We put the new pocket-size vinyl format to the test—with mixed results

Some releases really take advantage of the extra real estate of the gatefold jacket and printed inner sleeve, 

Chris Foresman

Some releases really take advantage of the extra real estate of the gatefold jacket and printed inner sleeve, 

Chris Foresman

while others have barely any additional information beyond song titles. 

Chris Foresman

while others have barely any additional information beyond song titles. 

Chris Foresman

A few of our samples had this hard-to-remove flaw, which seems like an artifact of the manufacturing process. It required liquid cleaner to remove.

Chris Foresman

A few of our samples had this hard-to-remove flaw, which seems like an artifact of the manufacturing process. It required liquid cleaner to remove.

Chris Foresman

while others have barely any additional information beyond song titles. 

Chris Foresman

A few of our samples had this hard-to-remove flaw, which seems like an artifact of the manufacturing process. It required liquid cleaner to remove.

Chris Foresman

Additionally, I compared the classic track “Linus and Lucy” from A Charlie Brown Christmas with a 2012 pressing of the full album, as well as the 2019 3-inch version using an adapter, all on the LP-120, to give readers the best comparison across formats.

Again, the LP version of the seminal soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas sounded bright and noticeably louder than its 4-inch counterpart. No major surprises here. And of course, the LP includes the entire soundtrack, so if you’re a big fan of the film or the kind of contemplative, piano-based jazz that Vince Guaraldi is famous for, you’ll probably spring for the full album.

The 3-inch version of “Linus and Lucy” unsurprisingly sounds fairly comparable to the Tiny Vinyl version, with a much quieter playback at the same amplifier settings. But it also sounds a lot noisier, likely due to the differences in materials used in manufacturing.

Though 3-inch records can play on standard turntables, as I did here, they’re designed to go hand-in-hand with one of the many Crosley RSD3 variants released in the last five years, or on the Crosley Mini Cruiser turntable. If you manage to pick up an original 8ban player, you could get the original lo-fi, “noisy analog” sound that Bandai had intended as well. That’s really part of the 3-inch vinyl aesthetic.

Newer 3-inch vinyl singles are coming with a standard spindle hole, which makes them easier to play on standard turntables. It also means there are now adapters for the tiny spindle to fit these holes, so you can technically put a 4-inch single on them. But due to the design of the tonearm and its rest, the stylus won’t swing out to the edge of Tiny Vinyl; instead, you can only play starting at grooves around the 3-inch mark. It’s a little unfortunate because it would otherwise be fun to play these miniature singles on hardware that is a little more right-sized ergonomically.