Pathe Actuelle Phonograph Ill Take You Home Again Records

[ Home | Staff & Contacts | HiFi Playground | Listening tests | DIY & Tweakings | Music & Books ]

On an Overgrown Pathé

Mono-a-Mono

[Italian version]

Writer: David Hoehl - TNT USA
Published: June, 2013

An heady new dwelling house entertainment technology was in its infancy, and ii incompatible systems were duking it out for consumers' hearts and wallets. The technology's originator had the better-performing arroyo and was commencement to market. The competing approach, devised to circumvent the originator's patents, had technical limitations but besides some practical advantages in production and consumer convenience, and its advocates were ameliorate, more ambitious marketers. One by one the early adherents to the originator's system defected or fell by the wayside, and after occasional technical enhancements failed to shore up its sales it was driven from the market place just every bit a radical new technology completely changed the face of the manufacture.

I hear disgruntled muttering: "Why is he wasting space in an audio journal recounting the tired history of Beta vs. VHS in the run-upwardly to DVDs?" Ah, but I'm not! History repeats itself, we are told, and in the example of our favorite hobby that'south all too truthful: in a nutshell, the above describes the early on history of the phonograph record.

The "originator" above, of course, was Thomas Edison, and his system is known as "vertical cutting," or, more colorfully, "hill-and-dale" recording. The competing system, brought to market supremacy past forces that would coalesce into the Victor Talking Machine Company and its foreign affiliates, was termed "lateral cutting" or, sometimes, "needle cut." That'south the one that prevailed, and today we know it but as "mono," although properly speaking both were purely monaural. The ii vied with each other up until electrical recording, that "radical new technology" introduced in the mid-1920s, put acoustic recording, and vertical cut, to bed permanently. Thus, the beginning collector of pre-electrical records needs a working knowledge of both systems to handle them successfully on modern gear or, if exploring antique phonographs, to avoid destroying records!

Understanding the divergence is easiest if you know a bit about acoustic recording. Remember of a tin-can telephone: 2 cans with a cord tautly stretched between them. Admiring his girl's blood-red wearing apparel, the guy holding ane tin cries into it, "I similar you lot in red." Concentrated by the sides, the sound waves of his phonation ready the bottom of his tin vibrating; the string transmits those vibrations to the bottom of the can held by his lady friend opposite and causes it to duplicate them, at to the lowest degree roughly; and because our admirer friend is not schooled in the peculiarities of speaking for a purely mechanical sound transmission arrangement, she hears "I'd similar you in bed," drops the can, stalks over, and boxes his ears.

Or maybe non. Sometimes there'south something to exist said for old technology!

But I digress. The point is that if you substitute a tape for the string, that'south how acoustic recording worked: sound waves were concentrated onto a diaphragm (analogous to the bottom of the gentleman'southward can, simply ordinarily drinking glass or mica), causing it to vibrate; an attached stylus would trace those vibrations every bit a continuous wiggling groove in the moving surface of a recording blank. After the blank was processed into a commercial recording, the playing mechanism did the aforementioned affair in opposite: as the tape turned, a stylus riding in the groove would transmit those wiggles to an fastened diaphragm (analogous the bottom of the lady's can), making it reproduce the vibrations that cutting the groove in the first place. Add together a horn or prophylactic Y-tube to bring the resultant reconstituted sound to the ears of a listener, and you take a working all-mechanical recording/playback system.

So what about vertical and lateral cut? I'll bet yous now can encounter where we're going. The departure is in how the groove is "modulated," that is, in which direction it wiggles. In vertical cutting, the recording diaphragm makes the cutting stylus bob upwards and downwardly perpendicular to the record surface, cutting the wiggles into the bottom of a groove that maintains a constant width.

The playback stylus, to recreate the audio, therefore too rides upwards and down: goes upwards loma and down dale, so to speak. Vertical cutting�"hill and dale." In the lateral cut system, the cutter's diaphragm is prepare at 90 degrees, vibrating parallel to the surface of the record, and so instead of wiggling up and downward, the resultant groove is of constant depth simply wiggles from side to side, as does the reproducing stylus in playback. And here'southward an important implication: because recording equipment relied on levers and pivots with no compliance outside their favored direction, lateral cut records accept only noise in the vertical aeroplane and vertical cut records have just racket in the lateral plane. Hence, with a conventionally wired stereo cartridge, setting your preamp to "mono" will cutting out tremendous amounts of surface dissonance when playing a lateral cutting record but cut out all the music, leaving null but noise, when playing a vertical cut i.

Y'all tin can see how the designs play out in these 2 photos of "reproducers," the mechanical phonograph's equivalent of a modern phono cartridge. Note that the Edison stylus is a permanently mounted diamond, whereas the Victor reproducer relies on replaceable steel needles held by a spiral chuck. And yes, in those days tracking force was formidable; for these two models, somewhere around 75 grams or so.

Edison'south unique reproducer for vertical cut discs

Victor Exhibition reproducer for lateral cutting discs

Why carp with vertical cut? Aside from the trend of interesting performers to stay mostly in one realm or the other, vertical cut recording had an important technical advantage over lateral. Because the groove lesser carries the modulation, very loud sounds simply cutting a deeper groove. In lateral recording, past contrast, an overloud sound could cause the cutter to swing and so widely that it went correct through the groove wall, spoiling the record. Hence, in theory, a vertical cut recording is amend capable of conveying natural dynamics.

Adopting a wide groove pitch could meliorate that problem, just, in those days before variable pitch cutters, only at the cost of reduced playing time per side. To address this issue, Victor, at to the lowest degree, engaged in a quaint form of "limiting": when, say, Enrico Caruso was about to striking a full throated high C, a recording banana would blitz over and pull him away from the recording horn to avoid overcutting the record! Thus, in my experience, vertical cut records, when played on menstruum equipment, at their best give a better movie of the true size of a vox. I have some that reach stone concert volume levels and will drive yous from a domestic room. As is usually the case with 78s, the sheer mechanical power of the audio springing from those quondam grooves is simply astounding.

What are the practical implications for those wishing to go their anxiety wet playing early records, be they veritcal or lateral cut? In the case of conventional lateral cut issues, past far the bulk of those typically encountered, the requirement is pretty unproblematic: a "mono" setting on the phono preamp to get rid of that vertical component, which as noted is all or almost all noise. When copying a tape, more advanced collectors sometimes prefer to play early records back in stereo and, with specialized equipment or software, select the groove wall with to the lowest degree noise, but a "mono" setting is your best friend for general playback.

Playback of vertical cut recordings with similar rejection of lateral dissonance is a bit more involved. For those whose tonearms feature interchangeable headshells or arm wands and who have preamps with a "mono" setting, the simplest solution is to wire a second cartridge for vertical playback by swapping the right aqueduct leads, "hot" headshell wire to the cartridge's "ground" pin and "ground" wire to the "hot" pin. Engaging the preamp's "mono" setting will so yield a pure vertical signal. Ane tin, of grade, rewire a single cartridge every bit needed rather than buying a 2d one, just I don't recommend that approach, as headshell wires are fragile little things, and constant reshuffling raises the risk of inadvertently shifting the cartridge out of alignment. Therefore, those whose artillery lack provision for easily interchanging cartridges my do amend to buy specialist gear with a switchable "vertical" setting or otherwise yielding a vertical signal.

I such device, which I only recently discovered, is the KAB Great Sounds Escorts Stereo Canceler. I've had limited fourth dimension with it, but after figuring out that I'd patched it in backwards (!) on my hasty first attempt, I plant that it does work very well, although, as some accept pointed out on diverse forums, those with a bit of do-information technology-yourself facility could concoct a home brew to achieve the same result with a minimum of expense and attempt. The Stereo Canceler is a footling black metal box, 1.5" Ten 2" X 4", with ii sets of RCA jacks, ane for input and ane for output. I can now state with authority that the labels are meaningful!

