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Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
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Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
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In Reply to: What contributes to distorted sibilance??? posted by JayTea on February 14, 2007 at 03:59:26:
Sibilance that manifested itself primarily in the form of inner-groove distortion was the primary reason why I sold off my LP collection and switched to CDs in the mid-1980's.
And a lot of the problem is indeed in the source material. If the mixing engineer allows the "s" sounds to saturate the master tape, or if the pressing is bad, or if the vinyl itself is bad, the chance of irritating sibilance is vastly increased.
But I've got it licked. It's not even a concern anymore.
Start with alignment. Use a good protractor--I use the Turntable Basics mirrored protractor and I really like it. It uses the Baerwald alignment method which I prefer, having experimented with manufacturer-provided alignment tools and jigs.
Align the cantilever not the cartridge. This is important because not every cantilever is exactly square with the cartridge body. The Turntable Basics protractor has a sight line engraved on it for exactly this purpose.
Next, check azimuth. You can use any small mirror to do this, or you can use the crosstalk method in the FAQ ("Mearuring crosstalk for adjusting azimuth").
Next, VTF--you should set VTF at the maximum recommended by your cartridge manufacturer.
Once VTF is set, work on anti-skate (bias). It's best to have a good set of headphones and listen while you set this because it's not going to be the same for every cartridge.
After all this, look at VTA/SRA. Sometimes you can reduce sibilance by lowering the arm at the pivot.
Some things to consider--different stylus shapes affect the way your cartridge plays records. Using the above techniques, I was able to eliminate 95% of sibilance using a common conical stylus, but switching to a cartridge with a line-contact stylus eliminated all sibilance.
A cartridge/arm mismatch can cause a sibilance problem, too. An arm with too much or too little effective mass for the cart you're using will cause problems.
If you check my system, you'll see that I don't have an expensive set-up, just a garden-variety Technics turntable and an under-$100 cartridge.
Your stuff is much better than mine, so you should lick this problem with armed with nothing more than perseverance.
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Follow Ups
- Like nighteyes below, sibilance is also my vinyl pet peeve. - olddude55 06:20:48 02/14/07 (2)
- C'mon, sibilance isn't so bad... - Muzikmike 10:57:07 02/14/07 (1)
- Like Emmylou Harris! nt - olddude55 14:35:28 02/14/07 (0)
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