In reply to "most" of the sane comments, so far today .. By Karl Brown.
Copyright: Since the "re-made" vinyl is a one off (not a quantity of "bootlegged" copies), for personal use, and not for general resale, in general (although of course there is a raft of possible interpretations of the letter of the law) the "copying" of the "original" reasonably falls within "fair use". There are some crazy provizo's regarding eventual and final "destruction" - you'll only find out about if you order !!!
Digital / vinyl contradiction. No, there's really no contradiction. You have in your hands and actually listen to vinyl. Yes of course there is a compromise in realistically having to dip into the digital domain (realistically, as that's the only feasible way to "clean up" the audio) which is one reason we only "go digital" once - in an effort to minimise any affects, which, compared to the very dynamic effects of the whole cutting process are pretty minute to start with. If you accept the fact that to "clean up" you have "make changes" and that they are only practically feasible in the digital domain, then the issue is one of necessary compromise, not contradiction. The alternative being, don't play your unenjoyable vinyl !
The "vinyl signature" double whammy, is another compromise. Can't do anything about that - signal originates on vinyl, and we want it back on vinyl. However, due (again) to the dynamic nature of the cut process, (which includes, every single analogue component, every bit of wire, the cutter head characteristics, the cutter amp, and the way it behaves in cohoots with the head, the stylus material, the "vinyl" material Etc, and even the mains quality (if you want to be pedantic)
the 2 "vinyl" signatures are bound to quite different - adding and subtracting to a "new" vinyl signature, further altered by the inherent "signature" of your playback deck, at least, if not entire playback system. We could all argue this one forever, but at the end of the day, if you have a beloved record in un playable nick, not available anywhere else (re master or 2nd hand) in good enough quality - we can give you something to enjoy. At, and in the analog domain, without digital "file" compression or brick wall high frequency filtering found in some digital formats. You, like many others so far, may also find you rather like our own "vinyl signature" - noted as "very musical" !
The "cutter" certainly is not a "classic" 40 or 50 year old Neumann, where the head dumps around half it's power in waste heat !. Technology has advanced !.
Actually, for those that didn't realise, there has been a micro climate of modern cutter engineers and kit manufacturers tirelessly producing vinyl and equipment for the "modern age" for many years. Specialising in materials and methods, to allow "one off" cuts to "hard" blanks which wear very similarly to a factory pressing. Among the innovations taken place:
Thanks to the aid of stronger magnets and modern coil winding materials and techniques, cutter heads are quite different and very much more capable than "classic" designs.
Thanks to modern plastic production possibilities, hard wearing blanks of a relatively hard surface (compared to the "classic" very soft lacquer surface) compare well to a factory pressed record.
Thanks to continual development by independent (not lathe manufacturer or their employes) engineers (like me!) on "classic" lathes, and later, modern units, "DIY" pitch controllers are far better than 40 or 50 year old designs. In fact, you'll be hard pushed to find even a late "classic" lathe like a VMS 70 that hasn't had a "SD" pitch controller mod.
Maybe you should be more concerned about the acceleration limiter !.
Cost.
Yep undeniably but reassuringly expensive. The time taken is large, the cost of consumables (blanks and diamond styli) is large.
We predict around £ 80 for a double side album. Even at that level, we don't get "properly paid" - but that's fine, we are enthusiasts that would rather see something actually happen than not. Certainly I'd prefer to actually "rescue" some music than just talk about it.
Original record playback for digitisation.
The "Kickstarter" proposal - lets be clear here, is to financially aid THE MODIFICATION OF THE EXISTING LATHE and has nothing to do with the EXISTING (35 years in existence) studio, it's recording/reproducing equipment, vinyl reproduction equipment, monitoring systems, acoustic treatment or the building itself. Actually, we use a range of cartridges and styli. The "best" stylus/cartridge combination in the universe doesn't necessarily equate to "best signal V noise recovery".
To clarify, as succinctly as possible:
*One off actual cuts - not pressings (unless you want 350 copies - when copyright does definitely become an issue)
*To replace, in playable (surface noise and scratch wise) condition an other wise "un enjoyable" copy
*Cut to, specially developed 3 layer plastic blanks, offering wear characteristics similar to "factory pressings"
*Service for those that value a particular record enough to have a day to day playable version - unable to find a new release / 2nd hander of sufficient quality, and able to accept the compromises to get that playable & fully enjoyable copy.
