No matter how well you take care of your turntable needle, eventually, it will wear down and need to be replaced. But how long will that take? And how do you know when it's time? In this video we will cover how long a record player needle will last, the factors that affect stylus life, and how you can tell when it's time for a replacement.

0:00 Intro
0:17 Moving Magnet vs Moving Coil
0:26 When to replace your record player needle
0:57 Record speed and its effects on stylus longevity
1:10 Tracking force, anti-skate and needle life
1:29 How to tell your stylus needs to be replaced by listening
1:58 Should you replace your stylus when you buy a new turntable?
2:10 How to extend your turntable stylus' life

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TRANSCRIPT:
When do you need to replace a turntable stylus? Stylus, wear and tear is inevitable. When the record spins and the needle hits the groove, the friction, over time, will wear down your stylus and it will have to be replaced. In the case of a moving magnetic cartridge, you just need to replace the needle. With a moving coil cartridge, you replace the whole thing.

But when should you replace it? Well, that varies. A lot. Some stylii can last 100 hours and some can last thousand hours. So it's not like you can set a recurring reminder in your calendar. And even if time was exact, it can vary a lot depending on how much you listen. Let's assume for the sake of argument, that a stylus can last exactly 400 hours. If you listen to music one hour a week, that's around seven and a half years between stylus changes. If you listen to music for an hour and a half a week, you'll be replacing it just after five years.

And this doesn't take record speed into account. If you listen to more 45'ss than the 33 1/3 RPM records, your needle will see more use because the records are spinning faster and they're seeing more contact.

And there are also other factors to take into account. For example, if you're tracking force and anti-skate isn't set properly, your stylus will be negatively affected. In the case of anti-skate, if it isn't set properly, the stylus will favor one side of the groove. And that side of the stylus will wear down faster than the other.

So if it varies and there's no real way of calculating how long a stylus will last, how do you know when it should be replaced? Well, you just listen. If you notice a muddy sound or distortion in the higher frequencies, like lots of sibilance, the hissing SSS or SH sound in words like, well, sibilance, then grab a record that you know inside and out and put it on. If you notice that muddy sound and higher frequency distortion, then it's time for a replacement.

The other time that you should replace your needle is when you're buying a used turntable. When you get a used turntable, there's no way of knowing exactly how long that stylus has been used for. So it's best to start fresh.

To extend the life of a needle, the best thing you can do is keep it clean. Use your stylus brush regularly and clean any debris from the tip. Also, keep your records clean by using a record brush. Doing both of these things will keep your stylus and records clean, vinyl sounding great, and needle usable so it's a win/win/win.

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