Vinyl Mastering

2008-09-09T21:01:48Z

Axon:

Vinyl Mastering

2008-09-09T01:42:29Z

Axon:

Vinyl Mastering

2008-09-09T01:20:21Z

Axon:

2006-09-08T17:17:53Z

Axon: Move category

''This page is obsolete. Please consult the [[:Category:Vinyl]] topic instead.''

Category:Vinyl

2006-09-08T17:17:02Z

Axon: Rewritten introduction

Sound Quality (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:11:15Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

=Sources of Distortion=
==Turntable==
===Turntable Level===
===Environmental Noise===
===Motor Noise===
===Belt/Drivetrain Wear===
===Record Wear===
==Tonearm, Cartridge and Stylus==
===Tracking Error===
===Cartridge Alignment===
===Tonearm Alignment===
===Cartridge Damage===
===Stylus Wear===
===Stylus Damage===
===Cartridge Distortion===
===Electromagnetic Interference===
===Mechanical Resonance===
==Preamp==
===Preamp Distortion===
===Cartridge Loading===

=Objective Requirements Of Vinyl Playback=
These statements are derived from psychoacoustics and electrical constraints that would be necessary to yield objectively optimal playback. These statements also form a concise summary of the audible issues with vinyl.

==Pitch, wow and flutter==
''The playback speed of the turntable must be within 0.3% of 33 1/3 RPM at all times - or 5 cents. Variations of pitch must stay witin the 5-cent requirement and the modulating frequencies must not be audible.''

Shockingly, this is extremely hard to achieve in belt-drive turntables for a number of very important reasons. Good direct drives are much better at pitch. (Bad direct drives are much worse at flutter.)

Under certain pathological circumstances, playback tolerances much lower than 0.3% may be audible. For instance, if playing in a very large room with echo on the rear wall, the reflected music will interfere with the speaker output. Beat frequencies could thus develop at potentially [i]any[/i] playback tolerance.

Note that the standard tolerance for center holes (<0.2mm off center) results in a very large wow at inner grooves. (For a 0.2mm deviation, at a groove radius of 60mm the wow will be 0.6% p-p).

==Low rumble==
''The low frequency noise (rumble) of the turntable must not impinge on program material, must not distort amplifier or speaker stages, and must not be audible.''

Rumble is an intrinsic part of both the vinyl medium and the turntable. It originates from several sources:

* Low-frequency vibrations from the air and ground are coupled to the cartridge through the turntable and the record itself.
* Low-frequency signals on the record itself. Lateral signals exist due to off-center holes and groove compression at cutting time. Vertical signals exist due to record warping and cutting distortion.
* The resonant frequency of the cartridge-tonearm system, typically 5-15hz, stores and amplifies external energy.

Often times, 5-10dB of the peak amplitude of a vinyl recording is contained in the rumble, and removing it can help increase the loudness for essentially free. Playback with significant rumble can be audible with subwoofers, or can increase distortion by driving speakers closer to excursion.

==Frequency response==
''After RIAA equalization, the system must be able to reproduce frequencies from 20hz to 20khz to within 0.1dB of the source media.''

0.1dB is close to the theoretical JND of amplitude for a single sinusoid; tolerances around 1dB in response are usually acceptable.

MM cartridges are well-known for boosting the high end if improperly loaded. Stylus or record wear will eliminate high frequencies. Rumble may make low frequency reproduction difficult.

==Stereo Separation==

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Turntable (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:10:42Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

Turntables vary widely in price, construction and age. Audiophiles will categorize the subjective qualities of a turntable on the following metrics:

=Construction=
==Plinth==
The plinth is the base of the turntable, on which the platter (and usually the motor) rests. The basic function is to isolate the components mechanically from the base of the turntable and from each other.

Construction styles vary:
* No isolation whatsoever (solid box). For very cheap turntables.
* A box, often wooden, holding a metal plinth supported by springs. Usually found only on vintage turntables.
* A plinth of multiple levels, each level isolated from the other by some rubber-like substance. In some form or another most audiophile turntables use this method.
* Physical separation of the turntable components from each other, and individual isolation of each component from the ground. Certain very expensive turntables use this method.

There are few objective criteria for plinth design. Isolation issues can be resolved through the use of additional isolation placed underneath the turntable. Build quality is important and may be lacking, even for audiophile turntables.

==Tonearm==
The stick-shaped part of the turntable.

* They hold the cartridge on top of the record, keeping it properly aligned, and carry the wires down to the plinth.
* A [[counterweight]] is placed on the back to reduce the force of the needle on the record to very low levels, usually equivalent to an effective mass of roughly one gram.
* A force, the [[anti-skate force]], is applied to the tonearm, pulling it outwards from the center of the disk, to counteract forces during playback that pull it towards the center.
* The tonearm must be lowered slowly onto the disk to prevent damage to the disk or the stylus. All quality turntables include a mechanism, usually hydraulic, to slowly lower the tonearm.

