#record-player — Public Fediverse posts

Lessons learned from the problem solving of “fixing” a recent “broken record”. In summary:

1. sometimes waiting can (partially) fix a problem or reduce its severity
2. applying reasoning and practical math & science (e.g. mechanics & acoustics) to diagnose and take actions can also repair something (at least partially), as well as eliminate possible causes
3. web searching for “how to fix” can reveal additional potential causes (and steps to take)

The record was a brand new specialty vinyl that I had ordered.

Problem: when I placed the record on the turntable and pressed the START button, I could immediately see that it had a bit of a “bump” or rise at a specific spot, once per revolution. When I tried playing it, the needle skipped backwards, just after the bump, because while the needle was able to follow the rise of the bump, it was unable to “fall” fast enough to stay on track (literally), thus losing touch with the vinyl, and when it recontacted, it slid outward to prior revolution of the track.

I figured the warping was the problem, and not something I could fix (without risking worse damage), and placed the vinyl back into its double sleeves, into its cardboard cover (still shrinkwrapped except for the side slit I had cut open), then that into the packing and box it was shipped in. I left it flat on a desk (nothing on top) to eventually investigate how to return the record for a replacement or refund.

About a week later I looked into the specifics for a replacement/refund which said to take a photo or make a recording of the record problem to submit online.

When I put the record back on the turntable, fully confident I would reproduce the problem and record it, I immediately noticed that the “bump” had somehow become much gentler (shorter, less prominent) than I remembered.

I gently lowered the needle on the record, and now, on the gentler bump, the needle tracked perfectly. Zero skipping.

Somehow simply packing the record in its stiff cardboard and then that in the packing materials and box and leaving it out for a week (note: not in any sunlight or other heat source), had resulted in the record plastic “settling” and flattening just enough to fix the problem. Lesson 1.

Still I could see the smaller bump, and figured I should test the record thoroughly. I flipped it around to its B side and played it. I had not previously tested the back side. For some reason, the bump was less apparent from the other side. Perhaps the “valley” on the other side of a bump on a record is shallower and wider?

Regardless, the needle started skipping, again consistently in one location per revolution, however not where the bump/valley was! It skipped the way I know record needles skip when there is a bad scratch.

I experimented with dropping the needle at various spots along the track and quickly determined that it only skipped in the first 10-15s of the song. Any needle drop after ~15s into the song played consistently all the way through to the end of the record.

I visually inspected the record with extra lighting around the region it was skipping, expecting to find an obvious scratch or stubborn piece of dust. I was unable to see either, despite visually inspecting the area across multiple viewing angles, which was made more challenging by the record’s use of transparent or at least translucent plastic.

Seeing no visual damage, I concluded the problem was more likely either a small fleck (or flecks) of dust, or possibly microscopic scratch which the needle was hitting while being invisible to the naked eye.

I grabbed a fresh optics cleaning cloth and thoroughly wiped off the entirety of the track area on the B side. I also gently dabbed the bottom of the needle in case any dust particles had been attracted by the static electricity. Under very bright lighting, I couldn’t see any hint of any dust remaining.

Tried playing it again, almost the same result: the record skipped back at the same spot every revolution, however the range where it skipped was smaller, perhaps only 5-10s into the track. Wiping the dust had helped, and I had eliminated at least a few possible causes (a visible scratch or more dust). Lesson 2.

Feeling like I had exhausted the limits of reasoning about the physics of record player and needle functions, at this point I was about to give-up, and make a recording of the skipping. I decided to try one more thing, encouraged by the incremental improvements so far.

I web searched for something like “how to fix a record that is skipping” and plenty of results showed up from various vinyl experts and shops. I opened several of them and skimmed their descriptions, recommended diagnoses, and things to try.

Most of the articles listed nearly exactly the steps I had taken already which was a nice validation of my physics reasoning and diagnostic & repair steps.

