Anti-Skating: How to calibrate and test your turntable anti-skate settings
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- čas přidán 20. 11. 2021
- Today we look at your anti-skate settings, I'll go over how to test and calibrate your settings.
00:20 - Intro
01:35 - Calibration methods
03:29 - Anti-skate calibration disc
04:27 - How to calibrate with a blank cd
06:12 - How to calibrate with anti-skate disc
07:30 - Advantages
08:17 - Outro
Anti-skate calibration disc: turntablerevival.com/collecti...
Directions:
1) Place the anti-skate record on your turntable, turn it on, and drop your needle in the center of the anti-skate calibration record (3 inches in from the spindle)
2) If your anti-skate setting is correct, your tonearm will remain in the same place on the record as it spins. If it drifts in either direction, your anti-skate dial needs an adjustment. - Jak na to + styl
Just got a new cartridge and this helped very much, thanks!!🎉
Great video man, glad I found this.
Great info. I’m going to try!
Ordered mine. Thanks
Very good video man!!
I've set up a new Cartrige and found the left channel louder. After lots of adjusting around, I've found that the anti-skate setting (set at the same reading as the tracking force) was set too high. Initially the anti-skate was set at 2.0, which was the same as the cartridge tracking force. Eventually, I've ended up with the anti-skate set at 0.8! This balanced the volume better on both channels.
tks for this. i had mine the same way (settings) and felt the tracking was too much. ended up here
Same happened with me. RT82 + OM10.
Great video, as a beginner to turntables, I really needed to see this. thank you.
Was looking for something like this!
It works great!
Very educational
The plater of the Pro-Ject T1 Phono SB is a glass disk (slightly sand-blasted on one side tho).
I'm guessing I can use the smooth side so I won't need CD nor that clear calibration disk, right ?
i got a bit of an older turntable, a ps-lx210. not sure how to really set the antiskate on it, any tips??
Maybe one could find some old LaserDiscs (LD)? Those should be pretty good for measuring anti-skate setting...
Yes, that's how I do mine. Perfect and you can pick them up really cheap.
great video
Got an anti skate mat and it does what it says,next i will change the rather ordinary replacement stylus for a more expensive high end one like the Ortofon.
So my antiskate doesn't work right, both on the old table and on the new one, a Reloop 1000 mk2.
I made sure I did all the steps correctly and in the end it only works when the weigh is set to 1 Gr.
When it's at 3 Gr for example, and that's what I need for my cartridge , a Concorde Vibe, it just doesn't work, even with the anti-skate wheel in position 7, which is the maximum.
I bought this table because the same thing happened to me in the old one.
Any suggestion or conclusion?
Should I return this one and try a new model from another brand?
Should I leave the anti skate to the same value of the weight and let it skate ? Because Concorde Vibe says i need to apply 3 to 5 Gr...
Please help :)
Usually tracking force and anti skate should be the same but a lot of anti skate mechanisms aren’t set correctly in the factory. If you set it to one and it glides in one spot when testing, that’s what you want to see.
What happens if you have a fully automatic turntable - I have a B&O 1700 - and the tonearm skates across the surface of the record, all of a sudden. I started using the turntable in Jan. 2022 and it has work great until now.
Contact the manufacturer if you can’t adjust the anti skate settings
Hi.. So I have a NAD C588 turntable with a Ortofon Black 2M stylus. Recommended force is 1.5. The weight says I am on 1.5. Antiskate is also set to 1.5. So my question is; should I increase the antiskate dial so the stylus stays in place on a blank vinyl? Because I briefly tried and that puts the antiskate all the way to 3.something.. Is that not too much? would I risk damage to stylus/vinyl by doing that - or do I risk damge by NOT doing it? PLEASE HELP!
I have the same equipment 😄no don’t put it on 3, read j.Paul purdel’s comment!! On mine the stylus stays on 2 so check the turntable with bubble level first
@@pappouas yes ok thanks
I would recommend to use a glass one, can be cut and pierced from whoever produce glass or cut glass for a fair price. I did that with my professional turntables and it works better than ever. This allows you to have a flat surface and not warped like, unfortunately, some of the plexiglass or plastics discs often do.
Didn’t think of that! Mine had a slight warp but still good enough to gauge it and way better than a cd.
This might sound dumb but would the diamond get damaged if its going across a hard surface?
@@XxXhiis663xX diamond is a much harder material then glass.
@@XxXhiis663xX As long as the glass is smooth, diamond will not catch anything to snap and the diamond is harder material than glass so it will not be damaged because of grinding.
Have you balanced the turntable with a levelling tube perfectly with the glass on it prior to the final adjustment? Glass is heavy though
In the 80ties we audiophiles used a mirror instead of a special disk.
hi 80's audiophile how does that work? can you explain? isnt the mirror for measuring azimuth, not anti skating?
@@w1nchester32 It wasn’t yesterday, but as I recall. With a mirror I did two things first correct the Azimuth. And checked the anti skating by lowering the pickup on what would be the midpoint of a vinyl record, with a mirror laying flat there instead. Mirrors having very low friction, if correct the arm doesn’t move either in or out but stays at the same spot. Also do some follow up checks on several other points the same way to be on the safe side.
