Here are some posts from mastering engineer Steve Hoffman, who did all of
the DCC titles, relating to SOTA vinyl mastering. Have to admire the guys
who want to go through this torture when all they would have to do in the
case of CD mastering is push the "burn" button. So if you still prefer the
sound of vinyl here is some interesting reading:

QUOTE

There is something about Rudy Van Gelder master tapes from the late 1950's
and early 1960's that Neumann cutting lathes HATE! There is a very high
frequency oscillation in those tapes that loves to burn up cutter heads and
cutting amps.

I was cutting LUSH LIFE today with Kevin and I couldn't believe how crazy
the equipment was getting. We slowed down the master tape to about 5 inches
per second and FOUND IT! A pesky tone, embedded in the Van Gelder tapes that
is around 20,000 cycles. ONLY on the cymbals, or when the cymbals hit. I
have no idea why this happens, but we speculate that it is some kind of RCA
limiter reaction to the crash sound; much worse than limiter splatter.

As Kevin and I were pulling out (just his) hair over this, we were talking
about the Neumann cutting system he has. Get a load of this:

It is a Neumann SX-74, built in West Berlin, Germany in very late 1973. It
was shipped new to Whitney Recording Studios in Glendale in 1974 and was
sold to LRS (Location Recording Service) in 1976 where it stayed until 1999
when Kevin Gray bought it For AcousTech Mastering in Camarillo.

Kevin estimates that (conservatively) he has cut 40,000 sides with this unit
since 1978. An amazing amount of vinyl!

Now, here is the blow-mind part: The unit cuts flat from 2 hz to 27,000
cycles! Imagine that.

So, in the 1950's and '60's, the Van Gelder stuff was cut with
Scully/Westrex systems that started rolling off around 12k. No one had any
problem cutting these tapes. With the advent of the Neumann system (which
had to be able to cut an RCA CD-4 quadraphonic carrier tone on the disc with
no problem) things got bad, quickly.

I remember when I cut the original DCC LUSH LIFE LP with Stan Ricker we were
both dumbfounded at the wacky things the tape was doing to the machinery.
Today brought it all back.

Oh, we finally "got it", but it was tough!

Love that Neumann SX-74 though!

UNQUOTE


and


QUOTE

I've been spending this week trying to successfully master Sonny Rollins
"Way Out West" and The Bill Evans Trio "Waltz For Debby" onto 45 RPM discs.
"Tis a struggle folks! These recordings are VERY dynamic and very left/right
heavy; doom for the mastering engineer.

Kevin Gray, who I feel is the best damn record cutter in the world today,
has been tearing his hair out. And let me tell you, that's not a good
idea...

However, we have nailed 'em! Thank goodness. I wouldn't be able to sleep at
night otherwise.

The trick of making a good record, is to, well, make a good record. This
means following certain "rules". Among them are the two most basic:

Rule one: The sound has to be louder than the noise of the vinyl.

Rule two: The sound can't be too loud or the groove will break.

End of old rules. New rules:

STEVE'S RULES:

I will not add ANY limiting or compression to our discs while cutting, even
if the dynamic range on the master tapes is greater than the range of our VU
meters (amazing, but true!)

I will not tamper in any way with the pure tonality of the original master
recordings, even if one drum "thwack" is 10db hotter than the rest of the
music floor.

Kevin and I will not cut too far into the record center at 45 RPM so that
even an average stylus can track the groove with ease.

UNQUOTE


and


QUOTE

If I cut a straight transfer lacquer, you wouldn't be able to tell the
difference between the cutting and the master. If I add some extra "magic" I
do it because it needs to be done! But, I control it, it is not built in to
our cutting system.

UNQUOTE

Also this from Speakers Corner on their latest From Elvis In Memphis vinyl
release:

QUOTE

The lacquers are cut in Hannover at Emil-Berliner-Studios on Neumann VMS 80.
According to my knowledge, no (analogue) equalizer is available there. The
cutting console of VMS 80 does contain an equalizer, but this is so bad that
even if you just connect it into the signal-line the sound becomes worse.
This unit is disabled therefore. So, the answer to your question is: no kind
of equalization, filtering or limiting what-so-ever on this release.

UNQUOTE


________
Thom