Turnable database with TimeLine

Don
I don't think that any of us are claiming perfection. Well maybe one of us is. But we are, most of us, on an impossible quest for same.
Religious? Maybe a substitute, but it is a whole lot of fun.
Given the manyfold problems of vinyl playback, it is a miracle that anything resembling music is possible at all. So maybe a Devine presence is at work.

I graduated from college and started working in Aerospace Engineering just as the WWII generation was starting to retire. I had the privilege of being mentored by engineers that started working just before and after WWII. This is the generation that designed and developed moon rockets, supersonic jet fighters, television and hifi. They did it all using slide rules and look up tables. It was an age of soulful design. On paper, vinyl playback looks bad. On paper, vacuum tubes look bad; but separately and even better together they make music magic. There is a lot to be said for Computer Aided Design and increased engineering productivity; but there is something about the Art of Engineering in vinyl records and the whole recording chain of the past, something remarkable that still amazes us in the 21st Century.

Halcro
You have mistakenly attributed the following quote to Richardkrebs.

01-09-14: Halcro
Richardkrebs is right.....
Why is speed so important? As you know, the primary job of any record player, including turntable, arm, and cartridge, is to accurately reproduce the waveform of the music as it was originally recorded onto a vinyl record....

This quote has been lifted from the pages of IAR Magazine compiled by J Peter Moncrieff - Article on the Rockport Sirius III turntable. I note the article is subject to copywrite. Following convention it would be appropriate to acknowledge the correct author.

Tony, words of wisdom. I have always thought that it´s a miracle that the vinyl groove and the magnetic tape are the recorded music itself. The triumphant victory of post war technology indeed. The modern digital tries to make playback perfect but it´s just an illusion, it still has a very long road ahead to perfection... Meanwhile we can enjoy the music and forget the modern digital technology.
But we can always try to make the analog playback even better and that´s the fun of it ! Here in AudiogoN universe many great minds are searching for the boundaries of the Analog but I wonder if there is anyone who has found them ?
Btw, my very heavy yet very humble TT usually maintains constant speed but sometimes doesn´t... probably due to fluctuations of mains AC. So it won´t pass the TimeLine test. That doesn´t worry me though as I have a very enjoyable system.

01-07-14: Halcro
Peterayer,
I wasn't including you amongst those who have said that a very high-mass platter on a string or thread-drive turntable would be immune to stylus drag as you have admitted the fact......
Dertonearm and Dover I believe in the past (amongst many others previous to the advent of the Timeline)....have made such claims.

Halcro, I have not made the claim that a high mass platter is immune to stylus drag. No turntable is immune to stylus drag.
The unanswered question is how well do various turntables respond to stylus drag.

Proposed Test Procedure

In terms of Richardkrebs suggested testing procedure – stylus off and on: this is not is not a valid test. What we are wanting to quantify is the variation in stylus drag between a heavily modulated record groove and lightly modulated record groove. The test that Richardkrebs proposes compares no stylus drag to some undefined recording. This is unscientific as it lacks a control recording to standardise the test. The results will be random and the conclusions meaningless.

An accurate test procedure would be to agree on a specific record and tracks to be played. The record should contain a variety of tracks in terms of modulation. Then each person should play those tracks continuously from beginning to end. The sum total of the error at the end of this test will be truly comparable between turntables. As Tonywinsc suggested a meaningful sample would be 10 minutes, by which time any stylus drag error if it is significant would become apparent.

01-07-14: Halcro
Yet I have shown on my video of the Raven AC-2....the comparison when the stylus is NOT in the groove and I think that that gives a further comparison to both the motor, belt/string/thread and platter abilities of a belt-drive turntable......or ANY type of turntable.
Your comments (and Syntax's) about only being concerned by the performance when the stylus is tracking the record....is misleading.
I have recordings that have extremely modulated grooves and I have records which have very benignly modulated grooves.
I can adjust the motor controller to handle one or the other.....but unless the speed is manipulated for each and every record you play.......there will inevitable be a difference in the Timeline between different recordings.
This is why seeing the Timeline 'without load' in comparison to 'under load' is valuable. .

You make the claim that “unless the speed is adjusted for each and every record you play.. there will inevitably be a difference in the Timeline between different recordings.”. From your comments above this is only true of the Raven AC2. It is wrong to assume that all turntables behave the same as the Raven AC2. For example, do you find that you also have to adjust the speed on your Victor 101 for each record.