I agree! Matt's so great at judging a product for what it is and what you get for the price. It's similar to when DankPods gives recommendation on cheap headphones.
@@gabrielledebourg2487 dankpods is amazing! Didn't expect to see his channel name here haha! Went to school with wade, so cool to see him getting popular!
As a bonus, Richard Houghten's willingness to let his music be used in a video like this means that I'm much more inclined to check out his music, now that I've heard a few snippets of it.
Watching that red vinyl spin at 15:54 was just so enjoyable. The smoothness, the perfectly centered record, absence of any wobble, the clear audio... Whenever I don't have a turntable around, watching something like this is the closest thing to the real deal.
When I saw “professional DJ turntable”, my mind went back to my radio days in the early ‘70s and the Gates broadcast quality turntables we used. Heavy cast metal bases, huge motors that would bring the table from stopped to full speed in less than 1/8 revolution. The good old days.
VWestlife did a video about the history of that mechanism: ruclips.net/video/1YIX5-CwhqM/видео.html He even worked out who the (likely) inventor was. Apparently it's been around since at least the mid-1980s.
I was a dj for 17 years starting back in the early 90z. I began on a similar version of that, belt drive and the like, untill I was able to upgrade to an SL-1200. You did a great job explaining everything, always enjoy your videos.. thank you!
Exactly the same story for me! Belt drive to start, on to cheap direct drive, then finally SL-1210s. I think belt drive turntables are easier to learn to mix on beacuse of the reduced torque and are thus more forgiving.
@@dpw81 Similar story for me had a pair of Kams around 95. Definitely needed a light touch which was difficult as the advertised +/-8 pitch range was more like +/-4. Good times ☺️
I love this channel but this vid is wrong on so many levels. Dual is one company, just like snap on, the sell products at many levels. There’s no way that 2 companies are operating with the same logo. And no way that this cheap company is using audio technica.
In response to requests, the end section PSA/Rant about the cheap record player mechs has been edited into a separate video - available to view here: ruclips.net/video/AXV8tXrPOR4/видео.html
A fine rant it was, pretty much sums up the difference. I get annoyed with some of the audio snobs online im sure their 5k turntables are great but to the average ear I bet you can hear very little difference. I have a mid priced Marantz amp and Mission speakers. My first new (since the 80's) turntable was one I picked up for £120 from HMV. It only took two weeks before I bought a proper turntable a £300 LP 5. And the difference was like night and day. Those plastic monstrosities if they at worse dont chew the grooves on your vinyl they will certainly leave you scratching your head as to why you went back to vinyl.
We have Lidl here in the USA at least on the east coast, and the one in my area opened up about 2 years, or so ago, and the handful of times I've been in there it's been a poor option with poor selection, and quality for such an expensive/fancy looking building compared to the Walmart, Krogers(one of the largest supermarket chains in the US), and even the smaller Aldi stores just a few minutes down the street from it, plus the Lidi parking lot is a nightmare to get in, and out of IMHO of course. So I'm honestly surprised by this turntable being 1/2 decent.
So would I. In fact I think he could hang a good living out of importing and rebranding those players as a Techmoan FH-1159. The FH stands for "flippin heck." And make sure it costs less than a Crosley.
I really appreciate how well dressed he is. It makes me feel important when somebody cares about his appearance before telling me cheap turntables are shit 😊
At that price, I'd be happy especially as the cartridge costs around a quarter of it's total price. I thought the tracking force seemed a bit high but it's bang in the middle of it's spec. Cheers mate - another enjoyable watch!
The 3600 can be found new for around the £10 mark on eBay. It was rebranded as the Riga carbon cartridge but that ones a lot more pricy for some reason, despite the fact they're identical
@@ExtremeMetal not identical, the carbon has a different stylus (uses carbon rather than aluminium for the armature and slightly better diamond tip). However, once the at3600 stylus has worn, you can pop a carbon stylus on or even look at more expensive options using different shaped tips (though the anti-skate on this assumes you'll only put a round needle on it and not elliptical etc). It's still an impressive cart for the money and a nice touch by the manufacturers.
They definitely went on the higher side of things for that cart in the instructions. The actual spec from AT says you can go as low as 2.5 grams. Thought up to 3.5 is still within it's operating boundaries
Thanks so much for this video! I immediately ordered what looked to be the US equivalent turntable. The Victrola Pro-2000 seemed to have identical mechanics. I got it set up tonight, and am really enjoying the quality. It’s so much better than the generic plastic model I got a few years ago. Maybe not as good as what I owned back in the 80s, but it will absolutely do the job for the type of thrift store vinyl I enjoy.
I've started to find that its because his videos dont really have any frills. He'll make a jab, a joke, a sidebar here and there, but the guts of the videos are just full on content. It also helps that his delivery is top notch
@@CeruleanChurch I think Mat has a degree of respect for his viewers that can be lacking elsewhere. His genuine passion for the tech he talks about comes through also.
Your videos just have something to them, I don't know exactly what it is, but they are so diverting; almost half an hour and it feels like I watched a five minute video. Thanks for your great content!
I'm so glad there's finally a review of a discounter electronic product that isn't totally garbage! So tired of all the "boomboxes" with the same cheapo mechanism in there
It is actually awesome to see a cheap or inexpensive record player that is actually worth buying! I was just having a conversation with someone about most cheap or inexpensive record players made today are garbage! I will have to send this to them so they can have a look :) Thank you Techmoan! This is why I love this channel :)
This is great timing, I work at Lidl and see these things out back and keep looking at it thinking I might get it to upgrade from my suitcase player and think I may invest now.
Yes, it’s worth upgrading 👍 And if you ever change your mind for some reason, don’t fret: they can be sold again at a decent second hand price, but keep the packaging. That makes shipping a lot easier - also useful when moving to another place.
Really enjoyed this video and I think a lot of people will find it useful. I'd like to see a series of "decent" record player reviews from you. It'd be interesting to see this one compared with Audio Technica's USB offering.
@peterteter I am one of these guys :-P (I've got a LP120USB for about 5 or 6 years or something like that and just recently soldered out the internal preamp for an external one) I must say: When I saw the turntable in this video, at first I thougth: Oh no! Is mine just an overpriced one and now there are rebranded cheaper ones that are exactly the same? But noooooo. The Audio Technica is way better on the quality side! Like GP1138 Said: It is heavier, has a direct drive and a lot of details (the hinge that holds the arm in "restmode" is way more better, more buttons for more adjustments, a little extra lamp to light the cartridge/needle etc). Yeah, there are some downsides too: you cannot just bypass the internal preamp/USB-circuitry completely with the switch on the back (its always going through some low-pass filter) so you have to solder it out by yourself, but even without it I think it sounds great (or: good enough for me) and the antiskating is not working very well (you have to turn it to almost maximum to make it work (i think i read somewhere, that there is a problem with the spring in there)). But even with these faults, I am still pleased with this one (even more without the build in preamp)! And I recommended it to a friend of mine, and he is very pleased with it , too.
I have to say, AT updated the preamp and added Bluetooth comparability and it’s even better! I’m shocked at how much better m records play! Even ones I thought were badly scratched play with just some popping on the LP120. My Sony would get stuck in the groove or dropout entirely on scratches. I thought some of my records were ruined. I’m relieved to hear they’re not.
My parents bought a very similar, almost the same, really, turntable a few years back and I can safely say that you needn't worry about the power switch. This thing is surprisingly durable.
I started out with a pair of belt drive turntables and actually they’re great for training you to listen to whether everything is in beat or not due to the variations in speed caused by older belts. I moved on to 1210s pretty soon after though.
@@robinw77 Yeah, that is a "real" dj turntable and propably decent for a beginner. And that "antistatic felt", isn't that called a slipmat and has nothing to do with static electricity? ;:D I wonder if you get two turntables, plug in your pc via usb and use free mixing software for eq and crossfade?
@@woldemunster9244 I don't know for sure but I think both connected to a computer would either cause some kind of driver issues and/or the software can only use one of them Just like an audio software can only use one audio interface.
@@peterpiper0815 From what I remember each port on your computer creates a new installation of the driver if that specific port has never seen that device before. Doesn't matter if a different port has seen it before, no port can see the other ports' histories. And yes, you do have to wait through the full installation time, it's not instant like resuming a download that's at 100%. So it must be a separate instance of the driver. I should probably say that this is on Windows, I don't know if mac or linux handle it differently.
Even if it's a belt drive, a Technics 1200 clone with a lot of the same features brand new for $115ish USD really is a good deal for a starter table. Especially considering the next option up for many of these features on a brand new unit would be a LP120 in the $350-$400 range.
@@lordkillspree exactly, the mmc's are very pricey (if you can find one) and even a retip is eye watering too, its something ppl not in the know really dont realise often meaning basically that a cosmetically rough second hand one with good cart is twice the value of a a cosmetically immaculate with a worn/missing cart/needle ;)
I still have my dad's I keep as a heirloom and can confirm cartridges are very expensive. Btw my Dad was stationed at Hahn air force base from the late 60s to early 70s. Small chance you might have run into him!
It's been a while since I visited this channel and for that I need to take a "walk of shame" given the quality content Techmoan puts out. Thanks for all your great work Mat, and have a great and safe 2021!
