Audio-Technica AT-VMN95ML Microlinear Replacement Turntable Stylus Red

If you have the AT LPW40WN [or a turntable with a stock at-vmn95e cartridge (the green one)] you NEED to pull the trigger on this one. It takes the listening experience from a realistic 7 to a solid 9.5.About where I came from (atvmn95e) cartridge:When I originally purchased my turntable and spun some of my records I found that the mid-range of the vmn95e cartridge had more to desire from. It felt hidden in a way. The lows were just a bit boomy and the highs were too much in my face, which made me fatigued after a couple of LPS. All this being said I still found myself "satisfied" with the performance of the atvmn95e (as so many other vinyl listeners do).After replacing the cartridge with this new one I found an immediate tangible difference between the two's reproduction. The at - vmn95ML immediately fixed the sonic discrepancies I found above. The bass tightened up and leveled out, the mids became fuller and more present, and the highs' sound became much more precise but all much less fatiguing (this for me was the big seller of satisfaction). Additionally, the new needle significantly decreased the pops, crackles, and excess noise that I experienced with my previous cartridge—what a sweet bonus.Keep in mind that this is the immediate difference. (AMAZING!)As other reviewers mention after 20-30 hours of break-in period the sound signature of the cartridge will come into its own. I will update my experience after 40 ish hours (to be safe) and place it below.Why should you get this cartridge?THE PRICE:At roughly $160 after tax and whatnot, it's a steal for 1000 hours of great playback. Comparing it to the atvmn95e which comes in stock on many at turntables, it's both cheaper in the long haul and a quality of sound upgrade. The "e" is typically about $50-60 and is rated for 300 hours which works out to be around 20 cents an hour give or take a couple pennies. Or about $200 for 1000 hours. The "ML" is around $160, after tax and is rated at 1000. So a saving of 40 bucks :)!EASY SWITCH OUT:If you have a cartridge that is already from the 95 series it's an easy unplug and replug of the new stylus! (no need to waste money on a new headshell and cartridge!SOUND QUALITY:The micro liner design helps the stylus reach deeper into the grooves of your records ensuring accurate tracking and reducing distortion as a result. It really is a difference you will notice on the first spin.If you are contemplating pulling the trigger on this stylus, do It. You will NOT regret it.

I bought an Audio Technica AT- VM95E a while back, with the bonded elliptical (green) stylus. For the money, it's impressive. I then bought the conical (blue) stylus for playing older, mono records. It is also impressive for that purpose. I recently got a VM-95EN stylus too. That's the nude elliptical (orange). It REALLY impressed me. Compared to the bonded elliptical, it's clearer and noticeably more defined, has a more open top end, is punchier and tracks better. Finally, I just got the AT-VM95ML, micro-linear (red) stylus. And as great as the nude elliptical is, this stylus represents a significant improvement over it. It's even punchier, has an even better top (and bottom) end, has noticeably better clarity and definition, a slightly wider and deeper soundstage and tracks amazingly well at 2 grams. I have yet to hear even a hint of inner groove distortion. The nude elliptical is very good in this regard too but the ML is even better. The other thing I noticed right away was lower surface noise with this stylus shape. The music seems to just leap out of the grooves. The dynamics are amazing and the noise level is low. There's a real solid feel to the sound of the cartridge with this stylus. It's fun and exciting to listen to! Sonically, it's a bit on the brighter side of the spectrum. All the styli I have for this cartridge share that quality to some extent. It doesn't bother me at all. On most records, it sounds great. On the few that it doesn't, I have other cartridges to choose from ready to go in head shells. If you couldn't tell by now, I really like to play with different phono cartridges and styli to get different sounds and to discover which cartridges and styli are best for different types of records, whether they be new, old, stereo or mono etc. Anyway, if you already have an AT-VM95C or E and you can afford to pick one of these styli up, I can assure you, you will not be sorry! If you have an EN, nude stylus, the improvement is still quite noticeable but less than if you are upgrading from a C or E stylus. Audio Technica has really produced a great product line with the AT-VM95 series and very smart to offer such a comprehensive line of available styli for them. Notice, I use the word "STYLI", not "STYLUSES". The plural of stylus is styli, folks, like "stimulus" and "stimuli" Just a pet peeve of mine. OK, lecture over. I don't have the Shibata stylus yet, maybe someday!Buy this stylus for your AT-VM95 cartridge. You won't regret it!

