When listening to vinyl on your turntable, you may notice that you can hear a quiet high-pitched sound coming directly from it, which is not coming through the speakers or headphones. You will be able to hear this more prominently when the turntable isn’t amplified, i.e. when your speakers aren’t connected or turned on.

What you are hearing is something that is referred to as "needle talk". This is a normal physical phenomenon. As the stylus is moving within the record groove, the majority of this energy is then transmitted through the magnetic circuit to create the electrical signal, whilst any excess energy is turned immediately into sound which can create a faint high-pitched noise before it is amplified and sound comes out of your speakers.

It is sometimes so low that you cannot hear it all the time and it can be more prominent on some records/tracks than others. It can be particularly noticeable at lower volumes and when you are near the turntable. When replaying your records via Bluetooth this experience is exaggerated due to the very slight time delay (latency) that is inherent to Bluetooth technology.

If you wish to lessen this effect, try closing the dust cover whilst listening.

If you want to discuss needle talk further then please contact us.