I'm not an expert on vinyl. The only record players I've interacted with have only had two speeds. Do most of them do variable spin rates?
How frequently do the rates get out of sync? What causes it? Do they vary on an album by album basis?
How frequently do the rates get out of sync? What causes it? Do they vary on an album by album basis?
Good players will have it on the front, and will have a strobe to help you adjust that (the little dots you see on the outside of the platter on fancy players). However, cheaper players may not have an easy way to adjust, and some (like mine) hide the knob under so it's a pain to adjust.
Cheaper players are more likely to come misconfigured from the factory. I asked a lot of friends (who are amateurs, not audiophiles) to test this app out and every single one had a turntable that required adjustment. Mine's running at 34.6 RPM which is just 3% off, but when listening to my favorite albums I can definitely tell that it's too fast and too high pitched.
The speed will also sometimes drift slowly over time, which is why it took me a while to notice my table was off.
If you have a turntable, you can try listening to the same song from a record and from a digital release, and see if you can hear a difference. If you do, I know just the app for you!
Audioplebs need not apply.
Lots of turntables have variable speed, DJs can tell you more about it :)
> How frequently do the rates get out of sync? What causes it? Do they vary on an album by album basis?
When you're DJing, one of the main things you'd deal with, is making things be in sync, one way or another. I'm not sure how much value you'd get from an app like this that seems to be more "fire and forget" and not for on-the-fly matching.
I'm guessing this app is for people who do their own maintenance, repairs and such of turntables, so they can easily verify their work.
Plus DJ turntables tend to be direct drive, which should be pretty consistent. Where as consumer record players tend to be more belt drives. And I’m assuming those belts can stretch with time?
I agree :)
> Plus DJ turntables tend to be direct drive, which should be pretty consistent
Indeed, but once you start doing repairs and/or modifications, things can get fuzzy. Maybe the app would help those people?
Most record players are belt drive. Anything that is belt drive usually has some slip / variation (if more familiar to you, imagine the belt drive on a lawn tractor). Many have a finer adjustment to tune the spin rate. +- off of the selected rate. (Perhaps you selected 33 rpm but it’s really spinning at 32)
I’m sure someone who knows much more then I do, could give a much better explanation along with other types of tuning. (Arm weights, needles, etc etc)
I only commonly use a dual 1219, dual 1229, (both purchased for under $30), and a victor victrola from 1908 so my knowledge is severely limited despite having played with others it’s focused on those units.
Rates will be off due to manufacturing tolerance or mechanical wear (i.e. a loose belt slipping on a motor).
Most people don't worry about it.
It doesn't really vary album-to-album, unless you have some ridiculously heavy records that slow the motor.
Belts age. Friction within the motor and the table's bearing will change over time. It is not necessarily a frequent thing that needs to be done, but usually the speed will change slightly over the life of the table.