How Long will a Record Stylus Last? - When to Replace?
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- Playing vinyl records is a demanding physical process that involves your stylus traveling a great distance. (Around 1,500 feet across each side of an average LP).
Despite the fact most styli are made from diamond (one of the top ten toughest materials known to man) your stylus will eventually wear out.
But how many records can you play before you need to replace a stylus? And how can you tell when it's time to swap it out for a new one.
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One of the first things you will begin to hear if your stylus is nearing its life's end is the slow increase in sibilence.
I have a good album for that to test it: my original mint Kate Bush - Hounds of love. The last song on side A is Cloudbusting. I use the first verse Kate sings, just to test my stylus. She sings: I still dream of organon, I wake up crying, you're making waves and you're just in reach.
Now, her vocal is (besides incredibly good) very well recorded and very clean. Every bit of every word is crisp. A worn out stylus will immediately show its age. Killer bits are the words "still" and "just". The C in "crying" is also very revealing. Besides sibilence, another important point is in the o's of "organon". They will distort like the effect you get when playing something too loud on plastic speakers: like the speaker resonates.
If you know your music very well and are used to play them on good headphones, you'll know every little sound that every instrument makes, at least I do. But our human hearing will tend to fill in blanks and correct things. When it comes to a bright and well-articulating human voice, our ears and brain will not compensate like they do with cymbals, acoustic guitar or other instrumentation.
I was struggling to get good sound out of my good old ADC TRX-1 with line contact stylus, but sadly it failed here, whereas my original Technics EPC270c with an ordinary conical bonded tip played perfectly. But yes, less detail because it's a simple stylus. So I tried a nude elliptical on it and I got back a lot of detail, that with a cheaper cartridge!
Sadly, they don't make styli for that ADC anymore, plus there's something of an earth fault noise in the background of the right channel, but only when the metal cart is directly mounted on the metal shell. If I isolate the metal cart part with a bit of plastic tape, that part is gone.
So, besides your good explanation of how a diamond tip should look, I would have liked it if you would focus a little more on details that you can hear.
Thanks for this Eric, very good points added. Sibilance for sure, as you say, is a glaring sign.
I love that album. Don't have an original; I have one of the recent re-issues, but it's easily up there in my top ten albums ever.
I mentioned in the video about using albums you know very well to test, so you're on the money with that one.
Happy spinning.
WHOAH!!....such verbosity!!......like the video presenter said......"you might have tooooo much time on your hands!!.....for fawk sakes!!..........GET A LIFE!!
Sounds like you've nailed it, hopefully you won't wear it your copy of The Hounds of Love.
Have you asked the company that made the turntable? Or any turntable Expert. Or did you try looking for the cartidge on e.g. eBay on the model name or model number
Techmoan. Seems to find old things even from the eighties and even older. He can be found on CZcams and Patreon
Best way to tell if your needle is worn, just listen to the high frequencies. A worn needle will distort high frequency sound.
I have been collecting records for over 50 years. Back in the 1960s the iner sleve of a Lp would give advice on when to change the stylus with a diamond stylus lasting 500 sides of an Lp with a tracking weight of 12 grams !!! Thank goodness those days are long gone .
I now have a Pro Ject RPM 6.1 SB turntable that has a fixed headshell . The chartarage I use is a Goldring Elite tracking at 1.75 grams. I have only changed this once in 15 years. I clean all my records with a Moth RCM 1 cleaning machine. Record cleanliness is vital for great quality reproduction and reduces risk stylus wear.
Really informative video, thank you!
I`ve always wondered when to change the stylus now i `m taking serious attention to the set up of the turntable and Stylus.Back in the 80s when i got my first record player with radio and tape combined i never changed the Stylus.Thanks for doing this vid,very informative.
