- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Audiophile/Vinyl Thread - Post Pics, Advice, Questions, Setups, etc.
Posted on 3/2/19 at 7:57 pm to dunkelman
Posted on 3/2/19 at 7:57 pm to dunkelman
Maybe a dumb question, but my rig is pissing me off a bit lately. I have a Denon AVR-X4000 receiver with a phono input hooked to a 'restored' Technics SL-1700 table.
Lately, the right channel on Phono is not coming on when I power up the receiver. I have to unplug the right RCA from the receiver, plug it back in (inevitably causing the receiver to trip off), and keep repeating this until the right channel comes on. It sounds fine once it gets running and stays solid until the next power cycle of the receiver.
What's the best way for me to determine if the hardwired RCA cable on the turntable is faulty or if it's my receiver's Phono port? I don't have another turntable available to me to test on the Phono port. I know the levels on the Phono port are different so don't know how safe plugging another component, like a CD player, is to test.
Lately, the right channel on Phono is not coming on when I power up the receiver. I have to unplug the right RCA from the receiver, plug it back in (inevitably causing the receiver to trip off), and keep repeating this until the right channel comes on. It sounds fine once it gets running and stays solid until the next power cycle of the receiver.
What's the best way for me to determine if the hardwired RCA cable on the turntable is faulty or if it's my receiver's Phono port? I don't have another turntable available to me to test on the Phono port. I know the levels on the Phono port are different so don't know how safe plugging another component, like a CD player, is to test.
This post was edited on 3/2/19 at 7:58 pm
1
Posted on 3/2/19 at 9:51 pm to mmmmmbeeer
The output of a CD player is somewhere between 1.5-2.0 Volts, while a MM cartridge outputs ~ 5mV. So using that to test your phono input wouldn't be a good idea.
Repeatably unplugging and re-inserting the right channel of the phono while the amp is powered on, isn't such great idea either.
A better idea would be to power the amp off and plug the phono into one of your other inputs. The volume will be very low and the sound equalization will be off but you won't risk damaging anything and you can see if you have output from both channels.
Repeatably unplugging and re-inserting the right channel of the phono while the amp is powered on, isn't such great idea either.
A better idea would be to power the amp off and plug the phono into one of your other inputs. The volume will be very low and the sound equalization will be off but you won't risk damaging anything and you can see if you have output from both channels.
This post was edited on 3/2/19 at 9:54 pm
Posted on 3/3/19 at 5:21 pm to r3lay3r
Make sure it’s not the RCA cable itself. What happens is you connect the left output to the right input and the right output to the left input? If the problem is now in the leftchannel, that probably indicates the problem is in the turntable. If the problem is still in the right channel, probably the amp. Start with different RCA cables first to make sure that the problem is not in the connectors.
Next time you buy gear, step up to balanced connectors instead of RCA. Three decibels of gain as a result. You can thank me later.
Next time you buy gear, step up to balanced connectors instead of RCA. Three decibels of gain as a result. You can thank me later.
Posted on 3/8/19 at 7:03 pm to dunkelman
Argh. Two separate audio issues.
Buzzing in speakers in analog for playing albums. I have an idea but appreciate input.
Digital popping noise on the optical connection from the TV back to the Tag preamp. I suspect it’s because the Tag is old and not up to current specs. At least that’s what the inter webs in leading me to believe. A more modern preamp is in my future. I’d just get an integrated but the Dynaudio speakers want power and eventually when we build the next place it will also be a surround system.
Buzzing in speakers in analog for playing albums. I have an idea but appreciate input.
Digital popping noise on the optical connection from the TV back to the Tag preamp. I suspect it’s because the Tag is old and not up to current specs. At least that’s what the inter webs in leading me to believe. A more modern preamp is in my future. I’d just get an integrated but the Dynaudio speakers want power and eventually when we build the next place it will also be a surround system.
Posted on 3/9/19 at 11:59 am to VABuckeye
Just dropped off by the mailman and now spinning:
Posted on 3/9/19 at 2:55 pm to weskarl
Posted on 3/9/19 at 11:28 pm to PhilipMarlowe
Well, I guess I have officially fallen down the rabbit hole of master tape!
Without going too deep, the Master Tape niche in this hobby has gained a little steam in the last five years or so. In short, a studio master tape of an album (usually 2” tape on a reel), is played from an über master tape machine (usually a Studer—running at 30 inches/sec) and fed directly into a fully modded, pristine tape machine running 1” tape (again, usually a Studer deck at 30ips) in real time. These transfers are damn near lossless and flawless.
