The Thing about Analog is the Analog Thing

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MiTT

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One can't help but notice that there have been a LOT of posts recently pertaining to analog. Whether it's a link to an article about the resurgence of analog in the mainstream press, or questions about turntable set up from folks either just getting into analog, or pulling out their old rigs and setting them up again, there is a fair amount of interest in the dark side of late. I haven't jumped into the fray, there wasn't a point. We have a number of very knowledgeable analog folks here who have analyzed, accessed, diagnosed and disseminated great advice on analog tribulations. Dave (Twich54), Jeff (Tonepub), Bernard, Risabet, Justin (User211) among others are all certainly analog guru's and I for one appreciate their input and council as colleagues in the not so secret "Brotherhood of the Black Pizza" (we are currently working on our coat of arms). I don't want to generalize, but I think there are some commonalities within the Brotherhood. I think analog guys tend to be a little less "analytical", but a bit more anal. I think we tend to be more ritualistic. I think we tend to be music "collectors", and by shear necessity we must be "active" rather than "passive" listeners. I also think we tend to be more devoted spouses, generally more handsome and better hung, but I have no scientific evidence to back this up.

Never one to be shy about voicing my opinion in matters analog, I thought rather than posting multiple times in various threads merely for the sake of upping my post count, I would instead just put a few thought on analog into a single thread; a smorgasbord if you will of analog observations. Perhaps dare I say, an analog primer.

Setup
Imagine the uproar if you were asked to mount, align and focus the laser in your CD player to within a few thousandths of an inch and insure that it would faithfully track the pits on every disk every time it were asked to do so. There would be open revolt in the streets! "That's what assembly robots and highly skilled technicians are for!" we would cry out. Yet that is exactly what we need to do when we're setting up a turntable for either the first or 50th time. It isn't a task for the fumble fingered or squeamish. Imagine the flop sweat you might break into if you were called upon to mount that gleaming new Goldring or Koetsu - where a slip of the tweezers or even a gentle sneeze might send a $10,000.00 cartridge skittering across the kitchen table. You could literally see your investment crashing faster than a Madoff hedge fund. Even if you have the manual dexterity to mount a cartridge you are then faced with the task of connecting 4 very delicate wires, setting the overhang, setting the azimuth, setting the tracking weight, setting the vertical tracking angle, setting the anti-skate. Oh, and by the by, the adjustment of one thing may or may not have an effect on any of the others. It seems overwhelming - but take heart, it really isn't rocket science, it can be done and it can be done very, very well. You just need to READ THE MANUAL (something most of us are not genetically pre-disposed to do), or read the many printed or web based materials available, or buy Michael Fremmers set up DVD. Pay attention, work sequentially, be patient, breathe, check and re-check. It can be done over time. Fifteen years and thirty pounds ago I used to race mountainbikes. Beyond the physical and mental demands of racing at a competitive level, 30 mile cross country races at 10,000+ feet in the Colorado Rockies necessitated that you also become something of a bike mechanic not only that you might place well in the race, but that you make it home safe and sound. I'm still a decent bike mechanic, but I never mastered the real art of truing a wheel. Every time I try I end up making them lean one way or another or lumpy. I've come to accept my own limitations. When I need a wheel trued I take it to somebody who knows what they are doing. Sage advice when it comes to setting up a turntable too, there are experts out there who know what they are doing.

Setup (part deux)
Did I mention SETUP? OK, so you have the cartridge mounted. Is the phase correct? Are all the screws tightened (but not too tight). The tonearm is dialed to be within a gnats a$$. Are you sure? Did you add damping fluid? Should you add damping fluid? Is there too much? Too little? When I switched from a Sumiko Blue Point Special to my Grado Statement I had to use a Q-Tip to remove some of the damping fluid from my pivot bearing to increase detail retrieval. Again, read your manual, know your system. Take the time to know what everything in your analog rig does and how to tweak it. I have a buddy who set up his turntable over a period of days and when I came over to see it we watched his drive belt ride up the side of the platter and then fall down the side of the platter, then walk up the side and down again over and over. His tonearm setup was great, but he forgot to level the table.