Very informative video. Thank you! I recently returned to vinyl after a couple of decades and purchased a used Pro-Ject turntable. I replaced the stylus on the Sumiko Pearl cartridge and noticed a significant improvement in the sound. For $69 it was a bargain in terms of peace of mind and sound. I will definitely make sure that I keep up with stylus/cartridge changes for as long as I am listening.
I haven't replaced the stylus once and it's a turntable from 1989 - it still sounds great
Really ? Is it a ceramic cartridge ?
@@erikoroscoe1051 Yes unfortunately there weren't many record players with a magnetic cartridge back then and I got mine for free (Tesla Dominant 1039A)
@@KofolaDealer I would take it to my dealer and (he should be trust worthy) get involved with him in looking at the wear. It can gradually ruin your whole collection as you keep getting used to the distortion that it builds up.
We all lose hearing ability especially high frequency sound as we get old.
I suppose I can knock a few hours off each time I try to play a seven inch when I’ve forgotten to change it from the 12 inch setting.
Well done.. nice intro as well. And ORNETTE COLEMAN?? YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND!!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Haha - I've very much enjoying exploring jazz at the moment :)
Very useful, thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Great informative video, I used have sure cartridge very long time ago 75ed , regards mark
Thanks for watching! Enjoy the music
I recently acquired a 1968 zenith console that still had styrofoam shipping pads under the corners of the table and stylus covering on it, it appears to have never been used, upon playing a record the needle tracked perfectly, once in n a lifetime find for me
Im jellt.
I got a school laboratory microscope that can crank up the mag more than that, but the catch is that is critical and tricky to get the right lighting on the diamond to see the profile correctly, being a substantially transparent material.
It also depends a lot on the shape of the stylus (conical, elliptical, or Shibata) as well as the tracking weight applied and side thrust applied.
This. The whole reason we have different stylus shapes was to improve their performance and longevity. I can hear a loss of smoothness on inner tracks with an elliptical after about 170-200 hours, whereas my microlines sound good well past 500-600 hours.
You cannot just look at the stylus under a microscope as the diamond will usually look normal even on a severely worn stylus. You have to know how to identify the size of the facets formed at the two contact points.
Depends on how much you work them (in the mix cutting & scratchings) concords on tec 12s
The other thing i was wondering about is the life of the rubber without playing.
I have a Shure M55EM the stylus was replaced about 15 years ago but has minimal actual playing.
I've had an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge since 2012 and it still sounds great, I wonder if it's because I've mostly played records that are new or in mint condition.
Thanks for watching. Asking how long a stylus will last is very much like asking how long a set of tires might last on a car. There are many factors that affect it: conditions, frequency of use, ect. etc
Over ten years does sound like a long time though.
If I was to replace a $300 stylus at every 1,500 albums played, and I play 5 albums per week, that's 300 weeks, that's 5.76 years. So a $300 stylus potentially can last more than 5 years. (that also equates to $1 / week!)
Yes styx fan too...and I have the excel spreadsheet tracking 3 carts...lol
I have 4 headshells with 4 different ortofon cartridges on. One is the ortofon mono which obviously only gets used with mono records. The red, blue and bronze are all used as I deem appropriate. They should all probably outlive me.
Same here but I use Sumiko instead of Ortofon, changing styli so easily is the best thing about MM
Regarding changing stylus. I allow 500-700 hours and then I change it - whether it needs it or not. I keep a running total of how long a stylus has been used for (I add record playing duration until I get to 30,000-42,000 minutes and then chance stylus. I buy 3 or 4 styli at a time so I ALWAYS have a spare. Also, I wash (with cold water only [about a 1/8 teaspoon full] and a very soft damp cloth) and dry it before and after playing - I have noticed more and more just recently that brand new SEALED albums come out of their inner sleeve covered in dust!!
The question I would like answering is - am I changing my stylus too frequently and should I do so after 1,000 hours rather than 700 hours?
What! a diamond wears away on vinyl, surely not. just clean if it's a diamond.
Audiophiles probably never keep a cartridge long enough to wear out the stylus before buying a magazine and seeing the cartridge of the month, anyway.