However, multiple articles listed a couple more things, which I had forgotten about (having not adjusted the turntable in a very long time). Tracking force. Seeing the phrase was an a-ha moment, yes, that’s a key aspect of the physics that I had forgotten.  A record needle depends on having some (but not too much) weight in order to stay in its groove while playing, and have less chance of being dislodged by small (perhaps microscopic!) scratches or dust particles.

I immediately adjusted the counterweight on the other end of the player arm a few twists to make the needle “heavier” (I should probably measure the actual needle force with a sensitive digital scale for a proper adjustment) and tried playing the B side one more time.

It worked. The track played perfectly. Lesson 3.

Lessons:

1. time alone (or nearly, sometimes leaving something in a static position) can fix or improve some things

2. use math & science to reason about the problem. this will not only lead you to solve many (perhaps even novel to you) problems, the cognitive effort alone reinforces such knowledge and reasoning skills. practicing problem solving makes you a better problem solver.

3. lastly, ask (for help). today we ask search engines. if you know someone with expertise in a subject matter, especially someone who has solved similar problems, ask them. asking for help at the point of needing it, and having reached the edges of your own knowledge is a particularly good moment to learn something, because you’re already in a motivated mindset and open to it

The entire problem solving process probably took longer than it could have, however, many aspects were a good reminder and reinforcement about problem solving in general, which was certainly worth the time.

And it saved me the time it would have taken to return the record and request a replacement or refund.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/broken_record

#lesson #lessons #fixing #repair #repairs #problemSolving #problemSolver #reason #reasoning #science #physics #brokenRecord #record #vinyl #recordPlayer #recordNeedle #trackingForce #time #ask #asking #askForHelp #askExperts
#Blaugust #Blaugust2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPc5frU8IQQ

The "consumer grade" #recordPlayer will /not/ ruin your #records, generally not any more than any other use anyway.

Audiophile Gets Hepatitis C From Dirty Vinyl Needle

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://thehardtimes.net/music/audiophile-gets-hepatitis-c-from-dirty-vinyl-needle/

@mojala

Ich hab den Nachmittag genutzt um mal mit meinem Plattenspieler bei einem HIFI-Spezi vorbeizufahren und verschiedene Abtastsysteme ausprobiert. Es ist dann doch kein Ortofon geworden, sondern audio-technica AT33EV

Etwas teurer als geplant, aber der Aufpreis ist es definitiv Wert. Die getesteten Ortofon 2M (rot, blau, bronze) waren auch gut, aber das hier passt einen Tick besser als das bronze... Die für einen höheren Preis waren dann schon noch ein bisschen besser, aber imho rechtfertig es nicht dafür den Preis einen gebrauchten Kleinwagens auszugeben.

#hifi #recordplayer #turntable

There are few pieces of #audio #gear I miss owning. The Technics SL-J33 is probably one of the biggest, so I decided to write about it:

https://ennui-vagaries.cc/2026/08/06/the-one-i-miss-technics/

#turntable #stereo #vintage #music #listening #recordplayer #recordplayers #turntables

There are few pieces of #audio #gear I miss owning. The Technics SL-J33 is probably one of the biggest, so I decided to write about it:

https://ennui-vagaries.cc/2026/08/06/the-one-i-miss-technics/

#turntable #stereo #vintage #music #listening #recordplayer #recordplayers #turntables

There are few pieces of #audio #gear I miss owning. The Technics SL-J33 is probably one of the biggest, so I decided to write about it:

https://ennui-vagaries.cc/2026/08/06/the-one-i-miss-technics/

#turntable #stereo #vintage #music #listening #recordplayer #recordplayers #turntables

⚫️ 🎵 Tiny Vinyl (a company that makes playable 4-inch #Vinyl #Records) is releasing a #RecordPlayer.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91571885/tiny-records-now-have-their-own-miniature-record-player

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… along with the #TinyVinyl player 👇

https://www.target.com/p/tiny-vinyl-player-black/-/A-1010655248

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… they have also released a #TinyVinyl Crate.

