Tracking modern pop recordings with very loud bass

Thanks Atmasphere. That is the kind of relevant response I was hoping for.

I guess I have no doubt its possible. But can can any good quality vinyl rig track those well? How hard is it and what does it take? Does it take an audiophile vinyl setup to track modern pop recordings like these well? Cost?

Just wondering. Most all my vinyl is old releases, 1980s and older so I don’t have much to go on.

I think I still have the old Telarc Firebird vinyl release from teh early days of digital vinyl mastering with the big dynamics that took a very well thought out rig to track. Most standard issue Japanese tables of the days with the S shaped tonearms and popular cartridges of the day could not handle that one.

So what is it that makes similar very dynamic digital recordings more digestible to the masses on vinyl these days? Or also say merely loud ones with lots of loud electronic synth bass? Thinking Eminem, etc. Can the average Joe buy a record like that and be successful? Or should they just stick to streaming/digital where tracking a good quality challenging record well is not an issue and leave those records to the audiophiles to tackle? Or do the record makers these days tone it down to make it less problematic for the average Joe?

Seems to me the newer one’s taste in music, the less it makes sense to invest in vinyl because most all tend to be much louder in general these days and that includes the bass. At least that’s the case with digital/streaming format. Are newer records mastered to not be as loud? louder means more modulation...more modulation means harder to track.  Am I off base there? Off course the nice thing about vinyl is always the nice packaging with a product that you can still own but that has nothing to do with the sound.

What are you talking about ?

You’d better go to a party to hear some Drum & Bass spinning by your local DJ on vinyl, it will blow you b.....s off. There is nothing but a drums and bass, and it’s on vinyl! An average $50 pro cartridge like Shure M44-7 on $350 Technics SL1200mk2 turntable tracks everything, including some super bass heavy club music recorded and mastered digitally and pressed on vinyl. Even if the music is nothing but shit, technically, it’s not a problem to reproduce deep bass that will shake buildings in the nearest blocks if there is a festival or some rave nearby with sound system that can be dangerous for your health.

Asking about "bass" you have to remember club culture and electronic music of the 80’s and 90’s before digital !

If you want to go deeper in details read about special mastering for vinyl and you will find tips about bass (it must be in mono). 

It make no sense to compare overcompressed digital electronic music to real live music. What they do in electronic music does not exist in real live music. If you want to check the extreme then electronic music is a good example. 

A proper music can be recorded direct to disk without any problem with tremendous dynamics and instruments like bass guitar or double bass will be real. 

@mapman, there are many inexpensive setups that will track difficult records beautifully. Take a Rega P3, put an Audio Technica VM95 ML in it and you will have an excellent tracking turntable for $1300

Good to see specific recommendations including table/cart combo. That with tonearm is likely the key based on my experience which is mostly with a bunch of tables from many years ago.

I will keep that in mind for when time comes to replace my old but still beautifully functioning Linn Axis. It’s never failed me on any record I own and I own hundreds, some even (gasp) somewhat warped which is tracking's biggest bane in practice,  but all older releases mostly from the golden age of vinyl, no new vinyl releases.

I had a less expensive Rega Planar table of some sort briefly before the Linn back in the 80s and did not care for the sound, but I never really spent any time to try and get it set up well and that was a long time ago.

Warped records were always the biggest  problem for me in particular prior to the Linn which never has a problem. 

You know of course most older records even new were never perfectly flat.  I suspect never ones are not either.  I suppose one could use a weight or other supplemental gear if needed to address warped records but just neve been an issue with the Linn like prior. 

But can can any good quality vinyl rig track those well? How hard is it and what does it take? Does it take an audiophile vinyl setup to track modern pop recordings like these well? Cost?

@


For the most part, 'any good quality' vinyl rig will do the job, depending on what is meant by 'good quality'. 


I run a Triplanar and I've yet to find anything it can't track effortlessly. People often ask if I'm playing CDs because there simply isn't any distortion (although it is smoother than CDs usually are) and since my preamp is designed with good high frequency overload margins (which isn't hard BTW), my playback tends to be free of ticks and pops.


I run an an LP mastering operation; we use an old Technics SL1200 I got on craigslist for $400.00, for testing to see if our cuts will be playable by a non-audiophile setup. I Installed a Grado Gold in it, and it works really quite well. Of course there are a bunch of things you can do to a machine like that- KAB has lots of cool aftermarket parts for it. So if you are on a budget you can make it happen if you are careful.


The role of the platter pad should not be overlooked! If it is too soft it will affect the bass, if its too hard the highs will be emphasized. The platter pad should be able to absorb vibration from the LP so that the playback is more neutral. So felt and the like really don't work although they are great for DJs.