A few years back if people told me they wanted to get into Scratching, I would say that required a MINIMUM investment of $500 to get ONE turntable durable enough to withstand a heavy hand and to get a USED or Low-budget scratch mixer.
Today, the burgeoning portable turntable industry has blessed us with some products that have eliminated this recommendation from me. If you are looking to solely pick up Scratching (NOT DJing in its entirety), there are now a few very viable options that can get you started immediately and cheaply.
Portable Scratch Turntables
So if you’re new to the DJ scene or haven’t been keeping up with your DJ related content, you might be wondering what is a Portable Scratch Turntable? Until the last several years, DJ’s were relegated to a cord long enough to reach an outlet. Thanks to Vestax, Numark and several resourceful DJ’s; portable turntables meant for sample listening to records were modified into battery-powered scratching devices. These turntables would be modified with a crossfader attached to them (or inside them) and allowed DJ’s to finally express the art of turntablis without the constraint of cords.
Numark and Reloop have seen the explosion in the amount of DJ’s modifying these portable turntables and decided to hop into the market; creating devices that require minimum-to-zero modification and can be used for scratching right out of the box in the Numark PT-01 Scratch and the Reloop Spin.
If you’re looking to learn to scratch and don’t want to pay that high entry fee that used to plague want-to-be turntablists these portable turntables can be a great entry point at an extremely reasonable price. If you’re already an experienced turntablist, these decks open up the freedom of choice to scratch on the go.
The Best Portable Turntable for Scratching
So the cheapest out of the box is the PT-01 Scratch and this used to be my recommendation. However, after trying the Reloop Spin numerous times, this turntable blows it out the water right out of the box. For disclosure I actually own a PT-01 Scratch with a modified Jesse Dean Crossfader.
Having gotten my hands on both the Numark PT-01 and Reloop Spin, The Reloop Spin aboslutely takes the cake as the best portable turntable available.
The Reloop Spin uses the same tonearm, cartridge and stylus as the PT-01 scratch; which in both cases leaves a lot to desire. But this stock tonearm gets the job done out the box and is pretty skip resistance for how flimsy it looks. With that said, the main advantages the Reloop Spin carries is the platter is significantly more solid and the Reloop Spin allows you to change which side you want the Crossfader on. The Reloop Spin is also the only mass produced portable turntable with Bluetooth streaming technology; this allows you to wirelessy stream instrumentals and beats to scratch over.
The biggest problem with the PT-01 Scratch versus the Reloop Spin is the Stock Fader. In the case of the PT-01 it is not a crossfader at all, it is actually a switch (like an on and off toggle switch). So in order to get the feeling of scratching on a crossfader you will be required to make a modification upon purchase. The Reloop Spin actually comes with a decent crossfader AND it comes with the option to switch which side you want to place crossfader. This is my other biggest problem with the PT-01 Scratch. Since I scratch with my Dominant Right Hand on the Record, I am forced to scratch at an awkward angle on the PT-01 Scratch where my hand has to hover over the tonearm. This is non-issue for people that scratch with their Left Hand on the record, but I feel it is an important point that I haven’t seen in many reviews.
Best Portable Turntable Choice: Specifications and Prices
The Reloop Spin’s significant durability advantage over the Numark PT-01 makes it the significant better choice for a beginner who will inevitably have a heavier hand than someone with years of scratching experience. My only gripe with the Reloop Spin is though the stock crossfader is definitely useable, it does have a farther cut-in distance (or lag time before the sound can be heard) than I prefer. With that being said, there are already plenty of replacement crossfaders available that eliminate this problem.
The other only gripe is that the Reloop Spin averages in at about $100 more than the Numark PT-01 Scratch, but again the Reloop Spin does NOT require modifications that can become costly.
If you want to read a more comprehensive review of the available Portable Scratching options I recommend checking out this article from djturntablereview.com
Additional Specs for the Reloop Spin from DJTurntableReview.com:
“This turntable can be operated with regular USB PSU (5 V, 2 A), USB power bank or batteries. It can play 4 speeds at 33, 45 and 78 rpm and has a pitch knob for +/- 20%. The Reloop Spin has a good set of headphone output and RCA line outputs as well as a line input. You can also record your cuts directly from the USB output. This comes with a battle scratch record in the box.”
