Audio Technica AT-VM95ML/H Headshell/Dual Moving Magnet Cartridge (Black/Red)

Ive spent 10 years buying records now. It started with Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. After 5 years i had about 300. Now i have 2500. Only about a year ago did i finally get a turntable of my very own to enjoy them and that turntable was a Project Debut Pro that comes pre fitted with a modded Ortofon 2M Red. It was a bad first year. None of my records sounded as good as my best digital versions. Not even one. I thought my vinyl years of yore wouldnt be recaptured and was plotting to sell all 2500 off and go back to trusty digital. I started by selling my Project deck. I dusted off my dads olde Pioneer dd and thought about ebaying it but seeing as it had an sme headshell and the specs of the AT95ML/H were of near identical weight to the Pioneer headshell with its old Shure cart i figured one last crack at this game could be worthwhile seeing as a microline tipped cart in a good headshell could ve had for just £150.Well it was love at first listen! The fuzzy, grainy, hash ridden, timbrally brittle, romanceless sound of the TERRIBLE 2M Red cart was solely to blame. I cannot overstate just how superior the AT cart is. Distortion was so high with the 2M you could practically cut it with a knife. The AT rids playback of any distortion. Its just so clean and consistent. The surface noise which was annoying me has far lessened. It even seems to traverse the non fills and stitchea better. And all this is before ive even run the cart in and from aligning by eye. There is simply no comparison... one sounds nasty the other sounds superb. I hope it improves further still. I realise its not going to maybe have the fleshy, rich sound of the olde Shure cart, but sometimes that cart's warmth could become cloying and it also had igd issues again with some breakup and general distortion. That is now gone. All that is left with an honest portrayal of my albums. This 95ML/H has to be considered ridiculously good value for the performance on offer. I genuinely dont think im going to ever want more.

I’ve been using an Ortofon 2M blue and have been happy with the sound. Suffering from a mild case of upgraditis plus a desire to try a different stylus profile, I purchased this Audio Technica VM95ML pre-fitted to a headshell (ML is micro line whereas my Ortofon was a nude elliptical profile).It’s said to need 50 hours to run in, which I’m approaching, but even from the outset, any small amount of inner groove distortion and sibilance has pretty much gone. It sounds very, very nice and to top it all, the estimated life of the stylus is twice that of the 2M Blue at almost the same price if you bought the stylus alone. As the cartridge can take the stylus from any of the 95 range, I might be tempted to try others out as well.Highly recommended.

I'd heard a lot of good things about the ML stylus, especially it's ability to better track the songs closer to the centre label as opposed to the cheaper Conical and Elliptical options.With this in mind, upon receiving and fitting the ML stylus combo, I immediately put on my original pressing of the first Iron Maiden album. When listening to this on previous set-ups the last track on each side suffered from noticeable IGD (inner groove distortion). The ML sailed through the record with no problems, and sounded as good at the end of each side as it did at the start.Since then, I have put it through it's paces on other albums in my collection that were problematic in the past, such as the first Stranglers album and The Who's 'Who's Next'. IGD gone. And a copy of 'Rubber Soul' that suffered from horrendous sibilance, especially on Side 1. Again, the ML was up to the job and tamed the sibilance.Of course, any old record has potential groove wear that is not apparent with the naked eye which can degrade the sound but if the record is in decent shape the ML should bring out the best in it as it sits in the groove deeper than a cheaper stylus.One thing to add-Alignment is very important to make sure the stylus tracks properly. The combo I received had the cartridge slightly further back than the one that came with the turntable so I carefully moved it to line up with the other just to be on the safe side. Not sure if keeping it where it was would make too much difference but I've read that the distance from the stylus tip to the rubber washer at the back should be approx. 52.5mm.Of course, you can just buy the stylus and fit it to the old cartridge, which is the great thing about these VM styli.Overall, I highly recommend splashing out on this set-up. It's helped breathe life into some of the records I was reluctant to spin again.

Nice performance and clarity for a reasonable price

the sound quality is amazing,you dont need to get the scales out if you are using the at 95 cartridge that came with the deck(at 120x usb) which itself is a very good cartridge.it's just unscrew the cartridge and fit the new one(at95ml/h) no need to set up with stylus protractor or check the stylus pressure as it's the same as the other i have taken off my deck(2.00grams)it's plug and play and away you go ,the sound is clear as a bell.i'am not an audiophile by any means but i can tell the sound is great

I have the AT-120XUSB turntable and, like many, I purchased the VM95ML cartridge as an upgrade to the original VM95E which sounded great, however, I felt that if there was a possibility of an improved sound over the E, then I for sure wanted that and so I went for it. It all came factory calibrated so there were no set up issues.After a month of playing, I feel like the VM95ML has broken in pretty good and I would say that for me, the improvement in sound over the VM95E is probably about 10%. But it’s a huge 10%...Of course I was after more sound separation and I got that, however, I never realized how much 3-D sound I was missing, my Polk monitor 40 speakers are pretty deep front to back and with this ML cartridge, the sound is more 3 dimensional and the soundstage is indeed wider. Another considerable payoff in quality is that the previous VM95E had some issues with inner grove distortion and with the VM95ML, this problem is now non-existent.I chose the headshell/cartridge combo for the convenience of easy switch, the VM95ML is an investment that you don’t want to risk by having to be switching out the stylus alone.I will say, if you have, and are currently using the VM95E, you’re fine, the VM95E Elliptical ROCKS, especially if you’re decompressing on your metal classics and for the times when there may be a lot of company around. I will keep my VM95E and use for casual listening, however, if you want to impress people with the results of the hard work (and money) that you’ve put into your system and or you’re wanting that moment of solitude to where you’re breaking out the Floyd or like Alan Parson’s Project etc., then you want the experience to go to 11 and you have to have the VM95ML in your private stock.

Elevou meu toca discos para outro patamarA agulha percorre melhor os sulcos do vinil, produzindo um som maravilhoso

Habe damit meinen alten Technics Dreher zu neuem Leben erweckt. Kein Vergleich zur Standard Nadel. Super

De verdad la calidad de sonido se ha mejorado bastante. Al tener una cápsula original y muy normalica de mi Denon 450usb se ha notado bastante.

complètement conforme à mes attentes.