Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB Modern DJ Record Player Review
Ranked #2 in Record Players
Pros
- Brilliant sound quality
- Packed with smart features
- Great for DJs and live musicians
- Awesome value for the price
Cons
- No cartridge included
- Slightly pricey
This one's for all of you DJs out there. The Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB is chock-a-block with features. An absolute powerhouse with all the essentials for DJs and performing live musicians. If you're looking for a unit that'll let your musical mind flow freely without limits, the AT-LP1240-USB is your match.
This turntable is the perfect tool for musicians who want to do more with their unit other than listening to music. If you want versatility, look no further. The Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB saves the day!
Introducing the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB
The AT-LP1240-USB is Audio Technica’s best attempt at creating a feature-packed record player that’ll bring sufficient features for musicians to feed their creativity with. This DJ turntable was explicitly made for nightclubs, live bands and people who want to make their own music.
With a solid and firm build, the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB is bound to work flawlessly for years to come – even under heavy use. Audio Technica creates quality gear, and this is no exception. This product is desirable due to its built quality and features which comes at a very competitive price. They hit the nail with this turntable.
This bad boy is for those of you who want sheer quality with lots of customization options. It’s perfect for heavy use – even in the most demanding professional settings out there.
A Powerhouse of Features
When we say the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB is an absolute beast turntable, we’re not lying. It’s no wonder many DJs are turning to this unit for their setup. It suits their needs, comes packed with all the options you’d want, and it’s hecka well built.
Due to its handy built-in switchable pre-amp, you can quickly hook it up with powered speakers, A/V components, and most receivers. If you want to work through USB, the turntable also has support for that.
One of the cool features is the software that comes bundled with the unit. Using this, you can easily rip your old vinyl into a digital audio format without noticeable loss of quality. The use of this is endless, especially for us musicians.
The turning speeds can be changed between 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM. The robust 16-poled, high-torque motor ensures an extremely stable playback experience. Back-queuing and reverse play are handled to perfection by the unwavering motor, always blasting through a sharp and accurate reproduction of the vinyl. The motor is built to maintain precise playback in even the most demanding gigging environments.
Every DJ’s Go-To Turntable
This fully manual turntable grants you complete freedom over your device. As mentioned before, the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB runs exceptionally well in a rough live-setting. But even more impressively, it is quiet as a mouse in a recording setting as well. You can bring the same unit you’re gigging with into the studio and replicate everything accurately without adapting to a different turntable. It works brilliantly for both occasions.
You can easily do manual back-queuing without worrying about damaging your turntable. It’s built to resist that kind of strain. Get scratching!
On the front of the unit, you have a forward/reverse play button. It’ll allow you to change the direction of the music quickly. This function is impressively built. You could fear that the player would lose speed and it would end up messing you up. That is not the case, though. The sturdy parts ensure a quick and spot on change of direction.
The unit features dual start/stop buttons for better accessibility. No matter how you turn your unit, this ensures ease of use.
At the top right of the DJ turntable, you also have a 45-RPM adapter if you ever need that. Quickly adapt your 7″ records with this.
Control Knobs & Pitch Perfect
You know by now that the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB is a versatile unit – but there’s more!
At the front of the modern DJ record player, you have two fancy control knobs. A start and a brake control knob. These will let you decide at which speeds the platter picks up speed or brakes. Both knobs range from 0.2 seconds to 6.0 seconds (min and max) and can be set to your liking. If you want a low break, turn up the brake knob. If you want an immediate start, keep the start knob at a minimum.
The turntable also features speed range buttons. You have the option of going +/-10%, +/-20% or even a whopping +/-50% – whatever you desire. Using these together with the pitch adjust slide control on the right side of the turntable allows you to calibrate the platter for perfect playback speeds. You’ll see strobe lights on the platter edge. These indicate the accuracy of the platter speeds. Using the speed range buttons and pitch slide control, you’ll be able to achieve perfect playback easily.
Next, to the pitch slide control, you have a quartz-button. This button toggles the pitch slide control on and off. When disabled, the platter will lock the RPMs to 0% no matter how you adjust the slider. Enabling it will also enable the pitch control and speed range variations. So all in all very easy to toggle on and off as needed.
