STB Flavored FLACS

Two requests, if you have'em.
One of my little obsessions :

The Blackstones
- Never Feel The Pain/Could Be In Love
- You Don't Know Better/She Tells Me With Her Eyes

PS: I have already a transfer you did of the "I Love You No More/The Bag I'm In" single.
 
AZ54 said:
Mark, that interesting set-up makes me a wee bit greedy :)

Here are my requests - some songs I'm became curious about during my travels thru the scans:

South Hampton Story - She Was There
Underbridge Six - It's A Lie
Warlocks - Secret Agent Man
We The People - Point Panic
Wiggs Of 1666 – Never
Xciters - And I Knew You Were Mine
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any info on who the wiggs of 1666 were ?
 
I compared the Ebb Tides Thales Statement Stereo (TSS) transfer with the ancient B86a transfer. Probably not a fair comparison, but the best way to describe the differences is that the B86a sounded small and distant and the TSS sounded closer and larger. The TSS also had a lot more structure and texture.

The Mere Existence was a great flip side I didn't know, even though I have the single!

I would like very much to compare one of the better Kuzma 4-point Mono (K4M) transfers with a TSS transfer of the same track (e.g., Crucibles - You know I do).

(I thought I'd posted this a few days ago, but found it just now sitting in limbo as I'd forgotten to press "Post reply". Since then, I had visited the Bunker and persuaded Mark to make some STB enhancements to certain parts of the recording set up which were common to both the old and the new tonearm-cartridge incarnations; therefore, any A/B comparison as suggested above might reveal more than just the differences in tonearm-cartridge. Nevertheless, I think the differences in sonic character of the different setups would still shine through.)
 
* A further cautionary note to my post above. The STB we used on the TSS system on Friday (as well as on the Kii setup, and on areas common to both) was a singular batch for which Mark had not used the usual methodology or proportions in the fabrication process. The resulting mixture displayed different physical properties from usual; indeed, it acquired a state of matter possibly hereto unknown to man. Therefore, it may not work as expected, and in fact, may not have enhanced the sound at all. Only future transfers may tell. Pray for a miracle, fellow audiophiles! (Actually, part of the treatment to the TSS system involved using an older version of STB, so not all may be lost, although I'm not sure Mark's rare painting will survive the experiment.)
 
Just a note on Daniel's posts - the "weird" batch does work, but it just didn't seem to co-operate on the night of Daniel's visit. I've used it in numerous locations, with great results. However, it's very strange and I will try to avoid making another batch like that. I think it was the different brand of glue, and the way I mixed it.

I also had the opportunity to hear one of Daniel's STB treated systems that evening. It's truly astonishing to hear sound quality at that level coming from such extremely small and hardly top-of-the-range speakers. The sound I heard had all the finesse of the Kii speakers, although at a much lower volume. That's no problem for Daniel who has carefully and sensibly preserved his hearing. After a lifetime of blasting r&r at lethal volume, my own hearing is at the stage where the extra decibles are essential. But I had no problem discerning the superlative sound quality coming from Daniel's set-up, which made me very happy to know that the STB was doing exactly what it should be doing!

I've done all the requests, they will be at bunker86 which is opening soon.

Meanwhile here is the Crucibles "You Know I Do" in two versions. One version is the Thales tonearm with the stereo Etna SL (low output) cartridge. I picked one of the stereo channels and reduced it to mono. The Thales has full STB treatment on the entire length of the phono cable.

The other version is done with the Kuzma tonearm and the Etna mono cartridge. The Kuzma is completely covered with STB, but the cable is treated with TFT which can not be removed. Both versions have the benefit of massive amounts of STB on the power supply. Daniel and I also painted the entire casing of the A/D converter, and the entire casing of the MacBook computer used for the transfers. While I was painting, Daniel was wrapping the digital cables used for the transfers. So there's a lot of STB in place!

This comparison should resolve which arm/cartridge combo is superior. i already know which one I like.


http://www.g45central.com/posts/Crucibles_YouKnowIDo_3.flac
http://www.g45central.com/posts/Crucibles_YouKnowIDo_2.flac
 
Thank you Mark for providing this comparison. To my ears, 3 was a bit weak in the bass, but had good high end detail. 2 had better bass, but less high end detail. Overall 3 had more air and ambience than 2. It's hard to say outright which I prefer, and I could live with either. Finding a way to improve the low end response on 3 would make it clearly outshine 2. I'm assuming 2 is the transfer you did a while back.
 