The founder of Lidl is "Mr. Schwartz". Als "Schwartz" in German means "Black" his market would be named "Schwartzmarkt" or "black market" (same meaning in German). So he sought for a new name and AFAIK know "Lidl" was the name of his Math teacher back in school. So Mr. Schwartz asked Mr. Lidl for permission for using his name and here we are ... Might be notable Quiz-Show knowledge! ;)
That's total BS, because the Lidl & Cie. Südfrüchtenhandlung (tropic fruit grocer) existed in Heilbronn in 1862 before Josef Schwarz entered the business in 1930 and building it to become a wholesale grocer (named then Lidl & Schwarz KG) which would later become the Discounter of today after his son Dieter Schwarz took over in the 60s. Just another nice urban myth. And yes, black is "Schwarz" in german, not "schwartz", same for Dieters and Josefs last name. tz writing is not very common despite what hollywood might have made you believe.
@@abufaka No it's not complete "BS". You're right that "Lid & Schwartz" existed before the Lidl-Market, but Schwartz had due to legal reasons no rights to use the name Lidl for the stores. He bought the rights for that name from an unempoyed painter for 1000 DM. So I did not remember the story correctly (that's why I wrote "AFAIK"), but your claim of "total BS" is in itself "total BS". Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl
Great job here teaching people how to tell the difference between a well-engineered budget turntable and the unacceptable toys that are sadly passed off as record players. The LIDL player really isn't bad, a proper arm, balance weight, headshell, a real cartridge that can be upgraded if needed, proper speed control and reasonable bearings. Someone did their best to design this well and people who buy one are likely to be quite satisfied.
Not a huge fan of the weight reduction of the turntable to allow for a cheaper motor to drive it, since the turntable is the flywheel, so the heavier the better, but that does allow for a significant cost savings. However, since this one has manual optical calibration, it does result in good speed accuracy in the end while also saving the money on in house calibration. And that kind of thought out compromise is what separates a well engineered budget turntable from a cheap one. Seems they were very good at spotting only the fat.
It's good that modestly priced, decent turntables are now available which can be directly hooked up to pretty much anything and produce decent quality sound and an authentic vinyl experience. Hopefully getting more people into the hobby along the way and potentially with a bigger market we will have more reasonably priced records for the rest of us.
I am aware of those options, but we are talking a different price point here. This is for the teenager who will either wreck it and forget it or move up to something better, or the older person who wants to revisit their vinyl without committing to a full on system.
Thanks so much for this vid, especially the small PSA at the end, I am actually looking to buy a turntable at the moment and the one I was looking at had _exactly_ this cheap mechanism you described in it. Currently looking at other alternatives from this one, pretty sure I dodged a bullet on this one because of you ^_^
just a small heads up - that wow and flutter meter, whilst being a very well made bit of gear, has RIFA capacitors in it which tend to fail loudly and can sometimes take out the rest of the unit, so it might be worth replacing them if you or anyone you know can do that for you.
I bought this unit in USA branded as Audio-Technica (still DT-250 USB), and it is a surprisingly decent little turn table for the price. I Couldn't be happier with it.
Thank you for expressing just how silly those cheap mechanisms are, almost everytime someone says they listen to records they'll show me a picture of their suitcase turntable. I always have to hold back so I don't sound rude. It's a shame these cheap mechanisms took off and cost so much, when something like this dual are way better. Thanks for another great video though, now I have something to recommend to people in place of the suitcase.
It is perhaps worth remembering that, back in the day, the vast majority of listening to vinyl was done on "Crap" record players! We "Hi-fi nuts" were a minority. 😀
@@lightningslim you're definitely right, that's something I still remind myself. The problem is (atleast how I understand it) that records than were cheap and "disposable" (for lack of a better term) when the toy turntable was in most bedrooms. Nowadays people can and easily spend over 30 dollars on high quality records only to play them on briefcases. How people listen to their music is the pressing issue in the world, but it's nice to be able to suggest a better alternative to those who might not know.
@@lightningslim This is true. But the sad part is that you can hear which records have been played by crap record players. I have a stack of Beatles singles, the archetypical teenage boy/girl records played with heavy tracking ceramic cartridges. The amount of wear on those is a LOT larger than the wear on more adult but very frequently played (think Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, both singles and albums) or snobby music (some jazz and classical). Those i rarely find worn out. Now, if people are gonna do that same stuff again with modern crap record players, eventually the original pressings will all be worn out until they sound like a shortwave radio station, and i think that would be incredibly sad and very wasteful (because you can get decent turntables both new and 2nd hand for the value of 3 or 4 records). You can play vinyl literally hundreds of times with a decent player before wear starts to become noticable, but that drops down to tens of times with crap players. I don't care if people are perfectly content with meh quality reproduction - i just care about preserving the quality of the records themselves for future generations.
@@mfbfreak I don't think the same people buying the suitcase player are looking or have the same original pressing you are concerned about being wore out. The people with the Crapsley Bruiser are buying the records at walmart urban outfitters target...and thrift stores. I like to think that one of two things will happen after a month. -they will realize how crap it sounds and think it's a waste of money and stop. (Least likely) -will upgrade past the Bruiser. I think the latter is happening due to what I read and see on forums. I like to hope anyway.
But the repeating of "this is not a dj record player" will turn off many people while telling it is "bad" thing that there is no automatic start/stop etc. That needle is propably usable for dj stuff, scratching needles are totally different beasts and without you shouldn't "rewind"?
@@woldemunster9244 i have a similar copule of turntables they are indeed usable for mixing, techmoan it’s mistaiking djing with turntablism. These base models are ideal for learning if you learn on more crappy instruments when you upgrade you sull’ still have an advantage on those who always had top market consoles
Exactly why I got this one a year ago. Interestingly, I am almost completely sure it didn't say "DJ turntable" on my box. It's certainly the same model and I got it from Lidl - just in Czech Republic.
Well done! Matt. I was looking for a USB turntable to digitise a few discs from my insanely large record collection. I saw your review yesterday lunchtime and then had a quick look in my local Lidl during my weekly food shop last night on the off chance ... and found one. So many thanks. PS I love your videos each week!
Revisiting this since I just started with a brand new Turntable. Although not the Dual one but a Pioneer PLX 500. It shares the same principles and likeness. I want to thank you explaining the setup/calibration on this one. As others failed to actually inform me how to setup the trackingforce thing correctly. You actually succeed by calmly telling the setup process.
Fun fact: the name "Dual" comes from the fact that their first turntables had both electrical motors and springs(!) to run them. So they were portable in a sense, but the main appeal was that in the early 20th century not every home (or every room in a home) was electrified, so a wind-up record player --- like the gramophones, which almost all were wind-up devices --- was sort of the standard at the time. But electric motors run at a much more even speed given a decent voltage, so that was the appeal of the first Dual record players.
After watching this video, I realized that my first turntables I used as a DJ were this exact make but with the ION brand on it! I was given a "DJ-in-a-Box" kit for Christmas over a decade ago and used these to learn how to mix/scratch. They were horrible to use at live gigs because of how much they skipped, but still work as decent record players. I know most DJs these days go for digital varients, but as someone that DID use these for DJing, I agree with Techmoan that they should stay at home.
I work at walmart in the us. We had a pallet of crosley record players. They sold fairly quick. It made me die a little inside every time someone bought one
Well said Matt . As a vinyl enthusiast I recon with an upgraded cartridge, a solid base, a descant phono stage you could produce a surprisingly decent sound . Which does put things into perspective . Yes I hope my system would sound better considering the cost , but I have been surprised by equipment that often defies its price so who knows . Great video as always , you never fail to entertain and bring a smile to my face 😀👍
@@andrewcooper-barnes6165 Oof, had a dlp3 and a dlp3r. They were shocking but they did the job until I got my 1200s. The 1200s are still going 20 years later.
@@OAPHarmerHerrStarmler yes I've seen those too. Basically my advice has always been go for a decent pair of direct drive decks and don't bother with belt drive. A couple of my friends bought Soundlab belt drive decks and they were a pain in the arse to use until you got used to them, and even then it wasn't ideal. Luckily I tried the belt drive decks before I invested in decks and decided to save some more money until I could afford something better. I bought a pair of Technics 1210's in the end and haven't looked back. They are still with me today 30+ years later and in good nick
I had an all in one Citronic double deck (belt drive of course since Techincs still had their patent) and mixer jobby ! did ok until i got the ol Mk2's
I've been searching for an LP-3 for weeks. Can't find the thing anywhere, so I've settled for an LP-120XUSB instead. I'll probably regret it going by the reviews online.
@@jamescollins6085 it's a great turntable :o I have it for one year and it works perfectly well, you can easily upgrade the stylus for a better one and you get a nice turntable :D
@@jamescollins6085 you could but I would advice you a great choice, upgrading the stylus (not the cartridge) to this one :D www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B07JL2NPH5/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You don't have to realign the cartridge and you'll get a noticeable sound upgrade (the sibilance and inner groove distortion won't be there anymore, it's a little detail but makes the experience so nicer) without having to change everything :D you just remove the green stylus and out the red one :D But honestly you can stay with the stock stylus, I did enjoy it for one year and it was just in some records with lot of "s" sounds that it was a problem, so you can keep the original stylus :D
My mom just bought a Westinghouse brand TV "because I recognized the name" -- killed me to see her fall victim to an old brand name scam. Still it was for a 17-inch 720p TV so probably no worries on quality, since it's not a high-end set anyway. Glad to see cheapo Dual's are at least OK.
