So what you fucked up mod wankers who don't have a life are telling me is that I can't dare logically question your moderation abilities? If I do, you'll just hammer me down even more?

This is why /. sucks. Really. Mod me down all you like. I'll just close this account up and start a new one. Mod that down assholes and asswipes.

Dave

How is this marked flamebait? I'm agreeing with the parent poster (who is rated up to 3 on the modding system).

Again, for those that can't read:

Flamebait -- Flamebait refers to comments whose sole purpose is to insult and enrage. If someone is not-so-subtly picking a fight (racial insults are a dead giveaway), it's Flamebait.

How have I picked a fight with this? I've simply agreed with the parent poster. Now, if he'd been marked down as a troll, then perhaps I could understand. Inconsistencies from the mods yet again.

Dave

How is this modded down to off topic? Again, for the reading challenged who can't read the moderating guidelines:

Offtopic -- A comment which has nothing to do with the story it's linked to (song lyrics, obscene ascii art, comments about another topic entirely) is Offtopic.

Quality of vinyl re-releases is most certainly on topic. It's a major issue to be honest, with most re-pressings being quite bad. That's why collectors pay top money for first pressings.

Dave

WTF? How is this marked as "troll"? Did you moderators even read the descriptions:

Troll -- A Troll is similar to Flamebait, but slightly more refined. This is a prank comment intended to provoke indignant (or just confused) responses. A Troll might mix up vital facts or otherwise distort reality, to make other readers react with helpful "corrections." Trolling is the online equivalent of intentionally dialing wrong numbers just to waste other people's time.

How is my post distorting reality, mixing up vital facts etc?

The technics SL1200 was never rated as a top audiophile turntable. It's not a bad turntable, but there are plenty better that exist.

Linear tracking arms are still not common, and still very expensive. They are very good, but only few can really justify/afford them, as is the case with most high end hi fi.

Turntables most certainly sound different. Take the time to listen to lots of them, or read reviews in hi fi magazines and you'll agree.

And yes, moving coil cartridges are still quite pricey, with the better ones starting around US $500 or so.

This is why I hate slashdot with a passion - we have moderators moderating who really shouldn't be. And there's no justice for those who are wrongly modded down either.

Dave

They have quite good ideas by looking at the spectra of the planet in question. From that they can deduce it's composition. Has been done for the past 2 or so years now.

Yes, the parent star in question is old, very old. Life has probably advanced on this planets, and possibly other planets in this system far past the current life status on Earth.

Life almost certainly exists elsewhere - many exoplanets are being found with oxygen in their atmospheres for starters. It seems that the smaller, Earth like terrestrial bodies with 1-3x mE seem to dwell in the goldilocks zone as a regular occurrence. The trick is find them, since they are smaller than Jupiter type gas giants, hence gravitationally finding them, and then monitoring for occultations around the parent star are inherently harder (but not impossible). Water seems to be a very common part of proto planet disks around stars too.

I can't comment on tidal locking, gravity is not something I'm really au fait with.

Dave

Moving coil is still usually expensive. There are high output MCs (they work with a MM stage) and low output MCs (they need a pre-preamp, step up transformer or whatever you want to call it!).

The SL-1200 is not the best table out there, there are far better (I'm not trying to sound like a snobby audiophile here). Nor is the tonearm in question.

Linear tracking arms are generally quite pricey, which is why only the top end hi end tables offer them. The cheapest one I know of is around US 3k or so, and that's considered cheap for a linear tracking arm. 12" standard arms are generally regarded as provided very good quality and excellent tracking. They are (thankfully) becoming more common.

Turntables all sound different, and you don't have to have golden ears to hear the differences either - that's just what snooty nosed audiophiles would like you to believe, cos it makes them sound uber cool.

I use a SystemDek IIX/900/Rega RB300/Lyra Clavis cartridge, with a Lentek step up amp and Yaqin MS-12B valve preamp. It's not a bad table, but is entry level (apart from the cartridge, which is high end) and 2011 should see it replaced by a far better turntable and arm. If I have enough funds, the preamp will be replaced too, not sure with what yet.

My primary concern is replacing my speakers (Sonus Faber Electa Amators) as my Opera Consonance Cyber 845 SETs (single ended triodes) monoblocs aren't too happy with driving the Sonus Fabers. I'm thinking high efficiency horns. :-)

Cheers,

Dave

Yes, this is partly true. But - most re-pressings are going to sound crap. There's only so many mothers that can be stamped from the original master tape. I've got a hi fi mag somewhere that talks about this whole process, I should scan it. It's very interesting reading.

Dave

Amen. You hit the nail on the head.