The 1” tape, after receiving the info from the Master Tape, is then run into a fully modded 1/4” tape machine (usually an Otari or TASCAM pro deck—running at 15ips), in real time as well, and the resulting tape is absolutely stunning as far as sound quality. The amount of transfers from the 1” tape (called the half-master) to the 1/4” tape is limited to 50 transfers, as tape does wear after repeated runs, and the engineers don’t want to sacrifice quality.
In order to play back these “Master Tapes”, you need a reel to reel deck that has the following 4 things—an IEC equalization circuit, the capability to play at 15ips speed, the ability to handle 10.5” reels, and 2-track heads.
There were a number of machines in the late ‘70’s and up until the mid ‘90’s produced that fit this criteria. Some are, the Teac x-2000M, the Otari 5050, the TASCAM BR-20, TASCAM 3030, Revox PR-99, and the Technics 1500/1520 decks (there are a few more, but these are the most produced and seen today).
So a few years ago, a company called The Tape Project was started to start transferring master tapes to 1/4” reels for sale to those that have the decks capable of playing such tapes. It isn’t cheap, about $500 for one album—usually on (2) 10.5” reels—but they are the absolute in sound reproduction. I’ve heard them numerous times at shows and it is just incredible what can come from a 1/4” reel tape running at 15ips.
The Tape Project has released a few albums on this medium, usually folk, classical, and chamber type music (this kind of music is the definition of “audiophile” music). However, this past year, some titles have been released on the classic jazz side, as well as modern Jazz and some blues too (Muddy Waters!), with the promise of more titles to come. Right now, there are about 100 or so Master reel albums available.
As some of you may know, I acquired a Pioneer RT-909 reel deck about 6 weeks ago. Aesthetically, it is mint, and operations were good, but I dropped it off to a reel repair specialist in Houston 4 weeks ago to get a full overhaul anyway. There are a number of things on a reel deck that need adjusting as compared to a cassette deck—belts, brakes (yes, they have brakes to slow down the reels after fast forward/rewinding), azimuth, head alignment, bearings, bias, tension arms, capacitor replacement, and full cleaning of all contacts.
This Pioneer reel deck is a fantastic machine, but it has a few limitations which prevent it from being used for Tape Project Master Tape playback. It does have the capability to play 10.5” reels, but lacks the IEC equalization circuit, lacks the 15ips speed capability (it only does 3.75 and 7.5ips), and has 4-track heads instead of 2-track heads ( a 4-track will put 2 tracks, left and right, on one side of the tape, and 2 tracks, left and right, on the other side—you can flip the reel over and run it back in the other direction—just like a cassette...a 2-track machine is one direction only, and uses the entire width of the tape for the left and right—so twice the width of tape to record on, resulting in less channel crosstalk (bleeding) and more dynamics).
So, while the Pioneer will be a stellar deck to record stuff to and play around with, I needed to find a deck that met all the criteria to play master tapes. After deciding on what I wanted, the hunt for the TEAC X-2000M was on. I had seen a few, but their conditions were not great, so I passed on them. Some were also used in recording studios, which always means that they were beat like a red-headed step child. One finally came up—original owner, heads like new, remote control (rare option), and pristine condition—in Canada—-so I pulled the trigger and bought it. If all goes as planned, I should have it in a couple weeks. Once I get it, it will be shipped off to a fella in Chicago that is a master TEAC technician for a full overhaul and alignment/bias setting.
In the meantime, I will order a couple master tapes from Acoustic Sounds and from The Tape Project, so by the time the deck gets back to me, I’ll be ready to go.
Also, there are a couple companies out there that specialize in gutting and totally tricking out the Technics 1500 and TASCAM BR-20 tape decks—they look pretty frigging cool!...But at a cost ($10k-$30k)—-I’ll post some links below so you can see these over the top eye-candy machines!
Here is the deck I bought...
Here are a few links for those interested in learning more about master tape...
The Tape Project
United Home Audio
J-Corder
Acoustic Sounds Master Tape
Without going too deep, the Master Tape niche in this hobby has gained a little steam in the last five years or so. In short, a studio master tape of an album (usually 2” tape on a reel), is played from an über master tape machine (usually a Studer—running at 30 inches/sec) and fed directly into a fully modded, pristine tape machine running 1” tape (again, usually a Studer deck at 30ips) in real time. These transfers are damn near lossless and flawless.
