Basic information needed on correctly playing 78's

[bart1927]

There's nothing wrong about using RIAA for casual listening, especially if you have tone controls to tailor the sound just a bit. Indeed, the RIAA curve helps reduce a lot of surface noise w/out having to go to a lot of other folderol.

If you want to make digitsl copies of your 78's and want to achieve the best results, then, bypassing RIAA and utilizing other curves matters more.

That's right. Especially when playing electrically recorded 78's I find that the RIAA curve cuts the treble too much, and boosts the bass too much. When playing acoustic recordings RIAA is pretty good, since they have a limited frequency range: there isn't a lot of treble, so treble cut becomes a very effective hiss filter, and since there isn't much bass to begin with, the bass boost can't do a lot of damage. Unless of course the record has a lot of rumble.

I'm a big fan of the KAB VSP (Vintage Signal Processor) http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/
It's basically a very advanced phono preamp. You can choose between several different equaliser settings (also RIAA), it has a real time click-pop filter (all analogue, so no digital artifacts), a vertical/lateral switch, a hiss filter, etc. It's a great piece of equipment, and I really recommend it.

[Orchorsol]

I'm a big fan of the KAB VSP (Vintage Signal Processor) http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/
It's basically a very advanced phono preamp. You can choose between several different equaliser settings (also RIAA), it has a real time click-pop filter (all analogue, so no digital artifacts), a vertical/lateral switch, a hiss filter, etc. It's a great piece of equipment, and I really recommend it.

I have no experience of these, but have heard many great things about them - firmly on my wish-list for years now, I really must see about acquiring one!

[OrthoSean]

The KAB unit is fantastic and well worth every cent. I've had one for years now and it gets used nearly every single day.

Sean

[Johnny Smoke]

I wonder how many decent plays can you get using a "new" 78 record and a new needle after every play? 1000? Regards, Johnny

[52089]

I wonder how many decent plays can you get using a "new" 78 record and a new needle after every play? 1000? Regards, Johnny

There's a guy on Youtube who's working on that. He posts a video of the same record every 100 plays or so. I think there was a thread here discussing it but I don't have time to look for it right now...