Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil

“I may be crazy. “

Ed King
Guitarist
Lynyrd Skynyrd

same, ed. same.

it just might be a Rickenbacker you’re lookin for

":("

Incidentally that brought me to this, which is a chap's thesis from 2001 about Usenet:
https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/8992/thesis.pdf

There are a bunch of tables near the beginning that suggest that all of Usenet's first decade, from 1979 to 1989, took up less than 4gb of storage space, but that by 2000 Usenet was growing by 42 terabytes per day. Admittedly that was twenty years ago, so presumably the figure went on to be much higher, but the vast majority of that would have been binaries. Something something Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs.

Now here's one that has passed me by. Anyone heard of CD shaving?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-QxLAxwxkM

The segment about the hype and reviews is just wild.

What I can't grasp about any of the fancy CD transport business is like.. if it's so error prone, shouldn't a good rip to a hard disk be the gold standard? But no one ever says, oh this album really opened up when I ripped it to FLAC.

Exactly. The engineers understood the problems with errors in digital music and compact discs when they were still figuring out the whole concept. Addressing that problem is baked into the design, and it's far more than adequate.

i love Techmoan's videos but haven't checked in for quite a while. thanks for posting that

ruined it by using a black sharpie. everyone knows you have to use a green one

sharpie trick I have heard of, shaving I had not

i love how techmoan goes about proving/disproving it in the most roundabout way when it could've easily been proven by extracting the data from the disc and checksumming the data. by treating the data on the disc as 'analog' by recording the sounds off the disc, i think he actually provides a stronger argument against audiophile dorks who don't understand how digital audio works

also my digital signal processing expert buddy says the device could in theory help unbalanced discs (as mentioned in the video) but that it would only help with read errors (which manifest themselves as clicks and pops rather than a shallow soundstage and lesser clarity)

Little known added benefit of CD-shaving: If you add the leftover shavings to a stir-fry, it adds depth and clarity to the meal's eatstage.

When I worked at a record store I rejected a collection of hundreds of CDs because they were all shaved and green-markered. The guy must have sold them privately because one of our regulars later brought in a bunch of them to sell and I had to reject them all over again.

I guess if they play fine who care, but those are damaged, and the real possibility is they actually shaved into the part that can oxidize

Still a devalued green shaved product, hah

never heard of shaving - sounds fun - but lots of delamination of cd-r's blue 90's gold

tfw when you find out the new belt you need for your turntable is going to cost $50

ADVANCED EBLT UPGRADE DRIVE BELT

The advanced EBLT drive belt is fitted as standard to all Planar 1, Planar 1 Plus, Planar 2, Planar 3 and Planar 6 models.

Each belt is moulded on our highly accurate custom tooling using a unique secret blend. Once moulded, the belts are cryogenically frozen and barrelled to remove any excess flash in order to create perfect cross-sectional roundness which is critical for accurate speed and stability. In normal use and conditions, the lifespan of the EBLT drive belt is 50% longer than the previous model.

Below you can see a direct comparison taken from our custom test software. You can compare the old belt (top) versus the latest EBLT reference belt (bottom). We have used the same Planar 1 turntable. The only part that has changed is the drive belt. You can clearly see a notable reduction in weighted peak Wow / Flutter measurements produced by the increased accuracy and cross-sectional roundness of the EBLT belt. The standard belt measures 0.253% / the Advanced EBLT measures 0.162% and the Reference EBLT measures 0.075%

tbh just get a large rubber band

unique secret blend = usb

DON'T DO IT UMS THEY'RE TRYING TO COVER UP THE DIGITIZATION

Austin otm. I recently replaced a 20-year-old belt and honestly can't tell the difference. I'm sure even twine would do the trick.

Sadly the way Regas are made it needs to be very specific as you take the turntable off and switch the belt from 33 to 45 manually by placing the belt on a different gear and I haven't found anyone making generic equivalent :/

can't tell if you're joking. . .

thread delivers!

(all in good fun, of course. sorry your stuff is on the fritz.)

I have a Rega and cannot wait to get something else cause I hate their closed system. Internal ground is just the dumbest idea ever.

I've never had a problem w/grounding but yeah austin the length/width/tension of the belt is tied directly to the rpms and correct pitch

tbh the thing has been a tank for me, and in fairness it's probably closing in on 20 years old and i've never changed the belt

I have a Pro-Ject turntable with a similar set up: you have to remove the platter, then switch the belt to a different turnedy slot thingy (technical term) to change between 33 and 45. Cost about $25 to replace the 20-year-old original belt. I can't tell any difference.

