This review came out at the perfect time for the reason that shure is discontinuing there needle and I have been looking for reviews on new ortofon concord mk2. There is not that many reviews on this models yet but soon there will be more, for right now you guys got the best review.👌👌

Absolutely brilliant review. Fantastic, covering everything needed to help make a decision and clearly based on proper back-back testing by someone who knows exactly what to look for.

A note, the mk1 Ortofons mostly had recommendations between 2 and 4g for tracking weight, so they could handle 4g. They usually sounded best around 3-3.5g. I forget exactly what forum also but recently was reading a thread where Ortofon rep was answering questions 10 years ago talking about mk1s. You can swap the stylii and get the benefits, just the levels will be whatever the body puts out - "it is the body, not the stylus that determines output (ie: windings on the 4 pole pins)". The main stylus that was different he claimed was the Pink Scratch, as it was designed for higher tolerances in the cantilever or something, for less wear and tear with scratching, compromising between stylus wear, cantilever tolerance and sound quality. As for whether to use elliptical or spherical for DJing: "Just keep in mind that styli were not designed to be played in the reverse direction (remember 20 degree angle, not vertical). Elliptical can be used for "light" back cueing/scratching but will wear the record more (other factors aside) than spherical under that use. In straight forward play, spherical will wear more, elliptical will sound better." "As stated previously, all Ortofon styli are interchangeable ( except the GT) so the Qbert stylus on a Pros S or Nightclub black body will yield same performance at a lower output." from Ortofon, Inc: www.futureproducers.com/forums/search.php?searchid=3017624

@raven-jz6cv

3 жыл бұрын

Ive found the mix sound better on 1.5 and clubmk2 on 3 (no scratcher tho)

@J.MartinWills

2 жыл бұрын

ELLIPTICAL has better frequence range and subjects record grooves to greater friction and wear, than SPHERICAL. Basically, use ELLIPTICAL for RECORDING and GIGs (don't use for general purpose, b/c it will shred records' grooves). Use spherical for all other instance. That's not to say; one can't get great audio from SPHERICAL, SPHERICAL's not suitable for recording/ gigs, and such. If the records' press was low quality and/or if it's worn, such will obviously be reflected upon the outputs.

R.I.P SHURE M44-7's - Great tracking & amazing sound!

@WilloTehWisp

4 жыл бұрын

just get the jico replacement needles

@dominickd16

4 жыл бұрын

WilloTehWisp what if you live in Canada ?

@WilloTehWisp

4 жыл бұрын

@@dominickd16 arent they available there? i live in europe and they are very easy nad cheap to get here

@djbhe

4 жыл бұрын

@@WilloTehWisp I use the SC35S. I'm going to start using the Jico replacement.

Thanks for the in-depth and honest review Mojaxx, great as always

Thanks for informative review Mojaxx. I just ordered a couple of Ortofon digitals based on your review. Can't wait to get my hands on them!

I had the Ortofon blue OG for years but switched to M44-G's for a while as the sound quality was rubbish. Decided to give the Club MKII's a try and wow!!! they sound amazing.

I'm glad you covered mixing and matching styli because I just bought a scratch to put on a mix thinking I had cheaply assembled a scratch. Different output levels. Thanks

Just bouth the Mk2 DJ. The hold the groove well and do have the highs I wanted. Solid purchase.

this is the best review video I have watched on anything. answered all my questions. thank you so much !

Thanks for the honest review. Very informative and helped with my decision making post Shure announcement.

Kudos for the SoundCloud comparative clips, very helpful indeed!!! Cheers

Great feedback. Thanks.

wow thanks for actually uploading the waves of each with different styli! great because i also always worry about stereo imbalance, which i now can check in my daw

@Mojaxx

6 жыл бұрын

All the waveforms shown in the video (around 8 minutes) are NOT normalised at all, so you can see how well balanced they are before any processing whatsoever - i.e very.

Good video again so good to hear honest expert opinion.

