The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am in doubt about the sound of my HMV is anyway or am I using the wrong needle (loud tone). Use one per disk side.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc3Dgv5_ooU[/youtube]

dilhermandodidi wrote:I am in doubt about the sound of my HMV is anyway or am I using the wrong needle (loud tone). Use one per disk side.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc3Dgv5_ooU[/youtube]

It actually sounds pretty good to me; though if you think the bass is sounding a little blown out, you might try switching to a different tone needle. I'm thinking others may agree that you may not get the same tone quality in a portable as you would with an actual horn.

I only use loud tone needles for outdoor playing, on occasions such as the Portable Picnic Meeting which I will be attending this weekend. Everyone brings a portable, a few records and a picnic, then the fun starts!

I find soft tone needles are quite sufficient for indoors, and they are kinder to records than loud tone. Some acoustic records might need medium tone to boost the volume, so my suggestion would be to buy supplies of all three tones and experiment on a variety of records.

epigramophone wrote:I

I find soft tone needles are quite sufficient for indoors, and they are kinder to records than loud tone. Some acoustic records might need medium tone to boost the volume, so my suggestion would be to buy supplies of all three tones and experiment on a variety of records.

Ditto here: my experience precisely (although I never lug my XI out of doors!). Soft-tone needles give good results on almost all of my recordings.