entire headshell and cartridge. You could put an AT95E on the headshell for hi-fi and swap it out with the Ortofon for scratching.

[poppachubby]

Yes for sure, Stanton and Numark also make that style. It's standard DJ stuff, plugs right into your arm without any hassle.

Let us know if you're interested in more than just scratching. For $150, plus a little more, it would be tight but you might be able to get a budget cart for listening (Ortofon OMB-10/$65.00) and a budget scratching cart (Stanton Scratchmaster/$99.00)

I have been listening to The Shure M97xe and it truly is an amazing cart at the pricepoint. I think if you enjoy listening to hip hop and electronic music, it would be a nice choice. It has super warm and detailed mids and really full lows. The highs roll off, however that's a matter of perspective that you won't have anyhow...

Just curious, what other sites have you visited, where they were so rude? Alot of guys here have tables, but it's a small community in terms of "analog heads". We'll get you fixed up no problem...

[Supervillain]

I tried to balance the arm yesterday and it went better than i thought, i had to do it from scratch 2 times but the important is that the player now works fine. Obviously your explanation was pretty good. Found out my camera is lost, but do you guys think you can see what kind of cart there's on if i take a picture with my 3 megapixel mobilephone? From what i think the cart probably just is some standard junk since i cant see anything with a name, number or sign on it.

It's a pretty good point to have one set for listening and one for scratching. Since i will loose som quality with a DJ-cart its pretty bad when im sampling. I've been making some beats for a while and got my hands on an old Akai S3000XL just last month, so now i'm pretty much converting to make sample based beats wich i think is an fantastic artform. Thats why i will need a cart that brings it all in the sampler.

I dont have any deeper knowledge about the bigger companys, more than a name and that they are good. Nice with som recomendations from you and will follow it all up.
Regarding the rude forums i've been on its bad to mention any names, but it has been everything from some dj-forums to akai mpc-boards. Some people just thinks that if they know something, nobody else should know about it too. Well i've been proven wrong in this case and when i have some spare time i can spend hours in here reading about everything.. best way of learning.

[poppachubby]

Right on...yes, for sampling you most definitely need a decent cart. The ones we suggested will do fine. Do a bit of leg work and come back when you have some more questions or about pricing, etc. Good luck (wicka) luck (wicka-wick-wick) luck......fresshhhhhh.....

[02audionoob]

If you would like to post the photo, we'll try to identify the cartridge. I think these things came with an Akai cartridge, so it's fairly likely the replacement stylus for it would be hard to find. At the very least, the photo will allow us to confirm you have a standard headshell that will hold the cartridges we recommended.

[Supervillain]

Found the name on now. t512-s. Took a picture today too, never knew my phone could make this kind of pictures. Edit: messed up link, this should work: (http://img210.imageshack.us/i/dsc00470a.jpg/)

I'll give a shout later when i've got some propositions. Until then thanks alot!

Edit: Whats your opinion on Astatic just generally?