Crosley Revolution portable record player - magnetic cartridge!

Obviously I'm looking to play vinyl on the road. I'm starting to believe this may not be something that is possible to do safely. I'm considering doing a needledrop with this thing at 2g with each record I buy while traveling and not playing them again until I get home. It has USB-out anyway. I won't really be playing vinyl on the road, but at least I'll be able to play the music digitally so I'll know what I want to buy more of, and record wear will be at a bare minimum.

 

If you're going to do needledrops on a DAP, do the smart thing, get a decent Technics DD table (I find them on CL for no more than $50 all the time, which is much less than that silly cable you bought) and a decent cart/stylus combo and do it right. You already know that thing has sub-par sound. If you have a chance to get better sound without the compromises forced on you by trying to make the setup mobile, why wouldn't you do that?

 

Obviously you don't realize that vinyl is a fragile medium. If you value it, you don't go traipsing across the country with records in a messenger bag.

 

violarules is right. Use the portable turntable for digging through the crates at record shows, used record stores that have plugins available, thrift stores that have plugins available, etc.

 

Pibroch, the point of all this is to play vinyl on the road. I can't bring a Technics or any other decent turntable on the road. I've been on the road for 6 months and I have no plans to settle down any time soon.

So if you're a true vinyl lover, you stay home and listen, right?

I go to a new place (such as San Sebastian, Spain where I am now), buy records, listen to them, mail them to my folks' place in California. Then I go to a new place and repeat the process. It's FUN. Real fun. Here's a photo of a few records I bought in the Basque Country. I listen to them in the Basque Country. The songs are sung in Basque. The covers and labels are written in Basque. I can hear Basque being spoken outside my window as I write this. If you don't see what I'm getting at, then I don't know what to say.

No plugins necessary. The thing runs on AA batteries. If it's OK to use it in the places you describe, surely it's also OK to use it to needledrop each record I buy once?

 

Yes, it is OK to needle drop using the Crosley Revolution once.

 

I apologize, that does sound like fun.

In my defense, the only other place you mentioned needing it to test records while on the road abroad was buried amongst your myriad other posts in the middle pages of this thread. You can understand how I missed it.

 

I hate to say this, but wouldnt the best portable record player indeed, be a CD player?

I mean this thread is funny and entertaining, but overall....whats the point?

 

Indeed this is the truth.

 

Agreed. I mean, unless the records you are picking up are worth hundreds, I consider buying vinyl a crapshoot beyond visual inspection.

And what are you traveling in? I have a small portable preamp and if traveling by car.... if I really wanted to listen to vinyl I would not think a decent TT would be a huge deal to pack. But then, I am not terribly interested in listening to vinyl while traveling. In fact, vinyl is not my first priority when traveling period.

 

As mentioned by one already, a teacher showing records to students.

 

No problem, I'm glad you agree.

Me too, I don't take the portable to the shops. I've been listening to what I buy once I get back to where I'm staying so I know what I want to buy more of. I've fallen in love with a couple of French women named Francoise Hardy and Nathalie Degand because of this. I picked up a single of each of their's in Biarritz and I will be back for as much more as I can get.

After flying to Spain, I've been getting around via train. It's me and my wife actually. We'll be flying into the southern hemisphere once the weather starts to turn up here. Obviously a non-portable is out of the question.

As the months piled up, vinyl started to creep up my list of priorities.

So, you guys have convinced me that the Crosley is damaging my records, even at 2g VTF. I appreciate everyone taking their time to do that. Do I have your approval to do 1 needledrop per record at 3g (sounds better) via the USB-out so I can still listen to what I buy digitally? Should that be safe?

 

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@the OP - admittedly I've only scanned through this thread, but it seems the main goal here is to play vinyl on the road -- basically to make it mobile?

My reply to that is....why?

I see several problems with this -- first is the quality of the portable player, which has been discussed here repeatedly. But I'm not going to go into that. My bigger concern is...why in the world would you want to travel anywhere with LP's to begin with? They're big, they're heavy once you get past a dozen or so, and they're fragile. Not so much breaking, but certainly the possibility of scratches or worse is very high.

If you really require that "vinyl" sound on the go, I'd invest in a decent TT, a decent ADC and do needle drops instead. You can bring those on the road and leave the valued LP's safe at home. It's a little bit of money and a little bit of work, but much less risky, and lighter to carry, in the long-term.

