[Vision2020] MHS on You Tube

Ted Moffett starbliss at gmail.com
Wed Apr 25 12:56:19 PDT 2012 

Here is an article from Stereophile, by the famous analog/vinyl guru
Michael Fremer, who has a 300,000 dollar stereo system, that suggests doing
the RIAA equalization needed for vinyl playback in the digital domain,
inside your computer, if I understand correctly, when transferring vinyl to
digital, that reveals how complicated the process can get.  Over my head!
Pure Vinyl LP recording & editing software
 By Michael Fremer <http://www.stereophile.com/writer/90> • Posted: Aug 19,
2010
http://www.stereophile.com/phonopreamps/pure_vinyl_lp_recording_amp_editing_software/
---------------------------------------------
Now for my penny's worth on this issue...

If I was going transfer vinyl to digital, I would first use the highest
quality stylus/cartridge, turntable, tonearm, wiring, cables,
possible, using an external phono stage and A/D converter.  Choice of phono
stage can make audible differences, and I would not want to be locked in to
the phono stage in a all in one USB turntable, anymore than I would want to
have as my only option the built in stylus/cartridge in an all
in one turntable.

I have witnessed very audible differences in different stylus/cartridges,
for example, that demonstrated how important this component is to the best
vinyl playback.

Case in point: "Solitude Standing" by Suzanne Vega on vinyl, a great
sounding vinyl album, even just the regular commercial release, played back
on my older Grado cartridge, with a nasty scratch lasting about one minute
on one song.  Pop,.pop, pop... Then playing the same scratched record with
a newer Grado cartridge, in the same tonearm, turntable and system.  The
scratch was about 50% lower in volume, and was audible for a much shorter
time.  The newer Grado cartridge, costing a mere 200 dollars, was much
better at damping out the surface noise from the record, and focusing on
extracting the music signal.

This result seemed almost miraculous. The newer Grado stylus/cartridge
design was clearly audibly coming closer to the ideal of  leaving behind
the extraneous vinyl surface noise, damage etc.  Of course the ideal is to
have a perfectly made vinyl record in the first place, with no pops or
ticks and very low surface noise, and these records do exist, thus the
specialized audiophile vinyl market.  But one mistake, and you have a
scratch, and with used records, dealing with surface noise is sometimes
unavoidable.

>From the Grado website:  http://www.gradolabs.com/page_cartridges.php

The passage below I enlarged is no bullshit!  It works!

OPTIMIZED TRANSMISSION LINE (OTL) STYLUS/CANTILEVER
Grado's OTL provides an ideal transfer of the signal from point to point,
e.g., stylus to cantilever to magnet to coils, etc. This has been achieved
by eliminating resonance at each of these key junctions. The transmission
line cantilever consists of separate sections that are telescoped into each
other. All sections are made of different alloys, some sections hollow,
other sections solid. These sections are bonded together with materials
that act as dampers, and are coated with a black proprietary material which
controls and absorbs resonances that travel on the surface of the
cantilever (known as skin effects). The OTL stylus/cantilever design will
make your records sound quieter, improve the height, width, and depth of
the soundstage, and offer more detail than previously obtainable. Cartridge
Holography does exist...and that is what GradoÕs OTL technology is all
about, more performance.
------------------------------------------
There is technology to transfer vinyl to digital and remove the surface
noise and pops and ticks in the digital domain.
Anyway, I'm not much of an audiophile, really... I have not heard many of
the newest speaker designs, which are pushing the state of the art to new
levels, nor ditto new moving coil cartridges, nor the latest amplifier
designs, nor even the most advanced digital music reproduction available.

You either have to have a six figure budget to buy this stuff, or have rich
audiophile friends to visit for listening sessions, or be near audiophile
showrooms at dealers... Moscow/Pullman does not have an audiophile focused
store any longer, as far as I know, though in the past there was Optimum
Sound in Pullman, and the Stereo Shop in Moscow.
---------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 9:25 PM, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm>wrote:

