AUDIOMIND: DJ|Photography|Design|Web Development|Electronic Music

Technics SL1200 Turntable Production Ends Per Panasonic

It’s official. Panasonic has finally confirmed our worst fears. Production of the famous Technics 1200 is finally coming to an end. CDJ’s killed the turntable rockstar?

DJ Forums and the entire music loving turntable yielding internet worldwide have been sickened by the recent news that Japanese giant Panasonic is finally set to discontinue production of the legendary Technics series of turntables, the SL-1200. The “ultimate death of vinyl” and the “end of an era” can be heard being from DJs on roof tops everywhere as Panasonic confirms this fact. However, other models, like the Technics MK2 and Technics MK5, appear to still be listed as being available on the Panasonic website

In an exclusive breaking post, and direct from the founder and Chairman of DMC, Tony Prince, the OFFICIAL statement from Osako, Japan reads as follows:

Panasonic reactive statement – Production of analogue turntables has ceased

Panasonic has confirmed that it ceased the production of its Technics-branded analogue turntables this autumn.

After more than 35 years as a leading manufacturer of analogue turntables, Panasonic has regretfully taken the decision to leave this market.  However, Panasonic will continue to sell headphones under the Technics brand.

We are sure that retailers and consumers will understand that our product range has to reflect the accelerating transformation of the entire audio market from analogue to digital.

In addition, the number of component suppliers serving the analogue market has dwindled in recent years and we brought forward the decision to leave the market rather than risk being unable to fulfil future orders because of a lack of parts.

Panasonic employees who have been working on the analogue turntable range have been redeployed elsewhere within Panasonic – many of them continuing to work in Panasonic´s Audio Video Business Unit.

Tony Prince himself has announced in response:

“DMC have finally received the official statement from Technics Panasonic in Osako, Japan which we now pass on to the DJ world. It feels like a funeral…. but we won’t be burying this baby for many years to come”!

So there you have it. The Technics SL1200 is no more – at least in regards to new units coming off the production line. But hey, the legacy will live on. There are thousands of SL1200′s in the world right now, Mk2′s, MK6′s, MK whatever..and they will continue to shape our musical world. Consider that the probable life span of a well cared for deck is probably twenty+ years (hell, mine are 12+ years old and are still in almost perfect working order!) so I don’t think we will be consigning them to the rubbish heap just yet. The art of turntablism, hands touching vinyl, the gorgeous torque felt beneath the fingers, the sheer unadulterated beauty of the SL1200 itself and the passion for ‘that’ sound – a tiny metal fragment carving a journey through virgin and ‘worn’ grooves alike, we still need all of this in our lives. And, whether as the ‘real thing’, or a digital emulation translated from it (Serato anyone?), the SL1200 will actually never die.

Technics SL-1200 History– With timescales and images
Frequently asked questions on Hyperreal on the Technics SL-1200MK2/SL-1210MK2 TurntablesThe Technics SL1200 on Wikipedia

As a saluting salvo I present to you 466 free jazz club samples to use in your projects. You were probably expecting some Blues samples eh? The samples are supplied in four construction kits, each of which is tempo-labeled. Inside the main folder for each of these you’ll find drums, guitar, bass and keys samples.

All the samples are supplied as 24-bit WAV files which can be imported directly into your DAW or sampler of choice. Because they’re royalty-free, you’re welcome to use the samples in your own music in any way you like, just don’t re-distribute them for sale. Enjoy and Never Forget!


Jazz Club samples (460MB)
Download Here!


Posted

in

by

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *