Audio Technica AT-VM95E vs AT-VM95ML Comparison Review + VM95 Series Range of Cartridges Overview
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Audio Technica AT-VM95E vs AT-VM95ML - Is the ML worth the extra £100? Also an overview of the whole VM95 range highlighting the differences.
Link for the Audio comparison (Miles Davis - "So What"): • Audio Comparison Audio...
Equipment used:-
Audio Technica AT-VM95E & AT-VM95ML cartridges
Phono stage: Built in phono stage of TAG McLaren Audio PA10 Pre-Amplifier
Turntable: Modified Technics SL-1200MK2
Tonearm: Rega RB250 , modified by Origin Live (structural mod, internal rewire, external rewire, slotted armtube)
Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT-900 ProX
Power amp: QUAD 405-2 modified & upgraded
Loudspeakers: KEF Reference One (1990's vintage)
Yes, the ML is a great upgrade from the E, but the E is still the best value in carts available currently, especially for the price. I sell many in my record store, as well as putting them on most tables I refurb and flip.
The E is an excellent sounding cartridge and is possibly unbeatable for the price. However when you consider that the stylus on the ML will last 3 times as long as well as having even better sound then I would say that they are equally good value.
@@StylusDrop agreed, but I have a hard time convincing customers to spend that much money up front, but having the option to upgrade the stylus only, at a later date, is a strong selling point.
Great video. The AT95E has been the best value cartridge since its introduction. The current range in your video are all excellent with the ML being the pick of the bunch for me.
I just replaced my vmn95e stylus to vmn95ml. The difference is HUGE, im very impressed with the sound! IGD is gone! I recommend this cartridge!
Have you also noticed a big drop in sibilance? This is something I noticed when I changed from the elliptical to the microline stylus.
@@frankmurray1549 you mean: noise? The ML is less sensitive for any clicks and pops or any surface noise.
@@greatmuta577they mean sharp or harsh s sounds or splashy cymbals.
@@asmahism the ML is more balanced in the mid and high frequencies, not that harsh at all like the 95e.
@@frankmurray1549 thats not a problem i think.😄
That's an excellent review that should really help some people decide if an upgrade beyond the VM95E is worth the extra money. Which one is preferred is always subjective, but with a system with decent resolution, the differences in the ML should indeed be fairly apparent, especially in higher frequencies. The differences between the ML and SH are more subtle. I tend to prefer the midrange warmth and slightly more delicate treble of the SH, but they're close, and with the benefit of longer service life from the ML, there's valid argument about which is better value. It's also worth mentioning that the ML wears more consistently than other profiles....most profiles degrade slowly over time with decreasing fidelity until they near the end of the useful service life. Whereas a microlinear profile sounds nearly the same right up until near the end of it's service life due to the cut of the profile, so not only longer service life, but closer to its original fidelity for that period.
Thanks. The ML is certainly a worthwhile upgrade over the E if you have a high resolution system but I think most people with budget setups would be very happy with the E.
I've tried all of the various VM95 styli except for the C, and I have to say that the ML is the best value IMHO. After I got it, I decided I would never get another E stylus ever again. I don't have the patience to try and dial out IGD. For me the ML is the sweet spot.
Great video & explanation & I would like to say that I agree with all that you say & that I have bought all the range & I have fitted them to my Linn K9 Cartridge & the sound is just perfect for my ears & anyone who comes to listen to my music & I will say that anyone who buys the AT-VM95E with the cartridge & stylus as a starter pack will have great fun by buying the other models as just the Stylus pack because until they feel as though the Cartridge has had it's day they will be fine with what they have .. like I have ..
I have the C the E and the EN version of stylus
Everything as you go up in range is an improvement
95E is let's say 50% improvement over the C
95EN is a 25% improvement over the E
My next buy will be the ML
Nice video 👍
I did just as you have been doing & can say that you will have great fun as you buy as you go along & when you get to the Shibata you will feel very confident that you have the best you can have for what you can afford with a great sound.
@@paulaj2829 I can afford more expensive cartridges but for my musical taste and vinyl records I think it's useless
I mostly listen to Metal music and Classic Rock so no need for me for expensive/exotic cartridge
Great info. I wish I had this years ago. AT should pay you to use your descriptions in text on their site describing the relative differences of each stylus because it’s way better than the scant info they have.
