How often do you have to change your stylus?

muzzadj

muzzadj

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Yo guys.

For years now I have felt the needle/stylus gods have been fully against me. I am always having to change my stylus it seems. I have 3 decks at the moment all with Shure M44-7's and it seems like i'm having to buy a new stylus every couple months or so. Is this alot?! It's really annoying as it seems as though when I buy a new one, another deck will go! I am always brushing off dust mid-mix to the point of thinking where the hell does it all keep coming from! Also weird shit happens like I will feel a stylus has fully gone, put it to one side and when another deck goes just try it on there and the one I had written off working will be absolutely fine!

So let me know what you're using and how often you find yourself replacing stylus. Be interesting to hear!
 
I used to have those Shure M44-7's and had to get 2 replacement stylus less than a year after I bought them.

Not entirely sure if they are more durable than the Ortofon's I have at the moment, but I haven't replaced a stylus since I've had these, probably 18 months and they are still going strong.
 
Agent Smith said:
I used to have those Shure M44-7's and had to get 2 replacement stylus less than a year after I bought them.

Not entirely sure if they are more durable than the Ortofon's I have at the moment, but I haven't replaced a stylus since I've had these, probably 18 months and they are still going strong.
Click to expand...

Nice Stu. I went from Concordes to Shure Whitelabels to M44-7's. The M44-7s have definitely been the best for me. Cheapest stylus to. It's a bit annoying though I feel like I have a cursed deck. One of them just seems to be a needle destroyer! Got them all set up what I feel to be right as well. To be honest though my decks have felt a bit shit since they came back from Mistanoize. I reckon my main issue though is i've always had beginners which i've been teaching mixing on my decks treating them a bit rough.
 
muzzadj said:
Nice Stu. I went from Concordes to Shure Whitelabels to M44-7's. The M44-7s have definitely been the best for me. Cheapest stylus to. It's a bit annoying though I feel like I have a cursed deck. One of them just seems to be a needle destroyer! Got them all set up what I feel to be right as well. To be honest though my decks have felt a bit shit since they came back from Mistanoize. I reckon my main issue though is i've always had beginners which i've been teaching mixing on my decks treating them a bit rough.
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Maybe a bent tonearm? My mate had that with his turntables and it battered the needle he put on that deck every single time, think he replaced the needle 3 or 4 times before he realised it was the tone arm.

Tbh I was awful for reloading tunes when I had my shures, I definitely blame the constant wheel ups for the nackered stylus' on them, rather than the needle itself.
 
I got shure whitelabels and not changed the stylus in about a year, probably do need to change it soon though
 
Agent Smith said:
Maybe a bent tonearm? My mate had that with his turntables and it battered the needle he put on that deck every single time, think he replaced the needle 3 or 4 times before he realised it was the tone arm.

Tbh I was awful for reloading tunes when I had my shures, I definitely blame the constant wheel ups for the nackered stylus' on them, rather than the needle itself.
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Yeah thats definitely a shout to be fair. Didn't really think of that. Good man.

The reloads are definitely a devastator thats for sure. How did jump up DJ's mixing on vinyl ever last a whole set?! haha
 
had my current m447's on there for 2 years. i probably dont mix as much as you muzza but they should def last more than a few months. if your tonearm, counterweight and antiskating are all set up right... you may have another issue somewhere.

or perhaps your simply being a bit ruff with them. do you have too much counterweight or coins on the headshell?
also try to clean the dust off with a brush and not your finger. ive bent many a pair due to this.
 
Teddy said:
had my current m447's on there for 2 years. i probably dont mix as much as you muzza but they should def last more than a few months. if your tonearm, counterweight and antiskating are all set up right... you may have another issue somewhere.

or perhaps your simply being a bit ruff with them. do you have too much counterweight or coins on the headshell?
also try to clean the dust off with a brush and not your finger. ive bent many a pair due to this.
Click to expand...

