The very best sound: Direct to Disc

Dear @rvpiano and friends: I wasn't aware that this 45ropm LP is D2D and I'm referring to the Toshiba/EMI Jun Fukamachi at Steinway ( Nocturne Chopin . ) recorded in 1976. At the front LP jacket is the picture of the face of a black cat.

Very good indeed.

In the information page inside the jacket we can read this:


"" a cartridge is required which can handle a much higher dynamic range.....sometimes it migth not be able to track correctly the grooves which has been recorded at such high level. Distortions, vibration, or, in some cases skipping of the stylus migth occur....... """""

Yes, they are totally rigth: the self tracking cartridge abilities is very important and makes a paramount differences in the quality sound when we are talking of these kind of LP D2D recordings.
Several times at micro levels the stylus tip is skipping and we not even be aware of. So the cartridge is the  must important link in the room/system to achieve and honor the very high quality sound levels that many of the D2D recordings have ( obviously along a good tonearm match. ).

Cartridges with high tracking abilities is the name of the game here and with well recorded digital LP's.


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Dear @rvpiano and friends : I need to fix my mistake on what I posted on that D2D 45rpm LP of my last post.

"  Very good indeed. "

No, it's not that way. The player performance is mediocre one but the sound is not good even that is a D2D 45rpm recording.
The sound is lifeless, that Steinway instrument sounds just bad and this could be because the engineers choosed four Neumann microphones and they chossed that at least 2 of them were at only 5cms. above the strings and did not let the instrument possibility to breathe. All instruments needs its own minimum space to performs at its best and that did not happens in this recording.

I can be wrong but this is my take on it.

R.

@rauliruegas  Interesting post that you said about the Opus 3 LP's not being in the 'same league' as the well recorded D to D's. Maybe you could elaborate on why you think that. Owning a large number of both D to D's and Opus 3's, I think that the best Opus 3's are competitive with the average to better D toD...not quite as dynamic as the very best D to D's...but I certainly would NOT state the Opus 3's are 'not in the same league'. 
For instance, I was recently listening to the excellent M&K LP 'Flamenco Fever' which is IMO one of the best D to D's that I own...I then compared it to my copy of Opus 3 Yuyachifca. The M&K is more dynamic and has a slightly deeper soundstage, but the recording SQ of the Opus 3 is extraordinary...and is certainly close to the M&K!  

Dear @daveyf  : I think you have the answer but let me explain a little.

First I named the Opus 3 label as one of the great tape recordered labels ever but that does not puts the label at the Flamenco Fever D2D levels and is very easy to know why.

The Flamenco Fever recording just does not touched a tape recorder and I think that I don't need to explain you all the degradation to the signal that any tape recorder makes.

Now if in your system you can't detect that big difference in between then could be maybe because your room/system has not yet the resolution to be aware of.

Unfortunatelly does not exist the tape recorder version of Flamenco Fever as in the Sheffield D2D Dave Grusin sample.

As I posted before the only tape recorder LP I experienced that can be along the well recorded D2D LPs is The Power and the Majesty but even this can't compete with the top D2D LPs as Flamenco Fever.

I posted too that the only LPs that can compete bis a bis with the best D2D ones are some very well recorded digital LPs where the tape recorder just does not can degrades the 0,1 information in there.
One very good example of those digital recordings is the one I posted Paramita ( 24/96 ): astonoshing with MUSIC compositions using instruments that we normally are not accustom to other than female voice and some of the kind of drums used there.


R.

OPUS3 is recorded with a single point Blumlein microphone. they will not have the hyped dynamics of many D2D recordings which may have been multi-miked through a mixer with the microphone right at the instrument. They do convey IMHO the sound of real instruments in a real space often better than most D2D. The notes for the set up discs explain the space in which they were recording, details about the instruments, and what you should hear. I have found them to be very useful tools in evaluating changes in my system. They are now very difficult to find as LPs, but as they were recorded to tape, most of them have been reissued as CDs, and a few SACDs. Again the quality is very good, and I highly recommend them.BTW the microphones and placement by Doc Johnson make the RR recordings, for me often more realistic and enjoyable than all but a few D2Ds, and again, since recorded to tape they are available digitally. The 45 RPM LPs are really good.