Vinyl Torture Tracks - Inner Grooves, Sibilants, Hotly Cut Tracks, Sudden Volume Bursts, etc.

Persuasive Percussion I-IV - any of them were DESIGNED to work out your record player, they have notes for how and what you should hear on each track, and the innermost tracks are the most difficult tracks for TT's with sibilant sounds.
I have been using PP I for years to test out various upgrades (or downgrades), because I use the same record, I know what to expect when equipment changes.

 

It does make sense, however I didn't think Africa was cut very hot on my orig. US pressing. Could it be groove damage or are you the original owner?

 

Anything from PiL's Metal Box (original 1979 version, 3 x 45 records in a metal tin). The bass is very prominent in many tracks which can present a challenge to tracking on some record players. Amazing album to own though ​

 

Groove damage at the inner grooves is always a possibility on used vinyl. That mistracking that occurs when IGD happens can actually shave off a portion of the inner grooves. That's been mentioned by our host and one of the mods here BTW.

Another issue is that just because two records are both old U.S. pressings doesn't mean they are the same cut. Would need to compare deadwax matrices to know.

 

Here is one for the folks that might have this album (which is great BTW), track A6, "Split" on this U.S. pressing of That Petrol Emotion's Babble LP.

That Petrol Emotion - Babble

 

I agree with this. Screen Kiss is one of my favorite tracks and it still ticks me off that it's recorded so poorly when it could have been great. It's a lot better now that I have my AT VM540ML installed. But you shouldn't need to have a near perfect setup to enjoy a song.

 

Well I have the 1st press with A-1 B-1 matrix and is cut hot but is a very nice sound vinyl IMO if your pre roll off the high frequencies

 

Exactly. I don't know if you've heard the UK pressing of Flat Earth, but I don't get sibilance with that, only the US. So I think it has to do with the way it was cut or mastered for the US release.

 

No I haven't heard the UK pressing. I have some kinda "audiophile" pressing that I can't recall right now. The rest of the tracks sound great. Just Screen Kiss has a problem. But as mentioned, it's not as bad with the new cart.

 

This is a good point. For example, in my earlier contributions to this thread thread, the track I highlighted is one that tends to exhibit inner groove distortion. Most other people appear to be focused on sibilance. It seems that each new example should be accompanied by:

1) Pressing info
2) Cartridge used/other relevant setup info
3) Type of distortion

-Matt

 

I think Supertramp's Crime of the Century has some drum cracks that are pretty explosive, possibly on Hide in Your Shell. It's certainly a dynamic enough album to test your system.

 

Audience ‎– The House On The Hill 1st UK charisma pressing is a very dynamic cut record.
On this video by Ron Beaudry (@ 11:17) there is a interesting view by him about this record

 

You're right, everything else on that US pressing sounds really lush and detailed, which makes the sibilance on "Screen Kiss" all the more frustrating.

 

The track "The king has lost his crown" on ABBAs album Voulez-Vous is tricky. Not only is it an inner track, but the choose to put this track with HF content in chorus at high level. There is significant energy peaks 2-3 kHz and 4-5 kHz that usually have been damaged on older recordings.

 

I need to pick up some Dolby. If the sibilance is really bad on U.S. pressings even with a good advanced stylus then maybe I should just go with the CD.

 

I don't have this record, but having a general idea of what they sound like with those high female vocal harmonies, I can see how this one is going to be very tricky.

 

I have two copies of that record but both are probably damaged. I don't know if it is any way to track this clean:

Dropbox - The king has lost its crown.wav

 

Well, with my AT440MLa, it's vastly improved, but with headphones, there are a few "S's" that start to get close to the outer limit of acceptability, if that makes sense. So, with a micro-line cart, I think the US is OK. But I had no problems with sibilance at all with the UK pressing of Flat Earth, so that one is probably worth picking up if seen for a decent price. But its sound is a little brighter overall, FWIW.

However, the remastered CD from 2009 is great - very quiet, dynamic, and not compressed. Same goes for the remaster of his first album. Both are worth getting.

 

I thought I had a bad pressing of No man's sky game soundtrack by

65DAYSOFSTATIC - Music for an infintite universe

It sounded distorted across most of the record until I got vm540ml cartridge. And I was using Shure DM103 M-E with hi-track stylus before that.

Album is quite dynamic, very rich with sound, full of noisescapes, distorted sinths, guitars and energic drums. It became my favourite benchmarking record.

Album Review: 65daysofstatic - No Man's Sky: Music For An Infinite Universe / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound

 

It's a great album. Definitely worth having.

 

"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" from "Still Crazy After all These Years"

As the song progresses, the "much"-es from "don't need to discuss much" get progressively hotter AND close to the inner grooves. Track them without any buzzing or distortion and your setup is good.

 

Here's a tough one: Warakurna from this pressing of Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil:

Midnight Oil - Diesel And Dust

It's an inner groove track and there is a significant amount of sibilance baked into the recording. Even the carts listed in my profile with advanced styli had varying degrees of trouble with it. The sibilance is on the non-remastered U.S. CD version also, though it's slightly more listenable there.

 

My worst track is from Henry Mancini The Blues And The Beat album. On “The Beat” side of the record there is a tune, either Big Noise From Winnetka or Sing Sing Sing where there’s a jazzy flute solo that winds up near the end with a loud “TOOOOT!” and it’s basically sounds as if the tweeter just fries out.

 

I always had a hard time getting my TT setup to track Steely Dan Aja - the track Aja where the song breaks into that progressive jam and high hat cymbal crashing.

That passage always used to sound like a hot sizzling mess until I got my Hana SL setup right.

 

I was looking for it tonight but found only Blue Sky Mining. I know I have the Diesel and Dust somewhere though perhaps in the basement. I'll check that during the weekend.