Another great review Mojax :-) going to order a pair of the Mix Carts :-)

Great review! I was comparing the scratch between digital, but a i only have the serato control vinyl, and 100% DVS user, so went on the digital.

Thx Mojaxx, I think the digital will work for me, scratching and mixing in the club

Thanks for the upload💪🐯

Such a fantastic review. I've always loved Ortofon. Hated the old concordes when the arms would break. I am an OM Ortofon MK1 Nightclub 2 user (the orange ones)......I was thinking about making the switch as I'm happy with my mounted carts.....but that would be silly. Styluses are still available. Thank you for this review.

crazy info I I needed to hear

Dope review!!!!!

i just got the club..they sound amazing..i'm really happy with them.

@0e0

6 жыл бұрын

for straight up mixing and vinyl ripping...still debating getting a 2m red for that aswell.

@003General

5 жыл бұрын

Im also about to buy the Concorde Club MKII. You think its the price Worth?

I've just bought a set of the Digitals, and I have to say they are fantastic !. I mainly bought them for DVS, and I wasn't expecting much from real vinyl, but wow !! How wrong was I, they sound superb, I'm so impressed. I had the Mk2 "mix" carts before and I was a disapointed with the sound of those with real vinyl, but the Digitals are so much better, well worth buying, perfect sound for DJ'ing :)

@interracial2564

4 жыл бұрын

i think they sound flat for vinyl and great for timecoded records

Great video man thank you!

Thank you 🙏

Amazing needles ❤

Since I started mixing on Technics (back in 1991) I thought the Stanton's 500/520al Stylus & Carts were the best because that is what everyone used. Then one day (20 years later) I realised that they sounded terrible, damaging both my ears and my vinyl at the same time! Thank you Ortofon for your great Stylus & Carts!

I prefer the Concorde DJ since I find it having more highs than the others

I can only hope that analog DJ mixers can make a comeback as well; Formula Sound, Rodec etc.

@Ninja_Gaijin

4 жыл бұрын

I want a FF4.2L so bad

@tintintb1980

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I miss my old Intimidation Blue mixer - That thing sounded so warm and punchy!

@MarcS4R

Жыл бұрын

i bought an original Rodec MX180 MKi and love it. sounds so good

Got these

Thanks for the video, I've been looking for a review of these since they came out! I'm looking to replace my Whitelabels as I'm not a fan and fancy a change. What would be the best cart to use as I'd like the 10mv output, but do a bit of scratching here and there and currently don't use DVS? The Scratch or Digital? I still want good sound quality though.

Been using pro s cart now switched to mix MK2 the difference in sound is night and day and I use to think the pro s sounded good as well, awsome work ortofon

@ome_mart

2 жыл бұрын

Are you sure the sound quality difference is due to the cartridge change? Because on the ortofon site, they mention themselves that the cartridges don't have any difference on them if it comes to sound quality. The stylus on the om pro 2, is only 6 in output, so probably there's the difference you hear with the mk2 styli which have a louder output

so what's the best for converting vinyl to digital ? the club or the digital ?

Love the old blue horse DJ cartridge truntable I wonder if the new blue are the same

Any chance of a Tour along the Shelves at the Back?. The one In the blue box, I have one In that box. Got It from Tandy years ago. Are they still doing the Stylus for the Concord Pro2?.

Hello @Mojaxx, have you reviewed the Reloop Ortofons? Specifically the green digi ones? I'm wondering what you'd recommend? Thank you.

@Mojaxx Please review the Taruya cartridges.

Hi Mojaxx i really appreciate your videos i recently watch this one related to ortofon because I have upgraded my cartdriges. At the end following your thought at 7:42 I bought the digital mkii and I'm in love with them. All my old low recorded vinyl are born again but I have some trouble with a minor part of my 90's 12" mix with particolar high frequencies this vinyl goes off scale and make the highs croak regardless how low the gain is. I wrote to ortofon without answer do you think this is related to my cartdriges or is a normal behaviour for the digital mkii maybe related also to my mixer. Thank

Question : Could you tell me what's the difference (if there's any) between the Concorde MKII Club and the Reloop Concorde Vibe ? Since they're both made by Ortofon, and their only elliptical option, I guess they're pretty much the exact same cartridge with only a different color / logo on it ... Thanks for the review, very interesting as always ! Regards :-)

Hey mojaxx, could you demo the Digital’s MK2 with a quick 45 mix, if that’s what you would use? Depending if jico will keep making 447 stylus replacements, I’ll be forced to start using ortofon down the road.

