The analog thread.

[luvdunhill]

https://sme.co.uk/2018/05/01/sme-limited-acquires-the-garrard-audio-brand/

[Torpedo]

5 hours ago, luvdunhill said:

https://sme.co.uk/2018/05/01/sme-limited-acquires-the-garrard-audio-brand/

Interesting. Will this mean SME quality at a Garrard more affordable price, or just lower products at the usual SME boutique prices?

[Craig Sawyers]

SME prices have massively increased since it was aquired by Cadence. That is for two reasons - first they were too cheap and SME were sinking, and second they did sales from SME themselves, so tied up staff organising sales; they now only sell via a distribution channel with their margin added.

It will be very interesting to see what they have planned for Garrard. They also acquire Loricraft, who apart from manufacturing 401 and 301 spares also manufactured their own Garrard-inspired 501 and 601 turntables. The 601 from Loricraft is/was UKP7557 plus shipping. Plus arm and cartridge of course http://www.garrard501.com/garrard601.html

 

[Dusty Chalk]

On 4/13/2018 at 3:28 PM, Grahame said:

Pitchfork article

https://pitchfork.com/news/high-definition-vinyl-is-happening-possibly-as-early-as-next-year/

The slashdot comments seem to echo your view 

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/18/04/12/2320221/high-definition-vinyl-is-coming-as-early-as-next-year

a couple of choice ones

"This scheme is a shoe-in for the 2018 "polished turd of the year" award."

"

Or.. now hear me out on this one... or ... we could just, you know, send the digitally converted audio, you know, without converting it back into a bumpy piece of plastic.

I know this might sound radical, but it seems to me that converting analog sound to digital format then to a digital 3d map then to a laser-cut stamper then to a piece of bumpy vinyl then to a vibrating stylus and into a varying electrical current to drive an amplification system to run the speakers that you listen to might just be a little more complicated than just taking the digital format for storage and transport and converting that back into analog sound at playback."

Or they could laser scan the record, then you wouldn't have to worry about deterioration of the master.

[Craig Sawyers]

That is what NEDCC do, but they use imaging of the groove pattern, and then recover the audio from that. This is an archival process for recordings which could be damaged by regular playing. Called IRENE

https://www.nedcc.org/audio-preservation/irene

 

[Craig Sawyers]

Ikea introduce a turntable and sound/light system

https://www.insidehook.com/nation/ikea-teenage-engineering-frekvens-audio-lighting-equipment

[jose]

32 minutes ago, Craig Sawyers said:

Ikea introduce a turntable and sound/light system

https://www.insidehook.com/nation/ikea-teenage-engineering-frekvens-audio-lighting-equipment

If you think about it, turntables of a certain level are sold totally disassembled... like Ikea products.

 

[Grahame]

Meanwhile ...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-08/the-ultimate-analog-music-is-back-ballfinger-reel-to-reel-tape

via: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/5/8/17330324/ballfinger-reel-to-reel-tape-decks

http://www.ballfinger.de/

* it probably means something else in german

The google translate of the about page is ... interesting ...

 

 

 

 

[HiWire]

How ironic that the first comments that show up below the article discuss Depeche Mode's Violator SACD... makes you wonder what people are going to play and record on these things.

[Knuckledragger]

https://japan.cnet.com/article/35118815/

 

[bjarnetv]

Not sure if other people are as fond of these records as i am, but here is a heads up anyway

Ryo Fukui's two first albums are being reissued in the EU/US as a limited edition half speed remasters in a couple of days.

These records were reissued i japan last year, and most were quickly bought up by resellers and sold with a huge markup, so if you are interested i would preorder before it is too late.

both records are great, and even though i bought the japanese reissue last year, i just had to order the pair, to see if the remastering is any good

http://wrwtfww.com/album/scenery

http://wrwtfww.com/album/mellow-dream

[mikeymad]

First spin after setting up system.

ELO? Why yes..

Doing okay, lots of tweaking to do.

[DigiPete]

Ouch.... just knocked the stylus off my ZYX AIRY 3X cart !!

F' me.  ?

Edited August 12, 2018 by DigiPete
add photo

[Craig Sawyers]

That sort of thing gives you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Suggestion - there is a Russian guy with a thread on Steve Hoffman's site who repairs cartridges with snapped off cantilevers. Yeah, I know there are opinions about Hoffman's forums, but here is the link, with lots of pics of before and after resurrection. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/stylus-retipping-service-phono-cartridge-specialist-from-russia-moscow.686418/ 

[DigiPete]

I thought about re-tipping, the cantilever is fine, but eventually I decided to work with the dealer here in the US,

who I bought if from brand new, and he gave me a very generous discount to trade in,

which I could not pass up (but I'm sure I'll regret it later when the credit card bill comes in).

So I ordered the ZYX Ultimate 4D,  on the way...... still cost me north of $X,XXX 

 

[Hopstretch]

Emergency upgrade! HC approved.

[CD44hi]

Did you purchased it from Mehran? Great guy, I got my cartridge and zero dusts from him like 12 years ago and still going strong.

[Pars]

Sorry to hear about the stylus! Ouch!

Nice to see you back around!

[DigiPete]

Yup Mehran! Very nice gentleman!

Yeah, when I bumped the tonearm as I was reaching for the record clamp,

and it popped out of its armrest clip and shot across the record, my heart sank.....

Of course, now its time to institute more safety protocols,

like putting the armlift up when the tonearm is parked, putting the record clamp somewhere away from the tonearm.....

 

 

On 8/13/2018 at 7:25 AM, Hopstretch said:

Emergency upgrade! HC approved.

Necessity is the mother of upgrading   LOL

[DigiPete]

The new ZYX Ultimate 4D cart arrived.

Quite a step up from the Zyx 3X I had and destroyed! LOL

More resolving, better separation, depth, etc. The end of the line for me.

[guzziguy]

2 hours ago, DigiPete said:

... Quite a step up from the Zyx 3X I had and destroyed! LOL ...
 

Maybe you should look again at your system to see if anything else needs breaking?

[DigiPete]

LOL.... I could break a few things.... if only I had the money.....

[Hopstretch]

Clearly your cartridge is now too good for both arm and table.

[spritzer]

...and phono preamp. 

[Hopstretch]

Probably speakers too?