Post Your Needledrops (Part Four)

No. I'm saying that everytime one upgrades a piece of gear, it shows up flaws in other parts. The cart may be new and working just fine, but it is a lesser cart because of its low status in their product line.


You are in the ball game now, you just need to bring out that focus in the sound, and a better cart will do that with this preamp. Down the line, you can upgrade your turntable.

Don't get us wrong: your work is really improved by that new preamp. You just need one more thing to bring up your sound. And, trust me, I know money is an issue with many of us.

 

It is all about synergy. I was very disappointed about my Nagaola MP-110, for example -- there's just something about that cart that I don't like, I can't explain it. My AT440Mla gets used most of the time as it combines good detail and good tracking of the inner groove - that and my phono stage were probably the biggest upgrades I had made since I started doing this.

The 440 isn't perfect - it has a tendency to enhance surface noise as well, especially in the outer groove. But I have my AT120e for those reasons. and the MP-110 still gets used on occasion, like with mono recordings. I like having a few different sounding carts with headshells I can pop out easily, I can make a quick decision just prior to the drop that way.

 

The problem with your Nagaoka is the frequency balance. It sounds a tad weak in the upper midrange. In order to get better performance, you have to move up to their next model or two.

 

CK, the problem with your Shure cartridge is that it's designed for DJ/broadcasting use, not for high-fidelity playback. Yes it's brought more clarity to your needledrops (compared to the Empire) because it's got better treble response, but that doesn't mean you're getting more detail and musical nuances from it. The actual stylus tip is just too large and coarse for that. On top of this, it's a classical example of a compliance mismatch with your Sanyo tonearm: a stiff (low compliance) DJ cart mounted in a light (low effective mass) straight tonearm. As a result, you're getting a whopping stylus resonance at 17 Hz which is sure to color the sound (the recommended range for this stylus resonance is between 8 and 12 Hz). For this to happen, you'll need to choose a high compliance cartridge, i.e. one with a softer cantilever suspension (which usually translates into a lower tracking force of around 1.5 grams). If an AT440MLa is too rich for your blood at currently inflated prices (which I would totally understand - it used to be only $99 just a couple of years ago - the AT120E has gone up in a similar way), I can suggest looking at the AT110E I saw listed at lpgear.com. It is a good entry level Hi-Fi cartridge with the lively AT sound that suits most budget setups for only $69 and will also be a good match for your Sanyo's tonearm. Just an additional suggestion at an affordable price for you to consider - still no match for the $500 carts you can hear here, but it may well get you by for now. So you've probably gotten more advice here than you want to wrap your head around at once, so just let it sink in and most of all, enjoy the ride...

 

I find my AT120e to be almost as good as the 440. the cons of the 120e is that it doesn't handle the inner groove as well as the 440 - this is especially the case with used records where there could be some groove damage. And it's not quite as detailed as the 440 is. However, it does have reduced surface noise versus the 440, so that's a plus.

I both the 120e and 440MLa just before the prices skyrocketed -- supply and demand, I suppose?

 

Thankfully, yes (since they're not updating the drivers anymore) but for those cards that run the E-MU Patchmix software and associated drivers (1212, 1212M, 1616, 1616M, 1820, 1820M), the transition isn't without hassles. If you upgrade a computer with the software already installed to Windows 8, Patchmix becomes unstable and at times unusable. You have to do a complete uninstall and fresh re-install of both the drivers and software. Plus, E-MU offers no support for Windows 8 on the E-MU products.

 

Ok. You might want to look around and research what's available. It depends on the price range. For something less then $100, the reputable companies in the field are all offering 24-bit/44.1kHz & 48kHz interfaces such as these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/lexicon-alpha-usb-desktop-recording-studio
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/avid-recording-studio
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-...ck-mkii-usb-audio-interface-with-pro-tools-se

If you want to get into higher sampling rate, you need to spend a bit more. In the $130-$150 range, here are a couple of boxes:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/roland-tri-capture-usb-audio-interface
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/focusrite-scarlett-2i2-usb-audio-interface

You could also take a chance on the E-MU boxes, if you can find any in music gear stores. Last spring I saw an 0404 on liquidation at a local store, but one of the guys working there told me they haven't been able to order anything from E-MU in about a year now.