They're scared of the record, right? If something is wrong with your cartidge, the sound in the track on the vinyl record can be changed . To something that doesn't sound nearly as pleasant . I remember that I changed maybe after a year I had happened to fall asleep and the same track on the record had read Over and over again thus a notch . It was like a white powder on the disc afterwards. However, it was the last song on the record, I want to remember
My 2M Blue still sounds fine, been in action for about 6yrs now, I clean it before every side and I don't play rough vinyl, I spin vinyl for about 1hr a day on average
I would agree - I have 3 cartridges with no exchangable styluses and all of them have long story behind, I do not know even as I purchased as used because I had idea that sometime someone may be damaged turntable made in 1984 with good not wear stylus, so while thay are priced 300-500 USD I may take risk Last time I watched them in microscope and found hopefuly all in ideal shape
Let's do some rough math, 350 hours times 6 years? That's over 2,000 hours and no one recommends you use any stylus profile that long. Its tracking ability will be greatly compromised.
@@bryede
It tracks like new
@@bryede two opposite ways of posessing are the preference of best results or preference of best condition Using excludes best condition. Best condition disables using.
You've got me all paranoid now. I've had my Goldring 1042 for about 3 years now. It only gets played around 2-3 times a week and even then only for the duration of maybe one or two LPs. £215 is not an inconsiderate amount for me. But makes me appreciate the fact that it's not the price of a 2M Black...
Retipping a 6K MC cartridge once a year is a bit onerous. Again, clean records, clean stylus, proper setup. I rip many of my LP's with a high quality A/D convertor. In addition to the pictures once a year I suggest making a recording of the same album, one that has received minimal play in the interim. You can drive yourself crazy trying to determine if you're hearing very small changes in the sound. A quick A/B listening comparison is very helpful. Is the USB microscope you used for your pictures the one listed in your comments? Thanks
Hey Rick. A sample recording is a great idea. Yes, the USB microscope I use is the one in the description :)
@@soundmatters I can do another comparison - having the same piece of music recorded to my tape recorder I can compare my LP to studio in radio quality. . If I found that something was different it was proof that I was somewhere in my system off track and it included speakers and amlifiers too which is difficult to explain in short. .
One thing that matters a lot is tracking force. High compliance low dynamic mass cartridges typical of the best moving magnet cartridges of the 1960s to 1980s track at the lowest tracking force, often track well at one gram or less. Required force is even lower for dynamically balanced tone arms using sapphire bearings than statically balanced types using other bearings. This is one reason back in the day when I was buying record playing equipment I chose Empore over SME/Thorens. In my best record player Empire 698 I track Shure V 15 Tyoe V MR at 1 gram. I also have Shure V15vType II improved, Empire 999VE, Empire 999TE/X and Empire 4000/DIII (CD 4 type) Also an Empire 398 GA which used the SME anti skate design. IMO these cartridges and record players are as good as I'll ever need. I've got other TTs a d cartridges but despite having over 3000 vinyls I prefer CDs. I stopped counting those at 3000. I consider the products in today's market outrageously overpriced and not to my liking.
You are absolutely right about tracking force. Beyond static gravitation force the same or even more important is dynamic tracking force. It is hardly predictable - depend on dynamic of sound too. Listening to quiet music created with low harmonics wears stylus less than listening to dynamic music with high level of sybilant and percussion instruments. I cann't prrove it but seems logic.
But it of course is also a matter of mass of needle and canterliver and mechanical characteristic of suspension and even matter of total mass of arm which is moved by apparent vertical moves of arm . That is why I prefer stright very light arms used by Bang&Olufsen without heavy shells. No problem for me that it looks no sophisticated. Trusty producers in past like B&O presented in technical sheet the dynamic force of cartridge in mg. May be it is total mass of moving parts? I couldn't find other producers doing this .
