Audio-Technica AT-VM95ML: hours on a MicroLine diamond.
The AT-VM95ML keeps the VM95 dual moving magnet generator and is filed here with a MicroLine diamond: 2.0 g, 800 hours.
- Diamond
- MicroLine
- Rated life
- 800 h
- Catalog tracking force
- 2.00 g
- Generator
- Dual Moving Magnet
Hours used against the 800 h ceiling.
How the hours are counted.
One LP side is 21 minutes, which is 0.35 h. Hours used are sides times 0.35. Wear is those hours divided by the 800 h MicroLine ceiling. Below 15 percent the catalog calls the diamond fresh. From 15 percent to 70 percent it is in the tracking range. From 70 percent to 95 percent it asks for an inspection. At 95 percent and above it calls for a replacement, because a worn facet can chisel the inner groove.
Worked example, same formula: 400 LP sides are 140.0 h, which is 17.5 percent of this 800 h ceiling, with 660.0 h and 1885 sides left.
AT-VM95ML questions
Where does the 800 hour ceiling for the Audio-Technica AT-VM95ML come from?
StrobeHz groups diamonds by profile: bonded elliptical 300 hours, conical 400 hours, nude elliptical 500 hours, and MicroLine 800 hours. The Audio-Technica AT-VM95ML is mapped to MicroLine in the StrobeHzCore catalog that ships with the iOS app (Dual Moving Magnet, catalog tracking force 2.00 g). That mapping is the ceiling this page uses. It is a groove-risk budget, not a promise that every diamond fails on that hour.
Does every record on the AT-VM95ML count as 21 minutes?
The 21 minute figure is the catalog average for one 12-inch LP side. A full LP is two sides, 42 minutes. A 7-inch single is usually shorter. If you know the minutes, divide by 21 and enter that many sides. The calculator does not know tracking force, dirt, or how hot the groove was cut.