Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Yea that was me complaining, I am sure haha. Its the same player. I just ordered the scale today and will get it Wednesday, so I will report back! But the fact that a nickel weights 5 grams already, thats pushing the limits. Apparently ideal weight is 1.5g to 3.5g - however tons of tables go even heavier depending on cartridge, up to 8g.

I've been doing a lot of reading on this and yea the census is it'll fuck up your needle and or records, but no one is supplying visual evidence or sound evidence. And its after multiple play throughs. I haven't played one of my vinyls more than 3 (maybe 2) times, so Im hoping it wont be impacted. When I tried this last night on my MJ Thriller album that is scratched to shit and unplayable in most parts - it sounded great!! But I want to get this scale before I use the nickel method regularly.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

The nice thing is even if you do get a new turntable, you can still use the one your wife gave you for CDs and your iPod.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Thats what I am slowly insinuating to the wifey :D

Alright so last night I tried another record and I listened close. A nickel is way too heavy. I could hear the needle "grind" in the groove. I didnt see any damage and the sound wasnt deafening, but you could hear it moving in there. So I did some math. 2 dimes are 4.5 grams so I went that route, record sounded great and hardly heard the grind. But I wanted to go lighter. I know a single penny is 2.5g and too light. However, a penny before 1982 weighs 3.11g - which ended up being perfect. No grind and great sound...... now to get the counter balance Jerry rigged

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Just got the new 45-speed of Skynyrd's first album - mastered and pressed with original analog tapes, limited to 1,000 copies, blah blah blah - it sounds fucking amazing.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Anyone see this thing?
I got rid of all my vinyl and player long time ago but the other day my wife said she wanted a record player. Not sure where that came from but I started looking at some and now wish I had just kept mine. Had a Technics SL-1600 and sold it for like $75 :sad:

Anyway. While looking I came across this funky little deal. Way out of my price range but thought it was neat.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ble?ref=61fr6y

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Looks cool but I'm guessing the sound is awful.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

I've heard that those things damage the fuck out of your records.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Fuck. Just went to uturn and built mine. $449 before tax and shipping. It has the walnut finish and built in preamp. I don't even have speakers..... I want to pull the trigger on this so bad.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

If you lose the walnut finish that's $90 in savings. Also, unless you're in Massachusetts you won't get charged sales tax. It's just a flat $20 for shipping.

FYI

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Do it! You will wonder why you didn't do it sooner. You have built up a nice collection. It deserves to be treated right!

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Sheeeeee-it. Y'all not helping lol. If I am going this route I have some questions that I am didn't see off the bat that maybe y'all can help me with. Big wonders before pulling the trigger.

Is the stylus/needle easy to replace with a new one? And do I get them through their website only?

They make it sound easy to replace parts. Is this so? If I break something like a tonearm, I can just order a new one and not have to replace the whole unit?

As crazy as it sounds, I want to get classic headphones so I want headphones. Would I have to get a certain preamp for that?

How the hell do you switch to 45 speed and back?

What speakers should I get? I found some on Amazon. Bookshelf speakers for $100. But if I'm going to get this I don't want to get shitty speakers because they looked nice (this is what got me the player I have now!)

I appreciate all the help as I don't have Internet at home. Only at work. And I have to drive to town (30 mile round trip) just to use data on phone.

Thanks.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

You can use a stylus from pretty much anywhere. They have a tutorial on their website for changing it.

Not sure... haven't broken anything yet myself.

Not sure what you mean by "classic headphones" but yes... you can either get a pre-amp included in the UTurn (I did this, and it's good... but not amazing... it's convenient), but you'll still need a regular amp to plug your headphones into, I believe.

The belt motor has two grooves. You just pop it up and down between 33 and 45. Honestly... I find it kind of annoying... but I'm getting better at it. Just be super careful not to stretch it!

If you don't want to break the bank, start with something inexpensive. You can always upgrade your speakers later.

Do it! You won't regret it!! :D

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

The cartridge comes pre-mounted at Uturn. Since they are all moving magnet cartridges, you should just be able to slide off the stylus to replace it. I wouldn't go down a rabbit hole and start looking at exotic cartridges. Probably their recommended 2m red is where it would top out.

I would do the external Pluto just for flexibility later. And resale.

Massdrop has headphone amps on there everyday. Many with tubes and built in DACs.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Thanks for the info guys! Now some things I saw and read a few days ago compared the Orbit to the Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB

I gotta admit, though it looks very 70s (which is fine, but I like the discrete look of the orbit) - yet seem to have more adjustability and fine tuning options as opposed to the orbit. Being able to control the anti skid and such has its appeals. Any particular reason why the preference towards the orbit?

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

As I read and learn more, I have to ask, what do I have to buy for a set up?

So turntable and speakers..... but I need a preamp built in (or get the external pluto).... but what about an amp (is this the same as a receiver)?

Would these speakers bypass the receiver/amp? Any thoughts or opinions on this stuff would help. Also, buying from amazon is the best way I can get a new player since I have the Amazon CC and can use my prime to get it fast and 5% more points.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016P9HJIA...I2UHS1GTKOLTPQ

Thanks guys

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Those look like powered speakers so you should just run the phono pre into them. Depending on the number of outputs the phono pre has, you might need a splitter for a headphone amp if you go that route too.