The 1” tape, after receiving the info from the Master Tape, is then run into a fully modded 1/4” tape machine (usually an Otari or TASCAM pro deck—running at 15ips), in real time as well, and the resulting tape is absolutely stunning as far as sound quality. The amount of transfers from the 1” tape (called the half-master) to the 1/4” tape is limited to 50 transfers, as tape does wear after repeated runs, and the engineers don’t want to sacrifice quality.
In order to play back these “Master Tapes”, you need a reel to reel deck that has the following 4 things—an IEC equalization circuit, the capability to play at 15ips speed, the ability to handle 10.5” reels, and 2-track heads.
There were a number of machines in the late ‘70’s and up until the mid ‘90’s produced that fit this criteria. Some are, the Teac x-2000M, the Otari 5050, the TASCAM BR-20, TASCAM 3030, Revox PR-99, and the Technics 1500/1520 decks (there are a few more, but these are the most produced and seen today).
So a few years ago, a company called The Tape Project was started to start transferring master tapes to 1/4” reels for sale to those that have the decks capable of playing such tapes. It isn’t cheap, about $500 for one album—usually on (2) 10.5” reels—but they are the absolute in sound reproduction. I’ve heard them numerous times at shows and it is just incredible what can come from a 1/4” reel tape running at 15ips.
The Tape Project has released a few albums on this medium, usually folk, classical, and chamber type music (this kind of music is the definition of “audiophile” music). However, this past year, some titles have been released on the classic jazz side, as well as modern Jazz and some blues too (Muddy Waters!), with the promise of more titles to come. Right now, there are about 100 or so Master reel albums available.
As some of you may know, I acquired a Pioneer RT-909 reel deck about 6 weeks ago. Aesthetically, it is mint, and operations were good, but I dropped it off to a reel repair specialist in Houston 4 weeks ago to get a full overhaul anyway. There are a number of things on a reel deck that need adjusting as compared to a cassette deck—belts, brakes (yes, they have brakes to slow down the reels after fast forward/rewinding), azimuth, head alignment, bearings, bias, tension arms, capacitor replacement, and full cleaning of all contacts.
This Pioneer reel deck is a fantastic machine, but it has a few limitations which prevent it from being used for Tape Project Master Tape playback. It does have the capability to play 10.5” reels, but lacks the IEC equalization circuit, lacks the 15ips speed capability (it only does 3.75 and 7.5ips), and has 4-track heads instead of 2-track heads ( a 4-track will put 2 tracks, left and right, on one side of the tape, and 2 tracks, left and right, on the other side—you can flip the reel over and run it back in the other direction—just like a cassette...a 2-track machine is one direction only, and uses the entire width of the tape for the left and right—so twice the width of tape to record on, resulting in less channel crosstalk (bleeding) and more dynamics).
So, while the Pioneer will be a stellar deck to record stuff to and play around with, I needed to find a deck that met all the criteria to play master tapes. After deciding on what I wanted, the hunt for the TEAC X-2000M was on. I had seen a few, but their conditions were not great, so I passed on them. Some were also used in recording studios, which always means that they were beat like a red-headed step child. One finally came up—original owner, heads like new, remote control (rare option), and pristine condition—in Canada—-so I pulled the trigger and bought it. If all goes as planned, I should have it in a couple weeks. Once I get it, it will be shipped off to a fella in Chicago that is a master TEAC technician for a full overhaul and alignment/bias setting.
In the meantime, I will order a couple master tapes from Acoustic Sounds and from The Tape Project, so by the time the deck gets back to me, I’ll be ready to go.
Also, there are a couple companies out there that specialize in gutting and totally tricking out the Technics 1500 and TASCAM BR-20 tape decks—they look pretty frigging cool!...But at a cost ($10k-$30k)—-I’ll post some links below so you can see these over the top eye-candy machines!
Here is the deck I bought...
Here are a few links for those interested in learning more about master tape...
The Tape Project
United Home Audio
J-Corder
Acoustic Sounds Master Tape
Posted on 3/10/19 at 3:52 am to Marco Esquandolas
I don’t think I’ve actually seen one in person, much less listened to one, so I know nothing about them, but I always thought they looked cool.
Thanks for the that info, and keep us updated on the progress.
I always loved the scene, and song, in Pulp Fiction where Mia Wallace plays Urge Overkill’s - “Girl You’ll be a Woman Soon”(Scene) on the reel to reel.
Thanks for the that info, and keep us updated on the progress.
