Just when you thought the turntable was a passing thought of a distant lifestyle of a DJ who has to pack a reliable pair of Stantons or Ortofons that won’t skip or mistrack on that huge platter of a surface that is so heavily relied upon to move the crowd on any given night of clubbing.  Well, Reloop, makers of many DJ products, have brought forward the Robocop of turntables by spawning the Korg mini pad with the Technics 1200, resulting in an impressive bit of hardware known as the RP-8000 ($799) Digital Turntable.

It features all of this:

• Advanced Hybrid Torque Turntable
• Digital DJ turntable with upper-torque direct drive
• MIDI compatible control section consisting of Trax encoder, 8 backlit drum pads and 4 combinable performance modes (cue, loop, sample and user)
• Large Trax encoder
• Auto deck-assign feature
• Turntable link USB port
• Digital LC-Display for pitch display, deck assignment and firmware settings
• Adjustable start/brake (0.2 – 6 seconds) & torque (2.5 kg/cm – 4.5 kg/cm)
• Metal top panel with metallic finish
• Phono and line output (no grounding necessary)
• Direct connection of turntable and motor for best possible stability
• Especially heavy finish
• High end tonearm
• Pitch range ±8%, ±16%, ±50%
• High resolution pitch fader
• LCD pitch display
• Easy to exchange, freely revolvable needle illumination with super bright LED
• Quartz lock
• Safety power switch
• Reverse switch
• 2 start/stop buttons for vertical positioning
• Smart USB linkfor up to 4 turntables
• Rubber inlay for reduction of vibrations and ambient noise
• Removable mains and RCA cables
• Sunk-in connection cavity for easy case installation
• Shock proof feet
• Vibration-resistant base
• Serato Scratch Live mappings available

I can’t imagine why anyone would just have one, but shelling out $1600 on a pair of digital turntables seems way too pricey.  If the price were lowered to about $500, I can envision many pairs taking over DJ booths around the globe.  Still, it’s a bold step in design and function, but a bit too heavy on what you get for your money…