Observe the turntable is off under the hole operation. Hope my explanation is somewhat explanatory.
You need a descent quality mirror without a frame. Those double sided hand mirrors some women carry, was my choice.
I have an old Thorens table with no antiskate adjustment. I dropped the needle on a blank backed album (side 4 of jjoe jacksons big world lp) and the tonearm moves to the outside not the inside
Mine was doing that when the tonearm counterweight was set too light
I have a one-sided 12" which appears to be flat/glossy on the side without the recording. Is there any reason this isn't the same thing as an anti-skate calibration disc? I ask because I'm seeing some bad skating on it when I try a calibration test. Doesn't seem to matter what my anti-skate is set to. I used vinyl cleaner on it to minimise any residue or particles on the surface. Tone arm just flies across towards centre no matter what the anti-skate setting is. I have the Audio-Technica LP3XBT.
I don't have any normal playback issues. Where I have issues is at the start of the record. The tone arm goes down and then seems to jump/slam into the first track, often leading to it skipping the first few seconds. It's not pleasant at all. It's worst on picture discs and coloured/clear vinyl. Some black vinyls seem to be ok. Especially older ones. It's also less apparently with a manual start, especially if I apply a little bit of downward pressure when the stylus is landing.
So, if my one-sided 12" is good enough, then it seems to suggest the anti-skate on this turntable either doesn't work or is quite frankly fake.
Black Grape?
would this damage the stylus?
It will not as long as you use the proper tracking force.
You were right about being careful. I did that with the CD and almost ruined my stylus
Was the CD stracthed already? Even thought the material of the CD is polycarbonate (PC), any scatches may catch the tip of the stylus and grab it.
This theory, that a tone arm should be motionless on a groove-less spinning disc is absolutely incorrect according to a phonograph technician I spoke with at length. Actually doing as this theory advocates can cause irreparable damage to the record and stylus.
Actually, Anti-Skate is supposed to add a very small (slight) amount of outward force (toward the edge of record) DEFINITELY NOT CAUSING THE TONEARM TO BE MOTIONLESS. With the proper amount of Anti-Skate applied, the TONEARM will still move toward the center of the groove-less disc but at a slightly slower rate of speed compared to the slightly faster inward speed of TONEARM movement if no Anti-Skate was applied.
🍻
Wrong. What you want is making sure there is less pressure as possible to the SIDE of the needle, coming for either side (in or out). This pressure is caused by the centripede action of the spinning disk. Nulling it prevent not only stylus deterioration but also distortion (too much pressure). And don't worry, the stylus will still follow the groove.
A stylus contacting a blank disc is not the same as contacting a groove (modulated music). Only the very tip of the stylus contacts a blank disc whereas the sides of the stylus are in contact with a record groove. The mechanics are not the same. On a blank disc, ample outward force (centrifugal) is needed to counteract the centripetal force when the stylus is skating inward. In a record groove, the centripetal force is partly counteracted by the inside groove. Only half the anti-skate force is needed in a record groove compared to a blank disc. That's why people are doubling their anti-skate force when using a blank disc and questioning why. It's a false test. You will not determine the proper anti-skating force from a blank disc. (It could be specially coated to simulate a record groove - but also a false test). The only verification I know of is listening to test record.
4:00 That's probably polycarbonate, too, which is the material CDs are made of. Acrylic surface would probably scratch too easily from the needle.
I have a Machined Acrylic Turntable Mat which, aside from using it to replace the felt mat, I used it to set the anti-skate, it functioned the same as the one used in this video.
I wonder if a laserdisc would work?
Definitely will work!
Yes, it will. There's another video on YT showing that method as well (along with a few more advanced ones).
No one mentions how to do this without the turntable spinning. Many TTs spin when you move the tonearm toward the platter. (No I don’t want to reach behind the cabinet to unplug it every time I make adjustments.)
Weird, seems like I did it somehow a few years ago, but I can’t see how I got the platter to stay still while also moving the tonearm over it.
Oh sorry, I meant specifically measuring the tracking force. I want to take the mat off, and put the scale there to measure.
Could you use a record that has a non-playable side?
Yes! As long as there is no etching and it is smooth.
Yes, you can buy a blank vinyl record from Amazon.
I thought about this, but unfortunately for this purpose all of my records with a non-playable side have large etchings on that side.
so I used this method and found out my tone arm was skating to the right toward the outside of the record. Once I had it set so that it didn't drift, I found the stereo separation to be much better and improved sound. I was told on a Turntable forum that his is not the correct way to do this and that it would ruin the records..
Naw. It works I’m happy and have been doing this for years.
personally I follow the VPI method mostly because I have a VPI and that of course is no anti-skate.
now I know to a lot of people especially people that are newer to this hobby and those also that really haven't gotten into the high end aspect see anti-skate as essential. but the reality is you really don't need it and oftentimes because my JMW arm has the provision for anti-skate I've listened to records with it enabled and disabled and almost every time it sounds better with it disabled.