Agree, you see so many cheap Chinese manufacturers buy out old non profitable once respected hifi brand names to use on their profitable yet cheap and nasty products. As Techmoan points out, not everything Chinese is cheap and nasty but you have to be very weary of these 'trusted' brands and take the item itself on its merits not relying on a once trusted brand name as that's what they use to make the sale... a trusted name.
We gotten scammed in the same way ourselves about nearly 15 years back with an Akai TV. We had an Akai CD player & an Akai VCR & they both were pretty decent for what they were so obviously thought that an Akai TV be a good deal. Boy were we wrong. Poor image & the screen would be all jittery & jumpy with flashing scenes, especially when playing DVD's. The lighting scene near the end of Highlander was atrocious. While we did soon learn that Akai died out & the name was bought out by some Chinese firm using the name, but Unfortunally it's too little to late. Just glad that my cat peed on it & killed it giving us an excuse to buy a better TV.
@@deydododontdedoh.5672 That's only going to last so long, mind you. Crosley is pretty much a swear word among audiophiles these days, even though they seem to have been decent in the 50's. Of course there's basically no connection between who they were in the 50's and today.
My girlfriend has this turntable and I always thought it was a lot more expensive having used other cheap and expensive turntables before. Very positively surprised! The digitizing function worked very well for me too.
I really enjoyed the video. I have 2 Dual turntables from the late 60's and 70's I love them both. Keep up the great work have been watching for a long time. 😎👍
Thank you for reviewing this product! I've been looking for a decent inexpensive player for my fiancee. We aren't enthusiasts so it fits perfect for our wants.
I also have one, about the same age. Was sold branded "DJ Tech". So LIDL is now selling "new old stock". Only difference is the color of the buttons. Everything else is exactly the same. And mine is working fine as well, though I don't use it a lot. It's sitting on top of my good old HiFi component system from Technics, for which I originally didn't buy a record player. But I could do funny things with this setup, if I wanted. Playing a record and recording it to two cassettes, a dcc tape and to the PC simultaneously, for example. 😜
Just found this channel - I'm now a happy bunny. I'm just waiting for when the market goes bonkers for retro ghetto blasters. I have a loft full of 'em since my b-boy days. "Break!"
Thanks for the insight! It looks like it's the one they're calling the "professional series", unless I'm mistaken. It seems to be selling for $130. It'll be great to be able to recommend a nice entry level turntable (other than the LP60) for beginners!
Came here to say the same. My AT-LP120 is sitting right next to me and it's an almost identical layout. Obviously much higher build quality, but I'd bet it's come out of the same factory.
One of the best reviews ever .. and this is for a budget turntable!! In-depth and straightforward, perfect for a turntable newbie. I have had various turntables over the years but not any more and this one seems one of the best at it's price and performance, thanks to your excellent review. Makes me want to bring my vinyl collection back to life :) Such a shame it's not available any more but maybe Lidl will bring it back some day. As for that PSA, thanks for the laugh .. seen those 'toys' around for a while now. Run a mile away indeed!! Thanks for the review :)
This channel is awesome ! Can't stop watching now !! If I had to describe the content to somebody who hadn't seen it, it would go " it's like Mark Radcliffe went into the BBC studios one day and started taking the backs off all the equipment live on air and explaining how it works" terrific stuff !!!
I recently bought the identical looking non-usb direct drive Crosley version of this and its great for the money. I added heavy sound absorbing mat in the bottom inside part of the cabinet, upgraded the cartridge, replaced the platter matewith a 3mm rubber mat and its been really decent so far for the money. The direct drive sound system strobe is accurate when set to the middle position and it has a platter brake when switched off.
Glad to see more turntable calibration info out in the world, so important to do properly if you want to reduce skipping and take care of your stylii and records. A couple notes: 6:20 "DJ Turntables" don't put any more weight on records than any other turntables -- unless you calibrate them that way. (The method you showed for setting the weight is nearly exactly the same on Technics 1200s.) To further help against skipping you can put a small bubble level on the turntable platter and adjust the feet accordingly. Additionally the amount of weight needed depends on the stylus itself -- always read the stylus manufacturer specs as more/less is essentially meaningless unless you know what the stylus specifications are -- too little and too much weight alike can damage the record and stylus. Also regarding anti-skate, that should be set using a one-sided or blank vinyl -- you put the needle down on the blank (no grooves -- smooth) side and let it move around, then adjust the anti-skate so it stays put on the record without trying to move outwards or inwards.
actually, no... Styli are specifically made for DJ'ing, and they all track at usually around double to 3x that of standard home hifi styli. Just because your using a DJ turntable doesn't mean you are using a DJ cartridge. This is actually very non recommendable for the very reason he says in the video. His information is technically more accurate then the information you are trying to correct him with. You are not going to find a DJ stylus that tracks under 3g, most are 4-6g. Even real DJ turntables pretty much never come with a DJ cart/stylus because 99.9% of the people buying them are not DJ's. you could put a DJ stylus on this turntable but your likely to wear your belt out on your first set.
@@thefloop2813 Plenty of people started DJ'ing on belt drive turntables -- go back and look at the history of Gemini, Numark, Stanton, and companies like that. They all made beginner DJ turntables that were belt drive, and no you aren't going to "wear your belt out on your first set" because you used a DJ cartridge and set the weight to 4 grams. That's ridiculous. I know dudes that scratched and beat-juggled for 6 hours a day, 4 days a week, for years, and they never wore out a single belt.
This was my first turntable and I just so happened to get it at lidl, but for £50! I was a bit skeptical at first seeing it in lidl but it had anti-skate, weight adjustment and what looked like an audio technica stylus so I took a jump and it turned out well. Very happy with it
@@nathanboulton2066 awesome they must sound amazing !! I love mine just simple book shelf style but sound good in stands too !! Great with this new Lidl Dual turntable I’m loving it all sounds great with my old Denon amp you can’t beat separates ! I have an old Cambridge audio CD player and a Denin double cassette deck too !!old school Steely Dan’s AJA on vinyl sounds great in here !!!
definitely correct www.hanpin.com.tw/Products/02_DJ-U35.html The included AT cartridge is easily the best budget cart available, much better than the budget Ortofons that have terrible IGD.
Yeah, I've got an AT-LP120USB, which I like. It's got some shortcomings that appear to have been fixed in the 140X (the 120X has also fixed some but isn't a 100% upgrade). This one is clearly based on the same platform but without the quartz lock direct drive motor and with some cost reductions.
Great review, thanks! Now my purse is £89 lighter after popping into Lidl for some bread and a pack of dishcloths... Running it through a rather bizarre setup of the aux input of a Sony portable CD / Cassette player and back out through my trusty old Sennheiser headphones (wired, of course!); it sounds really rather splendid! Also connected it directly to my soundbar for a quick test, pretty good. Your video made it super easy to set up, too.
It's so rare to see Techmoan have a rant. I agree with him though about the Chinese mechanism. I got three 80's Sony record decks and all still work fine :)
My dad's 1981 Sony turntable is just barely hanging in there. The auto start mechanism always thinks it's a 7 inch record regardless of what setting it's on, but more seriously sometimes one of the channels drops off. Just as he was about to give up and replace it, it started working more consistently again. I took the back off and it's the most complicated thing I've ever seen considering what it actually does. The audio board is half the size of a credit card, yet it has another circuit board taking up the majority of the underneath that just handles that faulty automatic system and the speed control. Sound quality is still pretty good though when it works, and the speed seems correct.
I'm on my second Technics automatic of as many decades. Even the consumer models are relatively hefty, and there's no drive belt to replace. I'm assuming this thing has a built-in preamp, though, so that does make it a convenient option.
I ended up with my younger brother's budget turntable from around 1980. I used it a few times in the '00s to digitize some records, but when I dug it up again in the 2010s, its clockwork mechanism had completely seized up.
My first Garrard TT cost me about $50 in 1971. I did not realize it had to have a quite heavy tracking low compliance cartridge so I sprang for a $50 Empire model that was on final clearance for half-price. The cartridge was suppose to track at about 2.0 grams or less. I was so disappointed as the combo wouldn't work to play a LP side without the cartridge skating around. I did not, and perhaps still, do not understand how to match the type of TT tornearm with the proper cartridge. That was solved the next year when I ordered one of the best buys ever in the history of audio. That was the AR XA turntable for $75 from Illinois Audio. I also got a Shure M95 cartridge. This one was a huge winner. What your interesting video meant for me that if as a young child I could have got a decent entry turntable at the grocery store while my mom was buying the weekly staples it would have saved a burgeoning audiophile from making a mistake like I did with the Garrard. Good video.
I own an original Duel directly from the Black Forest. A Duel 1226 idler-wheel driven turntable from 1974, everything is still original - tone-arm, cartridge and tinted acrylic dustcover. I got it from my aunt 6 years ago, and in 47 years it has never needed servicing or anything, it’s built very solid and works absolutely perfect.
Audio Technica cartridges were already wellknown and highly valued back in the 60's with their famous AT66 model. I still have one lying around next to my first record player with removable heads. I later converted it to a Stanton 681EE, still in use today. Lots of people still used mono piezo-electric cartridges back in the day of which the TX88 was the best and used with a 10kOhm resistor across its terminals mimicking a moving magnet curve. The last one I bought was the Nagaoke with a frequency range to 40kHz for a quadrafonic SQ sound system. This I never used in the end, because quadrafonic sound went the same way three dimensional televison goes today: an almost dead system which is no longer supported by its screen manufacturer LG. Fortunately LP technologies remained more or less the same over so many years and here this Lidl/Dual player provides for a quality level that would've bettered most players 50 years ago. I have some doubts on the motor though, its strength may not be high (by first own player is a massively built one and has a very sturdy Pabst "Aussenlaufer" motor in for much lower flutter & wow, but my later very expensive Beogram 4002 has a very weak motor inside that always refused to keep its 45 rpm speed up). Thanks again for posting, recent evaluations on mid- or relatively low priced HIfI equipment are scarce on the ground nowadays while highend units are ridiculously high priced
Rest assured, i have clicked this switch many times in the 4-5 years that i own this turntable already, so there is more than a dozen clicks to get out of this mechanism.
