HiFi - Vinyl, care and cleaning and the MP3

In the last few weeks we have been playing our old records and converting them to 320kbps MP3s. Portable MP3 players and large SD Cards just have so many advantages, and having the collection online is good too. In most cases I'm making a single MP3 per album side, not cutting up the individual tracks as separate files.

Our vinyl record collecting stopped in 1983 when CDs came out. I just loved that CDs have NO clicks and pops.  Still do. But I also didn't go out and rebuy my collection on CDs so now, some 30 years later, I want to hear most of the stuff I haven't heard in a long time.  I am recording them into Reaper, doing some mild mastering, writing 24bit files, then convert with dbpoweramp.

I really looked after my records. Most albums have vinyl covers, and were always stored vertically. I never touch the vinyl track surfaces, and all that, but now, some still have clicks and pops. I can edit out the big ones in Audacity, but it is tedious. Some records I was gifted years ago don't even have their internal vinyl record sleeve and are noisey and disgusting.

I have the usual record cleaning brush, even a dust bug that I'm not using, and found these received records need more.  Much more. A solution of distilled water, Isopropyl Alcohol and a surface tension reducer (that doesn't seem to be readily available) is what is in the commercial cleaning solutions.  It looks like vacuuming the surface is required too, and you need a record label covering device to keep the solution off it.

All a bit tedious. I don't have a problem with the sound of CDs, but it seems CD prices are now rising, so replacing an old vinyl album that is still available with a CD isn't as attractive as it was.

The DIY Cleaning Solution and a DIY Cleaning Machine for reference.

I would think making a vacuum cleaner attachment with velvet and some tubing and doing it manually would suffice for the number of records I need to do.  We will see.

It is the Vinyl Album Artwork and sleeves that I miss, nothing to do with the sound quality.

..... a bit later....

We have tried just using  demineralized water and 10% Isopropyl mixture with a velvet pad without a vacuum, and found the result better than dirty, but a long way to go before good.  So probably need to try the vacuum next....


We can be contacted at Art & Technology.

Recent Car Concept Design

Recent Concepts for a yet to be built race car

Some of the recent Concept Design work we have done.  We do the line work and Decals in CorelDraw then bring that into Photoshop to do the actual painting.  In this case we needed Goldleaf and Metalflake paint options and working in Photoshop is the way to go for this type of work. It also allows easier color variations and other things.

But just because I'm using a computer doesn't mean there is a button somewhere that allows me to move the camera and get another view.  This work is effectively all airbrushed, and I have actually drawn it all, based on the photographic reference I've been given to combine the different parts.

So it isn't a computer making this.

We can be contacted at Art & Technology.

A NAD CD Player VS FiiO X1... or X5

A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I could look at a NAD CD player the guy had someone else look at and could not fix. 3 hours had already been spent on it, getting a new NAD drive for it, and it still wasn't right.

Simple answer was no, as it just isn't worth the time to fix something like that. He said it was a good one, meaning Hi-Fi. I still said no. 

I almost never play a CD I own. I play the mp3 I've ripped from it using AudioGrabber and the Lame codec. 320kps sounds exactly the same. Playback from a computer using Winamp  and a hires USB 24bit 44.1/48/96kHz Audio Interface. Most would use iTunes to do the same and not care about the details.

Now if you actually wanted a "Hi-Fi" player, and not a computer/laptop I suggest you still do the CD rip or download files, then use a quality thing like this FiiO x1 for like $139 + SD card. They have more expensive models too. It does MP3, but also the FLAC and 24bit/192kHz thing if you image you can hear a difference and and want "real Hi-Fi". Plugs into amps and speakers for that Hi-Fi thing, and not just headphones.

Anyway, $139 is no time at all in repairing something unknown.

Review of the FiiO X1 unit.

And here is our article on getting your Technics Belt Drive Turntable going.

But the type of thing I mostly use is a small MP3 player that runs on a single AAA battery ....

What HiFi doesn't talk much about - The Room Response

One of the big differences between the world of HiFi and Pro Studio Sound, is the mount of science applied to understand what is going on.

The sound of the room, and how to modify  bass absorption, standing waves and early reflections is a taken in setting up a studio or mastering room.  Your speakers may be flat to within +/- 3dB  over a useful frequency range, but your room isn't without treatment.  Without any treatment there will be standing waves of +/- 10+ dB  at frequencies determined by the size of the room. All simple physics, and way more significant than the sound of the speaker or power cables.

There are some devices that will measure the room and attempt to compensate the speaker response to fix the room. An ex-bosses company, DEQx has such a device, but there are others.  Some companies like Genelec even build it in to some of their speaker system.
But when there is a physical null due to a standing wave, no amount of power at the frequency will remove the null, even if the peaks can be handled with this intelligent and analysis and then applied EQ.

And the real interesting thing is that the technology to build Basstraps and early reflection treatments is the very low tech rigid fiberglass, closed cell foam and similar materials.  Things that look out of place in the high fashion world of Hi Fi.

Addition June 18 2016

Well well. Just seen the MAY 2016 HIFINEWS magazine, and see this born out again.  Page 119 has the question titled "Whats a regular size room?" 

A guy has amazing PMC speakers, says they are "boomy" and asks about replacing them with B&W 802 D2 speakers instead, and mentions his room size, but then nothing else about the finishing of the room.  The answer from the magazine displays a lack of the science of acoustics I talked about above.
The guy may have a concrete walled and tiled floor room, or  lush carpet and drapes that are completely inappropriate for his listening room, and this would have been involved with the real answer to his question, but wasn't.

"Boomy" bass indicates narrow peaks in the low end room response.  Changing the position of speakers and listening position will have an impact of where the nulls and peaks are. The pro audio solution is to add absorption at those frequencies.  In practice adding Bass-trapping will reduce "boom."   Changing this level of  speakers will make no significant difference....

GainClone Amplifier Revised, the Chinese Electrolytics..

We have been using the GainClone Amp in our little studio since December 2014 and opened up to put in a larger 160VA  toroid transformer, instead of the 2 traditional units I had on hand at the time I first put it together.  Also going to replace the speaker terminals for ones  that can take banana plugs.

The Amp has been working great.   But upon opening it up, we see that would not have continued for much longer.

One of the 4 10,000uF 50V electrolytic capacitors in the power supply would soon expire.  It has expanded and will rupture.

The bulging capacitor  before it was removed.

So we caught this in time before any damage was caused. Only real issue for me was I expected to get it up and running again in a few hours, but I will have to order  new supply caps online for delivery next week, around $25, as the local shop doesn't carry 10,000uF 50V PCB electrolytics anymore. Then again, 10,000uF at least on a channel is completely usable, until the new one arrives.

If one is near dead, they are all suspect and replacing them is the safest thing to do.   That cost is as much as the PSU and Amplifier modules cost in the first place. Stuff from China on eBay is just incredibly cheap, not always the highest quality but it isn't as if this is much of a problem. Now the capacitor is actually a Japanese Rubycon, and should be a quality part, but it may be forgery or a reject part.... who knows.

In the mean time I can use it fine with only 3 capacitors....

Some time later...

We ended up getting nichicon 10,000uF 50V capacitors from RS Components. .. mostly as it is free postage here, and no minimum order.