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For tape decks and turntables, beware of speed variations (wow and flutter). A good check for this is Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Pa.... pa...pa.......... PA!PA!) , which has a long, low, sustained organ note that comes in well before the main theme starts, and is held through the first movement. Concentrate on that. Make sure it doesn't wobble or warble. There's also a good passage at the beginning of Pink Floyd's "The Wall", but it doesn't go on as long, so you've got less time to think about it. Tape decks are prone to losing high-frequency notes, so pick something you like which has lots of treble, and make sure it is clear. The sound of a turntable is largely dependent on the cartridge mounted on it. Make sure to listen to a table with a cartridge similar to what you're buying, and not one in a different price bracket. If possible, audition the turntable with the same arm and cartridge, so that you will experience potential cartridge/arm interactions, too. Most cartridges work better with one arm than another. Treat the tone arm/cartridge pair as a system, rather than independent parts. Are some discs better than others? Some recordings are better than others. Some artists are better than others. Some recording engineers are better than others. Some microphones are better than others. Some music is better than others. Some find that LPs sound better than CDs. Advocates of LPs claim that the digital to analog (D/A) converter in home CD players isn't up to the quality of the information on the disc. They also claim that the analog electronics in a home CD player can be poor. Some believe that CDs do not sound like LPs because the CD does not have the frequency response errors, the distortion, or the stereo separation problems of LPs. In general, though, there are good and bad CD players, just as there are good and bad turntables, cartridges, and tone arms. Any ultimate comparison would require ultimate equipment, which is unaffordable. In moderately priced systems, there will be some signal damage from the turntable system and some signal damage from the CD player. LP lovers often learn the nuances of cartridge selection, record care, and even turntable and tonearm adjustment. They have found that the turntable will sound different if the arm height is adjusted, if the cartridge angles are changed, and if the tonearm wire is moved. CDs do not offer as many avenues for the home experimenter. However, Audio Amateur Magazine has published modification projects for CD players; particularly for Magnavox 560 and similar European players. Audio Magazine has also published such articles. What type of turntable should I buy? Despite improvements in motor technology, most great turntables use belt drive. Rubber roller (idler) drive sounds the worst.Select a turntable with a very heavy platter for the least wow and flutter. Give the platter a rap with your knuckle. It should not "ring" like a cymbal. It should feel and sound dead. Also look for a turntable that has good isolation from base to stylus. With the amp on and the turntable selected, but with the turntable motor off, put an old record on the turntable, lower the stylus onto the record, and then tap the edge of the base. Not too hard, you don't want to send the arm flying. At worst, you should hear (through the speakers) a quick 'thump' followed by silence; if you're lucky, you'll hear nothing at all. If the sound continues beyond a quick 'thump', the mechanical isolation is not great, and you might want to look at some other make. To perform this test with some turntables, it will be necessary to unplug the turntable power cord. If the turntable has a tone arm, try to evaluate the arm, too. A good arm should be adjustable in height. A good arm should allow cartridge adjustments. A good arm will be very rigid and have no bearing play. A good arm should accommodate a wide range of cartridges. Despite this, some arms work better with high compliance cartridges, while others are at their best with low compliance. Ask. The original AR Turntable was very well received when it was first made, and the current AR Turntable is still very respected for its price ($450 + arm). Turntables made by Denon, Dual, Linn, Mitchell, Oracle, Pro-Ject, Rega, Sota, Thorens, and VPI are also recommended, but can cost more. If you want a turntable on a budget, consider the Project Debut. What phono cartridge should I buy for my older turntable? The $30 Grado ZTE+1 is a great value for any home user but a purist. For the purist, there are still many choices, both moving coil and moving magnet. Each sounds slightly different, and has its individual strengths. Moving Magnet (MM) cartridges tend to have higher output than Moving Coil (MC) cartridges, with exception. Low Output Moving Coil cartridges require unusual pre amplification. Check with a dealer before buying one. Some proven candidates:
