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Old Floppy Drive Becomes New Turntable

Posted by timothy on from the obsessive-reuse dept.

vinyl1 writes "This must be the ultimate in retro-cool hardware hacking. The floppy drive is obsolete, but the turntable is not, and that got one guy to thinking. He provides a full tutorial on how to turn that worthless old floppy drive into a most desirable piece of audio gear."

10 of 329 comments (clear)

  1. Where its at! by Prophetic_Truth · · Score: 5, Funny

    I got two floppy drives and a microphone!

    nerdcore rules

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  2. Before anyone asks... by rhennigan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because he can.

  3. I've always wanted to do something like this by ReformedExCon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are some times I wish I had spent a little more time studying electronics than doing other things, and this is definitely one of those times. The most impressive part of the project is the variable resistor that allows him to control turntable speed manually. Unfortunately for me, I haven't got the knowledge, much less the gumption, to figure something like that out on my own.

    I don't suppose he tested the torque of the motor to see how quickly he could get the record to playing speed. That's one of the key features that I understand to be important to audiophiles. And for the DJs, I imagine they are interested in what sort of clutch (?) mechanism there is that could help the motor recover from an accidental reversing of direction.

    Seriously, I need to go to Barnes & Noble and pick up a book on basic electronics. It's one of those itches that I just haven't had the resources to scratch.

    --
    Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
  4. There is something beautiful about ... by fake_name · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...a hack allows you to read obsolete media of one type with obsolete hardware of another type.

    1. Re:There is something beautiful about ... by Vo0k · · Score: 5, Interesting

      In the good old times when 8 bits was the data word size, I got a vinyl record with songs of some band. And the last track was a program for ZX Spectrum - a quiz about the band. To use it you had to copy the track to tape and then load in the tape-recorder of the computer. Never got around to do this, but I still have the record somewhere.
      Not booting, but...

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  5. Re:That would make one *terrible* turntable by LardBrattish · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well according to the article (You did READ the article before sounding off didn't you ;) it's so quiet he couldn't hear the motor in operation and had to add an LED to be sure. The actual turntable is quite cool because it's shaped vaguely like a Fender Stratocaster body with a glass platter.

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  6. LED??? by STFS · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the article: "I had to fit a LED to find out when it's on because it's so quiet!!!".

    Ummm... wouldn't the turntable actually turning be a dead givaway???

    --
    You don't think enough... therefore you better not be!
  7. Re:That would make one *terrible* turntable by biglig2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you RTFA, you'll see that the floppy is being used by a custom hifi shop to build a custom turntable. They're not doing this because they can't afford a turntable, or don't know where to buy one; they're using a floppy drive as a source of parts. The idea being that floppys are actually very sophisticated devices, and are only ridiculously cheap because of the huge economies of scale involved in their manufacture.

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  8. Re:That would make one *terrible* turntable by the_weasel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Which is why I hate the new breed of slashdot users.

    This was a home project - he did it because he wanted to, not because he needed to. Would you have preferred he watched survivor? Or that donald trump show? Maybe downloaded, so he could be spoonfed his entertainment.

    This is one of the few slashdot stories of the past few days that actually belongs here. In my opinion.

    Think about it for a minute.

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    - sarcasm is just one more service we offer -
  9. Re:cool DIY project, but: by iainl · · Score: 5, Informative

    It all depends on what you want the turntable for. Direct Drive is indeed vital if you want the "45rpm, right when I press the button" demands of a DJing deck, but belt drives (that admittedly need occasional recalibration as the belt wears out) usually offer less flutter than similarly specced direct ones.

    If you're wanting an audiophile deck for just putting a record on and listening, then you probably don't want DD after all.

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    "I Know You Are But What Am I?"