Music is one of the classic forms of art since the dawn of civilization. It is rare to find people who do not love music. People who love music want to listen to them whenever they feel to listen or need a diversion from a hectic day or pass free time.
It is not likely to have a singer around always to listen to songs at any time. So people found a necessity to record these songs and have a collection of all favorite songs of individuals. From this necessity, people got the concept of turntables and other musical devices.
The turntables and other musical devices have taken this form of art to the next level. People started getting fascinated more after inventing these musical devices. The world is now full of music, music lovers, and singers, and this could be possible for these musical devices like Turntables.
Table of Contents
What is Turntable?
A turntable is a circular device for playing sound recordings, which is a rotating platform of a phonogram.
Phonogram is an obsolete device for playing music and songs. It used to be so popular from the 1870s to the 1980s. At that time, elite people used to have this device as a fancy owning. A turntable is an integral part of a phonogram. The rotation of a turntable creates music, and we listen through the speaker of the phonogram.
Different Parts of a Turntable:
- Plinth: It is a flat surface to hold the other parts of a turntable with adjustable feet.
- Platter: Platter is a circular platform of a turntable that rotates after putting a record, and the rotation produces the music.
- Belt Drive: The belt helps hold the record and ensures the record spins smoothly.
- Tonearm: It is a turntable part that holds the stylus and ensures the stylus or the needle sits correctly on the record.
- Cartridge: After putting the record on the platter, the rotation creates vibration in the stylus and tonearm, which passes into the cartridge, attached at the end of the tonearm. Then this cartridge converts the kinetic energy into an electric signal.
- Pre-amplifier: The pre-amplifier boosts the cartridge’s electric signals so that we listen to the sound properly when the signal reaches the speaker.
How to Setup Your Turntable:
Firstly, you need to compile different parts of the turntable. If you are using an external amplifier, you need to plug it into the turntable’s output port.
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Step:1 Attaching the Belt
If you buy a belt-driven turntable, you have to attach the belt to the platter and the motor pulley. You will have to be careful that there is no twist on the belt as the belt helps the platter spin.
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Step:2 Balancing the Tonearm
In the next step, you need to balance the tonearm. Before doing so, the turntable is unplugged. There is a numbered wheel next to the tonearm called anti-skate control. Then, you have to set the controller to “zero.”
After that, pull the tonearm from its rest carefully on the record. You will have to notice that if the tonearm is parallel to the surface of the record.
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Setting the Tracking Weight:
You have to monitor the amount of pressure the stylus places upon the record, and the pressure is called the tracking weight. Too much high or too much low position of the stylus can be harmful to your precious turntable. The tracking weight will be at 0g. Then you can change the tracking weight gauge to reflect this.
New Features in Latest Turntables:
The latest and modern turntables are now providing many new facilities. This is the result of technological development in turntables. In the future, there might be added more smart features to attract more purchasers.
- New fashionable designs
- Bluetooth
- USB port
Turntable VS Other Musical Devices:
With the development of technology, we have been introduced to many kinds of musical devices like- cassette player, CD, DVD player mp3, mp4, iPod, mobile phones, radio, etc. The sound quality has also been developed with the development of the devices. Now people can listen to songs whenever they want and wherever they are.
Turntables are not carriable to everywhere. It is a little bit large size to carry while traveling or on a journey. Also, the sound quality is not as good as developed digital musical devices. But the latest turntables are much better than the prosaic ones. With the increasing demand, the music quality has been developed on modern turntables.
Is It Too Expensive to Buy a Turntable?
A Turntable is a vintage and really an old-fashioned musical device. So it is quite expected that it is a bit expensive than other musical devices. Moreover, the updated versions and new features have made this device more demanding for music lovers. But there are turntables at different price ranges. The prices vary from model to model. You can buy one according to your own budget.
Where You Will Get to Buy Turntables:
You can buy turntables online. There are online shops like- Amazon, eBay, Alibaba that sell turntables of different models. So you can easily buy one sitting at home from online shops. Otherwise, you have to go to musical shops. But not every music shop sells turntables. You have to go to the renowned ones.
Why Turntables Are Vintage Yet Future:
The taste of music is very dynamic and changes with the trends. At present, people have so many genres of music and songs. We also have made ourselves used to modern digital musical devices. But nowadays, the preference of many people is changing.
Many people are bending towards buying an obsolete and vintage musical device Turntable, also called vinyl records. Yet it is a very old musical device; people are finding it fancy to own one. Senior citizens are also willing to hold it as a matter of nostalgic fact. Over the past few years, the sales of turntables have astonishingly increased. According to a report, in 2019, the sales of vinyl records reached 13 million.
Not only senior citizens, but young generations are also very enthusiastic about buying the latest smart turntables. According to a site called Musicwatch, last year, 56% of turntables purchasers were under the age of 25. True music lovers are especially looking forward to owning it as it is a signature of old classical music. Moreover, today’s music lovers want to experience a different touch of music in a different way. Many of them want to come out of the mainstream music sense and sound.
The upgraded and with better sound quality turntables can replace today’s CD or DVD players in the future, and the increasing demand for them is an indicator. So we can expect that these vintage and old-fashioned turntables have come a long way and more to go with more development.
