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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
voiceofvinyl's avatar
voiceofvinyl OP
93 posts
 
Thank you professor Millercarbon for shutting down a dialogue and keeping me on point.
voiceofvinyl's avatar
voiceofvinyl OP
93 posts
 
@almarg Thank you for the procedure. I will try that.

Thankfully there are a few people in this group who aren’t crippled with toxic self-absorption.
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o_holter
975 posts
 
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.



mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
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. 
voiceofvinyl's avatar
voiceofvinyl OP
93 posts
 
@ 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. 

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