Steve Gutenberg says he still plays some records that are his favorites, that he bought 50 years ago! That should be long enough.
Then there is this:
https://www.instructables.com/Bring-Ruined-Records-Back-to-Life/
Then there is this:
https://www.instructables.com/Bring-Ruined-Records-Back-to-Life/
Yikes! Don't do that. Notice that he's wet washing the LP... huh? But he's also ruining the label... yikes...
Most records that have had hard lives were owned by people that mistreated them and had crappy audio setups. Typically with cheap large "needles" that wrecked the top of the groove "valley".
A typical High End cartridge has a finer stylus and it plays on a different, lower, part of the valley.
So, do a good wet and/or ultrasonic wash to get rid of the gunk and play those LPs with a modern, high quality set up and you will be astonished at how good the LP can sound.
Sure, big ticks and pops may not go away... but the vast majority of noise, pops, ticks, wear and tear dissappear.
Most records that have had hard lives were owned by people that mistreated them and had crappy audio setups. Typically with cheap large "needles" that wrecked the top of the groove "valley".
A typical High End cartridge has a finer stylus and it plays on a different, lower, part of the valley.
So, do a good wet and/or ultrasonic wash to get rid of the gunk and play those LPs with a modern, high quality set up and you will be astonished at how good the LP can sound.
Sure, big ticks and pops may not go away... but the vast majority of noise, pops, ticks, wear and tear dissappear.
Tony, the OP is in the Maldives currently, having moved there from Sri Lanka.
The place is a small group of islands, mostly a tourist destination. Quite distant from the mainland, in the Indian Ocean. High cost of living.
There is little chance of obtaining records locally, unless it was a well preserved estate find, given the hot and humid climate in both locations.
You seem to have bought yours new, and they have been handled by a very small group of informed people, and played on proper machines.
Compare that to a flea market find, or any other sale for that matter, which is taking a chance.
Hence my opinion that this is a strange quest.
The place is a small group of islands, mostly a tourist destination. Quite distant from the mainland, in the Indian Ocean. High cost of living.
There is little chance of obtaining records locally, unless it was a well preserved estate find, given the hot and humid climate in both locations.
You seem to have bought yours new, and they have been handled by a very small group of informed people, and played on proper machines.
Compare that to a flea market find, or any other sale for that matter, which is taking a chance.
Hence my opinion that this is a strange quest.
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the OP is in the Maldives
Wow. Didn't spot that. Probably makes everything considerably more difficult.
Tony, the OP is in the Maldives currently, having moved there from Sri Lanka.
The place is a small group of islands, mostly a tourist destination. Quite distant from the mainland, in the Indian Ocean. High cost of living.
There is little chance of obtaining records locally, unless it was a well preserved estate find, given the hot and humid climate in both locations.
You seem to have bought yours new, and they have been handled by a very small group of informed people, and played on proper machines.
Compare that to a flea market find, or any other sale for that matter, which is taking a chance.
...
Can't the OP get his stuff online?
I've got about 75% of mine new, the rest used. I bought a couple of collections and I used to buy quite a few used LPs from the late 80s to the 00's when people were "dumping" their records. There used to be quite a few used record stores in SoCal then.
Yes, I did notice the Maldives...
A short taxi ride in the Maldives costs almost as much as Dubai, and everything, including fuel, is shipped in.
The cost of living in Dubai is less than London but more than Spain...
The OP has posted about cardboard enclosures for speakers, the cost of shipping in records will be far too much for the average person.
I am quoted 960 Rupees (Almost $12) for a 2 kilo parcel, 30 x 20 x 10 cm, without any additional services, by the Indian Post Office.
So the price will be $6 a kilo, or say a 25 kilo parcel with a few records, nicely packed, will cost about $300 just in shipping, the records or whatever merchandise will be extra.
Documents may be costlier.
Your call.
The cost of living in Dubai is less than London but more than Spain...
The OP has posted about cardboard enclosures for speakers, the cost of shipping in records will be far too much for the average person.
I am quoted 960 Rupees (Almost $12) for a 2 kilo parcel, 30 x 20 x 10 cm, without any additional services, by the Indian Post Office.
So the price will be $6 a kilo, or say a 25 kilo parcel with a few records, nicely packed, will cost about $300 just in shipping, the records or whatever merchandise will be extra.
Documents may be costlier.
Your call.
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A lending library (they rented out records, and transferred them to cassette) sold their entire collection of records, about 1000, some were USA box packs, along with the music system, for just 10,000 Rupees in 1985, in Bangalore, I had thought of a much higher figure, so did not ask their price.
But those records had been played many times on different systems, so the condition would not have been good.
And in India the on line sellers of used items do not have an attractive reputation. People prefer to see the goods in person before paying for the stuff.
But those records had been played many times on different systems, so the condition would not have been good.
