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A good turntable needle is essential for any DJ using vinyl or DVS systems. This guide covers the best needles for scratching and turntablism:
- Stanton 500: The classic, found on Technics turntables
- Stanton 890 SA: Bigger, heavier, more suitable for scratching
- Stanton 520SK Craze: DJ Craze signature collaboration
- Ortofon Concorde Pro S: The "banana" shape, club standard
- Ortofon Q-Bert S-120: Serato collaboration, my current favorite
- Shure M44-7: Considered the best turntablism scratch needle
- Ortofon DJ S: Updated Concorde with standard headshell mount
So if you have a turntable or if you're planning on buying a turntable, this could be very interesting for you. Some turntables ship with needles and headshells, some don't. But in any case, you want to make sure that you get a good steady needle.
What Type of Turntable Needle Should You Buy?
| Needle | Best For | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Stanton 500 | General DJing | Classic, shipped with Technics |
| Stanton 890 SA | Scratching | Bigger, heavier design |
| Stanton 520SK Craze | Turntablism | DJ Craze signature model |
| Ortofon Concorde Pro S | Club use | Steady, sticky on vinyl |
| Ortofon Q-Bert S-120 | Serato DVS / Scratching | Designed with Serato |
| Shure M44-7 | Turntablism | Widely considered the best |
| Ortofon Concorde DJ S | All-around | Standard headshell mount |
You want good audio quality and you want that needle to be able to stay on your vinyl. If you're using real vinyl, this is important because you don't want the record or needle to skip.
If you're using DVS like Serato or Traktor, you can play in relative mode — even if the needle skips, the song keeps playing. But still, you want a steady, stable needle that delivers good audio quality and a strong signal to your audio interface.
There are a lot of needles out there. I'm not going to say there is one best needle — it also depends on your needs and personal preference. I'm a turntable scratch DJ, so I need that steady, stable needle. If you're scratching and juggling and the needle is too light, it will fly all over the vinyl and ruin your routine.
Stanton 500
This is the classic, the Stanton 500 needle. This used to be on all the turntables — I believe Technics turntables actually shipped with these needles.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Classic, entry-level |
| Audio quality | Good |
| Scratching | Not ideal — too light |
| Tracking | Would skip during turntablism |
The only thing is, if you wanted to do real turntablism, they were not really that steady. They were a little bit too light. Even if you had the tone arm settings everything set heavy to put the most pressure on the vinyl, it was still not enough.
Many DJs would start putting coins on top of the headshell to make it heavier to stay on the vinyl. That worked, but it caused more wear and tear on your needles.
Stanton 890 SA
This is the Stanton 890 SA — a little bit bigger, a little bit heavier, and a little bit more suitable for scratching.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Mid-level scratch needle |
| Size | Bigger than Stanton 500 |
| Weight | Heavier — better tracking |
| Scratching | Performed pretty well |
I used this for quite a while because it definitely performed pretty well. Needles evolved and more options started to come that were specifically made for scratching and turntablism.
Stanton 520SK Craze
Stanton 520SK — the signature DJ Craze needle. If a company does a collaboration with a turntablist like DJ Craze, you know the product is made for turntablism.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Signature turntablism needle |
| Collaboration | DJ Craze |
| Scratching | Excellent |
| Beat juggling | Excellent |
These worked really well for scratching and beat juggling. I used them for quite a while as well.
Ortofon Concorde Pro S
After that, for a long time I switched to Ortofon. We used to call these "bananas" because of their curved shape.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Club standard |
| Shape | Curved "banana" design |
| Tracking | Very steady, sticky on vinyl |
| Downside | Could eat through vinyl during back-cueing |
These Ortofon needles were really steady. The Ortofon Concord was used in a lot of clubs. They were really sticky on the vinyl and had a lot of grip.
The only problem: with turntablism, we didn't just play records. We would be back-cueing and moving back and forth. Because the needle had so much grip, it would eat through the vinyl. They were steady, but they caused a lot of damage.
That changed over the years. More modern Ortofon models like the Q-Bert S-120 and DJ S perform really well without the same vinyl damage issues.
Ortofon Q-Bert S-120
This is the Ortofon Concorde Q-Bert — made for scratching and it works really well. The one I use most of the time now is the Ortofon Q-Bert S-120 model, which is their collaboration with Serato.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Serato collaboration |
| Design | Specifically for use with Serato DJ |
| Scratching | Excellent |
| My use | My go-to for the last couple of years |
I've done real side-by-side comparisons to see if one performed better than the other. The Q-Bert were just my favorites. I've been using the Ortofon Q-Bert for the last couple of years.
Shure M44-7
I have to show you a different model. This is probably my most used needle and is considered by a lot of DJs to be the best turntablism scratch needle.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Turntablism standard |
| Tracking | Real steady, great performance |
| Audio quality | Good, quite loud |
| Status | Widely considered the best scratch needle |
The Shure M44-7 is real steady, performs great, has good audio quality, and is quite loud. In my opinion, the Shure M44-7 and Ortofon S-120 are my favorite needles and the best needles for turntablism and scratching.
In my opinion, the Shure M44-7 and Ortofon S-120 are the best needles for turntablism and scratching. You can't go wrong with either one.
Ortofon Concorde DJ S
I have to mention one more turntable needle — the Ortofon DJ S.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Updated Concorde design |
| Mount | Standard headshell |
| Improvement | Better build quality on the handle |
| Best for | All-around DJing |
This one had the same type of needle as those Ortofon bananas, but they made it so it would stay on a normal headshell. The only problem with the Ortofon bananas was that the build quality on the little handle was not that good. A lot of times the handle would break and you'd have no good way to lift your needle off the record.
Needle vs Headshell
Just in case you don't know:
| Part | What It Is |
|---|---|
| Headshell | The part that screws onto the tonearm of the turntable |
| Needle / Stylus | The front part with the tiny point that actually touches the vinyl |
Quick Comparison
| Needle | Tracking | Audio Quality | Scratching | Vinyl Wear | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanton 500 | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | Low | Budget |
| Stanton 890 SA | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Medium | Mid |
| Stanton 520SK Craze | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Medium | Mid |
| Ortofon Concorde Pro S | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | High | Mid |
| Ortofon Q-Bert S-120 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Low | Mid-High |
| Shure M44-7 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Low | Mid |
| Ortofon Concorde DJ S | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Low | Mid |
Conclusion
Like I said, there's no single best needle — just my favorite needles that I've used over the years. Here's my advice:
| If you want... | Choose... |
|---|---|
| The classic starter | Stanton 500 |
| Better tracking for scratching | Stanton 890 SA |
| Turntablist signature | Stanton 520SK Craze |
| Club standard | Ortofon Concorde Pro S |
| Best for Serato DVS | Ortofon Q-Bert S-120 |
| Best overall for turntablism | Shure M44-7 or Ortofon S-120 |
| Durable all-around | Ortofon Concorde DJ S |
I hope this info helps you out when you go to buy a needle!