With the resolution of 3D printers increasing every year, the accuracy and detail of prints are now becoming very fine. In fact, a few printers these days are able to produce objects that have a 16 micron resolution.
That type of resolution led Amanda Ghassaei, assistant editor at Instructables, to see if she could print an LP on a 3D Printer.
Starting with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and other songs by the Pixies, Daft Punk and Radiohead, Ghassaei down sampled each song to 11kHz to try and compensate for the printers resolution. You see, although 3D printers do have a very fine print resolution it can’t compare to the intricate audio grooves on a traditional LP.
Read More at ENGINEERING.com
They might not look the part, but they really do play!
That's a far cry better than the ersatz records I built last year (in real vinyl)–mine looked authentic but a phonograph needle couldn't follow the grooves so it wouldn't play. Shapeways' blog bluntly (but accurately) dubbed my creation The Sound of a 3D Printed Replica Vinyl Record, that does not quite work.