Before you say no way, your past conversions sounded great, lets just throw out everything we know, because I think holding onto past knowns has thrown me off for years now.
My cd4 setup for years had been Cai's old setup, a mitsubishi linear tracking turntable with signet cartridge. When I got this pairing, it seemed to be a magic bullet, and away I went converting Black Sabbath - Paranoid and Hugo Montenegro - Love Theme From the Godfather with results that had been described as the best sounding cd4 conversions from US vinyl. (or "well, it sounds.....okay.....but your demodulator may need work" from a guy who's name starts with Q and ends with uadbob)
But, I wonder....have I been calibrating correctly?
The marantz cd4 calibration record that is supposed to pair with the cd400 states that you turn the knob fully clockwise, use the 30kHz tone which will sound distorted, and go counter clockwise until it isn't distorted. However....what is distorted/not distorted? That is, how should the tone sound when it isn't distorted?
Before you say, not distorted, duh....the thing is, I don't know what we have for a tone. Is it a pure sine wav? Because, up until now, I've calibrated for it to sound like a buzzy kinda wave, maybe sawtooth like. Turning the knob had me going back and forth between sandpapery breakup, and consistent buzz wave, with me thinking that that is what it sounds like. But, after going through many trials and failures, I finally broke down and got the one cart that ever gave me magic bullet results retipped, since I can't find a replacement stylus anymore. And it was retipped with a line contact tip, which should be within spec. But....I didn't get those magic bullet results, and like everything else I've been trying over the past few years while Japanese imports sit on the to do pile collecting dust, my results have be going.....eh.....well.....maybe? I think that sounds like it did? Er....no....NO...FUCK THIS ALL, I FUCKING HATE FUCKING CD4 FUCK FUCK......eh, you get the idea.
But, I don't know that I've been turning the knob the right way for distortion to end. I think I've been going counterclockwise, and turning clockwise, going through the breakup spot, until I get the sawtooth wave, which is the opposite of what the instructions say when I double checked that today. So, this time I started clockwise, had my buzz wave, went through the sandpaper, and ended in pure sine wave territory.....which had me going....no.....no....I couldn't have been doing this wrong all those years and gotten the results I did.
Did I?
Well, the results seem to be good. I'm still uncertain, all cd4 confidence I once had years ago is long gone at this point, but....I think I was doing it wrong and somehow got lucky with records that decode great even with bad calibration, and EQing to correct the dulled results that come from turning too far clockwise.
Or....I'm wrong now, the retip isn't as good as the original tip (plus I've decided I hate linear tracking and have gone to a pivot arm...which this morning I think I improved things slightly by going with a stevenson alignment since the most problematic parts of the playback have been at inner grooves), and the rotations are reversed to take into consideration the control is on the back, and you are likely going to reach back from the front.
ARRRGGGHHH.....I don't seem to know anything anymore, and am at a point where I need feedback from the experts, since clearly I am not one of them anymore in this department.....or I was.....or, I need to relearn or.....ugh....ok, I'm rambling at this point, time for the other cd4 gurus out there to chime in.
My cd4 setup for years had been Cai's old setup, a mitsubishi linear tracking turntable with signet cartridge. When I got this pairing, it seemed to be a magic bullet, and away I went converting Black Sabbath - Paranoid and Hugo Montenegro - Love Theme From the Godfather with results that had been described as the best sounding cd4 conversions from US vinyl. (or "well, it sounds.....okay.....but your demodulator may need work" from a guy who's name starts with Q and ends with uadbob)
But, I wonder....have I been calibrating correctly?
The marantz cd4 calibration record that is supposed to pair with the cd400 states that you turn the knob fully clockwise, use the 30kHz tone which will sound distorted, and go counter clockwise until it isn't distorted. However....what is distorted/not distorted? That is, how should the tone sound when it isn't distorted?
Before you say, not distorted, duh....the thing is, I don't know what we have for a tone. Is it a pure sine wav? Because, up until now, I've calibrated for it to sound like a buzzy kinda wave, maybe sawtooth like. Turning the knob had me going back and forth between sandpapery breakup, and consistent buzz wave, with me thinking that that is what it sounds like. But, after going through many trials and failures, I finally broke down and got the one cart that ever gave me magic bullet results retipped, since I can't find a replacement stylus anymore. And it was retipped with a line contact tip, which should be within spec. But....I didn't get those magic bullet results, and like everything else I've been trying over the past few years while Japanese imports sit on the to do pile collecting dust, my results have be going.....eh.....well.....maybe? I think that sounds like it did? Er....no....NO...FUCK THIS ALL, I FUCKING HATE FUCKING CD4 FUCK FUCK......eh, you get the idea.
But, I don't know that I've been turning the knob the right way for distortion to end. I think I've been going counterclockwise, and turning clockwise, going through the breakup spot, until I get the sawtooth wave, which is the opposite of what the instructions say when I double checked that today. So, this time I started clockwise, had my buzz wave, went through the sandpaper, and ended in pure sine wave territory.....which had me going....no.....no....I couldn't have been doing this wrong all those years and gotten the results I did.
Did I?
Well, the results seem to be good. I'm still uncertain, all cd4 confidence I once had years ago is long gone at this point, but....I think I was doing it wrong and somehow got lucky with records that decode great even with bad calibration, and EQing to correct the dulled results that come from turning too far clockwise.
Or....I'm wrong now, the retip isn't as good as the original tip (plus I've decided I hate linear tracking and have gone to a pivot arm...which this morning I think I improved things slightly by going with a stevenson alignment since the most problematic parts of the playback have been at inner grooves), and the rotations are reversed to take into consideration the control is on the back, and you are likely going to reach back from the front.
ARRRGGGHHH.....I don't seem to know anything anymore, and am at a point where I need feedback from the experts, since clearly I am not one of them anymore in this department.....or I was.....or, I need to relearn or.....ugh....ok, I'm rambling at this point, time for the other cd4 gurus out there to chime in.