My local electronics store, JB Hi-FI, was selling a minor variant of this player as a Pioneer for AUD588 (GBP336/USD456). Only differences seem to be the back panel placements, the rpm selector being on the left front, and the start/stop button being silver and round. Currently sold out. The direct drive variant which otherwise seems similarly spec'ed is being sold for AUD1148 (GBP657 / USD890). It's available on backorder. So you never know, maybe Mat will see this at Lidl's in the future also - for a much better price than here.
Dual is using the same OEM turntable that Hanpin is rebadging... Hanpin calls it the BJ-U25 ... Soundlab is another company rebadging it, calling it their G056c
My dad bought me one of these on a whim as a Christmas present. And being my very first foray into the world of Vinyl, i'm glad it's a good enough start and i'm not ruining my precious copy of 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'!
Nice review, looks like a nice turntable for either a beginner or someone who just wants to play an old record once in a while. I used to recommend people go buy a used turntable from the 80s, but now all the decent quality used turntables are getting quite expensive so it might be better to just tell people to buy one of these.
@@joemontgomery6658 In my experience it's getting difficult to find anything cheap anymore, just 10-15 years ago you could find a decent used record player for $10-20, now it's $100+ and you'll probably need to spend $20-50 on a new entry level cartridge/stylus plus the same for a phono preamp.
I'm using this turntable with a Rega carbon-stylus for many years and I love it.
3 года назад+4
I wish we'd had these at this price back in late 1990s when I was heavily collecting records but could not afford two half decent turntables and a mixer of sort.
Hahaha, after watching this I entered "Vinyl record player" on Allegro (something like ebay in Poland) and LITERALLY, the first product that popped up was that cheap plastic deck you talked about, even without the box :D
No Hifi Voodoo. No "all under XXX € is rubbish" babble. Only a straight review what you get, what you can expect and for whom it make sense. Thank you. Video like always well done.
Two improvements that would make it even better is to replace the conical stylus with the upgraded elliptical version from Pfanstheil 4211-DE for about $20 and then set the speed slider to the zero point and adjust the motor to match it so that when the slider is in the zero position it plays exactly 33-1/3 rpm. I did both of these mods on my crosley C6 and made it sound much better. Im my case the C6 had no slider for pitch control but it was found to be running a bit fast so using a strobe disc I adjusted the motor until the rpm was accurate.
I wonder if we'll see that at Lidl in the US. They have only been in the US for less than 5 years and it's become my favorite grocery store for cool stuff like this. Also we pronounce is "Leedl" across the big pond. (grin)
Techmoan’s lack of pretentious audio snobbery is always refreshing.
@@robertlandrum1971 are you having a stroke?
I agree! Matt's so great at judging a product for what it is and what you get for the price. It's similar to when DankPods gives recommendation on cheap headphones.
Most of those Audio Snobs can’t tell the difference with their eyes shut ;)
I always prefeer theese kind of videos against your average elitist youtuber talking shit over everyting it doesn't meet their made up standards
@@gabrielledebourg2487 dankpods is amazing! Didn't expect to see his channel name here haha! Went to school with wade, so cool to see him getting popular!
As a bonus, Richard Houghten's willingness to let his music be used in a video like this means that I'm much more inclined to check out his music, now that I've heard a few snippets of it.
It sounded great! Defo going to check it out too
wanted to grab some of his vinyl pressings but all appear to be sold out
@@HoratioFitzbastard noooo, I need the red one used in this video. It sounded absolutely beautiful
@@flyingeekhoorn1692 Richard Houghten's - Jumping So High
I agree. The red vinyl/sleeve sounded particularly good to me, I shall go now and check it out.
Watching that red vinyl spin at 15:54 was just so enjoyable. The smoothness, the perfectly centered record, absence of any wobble, the clear audio... Whenever I don't have a turntable around, watching something like this is the closest thing to the real deal.
When I saw “professional DJ turntable”, my mind went back to my radio days in the early ‘70s and the Gates broadcast quality turntables we used. Heavy cast metal bases, huge motors that would bring the table from stopped to full speed in less than 1/8 revolution. The good old days.
Thank you for pointing out that trash mechanism, I'm seeing it everywhere now!
Sixth Sense ..."I see dead platters." ....Lolol
VWestlife did a video about the history of that mechanism: ruclips.net/video/1YIX5-CwhqM/видео.html He even worked out who the (likely) inventor was. Apparently it's been around since at least the mid-1980s.
Bojler eladó! Jó tudni hogy vagyunk itt magyarok páran :)
Yes, notice some sellers are now angling the photo of the product to stop you seeing the mechanism ...
So is this basically the Tanashin of turntables?
I was a dj for 17 years starting back in the early 90z. I began on a similar version of that, belt drive and the like, untill I was able to upgrade to an SL-1200. You did a great job explaining everything, always enjoy your videos.. thank you!
Exactly the same story for me! Belt drive to start, on to cheap direct drive, then finally SL-1210s. I think belt drive turntables are easier to learn to mix on beacuse of the reduced torque and are thus more forgiving.
@@dpw81 Similar story for me had a pair of Kams around 95. Definitely needed a light touch which was difficult as the advertised +/-8 pitch range was more like +/-4. Good times ☺️
Luxury! When I were a lad we had rim drive Garrard SP25 mkIV's. Nobody cared what equipment you had as long as you played the birdie song etc.
i was a CD dj but did have 2 soundlab belt drive copys of these in silver
Same story for me, i started with belt drive.
"It's alright" is high praise coming from Techmoan.
he's the LockPickingLawyer of music players!
I love the way you explain things, whether you are talking about a turntable or a potato. Greetings from Seville, and Happy New Oh Yeah Mr. Matt!
What? He reviewed a potato? Did I miss that?
I completely agree with Miguel. 👍
@@ernstoud Maybe. Search for that: "CHIPS! - Kitchen Gadgets for making chips (AKA Fries)". 😄
@@ernstoud And his puppets also used it as a camera once: ruclips.net/video/PDGE8WNTFwI/видео.html
You posted this comment about Tuesday 6th Jan 21... Video released Friday 9th Jan 21 .. How is this magic possible?
“I’m not gonna rave about it”. I see what you did there sir.
\o/
Get it! Another classic sir - 28 mins very well spent.
"Also, I'm not gonna rave _near_ it."
You Sir. You're fantastic ..no snobbery no fuss.. just the info and without bullshit ... thank you for your service ..
He's everyone's favourite cuddly RUclips Uncle. Uncle Matt :)
i have an uncle named matt
I love this channel but this vid is wrong on so many levels. Dual is one company, just like snap on, the sell products at many levels. There’s no way that 2 companies are operating with the same logo. And no way that this cheap company is using audio technica.
'I could have a Techmoan branded turntable'.
Whoa, whoa, whoa when is this happening? 😉
The TECHmoan DT250USB Non-DJ Record Player with USB "It's all right." :)
I’d buy one! Must include a record of him describing how lack luster it is.
I'm in.
@@ntsecrets Only if the "B-Side" is his karaoke rendition of "Get Lucky."
I think you have to buy them in 1,000 unit multiples for them to put your name on them. A lot of stuff on AliBabba is sold like that.
In response to requests, the end section PSA/Rant about the cheap record player mechs has been edited into a separate video - available to view here: ruclips.net/video/AXV8tXrPOR4/видео.html
A fine rant it was, pretty much sums up the difference. I get annoyed with some of the audio snobs online im sure their 5k turntables are great but to the average ear I bet you can hear very little difference. I have a mid priced Marantz amp and Mission speakers. My first new (since the 80's) turntable was one I picked up for £120 from HMV. It only took two weeks before I bought a proper turntable a £300 LP 5. And the difference was like night and day. Those plastic monstrosities if they at worse dont chew the grooves on your vinyl they will certainly leave you scratching your head as to why you went back to vinyl.
We have Lidl here in the USA at least on the east coast, and the one in my area opened up about 2 years, or so ago, and the handful of times I've been in there it's been a poor option with poor selection, and quality for such an expensive/fancy looking building compared to the Walmart, Krogers(one of the largest supermarket chains in the US), and even the smaller Aldi stores just a few minutes down the street from it, plus the Lidi parking lot is a nightmare to get in, and out of IMHO of course. So I'm honestly surprised by this turntable being 1/2 decent.
Nevertheless, I’m pretty surprised about the quality for the price.
Oooo! I want a _Techmoan_ brand something-or-other!!!
I was just going to ask for this! Too funny! Thanks
I'd buy a "Techmoan"- branded turntable.
So would I. In fact I think he could hang a good living out of importing and rebranding those players as a Techmoan FH-1159. The FH stands for "flippin heck." And make sure it costs less than a Crosley.
The Techmoan brand would definitely sound better to me than some of the "wacky" brand names out there. VIFLYKOO anyone?
