usb turntables

[M.I.5¾]

My folks had a bunch of these from Europe but they were kind of
plastic or something. I think their grandparents gave them to my
parents. It was crazy old-school.

There was also something called 'Melody Cards' that you could buy (late 50's
to early 60's), write a greeting and the address on one side and then post
to someone. The other side had a plastic lamination with a recording
pressed into it which could be played on a standard record player (at 45 RPM
IIRC).

 

[M.I.5¾]

I recall that those old large turntables in radio stations in the 1930s
were much slower than 78, 33.33 or perhaps even 16.67 rpm. The discs would
hold a 15 minute program on one side. This was before microgroove, so the
stylus radius was the same as for 78rpm commercial records.

Actually there was no standard 78 RPM stylis radius. The 0.003" radius
normally encountered was a compromise that worked reasonably well with most
record labels, but in fact the requirement was different between labels.
Here in the UK, Columbia required a 0.0028" stylus and His Master's Voice
required 0.0032". The smallest that I know of was 0.0018" and the largest
0.0042". This latter would barely play with a "standard" 78 stylus. This
is often the reason why home reproduced 78s seem to have distortion on the
louder passages of music. Played with the correct stylus, the distortion
almost disappears. A dedicated 78 collector will most likely have 4 (or
more) styli to cover most of the encountered records. The better cartridge
manufacturers will supply these, though they usually have to be specially
ordered. Steel needles for wind up gramophones generally come in one
radius.

 

[Tim Slattery]

There was also something called 'Melody Cards' that you could buy (late 50's
to early 60's), write a greeting and the address on one side and then post
to someone. The other side had a plastic lamination with a recording
pressed into it which could be played on a standard record player (at 45 RPM
IIRC).

Those floppy 45s used to turn up in magazines once in a while, as ads
or whatever. In the early PC era, computer magazines would distribute
programs on these things. You were supposed to put the floppy 45 onto
your turntable, record it onto an audio cassette, then read that into
your computer! This was the dark ages, when 8-bit computers used
standard portable audio cassette recorders as an I/O device.

 

[M.I.5¾]

The date and time was 2/3/2008 8:00 AM, and on a whim, sandy j pounded out


Hi Sandy,

I heard the Stanton T.90 was a pretty good one. There is some concern
over ones that have a plastic platter. But then again once you transfer
your records, you may never use it again, and plastic may be fine for that
length of time.

The difference between plastic and metal is nothing to do with longevity of
life. The platter of the turntable needs to be made from a heavy material
for speed damping purposes (minimisation of 'wow and flutter'), but at the
same time needs to be non magnetic (to avoid interfering with the stray
field from most modern magnetic cartridges). The material of choice is
bronze. Certainly the turntables on which master discs are cut would be
made from nothing else.

 

[Bill in Co.]

I recall that those old large turntables in radio stations in the 1930s
were much slower than 78, 33.33 or perhaps even 16.67 rpm.

Are you sure of that, Allen (or whoever)? I thought some of the old
broadcast
transcription disks ran at near 78 rpm, but had to be so large (like perhaps
16 inches in diameter) to be able to go for 15 minutes on one side. (I'm
thinking of some of the material that was also shortwave broadcasted and/or
delivered overseas to our troops during WWII, like Command Performance, or
GI Jive).

This is not to be confused with some of the 16 rpm records used for speech
that came a bit later, I think.

 

[M.I.5¾]

Those floppy 45s used to turn up in magazines once in a while, as ads
or whatever. In the early PC era, computer magazines would distribute
programs on these things. You were supposed to put the floppy 45 onto
your turntable, record it onto an audio cassette, then read that into
your computer! This was the dark ages, when 8-bit computers used
standard portable audio cassette recorders as an I/O device.

'Flimsies' (as they were properly known) were a different thing completely
from 'melody cards'. The former were a thin plastic sheet, whereas the
latter was a card/plastic laminate. I remember the software supplied on
them as well, but I used to read them direct from the flimsie.

 

[Martin C]

One excellent software application you could try out is Spin It Again. You
can find out more at this link:
http://www.acoustica.com/spinitagain/
I initially tried to use a VERY long lead from my hifi downstairs to my PC
upstairs, but it introduced too much noise. I had downloaded a trial of Spin
It Again and it performed an incredible job of removing the noise, but it
was not good enough for me. I will have to move my turntable upstairs and
use my preamp with a short lead before trying again.
Basically, the application is quite easy to use and very tweakable so that
you can do extra editing - well see the web site and judge for yourself.
Good luck with the turntable.

