The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

[youtubehq]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPgE__GI1AM[/youtubehq]

A wonderful record! I really enjoy the outstanding sound quality of these late electrics. Technically, the 1928/29 DD's were absolutely the most perfected records on the market.

WDC wrote:A wonderful record! I really enjoy the outstanding sound quality of these late electrics. Technically, the 1928/29 DD's were absolutely the most perfected records on the market.

Absolutely!! The only downside, is the shorter lengths of many of the selections to allow for simultaneous release on needle-cut Edisons. I have this DD myself.

There have been "some" that say that the needle-cut releases are "higher fidelity" but I truly don't think so.

Phototone wrote:Absolutely!! The only downside, is the shorter lengths of many of the selections to allow for simultaneous release on needle-cut Edisons. I have this DD myself.

There have been "some" that say that the needle-cut releases are "higher fidelity" but I truly don't think so.

I've never heard that claim before. It's a rather silly claim for anyone to make since Edison verticals and needle cuts were made at the exact same time with a split feed from the mic(s) used. They really couldn't possibly sound any better per se, although the needle type Edisons were cut at a higher level of modulation, they'd only be louder, but not superior in sound quality.

Sean

OrthoSean wrote:

Phototone wrote:Absolutely!! The only downside, is the shorter lengths of many of the selections to allow for simultaneous release on needle-cut Edisons. I have this DD myself.

There have been "some" that say that the needle-cut releases are "higher fidelity" but I truly don't think so.

I've never heard that claim before. It's a rather silly claim for anyone to make since Edison verticals and needle cuts were made at the exact same time with a split feed from the mic(s) used. They really couldn't possibly sound any better per se, although the needle type Edisons were cut at a higher level of modulation, they'd only be louder, but not superior in sound quality.

Sean

I agree with Phonotone on the comment about the length. The last DDs max recording time got shorter so that none would exceed the max allowable time on a needle cut. If you look at this video, you can see that the the grooves only take up ⅔ of the available space.

Sorry if I confused the issue...the length of DDs was certainly shorter when they were issuing them in both formats...I was talking about the sound quality being different.

Sean

OrthoSean wrote:

Phototone wrote:Absolutely!! The only downside, is the shorter lengths of many of the selections to allow for simultaneous release on needle-cut Edisons. I have this DD myself.

There have been "some" that say that the needle-cut releases are "higher fidelity" but I truly don't think so.

I've never heard that claim before. It's a rather silly claim for anyone to make since Edison verticals and needle cuts were made at the exact same time with a split feed from the mic(s) used. They really couldn't possibly sound any better per se, although the needle type Edisons were cut at a higher level of modulation, they'd only be louder, but not superior in sound quality.

Sean

I had a telephone conversation with someone at Diamond Cut Productions, who were releasing on CD the Edison Needle Cut records from the Edison National Historic Site, and they swore that under microscopic examination you can see a wider frequency range captured on the needle-cut records. I was, and still am skeptical. I too, believe the Diamond-Disc vertical cut electrics are the high-point of recording pre-1930.

Phototone wrote: I had a telephone conversation with someone at Diamond Cut Productions, who were releasing on CD the Edison Needle Cut records from the Edison National Historic Site, and they swore that under microscopic examination you can see a wider frequency range captured on the needle-cut records.

Odd sounding claim.

Someone grab a minty DD and it's Needle Type sibling, play them with the same turntable and cartridge (like the Stanton 500) and capture the results on a spectral analyzer. Then you may have something.

Very good stylus matching would be important in such test.