A radial straight arm (with no cartridge offset angle) has an appreciable tracking error.
By increasing the arm’s length we reduce the tracking error.
By introducing an offset angle, we reduce the tracking error (and we can zero it at two radial distances on the record) but then the offset angle generates a skating force. This force changes -among other things- with the modulation velocity of the record groove.
Thus we trade a fixed tracking error for a dynamically changing reading force on each side of the record V-groove.
That’s OK
George
...and introduce a cantilever angle error worse than the one of the head ;-)
Anyway, what is the part of this distortion in between all those of a vinyl ?
Rumble, friction noises, dust, scratches, wear of the groove, tracking errors at high levels, acoustic and mechanical resonances, electric resonances, sensitivity to vibrations, different response curves and dumping of the different heads, far to be flat...
Except for the beauty of some album covers, i can't understand this nostalgia for the vinyl.
Last edited:
Thanks for that collection; interestingly, the quality of playback on a quick, rough run through, approximately matches the order posted - was that purely coincidental,
?When vinyl is in the "groove",
, it does an excellent job - my exposures over the last couple of years have been nearly 100% non starters, listless and instantly forgetable - it takes much 'dedication' to get the quality out ...
My first High-End speaker system was all horn (JBL) including the bass. The midrange horn was conical into a lens. At the time, the drivers were typically mounted from their front and this cause great time delay affects between drivers.
So I aligned the voice coils with each other and then designed a variable frequency and variable slope cross-over. Using a square wave and wide band microphone I made position adjustments between drivers and adjusted the cross-over freq and slope controls to get an acoustic square wave on the oscilloscope at about 8 feet away and at ear level..... perfect alignments.
I still like that sound. I heard. I used the SME 12 inch transcription arm (pre CD era)
Hope to do something like it again with new compression drivers of today. Who makes the best horns?
The distortion seemed very low and efficiency very high. But, today, for super flat response and very low distortion, the newer Quad electrostatics are extreamly low in colorations. They will allow you to hear nonlinearities to new low distortion levels without being masked by high speaker distortion.
Quads -
THx-RNMarsh
So I aligned the voice coils with each other and then designed a variable frequency and variable slope cross-over. Using a square wave and wide band microphone I made position adjustments between drivers and adjusted the cross-over freq and slope controls to get an acoustic square wave on the oscilloscope at about 8 feet away and at ear level..... perfect alignments.
I still like that sound. I heard. I used the SME 12 inch transcription arm (pre CD era)
Hope to do something like it again with new compression drivers of today. Who makes the best horns?
The distortion seemed very low and efficiency very high. But, today, for super flat response and very low distortion, the newer Quad electrostatics are extreamly low in colorations. They will allow you to hear nonlinearities to new low distortion levels without being masked by high speaker distortion.
Quads - THx-RNMarsh
Last edited:
Nice.
I'm not sure any new driver can be better than the one i use: JBL 2426J cut at 700Hz and flat up to 15Khz. (it is a supposed 16 ohm that i use in 8 ohms, once passively corrected and linearized in impedance from DC to 40KHz).
The only problem, at the time we tried a lot of drivers, including TAD was half of those JBL had a defect with their suspension. We were obliged to measure and sort out the samples we used at the office of the importer.
The TAD were rejected because some accidnets in the response curve.
About horns, have a look to this thread: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/140190-jean-michel-lecleach-horns-89.html
If you can, have somebody to make your owns in wood, it is both very good (no resonances) and beautiful. But you can find some of them already done in epoxy.
Or you can have a pair in wood near "La maison du haut parleur" In Paris:
[SUSPENDUE ?] AERIA SYSTEME de la Maison du HP. sur le forum Enceintes HIFI du site Homecinema-fr.com - 30029023 - 1040
Last edited:
Every Cantilever produces an angle error when tracking a modulated groove.
Short ones more than longer ones. Ellyptic stylus add more distorsions, depending on modulation.
But i still stick almost on vinyl, simply because it sounds almost musical.
Sorry, never. We just had a Bruel & Kjaer
a sin/square wave generator and oscilloscope at this time.
Because it add a curtain between the source and you that let some place to dreams ?
As a sound engineer, i remember how disappointed we always were, listening to the first vinyls samples from our master tapes, after all this work and the difficult choice of a good cutting room.
