Yes, how could one design equipment with the highest level of sound quality without good source material to test it with? Theory alone is just not enough, that's clear.
Up Hill Rayma , up hill, take the cake .....
We should send them (Kassem) an Email, less get to the bottom of clear vs black vs white vinyl , does the black carbon really add to surface noise ...
Yes, that's something that would be very interesting to know more about, and there are vary few people still around who would have the experience.
I know little about the vinyl molding process. The story that vibration could affect the transfer of the pattern in the stamper to the vinyl sounds plausible if there is potential for it to move during the cooling phase. And that altering the cooling cycle seems like it could make a difference. Does the vinyl shrink during that phase?
Removing carbon black seems like a long shot unless its pretty coarse and not evenly distributed through the vinyl.
However I know that I know just enough to be a sucker for a good story. And I know Chad is good at spinning good stories.
And I don't buy vinyl any more anyway.
Noob query.
How it's Made Vinyl Records
From the above video (from 8.20 to 8.40) the pressing die looks like it is made with heavy iron objects, which must be having lot of weight. Would minute vibrations affect such a heavy pressing die ? While in the press the vinyl looks like it has already started hardening. Also while cutting the excess vinyl material from the rim the vinyl is held by what looks like a sponge pad pressing the grooves area. Shouldn't it affect more than the vibrations ?
Regards.
How it's Made Vinyl Records
From the above video (from 8.20 to 8.40) the pressing die looks like it is made with heavy iron objects, which must be having lot of weight. Would minute vibrations affect such a heavy pressing die ? While in the press the vinyl looks like it has already started hardening. Also while cutting the excess vinyl material from the rim the vinyl is held by what looks like a sponge pad pressing the grooves area. Shouldn't it affect more than the vibrations ?
Regards.
Yes but, if we say something unusual it's good to have a viable theory in that direction.
If I start playing chess with 1. H4 and say I can put the rook on H3 that is not a viable theory since the opponents bishop is aiming at H3 already and a rook on H4 is not looking very good either since it will just be chased around and not lead anywhere.
So a higher quality pressing of vinyl will reduce noise or surface noise. Does the theory end there or is there more to support vinyl versus CD, vinyl versus quality vinyl?
I lean towards "the believer" side or "fine differences" side in audio rather than the "it's perfectly decent orange juice, no need to harvest finer oranges", but even I don't quite see the importance of noise floors and dynamic range in the orange juice very well.
Personally, when I try to correlate the finely measured specs to sound quality in listening, the THD seem to correlate vastly more than the N.
Just my experience.
Fortunately, we have over a century of molding experience in my research group.
The pressure inside a compression mold is thousands of psi, and the viscosity of the compound is very high. You're right, the molds and mechanisms are very massive. The sort of temperature control they imply is exclusive has been a standard feature of molding machines for decades. Carbon black is a nanoscale functional filler, a rather soft and highly structured one, and any even half-competent compounder does a good job of dispersion. To get a white color, a different filler is substituted- often titanium dioxide, which still has to be dispersed in the compound, and it's harder and less structured than, say, a channel black.
There are production choices which affect surface noise (e.g., regrind, mold finish, ratios of PVC/PVA in the compound, plasticizer type and percentage...), but those don't make for as interesting a story as "special machines" and "special compounds" with visible differences.
Time for your BS filter.
Sorry if I seemed harsh but that link also simply states speculative claims with absolutely nothing to substantiate them. Yes, they might be very carefully making LP's, but saying the preamp noise is dominant on LP playback is rather hard to believe. That does not include the LF noise on even the best TT's used probably by <.01% of their customers. George has posted stylus up/down noise photos several times over the last year.
EDIT - On the magnetization of LP's, if as Michael Fremmer says the de-magnetization is permanent, why don't the LP houses install a big bulk de-magnetizer? Pretty short money since one would do all their production and it certainly can't hurt anything.
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Well, I just saw his mention of the pressing machine upgrade as an internal company "process improvement" worth mentioning, not a hyped up claim to one-up his competitors.
There are so few still making LPs that anyone making quality products certainly deserves our support. After all, there's no market for phono preamps unless there are good LPs to play on them.
Because they have brighter people than Fremer who would veto the waste of money? Two minutes with a magnet and some carbon black will demonstrate the utter stupidity of this claim.
As I noticed at their video clip
Quality Record Pressings...The Beginning - YouTube
they use a very compact press with physical and thermal mass a tiny fraction of the behemoth mass used with typical production vinyl record presses.
If they use this press for producing their records, solely due to this construction, tighter and sophisticated control over temperature, hydr press and process time steps becomes a necessity for consistent and uniform vinyl properties.
Comparative surface noise spectrum plots could have been shown at their site (instead of having Michael Fremer sing along Cat Stevens).
George
Quality Record Pressings...The Beginning - YouTube
they use a very compact press with physical and thermal mass a tiny fraction of the behemoth mass used with typical production vinyl record presses.
If they use this press for producing their records, solely due to this construction, tighter and sophisticated control over temperature, hydr press and process time steps becomes a necessity for consistent and uniform vinyl properties.
Comparative surface noise spectrum plots could have been shown at their site (instead of having Michael Fremer sing along Cat Stevens).
George
That's about the same size as our lab presses- the use of thermocouples and PIDs is quite standard, and you can do excellent precision molding even at that small size. The cycle time will be longer to achieve decent quality since, as you correctly observe, the thermal mass is so much smaller.
Keep those clear discs out of the light, though!
Yes pretty easy to test press A vs. B and simply show supporting data. Did anyone ever consider that a truly de-magnetized cartridge might not work too well?
"Clarity Vinyl is the ultimate vinyl formulation because it contains no carbon black additive, common in vinyl formulas for LPs. Carbon black contains trace metals that become magnetized and cause electrical distortions in cartridges during playback. The result is a smearing of the sound. It's the same reason that cartridge demagnetizers are effective."
As usual these guys can't keep their stories straight
"The DeMag even removes residual magnetic fields from your audio cables! Over time, the materials and impurities in your cables will become magnetized, which distorts their tonal balance and ability to reproduce a sonic space. Just loop your cables and place them on top of the DeMag for a session, when your jaw comes off the floor, give us a call, let us know how impressed you were.
No matter how expensive your components are, you will hear an increase in resolution and a more natural sense of “flow” to all of your records and discs after treatment with the DeMag. We want you to try this accessory for yourself, but beware… you won’t want to be without it after you hear what the DeMag does!
Common sense note: Please do not use the DeMag on any magnetic media, such as cassettes, reel to reel tapes, 8-Tracks or with <<<< phono cartridges >>>>."
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Thanks.
A few rubber bands left on the table or the bench have given me a clue about the amount of UV exposure from the lighting fixtures.
If you try it, don’t be surprised if the rubber bands become hard and brittle after a month or two (keep a few from the same batch wrapped in black paper or plastic as the ‘control’)
George
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