> Interesting – at least, to me – thread.****
>
> ** **
>
> Several years back, I was interested in getting started digitizing our LP
> collection.  At the time, I made the decision to get a pre-amp so that I
> could hook my turntable up to my computer.  It worked OK . . . but I really
> wasn’t impressed with the audio quality, and I’m *not* an audiophile like
> Ted  J  I would say the quality was on par with digitized music I’ve
> purchased from MusicMatch, Rhapsody, Amazon, and iTunes.  OK, but
> definitely not like listening to the LPs directly.  I spent far too much
> time in audio forums with people suggesting trying this or that without any
> luck, plus there was the post-recording processing time, so I lost interest
> in that project pretty quickly.****
>
> ** **
>
> Then, in 2007, I spent some time helping a friend in Atlanta who’d gotten
> the then-current Ion USB turntable for Christmas in 2006.  Neither of us
> were overly impressed with the results, which were about the same as the
> above.  At that time, the turntable came with software that was supposed to
> be the cat’s meow, but.  When she talked with Ion tech support, they
> suggested she might be happier with a more robust software that cost quite
> a bit plus looked like it had a very steep learning curve.  So, she bagged
> that idea.****
>
> ** **
>
> Tom, it sounds like you’re much more pleased than were either Sally or I
> several years back, so things must be better with more current Ion USB
> turntables.  What software are you using, and how much “post-recording”
> time would you estimate you’re spending per album?****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Saundra****
>
> Moscow, ID****
>
> ** **
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
> nothing.****
>
> ~ Edmund Burke****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:
> vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] *On Behalf Of *Ted Moffett
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 24, 2012 4:06 PM
> *To:* Tom Hansen
> *Cc:* Moscow Vision 2020
> *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] MHS on You Tube****
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks for the photo...****
>
>  ****
>
> If this ION USB turntable is even marginally worth listening to, 200
> dollars is a bargain, much less 112 dollars... My Grado   ****
>
>    http://www.gradolabs.com/page_cartridges.php  made in the good'ol
> USA cartridge/stylus cost 200 dollars, and this is bargain basement pricing
> in the world of high quality audio gear.  My turntable, tonearm and needed
> vinyl playback accessories add up to much more, just to spin and hold the
> vinyl with the diamond in the groove so the moving magnets in the Grado
> cartridge can generate their tiny signal... When considering the physics of
> what is required to extract a music signal from vinyl, it's no surprise
> that the technology can become advanced and expensive.****
>
>  ****
>
> But of course the 90,000 dollar Continuum Caliburn and Cobra vinyl
> playback gear is cost no object technological excess, for those who don't
> have to ask the price.****
>
>  ****
>
> On the subject of music and digital downloads and so forth, this
> relatively new company, HDtracks, is banking on people wishing to buy high
> resolution digital downloads, 96khz/24bit even 192/24, and also CD red book
> 44.1khz/16bit. They have quite a good catalog of albums already, but no
> Jimi Hendrix!  Nor any Orbital albums, nor Juno Reactor, nor Future Sound
> of London, nor Chemical Brothers... Give me break!  However, I just checked
> on another favorite of mine, This Mortal Coil.  I scored.  They have
> Filigree and Shadow and It'll End in Tears.****
>
>
> https://www.hdtracks.com/****
>
> ---------------------------------------****
>
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett****
>
> On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 8:33 AM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:***
> *
>
> Could take a photo of my Ion USB Turntable TTUSB, but it wouldn't do half
> the justice of the online ad at:
>
> http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/ttusb
>
>  . . . which sells on Amazon for $112.00
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Ion-TTUSB-Turntable-USB-Record/dp/B000BUEMOO
>
> I knew I should have waited.  I paid just over $200 for mine.  But it is
> still considerably less than $90,000.
>
> By the way, I have digitized many records for several Viz subscribers. So,
> my offer still stands . . .
>
> Any of you fine V-Peeps wanna save $90,000 and have some of your vinyl
> digitized . . . at no cost, of course . . . jus' payin' it forward (as the
> saying goes).****
>
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "If not us, who?
> If not now, when?"
>
> - Unknown
>
>
> ****
>
> On Apr 23, 2012, at 23:51, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:
>
> > Rhapsody has the entire album . . . in MP3 format . . . downloadable . .
> .
> > for $6.99.
> >
> > Seeya round town, Moscow.
> >
> > Tom Hansen
> > Moscow, Idaho
> >
> > "If not us, who?
> > If not now, when?"
> >
> > - Unknown
> >
