The Return of the Portable Record Player | Turntable

[canadiantire]

Originally Posted by Graham_Start

Two pennies to help the stylus grind apart the grooves.

For those who do not know yet about my corrosive sense of humour;

Just don't try any of this stuff!

(but the penny trick, I have seen it done before )

[Westwood]

Originally Posted by Graham_Start

Two pennies to help the stylus grind apart the grooves.

So the grooves are like, damaged and they try to straighten them with the stylus??? Won't that damage the stylus? or wear it out? Do styluses wear out? Mine always only broke torwards the bit where they are stuck in the head.

[KoolChris]

Originally Posted by canadiantire

My motto?
- "Don't force it; get a larger hammer"

Originally Posted by Graham_Start

Two pennies to help the stylus grind apart the grooves.

Originally Posted by Westwood

So the grooves are like, damaged and they try to straighten them with the stylus??? Won't that damage the stylus? or wear it out? Do styluses wear out? Mine always only broke torwards the bit where they are stuck in the head.

Usually, where there's friction, there's wear.

Forcing a stylus through the grooves is NOT a way to improve the condition of a record. Seriously overweight cartridges will harm the grooves, thus the sound, over a number of plays. It seems playing a record immediately after washing liquid has been applied can help improve sound, though.

I laughed when I saw the patent pending VRSCADC apparatus. My father has a crappy Sears brand record player, which I sometimes listen to records on when I come back from the Pasadena flea market (he lives on the way home). Sometimes I need to use a similar homemade system (a penny, usually) to hear a record through.

[BrunoRepublic]

Originally Posted by Westwood

So the grooves are like, damaged and they try to straighten them with the stylus???

Yes, it was an unfortunately common trick.

Originally Posted by Westwood

Won't that damage the stylus? or wear it out?

Yes, and also damage the record too.

Originally Posted by Westwood

Do styluses wear out?

Yes.

[Nummymuffin]

Well, since nobody asked... is this any good? I've seen a very similar looking one, an Ion, but I am a little hesitant. The price is making it very attractive though! I'm in the market for a $100ish turntable, willing to go to $150ish if it's extra good, preferably with USB capabilities so I can just plug it into my Macbook. A portable sounds like a great idea but not if I am sacrificing sound unnecessarily. Unless someone has a better idea... I'm open to them! :)

I don't know how doable this is, but my ideal turntable would be $100ish, pretty decent sound (I know I won't get mindblowing sound for the price and I'm willing to accept that but I won't settle for mediocre sound either), USB connection preferably, a headphone jack would be quite nice as would an external speaker... I don't care if it's a kind of crappy external speaker though, just as long as a headphone jack came with it and it sounded a lot better over those!

Anyway, I was thinking of creating a new thread asking you guys because you're probably experts on what's good these days. It's been a good 15+ years since I had a turntable, so I've been out of the game for a while!

Thanks in advance for any help... I really do appreciate it!

Originally Posted by Bernie

For those who have need for a small, cheap and portable turntable that can easily be hooked up to a computer for digital transfer then you may want to take a look at Numark's PT01.

This turntable, which has a built-in phono preamp, speaker, headphone jack and can also run on 6 D batteries, could really fill a void for those that like to shop for records in outdoor flea markets, garage sales... where a turntable is normally not available. I've bought lots of records only to discover when I got home that they weren't what I had in mind or sounded worse because of hidden skips... May have to put this one on my Christmas list. Would love to hear from anyone who has used this portable turntable.

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK

[BrunoRepublic]

Originally Posted by Nummymuffin

I don't know how doable this is, but my ideal turntable would be $100ish, pretty decent sound...

- You are unlikely to get decent sound with any USB turntable; they are built for convenience and not sound quality.
- $100 is about the minimum price for a decent cartridge, never mind the rest of the table.

[Nummymuffin]

Yeah, I keep reading that people get a low hum or a buzz when using the USB, not to mention questionable reviews of two of the USB turntables, the Ion and the Audio-Technica, so I was considering this one:

Amazon.com: Sony PS-LX300USB USB Stereo Turntable System - Black: Electronics

It has a USB/line switch, apparently. I figure in case I absolutely needed the USB, it'd be available, but that if I can use line instead, it'd probably sound better. Maybe not better by your standards as far as I can tell, but probably better than using the provided USB, seeing as I really don't have several hundred dollars to splurge on a turntable at this point but I'd still like to enjoy my old LPs that are just sitting here sadly unused.

I think I should probably make a new thread for this, in case anyone has any specific opinions on the Sony. Since I'm a bit of a noob right now, I can use all the help and information I can get.

Originally Posted by BrunoRepublic

- You are unlikely to get decent sound with any USB turntable; they are built for convenience and not sound quality.
- $100 is about the minimum price for a decent cartridge, never mind the rest of the table.

[Cory Ander]

I don't hear any humm or buzz when I use my USB....I suspect you'd need to check your connections to make sure they're snug.

[Nummymuffin]

Thank you for your reply! If I may ask, which player do you have? Right now (if you see my other thread here in this section of the forum) I'm considering a Sony but much more strongly considering the Stanton T.90 due to this review. If you know of an equal or better, fairly affordable ($200 or less) one, I'd love the advice. :)

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

I don't hear any humm or buzz when I use my USB....I suspect you'd need to check your connections to make sure they're snug.

[Cory Ander]

Originally Posted by Cory Ander

I don't hear any humm or buzz when I use my USB....I suspect you'd need to check your connections to make sure they're snug.

I have the Numark TT USB and I'm very satisfied with the sound quality. My only complaint is that you have to move the arm manually because there's no lever to lift it like my other turntables have, and that takes a very steady hand, especially when you're trying to reach a track near the center of the record. And I was VERY surprised at the customer service...the representative I asked for help was very patient and polite. But after I finish using the turntable to transfer album tracks into audio files I probably won't use it much anymore.