I think Dire Straits and Pink Floyd are the ultimate bands to listen to in vinyl.

Guitar solos for comparison. --2M Blue 3:22 --2M Bronze 8:15 --2M Black 13:16

What an incredible sound from Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits and this beautiful turntable.Best sounding machine I have ever heard and I've listened to everything out there.Damn good!!!!

Black has a dynamic character Bronze element sounds very pleasant, mild, rhythmic I love black

2m Black definetly has the best vocal presentation and sounds perfect in bass and treble without any fatigue. Using fidelio x1's for testing.

What I heard. Blue: Full, fun to listen to. Bronze: More detail, very bright and would fatigue me quickly. That's as far as I got because I was only interested in the difference between those two. Thank you for this video, it was a great help.

They all sound fantastic. I can hear tiny little details in the Black that pop out more than the others during the solo. However, if I wasn't trying to compare the difference, I probably would be more than satisfied with all of them. I love Ortofon cartridges.

Bronze sounds the most balanced tonewise, it's just bright enough for my likings.

NICE! When the bronze started playing it was clear that it had a much clearer and defined sound. The shaker in the left channel was airy and deep while the blue sounded a little laid back and not as pure. The Black nailed it all, fantastic cart!!!

Black all the way. Full mid range, wider scope with background acoustics. A little brighter but yet keeps a good base line.

3x Ortofon 2M Styli 1:32 Blue 6:25 Bronze 11:19 Black (missing the Red in this line up, too bad)

No doubt about it. The black has the perfect warmth to it!!

Great video! I love the Bronze. Imo, it sounds more dynamic than the blue, and slightly more open than the black.

Another great video. Thanks for making these. The blue is slightly flattered here as it appears to be sitting on the upgraded cartridge body. But the differences between the blue and the higher series cartridges are not night and day. Yes the high frequencies are more detailed as you go up through the range but the elliptical tip remains the most user friendly overall for record collectors of new and used vinyl. Shibata profiles will reveal imperfections readily and can bottom out on worn vinyl. The blue is the hassle free option The bronze and black have more of that 'air' most associated with moving coils but still can not match an actual moving coil cart. What I love most about the 2M series is the ruler flat frequency retrieval which many more expensive designs fail to reproduce. An AT33ev will give you a richer listening experience but colours the tone of what was intended However overall I always found a good MC is the way to go.

I have Bronze and I love it. In the long run, it's a great needle that you do not get tired of. Blue will be a bit poor and tired after a while.

Great idea, the choice. It was the Blue for me, a natural and balanced musical presentation, near enough to the big boys but at a 'bargain' price.

Thanks to this video I've had this song stuck in my head for over a month.

I bought a 2m blue (used on ebay) and then added a 2m bronze stylus (new). The Blue is said to have a little more base (that comes from the cartridge) but a little less top end (from the stylus) The Bronze has a neutral bottom end (cartridge again) and better top end (stylus) My combo gives me the best of both. Better Bass (blue cart) and more extended and airy highs (bronze stylus). When the Bronze stylus is getting close to wearing out (1000 hrs according to Ortofon) I plan on buying a Black stylus and adding it to the Blue cart. There are slight differences in the Red/Blue/Bronze carts. I believe the Bronze and Black use the same cart.

Congratulations on your excellent demonstration .Many channel Thanks

Blue was musical to me. Definitely, the best value. Bronze has nice detail. High mids and highs are a little forward for me. Black seems to combine the best of both. I would like to see a similar demo with an analog recording with winds and strings. Great demo! Thank you!

4 years later, I've finally ordered a Bronze after selling my Blue included in a turntable combo.

Thanks for the upload! To my ears--the Bronze is a BIG step up from the Blue; while though there is some difference, I don't believe there is enough difference between the Bronze and the Black to warrant the price jump. In other words--I don't find that the Black warrants as much more that they're asking than the Bronze. I would be just as happy with the Bronze as I would with the Black. However, this is all academic because I have a Red on my TT because that's all I can afford!!!

