[78-L] 78 rpm stylus question

Wed Aug 27 15:55:18 PDT 2014

The 2.8 TE is producing a notch at about 11.3 KHz. Under the notch is a 
slight increase in amplitude, say apx. 10.8 to 11.1 KHz. The 3.0 does not.

I've never seen anything like this. To my ears it sounds rather like dog 
whistle, but of course it is not.

Joe Salerno

On 8/27/2014 3:41 AM, Christopher Steward wrote:
>
> Hi Bryan,
> I know your post was a long time ago, but for some reason I kept it, and have just looked at a spectrogram of your files. There's a very strange hf glitch in the recordings using your 2.8 mil stylus which I also have recently encountered. If you would like me to send the spectrogram feel free to contact me off-list.
> Chris
>
>
> On Monday, 7 January 2013, 15:36, Bryan Wright <bryan at claxtonola.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> Occasionally when I buy new 78 styli (either from Esoteric Sound or
> Expert Stylus), I get one that sounds "different." I usually order
> truncated elliptical styli in sizes ranging from 2.0 mil to 4.0 mil.
> I'm accustomed to the general "sound" these styli provide, and I know
> what I should be hearing. However, once in a while I get a new stylus
> that produces sound with a light constant "hiss" and a greatly pinched
> frequency range in which the highs seem to be greatly reduced or
> virtually gone. I've encountered this same general "altered sound" on
> about one out of every three or four new styli, and it can affect any
> sized stylus. Rather than try to describe it further, I've posted an
> audio sample with four brief clips:
>
> http://www.bryanswright.com/2013-stylus-test.wav
>
> 1. The first 15 seconds is played with a "normal" 3.0mil TE stylus
> 2. The next 15 seconds is the same record with a stylus as I describe
> above (in this case, a 2.8mil TE stylus)
> 3. The next 20-25 seconds is another record with the "normal" 3.0mil
> TE stylus
> 4. The final 20-25 seconds is the same record with the "problem"
> 2.8mil TE stylus
>
> I don't have a microscope to examine these two styli carefully to see
> what might be causing the different sound. Does anyone here know? Is
> the 2.8mil stylus in the audio excerpt defective? It isn't always
> "worse" (sometimes, the reduced frequency range is a blessing on
> really worn records), but in general, I much prefer the sound of the
> stylus in the first example above. It sounds much more "open" and
> "natural" to my ears.
>
> Thanks,
> Bryan W.
>
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