Love low-fi? 3D-print your own vinyl records
(Credit: Amanda Ghassaei)
I can’t bear to part with my record collection. It’s got gems like Steely Dan’s “The Royal Scam” that sound better on a turntable and amplifier than on MP3.
Maybe analog sound can feel better because we’re analog creatures. Whatever the reason, vinyl’s recent popularity has led to events like Record Store Day and DIY projects like Amanda Ghassaei’s 3D-printed records.
An editorial staffer at Instructables.com, Ghassaei managed to lay down digital audio files on 3D-printed 33 rpm records that she played on a standard turntable.
The results, as heard in the video below, sound about as clear as phonograph cylinders from the 1880s. The audio output has a sampling rate of 11kHz and 5- to 6-bit resolution, but tunes like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” are easily recognizable.
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