Anyway - important factor when to change the B&O stylus is conditions inside vallet - when is enough resources it is safe time to replace . Interval is shorter using cartridge is priced 80 USD than 500 USD.
It wasn't subject of material but my advice before change stylus is first watch carefully if there is sticked dust and linen around diamond - it is not very noticeable and tricky to detauch but if it is found there it decreases effective static tracking affecting dynamic tracking and leads to delicate momentary distortions while listening. Specially it helps with sybilants. Of course exchange with new is easier way to get rid of such dirt. Anyway it is not very practical with B&O cartridge. 😁. I did such delicate dirt removal using also alcohol (alone alcohol and brushing will not remove such dirt , it is mechanical job) because I was aware of strange sounds and found after it made me perfect difference.
i am opposite - listen 5 vinyl LP and 1 CD because my amplifiers and speakers like vinyl more .
@Mikexception The cause of record wear is exceeding the elastic limit of the vinyl. The greater the tracking force and the smaller the contact area the greater the stress and therefore the greater the strain. You can find stress strain curves showing the elastic limit and ultimate yield strength for most materials. Polyvinylchloride is a relatively soft material with a low elastic limit.
The problem of stylus wear is heat due to friction. The greater the force the greater the friction.
My experience is that after market replacement styli are awful especially for older cartridges. The elastomers in the suspension dry out and harden resulting in high harmonic distortion. NOS doesn't seem to have that problem. The highest compliance cartridges I know of were made by ADC.
Compared to CDs vinyl playback suffers from higher distortion, lower channel separation, monophonic bass and limited dynamic range. Pop music rarely has a dynamic range of more than 10 dB. Because of the kind of playback systems in use there are several reasons audiophiles may prefer vinyl. Dynamic compression increases gain at the end of each musical phrase making reverberation louder. This gives vinyl more of what audiophiles call air.
@@markfischer3626 You started topic about tracking force. I responded exactly to topic. You did not respond to any my observations about cartriges but Instead you started confrontation about process of recording in different media? It is totaly different topic so It seems you have ready files about it, Easy but without progress.
@Mikexception I decided to compare the problems of this refined late 19th century technology with a late 20th century technology. I am an analog person who was mostly trained in an analog world who had a tough time reconciling myself into what evolved in a largely digital world.
Interestingly one of the problems all of these technologies have is that each recording and each device has their own unique spectral charactistics. My reference is unamplified acoustic music. As an engineer learning how to solve this problem turned out to be much more complicated to understand and difficult to deal with than I thought. Since this seems to be the main criteria by which audiophiles judge products I had to come to terms with it. The differences between the sound of different products can often be reconciled. The many other problems associated with all analog technologies cannot. One of the most frustrating with photographs is the ability to track the record without damaging it.
I actually count the records I play and I change the stylus after about 40 to 45 records played (so 80 to 90 sides).
This is an old recommandation that used to be given on some inner sleeves in the past. And it is correct because I check the stylus under the microscope. Also after around 35 records the problems appear (distortion, skipping, rough start)
And I listen to very well cleaned records and in VG+ to NM condition, I clean the records before playing and clean the stylus after each play.
Yes, I suspect a lot of folks are running there stylus for too long. Counting isn’t a bad idea if you’re disciplined enough. I have people tell me they’ve been running the same stylus for years and years, sometimes decades. I mean, how can PVC wear a diamond, right 🙃. Trouble is, when things wear slowly over time, people often don’t notice until they hear an A/B situation.
Great informative video! 👌 Can anybody tell me what's a good stylus microscope to check the condition? Thanks!
How do I find what stylus to purchase to replace my Shure M91ED on my Phillips 212 electronic?
I don't believe an elliptical stylus lasts 1000 hours. I used the OM5e, OM10 for many years and yes, I'm the crazy guy who writes down every album I listen to :-D
The estimate for both is 450 discs before showing the first signs of wear (8 months, 1 year approximately). My albums range from 30 to 50 minutes in length, with the majority being 35 minutes in length. My records are all minimally VG+, I always clean them before listening to them. Stylus too. I changed my Ortofon to the VM540ml from Audio Technica, a microlinear stylus model. Let's see if this one actually lasts as long as they say...
