REGISTER NEW USERLOST PASSWORD? WELCOME, Logout

Dynamics

Paul's Posts — 12 June 2012

By

Dynamics

Not to be on a nostalgia kick here but yesterday’s post about Direct to Disc recordings got a few of you to ask me why a Direct to Disc was so much more dynamic than a standard recording and the answer is simple: one less layer and vinyl has more dynamic range than does tape.

Tape recorders have always had a myriad of problems from hiss to restricted dynamics.  There is only so much range between the loudest and the softest you can capture with tape.  Vinyl LP’s, on the other hand, exceed the dynamics of tape and if the engineer wanted to (he probably didn’t) rules could be broken that would have enough dynamics to cause damage to a phono cartridge.

Dynamic range on tape, even on the best of tapes, rarely exceeded the high 60dB range and typically was limited to the low 60dB range.  Since the vast majority of vinyl LP’s of the day were all mastered from tape recordings, this meant the practical limits in dynamics of the LP was the same as tape – let’s call it 60dB.  Not a lot when you think about the 120dB range of a good digital recording.

Vinyl, on the other hand had fewer restrictions: dynamics exceeding 70dB could be achieved on a Direct to Disc recording and often times when a musician got carried away on a pluck of the bass or the bang of a drum, even wilder ranges could be experienced since most Direct to Disc recorders didn’t employ limiters.  I remember one such track that was only playable on a few phono cartridges – so dynamic the kick drum that it nearly kicked the needle out of the track.

If you’re into vinyl and can find one of these rare treasures, grab one.  It’ll be an eye opener.

email Dynamics Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers

Get new and fresh stories like this each morning by joining the folks reading Paul's Posts. Click here

Related Articles

Young turks Get that mole! Treat the cause or the symptoms? Jelly rolls

Share

About Author

Paul McGowan

Paul McGowan is the CEO and co-founder of PS Audio Inc. a Boulder Colorado design and manufacturing company of high-end audio products and services. McGowan has been designing and building high-end products for nearly 40 years. Hobbies include skiing, music, hiking, artisan bread baking, kick boxing and cooking. He lives in Boulder Colorado with his wife Terri and his 4 sons.

(10) Readers Comments

  1. Gannon

    June 12, 2012 at 6:11 am

    I’d interject that the ‘one-take’ aspect added to it as well…at least in the case of the Sheffield recordings, some of the finest musicians and recording equipment and practises were added to the equation…and when highly-trained individuals KNOW they’ve got one take before the hot vinyl sets for good, their focus increased and greatness ensued.

    Plus, the microphones and placement used for the Harry James and his Big Band in that old Hollywood church captured some subtle phase relationships between performers which still allows some of the best and most precise system setup procedures today. It helps that the music is fun to hear, too.

    Cheers!

  2. Ladderman

    June 12, 2012 at 6:14 am

    In the late 70’s Telarc released a version of the 1812 overture with Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. There was a warning on the cover about the dynamic range as the cannons were recorded digitally and mixed in at high level. You could actually see very clearly with the naked eye, the big deviation in the record groove where they went off. I think this record is responsible for more blown up bass speakers than any other album in history. As to Amanda McBroom and others referred to the other day, they were heaven and bliss compared to this. When a customer came into your store with this under his arm and wanted to hear it on a modest system you new things were going to get messy. Thankfully I haven’t heard the album for years and it has put me off the 1812 forever.

    • June 12, 2012 at 6:29 am

      I remember the famous Telarc 1812 as well, it was a sonic stunner I believe they called it!

  3. hahax

    June 12, 2012 at 6:31 am

    But vinyl replay does have one practical restriction, the ability to track heavily modulated grooves. Fortunately this wasn’t cut on records too often. But there were some famous examples of records that could cause all but the best tracking systems to literally jump out of the groove. And there were other cases where the needle stayed in the groove but it was hopping around losing contact and not sounding too good as well as chopping up the vinyl.