Well, even before you set your tracking force... shouldn't you set your counterweight to the 0 mark, then adjust its position on the arm (towards or away from the head shell) to balance the tone arm and cartridge to its null or floating point? Then set the counterweight to the target tracking force setting, then set your anti skate. That's what I've seen and been told. Good Luck
Yes you zero out the tonearm until it’s straight and floats in place then add the weight to the specs provided
You mixes up things. First, set the WEIGHT of your tonearm according to the recommanded WEIGHT by the cartridge manufacturer. Then, adjust the tracking. There is about NO correspondance between the recommanded WEIGHT and the TRACKING required, because no turntable is made that way. You have to adjust with a blank disk.
What? How do you adjust weight separately from tracking force? Or did you mean anti-skating?
as anti skate setting "typically" matches tracking force, what if the recommended tracking force is beyond the maximum anti skate setting of the tonearm?
does this make that cartridge incompatible with the arm?
whats the max anti skate cuz mines like 7
@@charliemannion2718 3 on mine
what cartridge you using thats a 3 gram or above?
Cd method is gunna mess up a lot of peoples needles. Lol
Just get a laser disc, make sure to start in the middle and put the 45 adapter on top of the LD.
This method and your assumptions are completely wrong IMHO. Anti Skate , or as it was once known 'bias', is a very subtle force designed to counter an effect where lighter tracking cartridges tend to swing inward toward the end of a spinning record. AS is unnecessary above tracking weights circa 3g, which some cartridges such as the Shure M44 reliably track at. The effect which AS counters is *only* present when the stylus is playing a groove in a spinning record. Hence by playing a blank disc, record or laserdisc, there is no 'skate' effect from the friction on the inner groove, and hence you are setting a value to counter something which does not exist at that point. You are actually trying to counter a centrifugal effect on the arm at that point, which isn't as severe in a record as the stylus is buffered by the outer groove wall.
I think people confuse anti-skate with the arm dropping or raising in a perfectly vertical manner, which it is not. if the arm drifts as you drop the arm with the cueing mechanism (or during raise) its more likely due to a) the deck not being perfectly level b) there not being enough grip on the rubber lift buffer and a wipe with a rubber restorer can help (i.e platanclene) c) the damping mechanism of the cueing mechanism needing attention i.e new silicon oil
I am not really experienced with this, but I am pretty sure, this method does not make sense: If the tonearm doesn move to either side on a blank surface, a real record will for sure produce pressure from the outer groove on the stylus - which means too much skating. Therefore, I think on a blank surface you should at least aim for the tonearm to move slightly to the center. What do you think ?
The only accurate method would be an oscilloscope and comparing L and R volume level and frequency
Using glass instead of plastics require system levelling prior to 6:47 adjustments
Levelling in two diagonal positions
You can't calibrate anti skating using a blank disc, it has no music modulation! The modulation changes constantly , that's the reason you have "compromise" the best setting! It's all a compromise, that's why the anti skate is recommended to be the same as the tracking force !
True it’ll never be perfect, but this at least let’s you get somewhat accurate.
The more advanced method is with an actual test record that plays tones specifically to calibrate this setting like the "Hi-Fi News Test LP" or "Ultimate Analogue Test" LP. These records also have a blank section where you can test if the tonearm drifts inward/outward. However, you may also need to get a meter that measures the tone's left-right balance when you play it. This can cost you quite a bit of cash. Even though the "laserdisc method" or the "blank vinyl" method may not be as accurate, it is an accepted way of doing it if you can't (or won't) spend the extra cash.
Wrong. It's about centripede force not modulation.
I use sandpaper
thank you! The effect of the anti-skating was counter-intuitive.
Using a mirror surface is just pure WRONG. Use an Ortofon test record for antiskating adjustment and check modulation at 315hz 60µ, 70µ, 80µ, 90µ &100micron amplitude.
How would one do that? I have the test record but I’m unsure
How can I check modulation without expensive device?
Someone gonna get hurt
what you say is wrong, you can't set anti-skating correctly that way, you need a test record to set it right, I know there are many who say you can do it like that, but those who have a lot of knowledge in it , says that's not the way to do it.
That's up for debate. I consulted with people who "have a lot of knowledge" on the subject before making this video and my set up sounds great now.
@@VinylforMiles I have 4 cartridges that must have a needle weight of 2 grams, but they must all have different anti-skating, but with your method they must all have the same, a fine line grind, must have less anti-skating than an elliptical, different grinds pulls the needle differently, therefore you cannot use your method.
Using this blank record is not the same as having the needle tracking a groove in a real record.
Thats physics. Maybe you can use the anti skating setting you get by this test, but it needs some form of adjustment to be proper when you play a real record.
The concept is having no pull left or right in the center of a calibration disc means it'll track evenly when in the groove. Using this method i had less distortion than the manufacturers recommendations. It's subjective though not every set up is the same.