The Mike Moffat (#2 at Schiit) Blog

12" 45s are a thing. Particularly with high quality remasters.

This is a reasonable discussion of 45 RPM vs 33.3 RPM (ignore the dumb analogies though) : https://www.classic45s.com/why45s/45sound.html

 

While I agree that many of us are posting based on what we own or expect to own in regards to 45 vs 33, I don’t think this is analogous to PCM vs DSD at all.

45 and 33 are the same format, just at different speeds. PCM and DSD are entirely different ways of encoding music digitally, although you can translate one to the other. 45 and 33 is the exact same technology, just running at a different speed. 45 RPM requires no extra licensing like DSD, nor special decoders. It does require making some hardware adjustments, but those are common on virtually all modern turntables.

As far as sonic gains, there is no doubt that 45 RPM produces better sound than 33, and the only reason it isn’t the standard is because you simply cannot fit as much music on a side as you can with 33. But 45 RPM gives you multiple benefits, including significantly reducing IGD, and by putting less music on a side, you have more room to track in the grooves, both for the cutting and the playback.

If 45 has all the additional hassle that DSD includes, I would say skip it. It does not, and it’s more mainstream in the vinyl world than DSD is in the digital world. I think it’s an essential feature of any turntable.

 

I wonder if the Manhattan is going to be some sort of dynamically self-adjusting pitch canoodling gadgety thing... like autotune on witchcraft.

 

I thought we already know what Manhattan is?!

 

I love this thing so much, especially the way it just dispenses with the record by dropping it to the side. So, so great.

 

I guess it makes me a philistine, but I never need a turntable again, regardless of how fast or slowly it spins. In fact, I have one in storage where it shall ,along with about 500 70's/80s prog and indie pop albums, remain.

 

Well we know what the gadget is, but I thought the MP was a not-quite-defined-but-bigger-fancier version of the gadget?

 

If I'm not wrong, the Kidhattan is the one coming out soon with Gen 2 USB and a twiddly knob and a You-Close excitement light, but the Manhattan should be Gen 5 USB with a self seeking pitch adjustment still far out in the future.

 

This is how I have been changing speed from 33rpm to 45rpm (and back) since the 80s on my VPI HW19 MKIII.

I have to remove 3 thumbscrew caps and the motor cover to gain access to the pulley and put the thumbscrew caps somewhere safe (I usually just screw them back on) then wash my hands to remove possible oil and move the belt. I leave the motor cover off until I am ready to switch back to 33rpm. At first, I thought this was inconvenient after being used to changing speed with a lever on my previous turntables.

This may sound like a lot of steps but I quickly got used to doing it. It does not seem inconvenient at all. It takes much less time to do than it took me to post this.

My point is - If the Sol can be somewhat easily engineered/manufactured with the ability to change speeds by moving the belt on a pulley, I encourage you to do it.

 

Another vote here for 45 being a necessity. I've got a bunch of modern 45 releases and I wouldn't consider using a table that I couldn't play them on. As others have said, modern music definitely is released as 45 RPM sometimes. For instance, the latest Eno remasters were all only released as 45 RPM.

 

No, I'm afraid it does not. Besides, we have no developed as of yet algorithms to segregate voice. (Lots and lots of instruction cycles.)

RE 33 - 45. It is of marginal cost to add the other radius to the pulley. The headache is customer service. Jason and myself actually agonize over building gear which have difficult/twiddly/awkward adjustments or features. When you sell shit at skinny margins with the hopes of selling lots, customer service reps get expensive. So we have focused on a common design features which are common causes for clients to bitch about. Moffat's law says even if God personally intervenes on equipment design, someone will bitch about something - therefore it is better to give trivial, obvious, bugs. Simpler FAQs will follow. Industry insiders will groan "Oh, Schiit. That Goddam company with switches on the back.", etc.

Anyway, back to the customer service - given the external motor design of the SOL, it requires an acquired skill to hook up the belt. It follows that even the skill to change speed is clearly acquired and therefore difficult/twiddly/awkward.

But wait! This product is a turntable. There is a clear performance advantage in the external motor design. A high performance turntable is a clusterfuck in the context of a music appliance. It is for those who like to twiddle for the sake of performance. Of course I can add the 45rpm feature. Since it is only to keep the price low I can avoid a customer service budget. All I have to do is train customer service - if someone complains about difficulty in changing speeds, the correct response is "If you don't like it go buy a (Insert competitors name with easy speed change here).

So relax - yes, the upcoming Sol will be high performing, dual speed, and require some minor discipline to set up, far less to use, and require an acquired touch to change speeds. A plus is you get (with an extra arm) unprecedented ease in comparing carts and bomb-ass performance, much less for the buck.

 

@baldr This makes me happy. I've avoided turntables for years because of the price of entry. You're likely pushing me over the edge.

 

Knowing a lot about those old Gibson banjos, I think the pitch shifting will be just the start of things.

Maybe you guys could design a tool that ships with SOL that makes setup easier.

 

Perhaps an idiot-proof (wishful thinking) YouTube tutorial is in order as well. I'd watch such a video for MM's commentary alone.

 

"Alright dumbass, this here is called a platter, this is where the flat black thingy goes. Now, pay attention because this is where it gets really phucking complicated... This is called an arm. That's right, like the one attached to your shoulder."

 

If you tell people it's powered by a hamster, I swear someone will actually try hooking up a wheel.

 

Thanks, Merrick.

No need to ask if you remember the old days when we just listened to music. From a turntable. Of course you do: you were there a year or three before I was.

But, today, a turntable is not the thing we have because the thing plays the things that music comes on. Phones and computers have taken over that role. A turntable is for enthusiasts. I have no doubt that a lot of people get into vinyl (I just call them records) because it's the current thing. I have no doubt that there follows some bewilderment, and even disappointment, at some of the simple, practical aspects of this medium and equipment...

What are you going to do when the start phoning in about the crackles and scratches? Never mind the competition, tell them to get back to their computers! If they can't handle the medium and its machinery, they shouldn't... be handling it.

Right decision