I always loved the scene, and song, in Pulp Fiction where Mia Wallace plays Urge Overkill’s - “Girl You’ll be a Woman Soon”(Scene) on the reel to reel.
This post was edited on 3/10/19 at 3:53 am
Posted on 3/10/19 at 4:17 am to PhilipMarlowe
That Pulp Fiction scene is using a TEAC X-2000M...same one I just bought.
Posted on 3/10/19 at 4:29 am to Marco Esquandolas
Ha, what are the odds. That’s awesome. 
Posted on 3/10/19 at 3:41 pm to Marco Esquandolas
My father had reel to reel but never saw him use it. He also got Alzheimer’s and sold a pair of JBL Signature Harlan C39s instead of handing them down. It’s a horrible disease.
This post was edited on 3/10/19 at 3:43 pm
Posted on 3/10/19 at 4:20 pm to Marco Esquandolas
Marco. No tape hiss? That was the inherent issue with tape setups. My uncle had a tape setup similar to what you pictured. Japanese brand.
Posted on 3/10/19 at 4:57 pm to VABuckeye
No hiss...when you run at 15 ips, there is virtually none. Plus, new tape formulations have gotten better as well—you can bias higher and get a deeper saturation (higher dB) on new formulated tape, thus squelching the high frequency hiss from tape drag to almost undetectable levels (to human ears).
15 ips is almost 10x faster than a cassette tape runs (1.75 ips)
Think of how many pop-rock CDs from the ‘80’s you own that sound fantastic and have dead quiet backgrounds—most of that music was originally recorded on analog tape before getting pressed to CD.
Just like vinyl recording/cutting and playback, there is a good deal that goes into tape recording and playback to get it right...it isn’t plug and play (just like properly setting up a turntable and cartridge).
15 ips is almost 10x faster than a cassette tape runs (1.75 ips)
Think of how many pop-rock CDs from the ‘80’s you own that sound fantastic and have dead quiet backgrounds—most of that music was originally recorded on analog tape before getting pressed to CD.
Just like vinyl recording/cutting and playback, there is a good deal that goes into tape recording and playback to get it right...it isn’t plug and play (just like properly setting up a turntable and cartridge).
Posted on 3/11/19 at 9:27 pm to Marco Esquandolas
Doing some spinning tonight to take a break from the screens (other than this and coming posts)
First up:
The Beatles- 1962-1966, Apple Records, 1973.
First up:
The Beatles- 1962-1966, Apple Records, 1973.
This post was edited on 3/11/19 at 9:58 pm
Posted on 3/11/19 at 9:59 pm to TigeRoots
Suzanne Vega - Solitude Standing
A&M Records, South Korea 1987
A&M Records, South Korea 1987
This post was edited on 3/11/19 at 10:01 pm
Posted on 3/11/19 at 10:21 pm to TigeRoots
And lastly, broke the seal on an original pressing of MLOR.
Pink Floyd - Momentary Lapse of Reason
Columbia Records, US 1987.
Pink Floyd - Momentary Lapse of Reason
Columbia Records, US 1987.
Posted on 3/11/19 at 10:32 pm to TigeRoots
That Suzanne Vega album is great.
Posted on 3/14/19 at 9:21 pm to Marco Esquandolas
On now...
A local south LA baw...
Dale Cazenave—“Other Worlds Than These”...CD, 2018.
Good stuff here!
A local south LA baw...
Dale Cazenave—“Other Worlds Than These”...CD, 2018.
Good stuff here!
Posted on 3/15/19 at 10:34 am to Marco Esquandolas
quote:
Good stuff here!
Thanks for putting me on that...
Posted on 3/15/19 at 4:37 pm to Marco Esquandolas
Went into Capital City Records today to grab a couple new things to listen to and kill some time before my wife got done treating patients....
Started talking with Dana (owner) and 45 min later I hadn’t flipped record one.
Told him, dude... I came in here to spend money and I’m leaving with nothing! Didn’t even go through anything. He said... you’ll be back.
Good dude.... he isn’t the biggest joint and it’s a pain in the arse to get to sometimes, but I try to give him business and recommend him.
Started talking with Dana (owner) and 45 min later I hadn’t flipped record one.
Told him, dude... I came in here to spend money and I’m leaving with nothing! Didn’t even go through anything. He said... you’ll be back.
Good dude.... he isn’t the biggest joint and it’s a pain in the arse to get to sometimes, but I try to give him business and recommend him.
Page 209 of 319
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News