Hi folks,

I've decided to make the switch and I'm not sure which vinyl player to go for. Here are my requirements:

• Good sound, obviously
• Headphone jack
• Lightweight
• Self powered, rather than mains
• Bump resistant (I spend a lot of time on bus journeys each day)
• Straps for my back (while shopping for groceries, I need to be hands-free)
• Waterproof up to 2m because I swim at weekends

Anyway, this post was just for fun. I'm jealous of all your vinyl collections. I'm way too mobile to consider the investment but I wish you all well.

As much as you're basically being silly, the technology now exists to actually make a vinyl player that meets most of these requirements. They now have vinyl players that use a laser rather than a physical needle...

Way above my pay grade though, you'd probably have to get it custom made.

A VZ-2000 perhaps :D

Unironically, I would very much like a turntable (or receiver) with a headphone jack. The headphone output on my current thrifted receiver is terrible.

It shouldn't be bad, unless the receiver is really awful. Might be bad electronics that could be fixed.

Regardless, a surprisingly good headphone preamp can be had for cheap, if you're willing to go the Amazon/China route.

That's seriously cool. Looks like it costs about EUR 1,000 which isn't even as high as I expected.

A bit of IPA or contact cleaner might do the trick. Especially used/thrift devices need a good cleaning before you hook them up to anything mission critical...

Thanks for the interesting rabbit hole. Apparently the laser is "too accurate" and plays the dust fragments that a needle would normally push aside. But sounds like it could also increase the lifespan of the vinyl.

The ones we had when I was a kid had those (two, I think), but they're frustratingly rare today. I got one recently and it didn't even have phono out, so I was limited to the built-in tinny speakers.

Meet the soundburger 😆

Oh man. I saw photos of that in the past but never believed it was portable! :D Very cool, I really want to take the bus with one of those!

Yep, batteries, headphone jack(s!) and a shoulder strap. And since Dual put their name to it, I might even trust it with my vinyl...!

I see you can get new ones from Audiotechnica for ~250 https://www.audio-technica.com/en-eu/at-sb727

I'm going to be an analog purist just for the sake of it, and go "ew, bluetooth" 😆

Separate headphone amp? That's what I do with my soundburger.

The new one only has line out annoyingly. But you can add a headphone amp.

I'm upset

Apologies

That is annoying

Yeah, I'm with you on that

I accept your apology