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Topic: Turntable Playing too Fast? (Read 14614 times) previous topic - next topic
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Turntable Playing too Fast?

I just got a Denon DP-29F turntable and I think it is playing the records too fast, as they are playing high pitch. Is that the reason why? What can be done?

Moderation: Moved to Audio Hardware.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #1 –
1) Yes.
2) Buy a direct drive.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #2 –
anything that can be done to my belt drive?

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #3 –
Some turntables have a fine speed adjustment of some kind, but yours doesn't appear to.

Are you absolutely sure you have the 33/45 switch set correctly?

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #4 –
it is set to 33, but I suppose there could be a slight malfunction.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Shpongled on
anything that can be done to my belt drive?


Change the belt.
Rubber belt usually shrink after years of repeating heat and cold.
Hong Kong - International Joke Center (after 1997-06-30)

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #6 –
Additionally, you could try to open the turntable and get to the circuit board ... the turntable motor normally has two potentiometers (one for 33 1/3 and one for 45)  that allows to fine-tune the motor RPM at each setting. You'll need either an oscilloscope or a test LP and a properly tuned musical instrument to set the speed right.
The name was Plex The Ripper, not Jack The Ripper

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #7 –
This is a longshot, but if your turntable uses a synchronous motor then you could have one that was designed for 50 Hz line running on 60 Hz. The error in pitch in this case would be very significant.

Also, belt shrinkage should not make the turntable faster. At worst there could be slippage that made it run slower. This would be highly audible as wow and flutter.

How much faster do you reckon it's running?

Edit: I see that it uses a DC motor, so scratch my first comment.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Shpongled on
I just got a Denon DP-29F turntable and I think it is playing the records too fast, as they are playing high pitch. Is that the reason why? What can be done?

Moderation: Moved to Audio Hardware.

When I rip LPs to the computer I always keep several rotations of the needle in the lead-out groove. When I edit the file in CoolEdit I can measure the distance between corresponding clicks in the lead-out groove and calculate the actual rotation speed. Then, I use CoolEdit to resample such that the speed is accurate.

The only problem I see with this is that it's possible that the turntable will be slightly faster when playing the lead-out groove because there's less drag from the stylus there (both because of the lower velocity and the lack of modulation) but I suspect that this would be negligible.

You can also find strobe disks that you place on the turntable mat and observe the dots (or lines) on the disk under incandescent light. When they don't move the speed is accurate.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #9 –
The actual time between clicks from the same scratch depend on the angle of the scratch to the radius of the disk.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #10 –
Quote from: AndyH-ha on
The actual time between clicks from the same scratch depend on the angle of the scratch to the radius of the disk.

Sorry, the way I wrote that was very confusing. What I meant was the click caused by the meeting of the lead-out groove and the lock groove, which is stationary. I was not referring to clicks caused by scratches (although these could be easily used on the lock groove as well).

In any event, I think that unless a scratch was almost exactly parallel to the grooves the difference from one groove to the next caused by the angle would be insignificant. I just calculated the ratio between the circumference of the average groove and the groove spacing as about 5000:1.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #12 –
In the past, I had a player with a stoboscope. But I was always asking myself, if we have exactly 50 Hz in electrical power (europe) or if it may vary a bit...

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #13 –
Quote from: Squeller on
In the past, I had a player with a stoboscope. But I was always asking myself, if we have exactly 50 Hz in electrical power (europe) or if it may vary a bit...

It does vary a bit, but it's generally very close to the correct value (50 or 60 Hz, depending on where you live). After all, many [generally] older clocks still use the AC line frequency as a reference.

The problem with the stroboscope method with respect to the OP is that it's a little tricky to measure the actual error. After all, 0.05% error is probably okay, but 1.0% is too much. You have to time one of the [stationary] little dots (or lines) around the disk through a decent angle to calculate the error correctly. The method I outlined above, especially when using multiple rotations, can give extremely accurate results.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #14 –
a screw it, Im returning this piece of crap and getting a different one. Any suggestions on a good turntable for use in college, mostly for just playing records???