Cables
I'm a guy that believes everything in audio matters. Every part of the chain makes a contribution or forces an omission. Tonearm wiring and cables are one of those things that may have a HUGE effect on your sonic landscape. Think about the low level of the signals coming from your cartridge feeding your phonostage. Some high end cartridges have outputs as low as .07mv! Getting those signals to the phonostage intact is important, so choose as good a cable as you can afford. AND Don't forget the ground wire. Not only does it reduce hum, it also serves as a shield against RFI and EMI.

Mounting and Resonance Control
Turntables are Mechanical-Electrical transducers. Speakers by contrast are Electro-Mechanical transducers. The function of the analog system (cartridge/tonearm/turntable) is of course to track the groove modulations contained on the record surface and convert them into an electrical signal that is then fed upstream and amplified. Your CD player is an Opto-Electrical transducer serving the same purpose, but by virtue of depending upon the reflectance of photonic energy (i.e. it is free of mechanical interference) as it retrieves information from the pits of a disc, CD players, while not immune to mechanical resonances, are certainly less directly effected by them. I believe that ALL audio devices benefit from resonance control, but in analog setups it is absolutely critical. Think about it, if you walk by your CD player while it's working, even on a springy suspended floor, you would likely never notice it. Even if you tap the top of the player while it's playing you probably wouldn't hear anything. If you smack the player or the shelf it's on hard with your fist, you might make the CD skip or possibly even mis-track enough that you have to re-set the disc, but it's not likely. CD players have error correction circuits that are continually adjusting for any mistracking that might be occurring unless the mis-tracking is so gross in nature that the player simply can no longer read the disc. Analog systems are more sensitive, but less discrete. If you walk by a turntable on a springy suspended floor you're likely to make it skip, but there's no error correction. It's going to let you know EXACTLY what sort of distress it's encountering by passing that signal on through your entire system, and it will do that every time it is presented with those sorts of mechanical disturbances. Turntables must be mounted in such a way that they prevent not only the transmission of those gross influences, but even the smallest of resonances and vibrations. You have to think about what your cartridge is doing at the micro and even molecular level, because that is the realm wherein it does it's job. Think about the tip of your stylus tracing the grooves of a record. At the other end of a cantilever is either a set of coils or a set of magnets moving (hence Moving Coil or Moving Magnet cartridges) back and forth across an opposing set of magnets or coils inducing the flow of flux that IS the signal you will then send out to the rest of your system. It's frankly a wonder that it works at all, so imagine the influence and havoc that a footfall or bump of a fist has upon this process. Equally present but less apparent are the effects of bearing surfaces grinding against one another, airborne vibrations reflecting off of every surface in the room including your tonearm, platter and the record itself, motor induced vibrations - the list goes on and on. That is why it's so important to provide your turntable with a safe haven not only from the most insidious of interferences, but from even the smallest and least obvious ones. I have published a tweak in our tweaks section and in my member system where I placed my drive motor on a trio of small ceramic cones because it reduced vibrations emanating from the motor. I could feel it's effect with my finger and I can hear it as a quieter background in my music. My turntable is mounted on a dedicated box filled with about 80lbs of sand sitting on top of a dedicated audio rack that is mechanically coupled to my floor. Long story short, you need to think about mechanical mounting and isolation.

Synergy
I know I sound like a stuck record (pun intended), but your analog system is an analog SYSTEM. It has to be thought of in terms of how any aspect of that system interacts with any other component of that system. Is your cartridge a good match for your tonearm? Is your tonearm suited for your choice of turntable? Where will my turntable be situated in the room? Is it subject to vibration, close enough to my phonostage? A highly compliant cartridge may not be well suited to a heavy battleship of a tonearm. A low output cartridge may not stand a chance of sounding good if your phonostage can't be loaded properly or has insufficient gain. It's like asking Danaka Patrick to play linebacker for the Steelers. Sure, she's an expensive, fast, hot little number but she simply isn't suited to the task. Make sure you understand the role of each player, their strengths and limitations, and obviously, factor your listening preferences into the decision.