And in India the on line sellers of used items do not have an attractive reputation. People prefer to see the goods in person before paying for the stuff.
I'll bet there is a way to do that, but at that stage, why not just acquire a completely digital setup and get it over with?Background
With a halfway decent sound system, I started looking for new music to listen to. "New" meaning music I have no heard before, and that would mean a trip to the 1970s over again, where the music I like originated. As part of my journey, I came across, or to be more accurate, searched for and found Bostons song and "More Than A Feeling" and their also album "Third Stage" on my streaming provider. Interest in the band led me to watching an interview with Tom Sholz, who basically founded the band, and created that guitar sound that we all know and love. He said something intriguing: that he could never get the CD recordings to sound as he wanted them to sound.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...l-insights-as-a-producer.398525/#post-7331773
He said he found it difficult to mix for the CD format, and he was able to come up with a final recording that 'did not annoy him too much' as I recall he said.
If there really a problem with the CD format, then I should think of buying some other format. Maybe vinyl. Vinyl had that clarity, but it never impressed me with its bass output. The cassette tapes I have are now beyond restoration, at least to the level of quality I can now hear on the mp3s and CD recordings.Playing a CD or two, I could hear a somewhat metallic ring to the sound (I am able to detect the difference between some Digital amplifiers and Analog amplifiers over You Tube, so the effect is real)
Listening to the dreaded Crosley turntable reviews over YouTube again, I was able to hear a clarity that was pleasing: I knew of course better turntables connected to better systems would sound much better, and I was intrigued. I have ordered my first turntable and a record to test it with as well, it is, shall we say, a turntable that is not really recommended by anyone here. Think Crosley and you are not far from the truth. My journey has begun, it seems, hopefully not a false step.
From watching reviews of the lowest end of the turntable market (There was one reviewer who purchased a turntable for $10, it sounded ok but let's leave it at that), I was directed by YouTube to the very highest end of the market, it seems, the OMA turntable:
I was listening to an incredible story. From the thousands of hours of research, to the cast iron casing, only 1 in 10 is acceptable, a powerful direct drive motor, and a dedicated motor controller, I could not believe the amount of money and effort that had gone into this design.
Was there a better way?
A Possible Solution
The main problem that seem to plague the turntable are variations in speed of the turntable and vibrations. You can add surface noise to that as well.
One approach is to maintain the speed of the turntable no matter what. The other is to try to correct for these variations. Immediately there is a problem, as OMA has pointed out, the variation in speed changes the character of the music itself.
Is it possible, and I know it is possible, I should ask how successful is it to use a method used with CD players and digital music, to convert the signal into digital format, and then store this signal in blocks of data for processing and correction, and then output that data to the amplifier at exactly the correct speed? The corrections will have to incorporate the following.
1. Corrections for wow and flutter using a turntable speed sensor as input
2. Corrections for surface noise from a 'surface noise library' that matches the surface noise pattern
Apparently there are some related patents:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3983316
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3873764
Has this ever been attempted? If not, anyone on this forum may develop this further, I only ask that the idea be acknowledged, that it came from me in this post.
Tony, the OP is in the Maldives currently,
Yes I am, but our family does travel hack home. In fact, last December I was in Sri Lanka, but did not even take a glance at my 20 or so records I have there, from review records given to me, some garage sale records, and an LP I ordered online but that turned out to have damage - skipping and so on, which my audio professional down the road had a tough time converting to digital. At that time each record conversion cost about $2. The other records converted fine, so it was not his equipment. He had about 10 turntables, cassette decks the whole lot.
I hope to be traveling to Sri Lanka and Bangkok later this year, and I hope to pick up my old records and purchase some in Bangkok, having located via web search used records stores there. I could buy online, and have already done so, with my cheap record player to test out vinyl again. I may be getting a used turntable from a relative in August, and can pick it up in December. There are no record stores here, nor are there any Hi-Fi stores, but powered speakers, Bluetooth ovals and so on are available at a price.
I did get two Wharfedale speakers shipped over here from Sri Lanka in February 2022, cost with shipping was about $80. I could have got a pair for half that, however, there were some aesthetic considerations let me say, involved.
To the other points.
I'll bet there is a way to do that, but at that stage, why not just acquire a completely digital setup and get it over with?
I was on my way to a fully digital setup. In fact I plan to convert all my records to digital since it seems to retain much of the quality, again I will have to see what a DIY setup will get me. I cannot purchase Amazon mp3s and many of the streaming services are not available here. I also dislike paying a fee for the rest of my life to listen to music. I would rather own the material. Streaming means internet costs and internet outages.
I think I have covered everything.
By the way, this thread is no longer about error correction, so I will have to start a new thread about 'journeying into vinyl' to describe my past and future experiences. It will be article, or a book, from an amateur point of view.
- Home
- Source & Line
- Analogue Source
- Is it feasible? A Turntable that instantly converts analog to digital with error correction for wow and flutter.