Built for Heavy Usage
It’s an accepted fact that when buying Audio Technica gear, you’re buying quality. With more than 50 years in the business, they know what they’re doing.
The Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB modern record player is an excellent display of their expertise in the field. Weighing in at 27.6 pounds, this turntable is not just a toy. With an incredibly detailed tonearm and a die-cast aluminum platter, your turntable will walk with you through the toughest of storms.
The Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB has a built-in anti-skate system that applies a small force to the tonearm, stopping it from moving inward toward the center of the vinyl. This is a nice feature and something that’ll cause faster wear and unreliable playback on cheaper models without anti-skate.
Built together by many parts, the tonearm can be calibrated if needed. Don’t worry about the S-shaped tone arm getting unstable over time. The built quality is absolutely ace with the whole system.
Closer Look at the Rear View
The rear side of the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB is where all the connections take place. There’s the obvious AC power cord connector to fire up the unit. Then there’s phono/line output to use with RCA jack-cables. One left and one right to use with a stereo system.
Next to it we have the ground lug (GND). This can be used to connect with an external pre-amp or a ground lug on another device.
Also, there is the standard phono/line pre-amp selector switch. Using this, you can bypass the internal phono pre-amplifier when you use your Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB with components having magnetic phono inputs.
Geeky, right? Well, don’t worry if you don’t understand the specifics here. If you don’t, chances are you won’t need the features anyways – at least for now.
Lastly, we have the neat USB-output which we can all relate to. This allows us to hook our modern record player up to the digital world where the possibilities are limitless. Almost. With the included software (Audacity), you can easily record your vinyl into a digital format in crystal clear quality.
Pros & Cons
We’ve noted down the main pros and cons of Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB record player below. Hopefully, this will help you with your decision.
Pros
- Fantastic audio quality – The turntable will burst out crystal clear audio no matter whether you’re cranking the volume at a nightclub or you’re going slowly at it in the studio. The music reproduction on this unit is absolutely incredible. Enough for any audiophile to “thumbs up” this turntable.
- Full of great features – The unit is just as good with features as it is with sound quality. The unit can do so many things that’ll help you perfect and alter the final playback of the vinyl.
- Perfect for live artists and DJs – This modern turntable is widely used in nightclubs and recording studios due to its reliability. Extremely well-built and able to take a hit or two (which we all know can happen as a traveling musician). It’s a heavy unit that can pack a punch. If any turntable should be able to survive a house fire, this is the one.
- Great bang for your buck – Another thing that makes this unit all the more attractive is its price. Now, turntables for DJ and professional use are not cheap, so this turntable is extremely competitively priced. Getting this many useful features in such a reliable build is rare these days.
Cons
- Does not come with a cartridge – When buying this unit, please note that no cartridge is included. You’ll have to buy this yourself to use the unit. The options are many, and Audio Technica themselves have a wide variety of excellent options that you can find here.
Conclusion – Does the LP1240-USB take the grand prize?
In conclusion, this feature-packed powerhouse of a turntable is ideal for anyone who wants to do more with their record player than just listen to music. If you’re a DJ or live musician, the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB will have the features necessary to let your creativity bloom. With amazing built quality, this unit can withstand almost anything (within reason). Therefore, it is widely used in a professional setting for gigging, nightclubs and DJs.
If you’re looking for a turntable to get creative with, to use at venues or to rock the club with, the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB is the only choice for you. Great value for the money and impeccable audio reproduction. This unit is definitely up there among the best record players at its price point. Now, get rolling!
Get the Audio Technica AT-LP1240-USB Modern Record Player today!
View on AmazonProduct Specifications
| Audio Quality | A |
| Built Quality | A |
| Features | A+ |
| Operation | Manual |
| Drive Method | Direct Drive |
| Speeds | 33 1/3, 45, 78 |
| Anti-Skate |  |
| Wi-Fi |  |
| Bluetooth | |
| USB | |
| AUX | |
| Internal Speakers | |
