The Best Replacement Needles for Shure's M44-7 Cartridge | Tips and Tricks 

Ok, I’ve received the two pairs of JICO I ordered weeks ago (Two N44G “improved” New Moon, and two N44-7 “improved” Jupiter). I ran a little test yesterday, which has given me some indications although obviously the styli will have to run in before we draw any conclusions. My first take: most of us will be very pleased as we are mainly looking for N44-7 replacements; those who look to replace the N44Gs might not be entirely happy. Let’s start with the packaging: excellent as you would expect from JICO and from most Japanese companies. Each stylus was in a well-sealed plastic box; each pair was then tied together by a string of cardboard around it, and then sealed in bubblewrap. The whole envelope was also a bubble-wrapped one, so there was plenty of protection for the styli. I then went on to fitting the N44-7 on one turntable, and left the original Shure N44-7 on the other one. The first thing you notice is that the stylus fits tighter than the original one on the cartridge, which is not a bad thing as it give you the impression to be more solidly fixed to it! Then I checked tracking and anti-skating weights. Let’s keep in mind the ones I bought have the same tracking range (1.5-3); the “DJ improved” and “Club Improved” versions have a higher tracking range (3.5-4.5). This has been confirmed by JICO in emails I have exchanged. It was nice to see there is no noticeable weight difference, which means you can carelessly swap styli without having to recalibrate every time. I generally set my N44-7s at 2g, so I stuck to that weight. At this point I put a new techno record on one turntable, and put my MasterSounds clamp on to make sure it was as flat as it gets. Then did the same with the other turntable. It’s worth saying that the comparison is made even more meaningful by the fact that both styli are new (Shure’s original only has a few hours of play, if at all); I have also made sure the EQs were flat and the gain was set at the same levels. Verdict: I am extremely impressed. Looking at levels on the mixer, output levels appear to be roughly the same (I have checked both JICO N44-7s and see/hear no noticeable difference). If anything, as MoJaxx said in his reviews, I agree that the JICO seem to be even a little more detailed, probably on the mid-high range if my ears are not failing me. Definitely a brilliant stylus anyway, which seems to play fine and have a sturdy look and feel, even in the cantilever which looks more solid than Shure’s one. 10/10. Then I have made a similar test with the N44Gs. My original Shure styli are also pretty new, but they have run in a bit more than the 44-7s (I estimate not more than 30 hours though, so still pretty new). Again, the weight of the whole cartridge seems to be the same, based on my attempt to recalibrate; and I set weight and anti-skate at 1.2g, as I normally do with the 44Gs. Due to the use I make of the N44Gs, which are mainly to listen and play non-dance music, I have tried with some jazz and ambient records. The original N44G gets the most out of these music styles, as it is very detailed on the high frequencies; it is probably the best compromise for those who look for audiophile quality without breaking the bank, as its spherical tip is smaller (0.6mm as opposed to 0.7 of the N44-7s and of most spherical tips) and goes deeper into the grooves. Which means that, if your record is not very clean, you can hear much more crackle than most spherical styli. Here, the difference was much clearer from the outset: JICO’s N44Gs are MUCH louder than the Shure. I’d say as loud as the 44-7s. I wouldn’t say they sounded bad, but definitely different from the delicate and detailed sound of the originals. So, if that’s what you are looking for, you probably won’t get what you want. Worth checking again after they have run in a little bit, but loudness is already a clear difference and not a good sign, as that’s unlikely to go away. The original N44Gs were not built to be the loudest on the market, and I am indeed left with the impression that the high frequencies of the JICO styli sound a little more “shouty” at a first run. When I saw the 44Gs seemingly as loud as the 44-7s, I thought they might have sent me two pairs of the same stylus by mistake. So I ran another test, playing the above mentioned techno record isolating the high frequencies only, and killing bass and mids. That showed that JICO’s N44Gs are actually louder on the highs than their N44-7s, so I’m now convinced they have sent me two pairs of different styli. No noticeable difference was seen between the high frequencies of Shure and JICO’s N44-7s instead; a further proof that they have really hit the spot with the 44-7. To conclude: I’m very satisfied across the board and absolutely don’t regret buying these two pairs of styli; however, I am starting to fear that the sound of the N44G will not be easily replicable, unless JICO manages to address that in the future. I hope the above helps, and I’ll update you if I have anything else worth saying. 👋

This is awesome, thanks MO and DJ City for the video and the thorough research/testing. 🙏🏼

Just lost my last shure styli and was gonna switch to Audio Technica. Now I don't have to. I thank the DJ Gods for Mojaxx!!!

