Essentialaudio - agreed. That is at least a suitable option - if kind of archaic with tonearms asking $5k to $11k in retail price..... |
Dear Halcro, you can not compensate azimuth offset with balance control. Azimuth offset means - always! - a misalignment of the stylus towards BOTH groove walls. This has to be fixed at the source. You can mask the sonic result to some degree (in fact only the channel imbalance.. ) with the balance control, but the problem remains and it will shorten both - the life-time of your stylus AND records.
Aside from the sonic presentation (soundstage width and depth and high frequency reproduction) which does suffer too.
To fix this issue, do get AND use very thin plastic washers (sometimes part of cartridge screws by-pack assembly) to eliminate the problem where it occurs.
Greetings to sunny Australia - its 6 degrees below zero here at my place....
D. |
Placing a shim between collar of armbase and armboard will create problems - and won't solve any. Correct azimuth is a must and is determined by the position of the stylus in the groove and towards both walls. Thus a headshell level (spirit bubble or not....) has little to no use as Dougdeacon and Essentialaudio already mentioned correctly.
The problem has to be fixed at the source - you can not "correct" a misalignment of azimuth anywhere else in the chain - only at the stylus.
If the stylus is not 100% vertical in relation to the upper plane of the mounting cartridge body, you need a headshell which can be rotated in its axis - at least to some degree.
Its an imperfect world - thus we need alignments.... |
As for the Freickert-software... it implies for correct function in azimuth-adjustment mode, that both coils of a given cartridge do have 100% identical output.
If this is not the case - which you can count on in 99,99999 % of all cartridges - it will help you little to adjust azimuth. As it compares output of both channels to give identical readings.
You need to know the exact output of each coil before using this tool.
Hard to get......
Sorry folks - azimuth-adjustment in real world conditions has to be (and can only be ..) done by the one single instrument most audiophiles seems do trust the very least.
The ear........ |
Well, if the arm post is not vertical........ I would suggest changing either armboard, tonearm or hobby. |
Well Dre, the transfer function gives only correct result relative to the azimuth (= correct position of the stylus towards the grooved wall for both channels) if factor x (here: output voltage) is known and thus for each channel.
Otherwise the calculation is always a relative one (which it is here).
Dear Jtimothya, to determine the correct output for each channel you do not use a test record. You need the pure output of the coil and the best way (and most precise) to obtain that basic figure is to get it WITHOUT a groove.
It works this way: get a Nagaoka or similar oscillating stylus cleaner. This gives a 400 hz or similar impulse on the cartridge - to both channels and independent of position of stylus. This has to be measured with a precise micro-ohm-meter.
You will get perfect and stylus position independent readings for the raw output of each coil.
Simple yet effective.
If we want a figure for factor x1 (coil output) and factor x in action is a function of factor y (position of stylus polished area towards grooved wall) or factor z (relative crosstalk to other channel - which here would mean x2....) - then I would look for a way to obtain factor x1 (and x2...) without other variables depending on.
Best of all .... - it works.
Cheers,
D. |
Dre, I am not discussing azimuth adjustment either.
As there is nothing to discuss in a simple geometrical issue like this.
And I clearly stated that the F. software does function in a way which gives a wrong result - at least regarding azimuth "adjustment".
Period. I know it - I have it (the Freickert software...) at hand.....
So my post was purely for clarification too.
D. |
It reads "correct" and "each channel" and your cartridge (and - btw - me too...) do see some important difference between tracking a groove wall with most likely misaligned azimuth or being forced to generate output independent of stylus position ( one channel is always louder if azimuth is off....) ...... but if your method gives satisfying (or "proven") results for you - great! |
Indeed there isn't much more to say about that software. Being one of those "anyone with the software", I can tell from personal experience that it has its faults and does not function for azimuth adjustment. A basic reflection error remains a basic error - even if masked with a nice user interface. That this error isn't realized by some doesn't mean it isn't there.
But errors are certainly human and no problem in analog set-up - if only they look smart and fancy. |
@Feickert: as I can see from your post, you haven't read my posts. Or didn't understand them. I didn't say that your software would "balance" the outputs at all. |
Lewm is right. Correct azimuth is in the very first an optimized geometrical position of the polished areas (NOT the mere stylus...) of your stylus vis-a-vis the two walls of the record groove. Lets further assume, that hardly any cartridge on earth is blessed with two identical coils giving identical output millivolts. This leads to the cruel thought that "optimizing" the electrical figure "crosstalk", without determining the individual electrical output of each coil first, might not necessary give the geometrical correct position.
As tempting as computer-analysis may be (and we all (me too...) are long used to computer-generated convenience in many respects of our everyday life .... and even more to come..), it does not necessary give the correct result in adjusting phono cartridge azimuth on a electrical basis.
Here once again we have to "walk the distance" and should by all means trust that biological yet fairly complex device inside our brain - the hearing.
Take a purely acoustical recording - old Opus3 records do work marvels here... - with a solo voice accompanied by solo instrument with resonance corpus (a guitar, bass, piano - you name it).
You will hear it when azimuth locks in. |
Dear Dougdeacon, - nice link. It works very well indeed. It does not cure the cancer either, but it surely will prolong life and restore its level ( of performance ) into the high 90 percentage. |
One key problem of our present day existence as an audiophile and/or listener of recorded and reproduced music is, that throughout our life from early childhood onwards we are told and educated to trust our eyes only and to believe what is "written black on white".
The ear is our very first sense (working long before we leave our mothers body), but we are trained to mistrust our hearing and a huge majority of audiophiles in the western hemisphere have a very strong tendency to rather believe in written articles about 2nd hand listening experiences of others than trust their very own ears.
You are not doomed to misery, if you listen like an audiophile.
But you are certainly doomed to misery if you read like an audiophile and if you mistake reading for hearing.
Listening like an audiophile can be delighting and enjoyable, but it is VERY hard and will hardly ever leave you in an elevated nor completely satisfied state of mind for more than a few moments.
Listening to recorded music is one of the very few truly revolutionary inventions of the past century and has enriched the lives of most people.
The beauty in music does not need any audiophile attitude.
To enjoy the mere beauty of sound and the pure sensation of realistic sound puts you on an endless journey.
Its then up to each where to draw the line and to choose the individual position.
It however can be a very enjoyable journey and once you clearly see the mountain top, the last steps are very clear and quite easy.
Happy new year 2010........ |
