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Turntable woes

White Zombie

White Zombie

pfm Member
Ok I recently bought a Pro-ject X1 and Dynavector PS75 MKII from the classifieds and been purchasing some records.

I've got about a dozen records that look absolute mint, that have also been cleaned, yet when I play them they sound absolute shite. Loads of crackling and staticy sounding noise, obviously more prominent in quieter parts of music. Also purchased a new copy of Time Fades Away by Neil Young about 4 weeks ago, sounded perfect when I got it, sounds terrible now.

Couldn't understand why, so today I took them to my mates who has an old Systemdek IIX with an Ortofon 520 MkII and Exposure X amp and played them there and every one sounds perfect, like crystal clear. All the parts that were unlistenable due to crackling, the crackling isn't even there on his system.

So vinyl experts of the forum, please help me out here, think I'm due a nervous breakdown haha
What could possibly be the issue? I was thinking my stylus, however, I have records that play beautifully with no issues at all on my system. Which made me think if my stylus was gubbed surely anything I played on it would sound bad.
 
Just the one it came fitted with, the Pro-ject Pick It S2 Moving Magnet. Which if I'm understanding what I've read on the forum is some form of re-branded Ortofon cartridge
 
Yes set it all up as soon as I got it in. If I've made a proper James Blunt of doing it would that account for some excellent condition records sounding brilliant and others full of the dreaded crackles?
 
White Zombie said:
Yes set it all up as soon as I got it in. If I've made a proper James Blunt of doing it would that account for some excellent condition records sounding brilliant and others full of the dreaded crackles?
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Probably not, no.
 
In post one, you say all your records now sound terrible, but later you suggest some sound brilliant?
It sounds like you have an earthing problem somewhere and the static that you and your home generate is building up.
Moving to another system maybe the static was removed before playing by a carbon brush?
So at hthis stage I'd suggest making sure your deck is earthed properly (and the arm), make sure the turntable mat isn't adding to the problem, stop wearing nylon ( a joke that but true too) and get a good carbon fibre brush and gently discharge each record before play.
Store your discs in anti static inner sleeves.
Hope this helps
 
Rockmeister said:
In post one, you say all your records now sound terrible, but later you suggest some sound brilliant?
It sounds like you have an earthing problem somewhere and the static that you and your home generate is building up.
Moving to another system maybe the static was removed before playing by a carbon brush?
So at hthis stage I'd suggest making sure your deck is earthed properly (and the arm), make sure the turntable mat isn't adding to the problem, stop wearing nylon ( a joke that but true too) and get a good carbon fibre brush and gently discharge each record before play.
Store your discs in anti static inner sleeves.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Sorry I might be making it sound a bit more confusing than it is. I've got loads of records. I have about a dozen that look mint, not a scratch or scuff to be seen. These have also been cleaned. These play terribly on my system with loads of crackling. I've played the same ones at my mates and all the crackling I hear on my system is totally absent on his.

I've also got loads of records that again look mint but play as they look on my system with no issues what so ever.

The one I mentioned, the NY album, when I first got it sounded fine, but now has lots of crackling. It's the sort of odd one out in this mystery/dilemma :)

I hear what you're saying about the earthing problem, but if I had an earthing problem would all my records not suffer from the same thing?

I'm cleaning them all with an anti static brush before playing.
 
Does sound like perhaps a dirty or damaged stylus (or misaligned?). No idea why some records would sound OK though.

A cheapo jewellers loupe for a fiver should be good enough to give you an idea of the condition of the stylus.
 
Agree re. dirty stylus as a possibility. My mate reported similar poor sound so I cleaned his stylus on one of those AT electronic devices - clarity restored.
 
A problem with the stylus was what I thought would be the problem, but I can't get my head round why it's not making all my records sound garbage.

I have one of those Audio Technica AT617A tack cleaners which has been lifting any dust off.

I'll get a wee magnifying glass, not sure if i'll know what I'm looking at haha
 
Get your mate over and ask him to check everything - the whole shebang, including looking for damage and ideally including his set-up kit such as tracking weight measurement kit. Sounds (pardon the pun) like a fundamental screw-up somewhere, the sound being night and day yours v. his.

Is your set-up selective? Are all your records jut sounding rubbish?
 
Could be the stylus? Is the room carpeted or laminate floor? Is the turntable main bearing connected to ground?
 
The Dynavector is set to its mm setting not mc, isn’t it? If it is set correctly, and the basics such as tracking weight and arm height are roughly what they should be, I’d be getting someone who knows what they’re looking for to look at your stylus for you. If it’s badly damaged, it could ruin your LPs.
 
Vinny said:
Get your mate over and ask him to check everything - the whole shebang, including looking for damage and ideally including his set-up kit such as tracking weight measurement kit. Sounds (pardon the pun) like a fundamental screw-up somewhere, the sound being night and day yours v. his.

Is your set-up selective? Are all your records jut sounding rubbish?
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nope that’s the mystery. I’ve got mint records that sound fine, no issues.

and then I’ve got mint records, that crackle like mad, but yet play absolutely fine on my mates turntable.
 
jimmytwos said:
Could be the stylus? Is the room carpeted or laminate floor? Is the turntable main bearing connected to ground?
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Carpeted.

The turntable earth cable is connected to the connection on my integrated amp. It just buzzed when I connected it to the connection on the phono stage.
 
Grenadier_45 said:
The Dynavector is set to its mm setting not mc, isn’t it? If it is set correctly, and the basics such as tracking weight and arm height are roughly what they should be, I’d be getting someone who knows what they’re looking for to look at your stylus for you. If it’s badly damaged, it could ruin your LPs.
Click to expand...

yeah set up the Dynavector to MM no problem
 
Armlift set too high so that it does not allow the stylus to ride free on all records? Tiny differences in LP thickness and warp will affect how it plays. High weight LPs should play best/perfectly as they'll be thicker.
 
Vinny said:
Armlift set too high so that it does not allow the stylus to ride free on all records? Tiny differences in LP thickness and warp will affect how it plays. High weight LPs should play best/perfectly as they'll be thicker.
Click to expand...

I redone the tracking earlier on, and got it pretty much the same as I had it.

The Neil Young album that's a mystery that I mentioned is one of those new heavy records and it's sounding bad.
 
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