Post Your Needledrops, Pt. 2

Yes Stefan, I'd rate the technical performance of the DL-160 two steps above my 2M Red and one step above my AT430E/OCC. Sound-wise and in combination with the CA 540P, I still find the bass a bit soft and slightly bloated. Both MM's are dryer, with more impact there. There's a little 7-band EQ in my receiver which I don't normally use, but tonight I'm listening with -2dB@150Hz and +2dB@2400Hz and it's sounding quite good this way. Relaxed and confident.

 

Thought I'd put up one of mine:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/p0epgd

Junior Wells w/ Buddy Guy - Hoodoo Man Blues (title track). (Analogue Productions 45RPM)

Project 1Xpression/Benz Glider H2>TC-760LC phono>Sony MDS-JB930 running as A/D convertor>Terratec soundcard, Audiograbber>flac.

It's only 16/44.1 of course, but it was a cheap way to get needledrops. What do you think?

Edit: No click repair or noise reduction done on this track because it simply isn't necessary... nice work AP!

 

You experienced needledroppers here, what do you listen for when you listen to others' needledrops?

 

Clarity, tonality, musicality, soundstage, a sense of "holographic detail", etc. In other words, does the "magic" that some of us hear in vinyl come across in the needledrop. It frequently can and does.

 

Sounds good, Geoff! Good balance, but I'm hearing some distortion in the left channel (second half of the clip), when listening thru headphones at higher level. May be in the pressing?

Also, the noise just before the music starts is relatively high in amplitude (more than normal groove noise I would say). Is that in the recording or somewhere along the playback/recording chain?

Nice clip, thanks for sharing. The above is only meant as positive criticism.

 

I hadn't listened to it on headphones before this morning, but I just noticed the distortion too. Hmm... very much doubt it's on the recording, I will look into what is causing it.

I'm not sure about the noise at the beginning, there is definitely tape hiss on this recording but I think there is some hum in there somewhere too. Phonostage related, I suspect. It could do with being upgraded but I want to upgrade the turntable first. Ahh it never ends, does it?

 

I've made a few changes to my set up. First of all, I'm trying the Denon DL-160 cartridge, in part because I thought Antares' samples using that cart sounded so good. I had been thinking about trying one for a while actually, but hearing how nice those samples sounded really made me want to try it in my system. My initial impressions are extremely positive.

Second, my MMF-7's motor was starting to make some weird humming noises, so it was time to replace it (it's seen 8 years heavy use). On the recommendation of Roy Hall I replaced it with the motor for the MMF-9.1 turntable, along with the MMF-9.1's speed controller. I already had a Pro-Ject speed box, but the Music Hall speed controller works a little differently, running the motor at 50 Hz instead of 60 Hz, supposedly resulting in quieter motor operation.

Anyway, I figured I would go with something very familiar...Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain":

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/780484030/d3858f1371da201586e5c1566f199e97

Curious to hear any feedback.

 

I listen for the quality of the vinyl playback.

My own work is usually my finished product, so, I suppose take it for what it's worth. That's why I really don't post much of my work, because I may master them a bit. A lot of people here are purists, and what I do goes against what the forum likes to hear.

 

Here's my first posting of my needle drops.

Album: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon MFSL UHQR serial 443

Track: The Great Gig in the Sky

Gear: VPI Scoutmaster, Dynavector DV20XL, Dynavector P75, Edirol FA-101 Firewire audio interface, Audition 3.01

File type: 24/96 flac

No filtering of any kind was done.

http://home.arnoldlayne1970.operaunite.com/file_sharing/
Password: floyd

 

Very nice, very smooth sounding. I guess I can see why the MFSL version of this album commands such a premium.

How do you like the Edirol unit?

 

Sorry to keep pressing you guys - Grant, what do you mean, exactly? Just trying to understand what you guys hear, maybe it will help me.

 

It sounds like some residue or dirt in the grooves that's coming out on the left channel. I also heard a few digital clicks on the right channel (although it could be my built-in sound card on my work PC; I just listened during a lunch break). Otherwise, it sounded good. Try another record perhaps and if it's clean sounding then the distortion might be dirt related.

 

That's sounding really nice. Do you have any info on the pressing? It reminds me of a Mastered by Capitol copy of the LP I picked up last summer. Unfortunately, it's been abused a bit by its former owner, but still tides me over until they finally release Steve and Kevin's version.

 

When I tried the link, it said your computer was off-line. Any chance of uploading it to a site like sendspace or yousendit? I'd love to hear how this compares to the 30th anniversary edition I own. Plus that gear list is very impressive!

 

File is too big for the free version of yousend it. Server is back up.

A_L

 

I can put up the full pressing info when I get home, but it definitely says "Mastered by Capitol" in the deadwax. It's a "Palm Tree" label pressing. I have another "Mastered by Capitol" "Palm Tree" pressing that is not quite as clean. The weird thing is that the track "Never Going Back Again" is shorter by about 10 seconds on this pressing than my other copy (this one runs about 2:04, the other around 2:14--too big a difference to be speed fluctuation, I hope!). I know Steve said that this was a title that was pressed so many times that there are a lot of different masterings out there.

Anyway, I like the sound of this one, but I'm also looking forward to hearing what Steve and Kevin did with it too.

 

Ok thanks. I'll have to check it this evening after I get home. I can log in but if I try to download a 90MB file the IT guy will have a seizure!!!

Buy the way, for reasons of copyright, etc., it's always a good idea to keep needledrop samples posted here under a minute or two, and never an entire song.

 

When I listen to samples the guys upload, I listen for the quality of the sound coming off the record going through their chain.

As I said, I master up my needledrops, so they may not always reflect the exact sound coming off my vinyl. I do upload them so people can judge my final result. Some of the guys don't do a thing except record, declick a bit, and burn.

 

Sounds very nice! When I have time I must dig out my copy of the 30th anniversary LP but off the top of my head, I'd say yours sounds a bit warmer and smoother.

 

This is a sample that's been sitting around for a month. My last one with the Dual.

Dual 1257 w/Ortofon OM 10
Graham Slee Gram Amp II SE
Behringer FCA202 Firewire ADC
Macbook Core2Duo 2.4 4gb RAM (OSX 10.6.1 Snow Leopard)
Peak LE 6.1.1 recording at 24-bit/96kHz
iZotope Declicker used at low setting.

Isaac Hayes - Walk on By (from Hot, Buttered Soul) approx. 18mb...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8syr0m

 

Hey guys I'm giving up for now. I installed ASIO4All, tried recording a side of a Nile record in Audition. It sounded terrible. Went back to using the usual drivers - I have the Audigy SE and in Audition the default is "Windows Driver" - and it still sounded bad. Like the channels were folded to mono. Definitely NOT what I was hearing from the LP. Maybe there's some setting in Audition I'm not seeing; I'm a novice with it.
Enough. I'm going to save up for a half-way decent audio interface. I'll post back in maybe a year

 

You probably didn't configure the sound mixer in your card right, and I don't know how you hooked up your preamp to your computer.

 

Check Audition's Audio Hardware settings for the input. For somne stupid reason, Audition 3 often defaults to the devices ending in M for mono. Scroll down in the list and you should find one ending in S for stereo.

 

Aha, so THAT's what the "Audigy...M" and "Audigy...S" means. LOL D'Oh. Thanks Stefan.

 

I remember how long it took me to figure that out too. Once you get that fixed, you should get some stereo sound.