Key differences between tonearms include:

* Mass
* [[Counterweight]]
* Build material
* Shape (S-shaped or straight)
* Linear tracking or angular tracking
* Degrees of freedom on the mounting
* Antiskate force mechanism

There are several objective differences between tonearms:

* The mass of the tonearm affects the resonances of the playback system. The mass can sometimes be incompatible with the mass of the cartridge and the compliance of the stylus, leading to an excessively high or low resonant frequency that induces skipping or rumble, or can negatively affect low frequency performance.
* Tracking errors, representing angular deviations between the stylus and the record groove, are present with every tonearm, and different designs use different approaches. Linear tracking arms, in theory, have zero tracking error. In practice they require a motor to move the tonearm, with some known error in correct positioning, as well as some vibration. S-shaped tonearms are shaped to reduce tracking error but (XXXX list issues).
* XXX high frequency effects?
* Counterweight markers are notoriously unreliable and a scale is often employed to get a correct measurement of the counterweight setting.

==Platter==

The platter is the rotating part which supports the vinyl record while it is played. The platter should ideally be acoustically dead, ie. it should not "ring" like a bell. Platters that ring store energy and release it slowly back into the record, causing loss of fine detail.

==Motor==
===Belt Drive===
Belt drive turntables use a small motor turning fairly rapidly, and a belt then transfers the power from the motor spindle to the platter. On some models the motor sits outside the platter and the belt runs around the outer edge of the platter; on others the platter is in two parts with an inner spigot for the belt, with the motor sitting between the spigot and outer edge of the platter. There is no significant advantage to either arrangement, with the possible exception that when the motor is external to the platter it can be sited a long way from the path of the pickup cartridge, and therefore potentially reduce the danger of hum pickup by the cartridge from the motor.

The belt (usually some form of rubber or similar material) provides excellent decoupling so that motor bearing noise is not transferred into the platter (and thence to the LP).

The motors used are usually synchronous AC motors whose speed is determined by the frequency of the mains supply. Some more expensive belt drive turntables include a sophisticated power supply which generates an AC signal even cleaner than that provided by the mains.

Since the motors on belt drive turntables do not have much torque, and because the AC frequency might vary slightly, stable rotation of the platter is achieved by the use of high mass platters that provide a "flywheel" effect to smooth out any variations. A consequence of using a high mass platter and a low torque motor is that start-up speeds are rather slow, and hence belt drive turntables are not really suitable for broadcast or DJ use.

===Direct Drive===
In a direct drive turntable, the central spindle in the platter is an extension of the axle. So the motor itself sits directly underneath the platter, and rotates slowly at the required vinyl record playback speed (ie. 33.3/45/78 rpm). Such motors are servo-controlled DC motors, and the turntable includes some means of measuring the rotation speed of the platter so that it can adjust the motor's speed to keep it steady. In order that any speed inaccuracies can be adjusted quickly enough, the motor must have high-torque; this also means that startup speeds are very rapid, hence the preference for direct drive in broadcast and DJ applications.

Since the platter is directly attached to the motor, it is not well decoupled from any bearing noise. However, since the motor turns at a slow speed, the bearing noise is very low frequency and therefore will not cause audible degradation.

===Idler Wheel Drive===
This type of drive mechanism was traditionally used on cheap autochangers, and involves a small motor running at fairly high speed (like in a belt drive turntable). But unlike a belt drive turntable, the power is transferred to the platter by means of a wheel (usually rubber) sitting between the motor spindle and the platter edge. The wheel offers far less decoupling, and so motor noise is transferred to the platter. What's more, because the motor rotates at high speed, this noise can affect the audible frequency spectrum.

That said, there have historically been some successful high quality idler wheel drive turntables. Perhaps the most famous is the Garrard 301.

==Internal Wiring and Power==
The cartridge electrical system is entirely passive; no power is required for the electrical signal to be sent to the preamp. The signal output may be vulnerable to electrical interference because of the high impedance of the cartridge and the long length of wire to the preamp. The motor usually receives the AC wall power directly and converts to its own required power internally. Some higher end turntables use external power supplies.

Power wiring can be a cause of increased interference with interconnects, so try to keep power cables separate from other cables. If they must cross, cross them at 90 degree angles.

=Prices=
All prices are for new turntables. The used market is highly irregular but you can usually expect a 20-50% discount. All prices are sampled from online vendors and may not be realistic for purchase at local stores.

* '''$200 or less''': Inexpensive belt-drive or direct drive turntables. Tonearm, cartridge and preamp are usually included. You'll find turntables in this price range at Best Buy/Circuit City with vintage stylings. Because these are the mass-market items, these will quite often have features like automatic loading, 78rpm operation, and strobe marks that are absent from more expensive turntables. The quality of these turntables is highly variable, and because most audiophiles do not spend much time in this range, reviews are hard to compare against more expensive models.
* '''$400 or less''': Entry level audiophile/DJ turntables, and used mid-range turntables. Tonearm and cartridge are usually included; preamp is almost always not. Most $200-$400 turntables have related models that cost under $200 so they are grouped together here. Brands in this price range include Audio Technica, Technics, Teac, Numark, Stanton, Music Hall, Pro-Ject.
* '''$400-$1000''': Most introductory-level audiophile turntables are at this price, as well as flagship DJ turntables such as the Technics SL1200. Other brands with models in this range include most of the brands in the $400 range and also Rega, Thorens, Sota and Goldring. Tonearms are usually included; cartridges are ''sometimes'' included; preamps are never included.
* '''$1000-$10000''': The meat of the audiophile market. Most high-end turntables will be somewhere in this range. Most brands have something here, but brands that operate exclusively in this price range include Clearaudio, Bluenote, JA Mitchell, Origin, Roksan and SME. Cartridges, tonearms and preamps are usually priced separately.
* '''Over $10000''': Esoteric audiophile models, including audiophile linear trackers and laser pickups.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Purchasing (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:10:15Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

=Vinyl Availability=
Note that a lot of this info is currently US centric.

