5 of the Best Cartridges for DJs
DJ cartridges from Ortofon, JICO and Audio-Technica!
Put the needle on the record – but make sure it’s the right one for your DJ style. These are the best cartridges for DJs, no matter your budget.
5 of the Best Cartridges for DJs
The Best Cartridges for DJs
There’s a reason that Paradise Garage shaman Larry Levan is still so revered. He helped turn DJing into an art form and developed many techniques that we still use. One that doesn’t get mentioned enough – especially in these digital days – was how he employed different cartridges throughout the night as part of the DJ experience. Not content to just use the best needles that he could, Levan would actually change cartridges during his night-long set, with the new sets dramatically improving sound quality. This genius move illustrates two points: sound quality matters, and your choice of cartridge can have a powerful impact on the sonics of your set.
Today, let’s explore DJ cartridges and look at some different ones that you might want to consider adopting into your rig. If you’re still using the ones that came with your decks, it’s time to upgrade, right now. And if you’re hoping to improve or get some needles that better match your genre and style, this is a great place to start. If you’re a beginner vinyl DJ who wants more than just cartridge advice, however, start with this newbie guide first.
And before we get into it, let’s just clarify one thing: a stylus is the needle that touches the record, and the cartridge is the piece that converts the vibrations from the stylus into an electronic signal. The cartridge will often include a stylus, but for the purposes of this piece, we’re talking about the full cartridge plus needle.
Now onto five of the best cartridges for DJs that are available on the market.
The Best Cartridges for DJs: Ortofon Concorde MKII DJ
Ortofon has grown to be the preferred cartridge manufacturer for many vinyl DJs. The company offers a wide variety of carts and needles, in various shapes, for different applications. For the general-purpose DJ, you can’t go wrong with the Concorde MKII DJ.
The Concorde series (so called because the angled and cylindrical shape recalls the nose of the supersonic jet of the same name) was born out of a desire to develop a stylus with low mass, and also to create an integrated cartridge and headshell design that could be mounted without screws or wires. In the 1980s, DJs began using the hi-fi carts in clubs, which eventually led to the company debuting the Concorde Nightclub Series in 1989.
Now considered a jack-of-all-trades, the Concorde MKII DJ is a solid cartridge for vinyl DJs of all stripes. It offers a spherical diamond shape for superior tracking even when back-cueing, and a balanced output of 6 mV as well as noteworthy transparency across the frequency spectrum.
I had a pair of the original Concorde DJs in the 1990s and loved them. Mine were almost stolen by gangster club owners – but that’s a story for another day.
The Best Cartridges for DJs: Audio-Technica AT-XP5
Not every DJ is on their decks all the time. For the casual DJ who needs cartridges that work in home listening situations as well as when mixing, check out Audio-Technica’s AT-XP5.
The AT-XP5 cartridges are not only affordable, they’re known for having excellent sound thanks to the stylus’ elliptical shape. While a spherical needle is better-suited for cueing, the bulging tip of an elliptical needle will provide better coverage of the walls of the grooves, and thus deliver improved sound and channel separation. The AT-XP5 also delivers 5.5 mV high-level output and was designed to offer maximum visibility of the stylus tip, something you’ll appreciate in a dark club.
The Best Cartridges for DJs: JICO J44D DJ IMP SD
You may not have heard of JICO, but the Japanese company has been in business for a very long time, starting as a sewing needle factory in 1873 and transitioning to record styluses in 1949. It’s primarily known now as a replacement stylus operation, but it does offer a few cartridges too, namely the J44A 7 DJ IMP SD and J44D DJ IMP SD. These are, of course, recreations of the legendary but sadly out-of-production Shure M44-7, which was designed for scratching and used by the Invisibl Skratch Piklz.
Both of these JICO carts are recommended for scratching and juggling, with spherical tips and an output voltage of 5.0 to 8.0 mV. People say the J44D is brighter and clearer, but whether you want that when scratching is up to your personal preference.
The Best Cartridges for DJs: Ortofon Concorde MKII Scratch
Ortofon makes a few turntablist-focused cartridges as well, including the Concorde MKII Scratch. The Scratch features a spherical tip with an output voltage of 10 mV, so they’re good and loud, with extra-strong bass reproduction.
While Orotofon used to offer the Concorde Q.Bert – made with DJ Qbert of the Skratch Piklz – the current model is the OM Q.Bert, with a subdued high-end and pronounced mid-range to accentuate scratch solos.
The Best Cartridges for DJs: Ortofon Concorde Music Black LVB 250
Lastly, I’m throwing this one in here just because we all like to dream. The Music Series of Ortofon cartridges is meant to call back to the original Concorde design. This is not a DJ cart, per se, but one for audiophiles that shows off not only the sound of the record, but the sound of your system.
The Concorde Music Black LVB 250 features a Nude Shibata stylus on a Boron cantilever, making it the most premium Ortofon Moving Magnet cartridge on the market. It has an elliptical stylus shape and an output of 6 mV.
If you can afford it, and you’re serious about sound, why not?
More Information
- Ortofon homepage
- JICO homepage
- Audio-Technica homepage
- All about DJing
- Buy cartridges and styluses at Thomann*
*Note: This article contains advertising links that help us pay for this site. Don’t worry: the price for you will always be the same! If you buy something through these links, we will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!
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