Martin

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

There was also something called 'Melody Cards' that you could buy (late 50's

to early 60's), write a greeting and the address on one side and then post
to someone. The other side had a plastic lamination with a recording
pressed into it which could be played on a standard record player (at 45 RPM
IIRC).

Yeah, I remember those. My folks had gobs of those. As a kid I used to
drop the needle on those in the 70s. Old school. I recall the sound
quality being that of a broken bottle being pulled through a cats @ss.
I know them as Flexies.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Actually there was no standard 78 RPM stylis radius. The 0.003" radius

normally encountered was a compromise that worked reasonably well with most
record labels, but in fact the requirement was different between labels.
Here in the UK, Columbia required a 0.0028" stylus and His Master's Voice
required 0.0032". The smallest that I know of was 0.0018" and the largest
0.0042". This latter would barely play with a "standard" 78 stylus. This
is often the reason why home reproduced 78s seem to have distortion on the
louder passages of music. Played with the correct stylus, the distortion
almost disappears. A dedicated 78 collector will most likely have 4 (or
more) styli to cover most of the encountered records. The better cartridge
manufacturers will supply these, though they usually have to be specially
ordered. Steel needles for wind up gramophones generally come in one
radius.

I do have three stylii for my 78s for the above mentioned reason. My
turntable plays everything from 16RPM all the way up through 90+ RPM
as the 78RPM was by no means a"standard" at all. All companies put out
oddball speed 78s and sometimes the recordings you hear on CD aren't
even at the right speed! Crazy!

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Are you sure of that, Allen (or whoever)? I thought some of the old

broadcast
transcription disks ran at near 78 rpm, but had to be so large (like perhaps
16 inches in diameter) to be able to go for 15 minutes on one side. (I'm
thinking of some of the material that was also shortwave broadcasted and/or
delivered overseas to our troops during WWII, like Command Performance, or
GI Jive).

This is not to be confused with some of the 16 rpm records used for speech
that came a bit later, I think.

The 16" transcription discs used to play radio shows as well as some
recorded interview type stuff. Even a 16" at 78 couldn't possibly hold
15 minutes. Check out some info here:
http://www.auldworks.com/articles/dtrans2.htm

16" discs did come in 16.66+/1 RPM and 33 1/3 as well.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Bill in Co.]

The 16" transcription discs used to play radio shows as well as some
recorded interview type stuff. Even a 16" at 78 couldn't possibly hold
15 minutes. Check out some info here:
http://www.auldworks.com/articles/dtrans2.htm

16" discs did come in 16.66+/1 RPM and 33 1/3 as well.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

Thanks for the link. It was quite interesting!

 

[M.I.5¾]

The 16" transcription discs used to play radio shows as well as some
recorded interview type stuff. Even a 16" at 78 couldn't possibly hold
15 minutes. Check out some info here:
http://www.auldworks.com/articles/dtrans2.htm

That was obviously written by a yank because it is so US-centric. It
completely ignores that things were different on the other side of the great
divide. For instance, the standard speed of 78 discs in Europe was 77.92
rpm - a little slower than in the US.

A 16" 78 rpm record would not have held more than 6 1/2 minutes even if it
had the smallest encountered label size at 2 inches - and even these
predated the 78 era.

Now does anyone know at what speed C1927 black label His Master's Voice
records should be played at?

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

That was obviously written by a yank because it is so US-centric. It

completely ignores that things were different on the other side of the great
divide. For instance, the standard speed of 78 discs in Europe was 77.92
rpm - a little slower than in the US.

A 16" 78 rpm record would not have held more than 6 1/2 minutes even if it
had the smallest encountered label size at 2 inches - and even these
predated the 78 era.

Now does anyone know at what speed C1927 black label His Master's Voice
records should be played at?

I once had this page bookmarked that did tell you what all the correct
speeds of 78s were but I'll be damned if I can find it now. Try Google
yet?

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[M.I.5¾]

I once had this page bookmarked that did tell you what all the correct
speeds of 78s were but I'll be damned if I can find it now. Try Google
yet?

Certainly have, but have drawn a blank so far.