The "market rate" for LPs depends primarily on the collector's value. Mass-produced and unpopular LPs will not cost more than a dollar. Original pressing Beatles LPs are usually over several hundred dollars. Jazz records tend to be very expensive. Classical records tend to be quite inexpensive. Rock, blues and electronica lie somewhere in the middle.

Depending on how clued the store is to the by-the-book market prices of vinyl, prices can range anywhere from 50 cents on up. Record stores tend to have the highest prices and charity stores the lowest, but there are always exceptions.

* Many cities have local record stores that specialize in certain genres. Check your yellow pages and local music listings for ads.
* Half Price Books (US) tends to have extremely good vinyl selections. Vinyl is not transferred between stores, so the quantity/quality varies widely even by the neighborhood.
* Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other charity stores often have good deals on vinyl.
* The Austin Record Convention http://www.austinrecords.com/ has a very, very large quantity of LPs. Biannual. Similar conventions exist in many other large cities.

=Component Availability=
Buying a turntable now is a lot harder than it used to be, but there are still plenty of options. A new turntable is usually much less hassle to set up than a used turntable for a new user. Maintenance and calibration is usually much less of an issue. However prices are much higher (30-100%) than equivalent used models.

As a general rule, '''do not purchase used cartridges, ever'''. They are the component that wears out the fastest on turntables during normal operation, and are the easiest to permanently damage. Buy them from reputable local or online sources. They do not have particularly difficult shipping requirements.

==New==
===Hifi stores===
The traditional place to obtain a turntable is at a local hi-fi shop. These are becoming an endangered species in the US - many have folded or switched to home theater and car audio - but most cities usually have at least one store selling audiophile kit.

Advantages:
* Most hifi stores are locally owned and operated.
* Shipping issues with turntables are already taken care of. Turntables are rather notoriously hard to ship correctly.
* Hifi stores will usually tune/calibrate turntables free of charge on purchase.
* You may be sending your table back to said store for maintenance, even if you purchase it elsewhere. Setting up a rapport is good.
* Product support is often (possibly always) better from hifi stores than from any other source. A no-questions-asked tryout period between 7 and 30 days is standard for most stores.
* They occasionally deal with both new and used gear and some very good deals are sometimes available.

Disadvantages:
* Hifi stores have an extremely high markup, reflecting their small consumer base. All stores have noncompete clauses with neighboring stores in order to protect said customer bases. Therefore, there is often '''no competition whatsoever''' in most product lines.
* Along the same lines, one of the promiment reasons why online stores cannot support certain products as well as hifi stores is that online stores are technically selling outside their 'designated area'. In other words, online support is prohibited because it enroaches on hifi stores' territories. Grado products, in particular, are notoriously bad for online support.
* Expect to haggle.
* Hifi stores usually cater to the extremely high end and will often not have much under $500 in the way of turntables.

===Mass market stores===
Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. They usually have a small selection of retro turntables, and perhaps more if they are ordered to the store beforehand.

Advantages:
* Cheap (most turntables under $200)
* Easily accessible

Disadvantages:
* Very few turntables are sold that are considered any good
* Very few available accessories and no cartridges
* 30-day return policy only for support. Hifi stores can actually repair things.

===Online stores===
Quite a number of online audiophile stores carry turntables of all makes and models.

Advantages:
* Very inexpensive prices for most turntables
* Shipping is usually of good quality; the hifi stores are going to get their turntables the same way you would.
* Widest selection of turntables and accessories.

Disadvantages:
* Turntable shipping costs are high. Hifi stores will roll in the shipping costs.
* You may need to pay sales tax.
* Very little to no support.

==Used==
There is a huge market for used turntables for any number of reasons. There is a high turnover rate in DJ turntables from people who have attempted to DJ as a hobby. Many people junk their turntables when upgrading their stereos. Audiophiles resell their turntables when upgrading.

Hifi stores sometimes resell turntables or demo units, and it is worth checking them for any deals. They are sometimes competitive.

In general, as a disadvantage, used turntable quality is completely unknown. At the very least you should expect to replace the cartridge and the drive train (belt). At the worst, there may be fundamental structural issues with the turntable, such as a damaged tonearm or bearing or motor, that may not be easily repairable.

===Local stores===
These include pawn shops and charity stores - Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.
Advantages:
* Very, very good deals on some items.
* Inexpensive.
* Local; needs no shipping.
Disadvantages:
* Completely unknown quality. Expect to replace the belt if necessary, cartridge, and possibly even the tonearm and wiring.
* Selection is spotty, and the really good items can get snatched by the store workers.

