Post Your Needledrops (Part Three)

Pretty clean overall. I don't really hear any sibilance on the vocals or strings, and no surface noise that jumps out of me. Nice top end on it as well.

I think anything from the first couple of ELO albums are tough examples; I remember the US vinyl of this sounding kind of cruddy as well, but I haven't heard it in years.

 

Thanks for the feedback

I just want to get my stylus azimuth better aligned, the left channel sounds folded in compared to the CD. Maybe put the anti-skate weight down to the lower notch too, as there's a little distortion I can detect on the left channel.

 

I take it that it's happening with other LPs as well? Using a kind of crappy pressing as a test LP is going to give you skewed results.

 

This definitely isn't a reference recording since the record was "well loved" when I got it, but here is a sample from a cool blues rock record I found in Cincinnati this weekend from a group call "The Sacred Mushroom". Apparently they were a pretty big local band in the Cinci area in the late 1960s.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8cz5rm

 

I just saw in that Denon thread that this was ripped with a M97xE/Jico combo. I'll be checking this out as soon as I get home!

 

I'm still trying to figure out the tricks for the new Xonar card. Here is a sample of "Disney Girls" from an old but decent copy of Surf's Up that I found in the cheapie bins.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/egexd2

 

Not a needledrop. This is a minidisc drop from the commercially released minidisc of Alice in Chains' Dirt.

Source: Sony MDS-JE520
SP/DIF to Sony VAIO VGX-XL2A with Windows 7
Audacity 32-bit float/96kHz
Dithered to 16/44.1 in iZotope RX2

Sampling rate sound like overkill? Perhaps, considering that the native output of the MDS-JE520 is 20/44.1, and also that minidiscs used proprietary ATRAC compression. What I basically did was drastically upsample and then dither back down. But if you have a copy of this Alice in Chains CD or LP, compare them to this and tell me which you think is best. To my ears, this has more presence and heft. I'd really like to hear your opinions.

Alice in Chains - "Would?"

 

This is just a quick experiment with recording at 192K before resampling and dithering. I am not sure if its better to have the higher bit rate, or to be assured a more accurate clock at a lower bit rate. Anyway, the sample is from the Audio Fidelity version of "The Sensual World" by Kate Bush. Its always been a murky recording, but its what I felt like listening to.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/g1gzyz

 

My latest remaster: "In My House" by The Mary Jane Girls"

http://db.tt/8sDgUFfa

Album: Only Four You (Gordy 6092GL)
Table: Music Hall 5 w/ProJect arm
Cart: Audio Technica 150mlx
Cable: MIT Terminator 2
Phono stage: Cambridge Audio 640p

Software: Audition CS5 (4) - recording at 32-bit/44.1, EQ
Clickrepair - declick 26, reverse, pitch protection, simple wavelet
iZotope RX - NR
Audition 3 - further tweaking
Sony Sound Forge 10 for MBIT+ dither to 16-bit

The EQ was done only to flatten the response of the AT cart to about 500Hz.

 

A soundbite from the new Rumer album for those interested. Beautiful vinyl release, nice cut and quiet pressing.

 

In honor of the Venus transit. Done on the P3 with the DL-310. I've put some new cabling between the computer and the sound card which will hopefully help a little.

The Police - King of Pain

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2hpnny

 

From The Nightfly, old vs. new pressings. As discussed in the Music Forum.

 

24/96 FLAC. 60 second excerpt from Leonard Bernstein / NYP's "Holst: The Planets" (1973 Columbia LP)

AT440Mla cart / Technics SL-3200 TT
Furutech GT40 for the phono stage and ADC / Audioquest Forest USB cable
Audacity (under Ubuntu x64) to FLAC.
ClickRepair 30 70 (some surface noise, even after a heavy cleaning)

Tried my MP-110 on this first to reduce the surface noise, but the 440 really "pops" on this one so I opted to use that one and ClickRepair it instead.

 

The new one seems a bit punchier. I might have to check it out. Its weird how the balance between the keyboard and guitar sounds so different from what I am used to on both of them, though. Here is the same thing from my RL pressing.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/5y2g6a

 

Thanks for checking and making the sample! Sounds good (but it's running slightly fast making it sound more lively). The peaks on the new one are a bit more pronounced indeed, just a tad less compression used for this new cut it appears.

It's probably my RMS level matching of the clips that interfered with the balance. I did it in Audacity with the Analyze/Contrast function which only works on a single track, so I had to split stereo to mono and back for this.

 

24/96 FLAC. The Beach Boys - "Catch a Wave" (from Endless Summer 1970's? LP)

Titebond II pre-cleaning (it needed it)
AT440Mla cart / Technics SL-3200 TT
Furutech GT40 for the phono stage and ADC / Audioquest Forest USB cable
Audacity (under Ubuntu x64) to FLAC.
ClickRepair 30 30 (some remaining pops/clicks/surface noise)

Starting to get around to the dirty copy of "Endless Summer" I got a few months ago - so far I'm pretty happy with the results, but I have three sides to go.

 

my first needledrop

hi,
this is my first post here.
I want to introduce my special Setup with the following
needledrop from a mostly unknown album:
David Hanselmann with "Frontline" (1985)
http://www.discogs.com/David-Hanselmann-Frontline/release/1691602
1min of the first title
http://www.imagenetz.de/f45ae38d0/DH-F.7z.html PW: SH
recorded in 24/192 with RME-UFX and resampled with SSRC to 44,1kHz (dithered no noise shaping)
My pickup is a AT450E with an ATN-155LC needle.
For this LP I had to push up the low frequences for a small
amount with reaper - but very softly and not more as nessesary.
For orchestral or Jazz LPs I usually do not compress,
but with Pop Music the Audio Technica is not a strong "puncher",
so he needs a little help.
I hope you enjoy the the sample and of course I am interested in
your opinion.

 

I can see where you might have to move up the lows a bit on this one - I'm having a similar concern with a new "Naked Eyes" needle drop on my AT440Mla. I'd rather not mess with it but the EQ is so treble heavy on the LP that I might have to do some very slight alterations just to satisfy my ears.

I usually pull out my MP-110 for LP's like this, but I also lose a little clarity so it's a give and take. But your drop sounds pretty darn good to me -- the only problem is that i have nothing to really compare it to of course.

 

thank you for your instant reply.
You are right, this album is not very popular and the music is typical
for the 80s. Comparison is therefore difficult but on the other side
the album is it not worth for detailed analysis in my opinion.

My idea is to present in the next days samples of different music types,
so that you can get a better overview of my Turntable setup.

 

here are two well-known recorded samples (SSRC resampled to 44/16):
Pink Floyd - Dark side of the moon - Money - 1min and
AC/DC - Highway to hell - 1min PW: SH

 

I'm back after taking a break away from needledrops. I've still got the vinyl bug and here is my latest rip.... Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson's Say Say Say 12" single mix.
No coloring whatsoever.
Ripped in Ubuntu Studio, 24-bit/48kHz FLAC.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/miwhgr

 

Seals & Crofts "Star" from The Longest Road
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7x4vjq
comments, suggestions are welcome

 

It sounds very odd. It sounds open, for once, but there's no deep bass, and the vocals are strident.

 

on the Seals & Crofts track I added a slight bass boost. I've since done the same to this track.
Is there a way to make the vocals less harsh?

 

I don't know what the song is supposed to sound like, but i'd buy this if I could! Great job!

You've come a long way! What did you change in your gear?