Copyright: Since the "re-made" vinyl is a one off (not a quantity of "bootlegged" copies), for personal use, and not for general resale, in general (although of course there is a raft of possible interpretations of the letter of the law) the "copying" of the "original" reasonably falls within "fair use". There are some crazy provizo's regarding eventual and final "destruction" - you'll only find out about if you order !!!
Digital / vinyl contradiction. No, there's really no contradiction. You have in your hands and actually listen to vinyl. Yes of course there is a compromise in realistically having to dip into the digital domain (realistically, as that's the only feasible way to "clean up" the audio) which is one reason we only "go digital" once - in an effort to minimise any affects, which, compared to the very dynamic effects of the whole cutting process are pretty minute to start with. If you accept the fact that to "clean up" you have "make changes" and that they are only practically feasible in the digital domain, then the issue is one of necessary compromise, not contradiction. The alternative being, don't play your unenjoyable vinyl !
The "vinyl signature" double whammy, is another compromise. Can't do anything about that - signal originates on vinyl, and we want it back on vinyl. However, due (again) to the dynamic nature of the cut process, (which includes, every single analogue component, every bit of wire, the cutter head characteristics, the cutter amp, and the way it behaves in cohoots with the head, the stylus material, the "vinyl" material Etc, and even the mains quality (if you want to be pedantic)
the 2 "vinyl" signatures are bound to quite different - adding and subtracting to a "new" vinyl signature, further altered by the inherent "signature" of your playback deck, at least, if not entire playback system. We could all argue this one forever, but at the end of the day, if you have a beloved record in un playable nick, not available anywhere else (re master or 2nd hand) in good enough quality - we can give you something to enjoy. At, and in the analog domain, without digital "file" compression or brick wall high frequency filtering found in some digital formats. You, like many others so far, may also find you rather like our own "vinyl signature" - noted as "very musical" !
The "cutter" certainly is not a "classic" 40 or 50 year old Neumann, where the head dumps around half it's power in waste heat !. Technology has advanced !.
Actually, for those that didn't realise, there has been a micro climate of modern cutter engineers and kit manufacturers tirelessly producing vinyl and equipment for the "modern age" for many years. Specialising in materials and methods, to allow "one off" cuts to "hard" blanks which wear very similarly to a factory pressing. Among the innovations taken place:
Thanks to the aid of stronger magnets and modern coil winding materials and techniques, cutter heads are quite different and very much more capable than "classic" designs.
Thanks to modern plastic production possibilities, hard wearing blanks of a relatively hard surface (compared to the "classic" very soft lacquer surface) compare well to a factory pressed record.
Thanks to continual development by independent (not lathe manufacturer or their employes) engineers (like me!) on "classic" lathes, and later, modern units, "DIY" pitch controllers are far better than 40 or 50 year old designs. In fact, you'll be hard pushed to find even a late "classic" lathe like a VMS 70 that hasn't had a "SD" pitch controller mod.
Maybe you should be more concerned about the acceleration limiter !.
Cost.
Yep undeniably but reassuringly expensive. The time taken is large, the cost of consumables (blanks and diamond styli) is large.
We predict around £ 80 for a double side album. Even at that level, we don't get "properly paid" - but that's fine, we are enthusiasts that would rather see something actually happen than not. Certainly I'd prefer to actually "rescue" some music than just talk about it.
Original record playback for digitisation.
The "Kickstarter" proposal - lets be clear here, is to financially aid THE MODIFICATION OF THE EXISTING LATHE and has nothing to do with the EXISTING (35 years in existence) studio, it's recording/reproducing equipment, vinyl reproduction equipment, monitoring systems, acoustic treatment or the building itself. Actually, we use a range of cartridges and styli. The "best" stylus/cartridge combination in the universe doesn't necessarily equate to "best signal V noise recovery".
To clarify, as succinctly as possible:
*One off actual cuts - not pressings (unless you want 350 copies - when copyright does definitely become an issue)
*To replace, in playable (surface noise and scratch wise) condition an other wise "un enjoyable" copy
*Cut to, specially developed 3 layer plastic blanks, offering wear characteristics similar to "factory pressings"
*Service for those that value a particular record enough to have a day to day playable version - unable to find a new release / 2nd hander of sufficient quality, and able to accept the compromises to get that playable & fully enjoyable copy.