===Online stores and individuals===
Notables here include eBay and Audiogon, but also check forums on places like Head-Fi, Audio Asylum, etc for sale posts.
Advantages:
* Large market in turntables of all price ranges.
* Sellers are often fairly knowledgable.
* Prices are quite competitive.
Disadvantages:
* Stores take a rather large cut of the sale price. Audiogon is especially criticized for this. (This isn't a problem with forum interactions.)
* The risk of shipping damage is quite high. 3rd-party sellers often have ''very'' little experience packaging and sending turntables.
* Risky product quality.
* No support.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Preamplifier (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:10:00Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

The electrical signal from the cartridge is unamplified, is high impedance, that impedance changes considerably with frequency, and the signal itself is equalized on the record. The role of the preamp is to properly buffer and amplify the signal to acceptable levels, and to apply RIAA equalization.

=Overview of RIAA equalization=
Most of the amplitude of a recorded signal comes from its low frequencies. This causes problems for vinyl, because these high amplitudes, if directly transcribed to fit the constraints of the system, would reduce the signal-to-noise ration unacceptably at many frequencies. To avoid this, the transcribed audio is equalized so that low frequencies are attenuated and high frequencies are boosted. On playback, this process is reversed, so that low frequencies are boosted and high frequencies are attenuated. This has the additional benefit of reducing the high frequency noise caused by ticks and pops during playback. However, it has the risk of increasing rumble. The particular equalization curve used is known as the RIAA curve (standardized in the 1950s).

=Specfications=
Preamps, like all amplifiers, are entirely electronic devices with no moving parts. Their objective parameters can be described using the usual metrics, including frequency response, deviation from the ideal RIAA curve, PSRR, THD+N, IMD, etc.

Additionally, the choice of cartridge determines which preamp to get. MC carts operate at a much lower signal level than MM and thus require more amplification and a different load impedance.

Frequency response is measured as deviations from the ideal RIAA curve. +-1dB is common for entry-level preamps, and given the other inaccuracies in LP playback, is going to be fine for most users.

=Construction=
Preamps must amplify a signal by 40-60dB (roughly, from 1mV to 1V) and also apply an equalization. This is a surprisingly difficult task, and some bad apples are out there. Preamps, like many audiophile components, still use a multitude of different technologies to implement these goals.

Power supplies can be an issue, especially with discrete/triode units. This usually owes more to the cheapness of the preamp, or the incompetence of the power supply design, than th any intrinsic reason why power supplies or power cables or power conditioning are important.

==Op Amp==
Found most often on inexpensive preamps and preamps integrated with receivers and turntables. Even today, the requirements of preamp design often exeed the capabilities of many op amps, and expensive ICs (or complicated topologies) are often required. Op amp designs are no less complex than discrete designs.

One very great advantage of op amp designs are their generally high power supply rejection.

==Discrete solid state==
Found on many/most preamps. Extremely sensitive to power supply issues.

==Tubes==
Tube preamps are still extremely popular among audiophiles, for any number of subjective listening reasons. There are actually a couple good objective reasons for building preamps with tubes, as it is thought that their electrical properties are somewhat more compatible with the requirements of preamp design. Like discrete preamps, tube preamps are very sensitive to power supply issues, but require far higher voltages than discrete preamps to operate, making power design that much harder.

=Prices and Availability=
Many entry-level turntables have integrated preamps. Their efficacy is unknown and usually prejudged poorly.

While audio receivers today generally do not include integrated phono preamps, receivers from the 1950s to the early 90s generally include one. Some of them are held in very high esteem. Old receivers can be obtained on eBay for $20-$100 and should definitely be studied if you are interested in that price range.

Given that preamps have existed for 50 years and using much worse components than are used today, finding a preamp that properly satisfies the objective requirements should not be expensive or hard. Sadly, preamps are such an esoteric field that you are likely to spend over $200 to find a good one. Check online stores and hifi stores, but don't hesitate to buy used.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Playback and Recording (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:09:46Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Myths (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:09:32Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

