tracking ability definition

I think that your last paragraph really sums it up in a non-technical manner.

The stylus/cartridge should be perpendicular to the record groove. However, with a tonearm on a pivot, it will sweep across the record in an arc. The difference is called tracking error. The purpose of cartridge alignment is to minimize the tracking error. A fellow named Baerwald wrote a paper on tonearm geometry sixty or seventy years ago. His conclusion was that the cartridge should be aligned so that it is right on the perpendicular at 6.6 cm. and 12.1 cm. from the turntable spindle. This will minimize the tracking error and it is how cartridge alignment gauges are (should be) calibrated.

A linear tracking turntable eliminates this type of tracking error by having the whole tonearm slide across the turntable, rather than move on a pivot.

Also, think of a car going around a curve in the road. Some will hug the corner; some will rock outwards due to centrifugal force. Since the cartridge/tonearm is describing an arc, it is going around a curve constantly, except for the points 6.6 cm. and 12.1 cm. from the centre. A well designed cartridge and tonearm will ride the curve more easily, thereby keeping better contact with the record groove.

As I understand it, the tracking ability of a cartridge is the ability of the cartridge to maintain the stylus in the groove of a record in order to extract the maximal information. Lower tracking forces prolong the life of your stylus and reduce record wear, but make the cartridge more susceptable to tracking error (stylus literally being transiently thrown from the groove during playback). Shure used to make an evaluation (test) recording that demonstrated, among other things, tracking ability, and one could actually see how well their own particular setup tracked the Shure "torture grooves" of the test record. Others please join in and let me know if I have it wrong.

Hello again. I just thought of something else. In my previous post, I described tracking error as the difference between a cartridge moving across the record perpendicularly, and a cartridge moving across the record in an arc. Some tonearms can mimimize the effect of this error a bit if it holds the groove well. This is "linear tracking error"

If the linear tracking is off, the cartridge isn't situated properly in the record groove. The stylus will be pushing against the outer side of the groove and not making as good a contact with the inner side of the groove. This imbalance in pressure on either side of the groove will cause a loss of detail on information recorded on the inner side. It may also cause an imbalance in the signal from one channel to the next.

There is also "vertical tracking error". Vertical tracking error occurs when the angle of the stylus on playback is different than the angle of the cutting stylus which made the record. You adjust for this by raising or lowering the height of the tonearm at its pivot point. If the tonearm is too high, the sound will tend to be bright, maybe even a bit screechy in extreme circumstances. If the tonearm is too low, the sound will be darker and muddier.

Dear Fadeawayman: +++++ " would i be right in assuming that this means the stylus makes good contact with the groove therefore better reading the recorded sound and playing it more accurately, with more detail? " +++++

+++++ " As I understand it, the tracking ability of a cartridge is the ability of the cartridge to maintain the stylus in the groove of a record in order to extract the maximal information. " +++++

That is all about in plain terms.

IN two cartridges with similar performance I will choose the one with better tracking ability.
There are several parameters that define the better or worse tracking subject, between them: compliance and kind of cartridge suspension, tip mass ( stylus ), kind of stylus and tonearm matching. Normally the high compliance/low tip mass are the best trackers.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.