Questions about Transfering Mono LP's to CD's

[TommyTunes]

Normally when I burn a CD from a Mono LP I use a Y cable to combine the left and right channels out of the preamp and then feed the same signal into both channels of the CD recorder. Although I have a Mono switch on the preamp, I don't believe that it sends the mono signal to the preamp tape outputs. So here is my question, is there a better way to burn a True mono copy?
Also I use my standard cartridge (Helicon) for playing mono records. Would I benefit by using a "True" Mono cartridge? If so, can anyone recommend a Mono cartridge that is reasonably priced (under $300), I can't afford the Mono Helicon (nor can I justify it with only about 200 mono lp's).

[Steve Hoffman]

TT,

Do it the way you have been doing it.

Do the results please you? If so, there ya go.

:)

[TommyTunes]

Thanks Steve, how about a mono cartridge recommendation?

[Steve Hoffman]

Don't have one. I think it's a total waste of money.


(You asked!)

[TommyTunes]

I very happy to hear you say that. I can hold on to my $ plus I didn't really want to have to setup different cartridges.

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Do it the way you have been doing it.

Do the results please you? If so, there ya go.

Wouldn't it be a better idea to pick the better sounding channel and use only that? In theory couldn't combining the channels cause problems, like when doing the same with a tape?

[Steve Hoffman]

Not at all.

Any mastering or cutting engineer in the good old days would use a mono tape machine with a full track head stack to cut in mono. Nothing is being removed when combining channels of a mono LP except noise.

Of course, mono LP's cut after 1968 COULD have a problem if the engineer was careless, but any regular forum member by now knows how to spot a swishy sounding mono recording...

[Ken_McAlinden]

When I was an undergraduate in college, I took a circuits class where our project was to design a rumble filter. All we were given was a passive circuit diagram and told to figure out what it was doing and to design an active filter scheme that would do it better. I eventually figured out that it was adding the sub-80Hz frequencies together (rumble being equal and opposite in the stereo channels and mono bass being the result) and keeping the above 80Hz stuff discrete. A stereo sum of a well-cut mono recording gives you all of the benefit of my class project without any of the funky artifacts.

Home theater folks with satellite and single subwoofer systems are getting rumble filtering as a trade-off with their mono bass, but many wouldn't know what an LP looks like unless they saw one in an old movie. :D

Regards,

[RetroSmith]

Hey Steve.....got a question for ya...

I've heard that some of the older cutting heads (like the old Scullys) only went up to 8 Kz or so...yet they were extremely clean.

How do they sound vs. the ones that came after? Did they make a better sounding laquer??

Thanks!!!

Mikey

[Steve Hoffman]

Oh, they went higher than that, it's just that 8,000 cycles is when the old heads started throwing everything out of phase. But tube electronics were used in cutting.

So, it's apples and oranges.

It must be taken on a case by case basis. It's the mastering.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
TT,

Do it the way you have been doing it.

Do the results please you? If so, there ya go.

:)

C'mon! tell us what you really think!:D

Oh, I know what you're saying! Whatever gets you to that place...

[Steve Hoffman]

Grant, it's how I do it!

Why use an expensive box that does the same thing?