Taruya needles are made by hand in Shibuya, Tokyo.

While many want to push the turntable into a digital, needle-less fuetur, there are enough vinyl enthusiasts willing to defy the cult of digital perfection, using real needles and vinyl to push the tried-and-true turntable setup even further. But if you’re this kind of DJ, you may have run into a common problem: choosing between your setup’s sound quality and DJ-ability. High-fidelity audiophile equipment would literally disintegrate in a club setting—or even a well-worn home setup—and commercial DJ needles and cartridges are often created with durability in mind, letting audio quality fall short.