I do have one question and I suggestion for a future video. What is it about a “better” turntable that would compel you to choose the SH over the ML. And how do you define better? I have the following turntables and I would like your opinion on a how you would rank them from good to better to best, and which one is the point at which you would begin the choose a SH over the ML stylus on a VM95 cart. In random order (so as not to influence your rankings):
Micro Seike MR-411
Technics SL-Q202
Technics SL-1200 mk2
Denon DP-62L (I have both the straight and a ‘S’ shape tone arm but I’ve only used the S-shape)
Sansui FR-5080
And finally my suggestion for a future topic is to compare the VM95 series to the VM540 series. It’s quite a big jump in price from the equivalent stylus in each (VM95ML vs VM540ML for ex) and I would like your opinion as to if you think it’s worth the price difference.
Very good and informative!
I upgraded from a 95E to a 95ML and IMO it is absolutely worth the higher price tag. The 95E is rated for 300 hours of play while the 95ML is rated at 1000. You can also go with a 95S (Shibata) stylus in the future if you wanted because it shares the same body as a 95ML. The playback from the 95ML is really amazing (to me anyway) and I'm very happy with it's performance. Doesn't matter what style of music I play, it all sounds really nice through the 95ML, though I will say it really shines on Jazz! I'm listening to Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage as I write this and it's really sounding wonderful, like I'm right there in the Jazz lounge listening. My set up is as follows : SL1200 MKII, VTA set at 1.8, anit skate at 2 and tracking force of 1.8. Running into a pair of Klipsch R-51PM (Powered speakers) and a Klipsch R120SW. I'm very happy with the performance of the VM95ML and highly recommend it. It's the best bang for your buck.
probably the BEST VDO i have ever watched in you tube. BRAVO God bless you krub, from Thailand
Thank you 😊
I went from the c to the shibater well worth the money great details and a wide soundstage 👍😄
I agree
Nice review, I have all 3 , orange, red , brown, they are all incredibly good for the money they cost, but... the green and blue offerings are made in China, made in Japan starts from the orange upwards, I don't know whether or not this makes a difference sonically or overwise. The cartridge bodies are all identical, so we're told , this may cause limitations the higher up the range you go , for example the internal wire winding material will be the same , as on the 'C' and 'SH' and let's not forget there is no shielding plate between the internal LEFT and RIGHT channels which can lead to 'cross talk', and all employ the standard aluminium pipe cantilever. The cart bodies on the EN , ML , SH in my opinion need to be a little more sophisticated to really get the very best out of the more exotic stylus profiles , don't get me wrong I have these 3 carts myself and I love them all , the sweet spot for me has been the orange EN , although it's nice to have the ML and SH , I believe the cart body has really reached its limit at the EN,point. For a bit more money try the VM530EN, which is a very accomplished performer with a better body , better windings and internal shielding etc.. I have 4 of them and they sound really good on my technics sl 1200g.
And the Audio-Technica VM540ML is better than the Audio-Technica VM530EN ??????Thank!
Good info. I have the 95ML and have just acquired the 95SH stylus. On first listening, the 95SH is more fleshed out , that is more body. Groove noise is about the same and the treble is very similar except for a little more air and decay. Hope this helps someone. Incidentally did you modify the Technics yourself? I have one but it has the standard arm. How much of a difference did the Rega arm provide?
Yes, I modified the Technics myself. The Rega armboard was made by Origin Live who also modded the RB250 to improve it beyond the standard Rega arm. The Rega gives a much higher resolution sound than the Technics arm but the Technics has better convenience features (e.g. interchangeable head shell and easy arm height adjustment)
Wow and I thought the technics arm was fine and state of the art. Anyway, for home use I have a vintage Technics SL 1400 Direct Drive that suits me fine for my home main system. It’s not as Chunky and heavy as the Technics 1200.
I bought used and thought to replace the cartridge and these came into my view while on discogs the other day and the price range and the interchangeable part really attracted me.
But the question is how much are the needles on their own vs buying the whole cartridge? Why I’m trying to do my research and get it closes to what I need .
Anyway, thanks for the review and making the video.
I will probably try the Shibata at some point, but for now I'm really enjoying my 95ML
Yes agree, good review! Looking forward for next review, thanks!
Thanks for your informative video. I left a comment on your comparison video. Thanks again !
Many thanks!
