Surface noise in right channel?

Waxfreak, in this case the tonearm/cart itself is not rotating, I think the force in question for this scenario would be:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centripetal_force

 

Spot on; thanx a lot !

 

My surface noise is even on both channels. Checked.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same issue - LP surface noise and dust seems to be focused on the right channel. Not exclusively, but I would estimate 80% of the pops and clicks seems to be coming from the right channel. Otherwise, the sound is great and balanced. And clean records are clean. This issue happens with different carts/headshells, the table is balanced according to a bulls-eye bubble, and anti-skate doesn't effect it at all. Oh, and if I flop the RCA connectors on the back of the turntable, the pops/clicks will then be focused on the other (left) channel.

I'm stumped, and wondering if the OP ever found a solution over the years?

 

It is the cables that you switched, the noise follows one of them. Check the cables for a loose RCA plug or a damaged cable/plug.

 

wow... not sure why I didn't think about the cables as being a suspect! It seems obvious thinking about it now.

Thanks @Tony Plachy ! I'll look into trying different cables.

 

If you only change on the turntable side, then the noise is not following the cables, you're just directing the right channel output to the left channel input on the other side...

 

Follow-up - before messing with the cables, I tried lowering the arm a bit and increasing the anti-skate a notch. It sounds like maybe this combination improved the right-channel noise issue..? But still evaluating if bass and/or imaging is better or worse.

 

What do you mean by lowering the arm? Arm base adjustment in height to make it sit lower?

 

Correct - lowered the base of the arm. VTA?

 

Id be wary of the HiFi news test record. My RP6 with 2M bronze blows minds, but it cant pass any of the antiskate tests. And therefore it dosent mean anything to me that record. It really is strange.

 

Interesting... keep on testing

 

The wall closest to the spindle is the LEFT channel, the wall farthest from the spindle is the RIGHT channel. Sounds in phase (mono) are entirely horizontal modulations, while out-of-phase sounds are vertical modulations (which is why loud out-of-phase bass or hard-panned bass can be difficult to get onto a record and in years past really low bass often was summed to mono or other such techniques.)

 

To clarify, the first part of this statement is incorrect. Each groove wall IS a channel (left and right), which leads to the lateral and vertical effects which you do describe correctly.

 

The skating force is not related to centripetal/centrifugal force. It's just a force on a pivoting tonearm because the cartridge is not aligned with the arm (and hence the pivot point), the offset angle. If you had a straight arm with NO offset angle (or, for that matter, a linear tracking tonearm) with a cartridge/stylus aligned with the arm that reached the groove again aligned with the arm, there is no skating force because the friction of the groove is perfectly in line with the pivot point of the arm. But that would be a really bad alignment for best playback across the record.

Don't feel bad, there are many very confused and bad explanations of skating force, people will say things like (well, it's because the record is spinning, the outer groove moves faster than the inner groove, the rotation exerts some kind of rotational force that twists the stylus towards the inside etc etc, or they actually say it backwards, that centripetal force pushes the stylus to the outside, etc). But it really has nothing to do with any of that. It's just because of the offset angle. If there's no offset angle, there's no skating force (or any need for any-skating force to compensate for it). I didn't entirely grasp skating force it just seemed vague and complicated until Michael Fremer was talking about it in a video once and it clicked, and I just said "wait...DUH, that's all it is??" And I felt dumb. It's actually a force that's way easier to demonstrate in person than it is to explain in words. I just have someone stand with their arm outstretched, and pull gently in line with their arm (no offset angle, no skating force, doesn't cause them to rotate their body it just pulls them towards me in the direction their arm is outstretched), and then I move slightly to an angle and pull again (offset angle, doesn't pull in line with their arm, causes their body to rotate towards where I'm pulling.). And that's it!

 

Not feeling bad at all I'm not at all knowledgeable in such "physics" matters, and I wasn't actually trying to explain skating/anti-skating, I was just saying that a force pulling to the inside of circular motion is not called a centrifugal force but indeed a centripetal force, as by terms definition.

As far as I know your explanation of what causes skating (friction + offset angle) is absolutely correct, it would seem to make some sense to call that force a centripetal force, but maybe it doesn't

I've actually watched Mr. Fremer explain that live right in front of me a few weeks ago...

 

Yes, the right channel is the outer wall, the left wall is the inner. It's about time someone called me out on that brain cramp after 6 years.

 

Most American men have diminished HF hearing in their left ear compared to right. In that case you'll hear surface noise more from your right ear. Try turning around or listening right next to each tweeter to verify the issue is with equipment.

 

Thank you for getting this right, I thought he switched the cables at both ends.

 

I have to say I am a little shocked by this statement, do you have a source for it (a reference)? I am well aware of the fact that typically (there are exceptions) males loose more of their HF hearing with age (even if not exposed to loud industrial type noise) than females do, but I have never hear a doctor or audiologist say anything about asymmetrical hearing lose being typical for males.

 

I did not know that. I would have thought diminshed HF hearing in right ear.
(from driving in the car with the wife / girlfriend on your right side).

 

i was having this issue and without getting too complicated - fixing the azimuth lowered the surface noise, balanced it better across the channels and i'd like to think opened up the soundstage.

 

Azimuth is extremely important and if not properly set could easily cause this problem.

 

hummmm... I can see how azimuth has a play in this issue, but if the azimuth is off by such a large margin that it starts to cause noise, I'd say there must have been other sound issues like a major channel imbalance going on...

I did however take a few records that I have with "mostly right-sided" noise and tried them on a variety of turntables at shops and friends places, and my conclusion was that the problem was always there... I'm still much inclined to believe this is something related to the plating or pressing stages.

I'm certain fine adjustment can make it better or worse, but I've never seen it go away 100%...

 

instead of channel imbalance test for channel separation and that might give you some idea of whether its an azimuth issue. I think one way is to use a test tone that cancels when summed to mono or a tone that should only be in the L or R channel.