• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

So, I aligned my Cartridge by myself for the first time and.....

I am a bit confused on the tone-arm height adjustment feature and how it relates to all the other settings.

Should I expect adjustment of the tone-arm height to create all sorts of other mis-alignments and then have to start over?

I see several conflicting responses regarding this one.

Thanks guys.
 
ClayTune said:
Should I expect adjustment of the tone-arm height to create all sorts of other mis-alignments and then have to start over?
Click to expand...

No. You’d have to make huge adjustments to throw the alignment off just from the height. I always go back and double check my alignment after messing with height and tracking force just to be sure it’s still fine. Sorry if I confused things unnecessarily.
 
Here's the video I attempted to upload earlier. It doesn't translate the clarity nearly as well as hearing it with your own ears but I think I have it dialed in to were sibilance is about as low as it'll get with the current cartridge and stylus.

 
Here's another clip I intentionally uploaded with a lot of 'S' sounds in the vocals.

How would you judge the sibilance of these S's? I want you guys with really sensitive ears to chime in and give your suggestions.

 
ClayTune said:
Here's another clip I intentionally uploaded with a lot of 'S' sounds in the vocals.

How would you judge the sibilance of these S's? I want you guys with really sensitive ears to chime in and give your suggestions.

Click to expand...

I didn`t hear much sibilances here. But it´s better to upload a file of high quality to e.g. Dropbox or similar.
 
gusten said:
I didn`t hear much sibilances here. But it´s better to upload a file of high quality to e.g. Dropbox or similar.
Click to expand...
Okay. I will definitely consider this next time.
My assumption is that if sibilance were present on the actual record playback it would translate clearly, if not worse, when digitally compressed?
 
ClayTune said:
Okay. I will definitely consider this next time.
My assumption is that if sibilance were present on the actual record playback it would translate clearly, if not worse, when digitally compressed?
Click to expand...

When I´m talking about sibilances in regards to vinyl playback, it´s mistracking. It will have a certain sound. I didn´t hear that sound here.
 
gusten said:
When I´m talking about sibilances in regards to vinyl playback, it´s mistracking. It will have a certain sound. I didn´t hear that sound here.
Click to expand...
Pardon my ignorance.

Isn't the biggest sign of mistracking overly emphasized S sounds on vocals?
 
ClayTune said:
Pardon my ignorance.

Isn't the biggest sign of mistracking overly emphasized S sounds on vocals?
Click to expand...

Well it´s not a natural S sound. As sibilances depending on mistracking will effectively be out of phase, due to vertical needle motion; the sound is more a shhh sound spreading between speakers..
 
I just realized the tone-arm height adjustment is not really helpful for my set-up because the stock slip-mat leaves no room for play, it's too thin.

What is a good mat upgrade, preferably thicker, so I can adjust my tone arm height better?
 
At the height of my sibilance obsession, I was hearing it during satellite radio listening in the car, or people speaking on TV! That’s when I realized I was being overly critical bordering on psychological disorder.

Your clip, with its limitations of being converted to digital and compressed, sounds fine. Most importantly, how does it sound to you? Everything taken as a whole, not just the S sound.
 
tw1st said:
At the height of my sibilance obsession, I was hearing it during satellite radio listening in the car, or people speaking on TV! That’s when I realized I was being overly critical bordering on psychological disorder.

Your clip, with its limitations of being converted to digital and compressed, sounds fine. Most importantly, how does it sound to you? Everything taken as a whole, not just the S sound.
Click to expand...

That's a very fine point you make there SSsir.

In all seriousness, the overall sound is great. I did develop an obsession with the S sound because I know that S vs SHHH is the the epitome of knowing whether or not something is tracking correctly, and the problem is there are record prints out there that simply do not want to track without SSHH sounds where Ss sounds should be.

A good example is a Johnny Janis record I have called "once in a blue moon".

Beautiful album, sounds great but for some reason every S sound is a SHHH sound on it no matter how finely tuned my turntable is.

I heard it might be because it's a mono recording.
 
Here's the Johnny Janis record I mentioned earlier.
Though still not too bad, there is somewhat of a Shh sound for the S's, when contrasted with the Chet Baker record.
I still have yet to upgrade the entire cartridge, which may definitely fix tracking issues on records that just "have' them.
 
ClayTune said:
In all seriousness, the overall sound is great. I did develop an obsession with the S sound because I know that S vs SHHH is the the epitome of knowing whether or not something is tracking correctly, and the problem is there are record prints out there that simply do not want to track without SSHH sounds where Ss sounds should be.
Click to expand...

The last thing that put my mind at ease was a test record... the one in my avatar as a matter of fact. When it became clear that the cartridge was capable of tracking damn-near anything, my fear of mistracking and sibilance melted away. Now, if I hear something amiss, it is almost surely to be on the record. Perhaps that would help you as well?
 
EngineerNate said:
Depends on the particular table. Most slip mats are around 1/8" thick. Some are thicker, some are thinner.
Click to expand...
What came with my Numark TT was a basic DJ oriented slip-mat. I definitely would want something thicker than this to upgrade to so I can properly adjust my tone arm height from there.
 
tw1st said:
The last thing that put my mind at ease was a test record... the one in my avatar as a matter of fact. When it became clear that the cartridge was capable of tracking damn-near anything, my fear of mistracking and sibilance melted away. Now, if I hear something amiss, it is almost surely to be on the record. Perhaps that would help you as well?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have been highly considering both a test record and a device that tells precise gram measurements that the tone-arm would be tracking at, as I have heard that sometimes that set-up can also be unreliable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom