August musings

Take one early August evening  where it's been very hot during the day even if the activities during the course of were anything but and I usually start thinking about  writing up this weeks blog.
It's always nice to see 'old faces' return to sites even though on some there are issues with sub cultures bullying others which meant I needed to report one person!
It's also nice where you can be in a space  that is accepting of you even if as this great manga cell makes the point, it's your life.

Certainly I live mine as I feel to best extent possible for me although everybody's circumstances are different so limiting what maybe you are able to.

Also I discovered my dormant 7Digital download site log ins as it was in late december 2020 in the throes of Covid that I last used it which is a few machines ago, finding most of the downloads were still there available to be  downloaded anew and I did download a few in better quality than I was using then.

I also got some weights so I was able to use an older cartridge I had not used since 2016 as it just wouldn't balance right on the tone arm .

At the record sharp end...

Way back in 2013 I wrote  a bit about how for those of us who use turntables that use removable (SME) type headshells we could have a easy to fit and install cartridge for getting the music on our records  to our amplifiers phono input so we could enjoy and did produce an update in 2016 but we're nine years on and things are a bit different.

There's always been some controversy in audio circles regarding the best cartridges and styli to use over the decades, the earliest being from the days of horn gramophones covering the shape of the stylus, what it is made from, to  the sort of cartridge it is attached to and so on.

Sometimes it is clear one is better overall such as moving magnet cartridge sounds better and causes less wear than a crystal one to your records but on other occasions its been "swings and roundabouts" depending on what you prioritized such as the moving magnets ease of replacing the stylus over the potential advantages of the moving coil although that has to be re-tipped by an expert (or you use a part exchange scheme to get a new one each time).

While more advanced stylus shapes can by being a  closer fit to the record grove wall, sounding better  for tracing the grove more accurately, some find the demands of keeping a record spotless clean to avoid more obvious noise from debris a challenge.

That is one reason I've decided to go slightly backwards and explore one of the best  regular eliptical stylus fitted cartridges, the Nagaoka MP 110 whose tracking is better than most in its price range.

For a good number of years Nagaoka of Japan had no official importer in the UK but that has changed over some 18 or so months, so they are back on sale with proper dealer support.

As purchased, it was pre-mounted into a SME style headshell to screw into my turntables arm so all the fiddly wiring was done for me and I'm looking forward to giving this ago alongside my  Ortofon Concorde 20 and 30 higher spec but more demanding .

I expect it to sound slightly warmer and with a tadge less extreme high frequencies.

Dept of strange affairs!

It's not uncommon for me to get new records and recently I have got a few classical records after a good twenty five or so years of just getting cds that I have played.

Schroeder's sentiments in this classic Peanuts frame below do rather match my own to be honest.

Yesterday had it's own moments too. Like as some of you know I have much of my music stored on micro sd cards for my music player for use out and about or  I'm poorly which isn't exactly uncommon with me, to play via it to a small stereo in my rest room.

It saves faffing about finding the recording and putting it on a cd or turntable when I'm feeling seriously yukky.

Anyway I like the awesome Canadian group Rush, always did and had been getting the new better than regular cd High Definition downloads  my player plays extremely well and I keep a spare card with back ups of them on.

Imagine then my reaction when while changing a card and it flies through mid air and I can't see it landed!

I was tearing my hair out trying to find it last night and have only just spotted it at the very end of the room in a dark corner just visible by it's gold plated contacts where it had landed contact side up!

I can see I'm gonna have to get a changing bag to put the player in while I'm doing this so it can't travel as far!

Now just listening to Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite as I type this!