[]eep]

Next up... Another €16 record. I had to play that ... Because it's fun! It say so right on the cover.

Hey, it's a cassette?! No. It's an LP.
It's the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy. A marvel movie I really liked (unlike most others milked dry). Its all old music from the 70-ies when life was simple and good. When the moon landings really happened, the earth was round and you knew you could trust the government. And we thought Disney was innocent (it never was, and he certainly wasn't). Now Disney is going down the drain, together with 'THE MESSAGE'. Good riddance.
But this is a music compilation that is just good fun. Not even a guilty pleasure. Strange enough I did not have any of the songs on lp (maybe Bowie). It's all feelgood music. Except maybe 'The Runaways' with 'Cherty Bomb' for the raunchy accent.

The mastering is great, a far cry from similar cheap compilations of the time. It sounds great.
Pressing is good too. It had some crackle but generally very quiet.
Packaging is good too, polylined inner sleeve, simple sleeve.

I really liked this record.

 

[]eep]

Next one up: classic 90-ies dance trip-hop electronic. The 1996 Faithless - Reverence. You probably know the hitsong 'Insomnia' (I can't get no sleep).

Again one of those albums that came out when vinyl was really hard to get. And this didn't come out on vinyl until 20 years later in 2017. That's fine because it took me 25 years to get over the thing that really annoyed me about (aptly named) Faithless. And that is their irreverence. If god is a dj (not on this album btw), you're revering the wrong one. I pick up on things like that. But the music is great. It has the same vibe as the movie 'The Matrix'. Big, bold and bombastic with a wide scope and multilayered.

I like the cover; bleak, sad and colorless matte with a shiny gold accent. Black polylined inner sleeves, and a white 4 page insert with some extra artwork and lyrics.

The pressing is excellent on 2 LPs. Don't let the occasional crackle fool you, that's intentional in the recording (so why not release it on vinyl in the first place, stupid?).

The music sounds as good as it's going to get as its really not meant to be audiophile material. The soundstage could have been even wider and deeper as the music asks for. But it's enough to get the giant danceclub vibe across. I thought this would be a record with lots of deep black bass, but it isn't. Sometimes it's deep, but not abysmal.

A good era defining album that became a classic. Well done.

 

[Kilgoretrout74]

Latest 'upcoming pressing' pre-order I've made:



Sort of similar sounds to Greg Foat, Sven Wunder, et al.

 

[]eep]

So what is your experience with that record? How does it sound?

I have something very different incoming... (besides yet another phonostage, a medium output cartridge and a heavy brass platter mat). Just one more side to listen through and photos to shop (no, I dont but them, just post processing, photoshop as they say).

 

[]eep]

Not ready to post reviews (to time consuming) but I like to share I noticed that proces on those cheap (but awesome) Zhige MC cartridges on AliExpress are going up considerably. Just now with the anniversary sale I could get a good price on one.

I also noticed two new models with line contact stylus. The first with a ceramic cantilever and black alu body (like mine), the other with a boron cantilever and chunky rosewood body in a coffin shape and brass base and both in a a choice of high purity silver or copper coils. €500-€700 (that's including 21%VAT).
For the price you can get a nice AT-OC9ML or AT33. I think these are a notch up. But it's nice to have a choice.

 

[Charli]

 

[Charli]

Bonjour, voici le mien. Je dois dire que je suis entièrement satisfait de cette cellule zhige, elle a une très bonne ouverture, le son est très très bon.

 

[]eep]

I see two different headshells?
That is the silver wire without front yoke. I have that one too and it sounds terrific. At any price.

 

[]eep]

Something different this time. Some Japanese scores. I find it hard to find Japanese pop for decent prices. But these soundtracks were very decently priced.

First 'Ghost in the Shell'. This is mostly dark ambient music with some touches of Japanese folklore or tradition. A recurring geisha chorus and the percussion instruments are reminders that this is the soundtrack original anime version, not the Hollywood soundtrack.
The sound is really audiophile. Its recorded really well. That is; the percussion. The voices sound more like a soundbite. The sound is very clean, very wide and deep. It reminds me of Vangelis' Bladerunner crossed with 'China' (obviously not Chinese but Japanese).
The pressing is perfect. Super quiet and with great dynamics. I could (or; had to) turn up the volume up quite a bit and it was still dead quiet. But the then the drums came in with full force like a punch in the gut. Very nice. Well done.
The sleeve is rather simple. Poly-lined inner. Good and simple.
A very nice record that is quite a surprise.

The other one is from the very famous Japanese singer Hikaru Utada. She's big in Japan. But not so much outside. The mostly sings in Japanese and English, which makes it a lot more palatable for westerners. It's typical J-pop, not to be confused with K-pop. It's sweet, but not nearly as sacharose sweet as K-pop. She has a very good voice and the music is more like synth pop.
This record is more like a 12" with not too many songs and it's a bit of an easy production with her greatest hit (Beautiful World) in a few versions and a cover. But it sounds just perfect. Japanese perfection. And I never could find any others on vinyl (Heartstation or Ultra blue).
The lp is made of clear vinyl with a blue tinge. A silver inlay sheet. Very minimalistic and simply beautiful.
Pressing is perfect. This one also has great dynamics.
This is like musical sushi.

