Tracking distortion?

On Anna Calvi’s album Hunter, specifically towards the end of the track ‘Swimming Pool’ on side A, there are some crescendos when Anna is really belting out her voice, and there lots of big cymbal crashes happening.

My needle has trouble tracking it. The sound it makes is a bit of static or crackle, almost like digital clipping. Mainly from the right channel.

It happens with the tracking force adjusted from the recommended 1.25g to 1.4g, and with different antiskate settings (since the sonic aberration is to one side that seemed at first like a likely cause). But neither fix worked.

The distortion is not in the digital version of the song.

If it helps, the cartridge is an Ortofon MC-200 with an Ogura 5/60 tip. On the standard SL-1500C arm with KAB damper.

Where else should I be looking to adjust? Alignment or azimuth? Surely VTA wouldn’t affect tracking ability?

Also considered checking on some different cartridges to determine if it’s baked into the record (either through wear or just a too-hot pressing). I haven’t tried that yet.

 

The MC-200 was rated pretty high for tracking ability when new, 80um @ 315Hz, only their higher compliance MM carts like the OM 30 did better at 90um. But that was probably a long time ago for your cartridge, the suspension dries out, do you know how old it is? May be needing a refresh to loosen it back up a little, some have reported good results after a drop of rubber restorer, or various oils on the suspension. Not a recommendation, just repeating what I've read online.

 

The Quintet Black distorts a little in the same spot but it is more subtle.

 

I don’t have an exact age for it but it’s definitely been around for a few decades. Good point. Maybe it’s the suspension.

 

They rate the Quintet Black at the same 80um, so it would make sense the older cartridge wouldn't track as well with a dried up suspension, if that is the case. But yes, you may just be hearing it's limitation.

Is this the cartridge you bought from Joseph Long? Maybe ask him if he has a suggestion or if he thinks the suspension may be dried out, not sure how much work he does on them.

The part-time Aussie retipper that posts under cafe latte on AK and VE and other places suggests using a drop of power steering stop leak oil on cartridges to rejuvenate the rubber ... Shure V15 Type IV - The V15 with the most innovations ... not my idea, if it doesn't work and instead turns your cartridge into a worthless gooey blob, don't blame me

 

My arm is a unipivot but if I set up a new cartridge and fail to make sure the azimuth is correct, I can lose about 10% of my tracking ability. Worth a check maybe.

Not sure how you'd check on the Technics, I use a pencil lead across what would be my headshell, with a couple of maple 3/4" gauge blocks on either size. I then look for an even gap at each extreme of the pencil lead.

Some records just have stupid hot cuts here/there, sometimes there is little you can do.

 

Just a note for anyone reading this, the modern Stylus 30/Super OM30's are rated for 70um "typically," and can struggle to achieve it. The vintage units were rated for 90um, any maybe did achieve it based on some of my more vintage Ortofon stuff.

Don't run out and buy a modern Stylus 30 thinking it can do 90um. Disappointment will follow. DAMHIK.

 

I’ve eyeballed azimuth with an azimuth block and extreme zoom on my phone camera. But not with a test record or anything.

I’ve read that mistracking like this can permanently wear your record… but you never know how much of that stuff is just internet lore. How long can I keep debugging my setup with this one song before the record is ruined?

 

Great idea, I’ll message Joseph.

Power steering stop leak you say?!

 

I'll dump a few self-documenting images here.








Quite frankly, nothing favors high-frequency playback in the inner groove, from the larger tracking angle error, the slower linear speed and its natural roll-off in high-frequency response, and the change in anti-skate needing to be applied.

This is brought to a head with high frequencies that make it to vinyl. The worst that cause extreme accelerations of the groove wall, ones that simply leave the stylus behind, are indeed analog atonal ultrasonic high frequencies - the SHHH of vocal siblance and the crash of cymbals.

You've already tried the easy adjustments, next would be to minimize the tracking angle error at the radius with most distortion by carefully confirming or choosing a different alignment strategy for the cartridge. Technics already does this when their overhang alignment tool is used to position the stylus tip in the headshell; their alignment is the most favorable to the innermost part of the record.

Then finally, the stylus may just not be able to track records cut beyond the standards of tracking. Trackability of cartridges was a big marketing point in the 80s.

Just any power steering fluid. When used in syringes to inject bearing races and such, it will turn the syringe rubber seal into goo within a day. A very extreme measure to attempt a compliance change.

 

Thank you. It’s aligned with the Technics overhang tool, I’ll double check though. Maybe it’s off by a fraction.

 

Hard to know with certainty. I've been surprised at how well some of my tracking test albums have survived mistracking that often occurs when testing a cartridge/stylus.

I also have some music albums with extreme modulations that have been mistracked repeatedly. And yet when I put one of my extreme trackers on my turntable, they play them without much fuss.

 

That’s good to know.

Aside—what are the extreme trackers?