 

Could I ask Antares or anyone to check the resonance on my last posted sample? I'm just curious.

Just about to head into the last two hours of my first day at this new job, and I think I got too used to staying home and listening to vinyl for the last few weeks! Heh.

 

Loving the Alien? Sounded good to me, no resonance to speak of.

How was the first day?

 

Pretty nice. Looks like it should be a good fit

 

Hi Ben - your last two with the AT (Police, Bowie) put the system resonance peak around 6 Hz, but it's well damped at close to -40 dB. Good luck at the new place.

 

Ah hadn't checked that. 6Hz is getting about as low as it should go. From what I've read, optimal is between 8 and 11Hz. Still, as you say it's well damped.

 

What am I doing to the sonics if I'm below optimal?

I tried something very low tech, but successful for damping . . . I slid rubber o-rings over the tonearm, as per this thread at AudioKarma.

I understand this could have affected the mass of my tonearm, changing the cartridge compliance? But as the thread says, these rings are super-light.

 

Ultravox - Lie (2012) 24/96 FLAC, 1 minute sample.
Technics SL-3200
AT440Mla
Furutech GT40 ADC to Audacity 2.x under Linux Mint 14 x64
Unprocessed, except for a slight treble cut

The 440 added a bit of brightness so I decided to cut it down a bit for this sample, but I'm not sure if I'll leave it like that -- need to listen to more tracks first. Pretty clear 44khz hard line on this one.

It's not a night and day difference from the lossy copy I have, but I think it takes that Loudness Wars "edge" off, just a bit. Typical of many modern vinyl LP's I own.

 

Thanks Grant!
I certainly appreciate the time and effort you took to analyse my system and make appropriate suggestions. You are helping make this new hobby of mine very enjoyable.
Plus... after seven months of unemployment, I finally landed a new job, so I am pretty stoked!

 

I wouldn't sweat it, Ben. Your drops sound fine. That's really all that matters.

 

Um, that was Antares, not Grant.

 

Here's my contribution for this evening, a medley from sides 1 and 2 of a Epic white-label UK pressing of The Clash's London Calling:
http://ppl.ug/8X98LmSlRqg/

I'll bump up this one from last night due to the thread switchover:
Side one from Rickie Lee Jones' self-titled album (Steve Hoffman Mastering):
http://ppl.ug/R-utmvZgj6g/

 

Hm. I'd be interested in hearing it without the treble cut. It sounded a little claustrophobic and compressed, without the "air" that I associate with Ultravox's early '80s work.

 

Wow, Stefan . . . the Pogoplug link really choked the life out of the Clash. It sounded awful at this end. And it was going to take nearly 20 minutes to download the actual file, so I had to pass.

Didn't someone else have issues with Pogoplug this last week?

 

Quite right and too late to correct... but the thanks goes widespread, including you, Grant, Ringo and Antares.

 

You're very welcome. I have to admit, I pumped my fist in the air when I heard your last try at "Turn To Stone."

 

I listened to it again + a few more tracks and I think I'm keeping the original treble - was a mistake muting it. Luckily I haven't even edited it fully yet. I'll post up another version probably tomorrow.

 

Van Halen- Hot For Teacher- from the Quiex II Promo LP

http://www.sendspace.com/file/sswe6u

[MOD: You have to click the correct download button, the one that reads "Click here to start download from sendspace." That one's okay, and leads to the WAV file. The others are ads.]


Yamaha PX-3
Yamaha MC-1s w/Soundsmith retip
Marantz 2220b receiver to ASUS Xonar Essence ST sound card

Love how quiet the Quiex vinyl is, really lets you enjoy the music instead of focusing on surface noise or loud clicks and pops. Recorded in 24/192, re-sampled and dithered down to 16/44.1 using IzotopeRx 2.