Outside_Lookin_in said:
Thank you Mark for providing this comparison. To my ears, 3 was a bit weak in the bass, but had good high end detail. 2 had better bass, but less high end detail. Overall 3 had more air and ambience than 2. It's hard to say outright which I prefer, and I could live with either. Finding a way to improve the low end response on 3 would make it clearly outshine 2. I'm assuming 2 is the transfer you did a while back.
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Excellent analysis. Just one correction - I did both transfers tonight, just two hours ago.
 
Outside_Lookin_in said:
Are you saying that both transfers are identical, or that you were super quick at changing tone arms?
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The latter. Changing tonearms takes about 5 minutes. No. 3 is the Thales/Etna stereo. No 2 is the Kuzma/Etna mono.

I agree wih all your comments. My only difference is that the shortcoming in the bass is very minor, and possibly not should not even be called a shortcoming as it may be more accurate. That's hard to say, because both have adequate (to me) bass performance. Otherwise, the Thales/Etna SL is the clear transparency winner as you noticed. In my opinion this is due to the Etna SL stereo (low output) being a much better cartridge than the Etna mono. The tonearms are evenly matched, although with different strengths and weaknesses.
 
bosshoss said:
The latter. Changing tonearms takes about 5 minutes. No. 3 is the Thales/Etna stereo. No 2 is the Kuzma/Etna mono.

I agree wih all your comments. My only difference is that the shortcoming in the bass is very minor, and possibly not should not even be called a shortcoming as it may be more accurate. That's hard to say, because both have adequate (to me) bass performance. Otherwise, the Thales/Etna SL is the clear transparency winner as you noticed. In my opinion this is due to the Etna SL stereo (low output) being a much better cartridge than the Etna mono. The tonearms are evenly matched, although with different strengths and weaknesses.
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You could be right about the difference in bass being minor: the the large amount of extra high frequency information coming through on the Etna SL Stereo may be overwhelming the bass making the difference more perceptual than actual.
 
I should note that the superiority of the Etna SL stereo is only true when making digital transfers. That's becuase you can remove one channel and center the remaining channel. When listening to 45s direct from the vinyl, the mono cartridge will be a better choice because the stereo SL would lose that advantage and the cerntral image would not be stable due to differences between the left and right channels. Even with a mono switch on the amp, there would be more distortion with the two stereo channels combined.
 
I did more listening this morning comparing 1 to 2. There is about 5 db more on the 1 transfer, but apart from that, I could hear a light drumstick tapping which I couldn't hear in 2. Eventually I played 3 and couldn't hear it there either. It's in about the first 20 seconds.
 
Outside_Lookin_in said:
I did more listening this morning comparing 1 to 2. There is about 5 db more on the 1 transfer, but apart from that, I could hear a light drumstick tapping which I couldn't hear in 2. Eventually I played 3 and couldn't hear it there either. It's in about the first 20 seconds.
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What is "1"?
If it's B86a and a regular hollow midrange click on the downbeat, I have listened to it, and I think that it is midrange room resonance coming from the guitar/bass drum. I can also hear it in the 2 and 3 transfers. B86a has more midrange and more (but less extended) bass but it's muddy (compared to the latest STB versions). Not knocking B86a, it's still excellent.
 
The "crazy" STB batch is just as effective as any other batch, I have confirmed. I think I just needed to listen a bit longer and compare various tracks at my normal listening levels.

(The "crazy" STB paint batch is weird because when left for an hour it quickly sets into a very firm sludge with a half inch of (black) water on top, then when stirred, it immediately goes back to a completely thin liquid with a strange consistency. It does this over and over. When it's solid, it would break a stirring stick, when liquid, it's barely thicker than milk or cream.)

When I made the crazy batch, I did 2 things differently. I used a cheaper PVA glue (but I thought all PVA glue would be the same?). Secondly, I initially mixed the ingredients with less water, and they started to coagulate very quickly, until I hastily added more water. I think that was a mistake and probably the main cause of the problem. There obviously must have been some kind of nano-fusion reaction. Like a meltdown.
 
bosshoss said:
What is "1"?
If it's B86a and a regular hollow midrange click on the downbeat, I have listened to it, and I think that it is midrange room resonance coming from the guitar/bass drum. I can also hear it in the 2 and 3 transfers. B86a has more midrange and more (but less extended) bass but it's muddy (compared to the latest STB versions). Not knocking B86a, it's still excellent.
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No, no. 1 is the K4M transfer you made on 13 September 2021 (or thereabouts).
 
So glad to see you back in the flac biz! I've gotta admit that when I start reading all of the technical details of what and how you do what you do my brain starts to hurt but when I listen to the results, my ears feel pure pleasure. Diggin' the sonic moodiness of Harlen Michael and Gary & The Eastmen.
 
 
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