Help? Problem With Holding The Groove On A Hot Pressing


I have had a problem holding the groove on several hot pressings and it always occurs in the same spot. I am not sure if it’s my set up or a mastering error.

I am playing a record with very strong sonics that is in Mint condition and midway through the last track it skips. When I look at the area under a strong glass I can see a very hot bass transient that almost collides with the next groove. This happened again tonight when I was playing a first pressing/orignal release of MJ’s Thiriller. It also happened on a Allman Brothers LP as well as one other.

Is this a mastering error or is my TT and cartridge not up for it? I am using a Technics 1200 with an Ortofon Blue cartridge. I have checked the setup several times with a very accurate gram scale (2.5g) and my Geodisc. Should I try for a different cartridge angle geometry?
128x128voiceofvinyl
I have records that mistrack. The better the cart the smaller the problem. But even my Lyra Atlas mistracks now and then. I live with it. And I think the antiskating and other parameters should be adjusted to overall best sound, by ear - rather than to avoid occasional mistracking.
Why does it happen? In my case mostly due to defects in the pressing or subsequent misuse. Mainly it sounds like a bad particle in the vinyl compound, like a stone on the ice - or I see obvious signs of wear and tear. The LP is scratched. I have not studied this in a microscope. But I rarely, if ever, have mistracking just due to hot mastering or high dynamic in the music. Although defects show up more easily when the demand on the cartridge is high i guess.



Voiceofvinyl you have a set up problem. Your anti skate would have to be way off to cause that alone. You need to check your arm cartridge resonance frequency. If it is too high when the right bass note comes along enough energy will be created to pop the stylus right out of the groove. There is only one way to correctly set anti skating and to adjust the resonance frequency of your arm cartridge system. You get a HIFI News test record and follow the directions. You want to set a resonance frequency between 8 and 10 Hz both vertically and horizontally if you can. Once you get the hang of this it is easy and you will not believe how much better your table will sound and track. If you run into trouble just message me. Oh, and one of the silliest concepts I have ever heard is running an off set tonearm without anti skating. 
@ mijostyn.
Thanks. I have a few test and set up records inluding the Hi Fi News Analogue Test lp. I will go through it again and test for wobble and warble.

I am also going to slowly add some anti-skating until I get to the point where I start to miss-track a highly modulated low frequency trace (hot groove). Then I will try Almarg’s approach to obtain a median setting. 

Also....
Does cartridge offset that does not meet ideal have anything to due with miss tracking behavour like I am experiencing? I am trying to figure out if I need a headshell that will allow me to change the offset angle of the cartridge body. I currently cannot change the cartridge offset angle. 

@ o_holter
Thanks. 98% of the occiasional skips I find are the result of some kind of condition flaw or pressing flaw.

In a few rare cases, such as this one and a few others, there was no condition issue. I had to look at the grooves with a strong loop to see that the cause was a very modulated groove in the last track that ejected my cartridge. 
Hi again

I ran all the tests using a HI Fi News test record. I was especially interested in the lateral and vertical resonant frequency test. Both number ranges I got put the cartridge in the sweet spot now that I have the anti-skating set just slightly below the tracking force. The vertical and lateral resonance doesn't quite match though. 

My question is; how do you "adjust" the resonant frequency? My current values for vertical are: 15 Hz - 7Hz. My lateral values are 14 Hz - 10 Hz. 

Should I even worry about trying to match the vertical and lateral exactly?