Very helpful! One of my stylus broke awhile back and didn't realize they had become so rare as of late.

So glad you came out with this video!! Perfect timing too since I was minutes away from throwing the dice and picking up the jukebox generic N 44 7's..... Cheers from New England!!!

German DJ here, Tonar is a godsend here. Thank you soo much

Thanks for your research and hard work for us brother Mojaxx✊🏾

I literally just pulled my 1200s out of the attic tonight after like 5 years. I went to grab some needles just cause mine are a bit old and the prices seemd weird so I did some googling leading me to this video and realizing I will not be able to get my favorite needles anymore. Thanks for the video, I never thought I would need to buy knock offs hahaha.

I got a pair of Jico about 18months ago, after buying many snides I sent off to Jico Japan, I've been very happy with these styli When I chopped and change for the same recording the difference is night and day, Thoughouly recommend them, just wish you could get them over here as they weren't cheap from Japan.

ive been telling people for years to try JICO now that Shure is not sure anymore its a no brainer for JICO to market internationally and take over - they should collab more with djs -

Really appreciate the review. My original M447's are still good as i was lucky to cop a pair of replacements within an hour of Shures announcement. I have been getting increasingly concerned what i'll replace them with, i've heard good things about JICO word of mouth but struggled to find published reviews to give me confidence. Thanks for putting my mind at ease.

Great information! Thanks B

Got the Tonar N447 for £15 each at a trade event. Work brilliantly and saved me after that last Phase delay!!

I've been back spinning for over 1000 hours following your request for feedback - I can say now that when the blood starts flowing the tracking is reduced, this could be because of the ferric content of my blood. When there are small flecks of bone though they come into there own. Larger slivers of boney gristle I noticed my tracking on the DVS went slightly awry but that could be due to the high pitched tone emanated through bone on vinyl. All in all they work very similarly to the german banana ones although if Qbert can use them I don't want them because he's a better DJ.

Great advice. Nice to see your Wax Nerds 45 on the 'table. I pressed that!

Still can't believe Shure discontinued. WTF

Thanks a great review mate...

I bought Jicos because of you Mojaxx. Some glow in the dark m44-7 and stanton 500 needles. And I just bought my first SL 1200 like 3 months ago. So this is all new to me. Thanks so much. I will try to make a video if I ever get back to making videos :D

I was about to pull the trigger on some Jico’s but I just spoke to 2 DJ’s from the US who had bad experiences who both claimed they sound thin and tinny. I may still need to try for myself because I can’t afford new carts at the moment and have always trusted your reviews, but now I’m pretty sceptical.

I bought a pair of the glow in the dark Jico's and I notice that they wear the vinyl out faster than the Shure 44's on a few of my 7"s Tip for cue burns on styrene...Apply silicone spray on a micro fiber cloth/ wipes circular motion/ dry excess with the drier part of the cloth & you're all set. This won't remove cue burns thats already there but will prevent them if applied before cueing on styrene 7's

thank you for the video!

Thank you bro for your video im getting the jico from japan you the best i find a lot of stuff that i can't find in NY got to order out side us i. Already bouth a couple of things expensive when i buy from Europe to NY but i need it so i don't care as long it work for me i be cool whit it thanks for your help bro like your video they cool 👍😎

I tried them and really like them. Four months strong. And you would not believe how much time I spend scratching. Lol

Thank you as always

I'm all about Jico's. They're made in Japan and direct fits for my M44's.

What’s up jaxx, I’ve been using the jico M44-7 since Shure discontinued there phono line up. I’ll tell you this, they track, sound and feel just like the shure M44-7, they are great, however, they don’t hold the abuse of scratching like the shures. Under heavy scratching they lasted me about 15 nights, well one did, the other is still in working condition and after 19 nights it is also starting to show its capacity.

Very cool, hopefully you guys will also to a review of the N-WHLB from JICO. I'm very curious to sere how they hold up vs the original. I love my Sure White Labels, they are my favorite carts ever but since the stylus are no longer available I've been using them sparingly. I feel such darkside hatred at Shure for abandoning us after a lifetime (since the 90') of using there carts.

I will get to jico eventually I have a ton of the N44-7 in reserve

Oh man! I have M44-7s and was just now looking for a replacement. I had NO CLUE they discontinued these babies!

I would say I’m a pretty hardcore skratcher. When I’m not skratching, I’m mixing hiphop and r&b for fun. I bought a pair of JICO Lumino styli after seeing your review in youtybe which was a godsend, as shure had just announced discontinuing m44-7s again. The sound quality is great; on par with the stock shure styli, as well as the skip-free record-sticking performance when hard skratching.

How about a pair of jico lumino.. they're solid I'm more than happy with them. Shipping from Japan is $22 though

How did the N44G compare? Have you tested them? Would be nice to have a video of them. Also stanton 500 tonar ones would be nice to have?

Jico m447 replacements are perfect. Just as good as shure. My only complaint is Jico needs to make a replacement for the Shure whitelabel now. I got 2 cartridges sitting here and can't find needles for them. Hopefully in the future they'll give the whitelabel some love too.

I just bought the Jico needles with the guards, so to order those from Japan to Europe cost 45 euros a pair, plus 24 euros for shipping and, another 16,52 for customs. So in total, they cost about 86,95 euros. I haven't tested them yet because, I'm using the original Shures needles until, they wear out completely. And I found out about the Ortofon MF-7 but, I'll wait until, the possibilities to order after market N44-7's of any kind, go completely out of stock, before even thinking about purchasing any Ortofon cartridges.

JICO and Ortofons are the best stylus cartridge there is all I could think of; Is anything I’m missing?

Any possibility to do a comparison of tonar's replacement for whitelabels?

Have you tested the LpGear for the Shure M44-7 ? They have a good rep here across the pond. Your thoughts?

N-447 prices are OUTRAGEOUS! I'm just about to give up and get a decent pair of Ortofon's since my Shure's are beyond needing replacement. I was thinking of going Jico but between the price of the actually stylii and shipping to the states I could get a mint pair of Ortofon's for just a bit more. The Tonar's might be a good deal though.

Is that a vestax pmc 005a mk2 in the background and does jessi dean make a better fader for it im looking for one

Ive been rocking Shure White Lables for years.. got me thinking though about how long should I use them until changing the stylus?

Thanks, Mo. I'm looking to purchase Jico's for everyday DJing, I'm not a scratcher. I know they recommend tracking force of 3.5-4.5 for the N447 and I'm wondering if I can set it lower to reduce record wear since I'm not scratching?

I have a pair of these with bent needles what are they worth?

Anybody know where to buy cartridges?

Yo Mo I just got some Tonar M44-7 s & there dope!! Once you break them in, @ 3..5 grams, I gotem from Oli @ Scratch Store Thanks for the hook up 👍 Ps Love your channel!! Stay safe dude!

Slightly off-topic: On my home set-up with 2 old SL1200's I still run 90's era Stanton 500 AL's (gen 1). Back in the day, they were basically industry standard for handling everything a DJ could throw at them. I changed the styli over the years of course but it still makes me wonder if' I'm still good with them for home use.

Do tonar needle 44 7 it sound n could scratch with them like the original Shurem 44 7 I'm just asking if you had tried them oh had a turntablist dude to do battle style with those tonar what about the jico I have not see a video of someone tried the jico 447 as battle style scratch oh the tonar needle I have a lots of m44 7 Shure body I'm just asking

I got m44mb is that the same as m44-7?

Just bought my first ever set of turntables, Pioneer PLX 1000's to be exact. Did my research, purchased these Jico cartridges and had one big problem.......Neither Pioneer who actually provided the headshell in the box with the turntables NOR Jico provided the mounting screws that attach the cartridge to the headshell!?!? Is this normal? Anyone else experince this and where do you all buy the mounting screws from?

can anyone explain the difference between an original N44-7 and N44-7z. Are these the same, just one comes in fancier packaging?

Haircut 👍🏾 you should get gold chains like Mr T

Which ones to buy for the Shure white-label cartridge? thank you for the help

Hi Mojaxx. I'm using the JIco replacement styluses for Shure M-44G for about six months now. From my experience so far i can tell that tracking performance is not great.. IMO original Shure styluses is more stable and reliable especially in club environment. Jico stylus is also more powerful on the output, and it's not necessarily a good thing. I'm using a rotary mixer with no gain control, powerful stylus in my case means less resolution on the fader. This is one of the reasons why i prefer the "G" over the "7". All and all, it's not a bad choice, and this is especially true considering the fact that at the moment this is the second best choice after the original of course. Thank you, great stuff as usual!

