[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've always been a Police fan....so I had to get an original LP to check out its SQ *edit* also, the "hiss" isn't tape hiss, but is the equalization hiss from my pre-amp. I hear it all the time, for every record. I'm not sure if I should get a another pre-amp that's better: this one had good reviews for not having hiss, so I just assumed it normal to have hiss in quiet passages with vinyl.

Hearing tape hiss is no bad thing in my opinion as it means you are hearing the master tape without too much processing and it's especially present on older pre '80s recordings when everything was analogue. I shall have to go and dig out my old Police LP's and have a close listen. Certainly the first 3 had a more realistic production aesthetic and actually sounded like a live recording, whereas the later ones are a little bit over polished in an '80s-tastic kind of way.
I'd definitely recommend you buy all the Police LPs (on Vinyl) as they are very nicely produced.
The one that really put me off the the CD versions was the Singles compliation with Don't Stand So '86. Sounded horrible at the time but the record sounds fine actually as I just cleaned up an old copy the other day.
It could well be your phono stage as you say of course.

 

[Davesrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by memepool /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hearing tape hiss is no bad thing in my opinion as it means you are hearing the master tape without too much processing and it's especially present on older pre '80s recordings when everything was analogue. I shall have to go and dig out my old Police LP's and have a close listen. Certainly the first 3 had a more realistic production aesthetic and actually sounded like a live recording, whereas the later ones are a little bit over polished in an '80s-tastic kind of way.

I'm actually listening to an out of print Andy Summers LP they had right now. For me, that's the main advantage of LP

It probably is the nature of my cart that it doesn't seem as detailed as my digital setup. It's a Goldring 1012 GX: reviews indicated that it was detailed and good for its pricerange. I assume a more expensive MC cart would give me more detail. I've got several classical guitar LPs and CDs. The CDs are way more revealing of the master: tape hiss galore. Because my TT seems softer, I don't hear as much hiss. Well high pitched tape hiss. This "vinyl hiss" is a lower frequency and stays on even if I have the TT off. So if it's not normal for the pre-amp to hiss that much, then I probably should try another pre-amp.

As for the Police recordings, I'll restate that the message in a box set sounds pretty good. I don't think they EQed much tape hiss out, as you can hear it in the really old recordings like "Fallout". "Roxanne" has some hiss, but by "Don't Stand so Close" you can hear the difference in recording techniques.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif It probably is the nature of my cart that it doesn't seem as detailed as my digital setup. It's a Goldring 1012 GX: reviews indicated that it was detailed and good for its pricerange. I assume a more expensive MC cart would give me more detail. .

The Goldring is a very fine cart, one of the best. You can always get the next stylus up (the 1042) but I wouldn't spend much more money on a stylus as it's better spent on upgrading the table which will allow the cart you have to track finer details more. If you really feel the need to upgrade I'd go and audition something like the VPI Scout or look for a 2nd hand Sota or Linn LP12or something.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif As for the Police recordings, I'll restate that the message in a box set sounds pretty good. I don't think they EQed much tape hiss out, as you can hear it in the really old recordings like "Fallout". "Roxanne" has some hiss, but by "Don't Stand so Close" you can hear the difference in recording techniques.

I have them all on vinyl so wouldn't generally bother to buy the CD's as well unless I saw them for next to nothing 2nd hand, although the SACD's intrigue me. Are they Hybrid?

 

[Davesrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by memepool /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have them all on vinyl so wouldn't generally bother to buy the CD's as well unless I saw them for next to nothing 2nd hand, although the SACD's intrigue me. Are they Hybrid?

The SACD I got was a special best of collection...but I'm not sure what sort of remastering they did because it's not much different then the nice CD set that I have. It is a hybrid, so I should compare its redbook with the rebook CDs I've got to see if they're the same master. Notice they also have a SACD of Synchronicity:

http://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-...3125883&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Every-Breath-Y...3125883&sr=1-1

 

[Rameish]

From my experience, LPs are a lot more robust. Sure they are somewhat easier to damage then say CDs but if you set-up your turntable properly then the life span of your record should last a lifetime even if you play the same record once every two days. I have some old beatles LPs from the 60s that sound as good or better then the equivalent CD. Also back in 1976/7 I bought the Eagles LPs - Hotel California - I must have played that vinyl LP thousands of times. It still sounds good to me and when compared to the CD once again it has better "air" then the CD version. A few years ago I bought Stan Getz's Jazz Samba and Jazz Samba Encore. Subsequently I bought the LP (vinyl) version and once again the vinyl version sounds better. If you ever get the chance compare the first track of the Jazz Samba album. The vinyl version has a bigger soundstage. I do admit that to me either SACD or DVD-A or even HDCD has the postential to be better yet still hold the convenience of CD. But am I ready to buy into yet another format and pay once again for the same music? Frankly i wish the recording industry recorded in 3 channels and that CDs/SACD/DVD-A machines reproduced those three channels. For a speaker based set up that would be ideal and a real leap forward in hi-fi.

Why three channels - well the centre channel with help recreate the sound stage far better IMO then any 2 channel system can.

 

[lini]

Rameish! Man! Nice to see you back!