 

[]eep]

And another phono amp on review. This is another Douk Audio, this time the T13 mini phono preamp. You might question why do you need another one of those cheap boxes? Well, I should have bought this in the first place but there wasn't any info on it. Well yes, one YouTube review. But given his other gear I can't quite judge him. And the T4 plus had already a lot good reviews. It also differs in a couple of points that are important for my intended use. And... It was on sale for only €73 (incl 21% legalised regime theft)

General information:
it's 7" wide (or 178mm)
Inputs; 1 MM and 1 line level RCA's
Power: 5V USB-C (0.6A)
Output: 1 RCA and 1 3.5mm headphone
Volume knob on the back is for both HP and RCA
the VU-meter follows the input (not output as the T4 plus does) and thus not adjustable
The VU-meters background lights are adjustable in brightness and color, gradiënt colors and even full disco. It doesn't really serve any purpose other than just be pretty. They look very sharp with the bronze trims. Nice steampunk look.
On the front is a very nice power button with a good click. And an input switch button.
The MM states 80dB signal to noise. If you can can get rid of the ground hum. There's a grounding cable in the box but where to connect it too?

So this is a real full preamp with a phono input. So you can leave both your dac or TV and turntable connected. With the T4 plus you need to unplug the aux 3.5mm plug to hear the turntable.
Moving the headphone input and volume to the back is no problem in desktop use and keeps the front clean. And for the Hifi rack you probably won't use them.

So, how does it sound? It sounds pretty good. Better than the T4 plus with the tube buffer IMHO. That just muddies things. This one sounds clear and neutral with good detail and texture. It even has some sense of depth and space. It gets a bit rough on loud passages. It does have bass, maybe not so much air as it does pull attention to voices.

When it comes to gimmicks and 'look at me' attention seeking I rather choose these stereo VU-meters than a tube buffer and not really usable MC when it comes to sound quality.

One more thing that you might not have thought of but is a great budget friendly feature is the USB power instead of 12V DC. You don't need to buy a PS in the box. But even better: you can simply power it with a powerbank. I tried that and it made a big difference in hum.

Concluding; it's not just fun-fi but a budget preamp that sounds good too. I could really enjoy it.

A personal note: the comparison again shows that it's better to get a decent sounding opamp MM than a hybrid with a tube buffer. In this price bracket it's not 'best of both worlds' but substraction of good properties. Like a stale hamburger with lots of ketchup versus an inexpensive simple home cooked meal.

Edit:
I opened it up to see what is inside. Not impressive but tidy. SMD as I expected. With 1 opamp as I expected (JRC 2068 $0.60 piece) for phono and 1 NE5532 for the headphone. Wouldn't it be just awesome if they used a dip8 socket for the phono?
Still, so much smaller than I thought.

 

[]eep]

Another new Zhige cartridge. And not just one but 3! These Chinese are just churning them out like mad.
So what's different? These are equipped with Microline styli (styluses?)... ML diamond tip.
One with a boron cantilever and wood body, silver or copper coils. 0.3mV
One with a duralumin body and ceramic cantilever, silver or copper wire, 0.6mV
And one Alu carbon body, aluminium cantilever and a healthy 2.5mV high output MC

And finally it's actually branded ZG.
Photos are all pretty out of focus.
Prices vary from €450 to €710 depending on the version. Those prices are EU proces including 21% Validated Authorised Theft. In $ even cheaper.

I think given the choice between a HO-MC from Hana, plastic with a spherical stylus or this one with a Microline and a proper body, not a difficult choice.

 

[]eep]

I just received this one today. I never had a medium output or nude cartridge before so I was curious. And with the anniversary sales (and the price increases) it was very enticing. I ordered a red one but I struck gold. For €200 in total. Not bad. Although I really wanted bright red. Ferraris aren't gold either (no Ferrari gold that I know of). I want to see how this goes on the cheap Douk T4 Plus.

Yesterday I swapped arms and placed the lowly dirtcheap AT3600 on to the Douk T13. I needed to turn up the volume considerably, but still it was dead silent. I wasn't sure if I had the right input. No hum. No hiss. And the sound was ridiculously good! Really good. Not 'for the money'. No, in absolute terms, absolutely enjoyable. No excuses. When I switched to the Ruby II on the Gold Note PH10+PSU+SUT, yes, it had more slam, more dark background, more space, more detail. Hey, come on. €83 vs €7000 excluding arms and TT.
Just saying the small Douk with the VU-meters isn't just a toy. Good balance, pleasant tone, plenty of bass and so easy to install...


Here are the pictures of the new cartridge. It might not be obvious but the cantilever isn't a crude log, it's rather slim and small. About half that of the AT3600 or AT95.

 

[Charli]

Bonjour, j'ai quasiment le même et fonctionne plutôt bien pour 380€

 

[]eep]

Huh? Moi j'ai le même, mais avec le bois. Et moins le fil de bomuld

Ça me semble très fragile. Bien detaché. Comment t'a fait ça?

 

[Charli]

Il y a comme une tige qu'il faut retirer avec un outil d'horloger pour bracelets de montre qui se situe en haut à l'avant de la cartouche, puis avec un tout petit tournevis cruciforme, dévisser la petite vis cruciforme qui se situe vers l'arrière des contacts électriques . Puis la coque en ébène se décolle.