Inserting this little passive processor into the signal chain between turntable and amplifier and playing a tape in stereo yields a vertical monaural signal, just like engaging the "mono" push for a lateral cut record: much quieter and fuller than you tin obtain with stereo playback of the same record. If yous plug in the Stereo Canceler and so switch your preamp to "mono," y'all'll become dead silence. I detected no hum or noise bug, and the limits of audio-visual recorings, the vast bulk of verticals, overwhelm whatsoever questions of frequency bandwidth. That said, I tried the unit with a late, electrically recorded Edison diamond disc and got excellent results. My have is that information technology provides a neat solution for those whose do-it-yourself skills or inclination are express. Its main drawback is that because it lacks a bypass switch, you'll need either to add together some sort of external switching or else bandy patch cables whenever you lot want to add it to or remove it from the point chain. Information technology's bachelor for around $fourscore from KABUSA.

The KAB Stereo Canceler, a potentially handy tool for vertical cut records

More than desperate examples of vertical-adapted hardware include the REK-O-KUT CVS-fourteen or CVS-16 turntables sold past Esoteric Sound and the KAB EQS MK 12 preamp, like the Stereo Canceler a product sold past KABUSA (I should note that I have no personal feel with either, although both sellers are well respected among collectors). The trouble at that place, of form, is that gear designed for such flexibility with sometime records may not be what ane would desire for mod ones in a unmarried system asked to handle both, and in all events it'south likely to be pretty pricey, more and then if one sets upwards a separate system but for 78s.

How to recognize which records are vertical cut and which are lateral? All cylinders were vertical cutting. The big names in the Us were Edison and Columbia; in Europe, Pathé was probably the largest, although certainly in that location were enough of others. Less certain are apartment disks. Here'south a quick rundown of some disk labels that you may encounter:

Purely lateral Cut labels of the audio-visual era number in the hundreds; those springing immediately to listen include Victor and its less frequently encountered early sublabels Monarch and Deluxe, the English language Gramophone Visitor (HMV) and its diverse strange branches, Columbia (disks; the cylinders, of course, were vertical cut), Edison Bell ("The Winner," "Velvet Confront"), Silvertone (house characterization of Sears, Roebuck and Visitor, generally pressed by Columbia and drawing on its catalogue for content), Odeon, Polydor, and Parlophone. In a tip of the chapeau to our editor'southward homeland, some of the most beautifully recorded disks of the audio-visual era were produced by the Italian company Fonotipia, a purely lateral characterization focusing on the opera. Legions of smaller labels, mostly purveyors of the 24-hour interval'southward popular tunes, include the likes of Cameo, Puritan, Grey Gull, Van Dyke, Romeo, the English Beltona ("Curiously Euphonic"), and on and on. All were intended to be played with unmarried-utilize steel needles.

Comparative thickness of Edison (left) and conventional 78 RPM (right) records

The master vertical cut labels were Edison and Pathé. Both started as producers of cylinders well earlier the advent of disks, and Edison remained the last holdout true-blue to the before format at the visitor's demise in 1929. A latecomer to disks, Edison in 1912 introduced an eighty RPM tape of a unique type, never copied by whatever other company, designed for playback with a permanently mounted precision-footing diamond stylus. Once seen, Edison "Diamond Discs" are instantly recognizable: �" thick, 10" in diameter (with a few rare exceptions, fodder for a later commodity), laminated in construction, with noticeably effectively grooves than the average 78 and surfaces pressed not in shellac merely in a Bakelite-like material actually called Condensite. I like to say that they are the closest thing man has devised to an indestructible object as long as they aren't played with a steel needle; i of those will apace ruin a diamond disc. Earlier examples have the characterization data almost illegibly half-toned into the record surface (see photo to left) and may or may not disclose the name of the performer, while after ones have paper labels (photo to right), usually white with black lettering but occasionally black with white; non infrequently, these take fallen off, leaving behind only a brownish cardboard circle into which the catalogue number has been embossed. On the half-toned discs, catalogue numbers may appear on the label or may be stamped, usually illegibly, into the thick border of the record. Ii years before its demise, Edison'southward company finally bowed to market place forces and introduced an electrically cutting lateral tape, pressed in conventional shellac and sporting a blackness characterization with gilt print and decorative lighting bolts. Unlike the diamond discs, which remained in parallel production, these new records were designed for playback with steel needles. It was also niggling too late, and Edison left the market in 1929; Edison laterals are quite rare and expensive today.