Audio-Technica did it right by creating upgradable cartridges that can be stepped up in quality, simply by replacing the stylus. They've essentially become the new Shure!The AT-VM95 series cartridges all use the same body, differing only in the included stylus. They offered a conical stylus the entry level, all the way to Shibata. They also offer one for 78rpm records. I started with the elliptical, upgrading first to the Shibata, which allows proper play of CD-4 records. The Micro-Line is one step down from the Shibata, and is aimed more more contact between the stylusand record groove. This includes parts of the groove that remained untouched by conical or elliptical styli Older records sound new again. All of these styli track at 2 grams, maximizing record life.Many new turntables are now including an AT-VM95 cartridge already installed. For most users, that should suffice. For those with extensive record collections that are still being played, the Micro-Line stylus (the red one) will breathe new life into those older records. I do recommend proper cleaning of any record to sound their best and last their longest.

I recently bought the Audio-Technica LPW40WN turntable which comes with the VMN95E cartridge/stylus. The sound was pretty good through my setup (Schiit Mani 2 preamp > NAD C316BEE amp > Klipsch R-620F speakers), but I was curious how this ML stylus would sound.The most undeniable improvement is this ML stylus picks up way less surface noise (crackle). Night and day difference, easy for anyone to notice. Another important improvement is the lifespan of the stylus (1,000 hours vs only 300 hours for the VMN95E). As far as the sound difference on my particular rig, I noted the following improvements: the ML reveals more detail, and has more clarity. The VMN95E often exhibited muddy bass frequencies and sounded very "thuddy", whereas this ML stylus has tighter bass freqs which sound under-control and pleasing/smooth. The very highest frequencies also seem to sound smoother and more pleasing to the ear. Listening to Sam Cooke's Night Beat album I felt I could not only hear the WORDS he was singing, but I could also hear what his face/mouth were doing while he sang those words into the microphone(s).In short, if you just want to casually play records and/or don't have a decent audio system the VMN95E is a fine option. But if you have picky ears and a decent system, it's definitely worth the money to upgrade to the ML. Sounds better, lasts longer, and picks up far less surface noise.I checked my tracking force after swapping the stylus, and no adjustment was needed. Alignment also appears/sounds intact, no adjustment needed.

This is the stylus that takes a good setup and makes it special. Records open up. There's actual space between instruments now, room to breathe, detail I didn't know was in pressings I've owned for years. It's not the cheapest option on the shelf, but you're paying for something real. If you're serious about vinyl, this is where the money should go.

I bought this to replace the stock AT-VMN95E stylus on my AT-LP120XUSB turntable. I did not need a new stylus, but had read about how this was a decent upgrade to make. I wasn't sure about the $150 price tag, but since it is supposed to last about 3 times longer than the stock elliptical stylus, there was some value there as I plan to have this turntable for many years.Sound wise, I didn't notice much, if any, difference listening to new records. This is one of those YMMV issues - I have a decent system, but nothing to write home about. I use the LP-120Xusb's built-in phono pre-amp into an Onkyo TX-NR555 A/V receiver which goes out to a pair of Boston Acoustics VR965 speakers. All that goes into some 50-year old ears, so it's likely I couldn't hear the increased frequency response compared to the VMN95E anyway.For used records, I did notice an improvement, though. I have an 80s pressing of UB40's Labour of Love that I bought at a used record store. It looked clean, but was pretty crackly when played with the VMN95E. I'm sure they cleaned it, but there was still definitely some crud in the groove. When I tried it with the VMN95ML, it not only sounded better with the first playing, but the record also came out "dirtier" after playing due to the stylus getting all the loose gunk left from the cleaning out of the groove. After two more plays (and appropriate stylus cleaning), the record played near perfect.All that said, this is not the stylus for everybody. If you play a lot of vinyl and need to replace a VMN95E or VMN95C, it's definitely something to consider. While it costs more, it lasts longer, so it would all balance out over the years. If you have a higher-end amplifier and speakers, it may also be worth the upgrade to help squeeze every last bit of sound out of your turntable.

