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Date:	Thu, 3 Apr 2003 11:45:48 PST8
From:	"J. R. Fox" <jr_fox@pacbell.net >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: Re: Vinyl-2-CD (was: Tape-2-CD)

Content Type: text/plain

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Peter wrote:

> There are lots of things that might possibly go wrong when using long
> cables but about the only thing you'll actually notice is either you
> have to turn up the treble a little bit or you might hear a buzz.

Those are not ordinary cables. They're, beeeg, thick honkin' cables. You'd have to
ask Tony, but I gather his results have been quite good.

> Far more worrisome is the 12" vinyl platter which acts like a
> microphone, picking up the sound vibrations in the room and transferring
> them back to the needle ("stylus") causing phasing problems.

I've been recording to *tape* for a great many years, and never had a problem
with this.

> If the speakers were too loud we
> would get ringing feedback on the discs.

This has never been a factor, in my experience. My speakers (indeed the amp
driving them) are OFF during such recording sessions. It's just the preamp directly
feeding the deck. Of course, that's going to tape; I have no experience with recording
to H/D or direct to a CD-burner.

> Don't forget to set your turntable on sandbags to minimize floor
> vibration transfer. And for heaven's sake don't put the turntable in a
> corner where you'll get low frequency buildup. Some of the mastering
> rooms use a concrete saw to isolate the spot where the disc lathe sits
> from the rest of the floor.

My turntable is on a Sound Organisation stand (or maybe an even better one,
also of Brit origin -- I'm not sure since I have two of them.) The later-acquired
stand has no obvious markings I can see right now, and I can't recall exactly what
it is, but it's a very good one. The stand seems to provide all the isolation that
is required.

> > The obvious solution would be a
> > laptop for doing the capture to H/D.
>
> No. The sound chips in laptops are often worse than those on the better
> sound cards.

Does the signal even pass through those sound chips ?

> I ran lab tests between a product called "Monster Cable" and the
> inexpensive Belden 8451 cable which we typically used in the studios.
> The result was that we continued to use the inexpensive Belden 8451.

Back in the days when I had a crackerjack hi-fi advisor (a brilliant fellow,
I assure you, and exceptionally qualified -- not one of the lunatic fringe cultists),
one of the things he was given to saying was "there ain't no magic wire." At the
same time, I knew of several vaunted speaker cables being sold in the lower 4
figure range, commensurately expensive interconnects, etc. Was it all some elaborate
hoax or delusion ? I dunno. Evidently some people believed they had real merit.
But it's not the sort of thing *I* would have sprung for, even if I had the dough.

> If you *really* want a quality transfer, get a 16-2/3 turntable (half
> the 33-1/3 speed) and transfer your LP's with it. You'll get much less
> stylus chatter in the groove and your high frequency response will
> improve.

It's way too late for that. I'm satisfied with the existing gear.

> Stan Ricker at JVC did most of the half speed cutting in
> town (the disc lathes ran at half speed and so did the playback tape
> machines) and everything was a lot cleaner (but more expensive) that
> way.

I don't think I was aware of him, but I did meet Doug Sax a couple times.
Thought that *he* was the maestro of super-fi recording on the W. Coast.

You know, we've totally overlooked one other option that may be worthwhile.
Some folks have added a dedicated cd-burner audio-deck to their music systems.
I've only heard about a couple of mainstream units, like one from Phillips, and
have no info on which ones (if any) may be good. That would get you direct
from LP to CD, with no long cables or computer intervention. I don't know what
the implications of that are, or whether any additional processing might be indicated.

Jordan

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