Interesting. Condition of records and discipline over stylus cleaning definitely makes a huge different. Question is, are the average listeners as disciplined as that. Thanks for your additions and enjoy the music :)
for me as long as the tip of the needle is still sharp it is still ok not to change it and it is still ok to use it!
For me, changing it once a year (well within useful lifespan for my playing) is just good and wise practice. Around £100 a year is basically zero relative to the value tied up in my records so it really seems foolhardy to get into a habit of trying to judge how close to the wind I'm sailing, as it were.
That’s a good practice I feel if you’re playing records regularly all year 👍🎶
Thank you! Excellent video!
Of note, if you start out with a high quality cartridge with a high quality diamond stylus, life expectancy can be much longer. Personally, I have found that I physically damage a stylus through handling, long before it could be it could be considered to be worn out. Luckily, for my Shure styli, it has been while in the 2-year warranty, so I've received free replacements.
I feel that the longevity of a stylus is partially due to the fact that most of my turntables have the superior metal, tubular, "S" or "J" style tone arms, as they track better. The straight tone arms on turntable which look like they were designed and built in someone's garage, designed like Dr. Frankenstein or sol as a toy by Fisher-Price tend to be both harder on the records and styli. Remember, vibration likes to travel in a straight line so a curved tone arm literally throws vibration a curve, keeping the vibrations at the stylus.
It is also a good idea to rotate your use of different cartridges to keep wear down. For tone arms with interchangeable head shells, you can swap head shells with pre-mounted cartridges in a matter of seconds. One of the signs of a good turntable is when it has interchangeable head shells. If not for spreading out the wear alone, all records are not created equal and a certain style of stylus is better for playing different records with different attributes.
I play a lot of records and have found that the stylus in my Shure M97xe carts last for 1,000's of plays before I damage it. This is one of the best cartridges and you can see that many of those who make the records we buy use them also. There is a short wear-in period where I've noticed that the stylus will tend to pick up more dust.
Right, a worn stylus can damage records as well as affect sound. This is a good reason that I keep extra new styli on hand to compare wear visually and sonically. With newer records costing alot and older records being valuable, it is a good idea to keep track of the stylus wear.
Thanks for sharing your experience here. I also love the sound of the Shure M97ex. Having worked for the company, I have several of those cartridges.
The trouble these days is getting replacement styli, though as you say, they do last quite well. I think the carbon fiber stabilizer helps here. Its main purpose is tracking stability, but it has the added benefit of protecting the stylus more from dust.
Can I ask, where do you buy your replacements from now that the originals are out of production?
@@soundmatters Hello! I have not had to buy a replacement for years as I would usually damage the stylus while it was still in warranty and Shure would send me a replacement. When I saw that Shure was going out of the phono cartridge business, I bought several new M97xe cartridges and have not used them. I also bought an extra M78S and M24H plus spare styli for all. Wish I'd bought more.
My first Shure cartridge was an RXT5(V-15 sold by Radio Shack), which I still have and have used as a back-up cartridge over the years. It still has the original stylus and played fine the last time I used it.
Being familiar with Shure cartridges as you are, you probably realize that Shure, or any other cartridge manufacturer, designed their cartridges to sound and perform a specific way. Changing to another brand of replacement stylus will affect the sound produced by the cartridge.
There are other brands of replacement styli for the M97xe, like several from Jico. I hope I don't have to ever get one.
WHOAH!! such diarrhea of the mouth!! No wonder they invented CDS!!
What was the magnification rate of the USB microscope you used to take the close-ups of the stylus?
The one I use is a Celestron (linked in the video description) - it has a range of 20x - 200x. It can be quite fiddly, but this is as close as I could get and still focus on the small stylus point.
