[ale] Mysteries of turntables was Re: OT:Digitizing my old vinyl

[William Fragakis]

There's this neat new thing called wikipedia .... ;-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization

On Fri, 2009-08-21 at 16:21 -0400, drifter wrote:
> In the "For What It's Worth" Dept.,
> 
> I purchased my first HiFi amp in 1961 -- a monophonic amp.
> It had a selector switch with at least eight different recording curves to 
> choose from.  Back then most LPs (and nearly all of the good classical 
> albums) had the recording curve listed on the jacket.
> 
> Today there is at least as much variation in the response curves of 
> microphones and audio engineers are left mostly to their own skills to 
> correct for the bias within the entire recording system.
> 
> Sean
> 
But their tools are a lot better today than they had in the 1940s. This
isn't so much about getting the mix right but replaying it the way the
engineer had it in mind to sound. Engineers and producers aren't always
interested in recording an exact replica of what they are hearing - they
are interested in you hearing what they mean for you to hear. I remember
reading about an engineer a long time ago who  used to mix through
crappy auto speakers for monitors - figuring that's what his audience
would be using.

Regards,
William

> 
> On Friday 21 August 2009 14:32:42 david w. millians wrote:
> > Ken Cochran wrote:
> > > They can't do line-out because the phono cartridges don't have
> > > sufficient output.  Also the sigal has to be "corrected" to
> > > "undo" the RIAA equalization that applies to all vinyl LPs.
> > > This is/was all part of the LP/phonograph spec.  The quality
> > > of the phono preamp impacted sonic quality every bit as much as
> > > (if not more than) other pieces in the "chain."  All I've ever
> > > seen were contained in the (separate) system preamp/control.
> > > (Example: Crown IC-150)  I'm sure the likes of Wikipedia would
> > > have more detailed information...
> >
> > Fascinating. I still don't know *why* that standard evolved; I suppose
> > the earlier amps were more finicky, so it was better not to have it in
> > the actual turntable. Or perhaps line-level wasn't as consistent as it
> > is today. Reading about the different cartridges that were available,
> > though, it seems like the preamp would have been much more important
> > prior to the 70s.  Or maybe it was just cheaper not to add the preamp
> > circuits.
> >
> > Certainly, I'm sure the audiophiles preferred separate ones, much as
> > they do today. I like a good stereo, but there's a pricepoint beyond
> > which I can't imagine *ever* going, even if I had the money. And that's
> > far below 'danceable' cables, to be sure.
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