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Old 28th Jun 2016, 11:22 pm   #1
MeanDumpsterCat
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Default Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Hello!
I'm currently on the lookout for a relatively good yet somewhat affordable (no more than £150 if it can be helped) turntable that is capable of playing 78s. The reason I ask this is because the only players I have that play 78s are either gramophones or ones that have no audio output connections. I have quite a few records that I would like to make a digital copy of but I have no machine that allows me to do that.

Are there any recommendations for particular models of turntable that I should look out for?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks!
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Old 28th Jun 2016, 11:30 pm   #2
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Your best bet is to look for a 70s/80s direct drive record deck than can be easily converted to run at 78. This is often easier than you might expect, and a number of forum members have experience of doing it. Once you have the turntable running at the right speed you just need to buy a 78 stylus for whatever cartridge is fitted, or buy something like an Audio Technica AT91 and a 78 stylus. When you no longer need the deck you can reverse your mods and sell it on for what you paid for it.

As an alternative, you can play the 78s at 45 or even 33 with a 78 stylus and correct the speed in software. This is quite straightforward using something like Audacity.

Of course, professionals transcribing 78s will use more sophistcated gear than this, but the improvement in quality will be quite small, and mostly comes from selecting a particular 78 stylus which best matches the cutting characteristics and the amount of wear of the record being transcribed.
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Old 28th Jun 2016, 11:57 pm   #3
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Yes, that is definitely an option I have considered. I own a Technics SL-1210 and I know these can be modified to run at 78RPM and there are some companies that will do it for you. It certainly looks like a good idea.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 6:27 am   #4
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

I've been rather keen on transferring my sizable collection of 78's. I bought a Ion USB turntable some years ago for about £100, it came with the Audacity software too. I've been extremely pleased with the results and have transferred over 400 sides so far here's an example-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q1IZfXkvfA
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 8:44 am   #5
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Your Technics is an ideal deck for the purpose once converted, and a Stanton 500/Pickering v15 with a 78 stylus would be a great reasonable cost cartridge.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 10:30 am   #6
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

That's really quite remarkably good, Clive.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 11:31 am   #7
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

There are some quite decent turntables here, but given the 78rpm velocity there would be no detectable "wow", so why not use a trusty Garrard SP25 with a good ceramic or budget MM cartridge? Use a Brand New stylus. Your cost c. £50. Edward
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 12:25 pm   #8
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Yes, no need for anything more and it will work straight away without any modification.

Steve.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 12:38 pm   #9
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Thirded! An SP25 is ideal for this.

A Goldring GL75 is even nicer, but the price for these has risen rather a lot recently.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 1:38 pm   #10
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

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Originally Posted by Nickthedentist View Post
A Goldring GL75 is even nicer, but the price for these has risen rather a lot recently.
Took the words right out of my mouth Nick, the L75 is my weapon of choice for all things vinyl these days

Not only (as you quite rightly observe) has the price of the '75 risen recently but they inevitably need a little maintenance to get then working nicely. This is however easily and quite cheaply done.

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Old 29th Jun 2016, 3:11 pm   #11
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Technics 1210's don't modify easily to properly play 78s, if someone else wants to help me modify mine and can show me otherwise, please do! . Because for me they are the ultimate deck aside from this!

1210s use a PLL motor control system, to get 78rpm you'd need to switch in a different crystal oscillator, and unless the specs for the crystal are identical to the original (except the frequency) they don't work. The firms that perform these mods charge a pretty penny for, few hundred quid at least when I looked into it. So I gave up on that idea.

Other technics employing a more basic servo control system are very easy to mod (SL-D2 for example). A resistor, a DPDT switch, and some wire is all that's needed.

You will find some budget DJ decks often feature 78rpm, many Numark and Stanton decks do, and the variable pitch could be useful for older disks.

Technics 1210s aren't at all budget these days, good luck getting one for under 3 to 400 quid , then finding the money to send them away for modification!

Regarding cartridges, I find the Stanton 500 series, coupled with a 3mil stylus are fantastic.

EDIT: That said, my main deck for 78s actually is a Garrard SL65b, which is essentially an autochanger version of the SP25, so Id second that option too. Depends what bargains you can get I suppose!
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 7:33 pm   #12
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

As I said earlier, if you just want to digitise 78s rather than play them in real time you might as well digitise at 45 and correct the speed in software. The quality degradation will be insignificant. You will still need to use a proper 78 stylus though.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 9:13 pm   #13
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

That really depends on the computers hardware and soundcard, if these are not up to much you'll get odd effects processing through Audacity.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 9:22 pm   #14
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Even the most basic soundcard should be able to sample at 48kHz, and most will do 96. By speeding up you are actually increasing the effective sampling frequency, though the audio will be downsampled when you eventually save the modified files. I would be astonished if any audible degradation is present, and you have the benefit of playing back on whatever your high quality record deck is, rather than using something more crude that happens to run at 78.

It's easy enough to experiment anyway.
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Old 29th Jun 2016, 9:23 pm   #15
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Default Re: Looking for good, affordable turntable to transfer 78s

Quote:
Originally Posted by MurphyNut View Post
I've been rather keen on transferring my sizable collection of 78's. I bought a Ion USB turntable some years ago for about £100, it came with the Audacity software too. I've been extremely pleased with the results and have transferred over 400 sides so far here's an example-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q1IZfXkvfA
That sounds excellent! Has the recording been cleaned up using the Audacity - or some other - software, or is the original disc that clean and click free?
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