(Or, it could be an anti-skating misadjustment, and some records might be low-quality or damaged.) The stylus should flex a bit when you drop it on the record, but it shouldn't be flexed so much that it's almost buried in the cartridge. My first guess is that your tracking force is too light. I could probably get a fairly decent price for it on eBay.
#TECHNICS SL BD35 CARTRIDGE HOW TO#
How do I determine which is the correct one? And for tracking purposes, is it worse for the tracking force to be too light or too heavy? And finally, are there any audible cues that would let me know which problem I have?įinally, does anyone know of a good quality preamp in the price range of the DJ Pre II (around $75 or so)? It's performed well, but I'd rather use something that actually comes with instructions on how to set it up. The preamp has two settings for capacitance: 100uF and 200uF. I have read that there are two possible causes: mistracking and having set the wrong input capacitance. The sound is generally good, but the treble is occasionally "spitty" and I occasionally have mild to moderate harsh sibilance. The problem is that although my recordings seem to be all right for the most part, I do have one niggling issue:ġ. And finally, to add insult to injury, the tracking force scale is gone from the back of the arm, so I've more or less been "adjusting to taste" as it were.īut believe it or not, those aren't the problems. To make matters worse, the turntable doesn't have the post the arm is supposed to rest on, so that when it comes to rest, it hits the turntable body. The preamp did not come with any kind of instructions on how to set it up, and I can't find any specs on the DR350 anywhere. I say "fairly" because I have no way of knowing I have anything set up right. All of these seem to be working fairly well. The cartridge that came with the turntable is an old Digital Research DR350, which I guess was made by Audio Technica. I am using an older Technics SL-BD35 belt-drive turntable to get music into my computer, hooked up to an ART DJ Pre II phono preamp. Im using a nice Yamaha reciever and I've swapped out my RCA cables too.Īnd some of my records are BRAND NEW.I like to think that I know a lot about using a turntable to get music into my computer, but I've come up against something that's stumped me. (its not my speakers either, Ive played through headphones and its the same) I spent $$ on an "upgraded" needle and it sounds worse. (just slightly distorted even at low volumes)Īnybody good with this stuff? I just started buying vinyl stuff cause I was thinkin the sound was BETTER, but now im getting kinda ticked off. Ive fiddled with the tonearm weight, set it to just "float" and then cranked it down about 2 turns, and then added weight from there in hopes of clearing up the sound but to no avail. now with the new needle the sound isnt clear. The original needle was bent or something cause I had to put a penny on the tone arm to get a good sound, but it was a clear clean sound once I did that. Ive got a Technics SL-BD35 record player that was given to me, I recently put a new belt on it and ordered a new shure stylus for it as well (this one- ) The table originally had the stock Red stylus, this white one is supposed to be for improved sound quality.