Can you give me advice please, i have been using Stanton yellow itrack cartridges with the needles provided... i'm having to change now as cannot obtain them from anywhere is there an alternative with the same output sound.... I have been using an Ortofon black and also tried the grey pro which is greatly lower in volume .... Would appreciate advice Regards Steve

i'm totally confused! i've aimed for CLUB twin, BUT! how come that according to your samples on soundcloud entrly level MIX sound better than expensive CLUB? The highs are much clearer, however the output should be lower, but thats no prob, just put a bit more gain the channel. I'm lookig for a replacement for my ortofon Arkiv needles that i used for ripping - any ideas about the invesment plan for my needs please?

Can I please ask a question roughly how long do the concord cartridges last?. I generally replace stylus every year but have noticed recently the sound seems to have got distorted and I’m sure it’s not just knackered records. Thanks and love your channel. I have had them about 5 years however can’t seem to find this info anywhere. ❤

Thanx for the great review and the tests on Soundcloud. My Question: I downloaded them in WAV HiQ Files and had to realise, the MKII Scratch sounds really dull and lifeless in your samples, much worse than the MKII MIX with a Scratch Stylus on top. How come?

Have you used the Reloop Concorde Vibe? I was thinking of buying a pair of the Concorde Club mkii, but the Vibes seem to have very similar spec, output, etc and a better frequency range.. and are a little bit cheaper

Thank you Mojaxx ! Exactly what I needed. What preamp did you use for all these comparative rips ? Its weird that the Club Mk2 is disapointing in this comparision... DJ and Mix sounds better. On other comparision on YT , the Club sounds better.

Really Grathfull for your work! But now i don't know if I should buy the Club or the Digital, because I want to use regular Vinyl getting a good sound and Time code getting a good signal! The best of the two worlds...:)

@Mojaxx

6 жыл бұрын

souesereieu If you don’t scratch, and don’t use straight tonearms, the Club will work fine for DVS too. They have the high 8mv output which is great for that. But have a listen to the samples, I think you won’t be disappointed with the sound of the Digital. I’m very happy with those for my vinyl sets.

They should look for ways to protect the needle from the turntable planter. Because when u are in a reach to drop the needle on the record and u mistakenly drop on the side wheels is going to broke. Shure m44. 7 has protection. By his side one once he drop on the side of the wheel he bounces of

The scratch variant does not look like it has the lateral stabilizer that the Concorde s120 has as those are rock solid.

For the same price I can get either the older digitracks or the mix mk2. What would be the better buy? All I play is old dnb/jungle.

Is the cartridge or stylus responsible for the output voltage? Could I buy the scratch carts for dj'ing etc... but buy just one club styli to put on the scratch cartridge for when I rip vinyl?

Thinking about upgrading. Should i buy dj mk2 or mix mk2? I have the blue dj s concordes right now but dont know how old they are and thinking of replacing the cartridge instead of the styli only. Somebody can help?

what r your thoughts on using mix or scratch on club stylus? Do they perform the exact same when you interchange?

Probably a dumb question, but is it possible to use the styli of the concorde mk2 range on the older OM pro cartridge (the short ones you can attach underneath a headshell) 🤔 it looks like the concorde mk2 style are on an angle at the end where you attach it to the cartridge in comparison to the OM pro styli

Which ones the best for mixing / back cueing old skool hardcore from 1990’s ?

For Serato; I already have the Serato S-120, would it really benefit me change to the Digital MK II?