Tausend Dank für Deine wunderbare Arbeit. Für mich war es genau der richtige Test. Danke🤝

I started off with the 2M Blue thinking that was as good as needed for my Transcriptors Hydraulic/SME deck, and fantastic it was, no disappointment whatsoever. Temptation and curiosity got the better of me and I eventually shelled out for the 2M Black. Worth every single penny, albums I graded as VG playback with the Blue playback as VG+ using the Black, albums graded as EX playback EX+, etc, etc. I find with my deck/arm it tracks best at around 1.8g with vta just tail up. I pop the Blue stylus in when playing really worn albums and find it benefits greatly from being fitted to a 2M Black body over the stock.

I found these almost impossible to tell apart on simple smartphone or tablet feedback. So i plugged in a decent earphone, KZ-ZS6, foam exterior noise isolating eartips, better silver KZ cable. When i watched when each cart was cued up, closed my eyes and just listened. No distractions. NOW i could tell diffs...like get details in the Bronze, bass was there, just did not impress. Black is the best, should be for the price....rich details, great bass...Would have like to have heard the RED in this comparison. Blue had good bass, smooth presentation, just like Bronze and Black better. Great video dude, fact that you used Dire Straits as the demo vinyl was even better! Look fwd to more of your videos!

Blue n Black sounds fantastic.

Excellent video. I love the bronze.

I thoroughly enjoyed the side-by-side comparisons of all 4 Ortofon 2M Styli, Thanks!

The Bronze one...! Outstanding....

thanks for this vid... just bought the black and it's just amazing! Nice separation and dissects all instruments. as clear as cd but much warmer! very happy with the purchase.

Mark Knopfler is a true genius and of of the very few people Chet Atkins could perform with on a level talent field.He is sooo under rated.

1:34 blue 6:28 bronze 11:28 black

I thought the Black one the best sounding of the three. It seemed to have a flatter response, not coloring the sound, yet retaining clarity. The Blue cartridge would be my second choice, it had a nice robust sound still retaining clarity. The Red cartridge would be my third choice sounding less warm, nit quite tinny, but a little harsh.

I run a 2M Bronze at a slightly heavier 1.6 grams tracking force. I find this to be my favorite sound so far, although I haven’t tried the Black stylus yet.

What I forget to add in my rather long post (sorry for that ;) ) Overall I think I prefer the sound of the Bronze. I think the bass sounds fine, although it's slightly less than the other two. But I really like the high-end detail and open 'airy' sound it has. The Black is a close second. Although it sounds the most balanced, and has the best stereo separation, it seems just a little too sensitive to surface noise. The Blue sounds nice on it's own, but compared to the other two just isn't as detailed and high-end sounding.

...Then I looked up the prices, wow I wouldn't be able to afford the least expensive one. I have some vintage 70's - 90's floor speakers, several amps and a couple pre-amps. They are only connected to computers. I have plenty of reserve power and enough speakers in an array to handle it. I have a bunch of old LPs and a turntable (needing a cartridge or at least a needle) I also have a bunch of CDs and I know either one would have a better output than my computer but it sounds ok to my old ears. It is so easy to just go to youTube. So thumbs up to the vinyl enthusiasts like yourself who know how to record well enough so that in this example I can clearly hear the differences between the cartridges. I enjoy your music selections and have been a subscriber for some time now. Keep up the good work.

Good comparison and very professionally done (y)

This video got me into Dire Straits, to a limited extent. I am almost definitely going to get this album and not their others. I had no idea it's one of their least popular ones. I went back and streamed their discography. This is their best album for me but clearly not for the DS diehards.