"OHHHHH......THE HUMANITY!!"
Great thing about MM is that you can replace the stylus easily and cheaply... I refuse to spend +$1K on an MC cartridge that I will have to trash a couple of months later (yes, I play a lot of records).
Looking for a good stylus that plays stereo and mono very well.
Most of us have no clue how many hours of play are on a cartridge. You have to average how many hours you play a year. I replace my cartridge every 7-8 years. At that point, its also about upgrading for better sound.
I use a clicker (the kind you would use to count people in a venue) to keep track of number of records played. It just sits next to my turntable.
I keep a running total of playing time as record album sides can vary in length from around 10 minutes to around 35 - depending on the genre of music and how many tracks have been included. For example, side 1 of Stearica's album Fertile is 10 minutes but side 2 of Bon Jovi's New Jersey album is 31 minutes (side 1 of this is 28 minutes!) Classical music sides also tend to play for longer that rock sides do.
I thought my red m2 was wearing early or damaged...but it was a little out of alignment. Better now.
I would avoid liquid cleaning with a felt wipe or similar. All it does is push the gunk not the grooves. A wet cleaning system is better... MUCH.
Good info and your background made me go throw on that Norah Jones record.
Thanks! Amazing album, isn’t it!?
@@soundmatters One I definitely slept on in my younger years. Glad I revisited it almost 20 years later.
Ok I just bought a used table with a koetsu cartridge I'll immediately throw it probably gonna put a ortophon red on it thanks for the great tip
Throw it no, someone will pay a good price and get it retipped if needed.
@@tomsherwood4650 lol I'm kidding no way you can throw a koetsu
I'll have it
If you are unlucky, then you can fall asleep and the disc has hacks on a certain specific. Place on the disc and then looks like a kind of white powder . This is obviously not good for your cartidge. Then you can count on the fact that the service life has been significantly shortened for your cartidge . And, unfortunately, may also have been injured. And that also applies to the track that has been read over and over again . Maybe for several hours that you have you slept
How can I use a usb microscope for assessing the stylus without first unmounting my MC cartridge from the tonearm?
Take your TT and put it on a table with plenty of room to work. Most USB microscopes will have a holder/stand to purchase that make the microscope immobile.
Bottom line: it needs to go under a microscope for checking, there is no other way to be sure. Does not necessarily need to be a fancy or expensive microscope either. Trusting your ears is a bad idea and I speak from experience.
Can get a little hand held one from China for around £3 60x magnification with a powerful light.
Gives me a perfect view of all my stylus' can see if they are clean or the shape is changing.
Best £3 ever spent
I can see the stylus with a proper magnifying glass. If it looks blunt I will replace it . Google shows what a worn out stylus looks like so I never let it get that bad . I have three turntables so it will take longer to wear them out . I am also listening closely for differences in sound quality.
Me too. I have 3 turntables hooked up to my system. I use them all. I have them run into a 4-way splitter switch and that is run into the phono jack on the Amp. That way with the turn of a knob I can play the turntable I want.
A magnifying glass is terribly underpowered to reveal the condition of a stylus.
At least 250X magnification, and preferably 750X or greater, is needed for a proper look.
I bought an inexpensive all-in-one electronic microscope that Just Barely allows me to see the condition of a tip.
I change my cartridge each Tuesday.
😂😀
Why not Wednesday?
@@spy8464BB Wednesday is garbage day so when I change it Tuesday it can go out in the trash.
I miss Shure cartridges. The type 5 MR was a great cartridge, but all Shures were good values.
I have been using a NOS V15III for a year or two. The best of it is when it is loaded correctly. The consumer grade stereo gear of the past did not have the proper capacitive loading to flatten the response. It tracks like the devil and sounds clean and great. I do not put a ton of hours on very soon, as I access multiple forms of music media.
