HIFI News Test Record

PickyEars81

PickyEars81

Super Member
I ordered one of these. It arrived with the seams of the cover unglued, the corners smashed, and the writing completely pulverized into a nasty dust which made its way onto the outer tracks of the record itself. This is less than thrilling for a $50 record to arrive with the cover ruined, but that is of less concern to me than the fact that it was not sealed. It had a plastic sleeve, but no shrink wrap. Is this normal for this record, or did "they" ship me a used and damaged record and sell it as new?
 
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Well, I found some other people bitching about the same thing (including the crumbling cover) so it's probably legit. I'll see how the record works, but for $50, they could have packaged it a bit better.
 
Please don't take this the wrong way, but without knowing who "they" are, the report of your unfortunate experience is of limited value to the rest of us. Personally, I wouldn't accept a "new" record in that condition, especially such an expensive one, and would have already been in contact with the seller for an exchange or credit. Even Amazon does a better job of packing and shipping new vinyl.
 
steely said:
Please don't take this the wrong way, but without knowing who "they" are, the report of your unfortunate experience is of limited value to the rest of us. Personally, I wouldn't accept a "new" record in that condition, especially such an expensive one, and would have already been in contact with the seller for an exchange or credit. Even Amazon does a better job of packing and shipping new vinyl.
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Well, I left their name off because I didn't want to bash them until I knew more about the situation. The record was wrapped in bubble wrap inside a media mailer box. Sometimes shipping damages things. My concern was mostly about the lack of shrink wrap, which made me think there was possibly something more shady going on then a simple shipping error.

The purpose of the thread wasn't to bitch about the seller, it was to help educate myself as to the situation I was in. If several people here post that their copy was sealed, and I have reason to believe that there was foul play, then I will happily share the name. But I don't want to smear anyone's reputation without more knowledge.

When I referred to the packaging, I was talking about HIFI news, not the seller. Further research revealed that others have had the case crumble, as well, so that sounds like a manufacturing problem as much as a shipping problem.
 
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You don't have to bash them. Just let the facts speak for themselves. You ordered and rightfully expected a brand new $50 record. The item arrived in totally unsatisfactory condition, appearing old, worn and possibly used. What more is there to know about the situation?
 
HTHMAN said:
Did you contact the seller to rectify the situation?
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I did some more research and found that this just doesn't seem to come sealed. The case is effed up, but the disc itself doesn't look damaged. As long as it cleans up and plays flat, I won't mess with them. They packed it seemingly well, FedEx had to beat the hell out of it to do that - unless it had already been returned, as I was initially wondering since it wasn't sealed.

Do they rightfully owe me a new copy? Without a doubt. Is it worth the trouble (and wait) to me? Not as long as it plays correctly.

If it were a music record, I would definitely send it back, but given its purpose, I am more concerned with using it rather than shipping back and forth, and I have a new cart en route.

Now if it turns out to be damaged, as well, and they give me a hard time about it, at all I will be dropping their name here. Doesn't seem fair to do that, having not yet even spoken to them, and I haven't posted about the good experiences I have had with them in the past.
 
Well, considering everything, I think you did the right thing. Let us know if and how you find the test record helpful. I've heard its most useful tracks are the ones designed to properly set anti-skating force.
 
Just checked it out - it was totally flat and it cleaned up fine. I found it very interesting, and discovered that my anti skate is a little off. I had never really set it on the Concept as it seemed about right and it is an unusual adjustment (it is on the underside, not your typical anti skate.) The Denon DL-110 did remarkably well on the tracking tests. The resonance was a little off with this arm, but I understand that is somewhat normal, from reading other threads. The Concept did absolutely fantastic on the rumble test. Pretty darn nice little table.

All other tests passed, I had set it up pretty well, I guess, and even the anti skate didn't seem terribly off, but noticeable with the tests.

All in all, I think it is another valuable tool, and I am eager to see how the Benz Ace does when it arrives.

Thanks for reading.
 
PickyEars81 said:
Just checked it out - it was totally flat and it cleaned up fine. I found it very interesting, and discovered that my anti skate is a little off. I had never really set it on the Concept as it seemed about right and it is an unusual adjustment (it is on the underside, not your typical anti skate.) The Denon DL-110 did remarkably well on the tracking tests. The resonance was a little off with this arm, but I understand that is somewhat normal, from reading other threads. The Concept did absolutely fantastic on the rumble test. Pretty darn nice little table.

All other tests passed, I had set it up pretty well, I guess, and even the anti skate didn't seem terribly off, but noticeable with the tests.

