SH Spotlight Recording and Mastering Questions---Answered here. Any more?

you got that right

 

Steve: why are so many major label remasters done from disgustingly miserable sounding 4th generation safety copies of 5th generation dub tapes? Are some mastering engineers allergic to original tapes or are the record companies to blame for not bothering to find the correct tapes?

 

Well with all this talk that the record can only be cut so loud I have a question.

someone on eBay is selling a "Loud Cut" 1st pressing Rubber Soul. He attempts to describe the sound - but I thought I'd read here on the forum that this record is sonically desireable. The seller here seems to disagree:

"PMC 1267, XEX 579 - 1, XEX 580 - 1. 1965 Mono.

Very First pressings (1965) - Mono version

Visibly same as "Second" pressing below, but very first issue had a slightly different studio mix.
It can be recognised by the matrix numbers ending with "-1", This is generally referred to as the "Loud" cut.
This was a mix that was discontinued after a very brief pressing run, when it was realised it was tonally unbalanced.
It lacks body, has a muddled bass, with vocals stretched thin making it sound aggresive and edgy (hence, "loud").
But this pressing is not really louder, and remember, it was withdrawn for a reason ... it is one you can do without. "

So, I am sure several of you - and SH - have heard the "Loud Cut" Rubber Soul (I have not). How was it's cutting accomplished, and does it sound like anything good?

 

The bearing edge of Shure's MicroRidge stylus is 0.15 mil (or 0.00015 inches), front to back. According to your calculations, even that would be too big to reproduce an inner groove 50kHz tone without distortion. I think.

 

Regarding inner LP distortion: Would it not just be better to spread an album across two LPs instead of squeezing it by force onto a single LP? a lot of albums which are between 40 and 60 minutes in length would benefit greatly from being pressed on two LPs instead of only one. A 40 minute album could be pressed on two LPs with 10 minutes of music on each side thereby completely eliminating inner LP distortion. Problem solved.

A fine example: Enya - Sherpherd Moons. I have the original 1991 vinyl LP. This album has six songs on each side and even the fifth one is drowning in distortion let alone the sixth one which becomes totally unlistenable. This album should have been spread across two LPs with three songs on each side. But oooh the beauty of commercial mass production. Always sacrifice quality for convenience...

 

0.15 thousandths of an inch? Hey, my calculations weren't bad considering how crude they were!

Afterall, I think it is safe to say that once you get into the record a couple of inches even the best needles starts to have more trouble tracking even in the top end of the audible frequency range let alone at 50kHz.

 

I have a Pro-Ject RPM4 turntable with a Pro-Ject 9 aluminum tube tonearm and a Sumiko Pearl eliptical stylus cartridge. Not a fancy setup. You are definitely right, I need a new table and a new cartridge. The Sumiko Pearl is a 95 dollar cartridge and is for sure not a great tracker. I experience inner LP distortion on almost all my LPs.

 

Something else of interest regarding CD-4 reproduction: I was just looking at the instructions that came with the Pickering XSV/5000 cartridge and noticed that in order to achieve a 50kHz response, it had to be loaded at 100,000 Ohms instead of the usual 47,000.

 

Steve, when you make a flat transfer of a master tape so you can try out your EQ moves, what do you use? DAT, CD-R, or...?

 

Possibly a stupid question, but here goes. If the majority of vinyl records are played back with a 9" radial arm, why can't the discs be cut with a similar tracking path, so as to avoid the problem of zero-alignment error at only two-points of the disc?

 

Hey Steve, any new music out there that you'd like to get your hands on? Most things played on Top 40 radio is way too compressed during the mastering stage. Do you listen to any of the new artists and have you ever heard something in the curent top 40 and thought, "Dang, I could do better than that!"

 

Keep in mind I don't think the carrier signal (which I *think* goes from 30-50kHz, but I'm not certain) is cut at the same level as the 'normal' signal, which may be part of the solution.

Also, the electronics in the cartridge have to be able to reproduce those frequencies - a good stylus isn't enough. I've been told the Shure V15 won't work with CD-4, yet the Audio Technica AT331LP/Studio Reference 8008 will, despite the fact that the Audio Technica "only" has a linear contact stylus (rather than a microridge/microline).

Anyone heard the new AT microline?

And anyone have a CD-4 decoder they want to get rid of?

 

Nothing wrong with the project! if you're hearing tis distortion on almost all your LPs then your cartridge is not aligned properly, or your cartridge has some damage to the stylus, or your cartridge is not very good (sorry, but I don't have any experience with the Sumiko cartridges).

 

Steve, If the master has a drop out or a bad spot, do you ever splice that section from another edit? I made a needle drop of an lp, one small spot was bad, I digitally spliced it from cd. I was wondering about condition of some older tapes, Thanks Great topic

 

Agreed there is not a lot wrong with the Pro-Ject for the money (apart from a little bit of motor noise)

Problem is they are supplied with pretty below par carts, mine came with an Ortofon 510Mk2 which was a terrible tracker. I am concerned I may have damaged records with it!

Eveything good said about the Shure V15xMR is true, if you can find one at a reasonable price get it, absolutely transformed my RPM4.

JJ

 

Does the "MR" in the model name stand for "MicroRidge"? Is that the type of stylus it has and why it is such a good tracker?

 

Of course I meant V15VxMR. Pretty sure MR does stand for MicroRidge, yes.
The cart also has a very low mass cantilever made out of a beryllium tube, which enables the microridge stylus to vibrate extremely rapidly to further help track high frequencies.

As you probably know, the cart is now out of production, due to problems with obtaining the beryllium for the cantilever. However you can still occasionally find them NOS on the Net, keep an eye out in the SH Forums classifieds too.

Or you could buy a second hand one and fit a new V5xmr stylus assembly, which are still in production (just, i think).

People here also say the M97xE is nearly as good, and I think (not 100% sure) the V5xMR stylus fits it too (though not officially).

Regards

JJ

 

About the ELP Laser Turntable where you put the vinyl LP in a tray like a CD player and the LP is then read by laser: Is it possible to take this principle and reverse it to design and develop a new cutting lathe that cuts by laser?

It could be called Neumann VMS 2000.

 

Hi-Fi World reviewed it as an 'Excellent tracker', though needed to be partnered well to tame it. Relative to its price, i suppose.

 

I don't want to take this thread off-topic, but that was my experience.
Maybe it was badly aligned from the factory.

JJ