EDIT: I see that you're leaning that way (needle drops). I can't say whether or not this particular device is high risk or not - I'll let others chime in. My understanding is that the rule of thumb is that ceramic cart + high tracking = bad, so I'm not sure if this device of yours would be considered a high risk or not given the MM cart and lower tracking.

 

You stupidity knows no bounds.

You're playing Françoise Hardy vinyl on that thing!!??

 

Please allow me to quote myself:

Even back home I only buy and play 7" records. I like the format and I love 45rpm. My full albums are on ripped CD's. Of course that entire collection is here with me on a 1TB disk.

BTW, I heard back from Crosley that the VTF is supposed to be 2g (mine measures 4.7g) and they offered to replace the unit for me once I'm back in the US.

It ain't pricey in France pal. Stick to eBay.

 

No, you listen at home. When you travel, you only listen to your vinyl, if someone has a turntable that can safely play your vinly. However: If I was in your peculiar situation, I would ask someone really competent, if he knew a portable record player that could be used to safely play records. I actually have no idea, if such a player exists.

 

Already been done:

http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=271698

 

Apparently the answer is "no".

 

Indeed, although 99% of the time, the reason the plastic portables damage records is said to be their high VTF and ceramic cartridge. The Crosley Revolution has a magnetic cartridge at 2g VTF but apparently still isn't approved. stereoguy was kind enough to explain why but it's apparently a very little-known piece of information.

Would anyone disagree with this if I do it at 2g?

 

You are searching for approval of a $100 portable turntable on an audiophile forum. If you are happy, don't worry about it just enjoy your setup.

During this thread, others have said how ceramic cartridges will ruin your records, even that is crap. I can tell you when I was 15, I had a Panasonic all in one stereo with a ceramic cartridge. I still have all the records that I bought back then and they sound fine (see my profile for equipment). The trick is to keep the stylus and record clean and never ever play the same record twice in a 24 hour period.

I've had many different turntables/cartridges in the last 47 years. The secret of maintaining mint records is to change cartridges or stylus often and keep the stylus clean. When I started using Shure cartridges in 1971 at first the M91ED, I would put a new cartridge on every 6 months. I kept a stack of sealed .50 lp's on hand and would open three new lp's and play them till I put 15-20 on the stylus to polish the cheap tip. Those records would then be tossed.

Any record that I bought new still sounds perfect.

 

I don't want to damage my vinyl and I know the folks here won't let me.

I use a Zerodust on the stylus. That's interesting about the 24 hours. Why is that?

I've never heard of anything like that. Is that necessary with all new styli?

 

My record player, back when I was 13, was (I believe) a ceramic cart with no tracking and it actually did destroy my early records. Just my experience on the matter. By the time I was 17 I started using my brother's turntable and those records are in noticeably better shape. I didn't destroy my records cosmetically (major scuffs / scratches) but I'm convinced that extended play + that particular record player eventually caused sound issues. But I did play those records a lot.

Thanks for the summary. If you're actually buying them on-the-road, and only 45's, that's a different requirement then.

Honestly, I don't know. You'd want something portable and yet safe to play your 45's on, and that's probably a tricky combination. If you plan to only play them once / needle drop them, then I'd stick with that process. See what the opinions are for a single use portable device. You'll likely still get varying opinions on the matter, and already have I see.

I don't travel as you do, but when I'm out-of-state and I buy an LP, I just hold off on playing it until I get home and drop it on my home rig. I'm a fairly patient person so I'd prefer to do that so I can clean them and use the best TT / cart I own on them for my drop. But my situation is not the same as yours.

 

A ceramic cartridge won't necessarily damage your records, provided it doesn't track too heavily (4 grams or so with a conical stylus,) provided it isn't worn. Don't forget that until sometime in the 1950s the modern magnetic cartridge didn't exist, moreover, most record players (those in portable and console stereos) were fitted with ceramic cartridges. People who took care of their records and kept their styli on good condition enjoyed their records many years, and I suspect that most of the used records we buy today, were played with ceramic cartridges at one point in their lives.

The idea of playing records once in 24 hours is based on the idea that when you play a record the stylus slightly deforms the groove (and generates heat), and it takes 24 hours to "recover." The theory is that constant deformation results in increased record wear. I've followed this advice myself, though I can't say for sure that there is any merit to it. As for "polishing" the stylus on beater records, I've never heard of that.

 

Obviously a cheaper cartridges like the Shure's that I was using at the time, didn't have the best stylus'. I didn't say beater records they were brand new cutouts, and by playing them first it would just give a slight polishing to the tip