''Note: These are preliminary notes, are a little opinionated, and are subject to change. Please edit as appropriate or comment on the discussion page.''
* '''The vinyl surface is heated to several hundred degrees on playback, and repeat play of the same track should wait at least several hours until the vinyl has cooled'''.
** Professional estimates for the stylus surface temperature during playback are 300-500 F.
** Obviously, the temperature of the record is at or close to room temperature except at the stylus contact point - otherwise the record would completely melt.
** It is true that back-to-back playback will introduce slightly more distortion than a fresh play. This is believed to be a temporary effect and goes away after approx. 10 minutes.
** Repeated playback (no matter what the timeframe) carries the risk of permanent damage. Obviously, records are observed to wear out with repeated play.
** No published evidence exists of back-to-back playback causing any more permanent damage than if repeated plays are separated by any longer period of time.
* '''Proper vinyl playback is click-free.'''
** Pops and clicks are often not audible during a song on a well-maintained record and should not distract from the listening experience.
** No evidence exists of a record that is shown to be played back with absolutely no pops or clicks whatsoever.
** They are introduced at virtually every stage of production, from cutting the laquer to the pressing to the playback itself. Some pops and ticks are pressed into the record itself.
** Some pops and ticks result from static discharges during playback. However, this may be mitigated by the use of topical treatments on the record.
** Because of the lack of evidence for a tick-free record and the engineering factors making such a record extremely rare, it is quite likely that no record exists that is truly free from all pops and ticks.
* '''Vinyl is better than digital because the analog signal on the vinyl tracks the analog signal exactly, while digital is quantized into steps.'''
** PCM encoding (used on CDs and DVD-A) records audio data in a quantized format. Analog formats do not have a measurable time or signal resolution.
** Analog encoding still has many measurable and audible faults, potentially including THD, noise, IMD, etc. These distortions have invariably measured higher than for digital formats, including CD.
** PCM can encode time delays to any arbitrarily small length. Time delays of 1us or less - a tiny fraction of the sample rate - are easily achievable. The theoretical minimum delay is 1ns or less. (Proof [http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=85436 here].)
** Signal quantization (ie 16-bit or 24-bit) only results in increased noise in a correct implementation. No distortion is introduced and the noise is of questionable audibility under most listening conditions.
** The term "analog", by definition, means that the signal is not and cannot be a perfect reproduction of the original - it is merely an "analogue" of the existing signal, corrupted in the process of encoding.
** In short, by any numerical basis, vinyl is not as accurate as competing digital formats.
* '''Vinyl has greater resolution than CD because its dynamic range is higher than for CD at the most audible frequencies.'''
** The dynamic range of vinyl, when evaluated as a the ratio of a peak sinusoudal amplitude to the peak noise density at that sine wave frequency, is somewhere around 80db. Under theoretically ideal conditions, this could perhaps improve to 120db.
** The dynamic range of CDs, when evaluated on a frequency-dependent basis and performed with proper dithering and oversampling, is somewhere around 150db.
** Under no legitimate circumstances will the dynamic range vinyl ever exceed the dynamic range of CD, under any frequency, given the wide performance gap and the physical limitations of vinyl playback.
** Thread [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=47827&st=0&p=425794&#entry425794 here].
* '''Adding a penny to the headshell improves tracking/sound.'''
** The trackability of a cartridge is related to the mechanical parameters of the tonearm and stylus assembly.
** Adding weight to the headshell (and adjusting the counterweight to compensate) increases the effective mass of the tonearm and reduces its resonant frequency. If the resonant frequency is excessively high - 15-20hz as measured by a test record - the weight may improve trackability by moving the resonance out of the audible range. Otherwise, it will generally only reduce trackability.
* '''A cartridge is permanently damaged and should be replaced if the stylus appears even slightly bent.'''
** Bent stylii cause azimuth and alignment errors which may be audible. In extreme cases they can cause record damage.
** Cartridges are hand-built and always have some finite tolerance in their construction. No stylus is perfectly straight.
* '''Belt-driven turntables are better than direct-drive turntables.'''
** Belt drives are far easier to implement than direct drives, easier to improve, and arguably easier to repair.
** Well built direct drives have speed and rumble tolerances as good or better than well built belt drives.
** Subjective claims to the improved musicality and audio quality of belt drives are disputed and not well agreed upon by all listeners.
** Belt drives hold their value just as poorly in the used market as direct drives.
** Direct drive motors tend to last a very long time (some original-model SL1200s may still run without any maintenance). Belt drives need new belts on a semi-regular basis and tend to have noisier motors at the same price ranges as direct drives.
** There is a common myth that a direct drive will "hunt" for the correct speed and cause audible speed variations. This has no basis in reality.
** It is believed that direct drives are better at handling dynamic stylus friction than belt drives, except in cases of very poor direct drives or very good belt drives.
** Some examples do exist of direct drives of inferior quality.
** Stock tonearms on direct drives tend to be much less expensive than the tonearms that come with belt drives at similar price points.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Links (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:09:17Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

* http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm cliveb's excellent guide to recording LPs to computer. Includes discussion on cleaning, sound cards, recording, and postprocessing.
* Wikipedia articles on the:
** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_player Record Player]
** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_record Vinyl Record]
** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_SL-1200 Technics SL-1200]
** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_cartridge Magnetic cartridge]
* [http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/index.php The Vinyl Engine]: Detailed discussion on all aspects of vinyl playback and maintenance. Check out the Library section for good articles and free protractors.
* [http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/bbs.html The Vinyl Asylum] at the Audio Asylum: true to its name, this has more voodoo audiophiledom than perhaps anywhere else on the Internet. But there are many good discussions, as long as you take some hefty grains of salt.
* [http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/ubbthreads.php Stereophile forums]: Almost as much voodoo audiophiledom as Audio Asylum.
* [http://audiokarma.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28 Turntables & Tape forum at AudioKarma.org]
* [http://www.head-fi.org Head-Fi]: Discussions on turntables under the "Dedicated Source Components" forum and the TTVJ forum.
* [http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/index.php? Steve Hoffman Forums]: Excellent technical discussions.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

FAQs (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:09:02Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

