Pioneer's latest white-out turntable proves there's life after Technics

If you weren't one of the lucky few to snag the remodeled (and absurdly expensive) version of the coveted Technics SL-1200GAE DJ turntable before it sold out in 30 minutes, you'll soon have the chance to pick up a very cool consolation prize.

This week Pioneer announced the PLX-500 turntable that looks almost exactly like the iconic direct-drive deck, and it doesn't cost $3,300.

It's a continuation of the PLX DJ line that we first reviewed in 2014, but this model is an "all-in-one" design with its own built-in pre-amplifier. That means you can hook it up to a pair of powered speakers without any extra layers in between you and that cozy blanket of analog audio.

If you do decide to throw an all-vinyl house party, the PLX-500's direct-drive engine has a quick spin-up and more than enough torque to handle heavy scratching.

Just like the original 1200s, it has all the essentials you need for mixing, like pitch controls, strobe light illumination, a weighted tone arm and, of course, variable platter speeds for juggling 33 and 45RPM records.

But there's one new feature that really sets the PLX-500 apart from legacy turntables: It has a USB-out port so you can digitize your entire record collection using the company's rekordbox application.

While it's true newer turntables like the Audio-Technica LP-120 already offer digital recording, this is the first one I've seen that includes the software.

The Pioneer PLX-500 will sell for just $350 (£270 or AU$460) when it hits stores in September.

The black model is standard if you want to get as close to the original as possible, but the company also has an all-white version to really challenge your dust-free listening room.

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