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #15 –
If my records are not playing loud, but still good enough to be heard well, im guessing I need a sort of pre amp....<---newb.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #16 –
Buy Technics Sl1210 MKIII direct drive turntable.

Expensive but if you sell in the future you will always get a good price for it.

I bought mine back in the 80 for 150£ and secondhand price today 300£

Well worth the money


djaage

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #17 –
I got a Stanton T.60.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #18 –
Quote from: Shpongled on
I got a Stanton T.60.

And why do you expect this to be better than the Denon?

The T60 is a cheap DJ turntable. It's built for ruggedness rather than sound quality. It happens to be direct drive, but that doesn't make it any better. The Denon you had also looks rather cheap and nasty (which is surprising, as Denon were one of the better turntable manufacturers back in the old days).

If you want a turntable to play records in the home with good sound quality, you'd be better off buying a secondhand one from a reputable HiFi manufacturer. Brands worth checking out would be: Dual, Rega, Thorens, AR.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #19 –
Well its built like a rock, made by a reputable company, looks good, feels good, Im not looking for a Hi Fi system, jsut something that will play records and play them good, considering Im in college and havn't the space or budget for something hardcore, and because the reviews for this product were 90% good. The 10% that was bad was only for DJ specific problems. So yea I think this is a perfectly fine turntable considering where I am in life.

So once again....I have to turned my Denon RCD-R33 up all the way for it to play at a good sound level but it is not loud. Why is it not loud? What needs to be done?

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #20 –
Google does not know anything about any Denon MCD-R33. Is it pink?

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #21 –
Quote from: Shpongled on
So once again....I have to turned my Denon MCD-R33 up all the way for it to play at a good sound level but it is not loud. Why is it not loud? What needs to be done?

I thought you said it was a Denon DP-29F you had? If that's the case, then the most likely reason is that you don't have its built-in phono preamp switched on. According to the manual for the DP-29F, to switch on the preamp, you need to remove the platter and the switch is found underneath, towards the back of the deck.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #22 –
Quote from: cliveb on
Quote from: Shpongled on

So once again....I have to turned my Denon MCD-R33 up all the way for it to play at a good sound level but it is not loud. Why is it not loud? What needs to be done?

I thought you said it was a Denon DP-29F you had? If that's the case, then the most likely reason is that you don't have its built-in phono preamp switched on. According to the manual for the DP-29F, to switch on the preamp, you need to remove the platter and the switch is found underneath, towards the back of the deck.



The original turntable was the DP-29F. The system it was connected to is my my Denon RCD-M33 (yes I made a typo last time...no its not pink). I retunred the Denon turntable and got a Stanton T.60.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #23 –
The Denon website says nothing about a phono preamp in the RCD-M33. The Stanton site says nothing about one in the T.60. If both are indeed without one, which would not be unusual in the least, I am surprised you get it loud enough to listen to at all. You need a phono preamp. Also, since the phono preamp has the important job of supplying the RIAA playback EQ, your LPs should sound better, as well as being able to play at a reason volume control setting, once you have a phono preamp between the TT and the amplifier.

Turntable Playing too Fast?

Reply #24 –
Quote from: AndyH-ha on
The Denon website says nothing about a phono preamp in the RCD-M33. The Stanton site says nothing about one in the T.60

Having checked the product manuals for the RCD-M33 and the T.60, I am 99% sure that Andy is correct. There is no phono preamp in your system, and you need one. (The irony here is that the Denon turntable you returned DOES have a phono preamp). As far as I can tell, the Stanton T.80 looks much the same as the T.60, but it has a built-in phono preamp, so you might consider returning the T.60 and swapping it for a T.80. Alternatively a number of manufacturers make phono preamps. (Avoid cheap ones from Radio Shack, though).