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title=Bonati wrote on Tue, 06 July 2010 19:22]I guess you just really have to decide if you're interested in cutting lacquers for production or just dubplates / random cuts as a hobby.
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Yup - because there are so many places offering vinyl mastering using the best equipment out there there's definitely expectations that any master someone will provide will be able to match this quality to some degree. So if you're going to offer it as a professional service it might be hard to find many clients that are going to want to pay a price that you can actually do better than break even on for a middle-ground product that's better than lo-fi "lathe cuts" but that still doesn't compete with Neumann VMS-70/SX-74/SAL-74/Zuma cuts.
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If the latter is the case then maybe the Vinylium dub cutter is worth a look. It's the only modern plug-n-play lathe I've seen for that application. Supported, too. I wouldn't mess with the Prestos. Beware the lathe trolls that exalt them.
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The Presto 1C, 1D and Audax cutter heads that originally these came with are fluid damped and as such have poor frequency response.
The K and J series were portables designed for the consumer market in the 1940's and get results that are lo-fi as you would imagine - but the 6N, 8D and 8N were designed for broadcast use and as such some hit 7" records from the 1950's were actually cut using these. These Presto's used changeable feed screws for fixed pitch - and so they're not really capable of competing with a cut you get from something like the pro systems of today - but as far as transcription turntables go some of these things are in fact decent if they are in good shape.
The rare 8G (the last lathe Presto made) is a solid looking lathe to me and with a good cutter head mounted to it the performance probably could almost compete with something like an older Neumann AM131 system.
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Folks across the road have one of these vinylrecorder things up and running. I believe they've only cut one-offs so far, but it can apparently do lacquers, they are supposed to get back to me with details once they've had one plated.
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The issue with both the Vinylium Kingston Dubcutter and the Souri Vinyl Recorder is that if you use a Technics 1200/1210 as the turntable with the stock overhead systems you get way more wow, flutter and rumble than you get with a professional Neumann or Scully setup. If they have modded their dubcutters to use something like a SP-10 or a Presto or similar then you could expect better performance in this regard.
The Vinyl Recorder comes stock with proprietary diamond styli and these afaik will cut poorly on lacquer - and the maker of the Vinyl Recorder states that this system is designed to cut on PVC and not acetate or lacquer. Perhaps they could mod theirs though.
Best regards,
Steve Berson