The first CDs were a miracle: It was so close to the masters, and no added noise or distortion !
Some years after, it was really impossible to make any difference...
I have to admit that, at this time, all the CD were not sounding good.
It was not an issue with digital, but with the studios. Their monitors were compensated over the years, to try to simulate the losses of the vinyls. (magic rooms
Lot of the masters produced at this time had too much trebles (the ones losses in the vinyl) while they sounded OK in the studios.
i believe this is the reason of the bad reputation of digital near some audiophiles.
Last edited:
About digital, i would like to add that this changed drastically my way to work.
While, at the time of the vinyl, i used my mixing desk to 'add' frequencies corrections to the instruments, i began to use those same correctors in a 'remove' way, just to equalize some resonances of the rooms or the instruments.
My way to 'produce' a record changed too. From some kind of 'wall of sound' to something more subtil, where each instrument can be followed easily, has its individual full beauty, instead of a complementary sound in the all landscape. (all instruments stuck like a brick in the bandwidth wall, i don't know if i'm clear).
More attention to low levels details, too, like reverbs etc... because the suppression of the hiss floor of the tape.
Of course, digital don't let any more room to hide imperfect playing from the musicians...
Well, listening to some old Beatles Albums in digital is VERY disappointing. We can hear all blunders, and the mysterious atmosphere of the AM radios is lost. But i fear that is what were on the tape, vinyls helped them, as many others. ;-)
Hifi is only good for top musicians.
While, at the time of the vinyl, i used my mixing desk to 'add' frequencies corrections to the instruments, i began to use those same correctors in a 'remove' way, just to equalize some resonances of the rooms or the instruments.
My way to 'produce' a record changed too. From some kind of 'wall of sound' to something more subtil, where each instrument can be followed easily, has its individual full beauty, instead of a complementary sound in the all landscape. (all instruments stuck like a brick in the bandwidth wall, i don't know if i'm clear).
More attention to low levels details, too, like reverbs etc... because the suppression of the hiss floor of the tape.
Of course, digital don't let any more room to hide imperfect playing from the musicians...
Well, listening to some old Beatles Albums in digital is VERY disappointing. We can hear all blunders, and the mysterious atmosphere of the AM radios is lost. But i fear that is what were on the tape, vinyls helped them, as many others. ;-)
Hifi is only good for top musicians.
Last thing about equalizers and other frequencies correctors.
While with an analog mixing desk, you can change deeply the 'sound' of an instrument, using those correctors, no way with digital equalizers, the 'character' of the instruments remain the same, whatever you try.
On an other side, you can filter away some parasitic frequency, with no consequences with digital, while, whatever the Q of your corrector, you usually kill the instrument if you try-it with analog frequency corrector.
So, when i was working is a full digital studio, i had always with me a box with pair of analog mixing desk slides (Neve) i used as an 'effect'. And a digital corrector in analog studios.
I hope i have not bored-you too much with 'my life's story. Am-I getting old and senile ?
While with an analog mixing desk, you can change deeply the 'sound' of an instrument, using those correctors, no way with digital equalizers, the 'character' of the instruments remain the same, whatever you try.
On an other side, you can filter away some parasitic frequency, with no consequences with digital, while, whatever the Q of your corrector, you usually kill the instrument if you try-it with analog frequency corrector.
So, when i was working is a full digital studio, i had always with me a box with pair of analog mixing desk slides (Neve) i used as an 'effect'. And a digital corrector in analog studios.
I hope i have not bored-you too much with 'my life's story. Am-I getting old and senile ?
Last edited:
Esperado
Thank you for your information.
Its possible that analaog makes a curtain and let me dream. *Dreaming*, thats what i want instead of searching the next problem source or limitation on the audio system.
Since its almost impossible listening with original dynamic at home due system limitations and other factors its a good compromise when well compressed music is played.
I have been reading some books from guys who did records, mastering, added reverb and all that stuff, so i have toy say, its an illusion anyway, but i like it.
Thank you for your information.
Its possible that analaog makes a curtain and let me dream. *Dreaming*, thats what i want instead of searching the next problem source or limitation on the audio system.
Since its almost impossible listening with original dynamic at home due system limitations and other factors its a good compromise when well compressed music is played.
I have been reading some books from guys who did records, mastering, added reverb and all that stuff, so i have toy say, its an illusion anyway, but i like it.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.