I brought the scratches, but they sounded pretty dull on top end. I had to keep cranking the high gains up. Sent back after a few days. Definitely liked the tracking though. I’m really stuck on which ones to buy. The clubs elliptical stylus scares me..

....long story short,because I Dj a lil,sample a lot of old records,..I went back to my Stanton 680 HP,...Sounds Great with my old Technics!....Left Orfton...Right Stanton!

Would you recommend any of these for only listening and not djing? I have a Teac TN-350 and looking to replace the original AT 95E cartridge

Can the scratch mk 2 be used toe just mixing old skool hardcore breakbeat from early 90’s with just back cueing type scratching ? Or is it strictly for hip hop style full on scratching ?

Has anyone tested the new club over the older nightclub mk2?in terms of sound quality is the new one better than the older?does it worth the replacement?

Who uses that little rubber washer that comes with the Concorde? Is it necessary?

Concorde Mk2 Mix W Digital Styli is the best sounding one IMHO

@alphaza76

5 жыл бұрын

I agree 100%. Would they perform well for scratching though?

Do these cartridges work with a moving magnet phono box ?

So essentially for general dj use, price aside, the digital is the best option for real vinyl?

How much weight do you recommend to put on the OC scratch MKII for scratching? 3… 3,5… 4?

Can i put a SCRATCH styli on MIX cart?

Could someone compare Ortofon Concorde MkII CLUB vs Shure Whitelabel for me? I've been using whitelabels for a long time and was very happy with them... (damn this discontinuation!)

Which one is best for bedroom dj mostly playing house/down tempo?

It’s the digital good for turntablism?

So, what about us with s120s? Literally the best cart I've ever used. I hope they keep the styli in stock.

@Endmass

6 жыл бұрын

Never had that issue, In two years of abusing a set.

@djmwp

5 жыл бұрын

Mark Spies where do you got the information of discontinued? At 12:00 mojax is telling us that ortofon stil will produce neeldes.

@5:06 if you do a lot of cutting with them? cutting?

My new mk2 scratch needles still jump quite often. Does it get better with time? Have her a day.

I’ve recently repaired my old 1200s and was gonna get the Concorde Mix because of the price and I also like the plain black. I will mainly be using real vinyl but want to do DVS in the future. Should I just spend the extra $100 and go with the Concorde Digital? Also I want good sound quality for recording but won’t be playing out in clubs.

@AmbientWanderer

3 жыл бұрын

if you can afford it, then why not man! But if you're on a budget, then stick with the cheaper option and upgrade when you can..

I'm looking for some advice or thoughts on the matter. At the moment I have the Ortofon Concorde Nightclub mk2 cartridges, but the needles need to be replaced now. I'm now doubting wether to buy new replacement nightclub mk2 styli (120$) or invest in the new Concorde mk2 cartridges (240$) (I'm thinking the scratch-version has good specs (Spherical stylus, nice high output and obviously solid tracking) and is getting pretty amazing reviews). My thoughts: I'm concerned about the wear on my records when using the special elliptic styli that comes with the nightclub mk2 (but I want atleast 8mV output, so its the only option on the old concorde series). I've read a lot about elliptical vs spherical styli and there's a lot of contradicting theories. Basically I use them both at home and in clubs for dj'ing oldschool techno and oldschool trance with a lot of detail (quite some old worn vinyls in between). I don't scratch but I do normal backcueing when mixing. Should I be worried about my records using the nightclub mk2's? Also the nightclub mk2's do reproduce quite some distortion on the high frequencies especially on the more worn out records, I'm thinking that would be less a concern with for example the Concorde MK2 scratch? Some advice or thoughts on the matter would be much appreciated (especially on the elliptical vs spherical in concerns of recordwear and audioquality)

@manukkee

3 жыл бұрын

Don't worry, for Techno the ellipticals are great, i would choose the Club mk2 or the Nightclub E styli. For Ortofon, the elliptical will always sound better than the spherical (which is better for scratch)....but the problem is Ortofon Concorde design cannot fit great magnets into that tight cartridge...this is why if you use the Japanese Nagaoka DJ 03 HD cartridge, even if it uses spherical stylus, it will sound MILES better than the Elliptical Ortofon cartridges, because the Nagaoka has better magnets, that cannot fit in the concorde. The elliptical stylus does wear more ur records if you scratch, but it wears the record less if you just play vinyl as a techno dj, because it sits better in the groove than the spherical, so the choice is easy for techno music --> elliptical.