==HydrogenAudio threads==
* What sample rate to record with?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=43709&hl=vinyl thread] [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=38016&hl= thread])
** In general 44.1khz will work fine. There are not significant reasons to choose either 44.1khz or any higher sample rate. Some postprocessing tools for vinyl recordings only operate at 44.1khz.
** Additionally the dynamic range and distortion specifications for many sound cards are better at 44.1khz than at higher sample rates.
** This does not preclude using higher sample rates if there is a clear objective reason to do so. Probably the most important reason to use a higher sample rate is if you are recording a CD4 album, which has signal all the way to 30khz.
** Certain DSP operations may operate more effectively in the audible range if the sampling rate is increased, but this is not a general rule of thumb.
* What bit depth to record with?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=38016&hl= thread])
** Similar to the sample rate question above. In general 16 bits actually does work well.
** It's a common misconception that the quantization noise will significantly raise the noise floor of the recording; as long as the signal peak is -10dbFS or higher it is not an issue.
** CDs have a lower noise floor than vinyl, period. Their noise performance exceeeds vinyl at all frequencies.
** If you plan to perform a very large amount of digital processing on the recording, the rounding errors could build up sufficiently that they impinge on the background noise level of the vinyl. In that case the recording should be made at (or converted to) 24 bit resolution prior to the processing stages to reduce the effect of rounding errors. That said, you would need to do a very great deal of processing before a 16 bit recording of vinyl became degraded in this way. A few passes of EQ, noise reduction, amplitude adjustment, etc. isn't going to bring the quantisation noise up above the vinyl noise floor.
* How low of a frequency can LPs produce?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=37509&hl= thread])
** The common wisdom is that they don't have much below 60hz, but there is evidence that the signal extends as low as 20hz and possibly lower on some LPs.
** Note that low bass on vinyl records will be mono, but this is not a problem because low bass is non-directional. (The reason for this is that low bass signals cause the largest groove excursions, and of course the vertical (out of phase) component of the groove must never be so great that the groove rises above the surface of the record, so the out of phase component of the low bass is removed when mastering for vinyl).
* How much bandwidth is on an LP?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=35530&hl= thread])
** This is a hard question, because the dynamic range has to be considered and it is frequency-dependent. It is almost certainly lower than CD, and certainly far lower if the theoretical bandwidth limits of the CD medium are considered, rather than the digital specifications.
** Although some sort of signal above 20kHz can be recovered from an LP, it is highly unlikely to be related to the programme material; in other words it is noise. The majority of LPs probably contain nothing of significance above about 16kHz.
** CD4 (quadrophonic LPs) had signals cut to 30khz or above.
** CED disks had a usable signal extending to the Mhz range, but used a completely different playback technology that is completely incomparable to audio LPs.
* What recording level should LPs be recorded at?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=41045&hl= thread])
** As high as possible without clipping. -3db is usually safe and some sound cards may distort if driven past that. If you are recording on a sound card with a good noise floor (100db or greater) then you can go as low as -18db without ill effects.
** Be sure to take into account pops, ticks, and records cut at higher volumes, such as singles.
* How to remove sibilance?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=40346&hl= thread])
* How should mono LPs be recorded?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=39008&hl= thread])
* What are some examples of good and bad vinyl rips?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=37328&hl= thread]
** [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=37303&hl= thread]
** [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=37444&hl= thread]
** [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=35340&hl= thread])
* Can/should LPs be ripped faster than real time, ie at 45rpm or 78rpm?
** ([http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=37097&hl= thread])
** The short answer: No.
** The long answer: you can use a reverse RIAA filter, speed up the signal and reencode in the equalizing filter of your choise (RIAA, AES, misc 78 equalizations). Or you can use a flat preamp. Both of these options are far more complicated and risky than just recording in real time.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Disadvantages (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:07:45Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

There are several risks and disadvantages to vinyl, compared to other (digital) audio technologies.

* Vinyl is harder to [[Vinyl Maintenance|maintain]] than CDs, and should ideally be stored in temperature- and humidity-controlled environments. (However, air conditioning, perhaps with a dehumidifier, is almost always sufficient.) Mold can grow on vinyl and may permamently damage it and its sleeve, and can spread from record to record.
* Vinyl is very easy to damage during playback. Any scraping of the surface can permanently compromise the sound quality.
* [[Surface noise]], while often inaudible, will always be present and measurable, even on a brand new LP.
* The sound quality of a record cannot be determined until you play it, increasing the risk of the purchase. Even brand new, sealed LPs can have significant pressing and warping problems that may make it unusable for listening purposes.
* Turntables and cartridges require periodic maintenance and alignment by a professional, usually a repairman or a dealer. Otherwise you must learn how to tune a system by hand, which may require a great deal of time to perfect.
* Turntables may require realignment if they are moved.
* Any play of a record, even one, has the risk of permanently damaging the record. Repeated playback with an excessively worn or misaligned cartridge will cause permanent damage.
* Vinyl playback is not nearly as portable as other technologies. Portable record players exist, but they are considered of inferior sound quality and require a motionless playing surface.
* Investing in a high quality vinyl system is hundreds to thousands of dollars more expensive than investing in a high quality digital audio system.
* Cartridge stylii wear out over time (typically 200-1000 hours) and require periodic replacement. High quality cartridges generally cost between $60-$6000. At the upper end of cartridge cost, playing a single LP may cost $1 in stylus wear alone.
* Records are large and heavy. Transporting them correctly is logistically difficult.
* The "book value" of many LPs, representing both its collector's value and its musical value, is often quite high - anywhere from $10-$20 for either new or used LPs to over a hundred dollars for collectible LPs.
* LPs in general are neither overvalued nor undervalued. While they do not risk becoming worthless, they usually do not carry their value well unless certain releases become more collectible. Vinyl is not a particularly safe investment for collection or financial purposes only.