And just btw, I almost managed to buy a new old stock ST-930 for myself. Unfortunately it turned out that for whatever reason the arm was missing on my unit (as well as several accessories), so the dealer mounted a used one - which I wouldn't accept (it looked rather gritty and the headshell was rather scratched), and as the dealer promised, but didn't manage to dig up a replacement arm, I finally gave up after patiently waiting over a year (full of unfulfilled promises & lame excuses).

All the best greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Rameish]

Greetings Manfred!

Yeah I'm back. Actually I've been around - in lurk mode LOL. Yeah the CEC-ST 930 is a very nice turntable. The original arm is a japanese sourced "audioquest" PT-6 or 7 or 8 (audioquest supplied different cables and gave them different model numbers). This arm is also supplied on some turntable manufacturers like Acoustic Signature. They call it the T88. http://www.acoustic-signature.com/00...816/index.html


A better option IMO is to ask your dealer to get you the Clearaudio Unify Unipivot - that will take this TT to another level! Exactly which model of the Unify you'll have to ask your dealer's opinion (9-inch arm for this turntable).

 

[lini]

Rameish: I know that the arm was and still is offered under several labels - originally it's supposed to be a Sumiko, which would seem plausible to me. But it's not a problem anymore, as I gave back the whole table: A bit of a pity on one hand, but on the other, the dealer had disappointed me so often that I was glad to get rid of the table and finally get my money back (after reminding the dealer several times...).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Rameish]

What a pity. It's a great tt (for it's price). CEC made all sorts of things for others like SME (power supply). Yes that power supply is the same one on the older SME. Well there's always a new VPI - I like the Super Scoutmaster. In fact I'm thinking hard about it.

 

[imported_Matt_Carter]

Vinyl
Smooth, gapless, organic, but distorted and inconstant.

Digital
Extreme low distortion, resolving, precise, but to on/off(ie), and unnatural.

Why I love my vda 2 to rudi so much. Very best of both worlds.

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just put together my vinyl rig today and I'm very excited about it (pics coming on Monday).

Young, what rig did you get? do you have pictures yet?

 

[socrates63]

Here're the pics of my new Pioneer PL-12D vinyl rig.

 

[lini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rameish /img/forum/go_quote.gif What a pity. It's a great tt (for it's price). CEC made all sorts of things for others like SME (power supply). Yes that power supply is the same one on the older SME. Well there's always a new VPI - I like the Super Scoutmaster. In fact I'm thinking hard about it.

Yup, I was rather disappointed for a while. Then again, I usually seem to prefer to have a couple of mid-range flavours to choose from to having only one high-end flavour - and I already have a Thorens TD280II, a Braun PS550 (formerly my stepfather's

) as well as a Dual CS505-4 and CS455-1M. With the latter ones being most fun for me due to their detachable headshells (got three spare ones...). So, in the end, I simply took my ST-930 purchase debacle as a sign that this table wasn't for me and that I didn't really need it anyway. I still need to expand my cartridge collection, though...

Oh, and btw, I've heard that CEC actually builds the Model 20 table for SME, which would seem plausible to me. And you are allured by VPI? Haven't heard one yet, but they sure look promising... Personally, I'd also be allured by the Bauer dps:

Thank god, it's rather expensive, so I won't buy it.

But, I fear, sooner or later I will have to add a good, old Technics SL1210II to the turntable collection (plus a couple of headshells and some less compliant carts...). Oh, collectitis...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Rameish]

Wow...I too had a Thorens TD280 (cant remember which Mk it was). I liked the semi-auto feature where the arm automatically lifts off the vinyl at the end. I personally felt it was better sounding then the Rega Plannar 2

Yeah Dual I had too but an earlier model of the CD505 (I think) I really cant remember these things anymore cos I was like 14 years old back then in 1977. The Thorens I still remember clearly cos I bought it in 1989.

The Baur looks real nice - I shudder to think what the price might be LOL.

Frankly my TT of choice would be either a VPI (for convenience) or my real love the Immedia RPM 2 with the RPM tonearm. I've heard this several times at the Singapore dealer's place - only trouble with Immedia is I think the head honco has launched a new brand call Spiral Goove and that is really out of my budget.

I have a rule of thumb when it comes to hi-fi purchases - the software must cost more then the hardware. But as usual it's not a hard fast rule LOL

Oh this is a vinyl hate thread - yeah I hate vinyl. Somthing that sounds so good even in this day and age should and must be hated.

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rameish /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh this is a vinyl hate thread - yeah I hate vinyl. Somthing that sounds so good even in this day and age should and must be hated.

LOL, I didn't get into music in earnest until I joined Head-Fi. While I am 37 and was a teen during the introduction of the CD format, after listening to some vinyl records, it just seems like the CD was the iPod of the 80s. It certainly couldn't have been because of the sound quality of vinyl that the masses flocked to the CD. Something new, something shiny, something portable? Just me talking about loud... I don't want to totally derail this thread and open up a can of worms. I'm sure it's been talked about ad nauseum before.

In any case, I like both. Because of the prevalence of CDs, I'm sure I'll invest more in the digital side of things, but I will definitely keep up on the analog side as well. Can't we all just get along?