Re: [ARSCLIST] Record flattening

[Eric Jacobs <ericj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To my knowledge, we are the first (perhaps only) to use this
tool on disc media other than LPs.  Neither the manufacturer
nor the retailers could offer any experience or guidance.

It works on shellacs - we have one, and use it regularly.
Takes about 4 hours to flatten a disc.  Two hours to slowly
heat the disc, and another two hours for the disc to cool.
It will leave a smooth shiny area on convex surfaces as
they get flattened, but under a microscope the grooves are
unaffected.  We also use this on dictation discs that have
been damaged by paperclips or other types of creases/folds,
and it works on the LPs that it was originally designed for.
Some media may require multiple flattening cycles to pull
the warps/creases out - it's taken up to 8 hours with some
types of discs.  We've done extensive experiments with
this to figure out the right timing of heating-to-cooling
and the number of cycles which will have the least impact
on the media.  We've pulled as much as 1/4" to 3/8" warps
out of shellacs - nothing bigger really.  The results are
far better than doing a half-speed transfer, and we know
how to get consistent results.

The Air Tight device is a pretty big investment.  If you
need to simply have some discs flattened, we do offer that
as an affordable service.  If you want to try-before-you-buy,
you can send your warped discs to us and see if you like the
results.

Eric Jacobs
General Manager

The Audio Archive
tel: 408.221.2128
fax: 408.549.9867
mailto:EricJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Steven Smolian
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 1:31 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Record flattening


In the current high-end catalog, Musicdirect, a record flattening machine is
offered.  It's at the bottom of p. 30 and called "Air Tight DT-01."  Anyone
have experience with it?

I can't find a manufacter on the net so can't ask him questions.  How does
it work on 78s is the big one.

Steve Smolian