Has anyone noticed that the song 1999 on CD is in a lower key than on vinyl? I recently got a copy of the album on vinyl and if you play the CD and switch between the 2 it is very noticeable!

Which is the correct one???

Maybe your record player spins a bit fast. I had one that did.

Possibly, although I haven't noticed it on any of my other records...I mean it was vastly different. Maybe my copy of 1999 is dodgy? That can't be impossible either can it?!

What key is the "new master" in?

PurplePony said:

Doesn't your turntable have a strobe?

No idea what key it is supposed to be in.

Please excuse my ignorance, what is a strobe in the turntable sense?

PurplePony said:

It's an actual tiny strobe light, located at the side of the turntable's platter which allows you to adjust the speed, so that LP's play at the correct speed (so that the music plays the way it was recorded). And please, you're NOT ignorant if you're asking the question. Ignorance is when you don't know and don't WANT to know.

Also relevant to the way music sounds on turntables is whether your turntable is "Belt Drive" or "Direct Drive". Belt Drive turntables typically add unwanted noise to the output, and the speed is difficult to regulate (meaning your music could wind up sounding like it's in another key), due to the rubber belt "slipping" over time and is susceptible to wear. Direct Drive is the way to go with turntables.

PurplePony said:

Trust your CD version.

My record player runs at an odd speed too. I never really noticed it till I heard Raspberry Beret on vinyl and it was a touch too fast.....how do I fix this????

Volitan said:

I would say it depends on what kind of record player you have.

PDogz said:

It's a piece of shit $100 thing from walmart, with built- in speakers

Every record player I ever had back in the day played at a slightly faster speed than the songs played on the radio. I think all the cheap ones are set at that particular speed. Nowadays, I have two DJ turntables with pitch control. If I turn the pitch control down to the second notch, it is the exact same speed as the CD. The purpose of the pitch control is to either speed up or slow down the tempo to match the beat of another record they want to mix.

Volitan said:

Get a quality professional turntable, and toss the "piece of shit $100 thing from walmart (with built- in speakers)" .

PurplePony said:

I noticed that the tape was always faster than the lp, didn't know about the cd though. I thought the lp was the correct speed. The tape was sped up, i'm sure, to make the long album fit on cassetee. I don't know about the cd though.

PDogz said:

I have noticed that all my 12/7" at 45RPM play fine. Is it something that can affect only one speed? I'll check at home to find out if it is belt/direct drive. I paid £125/$250 for it a few years back so thought I was getting an ok one...

PDogz said:

DD is the only way to go for scratching and mixing, but for basic listening there are lots of decent quality turntables with belt drive. It all depends on your needs.
[Edited 11/27/07 2:41am]

PurplePony said:

Could be .

PurplePony said:

It's not really the price you pay, but the features it's packing. Although I'd expect to pay around $400-$800 for a descent, solid, professional turntable. And of course that's not including the cost of a good cartridge and stylus. If you're serious about your vinyl, it's worth researching before making your next purchase, IMHO.

If that's all too much for you to consider, and unless you have a collection of LP's that are otherwise unavailable in any other media (CD), I would suggest that you just stick to CD's, MP3's and such. Maintaining a vinyl music system is really a specialized hobby that takes a certain amount of care and interest to be able to fully appreciate.