hi all,

been a while, may have a stylus failure, played a couple of albums today all was fine, then the third, it started to sound like there was a lot of dust collecting on the stylus, there was, cleaned it, replayed the album and it started again, no dust this time. so i tried a brand new vinyl album and it still was producing the sound as if dust was on the tip. it cleared a little then went back to sounding as if it was dusted up, for which it wasnt.

are these the characteristics of a failed needle? anyone help? its on a beogram 9000

Yes, distorted sound is a symptom of a worn stylus.

Unfortunately, there is no effective way of checking other than replacement with another or get yours re-tipped by Axel.