Why Does My Vinyl Sound Distorted

Vinyl playback fuzzy distorted first system.

Why does my vinyl sound distorted.

Let s dig briefly into some light physics. Some would call it a design flaw for others it s just part of the vinyl experience. The record is damaged the turntable is cheap and nasty the tonearm is incorrectly calibrated correct balance tracking force and anti skate forces are critical to clean playback and to avoid damage to records. But what causes it.

Bad tracking indeed damages the vinyl as your stylus bumps agains the groove walls in stead of actually accurately following them. Cartridges can pick up all vibrations including those caused by footsteps and all other unwanted movements that reach your tonearm. They don t just convert the microscopic grooves of your vinyl records into sound. Inner groove distortion is an audible deterioration in sound quality that sometimes occurs when playing tracks close to the end of each side.

As needed to get good sound quality. Phono cartridges are incredibly sensitive transducers. Definitely no fuzz distortion there. Setting the tracking force too light causes distortion and excess record wear.

Check and adjust if necessary the stylus pressure. It is usually best to use the manufacturer s highest recommended pressure but no higher. Way too light a tracking force can sometimes sound a little like your video. A few days ago my pro ject debut carbon came in the mail.

Those unwanted movements result in distortion which muddies the sound. They have become too thin to fill the entire groove width and bump against the wall where the groove modulates causing damage. That s also the main reason you should replace worn styli. Vinyl can sound bad for all sorts of reasons chief among which.