I think you're better off with the Uturn. It's simple. Clean looking. I don't think you will miss the anti skate weight. It's all plus and minuses. There's a school of thought that says the USB on the at 240 adds noise. I think there are modification instructions to take it out over on YouTube.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Yea I like the orbit the more I look at it. And this was speakers woukd march great. I redid the custom job with that red r2? Stylus and Pluto external. Came out to $510. That's a lot. Not that I can't afford it, just crazy to blow that all at once. Lol.

I'm not high on being able to burn lps to mp3s so that's not a big feature. But I saw a ton of YouTube videos while my wife was at work and learned a lot. I was watching this guy vinyl eyezzz I believe and he upgraded his at120 to features that the orbit has.

What I can't figure is now after changing cartridge and stylus. Every record I have skips and no amount of pennies or what I do prevents it..... I may have fucked up a record doing these expiremwnts.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

I would think this goes back to the cheaper build quality of the player in general, but it could also be that your new stylus isn't installed right. Maybe... Not sure.
Again, can't remember if it was you :lol: but I remember someone saying they weren't getting audio from one side at one point after messing with that gear. I imagine if it's angled left/right inaccurately, it would cause one channel to cut out. If it's not installed up/down properly, or different from the previous one, I could see how it would skip around quite a bit. :lol: I really don't know anything in this area. Just typing out loud.

Honestly, even with my minor gripes about the UTurn, I still see a night and day difference with my cheap Crosley I was still using a year ago. I've only had records skip a handful of times, and only because those were in pretty bad shape. My only regret is the built in pre amp since I think it's the source for some additional noise I hear when using headphones.

With a half decent setup, you'll be asking yourself why you waited so long. :)

Turntable + pre amp + amp/receiver + unpowered speakers might be the best setup if you plan to use headphones too occasionally.

As for customizing, keep it simple. You can always upgrade later.
- pick your color
- acrylic platter (worth it and super sexy)
- don't blow your load on upgrading the stylus right away. You're already going to hear a massive improvement with the default one. Keep the cost down. I gave the Grado Black1 which isn't as pricey as the 2M Red.
- skip the cue lever. Buy it later if you need it.
- skip the built in pre amp. Get the Pluto external or some other one

That should be $309. :)

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Stop with the spare change! Use it to buy an orbit! :lol:

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Actually it's worth keeping the cue lever.

Don't get the built in phono. Always use an external phono.

Don't use a turntable with USB. You're going to get the lowest end ADC available and it will sound awful. You're better off buying the CD of whatever album you want to rip from vinyl.

Low cost turntables are basically a crap chute. There are a few okay tables in the $500 range. What makes U-Turn great for the money is they recognize that they have to make compromises at their price point and did everything they could to ensure those compromises still let them get good sound. They've geared their model towards vinyl beginners and get you a lot further than most entry level tables. A friend of mine has an Orbit and asked me about upgrading tables. I told him not to even consider it until he has at least $1.5K to invest in a table, because it's a waste of money for him to buy a $500-800 table. The upgrade will be negligible.

Don't worry about going fancy with this one. Don't try to pack in every bell and whistle. Go with an Orbit Plus in a solid color, skip the wood veneer, and add the cue lever. Go on Amazon and find a high rated phono pre at a price you're willing to spend. Order some Monoprice interconnects. Done.

As for headphones, what do you mean when you say "classic" headphones? Grado, Sennheiser, AKG? Different headphones have different amping requirements, so knowing which headphones you're interested in will help us advise you on what amp to get.

Self-powered desktop style speakers aren't a bad way to go, saves you the trouble of plugging in to a receiver of power amp.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

My point was only that he could pick it up later if he's too worried about up-front cost today. I do think the lever is a great add-on. And it's crazy easy to install himself.

Everything else you've said, I agree with... and you've made a very good point about what to do when ready to move up from the UTurn entirely. :up:


Unrelated.. I finally decided to spin my Incunabula re-press by Autechre.
I don't know if any of you are Autechre fans... but even if you're not, this sounds fucking fantastic. I can't wait to throw on the Amber and Tri Repetae re-presses next. I really hope they re-press everything by the band because the quality here is just top notch.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

By the way, if you are using a sub $1k table and are looking to move to the next level, this should be your first stop: http://vinylnirvana.com/vintage-turntables-for-sale/

Stick with the tables around $1.5k. Once you get to $2k and up there are other options worth considering.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...203_171943.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...206_153329.jpg

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

My UTurn Custom Orbit came today and just finished spinning my first vinyl on it. Bloody hell, it's fucking amazing. It is a pain in the ass getting used the manual-ness of the needle and all, but we'll get it right. I think I'll be spinning some vinyl all night.

Re: The VINYL Thread!
 

Nice! My copy of the Code Elektro albums showed up last night, so I played one of those. Wolf sounds great!

http://i.imgur.com/N3tSlcw.png