Turn table speed variation question

Piano's toughest, but oboe can also be.

Piano is a great way in which to test the speed stability of a turntable, especially if you concentrate on the decay of notes. Very revealing. I suppose any stringed instrument could do the same, but I think that the rapid variations in stylus drag invoked by the attack and then decay of a sustained piano note is just a more severe test.

If you hear it with any instrument, you are listening to a less than stellar turntable, which is often the case. A lot of times when you don't hear it, it still exists to a smaller degree. Then, it is more homogenized because it is prevalent to the point that things seem normal. Then, it is exhibited by an overall warmth of sorts caused by a subtle smearing of the micro dynamic sort.

The trick for the turntable is to have enough warmth to sound musical by holding coherence in the presentation, rather than sounding musical by jumbling all the elements together.

Sometimes artefacts of the piano tuning process can cause perceived frequency variation, as each note has multiple strings, and the instrument uses a tempered tuning.

The ideal is a single decaying note on a single plucked or struck string, a guitar or dulcimer,say, with any other strings in the instrument damped.

However, even that has issues regarding whether the deck is the cause, as pitch perception can also change as amplitude decreases.

Then, again, there may be artefacts from the cutting process, which are being perfectly reproduced....

So the effect is not necessarily due to the turntable.

John

.

Will, I think there is considerable wow on many recordings, and as you suggest, mostly, I think it is from the original tape, but I often wonder how much is due to my turntable and how much is the recording? To sort it out I check the CD of the same lp, and mostly it's on the CD as well, makes it difficult to evaluate the TT unless you know it to be a wow free recording. I use the Feickert platter speed app. to reassure myself that the turntable is not the culprit as well.