Transco Lacquers and Styli

[Greg Reierson]

Yeah, all the usual mechanical stuff is right. It's only on very high frequency stuff like aggressive sibilance or very sharp transients. Stuff right at the edge. Clean sources are fine. I've cut a handful of things in the last few days that didn't show any sign of it but I have an old, very raw sounding recording that's driving me nuts. It's mono so you would expect the vertical to be silent but gets nasty when the HF peaks. I realize that's usually true but it seems worse than usual at the moment. I'm going to send some files off to Chris and see what he thinks.

How often do you guys listen to just the vertical? I check it often, even when mastering for digital release formats.

[jjgolden]

Hey Greg,

Sounds like playback tracking distortion.
If the source is mono, and you're playing the cut back with a stereo cartridge, you'll get tracking distortion from sibilance that's completely exposed on the sides.
Unless there's a calibration issue, or the source is not 100% mono, there should be no vertical movement happening during the cut that would record any type of vertical distortion.

JJG

[Greg Reierson]

It does sound like tracking distortion but it's there on different tables and different pick-ups so I think it's in the grooves. That's what I'm chasing down at the moment.

[jjgolden]

Maybe cut the same source at 45rpm and see what you get.
JJG

[Greg Reierson]

Ha, well that's where I started:) 3mil / 45.

[jjgolden]

Have you tried rocking the disc back and forth during the distortion area to see if the pitch/sound of the distortion follows the speed of the disc.
Like editing a downbeat on analog tape..

If the distortion is not there or doesn't follow in pitch with the rotation speed of the disc, then it's tracking distortion.

[Greg Reierson]

That's an excellent idea! I'll give it a try tomorrow. Thanks!

[Greg Reierson]

I tried it this morning. I let the table spin down and I can hear the vertical distortion all the way to a dead stop. It's not tracking distortion.

[Lee2023]

Hi !

I have a something similar, what was the problem in the end ?

Thanks !

[Dub Studio]

I would start a new thread... 10 years is a long time ago