Back in the 1960's we had very high compliance cartridges that worked well with low mass arms. 1.5 grams was usually the highest tracking force, with 0.5 to 0.75 grams being the lowest. Today we have high mass arms and low compliance cartridges with tracking forces up to 2.5 grams. Records therefore will be damaged and stylii will wear much faster.
Wear*
@@quiricomazarin476 Thanks, mate!
@@aussierob7177 Still have topless beaches & men's tighty swim trunks down under?
Can we expect from 1k+ USD stylus to perform longer than cheapest ones? Is there any stylus that is known for extreme durability? Any rankings?
Unless it’s a sapphire stylus tip, they should all be very similar. Diamond is the hardest surface known to man. But it will still wear down eventually 🎧🎶
I just got a brand new stylus and accidentally turned the table on without a record. The stylus hit the padded felt surface while it was running for a few seconds before I noticed. The needle should be alright correct? I’m sorry for such a noob question but I am indeed a vinyl noob.
Hopefully. Felt mats can be a nightmare for this - particularly if you're playing 7inch or ten inch records and you miss the run-in groove.
Have a look at it visually to see if the stylus tip is still in place before you try it again on a record. If you want to play it safe, keep a cheap record in hand to test it on before you play any records of real value. Hope this helps
B/S just buy a stylus playing hour timer, costs about £35, having spotless ultrasonically cleaned records is critical. A quality stylus will not be played in until about 400 hours and should last 1500 to 2000 hours
If a stylus is say 30 or even possibly 40 years old is it guaranteed that it will sound better if replaced?
Depends how much its been played and the condition of those records. But, if a stylus has been used regularly for 30/40 years, it will undoubtedly have significant wear, if not very significant.
The question is why on earth we will have to replace the cartridge? It cannot be because of a slitage occurring in time in the needle, because it is diamond, and we all know that diamond is one of the hardest material found in the world thus wins over vinyl/plastic. So it cannot be the reason. Then, we should look at the other components in the cartridge in this case.. Is it the coils inside the cartridge, cantilever made of aluminium, or the plastic housing? Which one to blame? Btw we are talking about something weighs around 5-7 and running under a pressure of 2 to 4 grams. I am just trying to understand the logic.
why about laser disc ?
do you have to replace your stylus on an automatic tonearm or just on a manual tonearm?
Any sort of record player.
a audio-technica AT-LP60XBT
@@taranagnew436 There is no difference between an automatic and manual tonearm - both are the exact same device. An automatic TURNTABLE simply has a mechanism inside the base that moves the tonearm onto the record.
You will have to replace your stylus eventually. The cartridge the LP60 uses has pretty cheap styli, like 30 bucks I think, should not be an issue.
@@leafdog2714 can you get a replacement/different stylus for the automatic tonearm?
My first visit here. Good info but the never ending jazz hands was distracting.
Thanks for watching
Did he say 40 minutes per side or 14 minutes? I've never seen an album that will play 40 minutes per side, 25-30 minutes is pushing it, Ultravox Vienna is a nats over 22 minutes on side one and I can remember that was pushing it, things did improve with a better cartridge, I haven't played that album for many years so wouldn't know now, but I have a much better turntable, arm and cartridge 40 years later so I would try it but only with new vinyl.
I think it was just a slip of the tongue.
Supposed to be about 22/ 23 mins tops per side. In the last days of vinyl you could get compilations with 10 x 4 min songs on each side.
Clearly this is a gradation of the groove size needed for good audio quality.
Avoid any album with more than 6 standard length ( 3:30 secs) songs on it. The sound quality is compromised
question, diamond hardest known element in existance, how can something this hard be damaged by a piece of plastic?
Good question. If you were to roll out the groove of an average record, it would measure just over a third of a mile in distance. That’s a heck of a long way to travel. Not to mention all the dust and surface imperfections it will encounter and the friction against them. So it might take time, but it’s certainly not an invincible material. It’ll just take longer than, say, sapphire. The cleaner your records are and the better the condition, the longer it may last.
did my comment get removed? i was trying to help the you and the vc out, wth?
my needle has already lasted a year and it sounds the same as new
I was shocked when I saw my new good ring E3 was only 500 Hours
Every three years of regular play under clean conditions.