Hi there, thank you for your work for us. I already had nigh club E, and the night club is for me unless the digital is a good alternative. I know this is off topic in this cartridge video but, for you which is the best sounding mixer, with the best quality audio output. I come from 90's techno and nowadays I listen everything, but I still want to mix techno old and new. Cheers

@drooee3274

5 жыл бұрын

Allen & Heath Xone:92 or Xone:62 in my opinion (unless you want to drop thousands on a high end rotary such as Condesa, Rane MP2015, Urei or E&S). Anything made by A&H takes a massive dump on anything made by Pioneer. I use an older Xone:62 with my vinyl (I don't really need the extra features of the 92). Now I'm just trying to decide between the Mix and DJ to replace my aging OM Elektros.

@sonboogie

5 жыл бұрын

@@drooee3274 how about Ecler?

Can't believe shure are going I live their carts

@Ninja_Gaijin

5 жыл бұрын

I looked at Ortofon again since the replacement stylus went to $60 AUD for the 447, same as Ortofon replacements. But I don't like the treble boost in the Ortofon carts, the higher tracking forces, the poorer tonearm connection, etc. I have one with a cracked arm lift, I have to make sure the whole cartridge isn't on a terrible angle from the break, before using - I have to click it to the right position or it's like 15 degrees angled upwards to the spindle.

@vajnazsombor9397

5 жыл бұрын

@@Ninja_Gaijin you can buy a arm lift replacement for like 10$ or so

@Ninja_Gaijin

4 жыл бұрын

@@vajnazsombor9397 this is for a mk1 old one

@shufflephunk

3 жыл бұрын

@@Ninja_Gaijin use a tiewrap

A sound review, wish i had seen this before running out and buying the new DJ model. I was advised that the high pitched tone from needle is very loud with Digital model over DJ how do you find it?

@Mojaxx

6 жыл бұрын

AWJD79 6mv from the DJ is still fine for DVS, you won’t have a problem. Part of why I prefer the ones with 10mv is that I also play regular vinyl and it means less added gain at the mixer stage with my 45s.

You should enable the dl function, cause SC is compromitting the sound quality from the example to hear. You only have wav, when you dl the example. Makes not really sense on this way. I`m sorry ;)

Do you recommend to buy Digital?

Hello, which of these models would you recommend for performance? Do they preserve the disc or the vinyl disc against wear?

@justinromang9113

4 жыл бұрын

Ortofon Concorde MKII DJ

a) Elephant-> Room: I'm pretty sure that the vinyl "whitepaper" says records are made to be played under a 5g load (tracking). b) Maybe I'm too old but I downloaded the WAVs and can hardly tell a difference on my HD 280s. My ears are definitely shot but I also blame the track choice. Could you use Primal Scream's Loaded or something groovy next time please? Something with real vocals and bass and maybe wind instruments? On a record with lots of pops and scratches? Thanx :)

@Weaver_Games

4 жыл бұрын

5g could well be true. I have some pretty dodgy whitelabels though that were printed in runs of like 150. I don't imagine they are using greatest quality PVC. I guess I should digitize this stuff sooner rather than later as it might not last forever.

How do the mk 2 digital compare for scratching to the mk 2 scratch, do they hold the record the same

@manukkee

5 жыл бұрын

I don't have the digital, but i have the BLUE DJ mark 2 and they stay on the groove incredibly well, i can`t make them skip.

Nice review but still a right bloody nightmare to choose between them though 😂 I prefer a warm sound and mainly play electro and techno. How about any experiences with the VNL cartridge&styli?