Nice video! I opened the video in three windows so I could compare the sound directly. I also compared it to my original 1991 CD. Here are my observations: First of all, I think this album was digitally recorded, and therefore the sound difference with CD isn't as big as with certain analog recorded albums. The recording is however nice and balanced sounding, so it works well for comparing the characteristics of the cartridges. My first impression is that all three sounded really good, and the vinyl quality is (as with most of your uploads) in excellent condition. The difference in sound between the three stylus is fairly small, and compare well to the CD. I did hear some differences: Blue: Seems to sound the most 'analog'. Mainly because it has bit more bass than the Bronze and also the CD, but lacks a little in high-end detail and frequency extension. The stereo width is also a little less than the other two. Bronze: Noticeable more detailed and brighter sound than the Blue. Also slightly brighter than the CD. A little less bass than the Blue and Black, but actually very close to the CD. Better stereo image and width than the blue. Generally more "airy" sounding. Black: A bit more bass than the Bronze, very close to the Blue in this area. The high-end has similar extension and detail as the Bronze, but is a little less emphasized. Therefore sounds slightly less airy than the Bronze. Generally the black sounds the most balanced. Stereo image and width seems mostly the same as the Bronze. Despite the very clean sounding vinyl, the little noises that were audible seem to come out the most with the Black in my opinion. But I'm talking about very little details, hardly noticeable here. Overall: I disagree with some people here that the cartridges lack bass. Compared with the CD, the bass was very similar (It's not an overly bass-heavy recording, but the sound is nicely balanced) Although the Bronze seems to have the least bass, it still sounds very close to the CD. The Blue and Black actually have a little more bass than the CD. All three sounded slightly more dynamic than the CD. A little trivia: The CD has a very long fade out on this song. On the vinyl this is not the case. I prefer the vinyl version. Thanks for the upload!

The Black has the best bass response. Stereo separation and detail got better as you went up the line.

none of these orto sound bad at all. i notice a little more open voice on the bronze but the overall blance is VERY nice on the black. i really could live with any of these from this short listen but long term can refine things. as for the digital recordings on vinyl, i say vinyl sounds best.

OMG the black sounds like the band is playing right in front of you! Thanks for making this video. Your system is a dream!

So tricky First you'll think that the Blue one is the best but after listening to it so many times you discover that the Black one is the best Great equipments 👍 Great video making 👍 still sounds better than most nowadays YT

2m Bronze , good dynamic separation between channels. The sound is dynamic better. Probably I have 25dB separation , frequency spectrum is better , probably the weight is a little lower than the other cartridge. The 2nd place for Blue, the sound is good but the spectrum frequency response have some missig at highest frequency. The weight is a little higher, I will try to change the force. The Black can be the 3rd. The separation is generaly good , but there are some missing frequency at the highest frequency domain, not dominante , but important for clarity. Probably the damping properties of the absorbers inside is a little upper. So dynamic need to change the force or to change the lever. Finnaly , the absorbers material give the frequency spectrum...needed to use a different force , also probably recommended to use specific lever for the each of the cartridge use. Interesting test !

Black. Dynamics Imaging Clarity Wonderful!🥰🎸 Mike in San Diego.🌞🎸🚀🖖

The Red was the warmest of the bunch and very seductive, but the Blue had a tad bit more overall control while the Black was the cleanest and handled transients the best. The Blue and Black were closer to each other than the Red and Blue. The black was the most accurate overall.

Black wins on my hifi setup

Very nice System. I have the M2 Red Needle from Ortofon and the Ortofon Stylus 20. Good Sound!!!

I have the blue on my Fluance RT-85 and it sounds really good. Now, however, I want the black. Bummer. Not in my budget 🥺

Bass Tone Enter Comparison Blue : 1:54 Bronze :6:48 Black : 11:48

Просто потрясающе! Марк МЕГА талантливый мужик! 💖 💖 💖

Difference in sound quality is so little ,considering price Blue is definitely best. cheers!

The Blue cartridge sounds the best of the three. I want one!

Press 3, 6, and 9 on your keyboard to automatically seek to nearly the same place for all 3 stylus types. 3 = blue, 6 = red, 9 = black. The black isn't the same point in the song (no crash cymbal) but the blue and red are the same part, likely what you're actually here to test against.

I found the blue sounds more honest and true .

I own all 3 of these cartridges and the Black sounds best by far, i have a VPI scout, A McIntosh receiver, and emotiva amp. and a set of Cornwalls for equipment.

sin duda alguna la mejor 2mblack separacion perfecta de canales,es abierta y detallada,graves precisos y agudos muy ricos,me ha venido muy bien ver y oir este video de esta capsula ortofon 2mblack,ya que la tengo como opcion a comprarla,muchas gracias desde españa madrid felicitaciones por tu canal y videos.