I own both the red and green and for some reason the green one sounds ace. And I also have the mt nagaoka and shure and I love the sound the green one provides
I am in the same boat. I just got the red and compared to the green it sounded like someone had just pushed the flat button on the equalizer. The green has crisp treble and clear punchy bass whereas the red sounds like my speakers have just gone from 3 way to 2 way or my tweeters are not working. Pretty disappointed to be honest after reading all this hype for the red over green.
@come2watchya, this is interesting, I have both green and red as well, when I got the red I just put it on straight away and never compared it with the green. I think I'll have to put the green back on to compare them. I wonder if I'll end up with the same take away as you.
A lot depends on the tonearm
And turntable the cartridge is used with
Great review.Ive tried the all the styli and for me the best one was the C ,really drew me into the music.The ML on my turntable sounded boring and dull . Technically very good ,but strangely enough it left me wanting more .
I prefer the shibata as to my ears seems to have the best blend of detail combined with a warm midrange
one good advantage with this range is that they are extremely easy to fit and set up due to needing only two screws going in from the top.
Yes, that is true, especially for those tonearms without detachable headshells.
Hi, thanks for the review. I own the 95E, ML and the Shibata. I find the E the most exciting of them all!
Interesting! What turntable, amp, etc. do you use it with?
TT is the AT LP140xp, Lehmann decade phono preamp, Yamaha C5000 and the M5000.
I liked the ML even more than the SH, but my cat destroyed the former after only two weeks, and there were no replacements in stock at the time! Peace.
Nice review got the shibata love it real improvement tried the C and E first but you get what you pay for.exelent review thou.i subed
Thanks thanks!
I love the shibata my self
Has a great blend of detail with
Warmth
Nice info here, I have the AT-VM95E really enjoy it for the price, also, just picked up the schiit mani 2. Do you have any good ideas what settings I should use?
I would set the impedance loading to 47K Ohms and then experiment with the different capacitance loading settings to find which one gives the best balanced sound. The gain setting depends on the input sensitivity of your amplifier - I would start with the lowest gain and increase it if you cannot get sufficient volume. I hope this helps.
@@StylusDrop It does, I will try that. Thank you for the help.
I have the 95E on one of my turntables, a Systemdek IIX 900 with a Rega RB250 arm. It’s ok for the price and does an adequate job but nothing special. I also have a Linn K9 cartridge on my other deck that was made for them by AT which also takes the VM95 series of stylus and I use the C on this to play my used older records as it does not sit as deeply in the record groove. This is very kind to surface noise and I would rate this as an excellent buy but it is mounted on a better arm the Ittok so it’s not a direct comparison. When my hard to find vital stylus wears out on the K9 I will be looking at the ML or Shibata as a replacement, that is why I clicked on this video. Probably going for the ML as it’s the nearest profile.
It would be interesting to see how a 95ML on the Ittok would compare with the K9 on the same arm. I heard a K9 on a friends LP12/Akito years ago and was not very impressed as I remember (I was myself using a Goldring 1042 on a similar LP12/Akito at the time). The Goldring is twice the price of a 95ML though.
@@StylusDrop what did you think of the 1042 as that is something that I am interested in. I use the Sumiko Pearl on my Roksan Nima on my LP12 and that is an excellent cartridge but is about the same price as the VV95ML, it only has an elliptical stylus so was wondering if the 1042 would be even better.
@@tonyjedioftheforest1364 The 1042 is one of the best moving cartridges I have ever used. I'm thinking of possibly going back to one on my SL1200MK2/Rega. It would definitely be a step up from the VM95ML (as it should be as it's over twice the cost).
Thanks for your content.
I use a at 95ml and find it excellent did putting a rega tonearm improved your technics sl 1200 as i have a sl1200 and a rega rb303 in a box but still have the original arm on is it much off an upgrade
Very informative!
Thank you for this amazing video. Nice channel.
Hello, and thank you for your excellent video review. I have two turntables a Dual CS 505-3 and a Dual 621 and I was thinking of getting the AT-VM95ML for both. Do you think this would a good choice? If you don't mind offering an opinion, what AT-VM95 series would you suggest? Thank you.
Incredible value
Thank you! So helpful . . .
The VM95E is a very good entry level cartridge that can later be easily considerably upgraded with a ML or SH stylus.
That said all VM95 cartridges need a rather low load capacitance (cable + input ~ 200-250pF) to function at their best.
They actually need 150 uf, it states in the specs 100-200uf.
Anything over 200 will sound shrill in the treble.
