steward (04/11/83)
After reading the comments on the net and searching record stores around Manhattan for it, I bought the Telarc OMNIDISK and spent about 4 hours last week adjusting my cartridge. I can't believe the difference it makes. Of course, next time I'll be able to do it in half the time. :-) I have since purchased other Telarc pressings. They are truly amazing, especially the Carmina Burana. I feel it was money well spent and recommend it highly. I would like to know what "Half Speed Masters" are? What does the "Half speed" refer to? "Masters"? I see them around but haven't found any salespeople who knew what they were and weren't "bs"ing me into a sale. Bill Steward cmcl2!rocky2!steward Yes, this should be in net.records but "inews" says there's no such group.
ark (04/12/83)
My understanding is that the "Masters" in "Half Speed Masters" refers to creation of the master record from which all the copies are stamped (after several intermediate copies). Normally, this disc is cut in real time: the cutting lathe turns at 33+1/3 RPM and the master tape is played at the speed at which it was recorded. If you run both at half speed (with appropriate changes in equalization) you can presumably cut finer details into the grooves, at the price of taking up twice as much time on the (expensive) cutting lathe. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me.
kar (04/13/83)
Someone has suggested that the reason that the half-speed masters result in higher quality records is the extra time to cut fine details in it. I had heard somewhere that the primary reason for mastering at half speed is that the power required to drive the cutting head is proportional to the square of the speed with which it must move. Reducing the speed by half reduces the power required by a factor of 4, which reduces heat, etc. Or, for a given level of power dissipation, half speed mastering allows cutter excursions twice as fast as normally obtainable. I don't know which of these two factors is being exploited. - Ken Reek, Rochester Institute of Technology ucbvax!allegra!rochester!ritcv!kar