Re: [ARSCLIST] Laser Turntable and Damaged Vinyl

[Charles Lawson <clawson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>The sound with the conventional stylus is worse than I have ever 
>encountered except when the wrong stylus was used. I believe I've 
>mentioned before that some 1950s issues on Odeon and other European EMI 
>labels require an elliptical 78-rpm stylus. With a conical stylus made 
>for LPs (0.7 mil, IIRC) and a filthy, scratched disc, the sound is 
>similar to that sample.

The example used here was from a 1970s era LP that had been cut as a
studio demo for a popular artist of the time.  From the look of the disc,
it had been put through some considerable abuse over the years and I've
never had another LP sound quite this bad on stylus playback.

The "before" sample was made after the disc had been thoroughly cleaned
(twice!) in a VPI liquid/vacuum machine.  The disc then went from
conventional turntable to laser turntable with no intervening steps.  The
signal chain was identical for both recordings.  Only the third example
had any additional processing performed on it (to de-click and de-noise
somewhat).
>
The laser turntable can't save everything, sadly, but it can often make
the difference between unlistenable and salvageable--as this particular
case demonstrates.

I'm glad that you found the demo helpful.

Chas.

--
Charles Lawson <clawson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Professional Audio for CD, DVD, Broadcast & Internet