But yeah, don't use twine. That was a joke.

I haven't found anyone making generic equivalent :/

I also recently replaced the felt mat on my turntable with a cork mat. The difference is astounding, in that I can't tell any difference at all.

Had a NAD rega clone for years and 'no little rubber band that I have to muck with to switch speeds' was a surprisingly high-priority requirement when I finally bought a new turntable

I don't play a lot of 45s, but if I had to disassemble my turntable every time I wanted to play one, I would probably play even fewer.

Yeah I'm not going to lie, I play my 45s far more infrequently because of this. It's not a huge effort, but enough to discourage me when I want a stress-free listening session.

I think there was a degree of impatience when I bought my Pro-Ject seven years ago; they didn’t have in the model I wanted (push button 33/45) so I walked out with the Debut Carbon, which is a lift off platter to change speed faff. I did that for years with my old Systemdek so I figured I’d just get used to it again (my later Michell had a freestanding motor housing, so moving the belt was easy).

But nope, 45s just don’t get played…

i have a pro-ject debut with manual speed change.
it's even more annoying for 12" that dont print the rpm speed on the labels.

Also annoying if you don't read the labels properly. Turns out I've been playing the second disc of Oval's 94 Diskont at the wrong speed for years...

I typed “rega drive belt” into eBay search and there are silicone belts for the Planar starting at $10 shipped, are they the wrong ones?
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, September 19, 2022 3:48 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

good looking out, these will work i think...i forget google search is fucking useless these days sometimes

speaking of- who wants to start an audiophile curated search engine? all results will point the searcher to only the highest of fidelity.

it's a weekly subscription fee, of course.

Techmoan has a follow up where he investigates a device which demagnetises CDs. Spoiler, it ends as how you’d expect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH4v8b1tGSQ

That was amazing. If only there was a larger version to demagnetise the ink on my vinyl labels...

There appears to be a subculture of people who demagnetise vinyl LPs:
https://www.analogplanet.com/content/you-can%E2%80%99t-demagnetize-vinyl-you-can-demagnetize-record%E2%80%94-furutech-demag-alpha-and-stein-de3

Inevitably it ends up with the writer arguing that his "original pink label Island copy of Jethro Tull’s Stand Up that’s been repeatedly played since 1969 still has better high frequency extension than any CD". The other musicians he enjoys include Bob Dylan and Pat Metheny.

every true Tull head knows the CD book editions are the definitive and superior format for all of their releases up through the Broadsword and the Beast

* demagnetised tho

That's classic audiophile snake oil, taking something that is real (demagnetizing tape heads) and applying it to mediums that have nothing to do with magnetic tape

It never claimed to be a deultramagnetizer!

All you Pro-Ject people with the manual 33/45 change: does your platter not have a hole in it so that you can make the switch without actually removing the platter? On mine (don’t remember the model but it’s probably 25-30 years old now) you just rotate it so the hole is over the shaft and can then move the band with the little key thing. It’s never bothered me but having to actually remove the platter probably would.

After 2+ years of working at home I finally decided I needed a system in my basement office, and have lucked into three vintage turntables for a total of $10. All initially in rough shape but working well now after disassembly and cleaning/lubricating/some new parts; still need to take care of the cosmetics but I’m looking forward to comparing them. Dual 1219, Thorens TD165, and Pioneer PL-12 — all with speed selector switches!

definitely no hole on my MMF-5, somehow I lost the key long ago so I use 45 adapters

I really don't mind it so much, I knew what I was getting into when I bought it (in 2006, wow)

Listening to 45s is kind of annoying anyway so I don't care that much

No hole in my Debut Carbon platter - whole thing has to come off. All part of the ritual, yeah?

otm

No hole on my 15-year-old RPM5. IIRC you could buy a separate switch system for changing speed, but I play CDs now mostly and, when vinyl, 33 1/3 the vast majority of the time and don't mind switching manually.

I had never heard of this ridiculous method of changing speeds until looking at modern turntable options. Going to keep my garage sale Realistic working as long as possible!

My Debut II does have the platter holes but I don't have a doohickey to adjust the belt. I figured out how to do it with my fingers but it's a tight fit. Irrelevant if I get an acrylic platter, which I'm planning to do.

Iirc the point of manual switching is to reduce the number of moving parts, thus increasing reliability and reducing speed variance, wow and flutter etc. Worth the hassle in my book for a better sounding turntable that won't break the bank and is easy to service.

correct, I willingly made the tradeoff