Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Buying DJ Equipment - My Review of the Shure M44-7 Cartridge
Review of Shure M44-7 Cartridge
I first bought this stylus a few years ago when I started scratching. My poor technique meant that the needle kept jumping out of the groove. Plus all the scratching meant that I was burning through my records pretty fast. So I went down to my local DJ store and was recommended the Shure M44-& Cartridge.
After taking it home and getting it out of its package, my first impressions was that it was very oddly shaped. I had never seen a cart like this - it looked like a little plastic brick. The cart's shape somewhat effected the installation process - I had to use different screws to attach it to the tone arm. But this wasn't a big deal as these longer screws were included.
After I had them hooked up I dropped a record on the turntable and gave the Shure a try. I noticed the difference immediately noticed the difference. The needle stayed in the groove despite my heavy handed scratching. It seemed glued in there. It performs so well that DJs are bound to get worried about record wear. But that is not a concern with these carts! The tracking force is exceptionally low and that translates into less damage over time to your vinyl.
In addition to handling great, these carts also sound awesome! They seem to sound best with hip hop - the bass is boosted a little bit. Overall they are very clear and capable of getting really loud.
Shure also makes another model - the Shure M44G - that looks identical to the Shure M44-7. I had been confused by this when I first bought my Shures because the guy at the DJ store wasn't able to tell me the difference. But the difference between these is that the M44G has a more balanced output. This means that the lows are accentuated like with the M44-7s and therefore this is the needle you are going to want if you are playing electronic music like trance or house. The M44G does give up a little of the M44-&s tracking force, but it still handles great.
All in all, you can't go wrong with this product. In fact, the instructions for Serato's Scratch Live program state that it will perform optimally with either of these Shure cartridges.
Adam Miles has been DJing for over a decade and is interested in helping others learn more about becoming a DJ. Come stop by his website at http://www.djauctions.net to read more in depth tutorials, equipment reviews and to ask questions in the forum.