Why does Jico make 2 versions of the same stylus? The original N44-7 was only one and was great for both hifi listening and DJ work. I did the test with the overture 1812 (the famous cannon shots) and the Jico 192 (DJ) at 4.5g jumps like a charm. Needless to say, the original Shure ones pass the test with no problem....

I just got my limited edition in jupiter (orangy yellow) jicos last week. They should be broken in enough for a test. I'll post it soon. Going to compare the g stylus to a ortofon night club ii.

Where can I buy cartridges that look like Shure? Cartridge only.

have you tested the Shure N44-7 from Ali express, they’re quite cheap at £12 pound 🤷‍♂️🤔

I ordered a pair 2 months ago and have been using 1 with a original for my gigs and other than the missing stylus guard have been unable to distinguish between the 2 as far as sound and performance

Did he say “G Code” ???? Need to google. Or anyone have a link ??

Pretty sweet transformers :D

god damn it i just bought the ortfon sh4 with the s-120 styli

Does it really matter which headshell you use with m447? I kinda felt like it stucked hardly to technics headshell, is there a difference between shure one? Thanks

I have a pair of lumino and they track exactly as good as the originals 447s at 3.0g. I just now visited the jico website and noticed that their new improved iteration of the 447 stylus recommended tracking force is .5 to 1.0 grams heavier. I’ll pick up a pair of the new ones and test them myself to see if there is any major difference in performance at 3.0g. Jico is awesome tho, and hope they keep putting out quality shure replacement needles. Wish they made a replacement stylus for the shure whitelabels.

Has anyone tried the needledaddy n44-7 replacement stylus?

Wait, Mojaxx, no mention about how the new 'Skratch' version requires tracking force of 3.5-4.5g? It's good to hear you didn't notice audible difference but surely that added weight is producing more wear and tear on your vinyl? I think I will go for the Tonar as they are only 15 quid from Juno Records and cheap postage, comes to like $75 AUD for a pair of two including postage, GST and paypal fee or credit card international fee.. Jico are $30 USD each for the vanilla direct plus $22 USD postage (presumably plus GST also for Australians) but cheaper if buy the 'DJ' model from StoreDJ or DJCity. They don't have the Club or 'Improved' models in stock though. I plan to first try the Tonar since they are the cheapest and are 1.5-3g and have seen at least one video of someone scratching well at 2.5g with it, as well as playing a tune at 1.5g (not scratching). If the Tonar don't hold up I will try the Jico, but I am wary because of the different models.. old version, Skratch 3.5-4.5, new version vanilla, as well as DJ Improved (club is just glow in the dark version of DJ, not worth the added price). I would like to try the vanilla Jico to retain 1.5-3g tracking force, but I have heard reports of it having issues like skipping during a cue, backspin, scratch or juggle. So I worry. And I would much prefer to avoid the 3.5-4.5g models, so will potentially buy two types before I try one of those - first the Tonar no 267 (a two pack, since I feel confident they will do the job), then if that fails or I want to experiment with Jico, the vanilla, then if that fails, the DJ Improved (why no stylus guard on all of them I wonder). Does anyone know if the Tonar no 267 and Jico N447 'vanilla' (1.5-3g) are the same? People seem to say that the Tonar are rebranded Jico's.. even some stores list as 'Tonar/Jico'. Does the Jico N447 vanilla (1.5-3g) skip when heavy scratching? Is that 'why' they made the 3.5-4.5g Jico DJ + Club versions? Do the 3.5-4.5g versions destroy your vinyl more? Do THEY at least not skip when scratching?

I bought a pair of Shure WHLB (Whitelabel) cartridges a few years ago, awesome for disco and house music. Is there ANY replacement stylus for these available from any manufacturer? Would love to know!

Hi Peeps ☺ How do these babies compare in terms of ware on your vinyl please ?

You know i was about to hit your other video up and ask if you could revisit this after I went to Jico's site and saw they had revamped these and increased the tracking force (at least on paper). Thank you for reading my mind. See yeah, Jico shows those new ones you have there but states empahtically that they must track between 3.5 and 4.5 grams now to avoid skipping. This is such a confusing mess.

I bought some replacement 44-7’s 6 months ago but have yet to need them. Looks like the brand is TEI & made in Colombia. Any experience with them Mojax?

