how to tell what speed a record is
If you are new to vinyl, you may be lost in its various sizes and speeds. Knowing how to make up one's mind the differences rapidly volition definitely help you select the right RPM while playing or ownership. Then, how do you determine if a vinyl tape is 33 or 45 RPM?
Every bit a general rule, 12″ vinyl are 33 RPM and seven″ are 45 RPM. In whatsoever uncertainty, the speed is usually written on the central label. If the 12″ record is a single and not an LP, the speed may be 45 RPM. When played at the wrong speed, a record will sound strange which is some other style to check it.
This mail will focus on all the different existing vinyl and whether it'south better to buy a 33 or 45 RPM for a given song.
Relation between RPM and tape size
Here is a table summarizing all vinyl sizes, speeds, and their apportionment:
| Vinyl Size | Vinyl Speed | Circulation |
| seven″ | 45 RPM | Very common |
| 7″ | 33 RPM | Rare |
| 10″ | 78 RPM | Very rare, not produced anymore |
| 12″ | 45 RPM | Less common, mostly singles |
| 12″ | 33 RPM | Very common |
Every bit you tin see, the seven″ 45 RPM and 12″ 33 RPM records are the virtually common ones. Therefore they are piece of cake to differentiate, the small ones play at 45 RPM and the biggest one at 33 RPM:
After that, the well-nigh common records are the 12″ 45 RPM vinyl. They are mostly used for singles and for their higher sound quality. They can be used for promotion on the radio for instance. I focus more than on the difference in audio quality afterwards in this mail service.
The 10″ 78 RPM records are not really vinyl since they are made of shellac. They are usually thicker and not flexible equally vinyl. They came from an ancient time when styli needed to be changed very often and were non made from diamonds.
In fact, x″ tin can besides be made in 33 or 45 RPM existent vinyl. The same as whatsoever size records can exist made 33 or 45. Indeed, y'all may find records as small as iii″ in Japan or old 16″ from the 30s. As the 33 and 45 RPMs are the most common speeds on turntables, some music labels like to brand odd sizes from time to time for special occasions. In the table above, I but focused on the well-nigh common sizes when someone mentions 33, 45, and 78 RPM records.
Relation between RPM and tracks density.
Another useful way to determine if a record is 33 or 45 RPM is to look at the number of tracks per face. A 12″ record with more than than 3 songs per face is much likely to exist a 33 RPM. A 12″ tape with i or 2 songs is much likely to be a 45 RPM. This method works pretty well for 12″ records. Please note this rule applies to 12″ records and non really to 7″.
The tape to a higher place is definitely a 33 RPM vinyl. It has six tracks on side one. You tin can determine the number of tracks by looking at the spaces between the grooves. This method is very useful when the speed or the songs are not written on the label.
What is the best between a 33 and 45 RPM record?
In terms of sound quality, a 45 RPM should sound better than a 33 RPM tape. A higher speed means more information per second, resulting in more details and hence a higher audio quality. The college frequencies in item volition be more detailed.
An illustration can be made with MP3s: the highest the kbps (kilobytes per 2d), the meliorate. The higher the RPMs, the more than vinyl passes under the stylus per 2d. The vinyl grooves are similar the kilobytes of digital files. Past reading more grooves per 2d, we read a more detailed reproduction of the sound.
A higher speed besides solves some problems due to curvature in the central area of the disc. Indeed, on vinyl the audio quality decrease going in. The aforementioned reasoning applies here: at the central area, fewer grooves are played per second.
In the paradigm below, you tin conspicuously see that less altitude is traveled on path A than path D for a given rotation. That means fewer grooves are played per second and in the end less information.
That'south the reason why many vinyl aren't engraved on the entire surface. The primal expanse is avoided in social club to not subtract too much the audio quality, in particular in the higher frequencies.
Increasing the rotational speed – the RPM – volition increase the distance traveled per second, thus increasing the audio quality. Therefore, a 45 RPM record will also take a better audio quality in the key grooves.
For the same reason, a 12″ 45 RPM record sound quality is amend than a 7″ 45 RPM. Indeed, the outer border of the 12″ is bigger than the outer edge of the 7″. It tin therefore store more audio data per second and sounds better.
Then, why aren't all records 12″ 45 RPM? The reason goes down to cost. Indeed, 45 RPM is faster than 33 RPM by 36%. Because of that, you engrave less music on a 12″ 45 RPM than a 12″ 33 RPM record. Therefore, if the songs are also long, you can only put one title, maybe ii, per face up. An LP or an album would need more disks to store everything. Eventually, that'due south multiplying the mastering price, plating cost, pressing cost, labels, and jackets. That'due south the reason why 12″ 45 RPM is not the virtually common but is still used, specially for promoting songs.
A 45 RPM record sounds better than a 33 RPM 80% of the time.
Nevertheless, a 45 RPM may not always sound better than a 33 RPM. Indeed, even if the physics says otherwise, there are other factors to consider: the mastering, admission to the original tape, quality of the pressing factory, etc. For this reason, it is not uncommon to hear a 45 RPM reissued after the original 33 RPM sounds worse. In short, a 45 RPM record sounds improve than a 33 RPM eighty% of the fourth dimension, but not 100%. On recent songs pressed with modernistic techniques, a 45 RPM record will definitely sound better than a 33 RPM.
Source: https://djroundabout.com/how-to-tell-if-a-vinyl-record-is-33-or-45-rpm/
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