All in all, I think it is another valuable tool, and I am eager to see how the Benz Ace does when it arrives.

Thanks for reading.
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The resonance tones on this record are off, so any result is invalid. The Shure Era IV and Era V have accurate tones.
 
hakaplan said:
The resonance tones on this record are off, so any result is invalid. The Shure Era IV and Era V have accurate tones.
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I know you've mentioned this before Howard, but is this actually true at current date?

I gather thers's been more than one edition of this record. Mark
 
PickyEars81 said:
Just checked it out - it was totally flat and it cleaned up fine. I found it very interesting, and discovered that my anti skate is a little off. I had never really set it on the Concept as it seemed about right and it is an unusual adjustment (it is on the underside, not your typical anti skate.) The Denon DL-110 did remarkably well on the tracking tests. The resonance was a little off with this arm, but I understand that is somewhat normal, from reading other threads. The Concept did absolutely fantastic on the rumble test. Pretty darn nice little table.

All other tests passed, I had set it up pretty well, I guess, and even the anti skate didn't seem terribly off, but noticeable with the tests.

All in all, I think it is another valuable tool, and I am eager to see how the Benz Ace does when it arrives.

Thanks for reading.
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I wouldn't worry at all about the anti-skating result. Many people don't buy the idea that you can test anti-skating with a record.
 
markd51 said:
I know you've mentioned this before Howard, but is this actually true at current date?

I gather thers's been more than one edition of this record. Mark
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Yes, Mark, it is still true. The latest edition I believe was released in 2007 and at my request was scoped by a member of audioasylum. The tones are identical to those of the previous release, i.e. still screwed up.
 
It was reported by several people on the Audio Asylum forum, including Howard. They checked the frequency by recording it into a computer sound editing program (Sound Forge), which allows you to check the frequency accurately. See http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/594322.html . Some were quite a way off on the version 1 LP, so it can only be used as a very rough guide. You can often find the Shure test record used on Ebay at good prices - the Era IV or V versions have the resonance tests.
 
ETI_5000 said:
It was reported by several people on the Audio Asylum forum, including Howard. They checked the frequency by recording it into a computer sound editing program (Sound Forge), which allows you to check the frequency accurately. See http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/594322.html . Some were quite a way off on the version 1 LP, so it can only be used as a very rough guide. You can often find the Shure test record used on Ebay at good prices - the Era IV or V versions have the resonance tests.
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Thank you all for this update, and information. One would assume that if past editions had problems, that they would be aware of such, and correct those problems, but I reckon not. Mark
 
I have used the HFN test records for many years now and I truely believe that they are only really any use if you dont take the results that seriously!
So your arm and cart wont track the Bias setting tracks on band 8 and 9, or didnt do so well on the tracking ability bands? The only cart I ever had that seemed to track them all sounded bloody awfull! I have never had a cart measure up correctly using the resonance tracks. I run an SME312s now and some top Ortofon, Transfiguration and ZYX carts and I can tell you that none of them will get thru that test record, but all of them play beautiful music! I tend to set up by ear and eye, much better than any test record imho? The only exeption to that is setting up azimuth, the HFN test record is great for that!

It would take a really stupid man to condem his cartridge on the results of ANY test record! Use your ears!
 
persil said:
I have used the HFN test records for many years now and I truely believe that they are only really any use if you dont take the results that seriously!
So your arm and cart wont track the Bias setting tracks on band 8 and 9, or didnt do so well on the tracking ability bands? The only cart I ever had that seemed to track them all sounded bloody awfull! I have never had a cart measure up correctly using the resonance tracks. I run an SME312s now and some top Ortofon, Transfiguration and ZYX carts and I can tell you that none of them will get thru that test record, but all of them play beautiful music! I tend to set up by ear and eye, much better than any test record imho? The only exeption to that is setting up azimuth, the HFN test record is great for that!

It would take a really stupid man to condem his cartridge on the results of ANY test record! Use your ears!
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After a bit more experience and some time with better carts:

I think it has some value, but I never could get both channels to distort at the same time, even with my Glider. And the music sounds perfect, even with headphones, so I really doubt it's my setup. The glider will play records without audible warble that have 1 inch warps on them...(of course there is some negative impact, don't get me wrong. I am not saying it can overcome permanent damage, but it can boldly track where no other cart has tracked before :D)

So in summary, is it worth owning? I think so. Is it necessary to get a good set up? I don't think so. Is it fun? Absolutely. :yes: Use it as a guide, to be taken with a grain of salt, IMO.
 
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