[isw]

In article ,
"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote:

"isw" wrote in message
...
Oh, and WRT to old 16-inch disks, whether horizontal or vertical cut,
they likely predate the use of RIAA equalization, so played back on a
contemporary rig, they might sound a bit odd. It could take a bit of
research to find out what EQ was used on any particular disk, as it
varied from one manufacturer to another.

Or you could simply record it and re-adjust the EQ in your wave editor until
it sounds right to you. That's what the original recording engineer did,
only he didn't have anywhere near the tools now available to the home
recordist these days.

For individual playback, that will certainly work, if all you want is
for it to "sound right". It'll be somewhat more difficult if you want it
to *be right*. But in any case, it's most assuredly *not* the way the
original recording engineer did it. His gear was set up to provide
equalization to a specified curve, and if he was any good, he'd check
regularly -- whenever he changed the cutting stylus, for example -- to
make sure that it stayed that way. As for tools, one of the main ones a
record cutting engineer had was a good microscope -- you can do EQ
directly by measuring the groove.

It's true that, prior to acceptance of the "RIAA curve" as standard,
each manufacturer had its own preferred EQ, but whatever it was, they
stuck to it. The RIAA curve was a compromise that they all agreed to
because the front panels of preamps were just getting too complicated,
and users were getting too confused because every time they wanted to
play a record, they'd have to get a couple of four or five position
switches set up properly.

Isaac