Will phono cartridges still be around ten years from now? Most likely, there will still be cartridges available, but not in the variety available ten years ago. They will become "Special Order" in some stores and unheard of in others."Pro" or "DJ" cartridges will stay available in good supply, "Audiophile" cartridges will stay available and very expensive, "Mid-line" cartridges will become very scarce, and a few "Budget" cartridges will remain available in copious supply. At the same time, some makers will drop their cartridge lines completely.Will LPs still be around ten years from now? There is a strong movement of collectors and purists who will keep their collections and buy good used discs. Count on these people to keep the used disc market hot for 25 years longer.As for new music, less is being pressed today than 20 years ago. Many popular artists are being released on LP in parts of Europe, but availability is dependent on country. One person said that many new LPs are available in Spain. LP sales have increased recently in Japan and in the UK. Polydor is now re-releasing older recordings on vinyl, and will continue to press them as long as it is profitable. Likewise, there are several re-releasing projects in Japan. Some are for Jazz collectors and others are for pure analog as well as classical music lovers. They are selling the LPs by subscription, with shipments every 2 or 3 months. Each release includes about 20 titles. Japan has released over 100 LPs this way last year. What about CD green or black pens? CD player "reads" information on the disc with a laser light beam. Some believe that if you put a green stripe on the very perimeter of the disc, then the light beam will not reflect around inside the disc and will more clearly pick up the data.Scientific studies of the data coming off of the disc have failed to show any difference between a virgin disc and a green painted disc. But many have performed uncontrolled tests with positive results. Using the Auric Illuminator Black Pen has proven to be very significant in sound improvement. What about CD stabilizer rings? Scientific studies of the data coming off of the disc have failed to show any improvement going from a virgin to a ringed disc. But use of CD stabilizers has proved to increase the focus of sound stage imaging to various degree.The data coming off of the disc is a serial string of ones and zeros. If this bit stream has jitter, then it may reach the D/A converter out of sync. If this happens, then the actual analog signal recreated will have jitter, and won't be perfectly true. The vendors of stabilizer rings say that using these rings will reduce jitter and make a more perfect signal. Vendors also claim that the rings can increase the mass of a disc, making it spin more smoothly, and reducing transient load on the power supply from the motor.Some players will not play discs that have stabilizer rings on them. The clamp can't handle the thickness. Other players play ringed discs, but do not play them well, because the disc motor was not built for the added load. What about CD treatments like Auric Illuminator? Auric Illuminator has proven to be very effective in sound improvement during listening tests. It is safe and requires only one treatment. Some treatments that contain chemicals will definitely damage the disc, but not the Auric Illuminator. There are many theories on what treatment can do to a disc. One is that it reduces static which will attract the delicate head of the laser detector to the disc. Another theory is that the cleaner will fill voids in the disc with silicone, thereby making it easier to read by reducing diffraction effects.Scientific studies of the data coming off of the disc have failed to show any difference between a virgin disc and a treated disc. Are 1-bit CD players better than multi-bit players? There are some excellent sounding 1-bit players and some excellent sounding multi-bit players. Some feel that the 1-bit technology has more future because it can be improved with the rapidly improving digital technology, while the multi-bit players improve with slowly improving analog technology. Multi-bit also has its advocates. Are three lasers better than one in CD players? Some players have one beam, some three. All use one laser diode to generate the beam. Three-beam is just a different method for doing track alignment. Neither is better than the other.There are good 1-beam players and good 3-beam players. Both have their merits. Are the deals (CD/Accessories) on 1388.com good? Yes. All things sold in 1388.com are first auditioned by Joe Lee and Jon Wong. If they do not work, we will not recommend! Due to bulk purchase and special recommendations, the price are good deals for 1388.com members. What are the differences between multibit and Bitstream/MASH Analogue to Digital converters (16-bit vs 1-bit CD players)? Audio data is stored on CD as 16-bit words. It is the job of the digital to analogue converter (DAC) to convert these numbers to a varying voltage. Many DAC chips do this by storing electric charge in capacitors (like water in buckets) and selectively emptying these buckets to the analogue ouput, thereby adding their contents. Others sum the outputs of current or voltage sources, but the operating principles are otherwise similar. What is the best under-US$200 CD player? The Philips or Marantz type CD players are well known. Some believe that for sound, an under-US$200 Philips is as good as any in its price range. Be sure to listen for yourself before you buy. Avoid players that do not have warranty. What is the best under-US$500 CD player? Some recommend Rotel while others recommend Marantz. Pioneer are good as well. What's wrong with the CD longbox? Some CDs are sold shrink wrapped in a square plastic storage box known as the "jewel" box. This is the ideal packaging for CDs. It has almost no unusable components and adequately protects and displays the disc. The shrink also implies that the disc is new and unopened, but shrink can never assure a new disc. How can I promote better CD packaging? Vote with your money. Don't buy CDs packaged in the long box. If you go to a store and they have CDs in the long box, tell the owner that you never buy CDs in the long box. Then find stores which don't use the disposable