> >
> >
> > On Apr 23, 2012, at 21:22, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I was just at Hastings, and they have a 180 gram audiophile vinyl
> edition
> >> of Jimi Hendrix, "Band of Gypsies," which is a live recording of the
> famous
> >> unbelievable Filmore East New Years Eve. concert 1969-70, which features
> >> Hendrix's shocking guitar genius on "Machine Gun."
> >>
> >> I once had a Japanese
> >> import of this album, which I no longer have, but it blew the CD version
> >> away.  MP3?  Ha, ha, ha...
> >>
> >> What make and model of turntable, tonearm and cartridge are you using
> for
> >> your vinyl digitizing?
> >>
> >> Here's a recommendation for a recent high tech design turntable, stand
> and
> >> tonearm combo, with no cartridge, if you've got a spare $90,000 bucks.
> >> Perhaps add on the Lyra Atlas moving coil cartridge, to match the
> >> sound quality of the rest, a mere 9500 smackers:
> >> http://www.musicdirect.com/p-66518-lyra-atlas-mc-phono-cartridge.aspx
> >>
> >> This ain't your grandparents system, Dude!
> >>
> >> Read the review here:
> >>
> >> http://www.stereophile.com/turntables/106con/
> >>
> >>
> http://www.stereophile.com/content/continuum-audio-labs-caliburn-turntable-cobra-tonearm-specifications
> >> Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable & Cobra tonearm Specifications
> >> *Sidebar 1: Specifications*
> >>
> >> *Caliburn: *suspensionless turntable with O-ring drive; cogless,
> >> battery-powered DC motor; vacuum holddown. Speeds (adjustable): 33.33,
> 45,
> >> 78 rpm. Wow & flutter, Rumble: not specified.
> >> *Dimensions: *24" (615mm) W by 8" (205mm) H (including feet) by 15.5"
> >> (400mm) D. Weight: 160 lbs (73kg), not including motor.
> >> *Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: *Not noted.
> >> *Price: *$65,000, including Cobra tonearm.
> >>
> >> *Cobra: *dual-pivot tonearm with monocoque construction. VTA and azimuth
> >> adjustable. Offset: 23°. Horizontal and vertical resonant frequency with
> >> medium-compliance cartridges: *ca* 8.1Hz. Cartridge weight range:
> 0–20gm.
> >> Audio leads: 33AWG pure copper Litz, 1.5m from cartridge clips to WBT
> RCA
> >> plugs. Other leads, DIN plugs, etc., available as options.
> >> *Dimensions: *Effective length: 239mm. Overhang: 17.3mm. Weight: 2.2 lbs
> >> (1kg).
> >> *Price: *$12,500, or as part of Caliburn turntable package ($65,000).
> >>
> >> *Castellon: *turntable stand with magnetic-repulsion–isolated top shelf
> and
> >> three MDF shelves. Chromed uprights of aircraft-grade aluminum, side
> >> supports reinforced with nautical turnbuckles.
> >> *Dimensions: *40" (1025mm) H by 25" (640mm) W by 19.5" (500mm) D.
> Weight:
> >> 176 lbs (80kg).
> >> *Finishes: *black lacquer, various wood veneers.
> >> *Price: *$24,999.
> >>
> >> *Approximate Number Of Dealers: *None. Sold direct by importer.
> >> *Manufacturer: *Continuum Audio Laboratories PTY Ltd., 33 Conventry
> Street,
> >> South Melbourne, Victoria 3205, Australia. Tel: (61) 39-207-8000. Fax:
> (61)
> >> 39-207-8800. Web: www.continuumaudiolabs.com. US distributor: Signals
> >> SuperFi LLC, Atlanta, GA. Tel: (678) 528-8077. Fax: (678) 884-1167.
> Web:
> >> www.signals-superfi.com.
> >>
> >> ---------------------------------------
> >> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
> >>
> >> On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Moscow Cares <moscowcares at moscow.com
> >wrote:
> >>
> >>> Ted Moffett announced:
> >>>
> >>> "Hastings in Moscow has been carrying a large selection of new vinyl,
> so
> >>> this is not just a used vinyl market."
> >>>
> >>> This may very well be, Mr. Moffett.  And I am sure that these records
> >>> sound fresher and crisper going round and round and round and round .
> . .
> >>> from an MP3 player while cruisin' US95.  Or, does Hastings also sell
> >>> turntables that mount conveniently into your car's dashboard?
> >>>
> >>> Jus' jokin'.
> >>>
> >>> I'm sure these records are going over well with the college kids, whose
> >>> grandparents probably want their turntables returned to them.
> >>>
> >>> Which brings me to . . .
> >>>
> >>> If anybody on the Viz wants their vinyl (both 33 rpm and 45 rpm)
> >>> digitized, give me a shout.  I jus' happen to have the capabilities to
> >>> convert those records.
> >>>
> >>> Seeya round town, Moscow.
> >>>
> >>> Tom Hansen
> >>> Moscow, Idaho
> >>>
> >>> "If not us, who?
> >>> If not now, when?"
> >>>
> >>> - Unknown
> >>>
> >>
> >> =======================================================
> >> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >>              http://www.fsr.net
> >>         mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >> =======================================================
> >
> > =======================================================
> > List services made available by First Step Internet,
> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >               http://www.fsr.net
> >          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> > =======================================================****
>
> ** **
>
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