@@RJRC_105 public service and buisness
Me too. The "Techmoan NB 1". The NB standing for "Not Bad" 😁
@@circattle Certainly better than my first Chinese oscilloscope "Meanwell". It was rubbish but they meant well
I really appreciate how well dressed he is. It makes me feel important when somebody cares about his appearance before telling me cheap turntables are shit 😊
„It makes me feel important“ - that says it all. Now enjoy your rubbish HiFi. Cheers
He's like the Tom Jones of Tech! :)
At that price, I'd be happy especially as the cartridge costs around a quarter of it's total price. I thought the tracking force seemed a bit high but it's bang in the middle of it's spec. Cheers mate - another enjoyable watch!
The 3600 can be found new for around the £10 mark on eBay. It was rebranded as the Riga carbon cartridge but that ones a lot more pricy for some reason, despite the fact they're identical
@@ExtremeMetal I think Vwestlife made video about it. 😉
They're already appearing on eBay at £160..
@@ExtremeMetal not identical, the carbon has a different stylus (uses carbon rather than aluminium for the armature and slightly better diamond tip).
However, once the at3600 stylus has worn, you can pop a carbon stylus on or even look at more expensive options using different shaped tips (though the anti-skate on this assumes you'll only put a round needle on it and not elliptical etc).
It's still an impressive cart for the money and a nice touch by the manufacturers.
They definitely went on the higher side of things for that cart in the instructions. The actual spec from AT says you can go as low as 2.5 grams.
Thought up to 3.5 is still within it's operating boundaries
Thanks so much for this video! I immediately ordered what looked to be the US equivalent turntable. The Victrola Pro-2000 seemed to have identical mechanics. I got it set up tonight, and am really enjoying the quality. It’s so much better than the generic plastic model I got a few years ago. Maybe not as good as what I owned back in the 80s, but it will absolutely do the job for the type of thrift store vinyl I enjoy.
I'm here for the Techmoan Crossley rant. 😉
Techmoan is life. Why are these videos so interesting and entertaining? Camera picture quality and editing is top notch. So good.
I've started to find that its because his videos dont really have any frills. He'll make a jab, a joke, a sidebar here and there, but the guts of the videos are just full on content. It also helps that his delivery is top notch
@@CeruleanChurch I think Mat has a degree of respect for his viewers that can be lacking elsewhere. His genuine passion for the tech he talks about comes through also.
Lidl owe you a beer, I’ve just bought one of these to replace my “toy” after watching your excellent review.
can I get this in Australia....I heard rumours Lidl may be coming one day
So you've paid $150 for your Chinesium then. Look up market slightly, crazy thing is drink 10 beers less one month and you could have a real one.
@@immenseTie Alibaba ! Unbranded. Or buy a better used one.
@@G-ra-ha-m Im thinking of getting the Yamaha Wifi Record Player in Australia
I wish I could get one of these in Poland, but here Lidl is purely grocery store.
Your videos just have something to them, I don't know exactly what it is, but they are so diverting; almost half an hour and it feels like I watched a five minute video. Thanks for your great content!
That would be "quality"
I'm so glad there's finally a review of a discounter electronic product that isn't totally garbage! So tired of all the "boomboxes" with the same cheapo mechanism in there
It is actually awesome to see a cheap or inexpensive record player that is actually worth buying! I was just having a conversation with someone about most cheap or inexpensive record players made today are garbage! I will have to send this to them so they can have a look :) Thank you Techmoan! This is why I love this channel :)
This is great timing, I work at Lidl and see these things out back and keep looking at it thinking I might get it to upgrade from my suitcase player and think I may invest now.
Yes, it’s worth upgrading 👍
And if you ever change your mind for some reason, don’t fret: they can be sold again at a decent second hand price, but keep the packaging.
That makes shipping a lot easier - also useful when moving to another place.
Do it, you won't regret it!
Please do that immediately. That will be the best money you ever spend.
All done went and got it.
@@Stavosmonkey Cool! Let us know what you think of it! 👍
Really enjoyed this video and I think a lot of people will find it useful. I'd like to see a series of "decent" record player reviews from you. It'd be interesting to see this one compared with Audio Technica's USB offering.
I've got the LP120XUSB - it's even nicer than this Dual. Heavier, direct drive, nicer switchgear. It's a very nice turntable, really.
@peterteter I am one of these guys :-P (I've got a LP120USB for about 5 or 6 years or something like that and just recently soldered out the internal preamp for an external one)
I must say: When I saw the turntable in this video, at first I thougth: Oh no! Is mine just an overpriced one and now there are rebranded cheaper ones that are exactly the same? But noooooo. The Audio Technica is way better on the quality side! Like GP1138 Said: It is heavier, has a direct drive and a lot of details (the hinge that holds the arm in "restmode" is way more better, more buttons for more adjustments, a little extra lamp to light the cartridge/needle etc).
Yeah, there are some downsides too: you cannot just bypass the internal preamp/USB-circuitry completely with the switch on the back (its always going through some low-pass filter) so you have to solder it out by yourself, but even without it I think it sounds great (or: good enough for me) and the antiskating is not working very well (you have to turn it to almost maximum to make it work (i think i read somewhere, that there is a problem with the spring in there)). But even with these faults, I am still pleased with this one (even more without the build in preamp)! And I recommended it to a friend of mine, and he is very pleased with it , too.
I have to say, AT updated the preamp and added Bluetooth comparability and it’s even better! I’m shocked at how much better m records play! Even ones I thought were badly scratched play with just some popping on the LP120. My Sony would get stuck in the groove or dropout entirely on scratches. I thought some of my records were ruined. I’m relieved to hear they’re not.
My parents bought a very similar, almost the same, really, turntable a few years back and I can safely say that you needn't worry about the power switch. This thing is surprisingly durable.
The 1983 "I want to be a DJ" version of me would have loved this turntable!
The 1993 version of me didn't have £89!
I started out with a pair of belt drive turntables and actually they’re great for training you to listen to whether everything is in beat or not due to the variations in speed caused by older belts. I moved on to 1210s pretty soon after though.
@@robinw77 Yeah, that is a "real" dj turntable and propably decent for a beginner.
And that "antistatic felt", isn't that called a slipmat and has nothing to do with static electricity? ;:D
I wonder if you get two turntables, plug in your pc via usb and use free mixing software for eq and crossfade?
@@woldemunster9244 I don't know for sure but I think both connected to a computer would either cause some kind of driver issues and/or the software can only use one of them Just like an audio software can only use one audio interface.
@@peterpiper0815 From what I remember each port on your computer creates a new installation of the driver if that specific port has never seen that device before. Doesn't matter if a different port has seen it before, no port can see the other ports' histories. And yes, you do have to wait through the full installation time, it's not instant like resuming a download that's at 100%. So it must be a separate instance of the driver.
I should probably say that this is on Windows, I don't know if mac or linux handle it differently.
That was surprisingly okay, and credit where it's due that built in speed measure with the lights and dots is a brilliant little piece of engineering.
Even if it's a belt drive, a Technics 1200 clone with a lot of the same features brand new for $115ish USD really is a good deal for a starter table. Especially considering the next option up for many of these features on a brand new unit would be a LP120 in the $350-$400 range.
I owned a Bang and Olufsen turntable when I was stationed in West Germany, I wish I still had it.
The turntables aren't hard to find, but replacement cartridges can be a little pricey.
@@lordkillspree exactly, the mmc's are very pricey (if you can find one) and even a retip is eye watering too, its something ppl not in the know really dont realise often meaning basically that a cosmetically rough second hand one with good cart is twice the value of a a cosmetically immaculate with a worn/missing cart/needle ;)
I still have my dad's I keep as a heirloom and can confirm cartridges are very expensive.
Btw my Dad was stationed at Hahn air force base from the late 60s to early 70s. Small chance you might have run into him!
@@gimble8638 soundsmith. great carts, both the b&o specific and regular mount
@@cabasse_music no argument there from me
It's been a while since I visited this channel and for that I need to take a "walk of shame" given the quality content Techmoan puts out.
Thanks for all your great work Mat, and have a great and safe 2021!
Great unboxing of this Lidl turntable. And I learned a lot from this simple video as to how to set up a turntable, thanks Matt.
I’d like to see a Techmoan branded record player with your smiling mug on the box now. Not with the trash mechanism, mind you.
A Techmoan-Muppet branded casseiver!
do it. do it. goddammit techmoan ,do it. I don't care if its crap. sell your techmoan brand ....crap. would buy it.
Last night a techmoan saved my life.... 😁
I'd buy one ...
I was thinking the same: Mat should have a turntable like this Dual but with his own branding.
The founder of Lidl is "Mr. Schwartz". Als "Schwartz" in German means "Black" his market would be named "Schwartzmarkt" or "black market" (same meaning in German). So he sought for a new name and AFAIK know "Lidl" was the name of his Math teacher back in school. So Mr. Schwartz asked Mr. Lidl for permission for using his name and here we are ... Might be notable Quiz-Show knowledge! ;)
What's up you guys Marty Schwartz here
Hey that's a similar story behind origin of Lynyrd Skynyrd band name
Close enough but to be precise it's not Schwartz for black but Schwarz.
That's total BS, because the Lidl & Cie. Südfrüchtenhandlung (tropic fruit grocer) existed in Heilbronn in 1862 before Josef Schwarz entered the business in 1930 and building it to become a wholesale grocer (named then Lidl & Schwarz KG) which would later become the Discounter of today after his son Dieter Schwarz took over in the 60s. Just another nice urban myth.