Financially, any benefits of the cheaper media must be compared against the amortized cost of the equipment needed to play and maintain it.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Cartridge (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:07:34Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

The pickup cartridge is the device mounted at the end of the tonearm which holds the [[stylus]] (usually diamond) onto the record's groove. The groove vibrates the stylus, which transfers this movement into the body of the cartridge via a short rod (known as the [[cantilever]]). The cartridge then has the task of converting the mechanical vibration into an electrical signal. Different types of cartridge use different methods to generate the electrical signal.
=Magnetic Cartridges=
The vast majority of cartridges use electromagnetic induction to generate the signal (and are therefore known as "magnetic cartridges"). This method involves moving a permanent magnet and a coil of wire (a pair of coils for stereo) relative to one another.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_cartridge Wikipedia article on magnetic cartridges].

==Moving Magnet==
As the name implies, in this type the coils of wire are fixed inside the cartridge assembly, and the magnet, mounted on the cantilever, is moved relative to them. Most DJ and lower-price home audio cartridges are of this type. There are some advantages to this type:
* Since there is no physical connection between the sylus and the wiring, the stylus can easily be made replaceable. Most (but not all) modern MM cartridges offer replacement stylii, at 50-80% of the cost of a new cartridge.
* Since the coils of wire are fixed, they can use a large number of turns, thereby increasing the output level from the cartridge (typically around 5mV), which will then require less subsequent amplification and hence lower noise compared to moving-coil cartridges.
* Moving magnet cartridges are generally much easier to manufacture and are less expensive than moving coil carts. MM models usually range from $20 to $300.

The large number of turns on the coils give moving magnet cartridges a high output impedance (typically a few kiloohms), much of which is inductive. If the cartridge outputs are wired directly into a high input impedance preamplifier, the cartridge will form an RL filter, which can lowpass the signal in the 10-20khz range and compromise performance. Furthermore, the high mass of the cantilever/magnet assembly generally causes a resonance in the high frequency audio range, although not enough to complement the coil inductance. Two elements are added to alleviate these issues.
* A capacitance is added to the circuit to form an LC tank circuit. This boosts the high end response substantially, but also creates a large resonance, potentially in the audio range. Preamps usually come with 50-200pF of capacitance at the inputs, but often, the cabling from the cartridge to the preamp contains up to 100pF of capacitance.
* To reduce the size of this resonance, a relatively low resistance is added between the signal and ground, to dissipate the resonant energy, smoothing out the high frequency response. This resistance should be low enough as to reduce the HF peak, but high enough so as to not compromise the HF response completely. Most cartridge manufacturers have standardized at 47kOhm as the "usual" preamp input resistance.

==Moving Coil==
In a moving coil cartridge, the magnet is fixed and the coils are wound onto arms at the far end of the cantilever. Therefore the stylus cause the coils to move relative to the magnet. There are usually several advantages to this scheme:
* The cantilever/wire assembly is extremely light, and unlike a moving magnet, the mechanical resonance of the cantilever is generally in the ultrasonic range.
* The wire assembly usually has much fewer turns of wire, compare to moving-magnet cartridges. This substantially reduces the source impedance of the cartridge and makes it much easier to drive electrically.
* MC cartridges, being at the higher end of cartridge technology, tend to be designed to much tighter specifications than other cartridge technologies.

There are several disadvantages.
* The cantilever assembly is usually not user replacable, as it is electrically wired to the rest of the cartridge.
* MC cartridges are extremely expensive. The cheapest cartridges are usually around $200. The most expensive cartridges are over $10000.
* Because of of the smaller wire assembly of MC cartridges compared to MM cartridges, MC carts tend to have vastly reduced electrical sensitivity - often 20-30db less than MM. This requires a much more advanced preamp design than in order to achieve the same noise specifications. (Note that some MC carts are designed for high output and do not suffer from this issue.)

Nevertheless, MC cartridges are usually favored for their high fidelity compared to MM cartridges.

=Crystal and Ceramic Cartridges=
These types of cartridge use the piezo-electric effect. The vibrations of the stylus are used to apply pressure on a crystal or block of material which has a piezo effect, which generates a voltage. The generated voltage can be quite high (up to 100mV). And unlike magnetic cartridges which generate a signal proportional to the velocity of the stylus deflection, crystal/ceramic cartridge signals are proportional to the amplitude of the stylus deflection. This effectively forms a lowpass filter of the velocity-based signal, requiring little to no additional RIAA equalization. As a result, crystal/ceramic cartridges do not require any phono preamp, are very easy to manufacture, and are still used today for very low cost turntable systems.

Crystal/ceramic cartridges have many major disadvantages. First, they tend to have much higher levels of distortion and noise compared to magnetic cartridges. Second, because the stylus/cantilever system is mechanically coupled to the cartridge, these cartridges tend to have extremely low compliance. This tends to compromise the high frequency response. Third, their purported compatibility with line level stages generally comes at the expense of any sort of close accuracy of the RIAA reproducing curve at high frequencies.

=Other Types of Cartridge=
Grado, a pioneer cartridge manufacturer that was the primary innovator of Moving-Magnet cartridges, calls their technology "Moving Iron". It is occasionally seen in other brands.

