The principle of action and the promise of developers
The recording is applied to the material in approximately the same way as on the reference disc for the further production of the print, before stamping the phonograph records. If interested, you can read about it here . According to the manufacturers, the device should work on the principle - plug in the cable, put the disk in, press the button and forget.
Interestingly, the device will be able to cut plates with a diameter of 10 “- this is never a longplay, although a single for friends as a gift is quite enough. This amount, at a speed of 33 rpm, is enough to record 15 minutes on each side of the vinyl blank. It is completely natural that you are guaranteed warm tube noises, detonation and other greasy vinyl “sound”.
The developers claim that in addition to converting sound into mechanical movements of the cutter, the device will also perform the function of a sound engineer, i.e. in fact, to carry out primitive automatic mastering (or just filtering, it was not possible to clarify) of the track, optimizing it for recording on vinyl. This feature is even more alarming than the reliability of the material of the disc that will be recorded and the accuracy of signal transmission when recording.
Price and quality: the truth is somewhere nearby
So, as I noted above, all this controversial pleasure can be purchased on pre-order for only 999 Euros. For example, for the money you can order one or two small runs of vinyl records. And it would seem that the device should pay off. But the developers do not reveal secrets about the number of plates that can be cut using the device.
It is known that even in the manufacture of a reference disc, which is cut with a sapphire cutter on a varnish-coated workpiece, the cutter heats up and in some cases fails for this reason. A logical question arises as to what happens with the subject under similar conditions, given that the density of vinyl is higher than the density of the varnished blank of the reference disc.
It is also unknown whether the built-in filter will convert the bass to mono, which is done before preparing for cutting the reference disc. The latter is a natural limitation of the format. As you know, stereo sound in the low frequency range on vinyl is impossible, and not really needed (due to the psychological characteristics of hearing). Future users can only hope that everything necessary was taken into account in the automatic processing algorithm.
With so many unknowns, I frankly do not understand how the project survived to the current moment. Although, what am I talking about, because "blessed are those who believe without seeing." And it is obvious that it is on the following this biblical principle that the crowdfunding company of developers is designed. Meanwhile, the fundraising campaign has already brought developers $ 477,000 with $ 223,372 sufficient to achieve the goal.
My findings
I'm not ready to say that the device will completely fail and will be outright shit. At the same time, I am very worried about the lack of any detailed technical data on the vinyl recorder. Judging by the recording that was made on the prototype of the device and used in the video for kickstarter, everything is not as bad as in Edison's phonograph and rock on bones.
However, the presented sound quality is far from even the ideal that is possible with physical limitations and the natural framework of such an archaic format as a record. Meanwhile, I was impressed by the idea of the device, and it is possible that with a 50% reduction in cost and full compliance with the declared properties, I would buy such a recorder for myself. My alertness is partially offset by a very simple and stylish design, as well as the very real results of recording from a prototype, the authenticity of which is not suspicious. At the same time, the demo device does not demonstrate the exact fidelity of reproduction (if this concept is applicable to the record), which most expect to hear.
For all my skepticism about vinyl, which I hid in spite of rational ideas about sound quality, I was really impressed by the opportunity to record a record in three clicks. This is especially interesting when you are preparing a gift for a friend who is not indifferent to this topic. It is also likely that the device will be interesting to groups who would like to have a solid record of their own, while they have not yet been able to interest publishers and do not have enough money to publish at their own expense.
In the comments I look forward to a lively and honest exchange of views, I will also be grateful for participating in the survey.
Jeans
We do not trade Phonocut now, and may not trade it in the future. At the same time, our catalog contains a wide range of vinyl players, phono stages, vinyl discs, as well as accessories for players and records, as well as parts of vinyl players .