Is Armorall an excellent vinyl protectant.
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
@@Dafalex22 I'm glad you got it. 😆
@@paw45 I hope you took the time to read some of the other "unfathomable" comments these "dorks" came up with.....it begs the question....."Have you guys ever kissed a girl!!??" WTF!!
@@Dafalex22 I'm going to dig into the comments. I value a good chuckle.
@@paw45 you might regret it......I responded.....couldn't help myself.....like picking a scab off a wound.....have a great weekend!! (-:
300 hours for an elliptical, 500 hours for a conical, 800 hours for a shibata and 1,000 hours for a microline. At least that is the recommendation of Audio-Technica, who are a major manufacturer of turntables.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.......💚
I play 1 record per year. Good for 20 years of fun with the same stylus.
GOOD COMMENT........LMAO!!
You forgot to mention that different styli have different specs. Some are good for 400 hours, others a 1000 or more.
Maybe when the needle is gone? LOL
The stylus etc. have become so expensive. The next time I need one, I'm just going to stop playing LP.
Norah Jones, "Come away with me"
Amazing song and album 🎶🎧❤️
Sorry I don't believe that 800 to 1000, your diamond stylus wears out but a piece of vinyl won't. The law of physics says that diamond stylus will last 5 times that. In 50 years of vinyl playing I have never changed one because you often upgrade your deck before it wears out. Looking after your vinyl & needle is essential though, treat them with kid gloves.
Audio technica suggest more frequent stylus changes depending on the type of stylus used.
I very carefully inspect each of my Shure M44-7 styli prior to each and every use! I then calibrate all environmental factors to ensure there is no excess dust or static!! After which I slap about 3.5 grams of weight on that sucker and proceed to shred all wax in the area with no mercy with my devastating cuts and scratches. Do NOT try this at home! Only under hip hop supervision.
Seriously though. Good tips.
500 hours is a better standard and is what most manufacturers recommended before. I dont know why they changed it to 1000 hours these days but it doesnt work in practice.
USB microscopes never get close enough to tell you about wear. You just see the stylus body in those pictures, the playing surface is much too small to judge.
i’ve never heard anybody say 500 hours
@@wallyallgood You must be new here. Resd the old Ortofon, Shure, AT, Jico papers on styli, they all agree on 500 hours roughly.
@@leon9021 This way by persuading they won with competition which produced more durable gear? As we see it is all a metter of trust and theoretical analizes.Producers explain only about hours of extensive playing which is not the most usual.
@@Mikexception what
My x60 hand held illuminated microscope shows me clearly when the diamond is losing its shape
I only play albums maybe 3 times a month ... the records are kept clean , I aint worried
No one asked
Hmmm.... If a Stylus costs $500 to $800, keeping track of how many records I play each day is very much worth it.
It is just another side of problem. I have coulege who replaced few times already styluses priced few hundred bucks but when we met and he plays for me music he is avoiding playng turntable - only CDs. The same with his tube amplifier where complete tubes are 200USD - it is not in use. It seems to me weird.
I always use best whatever I posess, let it be wear but I have it for pleasing me.
@@Mikexception agree they are supposed to be played and listened to. I only play digital when I don't have it on vinyl.
My preamp is valve and is used everyday. Full set of new valves cost 120£ ( 4x30) they get replaced once every 5 years.
What's the point of you can't listen to it.
@@sbwlearning1372 I have my 2 guesses 1) he is too much cautious not to wear it and keep immaculate 2) he believes that tubes and vinyl LP are second quality to solid and CDs. but then I do not find excuse for paying for their perfection.
When the needle on the styles has worn out it is time to purchase a Dac....⏏⏹⏺⏪▶⏩⏸