And yes, black is "Schwarz" in german, not "schwartz", same for Dieters and Josefs last name. tz writing is not very common despite what hollywood might have made you believe.
@@abufaka No it's not complete "BS". You're right that "Lid & Schwartz" existed before the Lidl-Market, but Schwartz had due to legal reasons no rights to use the name Lidl for the stores. He bought the rights for that name from an unempoyed painter for 1000 DM. So I did not remember the story correctly (that's why I wrote "AFAIK"), but your claim of "total BS" is in itself "total BS". Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl
Great job here teaching people how to tell the difference between a well-engineered budget turntable and the unacceptable toys that are sadly passed off as record players. The LIDL player really isn't bad, a proper arm, balance weight, headshell, a real cartridge that can be upgraded if needed, proper speed control and reasonable bearings. Someone did their best to design this well and people who buy one are likely to be quite satisfied.
Not a huge fan of the weight reduction of the turntable to allow for a cheaper motor to drive it, since the turntable is the flywheel, so the heavier the better, but that does allow for a significant cost savings. However, since this one has manual optical calibration, it does result in good speed accuracy in the end while also saving the money on in house calibration. And that kind of thought out compromise is what separates a well engineered budget turntable from a cheap one. Seems they were very good at spotting only the fat.
It's good that modestly priced, decent turntables are now available which can be directly hooked up to pretty much anything and produce decent quality sound and an authentic vinyl experience. Hopefully getting more people into the hobby along the way and potentially with a bigger market we will have more reasonably priced records for the rest of us.
Direct drive technics the best, or for 250a deck u can get a bang on tenica audio copie which dos perfect job.
I am aware of those options, but we are talking a different price point here. This is for the teenager who will either wreck it and forget it or move up to something better, or the older person who wants to revisit their vinyl without committing to a full on system.
This seems like a really decent deck to get into the hobby.
This is also a really good how-to and why tutorial which explains the basics of a turntable. Thanks!
Thanks so much for this vid, especially the small PSA at the end, I am actually looking to buy a turntable at the moment and the one I was looking at had _exactly_ this cheap mechanism you described in it. Currently looking at other alternatives from this one, pretty sure I dodged a bullet on this one because of you ^_^
just a small heads up - that wow and flutter meter, whilst being a very well made bit of gear, has RIFA capacitors in it which tend to fail loudly and can sometimes take out the rest of the unit, so it might be worth replacing them if you or anyone you know can do that for you.
They’ve trapped a lot of smoke in those RIFA capacitors. Just waiting to release it all in one puff.
@@briebelbus1524 aye and it's not the good kind either! I have lost many a piece of philips test gear to those little yellow bastards!
Anyone in the vintage computer scene knows these from the BBC Micro... ruclips.net/video/TU55-7dWMi0/видео.html
@@hjalfi oh, the smell of magic smoke!
@@pinrod1 You can put it back in with a soldering iron --- watch someone soldering and you can see leftover smoke leaking out of the solder.
DO IT “Techmoan” branded anything is something I’d buy
I would go for that too. Go for it Matt, a whole new career is waiting for you.
think about a branding like "Approved by Techmoan". Would be a selling point for many people.
@@markusjuenemann if he found reasonable to good quality on albaba and had them branded for "limited edition" runs
"Do it!" - palpatine
@@markusjuenemann Would be for me, because I'd know that the sound would be great and the price what it's supposed to be :)
I bought this unit in USA branded as Audio-Technica (still DT-250 USB), and it is a surprisingly decent little turn table for the price. I Couldn't be happier with it.
My mum got one of these at the beginning of 2020, I think from Aldi. She's loved it.
Thank you for expressing just how silly those cheap mechanisms are, almost everytime someone says they listen to records they'll show me a picture of their suitcase turntable. I always have to hold back so I don't sound rude. It's a shame these cheap mechanisms took off and cost so much, when something like this dual are way better. Thanks for another great video though, now I have something to recommend to people in place of the suitcase.
It is perhaps worth remembering that, back in the day, the vast majority of listening to vinyl was done on "Crap" record players! We "Hi-fi nuts" were a minority. 😀
@@lightningslim you're definitely right, that's something I still remind myself. The problem is (atleast how I understand it) that records than were cheap and "disposable" (for lack of a better term) when the toy turntable was in most bedrooms. Nowadays people can and easily spend over 30 dollars on high quality records only to play them on briefcases. How people listen to their music is the pressing issue in the world, but it's nice to be able to suggest a better alternative to those who might not know.
@@lightningslim This is true. But the sad part is that you can hear which records have been played by crap record players.
I have a stack of Beatles singles, the archetypical teenage boy/girl records played with heavy tracking ceramic cartridges.
The amount of wear on those is a LOT larger than the wear on more adult but very frequently played (think Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, both singles and albums) or snobby music (some jazz and classical). Those i rarely find worn out.
Now, if people are gonna do that same stuff again with modern crap record players, eventually the original pressings will all be worn out until they sound like a shortwave radio station, and i think that would be incredibly sad and very wasteful (because you can get decent turntables both new and 2nd hand for the value of 3 or 4 records).
You can play vinyl literally hundreds of times with a decent player before wear starts to become noticable, but that drops down to tens of times with crap players.
I don't care if people are perfectly content with meh quality reproduction - i just care about preserving the quality of the records themselves for future generations.
@@mfbfreak I don't think the same people buying the suitcase player are looking or have the same original pressing you are concerned about being wore out. The people with the Crapsley Bruiser are buying the records at walmart urban outfitters target...and thrift stores. I like to think that one of two things will happen after a month.
-they will realize how crap it sounds and think it's a waste of money and stop. (Least likely)
-will upgrade past the Bruiser.
I think the latter is happening due to what I read and see on forums. I like to hope anyway.
Way to stay entertaining for years now. Truly appreciated.
It's a great first "real" turntable for any beginner to start with. Thanks for showing this.
But the repeating of "this is not a dj record player" will turn off many people while telling it is "bad" thing that there is no automatic start/stop etc.
That needle is propably usable for dj stuff, scratching needles are totally different beasts and without you shouldn't "rewind"?
@@woldemunster9244 i have a similar copule of turntables they are indeed usable for mixing, techmoan it’s mistaiking djing with turntablism. These base models are ideal for learning if you learn on more crappy instruments when you upgrade you sull’ still have an advantage on those who always had top market consoles
Exactly why I got this one a year ago. Interestingly, I am almost completely sure it didn't say "DJ turntable" on my box. It's certainly the same model and I got it from Lidl - just in Czech Republic.
Well done! Matt. I was looking for a USB turntable to digitise a few discs from my insanely large record collection. I saw your review yesterday lunchtime and then had a quick look in my local Lidl during my weekly food shop last night on the off chance ... and found one. So many thanks. PS I love your videos each week!
Revisiting this since I just started with a brand new Turntable. Although not the Dual one but a Pioneer PLX 500. It shares the same principles and likeness. I want to thank you explaining the setup/calibration on this one. As others failed to actually inform me how to setup the trackingforce thing correctly. You actually succeed by calmly telling the setup process.
Fun fact: the name "Dual" comes from the fact that their first turntables had both electrical motors and springs(!) to run them. So they were portable in a sense, but the main appeal was that in the early 20th century not every home (or every room in a home) was electrified, so a wind-up record player --- like the gramophones, which almost all were wind-up devices --- was sort of the standard at the time. But electric motors run at a much more even speed given a decent voltage, so that was the appeal of the first Dual record players.
Speed stability was the least you would mind in a wind-up gramophone. The centrifugal brake was adequate.
Loved the video, especially the rant at the end! Well done. As always.
After watching this video, I realized that my first turntables I used as a DJ were this exact make but with the ION brand on it! I was given a "DJ-in-a-Box" kit for Christmas over a decade ago and used these to learn how to mix/scratch. They were horrible to use at live gigs because of how much they skipped, but still work as decent record players. I know most DJs these days go for digital varients, but as someone that DID use these for DJing, I agree with Techmoan that they should stay at home.
I work at walmart in the us. We had a pallet of crosley record players. They sold fairly quick. It made me die a little inside every time someone bought one
Well said Matt . As a vinyl enthusiast I recon with an upgraded cartridge, a solid base, a descant phono stage you could produce a surprisingly decent sound . Which does put things into perspective . Yes I hope my system would sound better considering the cost , but I have been surprised by equipment that often defies its price so who knows . Great video as always , you never fail to entertain and bring a smile to my face 😀👍
yea just get a stone or concrete slab to stick this on
I have a german made 440 bought in 1989,played for 10 years,put in attic for 20,took down again last summer,still playing well on original belt.
If it was called "DJ *style* Turntable" it would be better I think.
I've seen probably worse used by bedroom DJ's in the early 90's rave era. Soundlab belt drive decks come to mind
@@andrewcooper-barnes6165
Oof, had a dlp3 and a dlp3r. They were shocking but they did the job until I got my 1200s. The 1200s are still going 20 years later.
@@OAPHarmerHerrStarmler yes I've seen those too. Basically my advice has always been go for a decent pair of direct drive decks and don't bother with belt drive. A couple of my friends bought Soundlab belt drive decks and they were a pain in the arse to use until you got used to them, and even then it wasn't ideal. Luckily I tried the belt drive decks before I invested in decks and decided to save some more money until I could afford something better. I bought a pair of Technics 1210's in the end and haven't looked back. They are still with me today 30+ years later and in good nick
DJ'in in the 70s i had a Garrard sp25 decks and they were probably not as good as this one
I had an all in one Citronic double deck (belt drive of course since Techincs still had their patent) and mixer jobby ! did ok until i got the ol Mk2's
The Not the nine o’clock news Hi-Fi shop sketch is now going through my head!