Fascinating responses. While it seems that I agree with most people in thinking that the Black sounds best in comparison, I seem to notice different reasons. Even just with crappy laptop speakers, the cymbals and acoustic guitar sounds more smooth, clear, and natural with the Black. While I'm not generally as big a fan of MM or the Ortofon house sound as what my AT33PTG/II can produce, I'm also getting frustrated with the phono preamp gain hiss and fiddly aspects of my current setup, and a pre-mounted 2m on an entry VPI has a certain appeal. Interesting. I wish I could do a more direct comparison between the two. Also, wonderful choice of song. I adore this album, and this is one of my favorites! Cheers!

I listened with the smartphone speaker. The bronze one was stronger all over vocal and instrumental. The improvement the black one brought was primarily in the vocal part and quite small. So according to that impression I would chose the bronze system.

Excellent work , thanks so much for sharing sir.

The order from best to rest for me is: Black, Blue then Red. It sounded smooth and detailed in Red, then in Blue I picked up the delays on the vocals, and better separation between the instruments. Some of the trailing off end-of-line lyrics became clearer. The Black revealed even more of the delays on the main vocal and the background vocals, the "ooos" came in better, more solidly placed in the mix and clearer. Very nice Demo! Subbed your channel Mr Squarepants! 😎👍 Cheers - Luther

with this kind of music - blue is absolutely sufficient ;-)

one of my favourite albums, I've the same LP & I enjoy listening to almost everyday! very good job, thanx for the video! I like all the 3 versions! keep on enjoying us!

Wow the difference with the black cart is wild!! Way more extended and a bigger sound stage

My vote for Bronze anyway.

The bronze for me. More detailed and open sounding. I will rate black 2nd here.

Black is the best no contest, then orange and blue an the end. Tested on recapped Harman Kardon 6300 with Elna Silmic 2 in audio stage and Nippon DC filter. Sounds like heaven. Each of them is great with corresponding increasing of detail.

The black one is such a positive step for the sound of the guitar (which is a very complex sound). That's where I hear it and I'm a guitar fan...

Tonal quality of the vocals of the black stood out to me the most, background vocals also easier to define and popped out more giving a better sense if depth and space, highs were cleaner more extended and rang out better. Everything else was pretty close to equal on all 3 as far as i could hear on that track anyway. Thanks for the vid, really good to be able to hear it for yourself and not just read about the difference.

The black opened everything up for me. I realize we all hear things a little different but I heard a big difference from the first note.

Hey man! Thank you for completely understanding difference about three devices. You are the best! Thanks!

I downloaded the video, converted it to wave, edited it to three files with each recording and found this: The Bronze is 1.70 dB lower in volume level. This will produce quite a big difference in the perceived sound, as it will sound duller. Many comments also states that the Bronze is disappointing and lacks bass, which is exactly a product of volume level difference. Then I loaded the three files into the CurveEQ plugin, which produces a line that shows the difference in the EQ between two files, regardless of volume level. Frequency response is not the only thing that determines how a cartridge sounds, but it's easily the biggest factor. The Blue and Black produced an almost entirely flat line. The Bronze dropped off drastically in the very highest frequencies (around 15 kHz). I can't say exactly why this is. It could be that the Bronze is simply like that; that the settings/adjustments for the Bronze were a little bit off; or that during the recording of that particular cartridge something had gone wrong. So, my conclusion is what I had already concluded from using hi-res files recorded with the Bronze and the Black: All the cartridges in the 2M line sound either exactly the same or almost the same. People are swayed by price. The Black is much more expensive, so people expect it to sound better, but if they did a level-matched, time-aligned blind test (preferably ABX) they would most likely see that they couldn't tell a difference. Just try it yourself :-).

For the same price, my pick is the black, but at the real price tag, the blue is definitively the best choice IMHO!

Great vid. , I bought the bronze for a denon 450 and it does sound great even using the cheap phono stage that’s built in ! I also have an RPM5 with blue ptNo 2 through McIntosh phono stage MC and it’s a close call between the 2 . My advice is for any decent system go for the Bronze it’s very good .

¡¡¡¡Excelente video!!!!!, gracias por el trabajo

Money to performance: Bronze. Smoothest: Black. Blue locks low extension and dynamics of the other two.

I ran a 2m Blue on my mmf 5.3 for several years. Had no complaints. Upgraded recently to the Bronze. Definite increase in detail and I can upgrade to Black with just a stylus change. Not feeling the need, yet.

blue is nice. black sounds greatly balanced and more flat sound. great video!!