Ritual
I was raised Catholic, I had my First Communion before Vatican II and I spent 2 years in Seminary studying for the priesthood. I am both familiar with and comfortable with Ritual. I'm a lapsed Catholic now, no less spiritual, but I might say my religious practice has evolved. I spend my Sunday mornings in the Church of Audio Nirvana (Can I get an Amen?!). That's why I started the "Sunday Morning Music" thread here a few years ago and I'm very happy that it's still active. What the hell does that have to do with analog music reproduction you may ask. Well, everything frankly. Turntables take time to set up (see above), turntables take maintenance. Equipment must be acquired. Records must be acquired. Records must be cleaned, they must be handled properly, they must be stored properly. For me to play a record I first take it off of my very proper LP rack, pull it out of the outer plastic sleeve (ALL of my records have protective outer plastic sleeves), pull out the protective inner sleeve (ditto previous), I clean it either on my VPI 16.5 wet/vacuum cleaner or at a minimum with a dry brush once it's placed on the platter, it's clamped down to the platter with a heavy threaded center spindle clamp, I raise the tonearm, I clean the stylus, I que the stylus, I lower the tonearm, I un-mute the phono stage and then I scamper over to my listening chair to soak in the unadulterated bliss of analog heaven. A few minutes later it's time to flip the record or put on another and I repeat the whole experience. If that isn't ritual I don't know what is. I may as well throw on one of my old cassocks and burn some incense.

Here's the bottom line. If you are uncomfortable with ritual, or don't have the time or inclination to participate in it, vinyl may just not be your bag. Vinyl requires your involvement.
 
Magnum Opus Part II

Media
Analog requires media. The only thing you'll do on the internet with analog is place your order at Music Direct, Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc or any of the sundry of other on line sources. If you don't have a record collection you will either spend time and money establishing one or you will eventually get out of analog. If you do have an old record collection stuffed away in the basement that you're itching to pull out of mothballs don't be too surprised if it sounds like $hit. Face it, the last time you listened to that album might have been when you were in college. You didn't have any real disposable income, so your "turntable" was made entirely of plastic and had a volume control and speakers attached to it, you lived like a pig and you were likely drunk or high as a kite when you sent the tonearm (complete with a penny taped to it) skidding across the surface of that record. How did you really expect it to sound?

Used Record Stores? Well, there's a notion that sonic gold can be found for bargain prices in the untapped bins of used record stores. Maybe 20 years ago when well heeled audiophiles were abandoning their sonic dinosaurs for "Perfect Sound Forever" promises. I'll tell you what, me and several thousand of my buddies beat you to the goldmine. That ship has sailed guys. Sure there are occasional gems to be found, but the pickin's are slim and getting slimmer. I have a buddy (Danny Growl) who owns a store called "Black and Read" specializing in new and used books and music. Danny and I go way back. We worked in the same record store for 15 years. I taught him about record collecting and alternative music. He taught me about Jazz and substance abuse. When he is offered a collection or estate sale he knows what sorts of things I'm interested in and reserves them for me to pick and choose from before he puts them in the bins. If you have a similar arrangement at your used record store you might have a chance to pick up a few gems, but in general good used records are about as rare as a hooker in church. It's not that they aren't there, but they aren't making themselves obvious either.

Some of us were lucky enough to take good care of at least a portion of our record collections. We got into audio early enough that we realized that garbage in would always yield garbage out. So we spent the time to clean and protect and store appropriately. And that's a very good thing for a fortunate few.

