A new 4-inch vinyl single format called Tiny Vinyl has launched with exclusive releases at Target, offering compact music playback. Testing on various turntables reveals it works well on manual models but struggles with automatic and portable ones. Sound quality is quieter and slightly distorted compared to standard LPs, appealing more to casual listeners than audiophiles.
Tiny Vinyl is a miniature 4-inch vinyl single format developed through a collaboration between a toy industry veteran and the world's largest vinyl record manufacturer. The records are pressed using a process similar to standard 12-inch LPs or 7-inch singles, featuring a standard-size spindle hole and playing at 33⅓ RPM. Each side holds up to four minutes of music.
Several artists have adopted the format, including The Band Loula, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Blake Shelton, and Melissa Etheridge. Tiny Vinyl partnered with Target for a major launch, releasing 44 exclusive titles through the end of the year. Promotional copies from Grace VanderWaal, The Band Loula, Florida Georgia Line, and the Vince Guaraldi Trio were tested on an Audio Technica LP-120 turntable connected to a Yamaha S-301 amplifier and Klipsch KG4 speakers. Additional tests used a Crosley portable suitcase turntable and an RSD3 model for 3-inch singles.
The format does not work on automatic turntables, as they are designed for 12-inch or 7-inch records, and the auto-return mechanism activates too early. Manual tonearm turntables, such as DJ-style direct drive models or audiophile belt-drive ones from Fluance, U-Turn, or Pro-Ject, handle Tiny Vinyl effectively. Placing the stylus requires precision, but a nude elliptical stylus tracks the fine grooves better than a conical one, though some distortion appears in the final seconds of tracks.
Across genres like rock, country, dance pop, hip-hop, jazz, and show tunes, Tiny Vinyl sounds quieter than comparable 12-inch LPs at the same volume, due to smaller groove modulations for the four-minute runtime. A direct comparison of 'Linus and Lucy' from A Charlie Brown Christmas showed the 4-inch version quieter and slightly distorted compared to a 2012 full LP pressing, but less noisy than a 2019 3-inch version.
On the Crosley suitcase model with an Audio Technica AT3600L cartridge, the record required a slipmat to spin and failed to track beyond initial grooves due to tonearm limitations. This issue likely affects similar portable turntables from Crosley, Victrola, or other big-box brands.
Tiny Vinyl provides a compact experience with cover art, liner notes, and options like gatefold jackets and color vinyl, using fewer resources than full-size records. However, its sound quality does not match high-end pressings, and compatibility limits its appeal. It suits casual listeners with manual turntables but not those with popular automatic or entry-level portables.