8" etched characterization (left) and 14" newspaper characterization (correct) Pathé records with an LP for comparison

Pathé embarked on disk production much sooner and adopted a unique broad, shallow groove geometry for playback with a large-radius sapphire stylus, held in a chuck and hence replaceable in the same fashion as a steel needle but billed every bit permanent, the so-chosen "sapphire ball." Later brief experiments with laminated pressings on a physical (!) backing, the company settled on a shellac conception, first with labels etched into the surface and playing from the inside out, later with paper labels and playing in the usual outside-in manner. These records were issued in a bewildering array of unconventional sizes, from 9.v" to 14" for domestic use and even larger for commercial applications, and ran at speeds ranging from around 80 RPM (paper characterization, mostly) to equally much as 100 (etched labels, mostly coming in at around xc). Not too long later on inbound the disk market, Pathé abased cylinders for full general auction but, curiously, not in recording: for some reason, the company adopted a procedure of recording everything showtime to large diameter cylinders, which it then dubbed mechanically to disk masters, rather than mastering directly to disk blanks. In 1920, seeing how the commercial wind was blowing, the company introduced lateral recordings nether the label Pathé Actuelle. Many Actuelle disks were, over again mechanically, dubbed from originally vertical cut masters; in my feel, they are prone to extreme rumble. Actuelles were designed for playback with steel needles, just like any other lateral cutting record. Playing a vertical cut Pathé with a steel needle, by dissimilarity, will destroy it.

Pathé vertical cutting records nowadays a couple of potential issues for playback on modern equipment. Because of their broad, shallow grooves, these "sapphire discs" are extremely susceptible to skating when played with modern, light-tracking pickups, particularly if they are not equipped with a large-bore stylus. Moreover, the records were pressed in cloth that is prone to extremely fine hairline cracks, most invisible, that cause surprisingly loud clicks in playback. Edison discs, too, have their bug, the most noticeable being that they tend to have extremely heavy surface noise. In fact, a powerful software packet for noise reduction by a visitor called Diamond Cut Productions came into being precisely to contend with this issue. In improver, of course, with Edison discs being much thicker than average, they can crave adjustment of the tonearm'south vertical tracking angle.

A few minor labels adopted the Pathé groove geometry. Examples known to this author include Disque Henry, Rex, and Rishell. Purely vertical cut labels whose records were designed for steel needles were more uncommon; one example had the peculiar name Par-o-ket.

Then at that place were the primarily lateral cut labels that began as vertical cut. The nigh notable names in this group are Aeolian-Vocalion and Brunswick, just others would include Gennett, OKeh, and Lyric.

Finally, there's Emerson, the odd man out. In a bid to make as close to a "universal" tape every bit possible, this visitor adopted the Edison groove pitch of 150 threads per inch, but in a shellac pressing, and cutting its grooves at a 45-degree angle, giving them useful signal, albeit at a reduced level, in both planes. The results were about what y'all'd expect: a record that sounded less than stellar on every type of equipment offered during its lifetime and that wore poorly when subjected to the heavy-tracking, specialized Edison players.

� Copyright 2013 David Hoehl - drh@tnt-audio.com - www.tnt-audio.com

[ Home | Staff & Contacts | HiFi Playground | Listening tests | DIY & Tweakings | Music & Books ]

halliburtonseck1966.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.tnt-audio.com/vintage/mono-a-mono_e.html

Share this post