The good news is that there is PLENTY of NEW vinyl available, with more coming out all the time. The resurgence of vinyl has resulted in sales doubling year over year. Major labels and independents alike are keeping pressing plants busy and re-issues of classic materials abound. If you want vinyl you can find it easily. The bad news is that just as in the days when I worked in a record store, there are good pressing and not so good pressings. You pays your money and you takes your chances I'm afraid. Sometimes it's a clunker of a pressing, sometimes it's a bad job of re-mastering. For the most part though I really think that the bulk of LP's I've been fortunate enough to acquire over the past few years have been generally better than they were 20 -25 years ago - probably because vinyl is more of a specialty product now.

So why bother?
OK, so I've rambled on about the pain in the a$$ process of setting up an analog rig, the difficulties encountered in acquiring material to play on it and the near fanatical devotion it might appear to take to simply spin a record. Why on earth would anybody want to put themselves through that much trouble?

Precisely because of everything above.

I'm not going to tell you that analog quantitatively sounds better than digital media. In fact I have some things on CD and SACD that do sound every bit as good or even better than their analog counterparts. That being said, I have as many or more examples of records that, to my ears at least, sound better than their digital counterpart. The point is that if you have the time, patience, attention to detail, available funds and desire to involve yourself in vinyl as a viable component of your system the benefits can be huge. My analog rig is every bit as quiet, dynamic and full range as my digital set up, but I've also put at least 2 times the money and hundreds more hours of effort into getting it to that level. Most people who hear my system, actually every person who has heard my system, tells me that they prefer vinyl when asked. Usually because they say it sounds more like "real music". Whether you are up for the challenges a good analog playback system can present is a question only you can answer. It's kind of like deciding whether you want to get yourself a new puppy or a houseplant. The houseplant will never pee on your rug, eat your shoes or underwear, dig up your landscaping and push you to the limits of your financial or mental well being. But a houseplant won't spend years at your side a faithful companion or curl up at your feet on a cold winter night.
 
Good read Tim !! thanks for taking the time to post it !

handsome and well endowed ???? not me...anal, yeah I guess I qualify !!
 
And that's why vinyl is such a pain.

I still like it and I still keep going up to bat and trying
to make it better, but honestly if I had to start over again
I could live with my Naim 555. It's the only player I've heard
so far that I never find myself saying "that sounds really good
for digital. Yes the Raven, the SG-2 and the Continuum
all offered up slightly more music when the planets lined up,
but I just love dropping a disc in and hitting play.

But I'll keep exploring it! It is very rewarding when perfectly
executed and it sounds like you have also spent a very disproportionate
amount of time and money to get your analog setup right.

But for the people listening to 500 dollar tables and buying thrift
store records, forget it. That's not the analog magic...

I hate to sound elitist, but it really does require a lot of effort to
get the analog magic. I'm glad to hear someone else has wrangled
with this as much as I have!!
 
And that's why vinyl is such a pain.!!




hmmmm, sounds like this is coming from somebody who "listens for a living" as oppossed to "listening for pleasure" !

I do see your point Jeff, but while I haven't demo'ed the amount of TT's, cartridges, etc that you have, I have been into analog and spinning my own Lp's since '61 (were you even alive then ?, LOL !) and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon !
 
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Listen to the Song, Houses" from Judy Collins, "Judith" on both CD and LP. Then post which you prefer.

PS: Contrary to someone else's opinion, it doesn't take an expensive analog combo to do this.
 
Although Tim's post was aimed at analog in the sense of TT's/vinyl, I feel the same when it comes to open reel tape, and have been listening to it for the better part of 20+ years. The same theory applies....happiness is not a box of thrift-store tapes and sure, threading is a pain, cleaning heads each tape play is a pain, applying leaders is a pain, etc. But the ritual of it all is rewarding.

There has been a recent surge of interest in tape (The Tape Project, as well as others) and some new releases are hitting the market. On the right machine, open reel tape can really knock you socks off.

You guys know from other posts that I am getting my butt kicked trying to setup my TT. I'm willing to spend the time and get it right, because I've heard some really great vinyl on equipment similar to mine, and I want that kind of nirvana also. It seems like regardless of your choice of amplification, cabling, speakers, etc....sooner or later you turn to LP's for the ultimate playback.

