Alesis Monitor One MK2

Advantages: same turntable at home as in the clubs
Disadvantages: heavy

...Technics 1200 / 1210 what more can you say its the number one DJ turntable on the planet. For years and years when i was younger just geting in to Djing all i wanted was a pair of technics. after a few years with other direct drive decks i finally saved enough money to buy a pair i of technics, i bought the SL1200Mk2 because they were silver i did not like the brown of the 1210 much. i have read around and talked to people and aparently the only difference between the 1200 and the 1210 is the colour. I set up my new 1200s and got the tunes out. Wow what a turntable, after years of trying out all other types of direct drive turntables i could instantly see and feel the difference in build quality. the technics weight alot compared to any other turntable, this is because the bottom black base you see is not made of cheap moulded... Read review

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Advantages: Good value and flexible mixer, works well with PC. Cubase is a nice bonus.
Disadvantages: Knobs not sliders, no MP3 encoder with Cubase but these are minor details

...AUX gains for external or internal effects, a pan control (for stereo balance) and a volume control. The control section has main mix and control room volume control, an LED VU meter with clip warning light and more AUX effects volume controls. The Alesis comes with 100 in-built effects, which you select using a dial that displays the effect number in a small LED counter, and they all sound pretty good. There are 10 different effects for each of the following; Hall, Room, Plate and Chamber (types of reverb), Chorus, Flange, Delay, Pitch and two banks with different combinations of the above. One limitation with the effects is you can only apply it to the main mix out and not to individual channels. If you want to record using the in-built effects on an individual instrument or vocal you'll have to do them one at a time unless you want... Read review

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Advantages: cheap, easy to use
Disadvantages: no effects limited sound editing, dull sounds

...The Alesis SR-16 holds the title of the best selling drum machine of all time and some would say with good reason. The sound quality that this machine can produce is excellent but the drawback is that the 230 odd sounds contained within the unit are uniformly dull and uninspiring. If you need a workhorse set of drum sounds for backing tracks etc then the SR16 will do the job in style but i would not recommend it to anyone who has any kind of imagination in their music. The operating system is fairly straightforward but some of the pattern editing is fairly cryptic if you don't have a manual, apart from that it's pretty easy to figure out whats going on. The SR16 can has 150 somewhat dodgy preset patterns but you can create another 150 of your own to string together in the 100 available songs. Outputs consist of a stereo pair and an pair... Read review

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