Insights on vinyl - Progressive Rock Music Forum

N Ellingworth wrote:

I've got a USB cable like that cost me about £7

There are some cheap cables which work great as well (in a related system), such as the nice english brand QED.

QED Qunex1, modulation cable
Price: 35€

Neutral and musical

Technical explanations

Conductor Section (mm2)           4 x 0.21
Conductor Material          99.999% OFC
Screening Material          Aluminium Mylar
Conductor Dielectric          Low Density Polyethylene
Loop Resistance (Ohm/m)          0.0152
Parallel Capacitance (pF/m)          109.2
Loop Inductance (µH/m)          0.76
Dissipation Factor (@10Khz)          0.0009
Overall Size (mm)          11.0 x 5.3



Edited by oliverstoned - October 26 2006 at 06:18

progismylife wrote:

oliverstoned wrote:

You should look for a Rega Planer 3 turntable with a "Elyss" or "Super Elyss" cartridge.

What would be a good place to start looking?

Have a look at their website BTW:

http://www.rega.co.uk/html/p3.htm

That's a pleasure!

oliverstoned wrote:

Nothing in studio can match the top level system i described up.

Well, I suppose a studio isn't intended to sound the same as a HiFi - it's supposed to be entirely accurate. Accurate isn't always the most pleasing, as it shows every little flaw in the arrangement - as it is supposed to.

If your setup was "better", then studios would use that - sound engineers always demand the very best in studios, and, since no record player can possibly match the master tape, I maintain that the studio kit is better for the purpose it is used for - which is listening to recorded music accurately.

Your system is only as good as the source, and the master tape is the ultimate source. There simply is no better, as once it's mastered and trasferred to a laquer, some alterations are inevitable. Then, when a mother is made from the laquer, more sound is lost - especially if the mother requires "de-horning".

Finally, a stamper is made from the mother, and that stamper is worn down by the process of stamping copies of the vinyl record - stampers are usually good for around 500-1000 copies.

So already, the sound has degraded from the master, and it hasn't reached your turntable yet.

Play the vinyl 5 times, and I know of engineers whose ears are so sensitive that they can tell the difference. Be a bit careless about taking the record from the dust jacket, and the sound degrades.

So it's just not possible for your system to sound better than a top-end studio. Sorry!

The important thing is not to stop questioning.

It may be true about the master tape source, but talking about all the rest of the system, it's not! You will never find such a level of optimization in studio, BI AMP with tube amps in the highs (which are more ACCURATE in the highs with more informations than any solid state -and they don't use the best solidstate in studio-), you will never find Genesis speakers in studio, you will not find a complete "Transparent cables" top level line, etc...

Genesis Speakers 1.1 ( $165,000 per speaker)

Edited by oliverstoned - October 26 2006 at 09:34

progismylife wrote:

One more question, how much do good (doesn't matter if it is used) record players cost?

There's no rule. It goes from 1€ to 100€, depending on many factors, including rarity.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

1 British Pound = 1.49171 Euro

1 Euro (EUR) = 0.67037 British Pound (GBP)

Actually, vynil price is extremely fluctuating from almost nothing to highly expensive, depends to where/ whom you buy it. No rule really.

oliverstoned wrote:

Talking about mastertape, the Studer A80 stays a reference.

Hey, I used to repair and line up those on a regular basis. Excellent transport, let down slightly by the amplifiers. The Telefunken M15 had better audio electronics but slightly worse tape handling. I wouldn't call the A80 a reference as such; it was a very common good quality studio machine for broadcast studios back in the day before digital editing and playout.

Now the A800 24 track version running at 30 ips was a recording studio standard.

I have lined a pair of those up before (gives 46 tracks because you use one off each machine to time sync) with 46 tracks of Dolby A noise reduction. Takes ages to adjust as there are about 15 audio adjustments for each track. It requires 2 reels of 2" tape to record 46 tracks, and a synchroniser to lock the transports together (electronically). Then we got a Sony 3348 24 bit 48 track digital recorder.

Used 1/2" tape to give 48 tracks and didn't need two whole racks of Dolby cards, or a synchroniser or hours of audio line up. The harmonic distortion was miniscule compared to the old analogue tape and the noise level was as low as the measuring kit could measure. Funnily enough the A800s didn't last very long after that.

Edited by Heavyfreight - October 26 2006 at 16:37

When people get lost in thought it's often because it's unfamiliar territory.

Thanks to correct me Mike, i read too fast.

-->Progismylife I would be interested to know the exact price in England for the Rega 3 New. Indeed it must be around 500€, which is very cheap. England is the land of Grey and Pink affordable Hifi.

Edited by oliverstoned - October 27 2006 at 03:15

Thanks for the precision.