I didnt always feel this way about vinyl; hanging around with other audiophiles drew me to it.

Tj
 
But for the people listening to 500 dollar tables and buying thrift
store records, forget it. That's not the analog magic...

I'll go one little step further - high speed professional analogue tape is "analogue magic" - not a flawed consumer medium such as LP. To qualify - I've not heard a really good TT such as Clearaudio Statement or Continuum, but for the cost?
 
with the little time I have spent with it I can tell you it is a tinkers paradise If you like to throw endless time effort and money into it I think that you will incrementally reap the rewards. people often ask me isn't it hard to keep those beautiful sea creatures alive in your home and how much does it cost? my reply has always been it's not about that and when you can see past that then we will have something to talk about. I think that is what's going on here

nice post by the way
 
Precisely because of everything above.

Great post! :bowdown:

Though specifically about analogue, it seems that the thrust of your general argument could be applied equally to the care and attention one brings to serious home audio in general.

Why bother?... it's part of a package deal that comes with a compelling payoff in the end. :music:

JJ.
 
Great post, Tim. It should be required reading for anyone contemplating getting into vinyl.
 
Listen to the Song, Houses" from Judy Collins, "Judith" on both CD and LP. Then post which you prefer.

PS: Contrary to someone else's opinion, it doesn't take an expensive analog combo to do this.

It does take a fairly expensive analog combo to do this and it also takes one that is perfectly set up as MiTT mentioned earlier. And above all, it does take a good pressing.

Your passive aggressiveness is really quite funny. Comments like this just prove that you haven't heard what good digital or analog really have to offer and you certainly haven't heard the best software. If you had the seat time with this stuff you wouldn't be making the comments you do.

If you want to attack me, just do it.

I'm not saying now, nor have I ever that I don't like analog. I think five turntables and about 7500 albums proves that. What I am saying is that I agree with MiTT that it takes a lot of work to get it right and there are days that it has been agonizing to get there.

And while I haven't been spinning records since 1961, I've been spinning them on a high end turntable pretty much since the mid 70's when the high end began in earnest.

The disconnect here is that modestly priced digital has increased dramatically in quality in the last five years. My example of this would be the Ayre CX-7e or the Rega Saturn to name two.

Even five years ago, you had to spend five figures to get a CD player that sounded more musical than a $3000 turntable, but not any more.

And when you take into consideration that almost no one (dealers included) know how to set a table up properly any more, it gets even harder to enjoy.

Talk to your favorite record collector and ask him (or her) where the good records have gone. They will all tell you that they are gone, except to the very highest bidder. There are precious few early, country of origin pressings of popular, jazz or classical recordings from the 50's to the late 70's left and the ones that are, command 3-4 figure sums.

Fortunately, there is still plenty of decent vinyl being released by a couple of the audiophile labels today, but a lot of music being released by the major labels to be part of the "vinyl resurgence" is lousy to average at best.

Even if you have a table like the Continuum, if you don't have awesome records, the result is just not spectacular. As MiTT said, it's a system and part of that system includes the software. As TJ mentioned about the tape, it is an amazing analog medium if you have the software. Having listened to more than my share of master tapes and some choice things from the tape project, I agree with that wholeheartedly, but unless you are made of money and are happy with a very limited catalog of titles, that's just not a practical way to listen to music.

Unfortunately, tape is equally flawed. Ever have a tape snap when rewinding? Or stretch? Or shed? While analog tape is a more perfect analog medium in terms of reproducing the signal (no tracking error, etc) it's still pretty flawed in the sense that it's a very fragile medium that can be easily damaged and rendered useless.

While some of you may have heard as much good analog as I have, I'm betting most of you haven't heard as much awful analog as I have.

