Neoteck Digital Turntable Stylus Force Scale Gauge 0.01g/5.00g Blue LCD Backlight for Tonearm Phono Cartridge

Summing up — A well-made and highly accurate electronic scale that's a breeze to use. It will be the best investment in sound you will ever make for less than the price of an LP.Optimal interaction between record grooves and stylus is at once crucial and delicate. Tracking force, the weight with which the stylus rests on the record, is a key driver. Too low can cause distortion on bass notes and even skipping of the stylus along and across the grooves. Too high will impact the high end of the audio spectrum and cause unnecessary wear to LPs and stylus alike. Even though you can dial in this tracking force on your tone arm, a stylus scale measures the actual weight the record sees, taking accuracy up a notch.This scale is well constructed. While not a Swiss watch, it has the look and feel of a quality device. The cover protecting the scale when not in use fits perfectly and will not come off. The large numbers on the bright, backlit LCD present in high contrast and read easily. The three buttons (On/Off, Zero, and Units) have a positive feel. And the soft storage case that comes with the scale is a nice touch.It is very stable. Repeated measurements of the included 5.00gr calibration weight lead to identical results within 0.01 gram, even after several months. This is quite an achievement for such an inexpensive device. And it is plenty accurate since tracking force is usually specified in quarter gram increments. Lo and behold, weighing a new penny comes in at exactly 2.50 grams as it should. This forms an independent check on the calibration weight and the scale's accuracy.You rest your stylus on the little white disc with a black dot in the middle to sharpen your aim. This disc is made of soft plastic so is gentle, another nice touch. It is part of a metal cantilever. The outer edge of this cantilever sits slightly higher than the inner edge, as another reviewer pointed out, but this is essential to its proper functioning.It is powered by three included AG12 alkaline button batteries, inexpensive and widely available. If ever your batteries die you could use AG10 cells if you happen to have those lying around. Those are slightly thinner so add a tiny ball of aluminum foil to hold them in place. But you won't be needing new batteries for quite some time since this scale shuts down automatically after a brief period.The calibration weight stores inside a square piece of pliable foam. This insert also has cutouts for the battery cells and fits inside the cover so you won't lose it, a clever touch. When storing the scale for a longer time it is better to remove and store the batteries so any leakage will be harmless.The little instruction booklet is written in unusually clear English and five other languages, more telltales that suggest the manufacturer cares about its audience.You cannot go wrong with this elegant stylus scale. It is a delight to use.

Good to go scale at a minimal cost. Used scale to verify stylus pressure set with tone arm on turn table was accurate. Turned out it was pretty exact. Had I not gotten the scale I would not be able to verify. Also, nice for making tiny incremental stylus pressure changes, not possible with tone arm adjustment. Pretty good product for the turn table afflicted, or it might make a nice gift for such a person.Cons. Poorly written and very minimal instructions (as if in some sort of code), although not terribly difficult to figure out with a little bit of tinkering. This issue could probably be easily fixed. Lastly, as usual, forced to spend money on another imported product when this thing could easily be made in the United States for the domestic market.Update (if you are really interested in this stuff)- In my case, the stylus force was originally measured using the turntable stylus force scale on the tone arm of my turn table. I then set stylus force to 1.5 grams after balancing tone arm, making sure the tone arm was parallel to the record surface (usually recommended), when the stylus was resting on the record surface. I then removed the vinyl record plus the rubber slip mat to make my next measurement, to accommodate for the thickness of the base of the Neoteck scale. This, again, made the tone arm close to parallel to the surface of the turn table, if the stylus was actually tracking a record. Doing this the Neoteck scale was pretty much in the 1.5 gram range, confirming my tone arm scale was accurate. To experiment a little, I placed the Neoteck scale on the rubber slip mat, alone, with only the vinyl record missing. I took another stylus force measurement and the Neoteck scale now said my stylus force was 1.68 grams. Then, I (again) measured with both the slip mat and vinyl record removed. Again, the weight came up at 1.5 grams, confirming the turn table scale to be accurate, when measurement conditions are the same. So apparently the stylus force changes if the tone arm is higher or lower when the measurement is taken. It reminded me how one adjustment or variable can change the results in the world of turn table adjustments, since the idea of using a scale like this (after all) is to get an accurate reading. Again, some better instructions might be helpful.For 39.00 dollars you could get the Shure SFG-2 scale, which although not quite as accurate as a digital scale, has none of the base alignment thickness issues of the Neoteck. With that in mind is the Neoteck scale actually any more accurate (or as accurate), since it is nearly impossible to get it to line up at the (exact) same level the stylus is actually tracking when you do a measurement. The Shure SFG-2 is also time tested and trusted. Also, will the battery be dead the next time you are ready to use it? The Shure does not need batteries.So, yes, I do have some doubts (after using it), as to whether it is as accurate as most people think a digital scale is. I might have had more peace of mind with the Shure scale. I am still giving it five stars based a lot on price, and in the hopes that it is accurate enough.