I just had to cue up Flanders and Swann's _Song of Reproduction_, from 1957. Things haven't changed much... ruclips.net/video/f_DptPvj7ts/видео.html
Been bingeing on your videos. Brilliant! Especially the vintage hi-fi…
"Transparent dust cover, whoopie do."
I want that on a shirt.
Haha, that made me giggle too. Rewinded to hear it again
I love the old school Dual turntables. Especially my folks 1970’s item they have.
Whilst the fit and finish on this is less than my LP-3, this looks honestly good for a first deck with a little more adjustability.
I've been searching for an LP-3 for weeks. Can't find the thing anywhere, so I've settled for an LP-120XUSB instead. I'll probably regret it going by the reviews online.
@@jamescollins6085 it's a great turntable :o I have it for one year and it works perfectly well, you can easily upgrade the stylus for a better one and you get a nice turntable :D
@@lodocart4681 I'm pleased to hear that. It looks like the Ortofon 2M Red would be a good fit.
@@jamescollins6085 you could but I would advice you a great choice, upgrading the stylus (not the cartridge) to this one :D
www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B07JL2NPH5/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You don't have to realign the cartridge and you'll get a noticeable sound upgrade (the sibilance and inner groove distortion won't be there anymore, it's a little detail but makes the experience so nicer) without having to change everything :D you just remove the green stylus and out the red one :D
But honestly you can stay with the stock stylus, I did enjoy it for one year and it was just in some records with lot of "s" sounds that it was a problem, so you can keep the original stylus :D
@@lodocart4681 Thank you, I'll probably get that after a while when the stylus it comes with wears out, which is around 300 hours if I'm not mistaken.
7:10 "Detent" is the word for that click/catch at 0.
Just wanted to say, always loved the digital glitch aliasing sound at the end of the videos 🎶
My mom just bought a Westinghouse brand TV "because I recognized the name" -- killed me to see her fall victim to an old brand name scam. Still it was for a 17-inch 720p TV so probably no worries on quality, since it's not a high-end set anyway. Glad to see cheapo Dual's are at least OK.
Agree, you see so many cheap Chinese manufacturers buy out old non profitable once respected hifi brand names to use on their profitable yet cheap and nasty products.
As Techmoan points out, not everything Chinese is cheap and nasty but you have to be very weary of these 'trusted' brands and take the item itself on its merits not relying on a once trusted brand name as that's what they use to make the sale... a trusted name.
@@timfagan816 yeah I didn't really recognise the name but assumed it was a once trusted brand. So it wasn't a fridge TV then 🤔😁
We gotten scammed in the same way ourselves about nearly 15 years back with an Akai TV.
We had an Akai CD player & an Akai VCR & they both were pretty decent for what they were so obviously thought that an Akai TV be a good deal.
Boy were we wrong.
Poor image & the screen would be all jittery & jumpy with flashing scenes, especially when playing DVD's.
The lighting scene near the end of Highlander was atrocious.
While we did soon learn that Akai died out & the name was bought out by some Chinese firm using the name, but Unfortunally it's too little to late.
Just glad that my cat peed on it & killed it giving us an excuse to buy a better TV.
I remember back in the late 90's Teac was considered a cheap bad brand, I only recently found out that they were considered really good in the 80's.
@@deydododontdedoh.5672 That's only going to last so long, mind you. Crosley is pretty much a swear word among audiophiles these days, even though they seem to have been decent in the 50's. Of course there's basically no connection between who they were in the 50's and today.
My girlfriend has this turntable and I always thought it was a lot more expensive having used other cheap and expensive turntables before. Very positively surprised! The digitizing function worked very well for me too.
I really enjoyed the video. I have 2 Dual turntables from the late 60's and 70's I love them both. Keep up the great work have been watching for a long time. 😎👍
Thank you for reviewing this product! I've been looking for a decent inexpensive player for my fiancee. We aren't enthusiasts so it fits perfect for our wants.
I have one of these. It's about 10 years old and branded "soundLAB GO56C." Still working, nothing broken yet.
I also have one, about the same age. Was sold branded "DJ Tech". So LIDL is now selling "new old stock". Only difference is the color of the buttons. Everything else is exactly the same. And mine is working fine as well, though I don't use it a lot. It's sitting on top of my good old HiFi component system from Technics, for which I originally didn't buy a record player. But I could do funny things with this setup, if I wanted. Playing a record and recording it to two cassettes, a dcc tape and to the PC simultaneously, for example. 😜
Just found this channel - I'm now a happy bunny. I'm just waiting for when the market goes bonkers for retro ghetto blasters. I have a loft full of 'em since my b-boy days. "Break!"
I want that to happen too so I can get some cheap good replacement parts for a sanyo c44 which needs a couple parts to make it work like new.
Victrola is selling those here in the US, looks a lot like a AT-LP120.
Thanks for the insight! It looks like it's the one they're calling the "professional series", unless I'm mistaken. It seems to be selling for $130. It'll be great to be able to recommend a nice entry level turntable (other than the LP60) for beginners!
It's the crosley c100 looking at it the lp120 is better i have one
Came here to say the same. My AT-LP120 is sitting right next to me and it's an almost identical layout. Obviously much higher build quality, but I'd bet it's come out of the same factory.
2:42 Techmoan effortlessly lifts the box with one finger...that's no DJ record player alright! xD
Nope, my SL 1210 Mk2 is 12,5 nifty kg.
@@rogsoll My M5Gs only weigh 11,7 kg per unit, but even then unpacking was a whole different experience, carefully lifting the parts out of the box.
One of the best reviews ever .. and this is for a budget turntable!! In-depth and straightforward, perfect for a turntable newbie. I have had various turntables over the years but not any more and this one seems one of the best at it's price and performance, thanks to your excellent review. Makes me want to bring my vinyl collection back to life :) Such a shame it's not available any more but maybe Lidl will bring it back some day. As for that PSA, thanks for the laugh .. seen those 'toys' around for a while now. Run a mile away indeed!! Thanks for the review :)
This channel is awesome ! Can't stop watching now !! If I had to describe the content to somebody who hadn't seen it, it would go
" it's like Mark Radcliffe went into the BBC studios one day and started taking the backs off all the equipment live on air and explaining how it works" terrific stuff !!!
Uwielbiam oglądać tego człowieka . Zawsze podaje sprawdzone i rzetelne informacje. Rewelacja.
I recently bought the identical looking non-usb direct drive Crosley version of this and its great for the money. I added heavy sound absorbing mat in the bottom inside part of the cabinet, upgraded the cartridge, replaced the platter matewith a 3mm rubber mat and its been really decent so far for the money. The direct drive sound system strobe is accurate when set to the middle position and it has a platter brake when switched off.
Techmoan Turntable, coming in February
Make it with the Techmoan puppets on the dust cover and I'll by ten.
I would prefer a Techmoan boombox, with the good quality cassette mechanism!
@@tupolev141
He could have a whole line of branded electronics.
ruclips.net/video/DZG0lUXjxfY/видео.html
Glad to see more turntable calibration info out in the world, so important to do properly if you want to reduce skipping and take care of your stylii and records. A couple notes: 6:20 "DJ Turntables" don't put any more weight on records than any other turntables -- unless you calibrate them that way. (The method you showed for setting the weight is nearly exactly the same on Technics 1200s.) To further help against skipping you can put a small bubble level on the turntable platter and adjust the feet accordingly. Additionally the amount of weight needed depends on the stylus itself -- always read the stylus manufacturer specs as more/less is essentially meaningless unless you know what the stylus specifications are -- too little and too much weight alike can damage the record and stylus. Also regarding anti-skate, that should be set using a one-sided or blank vinyl -- you put the needle down on the blank (no grooves -- smooth) side and let it move around, then adjust the anti-skate so it stays put on the record without trying to move outwards or inwards.
actually, no... Styli are specifically made for DJ'ing, and they all track at usually around double to 3x that of standard home hifi styli. Just because your using a DJ turntable doesn't mean you are using a DJ cartridge. This is actually very non recommendable for the very reason he says in the video. His information is technically more accurate then the information you are trying to correct him with.
You are not going to find a DJ stylus that tracks under 3g, most are 4-6g. Even real DJ turntables pretty much never come with a DJ cart/stylus because 99.9% of the people buying them are not DJ's. you could put a DJ stylus on this turntable but your likely to wear your belt out on your first set.
@@thefloop2813 Plenty of people started DJ'ing on belt drive turntables -- go back and look at the history of Gemini, Numark, Stanton, and companies like that. They all made beginner DJ turntables that were belt drive, and no you aren't going to "wear your belt out on your first set" because you used a DJ cartridge and set the weight to 4 grams. That's ridiculous. I know dudes that scratched and beat-juggled for 6 hours a day, 4 days a week, for years, and they never wore out a single belt.
I really enjoyed your little toy turntable rant at the end. And all the rest of this video.
This was my first turntable and I just so happened to get it at lidl, but for £50! I was a bit skeptical at first seeing it in lidl but it had anti-skate, weight adjustment and what looked like an audio technica stylus so I took a jump and it turned out well. Very happy with it
£50?! that's crazy
I still have my old 12s from back in the day ! Still worth a lot !
