Stupid good $12 styli (with thanks to beatcomber)

[EngineerNate]

Me personally ... no. But just to clarify your speaking of the 629-DE that started this thread?

I don't know if it helps or hinders, but there's a thread somewhere on here (or perhaps vinylengine) with a reported email conversation with a rep at Jico regarding their Shure m91ed vs. m91e styli, where the rep stated they even though they are spec'd for different tracking forces, they are exactly the same, other than colour and of course price ($56 vs $33).

I would expect as well that a $12 generic stylus would have a far larger variation in compliance, related to QC during the manufacturing process, that you would have seen with the originals. I'm not sure I'd trust results of one random test ... or even a couple (just remember the often-heard comment on the Pfanstiehls ... and less frequently on the EVGs ... regarding mixed results).

Of course buying a NOS styli should get you something that is actually matches specified compliance .... except of course you would be dealing with aging of the suspension. So ...

Makes sense. Yes I was referring to the stylus discussed in this thread. I have a few of them myself but no test record. I've got a couple of different tables with different effective mass arms so I'm curious how the compliance match is on each.

 

[malden]

Me personally ... no. But just to clarify your speaking of the 629-DE that started this thread?

I don't know if it helps or hinders, but there's a thread somewhere on here (or perhaps vinylengine) with a reported email conversation with a rep at Jico regarding their Shure m91ed vs. m91e styli, where the rep stated they even though they are spec'd for different tracking forces, they are exactly the same, other than colour and of course price ($56 vs $33).

I would expect as well that a $12 generic stylus would have a far larger variation in compliance, related to QC during the manufacturing process, that you would have seen with the originals. I'm not sure I'd trust results of one random test ... or even a couple (just remember the often-heard comment on the Pfanstiehls ... and less frequently on the EVGs ... regarding mixed results).

Of course buying a NOS styli should get you something that is actually matches specified compliance .... except of course you would be dealing with aging of the suspension. So ...

That's right, the JICO N91E (black grip) and N91ED (yellow grip) are identical except for the color. They have the same tips, cantilevers, suspensions and magnets. JICO is capitalizing on the greater demand for the yellow N91ED.

 

[Pio1980]

That the one that was $12 ?

 

[EngineerNate]

That the one that was $12 ?

Nope. The $12 special is the Pfanstiehl 629-DE.

 

[bigx5murf]

I just came into possession of a signet tk1e for next to nothing. To my surprise this stylus fit and works perfectly. I was surprised at how much noticeably better it sounded than my AT100E with the same stylus and same TT.

 

[DUALityOFman]

I think the m91ed with evg is a good deal, but for 13 bucks you can get the Chinese at3600L complete cartridge and stylus with hardware. And it sounds pretty damn good. I dare say it’s the best bang for those bucks.

 

[EngineerNate]

Played around a bit with this stylus tonight. For $12 I think it's a bargain for sure. I did some trial vinyl rips with it to demo the turntable I'm currently refurbishing and came away pretty impressed. Not as great as my Shure setup but pretty darn good. Here's a clip of the end of "The Chain" and the beginning of "You Make Loving Fun" from Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Side note, I can't wait for the rest of my cleaning solution ingredients to get here. This one needs it. It's much more apparent listening on headphones while ripping than it is through my stereo for some reason.

Chain is 629-DE -> AT96e -> JVC QL-A2 -> ART DJPre II set to 100uF -> Audient iD14 interface -> Audacity. Recorded at 24/88.1khz and output to FLAC. Tracking force set to 1.9g.

I set the levels to peak at a max of -3dB or so and the only processing that was done in the digital realm was to normalize the recording to -1dB, which is a bit perfect/lossless process that shouldn't affect sound quality, it just makes the level nicer for those of us with hard to drive cans. I tried to optimize the gain quality by setting the level of the Art to -4dB and cranking the gain on the inputs on the Audient, as it has the same input stage as their big pro-mixers so it's uber clean gain so there's no reason not to use it. Always use as much of the cleanest source of amplification as you can.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zko78sw09cbaysb/RumoursSample.flac?dl=0

Cheers,
Nathan

 

[Vinylmasters]

Not sure so I'll ask.... This will work on the older style p-mounts, right? I have an extra AT SS330E/U cart. Just pop off the cover and it's p-mount spec, correct?

 

[bigx5murf]

Not sure so I'll ask.... This will work on the older style p-mounts, right? I have an extra AT SS330E/U cart. Just pop off the cover and it's p-mount spec, correct?

looks like it might if you trim the plastic on the 629-de, but I think the actual replacement for what you have is Pfanstiehl 212, or the 4212-de, or 212-de

 

[Vinylmasters]

looks like it might if you trim the plastic on the 629-de, but I think the actual replacement for what you have is Pfanstiehl 212, or the 4212-de, or 212-de

Yes. but I think this will work on the older style p-mounts too. The flip down stylus guard makes it a bit heavy, but if removed works perfectly for p-mounts. Can anyone else confirm?

 

[gnuyork]

and cranking the gain on the inputs on the Audient, as it has the same input stage as their big pro-mixers so it's uber clean gain so there's no reason not to use it.

Nathan

Off topic, but I just got the iD22 to replace my ancient Focusrite (only because they stopped supporting the driver long ago, and I keep having to fake it out on the newer OS). The Audient is a nice little piece of gear.

 

[EngineerNate]

I got mine to replace an ancient maudio FireWire interface. It's world's better.

 

[bigx5murf]

Yes. but I think this will work on the older style p-mounts too. The flip down stylus guard makes it a bit heavy, but if removed works perfectly for p-mounts. Can anyone else confirm?

Judging by this picture, definitely not, this one has a rectangular hump where the cantilever suspension is. The 629-de has a circle shaped hump.

 

[bigx5murf]

I recently tried this stylus on a Precept pc110, figured since it fit on the signet, might as well try the precept. Very noticeable improvement over the AT88e I was using before.

I have a feeling these high end AT cart bodies are the best match for this cheap stylus.

 

[EngineerNate]

Can someone else snap a pic of their 629-DE? I've ended up with two very different cantilever assemblies on my last couple of orders. I've been using these on tables I sell and the last one I bought rides extremely low at 2g TF.

 

[johnjhazel]

Can someone else snap a pic of their 629-DE? I've ended up with two very different cantilever assemblies on my last couple of orders. I've been using these on tables I sell and the last one I bought rides extremely low at 2g TF.

I do not know if it will help but there are many pics and choices for 629-DE on eBay.

 

[bigx5murf]

Looks like the supply of these are drying out. I just ordered 3 of the Swiss made ones, shipped from Canada for $84. Quite a bit more than what they used to cost. But likely less than what they're going to cost.

 

[johnjhazel]

The Swiss styli are back in production and should be available at good prices from eBay sellers here in the States.

 

[bigx5murf]

The Swiss styli are back in production and should be available at good prices from eBay sellers here in the States.

Where did you get that info? Jico also lists their version as OOS.

 

[Van_Isle]

Looks like the supply of these are drying out. I just ordered 3 of the Swiss made ones, shipped from Canada for $84. Quite a bit more than what they used to cost. But likely less than what they're going to cost.

Well, if it's from the Canadian seller that I think it's from, I hope you end-up getting what you ordered.

How about kabusa.com? They list it for $19.95.