Review - Synq XTRM-1

   

SYNQ XTRM-1



Features

• High torque turntable (>4.5 KgF/Cm)
• 10, 20, and 50% selectable pitch range
• Clickless pitchfader
• Quartz lock
• 33, 45, and 78 RPM speeds
• Dual start/stop buttons
• Selectable phono/line out
• Removeable LED target light
• Blue strobe light
• Individually adjustable start/stop times
• Processor driven engine control
• Reverse

Impression

As soon as i got this machine, i was in love. The first thing that stood out was the quality of the cables provided; solid, thick, angled audio cables and a low-resistance powercord. Although it doesn't make that much of a difference, its nice to get a bit more than the flimsy little cables you get with other gear....
Upon taking the unit out of the box, i was pleasantly surprised by the weight; its quite heavy so it has good protection against resonance, but not so heavy that it becomes clumsy for drive-in use. I guess "solid" would be the best word to describe my original impression. Another thing you notice as soon as you start connecting the cables is that there is no ground-wire, due to the fact that the unit has an internal pre-amp, so it can send out line signal. The wire missing is just a little bonus, but the line signal is brilliant for those DJ's who find the limited amount of phono inputs on a mixer frustrating (such as myself).
When everything was assembled, i got to work playing with the unit. I'll summarize my experiences with the turntable into positive and negative aspects:

• + Platter is above the TT's surface, unlike Technics' platter of which the rim is submerged. Although it looks a bit unproffessional to me, I found it very pleasant to use the rim for those tiny corrections.
  
• + High torque. Very high torque. I'm not sure whether to count this as a positive or a negative aspect, as the torque is so high that + pitch corrections can be difficult innitially if your pitchfader is still much too low.
• + No overshoot. Try as much as you like, but you won't get any.
• + LED target light: very powerful, easy to see the grooves, solid, and easily removeable for transport.
• + Clickless pitchfader. Finally. A company that realizes a click is only annoying for DJ usage, not helpful.
  
• + Tonearm - Does not skip easily, good reading accuracy and definition(to my ear i.c.w. a Ortofon CC Pro; on Line setting). Although the tonearm wasnt completely tuned when it was supplied, the slack is so small and insignificant that I can't be bothered to remove it.
• + The buttons have a great feel to them. Hard to describe, you've got to try them yourself. Again one of those little details that give an impression of quality.
  
• + Looks. Its sexy, what more is there to say?

• - Quartz lock switches itself on when your pitchfader is around 0%. I can't stand it; now i finally have a clickless pitchfader it comes back to bite you in the arse with this. Once again, pitch is hard to adjust in the +/-.2% pitch range.
• - Dual start stop. Although it might be a good thing for certain people, who set up their turntables battle style, i think its rather annoying as i occasionally rest my hand where the top start/stop button is. In case you were wondering, yes, i have actually accidentally stopped the record this way
• - Internal suspension. Although the protection from external resonance is great, you can still hear it through your headphones/the speakers if you tap the unit, especially if you tap on the top right corner. This is one of the only points where the Technics beats the Synq.
  

Final Judgement

This turntable is definitely a Technics beater for at home, due to its superior functionality, greater attention to detail, and most importantly its higher value for money. For in the club, I'd call it a tie, simply due to the slightly inferior rumble-proofness; an aspect which is central to making or breaking a turntable in the club scene. I give it a total of 8.5 out of 10 stars.

Mag ik je een compliment geven voor het schrijven van deze geweldige review? In engels is echt super handig voor ook de buitenlandse resource'ers onder ons. Een ding het bovenste plaatje werkt niet...
Edit : ligt misschien aan me pc? ik zie hem iniedergeval nog steeds niet

Poster: _Ivan_
het bovenste plaatje werkt niet...

 

Bij mij wel :S en verder sluit ik me aan bij de woorden van ivan :D

I have the table also now and want to add my findings of this table. I agree with almost everything from DeafDJ so I will only add my points that are new or that I disagree on:

• - Quartz lock switches itself on when your pitchfader is around 0%. I can't stand it; now i finally have a clickless pitchfader it comes back to bite you in the arse with this. Once again, pitch is hard to adjust in the +/-.2% pitch range. Fortunatly I must agree with this one. They shouldn't have done this since you have a button to set the table to Quatrz lock.
• - Dual start stop. Although it might be a good thing for certain people, who set up their turntables battle style, i think its rather annoying as i occasionally rest my hand where the top start/stop button is. I don't use the table in battle position but I like the two buttons. It has also been suggested that the buttons are to sensitive. I don't believe they are to sensitive since you can easily touch them without pressing them. But they go very easy although I like it.
• - Internal suspension. Although the protection from external resonance is great, you can still hear it through your headphones/the speakers if you tap the unit, especially if you tap on the top right corner. This is one of the only points where the Technics beats the Synq. I agree on this one. The resonance is the only point that it doesn't beat a technics.
• + LED target light: very powerful, easy to see the grooves, solid, and easily removeable for transport. One of the most ugly and cheap ass things of this table is the target light. It is of course personal but it doesn't provide a nice light on the table and it looks ugly because of the cheap look on such a nice turntable. One good think is that you cannot really get this one broke and if so it is easy to replace since it is just a simple cinch connector with a led in it.
• I think that the anti skating range of 3 is sometimes not enough.
• The platter came with a ugly warning label on it. If you don't remove it your slip mat will feel strange. The moment you remove the label, it will leave some sticky stuff on it that will make things worse. You need to take some really nasty chemicals to completely remove it.

I think this is the best table you can get as beginner and also as professional. Although for some beginners the price might be very high, you do get a very high quality table, with very nice features on it and because of the high torque it is also easy to learn spinning vinyl.

For professional use on the road or in clubs I would still suggest the technics since the better resonance.

mooie revieuw

Leuke review ; and natuurlijk heb ik deze TT zelf ook 2x

quote:

Poster: DeafDJ - Quartz lock switches itself on when your pitchfader is around 0%. I can't stand it; now i finally have a clickless pitchfader it comes back to bite you in the arse with this. Once again, pitch is hard to adjust in the +/-.2% pitch range.

Why is this a negative point? When quartz-lock is activated the pitch is Zero, not around 0%.
Why should quartz-lock be off when the pitchfader is 0%?!

quote:

- Dual start stop. Although it might be a good thing for certain people, who set up their turntables battle style, i think its rather annoying as i occasionally rest my hand where the top start/stop button is. In case you were wondering, yes, i have actually accidentally stopped the record this way

 

Why do you need to rest your hand on that spot. When i'm using the TT i always use both hands.
So i don't think it's a negative point, but a strange place to put your hand.

@zuur:
"Why is this a negative point? When quartz-lock is activated the pitch is Zero, not around 0%.
Why should quartz-lock be off when the pitchfader is 0%?!"

When i move the pitchfader a little bit up and down, the light doesn't go off, so i guess it's still at the "quartz-lock" at that point.

Poster: rob1n
When i move the pitchfader a little bit up and down, the light doesn't go off, so i guess it's still at the "quartz-lock" at that point.

 

That's right. That's what happens.
But DeafDJ says it switches itself on. That's not the case, when it switches itself on it is already zero.
So when the quartz-lock is off it will begin with 0,1 - 0,2 - enz. Anyway, you'll never know what the pitch is, because you don't have a display.

So basicly it's a light that confirms your at 0%.