The waves transfer energy from the source of the sound out to its surroundings. Your ear detects sound waves when vibrating air particles cause your eardrum to vibrate. The bigger the vibrations the louder the sound.
The grooves you can see on a vinyl record are actually sound waves or more like a type of fingerprint of the sound waves captured in a lacquer disc that we call a vinyl record. These three-dimensional grooves cut in the vinyl record are a recording of how the sound waves behave as they move through the air.
A typical record player has a type of needle called a stylus that is placed gently on the vinyl record resting in the beginning of one of the grooves. As the vinyl disc steadily rotates the stylus moves through the wavy three dimensional grooves. The stylus is a tiny crystal of sapphire or diamond mounted at the very end of a lightweight metal bar like a needle.
As the crystal vibrates in the groove, its microscopic bounces are transmitted down the bar. The stylus fits onto the end of an electromagnetic device called a cartridge, containing a piezoelectric crystal. The metal bar presses against the crystal and each time it moves, it wobbles the crystal slightly, generating an electrical signal.
Once the stamper is obtained, polyvinyl chloride PVC pellets are heated and formed into a hockey-puck shaped block called a biscuit.
The biscuit is then stamped under psi of pressure and deg. Celcius of heat to imprint the grooves and produce a record! Using a record player is not exactly rocket science, but knowing a few key points and techniques can help you get the best sound quality while also preventing damage to your player and records. If you've ever walked into a bulk electronics store it's like you've come across a wall of cheap turntables and record players These mass market record players may save you a little on the wallet up front but will cost you more down the track.
They are typically fit with low-quality cartridges and styli that not only produce poor quality sound, but more often that not can damage your favourite vinyl. A good record player doesn't necessarily cost an arm and a leg, but you'll want to make sure you're purchasing something that will last longer than a few spins and won't damage your records.
Check out our complete collection of record players if you're ready to get a turntable that will bring your music to life and provide enjoyment for years to come! Technology tends to become obsolete once a newer, and supposedly superior, model comes along. Record players and vinyl have not only survived countless new innovations in the audio industry - but have surged and prospered! This article has only given you a brief rundown on turntables and vinyl records, but I hope it's answered a few key questions for you and piqued your interest to find out more.
With the undeniable sound quality that vinyl provides and many modern artists now releasing 'vinyl-only' recordings - it's a great time to get involved with your first turntable, or upgrade to that piece you've been dreaming of! Search Shop By Brand. Accent Vision Audiolab. Krix Home Entertainment Series. Lindemann Limetree Series. Monitor Audio.
Home Theatre. Read on below as we run you through a bit of vinyl history, what makes up a record player and just exactly how a record player works! A Brief History Of Vinyl Records: With the growing success of record players using a recorded disc format instead of the original cylinder design, the vinyl record industry also grew exponentially to match it!
The Key Components Of A Record Player: Now that you have an idea of how the sound is produced, let's run through all of the major bits and pieces that make up your record player! The Platter The platter is the disc that sits atop the plinth and spins - often interchangeably called the 'turntable'. The Tonearm The tonearm is attached to the record players plinth at one end and houses the cartridge and stylus at the other. The Cartridge The turntable cartridge also called a 'phono cartridge' sits at the far end of the tonearm and converts the physical movement of the stylus into electrical signals to pass on to the pre-amplifier.
Johnson refined the design of the gramophone, which until that time had been dominated by a large horn to amplify the sound. In order to fit more comfortably in a home, the horn was tilted down and the entire device placed in a cabinet. This new design, introduced in , was called the Victrola.
Meanwhile, the company also manufactured discs recorded by famous opera singers and musicians, giving the public unprecedented access to music [source: Shoenherr , Morton: Phonograph ]. Over time, the design of the gramophone and the recording process were continuously changing, yet the core elements of the needle in a groove remained the same. By the midth century, most households had what was then commonly known as a record player and most recently called a turntable.
Its mass popularity lasted until about the mids when cassette tape recordings overtook records. We're on our way to finding out what exactly goes on during a record player's playback, but first, we need to understand the basics of how a vinyl record is created. The success of the gramophone to play recorded sounds was dependent on the ability to mass produce records. The process of making records has its roots in Thomas Alva Edison's phonograph.
First, a master recording is made, usually in a studio where engineers perfect the recorded sound. Then an object called a lacquer is placed on a record-cutting machine, and as it rotates, electric signals from the master recording travel to a cutting head, which holds a stylus, or needle. The needle etches a groove in the lacquer that spirals to the center of the circular disc. The imprinted lacquer is then sent to a production company. There, the lacquer is coated in a metal, such as silver or nickel, to produce a metal master.
When the metal master is separated from the lacquer, the resulting disc has ridges instead of grooves. The metal master is then used to create a metal record, also called the mother, which is then used to form the stamper. Stampers are just negative versions of the original recording that will be used to make the actual vinyl records. Next, the stamper is placed in a hydraulic press, and vinyl is sandwiched in between.
Steam from the press softens the plastic as the stampers push an impression of the master recording onto it. Finally, the disc is stiffened using cool water. Once the record is ready to be played, it will need a proper machine to bring its sounds to life. Up next, we'll break down how exactly a record player's components work together to bring you the music. Records are often referred to by the number of revolutions that they make on a turntable per minute, or RPMs. This number gives the listener an idea of how much is recorded on the record [source: Phonograph ].
For almost a century, the record player was the most common way to listen to recorded music, speeches, languages and lessons. The design has been refined over the years, but the concept changed little, and the basic parts have remained the same. The turntable is the circular plate on which the record sits. A rod positioned in the center holds the record which has a hole in its center in place. The metal turntable is covered in rubber or plastic, which protects the record from being scratched.
The turntable rotates or spins with the help of either a belt drive or direct drive system. The stylus , or needle, is the smallest and perhaps the most important component of the record player.
It is made from a diamond or other hard material, shaped like a cone and suspended by a flexible strip of metal.
The pointed end is the only piece that touches the top of the record and it rides around the spiraling grooves of the disk, picking up the vibrations which are ultimately turned back into sound.
The stylus sits at one end of the tone arm, which is mounted to the side of the turntable and sits parallel to the record. With the needle or stylus placed in the outermost groove of the record, the tone arm follows the groove as it spirals inward, traveling across the record in an arc as the record spins beneath it. As this happens, the vibrations travel along a flexible metal strip and wires housed in the tone arm to the cartridge in the end of the tone arm.
The cartridge receives the vibrations, which are converted to electrical signals through a coil in a magnetic field. The electric signals are carried along wires to the amplifier which enhances the power of the signal.
Finally, the signals are converted back to sounds that come out through the speakers. Initially, recorded sounds were mainly monophonic, meaning all of the sound signals are combined and come through one speaker or channel.
The stylus is set at one end of the tone arm, which is set at the side of the turntable, parallel to the record, and moves across the record while the stylus follows the spiral groove. The stylus picks up vibrations as it moves through the grooves of recorded sound, and those vibrations travel along the metal band at the end of the tone arm, to wires in a cartridge at the end of the arm. A coil in a magnetic field turns the vibrations into electrical signals, which are carried along wires to the amplifier.
These boosted signals are finally turned back into sound through the speakers, producing the sounds and music recorded on vinyl records.
Vinyl records have replaced Berliner's rubber discs. Easy to mass produce, master recordings are copied by placing a lacquer on a record-cutting machine. The master copy sends electrical signals to the turning record-cutting machine through a cutting head, which holds a stylus and cuts a groove in the lacquer that coils to the middle of the round disc.
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