Re: [ARSCLIST] using flat phono preamps (was Incredible savings on DC6 for this week only)

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Richard:

DC has now added the special to their store page (at the bottom):
http://www.diamondcut.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=DCOS&Category_Code=SU

But I ordered it and did not automatically get sent to a download page and
wasn't sent an unlock code. We'll see, stay tuned ... I'm assuming they're
just a quirky small company and everything will work out fine.

I definitely do records and the flat preamp is somewhat interesting but I
can't see the need for regular LPs, which is mostly what I do. The few
pre-RIAA records I've done got right back to nice EQ with some slight
digi-tweaking to adjust their curves. Art Shifrin, who does great transfers
of old disks (pre "discs" for sure), uses analog preamps except in real
problem cases where he has to play at super-slow speeds to get tracking.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard L. Hess" <ArcLists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 7:23 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] using flat phono preamps (was Incredible savings on
DC6 for this week only)


> Hi, Tom,
>
> It turns out you need to call them to get the prices, which is fine.
> I tried ordering the balanced version of the flat preamp (not as big
> a percentage savings as the unbalanced one, but still good and I'm
> moving the whole studio closer and closer to all-balanced--I also
> just bought three more Aphex 124A to balance up to 8 inputs at once.
> The challenge here is the +4/-10 switch on the Multiface is inside
> and hardware).
>
> Anyway, I digress...
>
> I don't do records so there is no reason for me buy the balanced
> preamp (I just sent someone who called me to Graham Newton) but I
> wanted to experiment. Also, it will serve as a backup to my aging
> RTS405 -- for which I don't have a backup.
>
> And, yes, I think it would be very useful for off-speed transfers.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> At 07:02 PM 11/23/2005, Tom Fine wrote:
> >They have the same special on their website, for the download-only
version
> >(no book/no CD/no box), which is fine. But then when you try to buy it,
the
> >$199 price comes up. I e-mailed and will report back if there's an
> >open-sesame that's not documented.
> >
> >Richard, good tip on Tracertek. They have an interesting website. One
thing
> >in particular piqued my curiosity -- they sell flat phono preamps (which
> >are, in effect, high-impedence unbalanced mic preamps) and suggest that
> >"it's not 1975 anymore" and the "modern" way to transfer records is flat
and
> >then use DC6 for the RIAA EQ or whatever other EQ one desires. This got
me
> >to wondering -- do any of you do it this way? Since there will be such a
> >stringent EQ curve applied, what sort of peak-levels do you want from a
flat
> >preamp to avoid digital clipping when the EQ is applied? I can see how,
> >theoretically, a Digi-EQ could be more accurate than an analog phono
preamp,
> >but I've got a couple that sound just fine. However, I can see how this
> >could be super-useful for pre-RIAA mono LPs and particularly 78's and
> >transcriptions. Heck, I bet it would be really super-useful for
half-speed
> >transfer of 78's.
>
> Richard L. Hess                   richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada       http://www.richardhess.com/
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm