u/vanishingpoint99

I generally try to refrain from asking these types of questions on subs but here I am. When people talk about these tables I see them referred to as good starter units. I’ve been into vinyl for over 25 years and have a very substantial, well taken care of collection. Been running a Technics SL-1200 mk2 for so long I barely ever look at turntables. If it died I’d be looking at a new Technics and that’s that. But…

Wife wants to put a new turntable in the living room. I have a spare amp and some B&W speakers in the garage, so all we’d need is a turntable. She’s had a Crosly in there she’s had since before I met her which I refuse to put records on so this is basically her meeting me in the middle. It would be a clear second setup for me and would be mostly for her. She wants to keep it cheap and probably cares more about aesthetics than sound quality, but I still want to be comfortable playing my records on it.

So I’m looking at a green U-turn Orbit with an Ortofon OM-5e and arm lever upgrade. I showed it to her and she thinks it’s cute and works for her design. She’s no audiophile but she has a bunch of records and loves music. I know she’ll be fine with it. But my rub is, when it comes to audio gear, I personally ascribe to the maxim buy nice or buy twice. So I have a pretty substantial collection of high quality audio playback and music production gear I have acquired over the years and am used to dealing with quality gear.

My question is basically, will this turntable be good enough for me to use occasionally and not want to replace for the next 10-20 years? Is it reasonably nice quality and will the sound be sufficient? I’m not looking for audiophile sound here, I already have good enough for me.

I basically just want to make sure it won’t be a piece of shit that falls apart and makes me want to buy another in five years.

Edit: thanks everyone for the opinions on it. Went ahead and ordered a U-turn Orbit custom with an OM-5e and a cue lever upgrade.

I’ve been producing music for a while now and have been lusting after a “proper” analog hardware synth. I ordered a Summit a couple years back and returned it as the sound didn’t jive with me. Didn’t get bright enough for me. Wound up purchasing a FANTOM-8 workstation so I could play piano and produce in Ableton with it. Works really well for me because the keys are incredible but the hands on synth controls are quite limited. I never quite gel’d with actually producing music with the synths inside of it because of this. The one thing I missed about the Summit was the interface.

Since then, I went to a ton of shops and demoed out synths but wasn't sure if one would give me anything new. I settled on the TEO-5 to give me those beautiful Oberheim leads, stabs, pads, etc... I absolutely loved the sound and knew I used it in my music. It definitely gets bright enough for me

When I saw them on sale, I decided to order one and test it out on my Adam monitors and see how it sounded in my studio space. Sold off some unused camera gear to fund the purchase so my wife wouldn’t flip. I was vaguely worried about how limited it is compared to the VSTs I normally work with but curiosity forced to see how one sounded in my studio.

Fully prepared to return it, I A-B’d it against Oberheim VST’s from Gforce and Arturia and was drooling. The TEO-5 sounds alive. The filter and its resonance are absolutely gorgeous. It has this quality that I don’t think can be replicated digitally. Close, but not quite there. The Oberheim VSTs sound great and in a mix I’m not sure it matters. But still, there is something. And the Roland ACB stuff sounds like plastic in comparison, though I do still love plastic. Needless to say, the TEO-5 is not going anywhere.

I don’t think I need a ton of analog gear, but some absolutely is worth it. Might pick up a Moog at some point for bass but I’m in no rush. Five voices on the TEO is fine for me as I can have as many as is needed in Serum 2, Multi/Poly, or Pigments. The TEO-5 has such a beautiful quality to it that I can use it to its strengths to add a bit of depth to my music. Gives it a bit of analog magic. Plus the hands on controls while audio recording make me interact with it differently. It feels like painting in a way, versus the like technical editing with what I do in a VST. And I can still automate the hell out of it if desired.

In hindsight, it feels crazy to me to doubt that a different, more natural method of creating vibrations would result in a different quality of sound. Infinite resolution created by electrical current vs 1s and 0s. But yes, VSTs are still more convenient and many sound very, very good, but I am definitely a believer in having some analog magic.

It’s also opened up the FANTOM-8 for me and taught me quite a bit about how to properly use a hardware synth. Plus I am using my Push 3 to its strengths more now, mapping parameters and actually physically interacting with the software as it’s intended. All really cool side effects.

What’s the consensus on a U-Turn Orbit as a second table for a long time collector?

Some reflections on my first analog synth. TEO-5