Vinyl Read by Laser

[sr1200]

http://www.elpj.com/about/quality.php
Anyone care to discuss why this is/isn't quite amazing?

 

[JohnRoberts]

nah...

JR

 

[dmp]

That is a pretty cool idea. But pretty expensive at $16k.
I like the endorsement of exceptional sound quality: "acknowledged by professional sound engineers in Japan."

 

[joaquins]

I always thought it was possible, till I found it two years ago... I didn't have the chance to listen, pretty hard to see one around. 16K +shiiping and options at sizes and output... I would like to know what is "high resolution sound" in the options for LT500

JS

 

[JohnWatkins]

I get that there might be R&D expenses to be recovered, but $1,100 for a remote?  $1,000 for two XLR jacks?  (it doesn't say balanced).  They clearly realize that there are audiophiles who MUST have this and will pay anything.

 

[sr1200]

JohnWatkins, that was my thoughts exactly.  I think its potentially a great idea/product.  But the price point will keep everyone but the filthy rich away from it.

 

[pucho812]

saw a demo of that at AES years ago. Heard it as well. Price is expensive and not worth it

 

[JohnRoberts]

Yawn this system has been around for a pretty long time and while interesting, vinyl is IMO a limited medium. This improves the easier half of the electro mechanical system, but a little late to the game.

My dad was a recording engineer back in the 50's (RCA NYC) and he would have loved this, back then.

JR

 

[Gold]

I haven't used it but I've been told it doesn't deal well with physical record defects like warping and being off center. I don't think it deals as gracefully as a conventional player with pops and clicks either. I'd like to hear one but I think there is reason it hasn't caught on besides the price.

Archivists are the people who could afford it. Since it doesn't deal with defects well it's no good for that. I've never heard of an archives using it.

 

[zebra50]

I have posted this one before, but of course you don't need a laser, just a flat bed scanner!

http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~springer/DigitalNeedle/index.html

 

 

[thermionic]

Got to hear this at a show a few yrs back. Paul's caveats notwithstanding (it was being peddled by a distributor, so they would've obviously ensured it didn't have a bunch of hostile vinyl to play) and bearing in mind that one can only be so objective at a show, I thought it sounded better than I expected it to. Lack of surface noise and rumble was immediately apparent. General levels of detail and imaging seemed ok as well (although it was a show...).

A friend of mine worked on a similar project for Phillips in the '60s... He explained to me that it was entirely analogue. You have optical audio on film, I suppose it would've been based around similar principles.

 

[Spino]

they charge 16k for that and they draw the diagram with ms paint??? wow!