📦 ⚫️ 🎵

https://www.target.com/p/tiny-vinyl-crate/-/A-1010655589

Fine... buffing some of the scratches out of the cover tk see how it works. There was some headlight cleaner (ie basically a fine polishing paste) here. Works great, except for the deep scratches and what looks like a couple of melted(?) spots. #recordplayer #repair

Seems like the record player needs more work. Chipmunks mode! #recordplayer #repair

Okay, the kids had another old powered speaker, while I figure out a better speaker situation lol. #recordplayer

Had to tape the top down when flipping this over. Audio now working on both channels... but some kind of funky ground issue with my speaker. The ground side of these signal cables are NOT attached to ground inside the record player. What the heck... #repair #recordplayer #electronics

Pickups fine. The red phono plug wire has a break, both on ground and signal. Confirmed after removal. I suspect something was pulled too hard and separated a lead. Replaced with a salvaged audio cable. (Those show up on curbs often) #recordplayer #repair

So, probably the next step is to desolder or disconnect the pickup wires and make sure both coils are working. It may be the magnetic pickup on one side not working (how that is possible... I do not know). Looking at the two lines from the stylus would confirm that. (at the moment, this being a cheap record player, this is me learning about what might or might not break on something like this). #repair #recordplayer #electronics

Pulled out and oscilloscope. One channel still has no output. #repair #recordplayer #electronics

Capacitors replaced. A few leaky, but may not have fixed it. #recordplayer #electronics #repair

And it works... sorta. The stylus works *but* the circuitry is definitely in need of new caps. The signal lines are somehow connected to ground. And only one channel works. This ONLY plays if the signal but NOT the ground connected. Here you have the fine country music of Mr. Al Perry, before he went into a life of crime #recordplayer #electronics #repair

El cheapo stylus received and installed. Nice there is a protective cover for it while you install the tiny screws!!!#recordplayer #repair

So... A *decent* replacement for one of this would be around $35 to $45. Because this is a not-very-good Realistic with questionable quality and not sure if this is the only problem, decided to buy a throwaway $9 stylus (compatible, hopefully). (unfortunately, to get it that cheap and no shipping, from Uncle Bezos Expo). Will see if it actually fits or not, etc., but not willing to invest $$ on this repair experiment. #repair #recordplayer

Left/right pickup wires swapped, and still getting audio. The arm is not balanced though... how to do so on this thing is a mystery, however. (cheap record player!). #repair #electronics #recordplayer

Part:

1. Power transformer, converts 120V AC to 12V AC
2. Rectifier board, convert 12VAC to 12V DC
3. Motor which drives belt
4. Switch between 33 and 45 rpm. There's two potentiometers to set the voltage to for 33rpm and 45rpm on the front side (adjustable via screw hole)
5. Switch between preamp and no preamp, stereo (single throw double pole)
6. Header for power cord connector
7. Preamp board (not sure if it does RIAA or not, there are a lot of resistors and capacitors on this thing, which makes me think it does have a filter network). There are two sets of diodes, resistors, and capacitors on this board. Unsure what the big black strip in the middle is... maybe a transistor array? Will have to look at the part # next time I crack this thing open.

Current plan of action:
1. Replace all the capacitors on board#7 in case of aging/moisture damage (common on old electronics). ALMOST all aging in electronics is switches/potentiometers and capacitor aging.
2. If that doesn't fix things, figure out what that IC/transistor thing is, and either replace it with a similar part or individual transistors. (this is probably the preamp part).

#electronics #repair #recordplayer

Here's where the cartridge wires go to. #repair #recordplayer

Single channel audio... the audio is distorted, and the record is skipping (no scratches in the record), which indicates there is a lubrication or adjustment issue in the arm (ie. force needed to move the arm along at the right speed). #recordplayer #repair #electronics

Just picked up this gorgeous sixties Philips radiogram for ten bucks, which is ridiculous. Look how beautiful it is!

#MidCentury #radio #recordplayer #radiogram