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Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:18 pm
by MusicMan93
Hi all,
Last night I thought of something that I THINK I heard of in another collecting community, but I'm not totally sure it exists. The collectors were talking about how, since a spinning record's grooves vibrate a stylus to produce sound, you could artificially replicate that by resting the stylus on this little plastic pad you put underneath it. The pad in question has a surface designed to vibrate accordingly to sound waves, and it is connected to an aux in line, so you can play your iPod or other media through it that is not limited to just records. (e,g. the stylus "reads" the sound waves produced by this pad-thingy in the same way it "reads" the groove of records).
Now, my big question is this: Does such an item actually exist, or is it just a figment of someone's overactive imagination? I've tried looking for it online to no avail, but in theory it sounds fine and something that would work.
Thanks for your help!
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:08 pm
by Joe_DS
Using an electric phonograph cartridge--first introduced in the mid-1920s--as a microphone is almost as old as the electric cartridge (pickup), itself. In 1929, Les Paul invented the world's first electric guitar by nailing a steel phonograph needle into a conventional acoustic guitar and hooking it up to a phonograph pickup --
http://www.today.com/id/32403755/ns/tod ... XG2e0YYTXE .
I haven't heard about any any type of pad or other device specifically designed to capture sound vibrations and relay them to a phonograph cartridge. About the closest thing I can think of--in concept-- is the "contact microphone," described here:
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=thro ... microphone Also see:
http://nickstutorials.com/building-a-co ... icrophone/Joe
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 6:33 am
by MusicMan93
OK thanks so much Joe! I think that microphone was indeed what the other folks were talking about. However, I did see that someone took this concept one step further and made a Universal Record:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/13/84005 ... -bluetooth
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 6:51 am
by MattTech
Saw that video..
What a bunch of crap!
That pathetic gizmo is utterly horrible!
As I know it, the quest for "sound" through the ages was towards "perfecting" and improving the listening experience, NOT going backwards and making crappy sounds on a turntable.
That guy's got too much time on his hands, and needs another hobby.
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 9:18 pm
by Joe_DS
It's an interesting concept. I could see a few of these selling to the youngsters into "retro vinyl," who want to new toy to play with.
Speaking of toys, in terms of sound quality, it's about on par with the Kenner Close N Play phonograph from my childhood --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2IgZ0nfc8A (Well, maybe a little better...)
Joe
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 10:45 pm
by MattTech
Joe_DS wrote:It's an interesting concept. I could see a few of these selling to the youngsters into "retro vinyl," who want to new toy to play with.
Speaking of toys, in terms of sound quality, it's about on par with the Kenner Close N Play phonograph from my childhood --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2IgZ0nfc8A (Well, maybe a little better...)
Joe
While there are different "tiers" of quality and fidelity in audio equipment, and always was, this contraption is an utter waste of money.
Toy? - I can't even catagorize it as that.
It's some crap that some guy designed who has no concept of quality, just wants to make a buck off the uninformed and uneducated.
I'd use it as a wheel chock for a truck, but only if it was free.
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 11:12 pm
by Joe_DS
What I find interesting about it is that it's NOT a new idea.
Back in the the 1920s, many people bought radio speaker attachments to use with their Victrolas. They removed the reproducer (sound box) and attached, in its place, a small driver--a small speaker really--which was connected to a radio set.
However...
THIS one -->
- Capture.JPG (109.43 KiB) Viewed 1380 times
SEE:
http://glasstools.info/Victor_Talking_M ... trola.html -- uses a device identical in concept to the one described above which vibrates the sound box's needle as a record groove would, allowing the user to hear the radio through the Victrola's horn.
Joe
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:12 am
by Brian McAllister
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:30 am
by DoghouseRiley
Joe_DS wrote:It's an interesting concept. I could see a few of these selling to the youngsters into "retro vinyl," who want to new toy to play with.
Speaking of toys, in terms of sound quality, it's about on par with the Kenner Close N Play phonograph from my childhood -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2IgZ0nfc8A (Well, maybe a little better...)
Joe
I see it did have "a visible mechanism."
Re: Is this a figment of my imagination or does this actually exist?
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 7:28 am
by Record-changer
Tape a piece of paper across the open top of a 1" thick cardboard box so it is taut. Place a stereo pickup on the center of the paper. You now have a microphone.