Re: [ARSCLIST] [MLA-L] Requesting feedback on laser turntables (a)

[Jeffrey Kane <jeffkane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List 
> [mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of George Brock-Nannestad
> Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 12:21 AM
> To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] [MLA-L] Requesting feedback on laser 
> turntables (a)
> 
> From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad
> 
> Steven, are you relaying responses back to the MLA?
> 
> From: Jeffrey Kane
> 
> > I own the LT-2XRC. I see no advantage whatsoever to the ELP 
> but quite 
> > a few disadvantages given the situation as outlined. The 
> turntable is 
> > hypersensitive to contamination. Any dirt/dust/etc will cause a 
> > torrent of audible pops and clicks where such distortion will be 
> > subaudible and/or not as severe with a standard turntable.
> 
> ----- the clicks are clean and brief such as you would never 
> get with a mechanical reading of the surface. And for an 
> archive the great advantage is that you can play and identify 
> a dirty record without the need to clean it, and there is no 
> wear to a stylus.

On the wear and cleaning issue, you are correct. In the narrow context of my
response I was taking into account that the material at hand is neither
fragile nor unique and is already known. As for the transients, I've not
analyzed them. I got so fed up with what I perceived as the greater number
of clicks and pops from the ELP that unless the material is damaged I
haven't been using it. I've got to take a look at that.


> 
> Thus, a mandatory investment would be a Keith Monks or
> > Loricraft record cleaner. Even they won't always get things clean 
> > enough for the ELP and you'll still have annoying transients.
> 
> ----- when bought full-price the ELP comes with a record 
> cleaner. Certainly before the change in US 'distributors' 
> this was a VPI model that did an excellent but terribly noisy job.

True, however paying full retail is far more expensive than obtaining a
discount and buying a cleaner separately. 

> 
> >
> > The subjective sound quality of the ELP is excellent. Yet, the 
> > conversion to a streaming digital medium will likely negate any 
> > advantage. Note that the ELP is fully analog and will still 
> require A/D conversion.
> 
> ----- as would a mechanical pickup. How can an advantage in 
> signal quality be negated by A/D conversion?

It's not the A/D conversion that will negate the quality advantage. The
conversion to a lossy streaming digital medium will render the ELP's
increased fidelity moot. Even at the highest bitrates, a lossy streaming
codec will decimate the signal (does a lossless streaming codec exist?). As
even a modest traditional turntable can provide excellent sonic results I
submit that the difference between a turntable and the ELP will be lost in
that situation.

> >
> > I have not had reason to contact ELP for support. As I 
> understand it, 
> > any repairs require shipping the unit back to Japan. Should 
> ELP fail, 
> > the turntable will be a very expensive orphan.
> 
> ----- this I consider a great problem, because the ELP is a 
> precision instrument that I would not want to be thrown 
> about. I know from experience that the big carriers (DHL, 
> USP) respect neither "Fragile", nor "this side up".
> 

I am hopeful that the new distributor will have repair facilities here in
the US. I have contacted them but haven't received a response as of yet.

> >
> > In my case, the ELP gets very little use. I find it invaluable when 
> > working with cracked LPs and 78s as it still plays through defects 
> > that would snap a standard stylus straight off. It also has some 
> > utility in compensating for groove wear as it can 'track' different 
> > points on the groove wall. It will not work with colored 
> vinyl/shellac 
> > (although it DOES work with dark translucent vinyl such as Quiex II 
> > and JVC Supervinyl). In short, it's a limited purpose tool 
> that does a 
> > few things quite well. It's a nice complement to a 
> turntable, not a replacement for one.
> 
> ----- it could well be a replacement if you do not intend to 
> use vertically modulated records of the Edison or Pathé type.
> 
> The person in the US whom I would expect to be presently the 
> most knowledgeable about the ELP is Eric Jacobs.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> 
> George
>