It dawned on me after reading Tim Neely's review of the ELP laser turntable...

...why don't they manufacture the things with a small blower of some kind close to the point of playback that can move dust out of the way before the laser gets there? I realize it's probably not that simple, but this seems to be the major problem with these units.

I'm always curious about these units; as has been said here before by others, if the price were 1/10th to 1/20th what it actually is, I'd probably buy one, and I keep wondering if any other companies will attempt to manufacture them once ELP's patents expire. Granted there's not a huge market and all of that, but still I'm curious about what could be done with these if they were more affordable and worked a little better.

 

Is there a new review of the ELP laser turntable? Where...?

Kwad

 

Tim Neely reviewed it in Goldmine Magazine a few months ago.

 

I didn't see the review, but I've listened to a ELP in a high end system in a demo conducted by a ELP dealer. Apart from the emphasis that the ELP gives to any dust on the record, IMO it simply does not have the kind of resolution and tone available from a modest conventional TT. I suggest you get an audition before getting overly excited by this technology.

 

Not to thread crap but I wish a forum member would listen and report back. I'd be willing to bet these things are as Mike Meyer from SNL would say,
"If it ain't made in Scotland, It's CRAP!"
But all kidding aside, I don't know why anyone would want to own one of these. How does it read the grooves? I know by laser, but is it measuring the groove modulations? What about imperfections, warps, minuscule dust particles...

This is one product I wish would go away.

Sorry for the rant, now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

What am I, chopped liver?

Please see post#4.

 

Maybe Tim Neely can share some his thoughts here, for the benefit of those who haven't read his Goldmine review.

 

The Library of Congress needs one to read old broken shellac records or ones with cracks that won't play on a conventional turntable. I've heard tell also that on severely damaged records it can sometimes pull sound out of them by fine adjustments to the laser position, i.e., where precisely the beam focuses in the groove.

 

What's the problem it has with dust? I'd love to hear one someday, but the price is so friggin high!

 

Sorry, No, I thought you were saying that it doesn't sound much better than a middle of the road deck. And although I don't know exactly what one costs, the last time I saw a price it was way too much.

And I wasn't aware of it use in LOC archiving.

 

The turntable is neat. Ever get their sample CDR?

(Secret: The turntable cannot track everything!!!)

 

I don't understand why some smart rep isn't touring a model around the country and visiting record shows with it.

 

I have it. I'm amazed at the difference between a conventional TT and the ELP. I wonder how it sounds "live"...

 

I've read some reviews here and there, and it seems like - generally speaking - people who can audition it in their system and spend some time at home wind up really liking it despite the flaws, and people who audition it at a company-based display aren't impressed much at all. This is just based on a handful of things I have read, since there are also stories out there of people buying the units and returning them almost immediately due to disatisfaction. I'm not sure what the inference is other than there seems to be a wide range of opinions on the unit.

 

I haven't read that review but others. A blower would only get rid of superficial dust on the record but not the dust that is in the grooves and causes the laser many problems.

In the reviews I've read it is said that the recordds need to be in mint condition for the playback to be without problems. That's why the player comes with a record cleaning machine.

 

The laser turntable is not used in the LOC, but a similar scanning system is used. No laser is actually used, but instead, ultra high resolution cameras are. "Photos" of the grooves are taken, and it can take up to two days to scan one cylinder or 10" disc. From these digital photos, the waveforms are traced and played back. However, before playing back the photos can literally be "touched up" to remove scratches, cracks and other playback disturbances.

 

Interesting. I was really just speculating on the possible use of the laser turntable for archival purposes. The LOC system would appear to be even more elaborate and expensive, although it is also an optical method.

 

Well, taking a "picture" of grooves and trying to get a scanner to play them back may not be the most expeditious method today, but could very well be the answer to accurate playback in the future. It's just a good way of preserving what's really important in the Library of Congress' case: the grooves themselves.

 

See also:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=58440
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=50854
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=52686
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=47296
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=40184
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=33113
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=31510
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=27398
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=21396
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=19274
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=18583
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=9493
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=3654
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=510

Whew!

 

True, but in the case of the LOC, they have many early records that are broken. These pieces can be put back together and scanned, so that their recordings may be extracted.

 

I am somewhat astounded at how difficult it apparently is to get information from grooves with anything other than a needle; there are several people out there attempting to use scanning devices, cameras, lasers, etc., and the general feel I get from reading everything is that it is far more difficult than it would seem at first.