[78-L] Portable record player

[Michael Biel]

Kristjan Saag wrote:
>> One of the reasons that the Vestax 2000 has been discontinued
>> and most of the other marks haven't been commercial successes
>> is that they came to late.  Dj's were already abandoning vinyl
>> for CD and files. And with new techniques developing since,
>> which makes it possible to scratch  "digitally" with the help
>> of any vinyl platter, used just for registering the physical
>> movement (see my post of December 10) the market for "private" 
>> dubplates is even smaller.

From: H D Goldman <thedoctor at discdoc.com>
> Hi Kristjan,
> You may want to spend a little time at Acoustic Sounds, The Needle Doctor,
> Elusive Disc & others sites before dismissing the current state of analog
> vinyl production. Recent press on the "resurgence" of interest in LPs shows
> a similar mis-representation.
> Reality is that an interest in analog playback has been ongoing & steadily
> growing for over a decade along with the availability of high quality
> modestly priced playback equipment 

I think you have misunderstood what Kristjan was discussing.  He was
referring specifically to dance and scratch DJ usage of vinyl, not
audiophile listening.  Now that DJs can do scratch effects directly with
digital devices in real time they are able to combine the convenience of
digital players and the availability of many things only on digital,
with the effects that formerly were doable only on vinyl. Thus the
reduction in interest in vinyl RECORDERS, which is what this discussion
began with.

You are discussing a completly different world.  But even that was
included in Kritjan's posting:

> The vinyl factories, today, rely more and more on special issues (of
> regular releases) and certain genres like soul, heavy metal etc where
> there's a fashion to release stuff on 45's.   Kristjan 

And considering that some of the earlier threads discussed lossy digital
reproduction as being the norm for a VAST majority of today's listeners,
is is not easy to get them to even listen to lossless CDs let alone the
analog equipment in the vinylphool range!  I don't see there being much
of a call for stunning re-creation of soundstage on 78 playing equipment
-- it is uncommon to find stereo 78s.  Besides, I tend to avoid those
who spend most of their time discussing the spaces between the
instruments rather than the sound quality of the instruments.

Mike Biel   mbiel at mbiel.com   


> [turntable/arm/cartridge combo in the $500-1600 range]. We'll still hear this same BS a decade from now; it's a common thread in the history of recorded sound. This past year hurt a lot of audio based manufacturers & retailers but we're a long way from burying analog sound reproduction. It is likely that both the US & Europe will see new pressing plants come online this year. 

> To date only a small fraction digital audio material available today can rival good analog playback & the cost of the playback equipment places such performance out of reach of the average consumer. Drop & play convenience with continue to dominate in most homes as will portable devices but many will also include modern analog equipment.

> At CES later this week, Herron Audio will demonstrate the new VPI "Classic" turntable. While $2500 for a tonearm/table combo is pricy for most of us, it will offer performance to rival equipment valued at easily 2-4 times its price point. Having had the privilege of hearing this unit with a cartridge & playback equipment I'm very familiar with, it's fair to say you'd have to spend 7-10K on the digital source to get even close; and that's being generous. Stunning re-creation of voice, soundstage & instrumental textures.

> Cheers,  Duane Goldman