Hello, Eric,
This is indeed an interesting anomaly.
I think we need a catalog of off-standard calibration factors--and
I'd be willing to make that a specific category on my blog (
www.richardhess.com/notes/ ). I accept guest articles should you be
interested -- or I can point to your article.
HOWEVER, it is a very tiny error compared to what we're seeing in
tape. There is a 4 dB at 16 kHz uncertainty in the cassette format
which I believe I have fully documented (minus one uncertainty which
sets the centre point of the anomaly--we know the two ends) at
http://richardhess.com/notes/2006/05/17/cassette-equalization-the-4-db-ambiguity-at-16-khz/
While the off-standard factors are probably not as large in reel tape
as in cassettes, they, too, are larger than what you are discussing
concerning discs. The good news about the tape variability in the
disc chain is many (if not most) tapes had multi-frequency tones
printed to them which would then be used to calibrate the playback
machine prior to the disc cutting process.
A friend of mine and I think they may be as much as a 3-4 dB window
in calibration tapes at 15-16 kHz after the NAB (NARTB) standard
became a standard. Prior to that, there is even greater variability
in tape. This is a down-the-road round-toit project for me as it
involves a lot of fussy work in actually measuring several boxes of
old, but unused, calibration tapes.
Cheers,
Richard
At 03:02 PM 2007-03-30, Eric Jacobs wrote:
>I've been thinking about the RIAA phono EQ curve, and realized that
>the majority of discs in Europe and many in the USA are cut on
>Neumann lathes.
>
>The Neumann lathes have a fourth time constant of 3.18 microseconds
>(50 kHz turnover) which was introduced around 1968 to increase
>cutter life.
>
>When a disc cut on a Neumann lathe is played back on an RIAA phono
>preamp, the frequencies between 10 kHz and 20 kHz are more rolled
>off than they should be. Discs cut on a Neumann lathe will play
>-0.2 dB at 10.9 kHz and -0.64 dB at 20 kHz. If your average phono
>preamp is -0.5 dB at 20 kHz, that means that you could be off by as
>much as -1 dB or more.
Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
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