@elpretentio

2 жыл бұрын

the digital definitely sound warmer. closer to the orange clubs from before. the yellow clubs sound wayy too harsh in my opinion and the bass actually sounds hollow.

@davidsomo1651

17 күн бұрын

​@@elpretentioThanks. I just want know this.

Can I use clubs with dvs?

I heard my night club MK1s should have last 3 years. Mine are over 10 years old. Just wondering when they are going to die? Also, what is the difference between "E" and "S"?

Needles are golf clubs!....u gotta use the right 1 whn u need it!...I have a pair pf old Orfton Pro S's...i thought i was da ish!....didnt knw they had wedges, putters,..etc!

Concord Club mk2 can play 2.5 if one is concerned with record wear and surface noise. No higher than 3 for sure. Either way, incredible mid-range!

@Weaver_Games

4 жыл бұрын

Interesting. Maybe I'll just shell out and get those. I run my m44-7s at 2.5g but the needle on one of them is just toast I need to replace it. Was basically considering going Jico replacement or just going ortofon all in.

@danielcanaan4787

4 жыл бұрын

Ordered a pair of the mk2 clubs I play reggae vinyl and can say for playing and recording straight out the case they sounded nice and clear without even them breaking in big outlay at first but I refuse to pay stupid money just for a stylus and postage from Japan for the the shure replacement from jico

Im confused; Should I get a pair of "scratch" or "digital" for mostly DVS based scratching?

@jmoak311

5 жыл бұрын

Jody E go with the scratch. It’s basically identical but has better tracking ability. Go to ortofon page it gives you a break down of them all.

05:44 Why would there be lots of warmth in the bass on this type of needle that is designed for scratching? Usually you would lower your bass tones on the scratch deck channel to avoid needle feedback and that horrible bass rumble sound you get. Doesn't really make sense to me.

Can I use it with J shaped tonearm???

I could hear barely any difference between the cartridges on my studio monitors apart from the 'Digital' cartridges being a bit more dull sounding than the rest, the 'Club' cartridges do have slightly more detail but not a lot. In fact the difference in sound quality between the 'Mix' and the 'Club' is only a very slightly better detail in the clubs but from my ears not worth the hugely extra money for the 'Club' cartridges.

@AmbientWanderer

3 жыл бұрын

i think you'd only really notice big differences if you were, 1 playing very well recorded music, and 2 playing though an audiophile grade stereo.

@RobByrnes

2 жыл бұрын

@@AmbientWanderer Or a big club system perhaps ....

Is concord mix the green , suitable for straight tone arms ??

@diegopiaggio7789

3 жыл бұрын

Someone?

I just bought some Mixx carts and broke them in ..second thoughts though now...just questioning the high tracking weight Ortofon requires. my friend says they destroy his timecode vinyl. I think a better option would be going back to Shure cart /Jico styli.

@justinromang9113

4 жыл бұрын

Hey Johnny, as far as I could (so far) determine; the correct Styli-Cartridges - of Ortofon, required for TCV operation *are* the "Concorde MkII DIGITAL" as opposed to the "Concorde MkII MIX". Reference : - MIX : www.ortofon.com/mix-p-795-n-1444 - DIGITAL : www.ortofon.com/digital-p-825-n-1444 All the best.

does these work on a stanton t52 straight arm turntable?

@billkara5122

4 жыл бұрын

Have the same question

Could never work out why it has taken 20 odd years for these to have replaceable tone arm lifts. Having said that, I've never broken the ones I've had and going back to the 90s so maybe not enough need for them.

@SPAKBABBATH

2 жыл бұрын

I've broken two in my time, and seen plenty more fixed with the ziptie hack

What cartridges should you use then with a straight tonearm?

@bias69

6 жыл бұрын

spherical

@OvaChicken

5 жыл бұрын

thats it ? man . you SUREly informed us.

You crazy the blue one are nice for battle style never had no problem whit them I rock my shit up n still kicking n I use it whit vestax n technic never no problem at all n I'm a more scratch DJ those blue are a hourse word up just got to break them in that it

👍