Vinyl is coming back in style as DJs, audiophiles, as well as casual listeners, backtrack from ever so available digital formats to the good old realm of analog. There are dozens of reasons why you should consider buying a turntable, the most important being that top-quality ones no longer cost a fortune like they used to.
That being said, imagine what kind of a monster record player you could get if you were to pay top dollar for it? One of the simpler answers would be RANE’s Twelve DJ digital turntable.
It’s a Hi-Fi audiophile-quality turntable if you’re a music listener, but it could also be a really powerful tool of a professional working DJ. One of the greatest things about RANE’s Twelve DJ digital turntable is that it is incredibly simple to use, yet it doesn’t look so plain and straightforward.
Rane DJ Twelve differs from the conventional DJ digital players, such as the Pioneer CDJ2000NX2 or Denon SC6000 Prime. People all across the globe seem to love it, so we’ve decided to check out if the rumors are true – if it is really one of the best DJ record players on the market.
Rane DJ Twelve Digital DJ Turntable review
Even though RANE’s Twelve DJ digital turntable is relatively simple in terms of features and design, there’s a lot of ground to cover with respect to its performance, aesthetics, what it does great, and what could be improved. Let’s start off with its outward aesthetic component:
First Look – Design
At first look, RANE’s Twelve DJ digital turntable looks like a quality audiophile record player tweaked as per professional DJ’s specs.
What’s really puzzling about this turntable is that it gives off conflicting impressions. Half of it resembles an old, vintage-style turntable while the other half exudes modernistic vibes. That being said, we can settle for the ‘hybrid of nostalgic & new age’ as the definition of its design.
Rane’s Twelve DJ digital turntable is relatively small, with its dimensions measuring 3.5 inches by 14.6 inches by 16.2 inches; however, it does weigh quite a bit with 20.5 pounds. The main reason why this turntable is so ‘heavy’ is because it rocks a highly robust plinth, which is one of its most interesting features.
It’s surrounded by solid-steel all around for additional durability, and all of the usable features and settings are neatly placed in convenient, easily accessible locations. This only contributes to the fact that RANE Twelve’s method of operation is pretty intuitive; it’s remarkably easy to use, despite being a professional record player.
All things considered, we rated the design of Rane’s Twelve DJ digital turntable 9 out of 10. Simply put, it checks out on everything a professional DJ needs – it’s durable, easy to use, intuitive, packed with a ton of great features, and it looks absolutely beautiful. The only thing that we thought could be improved is its weight, although it wouldn’t exactly be fair to consider it as a potential downfall; it’s ‘that’ sturdy, after all.
Features
The most interesting and fun part about RANE’s Twelve DJ digital turntable review is talking about all the amazing features it comes supplied with.
First and foremost, Twelve digital turntable is among the strongest DJ record players out there as it’s powered by a quartz direct-drive motor that sports 5 kgf/cm torque and an electronic brake system. Furthermore, its start-up time is a mere 0.4 seconds.
The plinth that we’ve mentioned just a second ago deserves its own spot in the review simply because it’s among the best-quality ones on the entire turntable market. It’s made from die-cast aluminum material and ‘enriched’ with stainless steel, it’s 13.1 inches in diameter, and it weighs roughly 5 pounds.
This record player supports 33 1/3 and 45 rotations-pre-minute records, and it rocks three pitch-bending buttons (located at the upper right corner), including +8%, +16%, and +50%.
In terms of connectivity, Twelve DJ Digital turntable is pretty versatile, although not exemplary in this field. It rocks one USB Type B port and one IEC power-cable input.
You will be able to use up to four decks at a time, allowing you to switch between mixing channels rapidly. Although most professional DJs wire up their turntables at an independent mixer, this 4-deck feature really comes in handy for doing gigs at smaller venues where you don’t really want to haul all your premium gear.
Further at that note, all four decks can be used simultaneously, which is quite a game-changer for experimenting with different setups.
Last, but certainly not least, let’s not forget to mention the pitch-shift slider. It’s designed in a very intuitive way and is highly responsive. It allows you to fine-tune the pitch-bending angle, but it also works in unison with pitch shift buttons. Basically, learning how to properly use both features might take a while, but the results will be more than rewarding.
In conclusion, we rate RANE Twelve’s features with 10 out of 10. There’s simply no room for improvements in this particular field of performance; it’s just great as-is. There are more versatile models, and perhaps, better-sounding record players, but Rane Twelve serves its purpose and is well worth the buck in terms of features it’s outfitted with.
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In Use
As mentioned before, this is a highly versatile record player that can be used for any number of things. You can listen to music with it at home; you can perform with it live, but you can also practice mixing and experiment with the ton of features it comes supplied with if you’re looking for unique, exquisite sounds.
One of the main reasons why this record player performs so well is because it sports strip search function paired up with eight hot-cue triggers scattered across the plinth.
Basically, you have access and control over everything at your fingertips. You can control the volume, adjust the pitch angle, jump from 33 1/3 RPM records to 45s, pause or stop them, and utilize 1, 2, or even all four decks at the same time.
On top of that, this record player is built to last for a lifetime. It’s so durable that you can rest assured that it will not break, even if you accidentally bump or drop it.
Connectivity-wise, Rane Twelve is pretty great, although we think there is some room for improvement in this aspect of performance. You can connect this turntable to a PC (or laptop) with a USB port, but the fact that it has only one connection port isn’t doing it any favors.
Even so, we think that Twelve DJ Digital Turntable performs pretty great, so we award it with 9 out of 10.
A video introduction of the Twelve by DJ Booth Pro Audio:
Pros
Frankly, the hardest thing about listing all the great things about RANE’s Twelve turntable is that pretty much everything about it is phenomenal.
Starting from the features it packs, this record player has everything you could ask for, and then some. Durability-wise, it’s built like a small-sized tank and was obviously designed to last for decades, given proper use and maintenance.
A professional DJ will find many uses for it, but it’s also built in such an intuitive way that beginners can toy around with it and easily learn the ropes of what it means to be a disc jockey in no time.
In a nutshell, this record player performs excellent, and it’s incredibly well-rounded, even for a DJ turntable; this is probably the biggest benefit it has to offer.
Cons
Even though RANE’s Twelve is exceptional and unique in many ways, it’s still not ‘perfect’ per se. However, we should point out that the small imperfections within its design and performance are so minor that they are easily overlooked with little harm done.
The first thing that most people don’t like about it is its weight. Basically, it’s a relatively small record player that weighs well above average. However, this actually even benefits its stability, and due to the fact that it’s as durable as can be, we shouldn’t give it a hard time.
Secondly, the last potential drawback RANE’s Twelve might present to a working DJ is its poor connectivity. Again, it’s not ‘bad’ in terms of connection-based versatility, but it does have just one little USB port.
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Final Thoughts:
In essence, anyone who is looking for and a reliable record player should give Rane’s Twelve DJ Digital Turntable a shot. Now, finding a turntable that offers all of the aforementioned benefits might be pretty hard, if not even downright impossible, which is all the more reason why Twelve offers so much value for the money.
Again, it is not a perfect record player – it’s slightly heavier than average, and its connectivity is not something to boast about, but it’s certainly one of the finest models this brand had put out on the market if not one of the finest record players to have ever graced the virtual shelves of online marketplaces.
We highly recommend it to beginner DJs, experienced performers, and professionals; for all it’s worth, we recommend it to everyone who might be searching for a turntable that offers Hi-Fi sonic performance and top-quality sound as well.
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