My set up has 30 in the tonearm, 19 in the rca ( 30cm mogami 2964 rca) 100 set on the pre amp.
Most vintage amps have 100uf on the phono stage.
@@misterarcane3863pF
Stylus Drop best one for Rap & Dance Music?
FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sometimes i feel like i'm the only person that Collect classical music on 78's🤣
Fab video...just what I was looking for.
I have the AT LP3 with the VMN95E fitted which (for the money) is excellent.
I'm really interested in the ML version, but is that overkill for such a cheap deck?
I'm not sure whether you would be able to hear the difference between I'm VM95ML and the VM95E on the LP3 but it's still worth considering as the microline stylus of the 95ML will last about 3 times longer than the the 95E with the elliptical stylus.
@@StylusDrop If it's durability is your main concern then fine, but as he said above the deck won't get the best from the cartridge, it's a bit like putting in a V12 Ferrari engine into a Mini, why don't you go for the VM95EN instead, should make a small difference in sound without going overboard on a budget deck !
@@Colin-From-Corby-yy4vb the ML is better value than the EN because it will last 3 times as long
@@StylusDrop Well since I wrote my last comment I went onto Amazon (UK) and found the VM95EN cartridge for £92, and the VM95ML for £140.55, so only £48 more than the EN, so as you say, without doubt the way to go, especially when you take sound improvement and durability into account, 800 hours v 300 hours, so a no brainer really !
I just got a Technics SL-100C that came with a vm95c. Reading everywhere, looks like this is pretty much the first thing I have to upgrade, so I immediately turned to the vm760SLC, thinking on just getting the top of the line and be done with it forever. But, is it overkill? Will my turntable really take advantage of it or what's the model I should be looking forward to? This is my first "pro" vinyl experience, coming from audiophile digital (SACDs and hi-res audio) and found the experience incredibly lackluster, it's all mid/treble and highs, no bass or low frequency at all. I'm betting on this being fault of the vm95c itself, and looking for the vm760SLC to fix it at least to an acceptable listening experience. How in the wrong am I?
The VM760SLC is a considerably better cartridge than the VM95C having greater resolving power and better refinement. However, the VM95C should not sound as you describe it on your SL-100C. There are a few things to check, 1) check that the stylus is securely seated on the cartridge body. It should click into place when you press it. If it is not properly seated, and I have seen this before, then it will sound like total crap. 2) Check the overhang is correct, 3) Experiment with different tracking forces. Increasing the tracking force slightly often improves the bass but do not stray too far from the recommended setting. 4) Check the VTA. You can adjust this by raising or lowering the arm height. Often lowing the arm hight slightly will improve the bass. Many people will tell you that the VTA should be correct when the tonearm is perfectly parallel with the surface of the record but this does not always hold true. Adjust it by ear. Finally, check the settings on the phono stage of it has adjustable loading. I hope this helps!
@@StylusDrop it definitely does! Thank you thank you thank you for your time and reply. Will give everything you say a try after work today! Have the best day!
@StylusDrop Great video. I have recently purchased a House of Marley stir it up wireless turntable. This came with an audio technica AT3600L. I have bought a couple of new records and at certain points they repeat. I wondered if you thought upgrading the stylus would eliminate this? Appreciate your feedback! (Please talk to me like a beginner, as I am!)
I don't think so. It sounds like a fault with the turntable. It may just need adjusting.
Sometimes it the new needle and I used to have a record shop and this one guy kept coming back and said the records he bought skips. Since I had few complaints about skipping records from my shop , I suggested it was his needles and sometimes when they are new, they need to wear down a little to perform correctly. Somehow that seemed to have worked for him and it wasn’t the records he got from me. I highly also suspected it was on his end. So I’m not sure if it was corrected by using the needle or if he made adjustments on his tone arm, but the issue was corrected,
Can i fit a new audio technia stylus tu my old at 11e cartridge?
U can use the ML on a Lp120x or Lp3?
Yes, of course
What about ATN XP5
That's a rugged cartridge designed for DJ use. It is designed for the higher tracking forces required by DJs. In sound quality terms it will not be as good as the hi-fi cartridges. It's a special purpose cartridge.
@@StylusDrop I find it more exciting to listen to than some of audio technica cartridges,it’s a foot tapper
Conical is better than elliptical or Shibata type. Both E and SH have more distortion compared to C
Yea please
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