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Step by Step How to Use a Digital Multimeter / Oscilloscope for Azimuth Adjustments

So I did the usual azimuth setup for a VPI using the rod on top of the tonearm groove (method of setting that is included with VPI turntables from factory) on my VPI Classic 3.   I also bought one of those clear blocks on Amazon with the lines so you can get it as flat as you can visually.   It does sound good just doing this but I wanted to go next level and see if I could do it electronically even better.    I have read you can use a digital multimeter (DMM) or oscilloscope to do the adjustments.   I found on Amazon a Hantek 2D42 that has both features and I bought the BNC to RCA connectors for it so I can interface it with my turntable or alternatively the preamp output on my Sutherland 20/20 for boosted signals.
That all being said, how do I use this for setting the azimuth?   I have read you can use either device (DMM or Scope) to do this adjustment but it seems like the directions are pretty sketchy on how to do it.
I looked into buying the Adjust + software but as of August 2021 it isn't available to buy any longer so that isnt an option.
Anyone know how I can use this Hantek to do the testing and adjustments?
Thanks in advance,
Jason
newguru
terry9
2,354 posts
 
@lewm  is dead right.

According to Peter Lederman, matching electronically usually means equalizing channel separation, which is a bad idea which can lead to a poor adjustment. So if you have a high end cartridge, with natural channel separation of say 37dB in one channel and 43dB in the other, you have to cant the stylus at a ridiculous angle to equalize.

Ask me how I know. My higher end Koetsu must have been at 10 degrees to equalize channel separation. Sounded terrible. Set optically and then by ear, and the cartridge sounds sublime. And it scarcely wears at all.

Assuming I've interpreted Lederman correctly and my observations are not too subjective. Anyway, YMMV.
lewm
13,263 posts
 
Interesting report. My experience was also with a Koetsu, an Urushi. What I reported above was what I observed when I used azimuth to alter channel balance, just to see if what others described was true, that azimuth has very little effect on balance for a very large change in azimuth. It was true; for a less than 2db change in balance, the azimuth needed to be 20-30 degrees offcenter.  But also when I next set the Urushi for equal crosstalk, the cartridge ended up at least 5-10 degrees off top dead center. Being a slave to numbers, I listened to it that way for some time. It never sounded as good as an Urushi should sound (in my Triplanar). When I finally readjusted azimuth so as to approximate a 90 degree orientation, regardless of numbers, it sounded much much better. The obvious problem is that equal crosstalk seems to be a good idea, but if it requires the stylus tip to be engaging the groove at an extreme angle, that is NOT good, either for SQ or for the stylus and your LPs. (Not every sample of every cartridge is going to readout that way, of course.)
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,013 posts
 
@wlutke is all over it ! use the tools, get close, dial in by ear…and have a measurable benchmark to return to…..

Peter, a guy w something like 11 patents is a measure and listen guy also……
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
My my my, every single one including Peter Ledermann agrees with me on this one. Be still my beating heart.
boothroyd
365 posts
 
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