[Andrew Barss]

Arny Krueger wrote:

: The well-known problem with laser pickups is that they do not deform the
: groove in a way that is complementary with the way the groove was deformed
: when the LP was cut. There is also no "plowing action" that pushes fine
: particulates out of the way. Therefore ,nonlinear distortion can be higher
: and groove noise can be oppressive.


Interesting point. A couple of years ago I heard an NPR interview with a
couple ofphysicists who were using wither lasers or scanning electron microscopes to
pick up the sound in wax cylinders deemed too fragile to play conventionally.
I was excited to hear this, then not impressed -- the new tech played slightly
better, but it was still pretty awful. I wonder if the same deforming and
cleaning effect occurs with whatever was used to play wax cylinders as designed
(and if they would sound better if played that way than with the new-tech
system).

-- Andy Barss