 

I don't have this record, but it looks like some copies were cut by Bernie Grundman. I would assume he did a good job, but you can't account for the recording itself or the screws ups the pressing plant may have made. It looks like many copies were pressed at Optimal and that plant has had a lot of problems over the last few years. I have had records with all sorts of defects from them and they frequently get returned. A bad plating job, non-fill, etc. can cause distortion like that. Look at the record very carefully and tilt the trouble spot in the light. If you have a loupe or magnifier, use that.

I also agree that all bets are off on a suspension that is a few decades old. Sometimes you can get a vintage stylus or cartridge that has lost only a tiny bit or virtually none of its performance. Sheer luck really. Dried up suspensions are definitely a thing though. Big red flag is that the RF when viewed in software is way higher than it should be based on compliance specs. Sometimes they will also fail to meet the original tracking ability spec by a significant amount.

In some cases it is possible to replace the rubber suspension on a cart. It is microsurgery and not everyone can or will do it. I had it done on a cart. When the suspension was replaced it went from barely hacking a 70um test track with loads of buzzing to tracking to 100um without any audible distortion.

 

One other factor that can come into play, that really is at guru status to adjust, is azumuth angle.

When the shape of the diamond itself, especially on an advance-profile stylus, is not pointing straight down into the groove (looking at the front of the headshell), that can make for a tilted stylus shank where one side makes contact higher on the groove wall. That effectively simulates a larger-radius stylus tip, and brings the same inner groove amplifications (besides the crosstalk increase if it is also magnetically mis-aligned).

This can arise from the needle being glued a bit off, or the cantilever being installed a bit twisted into the body. To align, one needs to place the stylus onto a thin mirror, and be able to view the shank with a microscope absolutely tangent to the radius. Then on a Technics, shim between the cartridge and headshell the required amount. One can experiment with the bit of twisting slop the alignment pin allows when installing the headshell to the tonearm.

 

I swapped in the VM95ML for a while and it distorts in the same spots to about the same degree as the Quintet Black.

Joseph messaged back, he tested the cart and it tracked OK out to 80um and suggests if the other two carts have issues, even to a lesser degree, it’s probably a hot record and potentially a setup issue with the MC-200 if it mistracks worse than the others.

So I took the MC-200 off and re-checked the overhang and azimuth (azimuth is adjustable on this Concorde-style body by loosening a very small Allen nut, the same adjustment method as overhang). It turns out the cart was twisted ever so slightly counter-clockwise. Having straightened it up a bit, it distorts to about the same degree as the other two carts. As a bonus I think it tracks a little cleaner in general now. To your point @harby I don’t (yet) own a microscope to check the diamond itself but at the least, this is an improvement and on part with the other two carts for tracking now.

 

To your point about non-fill, I can’t see any on the surface. There are one or two other spots on this record — Chain, towards the start of side B for instance — with similiar tracking distortion so I’m wondering if it’s just recorded too loud.

 

Its not myth, I used to debug my setup on 1 record before it had permanent distortion.
Never could solve it because my stylus could never manage. Took maybe 20 plays before I consider it too much.
Wish I had got my VM95ML a lot sooner, might have saved it and a few other records I wore on.

 

Maybe, some digital versions try to correct for distortions too so it can be misleading.
Digital should only be used to confirm a suspect recording as faulty, not exclude it if you dont hear it there.

 

Interesting thread. As far as I recall you also have Ortofon Stylus 40 tip on one of the carts - I used the same stylus as a retip of my MC20SII cart and I found that on recent Alice in Chains - Facelift reissue there are some sibilance issues on vocals on the first track. Not happening later on the album nor on some other albums I have. Hi-res digital version of the same album doesn't have sibilance, so I suppose it's more of a cutting problem, though I don't have detachable headshell to compare it with 2M Bronze.

 

Albums like this are digitally recorded and/or mastered before going to the cutting engineer. They can't fix what happened before they got the files and are doing damage control in many cases with these types of records. It's a balancing act. Cut at too low a volume and the record will sound weak, increased surface noise, etc. Cut too hot and some carts and TTs will have trouble playing back parts of the record without distortion.

Look at the hi-rez files for this album. Some are dipping down to DR6 and 7. That's a sign of a very compressed piece of music. Odds are the record was cut from those hi-rez files.

 

I just had an epiphany - wash that record. Not just a vac-u-suck; under the faucet (faucet filter if not as pure as we get here), and scrub with a fine brush with drop of clear washing up liquid until sudsy, and rinse and scrub more. Distilled water rinse. All better if chucked up in a low speed drill driver to hold and to spin dry.

I have a test record where washing improved it significantly.

Sample before and after: testrecord-washing.mp3

 

It’s pretty quiet throughout the record, no real “rice bubbles” to speak of — do you think it might help anyway?

 

Which cartridges would you rate as an extreme tracker? The retipper, Joseph, recommends getting hold of a Stanton 881 or Pickering XSV 3000.

 

Those are two outstanding trackers.