Easy to replace. I can definitely hear the difference compared to the green elliptical stylus. Especially on old records, less crackling and the inner groove distortion is almost completely gone. For reference I have an ATLP120XUSB

I used this to replace a Green 'E' stylus. I had about 700 hours on that one and I was noticing a "muddy" sound to albums. The Green 'E' has a 300-hour design life. With the Red 'ML' stylus, I noticed a very obvious improvement to my listening experience, and I don't consider myself an audiophile. Bass popped. Vocals clearer. I lean towards rock and metal. Tool's Fear Inoculum was stellar and I heard things that were not noticeable before. I dug out some ancient records from my collection that, even though well cared for, had become near unlistenable due to extreme wear from the old "shark tooth" needles I used before I could afford proper equipment. I chose Zeppelin IV, Black Sabbath's Paranoid and AC/DC's Back in Black. All have many hundreds of plays. I found, that while some pops remained, for the most part the sound was fantastic and greatly improved. Supposedly, the needle shape allows it to ride deeper in the groove, below where my older needles rode. So, it is in virgin territory. This needle has a 1000-hour design life. So improved durability and quality over the Green 'E.'

I wanted to clock up at least 10-15hrs listening time on this stylus, before commenting on the sound quality of it.Well, the don't call it a "reference" stylus for nothing; it doesn't colour the music at all, it isn't bass or tremble heavy, it's neutral (which any great stylus should be).The highs are much more tamed, than the green Stylus AT95E. There's no "harshness" to the highs. The sound imaging is much more 3D. There's more resonance and complexity/depth to voices.For example, currently listening to a mono pressing of Nina Simone's Little Girl Blue (my receiver has a mono switch), and her voice is incredible.I know that it's said all the time, but it honestly sounds like she's in my living room, playing the piano and singing as if she's performing live.It isn't exactly an exact science, but rrp of the red from their website, is 3.5 times the price, of the green.Is the red 4 times better sounding? Probably not, but that isn't the point.With a use lifetime of about 300-500 hrs of the green vs 1000 hrs = about $160 plus postage of the green, to get almost the same amount of hrs of use, as the red, but at half the price still.Therefore, is the red head twice as good sounding as the green? In my opinon, at least, probably slightly more so, but you'll need at least at the minimum, a reasonable quality inbuilt phono stage, to get the most out of the purchase. A reasonable quality dedicated external phono stage, in %95 of cases, will be streets ahead of an inbuilt one.Is it worth the upgrade? Absolutely.Manufactures do customers such a disservice by selling turntables with the green At's as standard. Boasting about the audio prowess of vinyl, doesn't make a lot of sense, if selling with the green AT's as standard.

Tras haber probado 4 stylus diferentes de AudioTechnica (ATVM95: C, E, EN,ML)El ML es sin duda el mejor. La duración de 1000 horas y de respuesta de frecuencias es perfecta.Es un stylus caro, sí; pero vale toda la pena. Si se hace un combo con un buen preamp + un amplificador de alta respuesta y unas buenas bocinas, el ML será un deleite auditivo.Hay una enorme diferencia entre cualquier stylus abajo de este. Es increíble y sutil la forma y captación de frecuencias en un vinilo, incluso no siendo de 180gr.La fuerza de seguimiento (tracking force) debe estar entre 1.8 a 2.2gr. Es un stylus delicado.He leído a muchos preferir el ML al Shibata, cosa que alegra ya que un Shibata no dura lo que una ML ni cuesta lo que un ML.

Amazing result

The AT-VMN95ML delivers outstanding sound quality with excellent tracking. Surface noise is minimal, and the detail in highs and mids is impressive. A perfect upgrade for anyone serious about vinyl playback. Smooth, precise, and worth the investment!

Very good upgrade on the At-Vm95E. Much cleaner sound and it makes records sound more "black" .