+1 on keeping stylus brush near your decks, done this since I got my shure whitelabels
 
Teddy said:
had my current m447's on there for 2 years. i probably dont mix as much as you muzza but they should def last more than a few months. if your tonearm, counterweight and antiskating are all set up right... you may have another issue somewhere.

or perhaps your simply being a bit ruff with them. do you have too much counterweight or coins on the headshell?
also try to clean the dust off with a brush and not your finger. ive bent many a pair due to this.
Click to expand...

I definitely feel i've got my counterweight and anti skate set up OK, going to have another look at it all today though for good measure. I'm bang on it with the brush as well! I'm always swapping them around when one breaks, chances are it will work on another deck or just another vinyl which is just strange. I've had the situation where I completely wrote one off from working as well then I gave it another clean and there was just a bit of dust lodged in there deep causing issues. But as I said i've had a lot of rough, first time mixing hands on my decks as well and they are seeing a shit load of use at the moment so i'm hoping it is just that really.
 
Iv had my m447 for over a year and still going strong. although i will agree that my decks didnt feel the same once i got mine back from mr noize too. seems my tone arms are extremely loose. Im just going to put them away and get cdjs!
 
hyperd4eva said:
Iv had my m447 for over a year and still going strong. although i will agree that my decks didnt feel the same once i got mine back from mr noize too. seems my tone arms are extremely loose. Im just going to put them away and get cdjs!
Click to expand...

I had 1 tone arm completely replaced and one of my tone arm's became really loose recently and I had to tighten it back up myself. But this isn't even on the main deck that seems to be causing me problems. It's a bit annoying though as i've forgotten which deck is which now as they have been moved about a few times. Also when I went to Dance 2 in Brighton to get one of my phono's replaced after I had them back from Mistanoize the bloke said where the hell did I send them as there was screws loose, missing and all sorts going on inside the deck.

Cheers for the all the replies guys, definitely something wrong here it seems.
 
muzzadj said:
I had 1 tone arm completely replaced and one of my tone arm's became really loose recently and I had to tighten it back up myself. But this isn't even on the main deck that seems to be causing me problems. It's a bit annoying though as i've forgotten which deck is which now as they have been moved about a few times. Also when I went to Dance 2 in Brighton to get one of my phono's replaced after I had them back from Mistanoize the bloke said where the hell did I send them as there was screws loose, missing and all sorts going on inside the deck.

Cheers for the all the replies guys, definitely something wrong here it seems.
Click to expand...

Have you checked connections to headshell?
 
Triple check the setup. Tone arms, counter weights, heights. Also check how the cartridge is attached to your headshell, if its angled at all, its wearing your needles and your records.
 
hyperd4eva said:
Have you checked connections to headshell?
Click to expand...
This.

If it suddenly seems fine after switching to another turntable it probably isn't the stylus (unless you have one turntable that all your needles sound shit on). Check out this video from good old viperfrank:


In fact, check out all his videos, it'll give you a much better understanding of how your turntable work on a technical level.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Love viperfrank's vids. A strange guy who's very knowledgeable. Learnt a lot from his videos.

bagged a pair of n774 replacments styli from juno. £39 + free delv. Bargain.
 
Teddy said:
Love viperfrank's vids. A strange guy who's very knowledgeable. Learnt a lot from his videos.

bagged a pair of n774 replacments styli from juno. £39 + free delv. Bargain.
Click to expand...

do these fit on the m447 cartridge then? i got he m44G's or something like that
 
Yes mate. N447 is the replacement styli for the M447 cart.
The M44G is a cartridge with better sound apparently (i haven't tested this personally) the replacement styli for these are N44G.
Although you can use a N447 on an M44G cart if desired.
 
That guy has some good videos. Just readjusted the anti skate, weights and heights on all my decks again. I noticed doing the height though on 1 of my decks, funnily enough the one that seems to cause me most issues, the tone arm is actually raised and won't lower to the level I need. When it's turned all the way down to it's lowest point it turns the whole tonearm connection a couple of centimetres or so. Doesn't look like the kind of issue that can just happen as well, it looks quite clearly as though it's been fitted wrong. Don't know how i've not noticed before now!
 

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