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VTA adjustment and tracking. A critical must for true purists and the discerning DJ.
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PaULiN0
I've always mixed my time code records or regular vinyl with ortofons with unbalanced tone arm hieght and ridiculous tracking force. I never got skipping nor perfect transitions. Why should we care about this stupid looking part of the turntable and how come nobody mentioned tutorial stickies in the djbooth.

If you want better sound quality meaning even tonal balance (not like uber analog) i'm talkin reproduction accuracy. This also contributes to better mixes obviously and less record wear.

Here are ways to set up tone arm height and why its important, also tracking force (balancing a tone arm)





Here's a tutorial for anti skate and what its for. From my experience you would want it to be zero but hi quality playback you set it to the same as the tracking force.


Innocence Lost
I think this thread should be in the stickies section under equipment tutorial part.

Funny thing is that most djs back then just slapped on vinyl without calibrating and probably never in their lives got to experience the full potential of vinyl tracking.
DJ RANN
quote:
Originally posted by Innocence Lost
I think this thread should be in the stickies section under equipment tutorial part.

Funny thing is that most djs back then just slapped on vinyl without calibrating and probably never in their lives got to experience the full potential of vinyl reproduction.

Now looking back on this I used to use these settings and now I have my own enhanced version.

The way I do things now with tracking force is that I use 90% weight for customized reproduction of timecode accuracy. For example its like having 10% of air getting out of a hot air balloon or full blackness and then some for other channel when mixing 2 together, that's my formula. When cueing and backspinning and feels like a full signal with little dip and when mixing it produces enough authorative lows and well balanced mids, highs.

after, read the tut on tone arm height then your set. When accomplished, mixing 808's without those necessary highs are just a breeze. It was said before you mix with highs.


I can't understand WTF you are talking about. It's a digital control signal. Beyond the DVS system properly picking up the signal, there is no sonic difference because your needles are set up better or worse.

There is an analogue element in that manipulation of direction of the platter (i.e. tracking) but other than that, there is absolutely no way that your needles being setup better can ever possibly affect the audio quality of the digital track that the time code is manipulating.

It's simply impossible.
Innocence Lost
My bad I was using different cartridges and was looking for an all balance set up so would just switch without calibrating which was really dumb so i take my version out of the tutorial.
Looney4Clooney
the 0s and 1s tend to have less aliasing with better needles. duh

I suppose the actual tracking will make a difference live in that skips but i would of thought given the material doesn't conform to an actual 45,

Is the tracking more robust than an actual 45 ? IT should.
DJ RANN
quote:
Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
the 0s and 1s tend to have less aliasing with better needles. duh

I suppose the actual tracking will make a difference live in that skips but i would of thought given the material doesn't conform to an actual 45,

Is the tracking more robust than an actual 45 ? IT should.


Wat?

The 0's and 1's you speak of are purely tracking information about direction and speed, there's no direct correlation between audio signal quality and how well the needle tracks the 1k tone.

The tone is also 180 degrees out of phase to provide dual reference streams in case one doesn't pick up perfectly so aliasing doesn't really come in to it. All the needle does is pick up the tone which states position and that's a finite thing - it either "hears" it, or it doesn't.
Adam420
An essential process.
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