For me the blue lack of highs covers up imperfections with bassy low tone IMO Bronze and black more detail top to bottom would choose Black then Bronze. .

Thanks, very interesting! It stimulates perception. From blue to black, each adds more details. From the blue to bronze I clearly noticed Mark's voice sharper and more "real".

wow what'a video, iam in love with that thing even before i bought one. Thanks!

Los tres tienen sonido espectacular😊

That black is pure to my ears. The background noise is gone you can hear with the blue. I've got a bronze at home but never heard a side by side. I love it but oh man here we go again

I can see why the black is so expensive. The first note made me open my eye's. Black all the way.

2M Black sounds the best. Then 2M Blue. I do like the 2M Bronze for those old records where the highs are masked by wear & tear.

Listen with headphones. The black is the only one of the three that tracks perfectly in the highs. The stereo image is immaculate. The highs give away the winner. The blue has the occasional distortion and sibilance. The bronze is a big step forward and sounds very good, but it's the black all the way.

Ok, All there are very nice! Given the choice I’d take the Black. Thanks for a great vid.

Black has the best balance on my system (Genelec monitors) and sounds the closest to Hi-Res CD version, if not better! I personally don't like the Bronze, too bright for my ears. Blue one though sounds pretty dull after you listen to the Black one for a while...

Great comparison of the 3 carts. I currently have a AT440MLa and I'm looking to get the 2M Blue. The Bronze and Black are way out of my budget range.

Ordered one to win black LVB unbelievably great cartridge probably the best movie magnet on the market today

astonishing quality audio via pc through my hi fi. Quite remarkable. I purchased a new Ortofon red before realising my MIssion 774 arm has the screws in the wrong place!

Have the bronze one, the smoothiest for me, used with a mofi studio phono , un régal !!

All great but for me the blue and black sounded the best. The separation in the black was amazing.

All Very Good Cartridges, However; I have both the 2m red & 2m Blue, My favorite is The Blue! But for $100.00 you can't beat the RED! Not sure about That Fine Line (Bronze). The 2m Black does not (For Me) give me more Bang for the $$$! The Bronze Fine Line & Black Shabata Requires Spot on Mounting Accuracy! The 2m Blue (nude Elliptical is a little more forgiving regarding Spot on Mounting Accuracy!

Ready now for yet another Blue, this time the latest 2MR reduced body version to suit my Technics SL100...

For my ears, I like the bronze. Well balanced and lots of detail in the background. The little nuances like the chicken pickin guitar sound very realistic. The drums sound amazing! Lots of clarity! I'm buying one! I've had the Blue for a few years and love it but I can really hear the benefits of an upgrade to Bronze. Great video! Thank you!

It is a nice idea that we can compare like this, however so many factors are messing with what we hear it is not an actual comparison worthy of basing decisions on. 1. The setup used to transmit, digitize and record is a major factor and there is no guarantee it is suited equal to the different stylus. 2. And then after step 1. there is what happens ones the video is put on youtube ie. compressed. 3. After which finally the audio is decompressed, converted into analog, amplified and played through what ever system the listener uses - and again that system may also favor one stylus over another. 4. Finally if you pick one of these, then the result depends on your turntable, your cables, your amplifier not to mention what music you choose to listen to. Frankly, a old time review where a person describes what he, or she, hears is more valuable to base a purchase on, especially if a description of the system is provided also an also references to other reviews as well. If you use videos like this you're fooling yourself, sure you may get lucky however you could also cheat your self and end up with the wrong choice.

Such a great video... wow.

Without considering the price I found at least with this phono preamp the Blue better balanced of the 3.....the Bronze sounds equal to AT440 with less lower midrange than the blue But that depends on which speaker we have, the sound of the Bronze is better if you have a punchy lower midrange speaker like a Martin Logan or a Quad ESL63 but if my speaker is a JBL, Paradigm I would prefer the Blue The Black is too neutral that is for a speaker with hot trebble I would say a B&W 802 but for that price the Goldring G1042 and HANA are better sounding than the Black

Excelente comparación. Muchas gracias.