Apr
15
Written by:
Michael LeClair
4/15/2012 12:47 PM
Maybe this is going to be an unusual NAB Show. I’m used to a flurry of new technologies accompanied by a blizzard of marketing. But I never expected to see the Saturday tech session presentation made by Jerry Whitaker on tube amplifiers and, my goodness, vinyl records. Perhaps it is a case of something being so old that it has become new.
I actually don’t have a lot against tube audio amplifiers. Their main drawback is heat and fragility but I’m old enough to have done a fair amount of early live sound work with tube amps. Power tubes with far lower power ratings always sounded louder and better than solid-state amps back in those days. But the transistor amplifiers in the end won out for professional PA work due to their greater ruggedness. It just takes one slight drop to break a tube.
Musicians, particularly guitarists, feel that tube amplifiers are the best. I have helped out a number of musician friends by repairing their beloved amps as a hobby.
On the other hand, the LP record pressed in vinyl was never my favorite. LPs were fragile and prone to noise. The high-frequency pre-emphasis caused recording and pressing problems. This was a technology that was mechanically marvelous and designed for simplistic playback devices. It was not an ideal technology if perfect reproduction of sound was the goal.
But Whitaker made a great point and it’s worth considering. Sales of vinyl LPs are actually increasing and a certain group of collectors and audio enthusiasts are willing to pay what it takes to get their favorites on vinyl. Why not try it as a radio format in a return to that other lost concept, Appointment Radio? This could be a big hit with a niche group of listeners and I can’t think of a better way to serve them than good old analog FM.
3 comment(s) so far...
Re: Yes, He Said ‘Tubes’
You commercial stations are behind the times again. Non-Comm station KFKX at Hastings College in Nebraska has had a regularly-scheduled, student-run, all vinyl show for the last 6 months. They play classic rock, mixed with classic pop, hip-hop, and even toss in some brand new vinyl tracks, with LIVE jocks telling the listener some great facts and trivia about each track in the process. Yes, there are cue-burns, clicks and pops, and the occasional skip or stick, and the format is AOR (All Over the Road) but it's a HIT! Sorry, we don't have any tube equipment here, but vinyl sounds GREAT going through our Vorsis digital processor... much better than the MPEG-2 grunge from our older automation system.
By B jones on
4/25/2012 10:25 AM
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Re: Yes, He Said ‘Tubes’
It's amusing that vinyl ethusiasts claim that digital processing ruins the sound quality. I guess that they don't realize that modern vinyl is cut from the same 44kHz CD quality files that are copied onto CDs.
By J. Harvey on
5/4/2012 8:10 AM
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Re: Yes, He Said ‘Tubes’
@B jones: not all modern vinyl is cut from 44.1kHz audio files. Some labels are going straigh to analog 2" tape and then branching to vinyl and digital seperately. Other labels are recording at high bitrates (192kHz or 96 kHz) or even doing DSD. Other labels are going as cheap as possible to make a buck. So, it depends which label is doing the release. Beyond bitrate questions, vinyl quality can also depend on who is mastering for vinyl and who is cutting the vinyl masters. There are a few old timers at the controls with some projects, and the vinyl they're responsible for producing sounds nothing short of amazing (far, far beyond anything you'll get off a CD). So, for those buying vinyl, we have to do our homework. But vinyl is far from dead. :-)
By Rob on
5/18/2012 10:23 AM
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