Dave

Not quite true - high end compact cassette (or open reel) recorders can record vinyl quite accurately from my experience. Do I need digital recording? Not really. Is the analogue recording portable? Hell yeah. And not much larger or heavier than a modern MP3 player either. Drawbacks? Limited playtime, and ultimately, lifespan of the magnetic tape used in the cassette cartridge.

You are right in that the music studios pushed CDs because they could control illegal recordings of said material easier (well, that's what they thought). Plus, there's the "sell 'em the entire music catalogue again [in a new format], so we can make even more money" argument too. We see the same thing happening with DVD and Blu-ray (over VHS). Profit over quality.

Dave

How is this trollish post modded to +5 informative? WTF?

Firstly, there is enough evidence to strongly suggest that humans are affected by higher frequencies, mainly for directional [sound] purposes. Distortion is not the be all and end all - if digital was so good, nature would be producing all digital sounds. It doesn't. It produces analogue sounds. Now of course, if you're telling me that man is smarter than mother nature...

Vinyl is still a technical masterpiece - from the pressing stages to the final product. Yes, there are bad vinyl albums out there (poor recording, poor pressing, poor quality vinyl used and so on and so forth), but when the time and care is taken to do things right with vinyl, and the end user takes the time to play said vinyl on high quality reproduction systems, then it sounds wonderful.

Dave

PS Most amps and speakers do cover outside of the 20hz/20khz range too, but not always with the -3db measuring limit.

Oh dear. Another 90s child probably that knows jack shit. Firstly, the redbook standard (CDs to you) covers 20hz to 20khz. Most decent cartridges cover 15hz to 60khz. Now, you might argue (and wrongly I might add) that since the average adult cannot hear about 13khz, then anything above that is a waste. Wrong. You may not hear it directly, but the human ear is incredibly complex and these higher frequencies provide queues to the ears for imaging etc. It does make a difference. How can CD be better when it has a smaller frequency range? mmm? Answer me that one smarty pants.

So many people on /. that know jack shit about what they talk about. And the sad thing is, other idiotic lemmings mod them up as being 'insightful'. Crikey...

Dave

and my sarcastic reply:

wait until the laser wears out (it'll wear out before the cartridge does on a turntable I might add). I've got an expensive CD transport that is now a boat anchor cos there's no laser replacements. What happens when my turntable's cartridge wears out? I simply buy another one. There's no "sorry sir, we don't have that spare part anymore" BS either. I don't have to throw the entire turntable/arm away either.

Obviously many on /. haven't heard a decent setup either. So many experts on hear that know jack shit.

Dave

Yes, but analogue overloads gently, digital has a hard overload (witness compact cassette vs DAT).

The CD crowd has been brainwashed for many years into thinking that it represents great sound quality. And now, we're hearing the same BS with MP3 players etc. I'm not saying all CDs are horrible, clearly they are not. The format has good potential if everything is done right. I still maintain that ultimately, LPs sound better - digital just sounds well, grating to my ears for a combination of reasons.

Dave

You obviously are a young spring chicken and haven't heard a decent vinyl setup. There's no comparison. It kills CDs. It kills DVD-As. It kills SACD. And it kills blu-ray musical discs too. Don't judge the capability of the format unless you've heard some decent kit. Try a Michell GyroDek + Rega RB301 arm + mid range Lyra MC cartridge, coupled to a good preamp/phono stage. I think you'll be very surprised.

Digital is not the be all and end all. I remember being able to use my analogue Nakamichi CR-5 cassette deck to make recordings of CDs that were indistinguishable from the source. DAT just couldn't compete (nor could DCC).

Dave

Not quite correct. The styli (and cantilever design, including suspension) all are important. fine line styli etc do the least amount of damage to the vinyl track walls, as well as retrieve the most data. They aren't cheap. Then there's to consider ceramic, MM (moving magnet) or MC (moving coil) cartridge designs. MC designs undoubtedly sound better, but are usually far more expensive, and most preamps/amps will not drive them well. Then there's the tonearm, and tonearm resonance, as well as effective mass matching to the actual cartridge used (it *does* make a difference). There's a growing trend to unipivot designs (I'm personally not a fan), and also to 12" arms (they track much better on inner tracks than the standard 9" arms).

The old saying, garbage in, garbage out, really applies here. If you're not getting the maximum data out of the vinyl record, then no matter how good the software used, you're missing out. You can't restore missing data. Get the source and preamp right, the rest on the computer side is relatively easy.

Dave

PS vinyl isn't the only thing making a "comeback" - Class A SET valve amps (single ended triode) are becoming cheaper and popular. Usually using 300B valves, but some are using more esoteric valves such as 211 or 845 (more power, sweeter midrange).