So the replacement Shure M44-7 the seller’s selling on Ebay is garbage?

three years later, the retail cost of a single Jico-branded JICO N-44-7 stylus exceeds $100 USD....and the TONAR N44-7 stylus hovers around $16 USD (on juno). instead of spending $200 USD on two replacement JICO styli, I bought twelve (12) TONAR styli for the $196 USD. i'm not even sure i have a question for you here other than maybe: why hasn't DJcityTV mentioned the TONAR option in one of your recent SHURE M44-7 replacement review videos? has something changed in regard to JICO vs TONAR manufacturing? the internet is probably not dying to know this, but i am.

Whatever you do don't buy the ones called musonic? from westend dj, where i got mine and subsequently returned. The cantilever moves soo much under an extremely slow pull back. i switched back to my shure stylus just to double check. on the musonic the movement side to side made the needle jump rendering them useless. Atrocious is an extremely good word for the musonic needles

I have had good luck and now terrible luck with Jico. I recently purchased a 2 pk of the improved DJ stylus. One of the two I got was defective. I sent it back, had to pay shipping, they 'reviewed' it and deemed that it was not defective. The I had shot a video showing it skipping upon cueing comparing it to a year old Jico stylus as well as an original sure sylus, both of which did worked fine. They now want to charge me 25 dollars to return to me the defective stylus. Their customer service is crap. Long story short, if you get a good one, they are great, if you get a defect, your are up shit creek without a paddle...

What about Audio-Technica AT3600L

Are these Jico the best replacement sytlus?? Thanks

So these needles are only for the existing M-44-7 cartridge? Sorry for ignorance but I'm wanting to buy turntables soon. If I bought the Jico ones, I'd still need to hunt down an original cartridge, or is there any other options for this?

Well dammit I busted up one of my last 2 remaining original 447 styli just a few minutes ago. I did find the tonar (267-ds) selling on ebay for about 20 bucks a pop so I ordered a few to check out. I'll write back here after they come and I can torture em some. Luckily I pulled out my backup Stanton 500s and got them set up in headshells the other day so I have something to use but they don't really compare to the 44s.

Are you 100% sure the bodies are the same on the M44-7's and the M44 G?? I think you'll find the output is different.

I found the Jico’s rubbish compared to shure 44/7s, they don’t hold anywhere near the same for turntablism IMO, would rather spend crazy money trying to get a remaining shure needle than buy jicos ever again, never was a fan or ortofon needles either and I’d the craze / qbert editions previously. Currently using my old 44/7s that needed replacing as they still perform better than the jicos i bought. It’s a real pity that such a legendary / quality product has been removed from market and priced up

Not used the Jico yet but I can categorically state that the Tonars are average at best. They don't last as long, the recording fidelity is nowhere near the Shures, and the some of the frequencies seem to "fall out" of the sound as well as picking up more background noise. Not had them that long either and noticing that some of my vinyl seems to have surface noise now. Not happy. Avoid the Tonars they are garbage and that's why they are cheap. Just as a footnote before i bought them I wrote to Tonar to ask if they were up to spec - their lack of a response should've told me everything!

Shit!! I bought Jicos in Australia and they were the worst tracking stylus I’ve ever used.

Who's available when Jico isn't because of Covid?

jico at a proper venue sound thin and tinny. at your home / at your studio you can't tell. and can't tell just by looking at the dj mixer

*The best replacements for Shure are Ortofons. If Qbert can scratch with Ortofons so can you.*

my best replacement will be Phase in a few weeks

Now they’re $115-200 for the JICO. Smdh

all of this doesnt matter, kids today spinning with laptops doing all the work for them.

You can find a third party stylus for 44-7 but what if you have whitelabels? That' right, you're fcked. Thank you Shure

I dunno mate...I'd say you're more like 2 persons 😉

How one pretend to be an expert and speaks about M44 stylus replacement can speak so generally without doing real tests? How can a stylus or needle can be tested or compared using “virtual” (time code) vinyl (and software)? Please, go get a work.

Extremely unprofessional to make completely arbitrary comparisons, without a minimum of verification of tracking strength, frequency response with a spectrum analyzer, etc. Finally lame & ridiculous to do everything on timecode, that of course, with relative mode, it don't require anything decent to work. Real 44-7 was the very very best tracking card ever created. Making a suggestion on a after-market compatible needle would have needed respect for this decade of excellence.