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Review of the 'Quest 20' Ortofon/Digitrac

Pio1980 said:
Yup, pretty much a 'set piece' as far as the carrier assembly is concerned.
Can you hear a diff with the Bib clamp on/off?
Click to expand...

Not that I have noticed.
But the table is mounted on:
Concrete slab on sorbothane puckes, with Lack table on spikes, Lack Platform on mag-lev feet.

So external isolation is not an issue, and in its location, I have not noticed any microphony issues either.

I noticed years ago a difference when I was using a mid-compliance Empire/Benz cartridge... but this was never a good match for the Revox....

With the high compliance carts, I have not noticed an improvement, but usually use it as a matter of principle - it may have a subtle effect, but it has been years since I did without it....

bye for now

David
 
I think the high compliance carts are generally less 'reactive' and probably excite less resonance. Still, I'm more comfortable with a mat that both damps and mass-loads the dics. I never 'got' the notion of free-floating the disc as some TT/mat designs do, I think they were mostly contemporary with the "low-mass/high-compliance" era, like the Transcriptors/Michell TTs of the 1970s, TTs that the Digi' would be comfortable on as with the S/R Linatrack.
 
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I would like to chime in and give my impressions of the Digitrac, having listened to it for the past few weeks. One of the first records I listened to was The Beatles Abbey Road. While listening to this record, I was amazed by the sound quality I was hearing. when I Listened to this record using my At92ECD cartridge, the S's on Mean Mr. Mustard, and She Came In Through the Bathroom Window would splatter. While listening to this record with the Digitrac, this did not happen. The AT3482, I have can track these passages pretty well without the S's splattering, however the instruments sound a little restrained and not as open.

I have mentioned in other threads, the AT92ECD sounds a little bright to me with certain material. every record I have listened to using the Digitrac sounds amazing. I am also hearing less inner groove distortion. This was one of the things that turned me off to vinyl when I was a kid. This is because I never had a very high end turntable, but I always new that vinyl could sound great because I had heard it on a very nice system. All I can say is, I am glad I did not get rid of my records. Now I can hear them the way they were meant to be heard.

Thank you steve for setting me up with this cartridge. It must be a great match for the JvC arm, it is very impressive.
 
Very pleased to 'share the joy', glad it's working for you.
I have yet to hear back from the other guy in your area that got an identical Digi' along with my Graphite Widow for his Kenny KD-500. He should be OK with it as well.
 
HI, I have a question. I was listening to a couple of records earlier, and I was hearing a little distortion. I have played these records using other cartridges, and the distortion was not present. I have even turned down the gain in my phono pre amp, and this did not help. I have not touched the tracking force on the arm at all. Could the tracking force be set wrong for this cartridge? Right now it is set at 1.25 grams. Could raising the tracking force help with the distortion? I am hoping the cartridge is lined up right in the headshell. Like I said, I have not adjusted anything.
 
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Do you think this thing might be 'digging out' more detail than your other carts and it's stuff you haven't heard thru them?
 
Is the deal for the Digitrac 200 stylus long gone?
I got the OM20 cartridge body, just need to try a Digitrac stylus.
Where do I get one?
 
Pio1980 said:
Do you think this thing might be 'digging out' more detail than your other carts and it's stuff you haven't heard thru them?
Click to expand...

I have wondered that myself. The distortion seems to happen when there are loud peeks in the music. It does not sound like inner groove distortion. I was wondering if this cartridge needs to be screwed in to the P-mount adapter. The problem I am having with this, is the screw will not fit in to the adapter for some reason. The P-mount adapter that came with the digi, seems to have nuts that fit over the screws. The P-mount adapter that is in my JVC does not seem to have these nuts.
 
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Just wanted to give an update. I am playing another record, and I am not hearing any distortion. It just seems to be the two records I listened to earlier. Maybe who ever had these records before me did not take very good care of them.
 
The OM stylus will fit the Digi' carcass but it's not the bargain the Digi' is/was for the nude diamond tips.
 
If you want a digitrac 300SE stylus, which will fit the Digitrac 200. You can get one from Garage 'A records for $79.00.
 
LPgear also has an improved 200 NE stylus for $99.00. I am afraid right now, their are just not any good deals on styli for these cartridges.

I have played a couple more recordes since I posted. everything is sounding fine now. I feel stupid because I said earlier how amazing the digitrac sounds. Then I later said I am hearing distortion. Does anyone have any ideas why these two records I have mentioned would sound good on other cartridges and not the digitrac?
 
The LPGear replacement styli, are I think the same as the VividLines they are providing for Ortofon cartridges...

I have not heard them, and have not seen "scope" photos of the needles either...

Most likely they are a Jico sourced HE... (which is good, but is it as good as the original SE/30?)

With regards to the distortion.... so many possibilities and so little information!

Varying cartridge implies varying mass, VTF, and compliance, possibly VTA/SRA.

Different needle shapes, and differing parameters may(will?) require different bias/anti-skate settings.

Some cartridge may have a rolled off top end (shure...) and make some things less obvious

Some cartridges will smooth over the high frequencies, making things sound better by simple omission (most conicals)

There is also the possibility of a damaged record....
 
dlaloum said:
The LPGear replacement styli, are I think the same as the VividLines they are providing for Ortofon cartridges...

I have not heard them, and have not seen "scope" photos of the needles either...

Most likely they are a Jico sourced HE... (which is good, but is it as good as the original SE/30?)

With regards to the distortion.... so many possibilities and so little information!

Varying cartridge implies varying mass, VTF, and compliance, possibly VTA/SRA.

Different needle shapes, and differing parameters may(will?) require different bias/anti-skate settings.

Some cartridge may have a rolled off top end (shure...) and make some things less obvious

Some cartridges will smooth over the high frequencies, making things sound better by simple omission (most conicals)

There is also the possibility of a damaged record....
Click to expand...

It is a good thing I do not really care for these records. One of them is Bad Company Burning Sky, and the other record is The Beegees Greatest hits that my wife got from her dad. Both records look fine, there are not many clicks and pops on them at all. The distortion happens from the beginning of the record to the end. The distortion happens during loud peeks in the music. It is posssible the records have been ruined. I like Bad Company, but Burning Sky was not one of their better records.
 
"Vivid" is bonded shank hyper-elliptical tip AFAIK, possibly Namiki since the Jico site doesn't mention them. I have some for my strain gauge carts.
 
One more thing, and then I will drop this. If anything the AT92ECD to me sounds brighter than the digi. You would think the records would distort with this cartridge as well, because the top end does not sound rolled off. You'll have to forgive me, I know more about digital playback than vinyl, and some of these things are new to me.
 
The AT92 has a lower inductance than the Digi...

So in a system with the same capacitance and loading, and with similarly tuned cantilevers, the AT92 will sound brighter....

Increasing the capacitance or reducing the resistance may help...

For most of the AT's a lower resistance is better (35k rather than 47k) - but it does vary....

In my (biased) opinion, most cartridges / setups need some adjustment of the loading to get things right.

The recommended capacitance for the digitrac is 350pf.
For the AT92 I've been unable to find a recommendation (!?) most AT MM cartridges are recomended at 150pf (VERY LOW!)

I would have to do the sums, but the brightness may be due to the combination of capacitance and 47k resistance generating a resonance in the 10k to 14kHz area....

bye for now

David
 
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