Ableton Forum

Sage wrote:Vinyl on a technical level is pretty shoddy. Noisy & distorted, lovely.

thats why everybody knows that technical data dont say much about sound quality.. do you know that studer i selling theire big broadcast desks with inferior noise figures than behringer claims for theire euro desks?

ok.. the studer gives a noise figur for all channels in unity gain open while the behringer just is talking about the noise the desk is producing with all channels muted... however... a true technical data that domt says anything about the sound quality...

well i was fortunate enough to return the turntable I bought from craigslist although the guy seemed a little pissed. I picked up a cheap ion profile lp turntable. I know it's not the best but I'm a broke student who loves vinyl. It sounds beautiful. Well not super incredible but now I can say it sounds a tad bit better than my ipod. Well this will keep me happy until I have a real job and an audiophile turntable.

3phase wrote:

Sage wrote:Vinyl on a technical level is pretty shoddy. Noisy & distorted, lovely.

thats why everybody knows that technical data dont say much about sound quality.. do you know that studer i selling theire big broadcast desks with inferior noise figures than behringer claims for theire euro desks?

ok.. the studer gives a noise figur for all channels in unity gain open while the behringer just is talking about the noise the desk is producing with all channels muted... however... a true technical data that domt says anything about the sound quality...

Sorry, but what?

So noisy & distorted isn't related to sound quality?

kanuck wrote:audiophile turntable.

if you want to talk audiophile, you should look into replacing the tonearms ( on your future technics 1210 ) as well as the cartridges. I have no idea if the tonearm stuff is snake oil, but you gotta see how much some of these tonearms sell for



given your circumstances a technics 1210 might seem like 'audiophile' expense, but IMO a technics 1210 is simply the foundation. audiophile is when you're spending thousands upgrading each deck.


Anyway... as a vinyl fan I'm glad you returned the piece of shit you got from craig's list =)

^^, yeah, what?

i work with audio specs all day, and they are very meaningful if they are accurate and aren't misleading.

vinyl fidelity has to do with 4 things, IMO- the quality of the vinyl, the quality of the stylus (the actual needle housed within the cartridge), your counterweight settings, and the preamp. your sound will only be as good as the weakest link. a shitty or old stylus can also fuck up your vinyl.

also, something i just ran into recently converting some of my old breakbeat records- DON'T EVER "WET-PLAY" YOUR VINYL! this is when you clean the vinyl with a wet cloth or record cleaner and play the vinyl before the liquid dries up. supposedly, this pushes a bunch of dirt down in the grooves, and the record will only ever sound good again if you "wet play" it again.

memes_33 wrote:^^, yeah, what?

you mean 3phase... or me ?


interesting caution about 'wet playing' though.
The thought of 'wet playing' would never enter my head, do folks do this out of being too impatient to let the vinyl dry ? ...or do they think it's beneficial to do so ?

sorry, meant 3phase but you beat me to it!

it actually sounds better the first time you wet-play- less static & "cracks", but i'm guessing most people (me included) are too impatient to wait for the shit to dry.

Yeah basically you only wet play if your trying to digitize a single copy and want it as pristine as possible. Unfortunately after that the record is pretty much shot. Never done it myself as I like my noisy dirty vinyl but thats not what some people are into I guess.

Sage wrote: Sorry, but what?

So noisy & distorted isn't related to sound quality?

it is related.. but considering that some of the best sounding amplefiers of all times have worse distortion and noise figures in the typical measurement protocols than some of the worst sounding ever build...

one has t conclude that theese measurements are not saying much... they only show wether a unit is totally broken or not..

actually nobody questions that vinyl sounds better when propperly mastered and reproduced... it sounds better than your origial master dats.. usually.. so it defenetly has to sound better than the mp3 of your master dats..

JEpic wrote:Yeah basically you only wet play if your trying to digitize a single copy and want it as pristine as possible. Unfortunately after that the record is pretty much shot. Never done it myself as I like my noisy dirty vinyl but thats not what some people are into I guess.

You will then need to wash the record. So the dried liquid gets off. They sell vinyl washing machines.
http://h1f1.blogspot.com/2009/11/semi-a ... chine.html

You can also just wash it with water in a bucket.

I worked in a recording studio in the 80s that got the job compiling one of the (NZ branch of the) Major labels compilations - "Solid Gold Hits Vol whatever"...

Imagine my surprise when the label dude turns up with a bunch of records, the head engineer washes 'em in the sink and prints them to 2-track.

3phase wrote:

Sage wrote: Sorry, but what?

So noisy & distorted isn't related to sound quality?

it is related.. but considering that some of the best sounding amplefiers of all times have worse distortion and noise figures in the typical measurement protocols than some of the worst sounding ever build...

one has t conclude that theese measurements are not saying much... they only show wether a unit is totally broken or not..

actually nobody questions that vinyl sounds better when propperly mastered and reproduced... it sounds better than your origial master dats.. usually.. so it defenetly has to sound better than the mp3 of your master dats..

Maybe I'm too young, too used to CDs and vinyl hasn't been a big part of my world. I still like buying and playing vinyl, for certain genres, it's the perfect medium for it, but it's not perfect for everything.

..nm

Pitch Black wrote:I worked in a recording studio in the 80s that got the job compiling one of the (NZ branch of the) Major labels compilations - "Solid Gold Hits Vol whatever"...

Imagine my surprise when the label dude turns up with a bunch of records, the head engineer washes 'em in the sink and prints them to 2-track.

yep standard,
when i still used to spin vinyl (about 15 years) i regularly washed them myself, a bit of standard washing up liquid and hand warm water in a bath tub, the thing you have to do that is real important is not to apply much pressure with a soft cloth that does not lint (not sure if it is the correct word in english, but basically does not develop any kind of dust or sorts) and rinsing it with water that is 100% free of anything that can dry as particles (there is a name for that kind of water, i don't remember... you can by it in gas stations, it is the one you use for your car engine cooler)

it's easy, safe and does the job very well.

especially good when you come back from playing at some dusty outdoor festivals.

the special washing machines for vinyl are not better at all, they do the same thing and use the same chemicals, just automatically.