The best way to figure out what's best for you is by playing and learning - but if you're just beginning then you need to make sure that you're not starting at a disadvantage by using a deck that just isn't good enough.

What Sort of Turntable Do I Need for DJing?

Well, in a word (or two words): belt drive.

If you want to do anything with your records beyond putting the needle down at the start and playing the track right through to the end, then you need a direct drive turntable.

As you might have guessed by now, there are two main methods used by turntables to spin the platter. Turntables themselves can then be categorised according to which of these methods they use - belt drive turntables and direct drive turntables.

Belt Drive DJ Decks

Belt drive turntables turn the platter via a belt (a rubber band) which transfers energy from the motor to the plate. However, a lot of power is lost in the transfer here, and accuracy suffers as well. The pitch settings you have chosen might not sustain throughout the track, causing a catastrophic loss of temp sync, and making beat matching extremely difficult. Belt drive decks also suffer from low torque, making them unresponsive and inappropriate for scratching, and they also tend to have an extremely slow start-up lag.

Are Any Belt Drive DJ Decks Worth Buying?

It is worth pointing out that belt drive decks are not completely useless, and for a beginner they may represent the best value solution for starting up. Although belt drives tend to be cheaper than direct drive, the cheapest direct drive decks also suffer from the problems mentioned above - and some of the more expensive belt drives can outperform some direct drive DJ decks.

If you're happy to just get a basic set of decks to test whether you're cut out to be a DJ at all, then belt drive will do fine. If you're just going to be crossfading from one track to the next, then belt drive will probably do fine. But if you want to be the best DJ you can possibly be, you don't want to be hindered by inferior gear - get a direct drive.

Direct Drive DJ Decks

So it's not quite black and white, but if you can afford to splash out on a decent direct drive unit then I wholly recommend that you do so. If you decide to take your career seriously, then this decision will pay you back handsomely in the long run. The responsiveness of a good deck will make your learning process easier, enable you to do things that a lesser piece of hardware won't, and it will save you from having to upgrade after a relatively short period when you realise that your gear just doesn't have the necessary power under the hood.

Just so that you know (as if you hadn't figured it out already), in direct drive turntables the motor spins the platter directly - no rubber bands in sight. This increases the accuracy of the power transfer to the platter, and therefore to the record - meaning that the tempo should stay exactly the way you set it, you won't be getting unwanted pitch variations and your four-to-the-floor beat should be coming in rock solid.