=Cantilever=
The cantilever is responsible for mechanically coupling the stylus (which actually touches the vinyl) to the electrical transducers.

It has been known to be made of several materials. The primary technical consideration in the choice of metal is its mass, followed by its mechanical deformation characteristics. These affect the cantilever assembly's various resonance characteristics.
* Aluminum (most common). Sometimes solid and sometimes rolled from a thin sheet to reduce mass.
* Boron
* Beryllium (used in Shure V15 carts, now no longer available due to toxicity concerns during manufacturing)
* Gold-plated metal (usually aluminum)

=Stylus=
A stylus is the piece that actually touches the vinyl and tracks its modulations. It is usually the only component of a turntable that really "goes bad" over time and must be replaced, usually along with an assembly, or the entire cartridge.

Stylii are nowadays univerally made of diamond. No other material is as hard or durable. Worn stylii develop polished facets that act as chisels on the vinyl, causing permanent signal damage. A diamond stylus will generall wear out after somewhere between 200 and 2000 hours of use. Inferior materials (sapphire, osmium) will wear out far faster - possibly within 1-50 hours.

The most important stylus characteristic is how it is cut, which determines the profile of the stylus on the groove. This measurably and audibly impacts the signal quality, the tracking force and the lifetime of the stylus. If the stylus touches a large surface area of the record, a larger tracking force is required to exert the same pressure on the surface, which also reduces the life of the stylus. If the surface area is oriented horizontally rather than vertically - if it covers more of the groove radially - then the high frequency response is compromised. On the other hand, a stylus with a very small contacting surface area tends to be very sensitive to proper alignment and tracking force, and is not as user-friendly to configure.

* The simplest way to cut a stylus is spherically. A pure spherical cut is pathologically bad and is never seen for microgroove records. Rather, a stylus is cut conically, with a spherical tip. These generally have the worst frequency response and a short lifetime. However, a few high end cartridges - notably the legendary Denon DL-103 - still use a conical tip. Most DJ cartridges use conical tip stylii.

* The stylus can be cut in an ellipsoidal shape, so that the contact area forms an ellipse. These are very common in audiophile cartridges.

* Finally, there are a number of different cuts related to the idea of strongly eccentric, vertically oriented contact areas on the record. These include names like "fine line", "micro-line", "Shibata", etc. These are also very common for audiophile cartridges.

It is worth noting that quadraphonic systems, which require much more signal bandwidth than stereo, used fine line or Shibata stylii in the 1970s.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Category:Vinyl

2006-09-08T17:05:33Z

Axon: Stub

[[Category:Guides]]

Advantages (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:05:08Z

Axon: Moving Vinyl Guide category over to Vinyl

Why invest in an obsolete, 50+ year old music medium?

* Used vinyl is often extremely inexpensive - 50 cents to two dollars a disc is common for some releases. Vinyl is a very cheap way to expand your collection in older artists that you cannot justify spending $15/CD on listening to.
* Some albums have simply never been released on CD.
* Some album art is better suited to the larger scale of LP covers and sleeves.
* The mastering of an original LP release is often considered superior to a CD remaster of the same release. This can be for any number of reasons, including:
** Increased use of compression and limiting on the CD release, reducing dynamics
** The master tapes have often degraded in the time between the LP and CD releases
** The equalization and even mixing of some CD releases is radically different than on the LP releases. For instance, many Zappa LPs have had entire drum tracks replaced for the CD release.
* Properly maintained vinyl is of a surprisingly good quality and is often not objectionable.
* It can be safely purchased as a long term investment.
** As a playback standard, vinyl has remained essentially unchanged for 50 years, and turntables will continue to be manufactured into the distant future. Unlike many digital data formats, vinyl has no risk of having no available playback devices.
** Properly maintained disc records (including both vinyl and shellac) have survived to the present day with little degredation. The long term chemical processes involved with vinyl are believed to keep it stable for 100 years or more.
** While large swings in value have plagued vinyl as collector's items, there are no long term risks to future devaluation for vinyl as a whole.
** Well built turntables should last 40 years or more and are refurbishable.

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Vinyl]]

Talk:Vinyl Playback and Recording

2006-09-08T17:01:52Z

Axon: Talk:Vinyl Playback and Recording moved to Talk:Playback and Recording (Vinyl): Making vinyl-related topics be a consistent format.

#REDIRECT [[Talk:Playback and Recording (Vinyl)]]

Talk:Playback and Recording (Vinyl)

2006-09-08T17:01:52Z

Axon: Talk:Vinyl Playback and Recording moved to Talk:Playback and Recording (Vinyl): Making vinyl-related topics be a consistent format.

=Format=
I'm doing everything on a single page until it gets too unwieldy. (Granted, it may already be too unwieldy...) -[[User:Axon]]
I ripped everything out and moved it elsewhere. This should be repopulated with info that's actually pertinent to the article title.
-[[User:Axon]] 25 April 2006

Vinyl Playback and Recording

2006-09-08T17:01:52Z

Axon: Vinyl Playback and Recording moved to Playback and Recording (Vinyl): Making vinyl-related topics be a consistent format.

#REDIRECT [[Playback and Recording (Vinyl)]]