Development History Of Vinyl Plates And Turntables

Vinyl or the hobby of playing turntables is gradually made a comeback in recent years. This hobby is thriving with record sales. Follow the article to learn about the history of vinyl and turntable offline!

Turntable

The turntable we are using today was invented about seven decades ago. It has more than 160 years of origins. In 1857, French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville debuted a phonautograph that used the vibrations of a diaphragm and a stylus to capture sound waves and then record them on paper.

This invention, however, only allows visualization of sound waves. In return, this idea led to the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison in 1877.

About Phonograph

Thomas Edison’s phonograph used a slotted cylinder wrapped in tin foil (the recording surface) and rotated by hand. When sound enters the receiver, the sound waves cause the diaphragm and the needle to vibrate, creating grooves in the tin foil. To get better sound quality, as well as improve the durability of the device. Edison then replaced the tin foil design with wax material.

The Birth of the Gramophone

Ten years later, in 1887, the gramophone was born with a patent belonging to Emile Berliner. At first, the machine uses a probe to detect the grooves on the cylinder. Then the bulky cylinder part was replaced by flat discs machined from rubber or shellac. These plates became mass-produced and produced in large numbers. Accompanying the gramophone is also redesigned to better suit consumer needs. Victor Talking Machine Company then released the Victrola model. The speaker’s mouthpiece design is collapsed, allowing it to fit inside a cabinet.

In the 1930s, wind-up jukeboxes began to be replaced by electric ones. The large turntable design (due to the integration of both amplifier and speakers) is also starting to receive less attention, instead of hi-fi models that only focus on disc playing function.

Released turntable Dou Jr

Radio Corporation of America (RCA) acquired Victor Talking Machine Company and formed RCA Victor. Started selling the 33⅓-rpm disc format as well as releasing the Duo Jr turntable model. Duo Jr allows direct plugging into radio systems. From there, there is no need to integrate additional amplifiers and speakers. The product was then priced at $16.50, which works out to about $233 today. From here, the turntables began to develop in a new, more specialized direction.

Types of turntables

Idler wheel, belt-drive, and direct-drive

Most of the current turntable models are belt-drive, followed by direct-drive. However, the earliest appearance is the idler wheel design. The first turntables capable of playing multiple discs continuously were designed to use a spindle. Discs will be stacked on these reels, and when one disc is played, the machine will automatically rotate the next disc. For the turntable to rotate at the correct speed when pressed down by the heavy stack of discs above, the rotation force of the turntable must be very strong. That’s why the idler wheel drive mechanism – a rubber wheel that helps isolate vibrations from the motor to the disc – will be the most suitable design, helping to ensure good performance play the music of the turntable.

Advantages and disadvantages of turntable patterns

However, the idler wheel drive design also has many disadvantages. The most obvious is that the vibrations can still be transmitted through the rubber wheel to the disc. That affects the sound quality.

Belt-drive design for much better working performance. At the same time, the structure is simpler and more cost-effective. This type of design includes a motor with a belt attached to the platter to rotate the platter. The belt will absorb the vibrations from the motor, thereby helping to isolate the vibration noise on the platter.

In the mid-’60s, Acoustic Research’s AR Turntable with a three-point suspension became very popular. That is one of the first turntable belt-drive models. Later, many other companies also succeeded with the above design.

First direct-drive design

The direct-drive design was invented in the early ’70s by the Technics (Panasonic) brand, which introduced the Technics SP-10. In this design, the platter will be mounted on a rotating motor with a speed of 33⅓-rpm or 45-rpm. Unlike idler wheel and belt-drive designs, the direct-drive construction will be integrated into one unit and not need to be replaced or repaired.

Its disadvantage is the high price, so only high-end turntable models can have a direct-drive design.

Vinyl discs

At first, people only used cranks to rotate the recording cylinder. Therefore, the speed of recording and listening does not have a certain standard. The first standard to be recognized and used was 78-rpm (the early 1900s, when powered turntables were invented). The 78-rpm speed is due to the motor spinning at only 3600 rpm. And with a 46:1 machine part ratio, it will produce ~78.26 rpm on the turntable.

The first music disc used mainly shellac material. However, after this plastic became scarce during World War II, people switched to using vinyl material. Many new disc formats began to be developed and used, including 33 ⅓-rpm or 45-rpm. Their common feature is having a smaller track (~0.001 inches) than a 78-rpm track (~0.003 inches).

The birth of music discs with different sizes

Many different disc sizes were also born, such as 7-inch, 10-inch, or 12-inch discs. These discs can store 3~5 minutes of music. Low cost as well as easy to produce, creating a new trend for the music industry. That is the premise for today’s single (only 1 ~ 2 songs) format. From the 1950s, the trend of releasing singles began to slow down.

Steps to convert to a Stereo format

It is also impossible not to mention that the music of this era is almost mono. Stereo recordings only started appearing from the late ’60s to the early ’70s. Because before that, stations did not have the equipment to play stereo music. Around the mid-’70s, vinyl began to transition to stereo rapidly. When recording mono, the stylus needle only moves horizontally, then when recording stereo, the stylus needle will move horizontally and vertically, making a big difference.

Vinyl discs during download and Spotify

When Napster introduced the download method, vinyl almost fell behind the scenes to make room for a new, too powerful competitor. To make matters worse, Apple introduced iTunes in 2001. iTunes and the iPod released the following year provided users with a convenient listening option, allowing them to store thousands of songs into the tiny pocket music player. This period also began to appear the first smartphone lines, and so the iPod naturally became a technology accessory that was “famous” and indispensable for anyone.

Downloading was later replaced by streaming services, starting with Spotify’s arrival in 2006. Streaming allows users to access a huge library of music anywhere and for free (almost ‘Freemium,’ which means paying for more useful features, but at its core, it’s still free to use).

The growth of streaming services and music playlists has sparked the return of hit singles. Users often search to listen to their favorite music instead of listening to the whole album. It can be said that the “destiny” of albums will now depend on the stream service’s recommendation algorithm when its goal is to direct users to “listen to” instead of just listening to a certain thing there.

The historic revival of the vinyl and turntable movement

The ’70s were a golden age of vinyl that quickly faded with the advent of cassettes and CDs from the ’80s. Recently, the vinyl movement has had a huge resurgence from family members hunting for rare vinyl records with a long history to audio companies also producing and putting many modern turntable models on shelves.

Contrary to what many people think that vinyl is a hobby of “rich people.” People who are not too rich can still access this hobby. Vinyl-related products such as trays, rods, needles, and phono stages are more affordable, making buying discs easier. Newer high-end turntables also support wireless music streaming (for Bluetooth speakers or headphones) or USB connectivity (allowing you to rip vinyl into digital files).

Many modern turntables also have built-in phono stages for direct connection to the amplifier. There are also all-in-one kits that integrate phono-stage, amplifier, and speakers. Historically, vinyl and turntable sales are also increasing year on year. Proving that the vinyl revival movement is not just temporary; it will certainly continue for much longer.

Vinyl discs are revived from young people.

However, the vinyl revival movement did not start with nostalgic people but with dynamic and curious young people. According to a Great Britain TGI, 57% of vinyl buyers in the UK are aged 25 below. That is also one of the main reasons turntables are becoming more innovative and possess many of today’s trendy technologies such as Bluetooth, USB, etc. Listening to music from the turntable by connecting Bluetooth to the speaker is one of the main reasons combination of new and old, making young people “desire” even more.

Amazingly, the vinyl format can live so well in this increasingly technologically advanced age. To be more precise, vinyl not only “survives,” but it is also rising to regain its position in the not too distant future.