Vanrock audio volume and mixing

[YourFace]

Hi guys. Total noob here. I recently purchased a Vanrock lathe and have been working with it to get good clean cuts. It came with one sapphire cutter and one metal cutter. So far I have gotten a clean cut (embossing actually) with the sapphire cutter turned backwards. It has no surface noise but it's extremely quiet and doesn't have a lot of depth of sound. It is set up in my basement so it's a little cold down there. I tried heating the blanks with a lamp and it seemed to create more surface noise.

Do I need to run my audio through an amp and/or mixer before it goes into the Vanrock?

I don't have much audio equipment yet. I just wanted to try to get a good cut out of it before I went any further. Right now I am running my audio as a mono .wav file on my pc directly into the recorder. The audio does have an IRIAA curve applied. I have heard that you need a digital-analog converter, amp and a mixer/eq. There's a lot of different equipment and cutting styles I'm not sure which direction I should go with my setup.

I would like to start making records for local bands in my area. My brother wants to send me some masters of his bands music but I told him I'm not ready yet lol.

[Gus]

I'm not a vanrock owner but first of all check the dc resistance of you cutterhead with a multimeter normally it will read something between 4-8 ohms.
2. Maybe the enclosed amplifier has defect.
3. All embossed recordings is lower compared tradisional pressed records.

[markrob]

Hi,

I don't know these players directly, but in general, I don't think you should be applying the IRIAA to your audio. I would think that the this unit would already have that taken into account. Check the operating manual to see if you need to make any adjustments of tone controls during recording. Maybe someone here who has one of these can advise.

You may be wasting power by applying too much high frequency boost and losing lows by the IRIAA cut. Try cutting flat and see where you are in terms of loudness and fidelity. You can add some EQ to compensate for some loss in highs, but don't expect miracles. For one, embossing has limits and secondly, the heads on these units are limited in their high frequency response. Also, I assume the power amplifier on these machines are very limited to protect the head from damage. Even pro heads need large amounts of reserve power to cut high frequencies. Its not uncommon to drive a head with peaks in the 300 watt or more range. I would be surprised if these machines can produce much more than 20 watts of drive power.

You should not need any extra equipment as long as you can drive the level meters well into the red without clipping. Don't expect these machines to cut at levels near consumer records.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[YourFace]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try removing the IRIAA from my track next time.

Does anyone here have any luck with actual cutting on the Vanrock/Atom rather than embossing?