long box. People have been doing this over the past few years and have made a difference in many stores. (The fact that the long box costs more than simple shrink wrap has also helped the cause.)The better way is to use Auric Illuminator gel. Buy from 1388.com. Before trying any repair, try washing the disc with clear water and a bit of liquid dish detergent. Do not scrub or rub hard. Rinse the disc with clear water and shake off as much water as you can. Finally, wipe the last few drops off with a soft, clean cloth, in a radial direction. Small scratches can be removed with a scrufty T-shirt and toothpaste, such as Tom's Toothpaste. You may wish to try a thin coating of Johnson's Klear floor wax on the bottom of the CD. Often it will cover the scratches enough to allow playing. The refractive index is pretty close to poly carbonate, so filled scratches will be nearly invisible. Some vendors in Singapore sells repair kits. They seem to work as advertised, although getting the disc to the point where you can't see any sign of the scratch does take real care and persistence. You can buy professional plastic polishing compounds at many hobby shops. The ones used for polishing acrylics, plexiglas, etc. work. Ordinary lapidary jeweler's polishes also work. You'll need a rough polish to remove the scratches, then tin oxide to polish to a mirror finish. Telescope lens kits also work. Novus plastic polish and cleaner has been recommended. T-Cut, a car paintwork polish, works well for big scratches. Reviewers at Audio Magazine recommend the "Memorex CD Repair And Maintenance Kit" as the best tool for badly damaged CDs. Auric Illuminator kit also has been found to be able to repair certain damaged discs. Can I add digital output to a non-digital-out CD player? Some Magnavox CD players using the Philips chip set can be modified. Look for a SAA7220 IC. If it has one, then it can be modified. If you have experience modifying electronic equipment, follow this procedure: What can I get in the way of a CD test disc? Many use the Hi-Fi News & Record Review test discs. So far, these have received only positive comments. How do the letters ADD on my CD relate to sound quality? The simple answer to this question is that there is no relation between the three letter code and sound quality. Those three letters refer to the recording and mastering tools used in making the CD.The first letter refers to the recording process. For example, a disc labeled ADD was ANALOG recorded, where a disc labeled DDD was DIGITALLY recorded. Analog recording means that some form of conventional analog tape recorder was used, whether it be a two-track home-quality recorder or a very expensive wide-tape, high-speed, multitrack recorder. Digital recording could be as simple as a two-track DAT recorder, or can be a much fancier multi-track digital recorder. The second letter refers to the recorder used in the mixing and editing process. Mixing and editing is the process of combining a multi-track master recording, setting levels, editing out defects, adjusting equalization, and creating a two-track final tape. There are good machines available for this which are analog and good machines which are digital. The third letter refers to the final master, which for a CD is always digital. I have seen discs that are labeled as AAD, ADD, DAD, and DDD. Future releases may not have this three letter code on them because they don't tell you anything that is significant. Also, some codes have been used incorrectly on some discs, which makes the information that much more meaningless. There are expensive machines for this purpose which work very well. One popular model goes by the name Nitty Gritty. These machines spray cleaner onto the record, work it into the grooves, and then vacuum the cleaner and dirt out. If you are serious about records and have lots of them, it may be a good investment for you.
Also, get a natural bristle brush and trim it to the correct stiffness/bristle length so that the bristles can get into the grooves but aren't stiff enough to scratch the record. How do you set the stylus pressure correctly? Stylus tracking force is typically adjusted at the back of the tone arm with a knob that is calibrated in grams at the stylus tip. With the control set to zero, the stylus should sort-of float above the record surface. The control is then increased to the number recommended by the cartridge manufacturer. How do you set the anti-skating on a tone arm? If you have a recommendation or suggestion from the tone arm manufacturer, follow their advice first. They will give you the best starting point. How else do you adjust a tonearm/cartridge/stylus? There are a few other critical adjustments. Again, a good high-end dealer may be your best resource. Your ear may also be your best test instrument. What is their life span? A CD consists of a polycarbonate top layer, an aluminum (or gold) metal reflective layer, a polycarbonate bottom layer, and some miscellaneous printing ink. Of these materials, polycarbonate seems to be extremely stable with time provided that it is well cared for. Do not use any liquids on a CD that contain silicones or solvents. Do not leave CDs in sunlight or other bright light. Do not stick labels on CDs. Do not write on CDs. Do not expose CDs to temperatures higher than normal room temperatures. Don't leave a CD under water. Even the top side of a CD is critical and subject to damage. Digital Coxial or Optical cable, which is better? Coxial type sounds much much better than the clinical and lifeless sound from Toslink. |
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