    • June 12, 2012 at 6:41 am

      It actually has many practical restrictions :) but you’re right about this one. What’s interesting here is that on a tape recorder, once you saturated the tape there simply was nowhere left to go with respect to dynamics – but on a vinyl disc if you managed enough tracking force and with the right cartridge you could get crazy dynamics – enough to damage your system if you weren’t careful.

  4. alan

    June 12, 2012 at 7:24 am

    Speaking of dynamics that could kick a needle out of the groove I bought one of the first Telarc recordings of the 1812 Overture. In the section where the cannons are fired there is first the sound of the powder blast, followed by a booming reverberation akin to the sound of thunder. It is my understanding that the recording engineer had to manually space the grooves to accommodate the tremendous excursions required for the extremely loud, low frequency reverberation. It is also my understanding that after the first run, because of complaints, Telarc reduced the recording level by 3 dB. However it was the extremely fast rise time and extent of the powder blast that gave needles fits. My phono had a high compliance cartridge that was able to track what must have been akin to a square wave. So excited was I that I rushed over to a friend’s to demonstrate this wondrous recording. The first time through, his stylus simply cut a new groove on every cannon blast, that effectively ruined that record. Afterward, my own stylus simply followed this new easier groove as well. Interestingly Telarc’s corresponding digital recording doesn’t seem to have that same oomph.

  5. Tom

    June 12, 2012 at 7:36 am

    Vinyl-shminyl. If you want really super dynamics off a disc, you need to get back to the 3 mil groove on a 78 rpm shellac disc.

    We often forget that music lovers back in the day decried various sonic losses of the LP when compared to the 78.

  6. Terry Franklin

    June 12, 2012 at 9:58 am

    Today we have a casual rational discussion about the limits of dynamics in vinyl spinning at 33 1/3 RPM. If I understand this correctly the limits for vinyl dynamics is approximately 60 dB for most existing recordings and 70 dB for a few esoteric LPs. Digital has a range limitation of 120 dB, but yet the dogma is that vinyl in all of its short-comings still sounds better than digital regardless of equipment that is used for playback.

    In the July, 2012 issue of Stereophile, a rocket scientist (I kid you not) has designed another $150,000.00 turntable to extract the best information possible from that standard 60 dB range utilizing on the average $35.00 software. (OK I just guessed at the average value of existing vinyl—it very well could be less.) I ask you¸ is there anything wrong with this picture? Yes, this man has the right to design anything he has the ability to create. But should the audiophile community embrace this? Is the Emperor wearing any clothes?

    I know this is heresy and I fully expect to appear before the Grand Audiophile Inquisitor.

    BTW—I did not know that dynamics were lost when the transition was made from 78 to 33. Somehow that is never discussed.

  7. oliver T. Finch

    June 12, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    Imagine if cartridges could track 120 db cuts. Digital would cease to exist except for the sake of it. Even at 60 to 70 db limit vinyl handily beats digital as far as musicality is concerned and specially listening for long periods. Good tube amplification sounds significantly more dynamic than solid state. To get a satisfying feeling of dynamics solid state has to be played loud always, not so with good tube equipment specially triodes. Loudness is not the same as dynamics we all know.Regards.

  8. Gordon

    June 13, 2012 at 9:17 am

    “dynamics”, now there’s another important audiophile term.

    Are dynamics always there in the source and are we re-creating them or are we attempting to create them regardless of the source?

    I am in the mountains of BC this week visiting my mid-fi brother and trying to tweak his audio rig.
    Explaining the “improvements” keeps bringing us back to the question of whether the sound actually exists in the source material and how the “dynamics” , accuracy and heightened details might actually limit the ability to enjoy the majority of his music collection.
    The quest for improved reproduction equipment must never end but meanwhile we need to pressure, through education, those responsible for the advancement of “dynamic” recording techniques.

Leave a Reply