When the planets line up and everything is right, analog is wonderful. And I wish anyone the best of luck trying to climb the mountain. Just don't be surprised if a few rocks fall in your path along the way.

Depending on how long it takes to get there, I'll be curious to hear your thoughts. I still really enjoy a great record on a good turntable, but as Bob Dylan used to say, there are days that I've lost my picnic spirit. Especially when it's so easy to drop a disc in my Naim 555 and be 98% of the way there in five seconds.
 
ahhhhhhh....analog, damn it does stir ones emotion !!!!! I love it !!!!!

Jeff that's what I meant about "listening to it for a living", I totally understand your joy in "dropping in a CD" !

Isn't amazing how often we continue to discuss analogue vs. digital and we seem to always come to the same 'fork in the road' !!
 
Actually analog drove me much crazier when I just did it for fun, because I only had one turntable. When something went wrong, I had NO analog at all.

That really takes the fun out of it.

Now, having five different analog setups (one for bright discs, one for dull discs, one for perfect discs, one for crappy thrift store discs and a mono cartridge), I'm having more fun with analog than ever.

What I'm saying is that it's a lot of work and dedication, even if you just have one table.

Because there are so many different variations on the analog theme, it can really drive you to madness, because it's tough to leave well enough alone. However as you know, adjusting for one thing, might make other things worse, etc. etc. And just when you think you have it nailed, you decide to upgrade something in the chain and you're back off the wagon again!

So it is wonderful, just not for the faint of heart!
 
Excellent posts Tim and Jeff...

Whilst I will never agree with Tim that analogue is as quiet as CD (it simply isn't borne out by S/N ratios), and there's no doubt that at very low frequencies vinyl pumps out very dubious information due to vinyl warp/ripple as discussed on TJ Bassi's thread, it does have very positive attributes too.

Put it this way - after seeing Grace Jones last night (great gig - what a performer!) playing with some premium sounding gear (it blew my system and for that matter any hi-fi system I have ever heard away) it sounded closer to great vinyl replay that CD, IMHO.

It's pretty hard to beat real instruments->ampilifier->speaker as a source, after all. But put it this way, at this gig, some extremely good solid state and tube gear (for the guitar) was used, through some fine loudspeakers, at substantial volume. Sly's drum kit sounded, well, absolutely stunning/amazing. And Grace's voice extremely powerful and commanding.

Take it from me - that lady is rude live. Very rude!

And she made it pretty obvious what Pull Up To The Bumper is actually about:eek:. Good on her! She was also unquestionably wearing the best stage dress I have ever seen - with a new outfit for every song. Premium lighting too - including a laser shone from above onto a sequined hat during Love Is The Drug to staggerring effect in the concert hall.
 
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I'll go one little step further - high speed professional analogue tape is "analogue magic" - not a flawed consumer medium such as LP. To qualify - I've not heard a really good TT such as Clearaudio Statement or Continuum, but for the cost?
You can get "analog magic" from a lot of lower-priced tables such as the VPI line. A Dual just does not cut it for spinning "burnt pizza".
 
My analog rig is every bit as quiet, dynamic and full range as my digital set up, but I've also put at least 2 times the money and hundreds more hours of effort into getting it to that level.
This is a very key point here about "your" source choice let it be vinyl, CD/SACD, or whatever. Your ability to setup your system to benefit your preferred source is key.

I get tired of the people who spend "X" amount of dollars on their preferred source (does not matter if it is vinyl or CD/SACD). tweak this, that, etc. to get the best out of it only to say the other source just does not compare. Yet their other source is just put in and played expecting it to sound as good.

My opinion is you have to decide on your preferred source and make you system sound best for it.
 
I think Geddy Lee said it best:

"He's got a force field and a flexible plan
He's got a date with fate in a black sedan
He plays fast forward just as long as he can
But he won't need a bed
He's a digital man"

:music:
 
Ah Tom, that's because he has been made stone deaf by the worst crime in audio history - the 128KBps MP3 file...:D:devil::devil::devil::devil:
 

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