I've owned Technics 1210s and been into DJing for 25 years and I just learned how to set up decks properly watching this video :P
I own one of these , it plays my old vinyl great going through my Denon amp and JPW Speakers sounds fab to be fair ! Im very happy !
which jpw's??
ML 510s 70watts 2way speaker system by JPW made in England ! I got them from the London Bridge Richer sounds shop in the 90s still going strong !
@@jcrogers3854 oh lovely, i'm lucky yo still have my late fathers jpws, not 100% sure but think they are the ruby 2's
@@nathanboulton2066 awesome they must sound amazing !! I love mine just simple book shelf style but sound good in stands too !! Great with this new Lidl Dual turntable I’m loving it all sounds great with my old Denon amp you can’t beat separates ! I have an old Cambridge audio CD player and a Denin double cassette deck too !!old school Steely Dan’s AJA on vinyl sounds great in here !!!
Reasonably sure this is a Hanpin turntable, which is the OEM model(s) Audio-Technica, Reloop, etc use. They're not bad for the price!
You could well be right there. It certainly looks like one of theirs.
definitely correct www.hanpin.com.tw/Products/02_DJ-U35.html
The included AT cartridge is easily the best budget cart available, much better than the budget Ortofons that have terrible IGD.
Yeah, I've got an AT-LP120USB, which I like. It's got some shortcomings that appear to have been fixed in the 140X (the 120X has also fixed some but isn't a 100% upgrade). This one is clearly based on the same platform but without the quartz lock direct drive motor and with some cost reductions.
On the Hanpin web page they list various models including models with direct drive
I've got It with direct drive and branded Technisat. Still satisfied after one year of home listenings.
Great review, thanks! Now my purse is £89 lighter after popping into Lidl for some bread and a pack of dishcloths...
Running it through a rather bizarre setup of the aux input of a Sony portable CD / Cassette player and back out through my trusty old Sennheiser headphones (wired, of course!); it sounds really rather splendid! Also connected it directly to my soundbar for a quick test, pretty good.
Your video made it super easy to set up, too.
I've heard of LIDL shoes, now it's time for LIDL turntable.
It's so rare to see Techmoan have a rant. I agree with him though about the Chinese mechanism. I got three 80's Sony record decks and all still work fine :)
My friend has an 80's era Realistic turntable his uncle gave to him. But it needs a new drive belt so it's currently out of commission until then.
well don't blame china. Blame the guy who ordered trash product lol
My dad's 1981 Sony turntable is just barely hanging in there. The auto start mechanism always thinks it's a 7 inch record regardless of what setting it's on, but more seriously sometimes one of the channels drops off. Just as he was about to give up and replace it, it started working more consistently again.
I took the back off and it's the most complicated thing I've ever seen considering what it actually does. The audio board is half the size of a credit card, yet it has another circuit board taking up the majority of the underneath that just handles that faulty automatic system and the speed control.
Sound quality is still pretty good though when it works, and the speed seems correct.
I'm on my second Technics automatic of as many decades. Even the consumer models are relatively hefty, and there's no drive belt to replace.
I'm assuming this thing has a built-in preamp, though, so that does make it a convenient option.
I ended up with my younger brother's budget turntable from around 1980. I used it a few times in the '00s to digitize some records, but when I dug it up again in the 2010s, its clockwork mechanism had completely seized up.
My first Garrard TT cost me about $50 in 1971. I did not realize it had to have a quite heavy tracking low compliance cartridge so I sprang for a $50 Empire model that was on final clearance for half-price. The cartridge was suppose to track at about 2.0 grams or less. I was so disappointed as the combo wouldn't work to play a LP side without the cartridge skating around. I did not, and perhaps still, do not understand how to match the type of TT tornearm with the proper cartridge. That was solved the next year when I ordered one of the best buys ever in the history of audio. That was the AR XA turntable for $75 from Illinois Audio. I also got a Shure M95 cartridge. This one was a huge winner. What your interesting video meant for me that if as a young child I could have got a decent entry turntable at the grocery store while my mom was buying the weekly staples it would have saved a burgeoning audiophile from making a mistake like I did with the Garrard. Good video.
Couldn't tell the difference between this and my project debut III in sound quality
Great budget turntable
The click at the zero point is called a detent.
I own an original Duel directly from the Black Forest. A Duel 1226 idler-wheel driven turntable from 1974, everything is still original - tone-arm, cartridge and tinted acrylic dustcover. I got it from my aunt 6 years ago, and in 47 years it has never needed servicing or anything, it’s built very solid and works absolutely perfect.
I have the exact same Turntable for two years now. For basic playback it's completely adequate.
I thought he said RICHIE HAWTIN !!!
Thanks for the upload. Now I can become the next WORLD DJ with a set of these!! WATCH OUT :)
Audio Technica cartridges were already wellknown and highly valued back in the 60's with their famous AT66 model. I still have one lying around next to my first record player with removable heads. I later converted it to a Stanton 681EE, still in use today. Lots of people still used mono piezo-electric cartridges back in the day of which the TX88 was the best and used with a 10kOhm resistor across its terminals mimicking a moving magnet curve. The last one I bought was the Nagaoke with a frequency range to 40kHz for a quadrafonic SQ sound system. This I never used in the end, because quadrafonic sound went the same way three dimensional televison goes today: an almost dead system which is no longer supported by its screen manufacturer LG. Fortunately LP technologies remained more or less the same over so many years and here this Lidl/Dual player provides for a quality level that would've bettered most players 50 years ago. I have some doubts on the motor though, its strength may not be high (by first own player is a massively built one and has a very sturdy Pabst "Aussenlaufer" motor in for much lower flutter & wow, but my later very expensive Beogram 4002 has a very weak motor inside that always refused to keep its 45 rpm speed up). Thanks again for posting, recent evaluations on mid- or relatively low priced HIfI equipment are scarce on the ground nowadays while highend units are ridiculously high priced
17:13 "And I do have concerns for the longevity of this on/off mechanism"
*Clicks the the mechanisms 6 times, reducing its lifespan by half*
Rest assured, i have clicked this switch many times in the 4-5 years that i own this turntable already, so there is more than a dozen clicks to get out of this mechanism.
@@KenjiUmino I know, I own one too, just joking ;)
That looks to be a decent piece of equipment for the price.
I think that Dual is a Hanpin player. Hanpin makes decent quality and also makes many players for Denon, Marantz, Sony, Pioneer, Teac etc.
I was about to say, this looks very similar to the system used in the much more expensive Sony PS-HX500
My local electronics store, JB Hi-FI, was selling a minor variant of this player as a Pioneer for AUD588 (GBP336/USD456). Only differences seem to be the back panel placements, the rpm selector being on the left front, and the start/stop button being silver and round. Currently sold out.
The direct drive variant which otherwise seems similarly spec'ed is being sold for AUD1148 (GBP657 / USD890). It's available on backorder. So you never know, maybe Mat will see this at Lidl's in the future also - for a much better price than here.
Dual is using the same OEM turntable that Hanpin is rebadging... Hanpin calls it the BJ-U25 ... Soundlab is another company rebadging it, calling it their G056c
There's an IMG Stageline one that looks pretty much identical too.
I have the same, just the Omnitronic badge. The only difference is mine has something heavy inside, as it is 10 kg heavy.
My dad bought me one of these on a whim as a Christmas present. And being my very first foray into the world of Vinyl, i'm glad it's a good enough start and i'm not ruining my precious copy of 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'!
Adjustable Tracking Force - Stack of 2p coins back in my day!
still using this
If you polish the coins with Duraglit, you will notice the high frequencies become more shimmery :).
If a record has a skip I put a coin on the headshell to add more weight and blast through the crud in the groove. It works but not recommended
Nice review, looks like a nice turntable for either a beginner or someone who just wants to play an old record once in a while. I used to recommend people go buy a used turntable from the 80s, but now all the decent quality used turntables are getting quite expensive so it might be better to just tell people to buy one of these.
The key is to find them in thrift stores for cheap
I have my AR turntable from 1983 still
@@joemontgomery6658 In my experience it's getting difficult to find anything cheap anymore, just 10-15 years ago you could find a decent used record player for $10-20, now it's $100+ and you'll probably need to spend $20-50 on a new entry level cartridge/stylus plus the same for a phono preamp.
I'm using this turntable with a Rega carbon-stylus for many years and I love it.
I wish we'd had these at this price back in late 1990s when I was heavily collecting records but could not afford two half decent turntables and a mixer of sort.
Hahaha, after watching this I entered "Vinyl record player" on Allegro (something like ebay in Poland) and LITERALLY, the first product that popped up was that cheap plastic deck you talked about, even without the box :D
No Hifi Voodoo. No "all under XXX € is rubbish" babble. Only a straight review what you get, what you can expect and for whom it make sense. Thank you. Video like always well done.
Two improvements that would make it even better is to replace the conical stylus with the upgraded elliptical version from Pfanstheil 4211-DE for about $20 and then set the speed slider to the zero point and adjust the motor to match it so that when the slider is in the zero position it plays exactly 33-1/3 rpm. I did both of these mods on my crosley C6 and made it sound much better. Im my case the C6 had no slider for pitch control but it was found to be running a bit fast so using a strobe disc I adjusted the motor until the rpm was accurate.
I wonder if we'll see that at Lidl in the US. They have only been in the US for less than 5 years and it's become my favorite grocery store for cool stuff like this. Also we pronounce is "Leedl" across the big pond. (grin)