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Benz Micro LP S vs Air Tight PC-1 w/ files

Greetings All,

Having spent the past two weeks comparing the Benz Micro LP S to the Air Tight PC-1, I’ve posted some files to share the results. These are high resolution 96 KHz / 24 bit AIFF files made with each cartridge. I hope you enjoy listening to them and please do post your impressions.

They can be found at:

public.me.com/vinylxfer

or, if your browser doesn’t redirect, here’s the full URL:

http://idisk.mac.com/vinylxfer-Public?view=web

Music / track selection info:

Example #1: Gurdjieff - De Hartmann, “The Bokharian Dervish Hadji Asvatz-Troov” from “The Music of Gurdjieff / De Hartmann.” While many musicians have recorded De Hartmann’s music, this 1950 recording is of the composer performing his own work. Originally restored as reference material for Keith Jarrett’s “Sacred Hymns” album, ECM released a four-disk set of these recordings in 1987. These disks are not in great shape, but they allow us to travel back 59 years to listen to De Hartmann’s beautiful playing.

Example #2: Van Morrison, “Astral Weeks,” title track. 1968 classic is still remarkable. This track was captured from a recent 180-gram reissue.

Example #3: The Durutti Column, “Otis,” from Vini Reilly. Trippy guitar and synth loops that reference everyone from John Fahey to Terry Riley. This track was captured from the original 1989 Factory Records release.

Example #4: Walter Norris & George Mraz, “Drifting,” title track. Norris’ piano and Mraz’s bass playing range from bop to free. Emblematic of the brilliant 1970s loft jazz movement in NYC, this track was captured from the original 1974 Enja records release.

BTW, I don’t mean to suggest that these are the ultimate test tracks. They’re just a sample of what I was listening to last week ☺

Technical Info:

The cartridges were mounted on a VPI JMW 12.7 tone arm / HRX turntable. Mechanical and electrical parameters for each cartridge were adjusted via measurements and then fine-tuned with listening tests. A Pass Labs Xono phono preamp fed an Apogee Electronics Symphony workstation with an Apogee Rosetta 200 analog-to-digital converter front end. The audio was captured at 96 KHz /24 bits. Bias Peak Pro 6.0.3 software was used to create the files. No digital processing was applied to the files.

On surface noise: Each record was cleaned using a VPI HW27 cleaning machine with Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solution Formula #6 cleaning fluid. As the two cartridges appeared to respond differently to surface noise no further cleanup was done on these files, except for the Gurdjieff - De Hartmann. Extensive pops and clicks were removed from the Gurdjieff - De Hartmann captures by manually painting out the errors on the audio waveforms.
dean358
dgad
782 posts
 
Artemus,

While I appreciate your comments as far the length of the Playback chain, any recording is a representation of the recording / playback chain of the studio in question. It does somewhat apply. In addition 24/92 is fairly true to the source. Michael Fremer of Stereophile uses the same procedure but has the luxury to do so in his system. But he does lend out his CDs to his colleagues. Now if you listen to this recording you can hear how into the OP's system as I have. It is quite revealing. I suggest you try it and see if you can come to the same conclusions I have. My conclusions are not about the "absolute performance" of the cartridges but that specific sample of what the OP provided us.
dean358 OP
12 posts
 
Dgad: absolutely no offense taken -- I appreciate your astute and thoughtful comments. I too heard the hum and finally got rid of it this week by separating the power supply and signal chassis on my Xono preamp (I had them sitting on top of each other.) Glad you liked the Walter Norris & George Mraz. Rick at Rino Records in New Paltz, NY (845) 255-0230 can probably get you a copy.

Artemus: I never meant to suggest that this was any type of “absolute” listening reference. I did, however, try to control as many variables as possible so that a relative comparison between the cartridges could be made. And I found it very helpful to go back and forth between the two cartridges without having to unmount / remount them on the arm. But, as you point out, they’re both sitting on a VPI TT, which biases the test. That’s why I listed the equipment used in detail.
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,996 posts
 
Dgad & Dean. Thanks for the responses. I have never known where this sampling of carts began & didn't know of Fremer's part in it.

Dean

I can understand where the recording of 2 different carts would be a great practice and very informative to you since it is being done within a closed system (yours). IOW's the main variable is whether you trust the cdr and cdp to give an accurate representation of the carts. That said, I believe a reasonable assessment can be made and it is probably superior to be able to immediately listen to 2 different carts via cd rather than to have the time lapse of changing arms and forgetting what you have heard from previous cart

Dgad

I also have little doubt that I might hear some differences in the OP's tracks. My question is how I should interpret what I have heard in a completely different system (mine). Can i make an accurate prediction of how that cart might sound in my system? i don't think so
dgad
782 posts
 
Artemus,

I agree that I would not know how the Benz LP would sound in my own system from listening. But I could get a slight sense of character. Now the PC-1 sounds similar to my experience in my system. You should really try downloading the recordings. It is a fun test.
dean358 OP
12 posts
 
IOW's the main variable is whether you trust the cdr and cdp to give an accurate representation of the carts.

Actually, I believe the main variable in these tests to be the relationship of the cartridges to this particular tone arm and how well they were aligned. (I’m not a turntable set up meister, at least by the standards of the folks who post here.) There was, however, no CDR or CDP used. The 96KHz/24bit files were created using a two-channel version of this hardware:

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/symphony-system.php

This particular Symphony system is dedicated to capturing output from the TT and has a minimum signal path ahead of it. And, as this was not a commercial application I left tons of headroom at the a-to-d when creating the files.
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