Controlling turntable resonance is imperative if you want to achieve the best possible sound from your vinyl records. All turntables require damping to control external and mechanical resonance, and even modest setups can receive a significant performance improvement from just a little attention in this area. Acrylic platters are revered across the hi-fi industry for helping to drastically reduce turntable … Read More
Soundeck Review – Controlling Unwanted Vibration with Sound Damped Steel
Your turntable phono cartridge is an incredibly sensitive bit of kit capable of turning even very small vibrations into an electrical signal that inevitably ends up processed as sound. Any resonance, vibrations, or mechanical noise that is processed by the cartridge will muddy the sound of your records, and in louder, more extreme circumstance, feedback can occur. Needless to say, … Read More
Competition: Win a Copy of “Vinyl: The Art of Making Records”
Back by popular demand! For the second time, we’re giving away one copy of the hardcover book, “Vinyl: The Art of Making Records”. This superbly presented coffee table companion is a wonderful visual celebration of the vinyl format, documenting some fascinating history while also celebrating the medium’s modern rebirth. View the book online to learn more. The book reveals some interesting … Read More
Top Five Reasons to Buy Vinyl
In a world where we can access almost any piece of music at the click of a mouse, or the tap of a screen, who would think that a physical format like vinyl would continue to endure? Far from being a nostalgia trip, vinyl records are now enjoyed by a wide range of ages by music fans searching for something … Read More
How NOT to clean vinyl records
Great vinyl records are clean vinyl records, that much is well understood. But with so much advice available on the internet, how can you determine which cleaning methods lead to vinyl nirvana, and which ones lead to frustration and regret? We’ve covered plenty of tried and tested cleaning methods at Sound Matters, but this article is different. This time, we’ll be … Read More
The Importance of Music Ownership
If you own your own home, do you not take better care of it? Do you take more pride in your surroundings, perhaps invest more money in maintaining it? If you own something, you have a stake in it. As Martin Luther King JR said, “There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of … Read More
Vinyl Record Types (A Brief Overview)
Vinyl records come in all different shapes sizes, and increasingly, colors. The physical medium of vinyl in all its different manifestations is part of the appeal and joy of owning music on wax. Below is a brief overview of the most common vinyl formats (including a brief introduction to 33 vs 45 RPM: LP (Long-playing) Albums Introduced in 1948, LP … Read More
Full Force Hi-Fi Cork Vinyl Slipmat Review
A cork slip mat is one of the most affordable, yet effective upgrades you can make to your turntable setup. Cork has many benefits including reduced static, better isolation from motor/belt sound, and (best of all) a tighter, more focused playback sound. In my experience, the bass frequency performance, in particular, is reinforced by the addition of a good quality … Read More
Clean Vinyl Records, According to the Folks at GrooveWasher
Great sounding vinyl records are clean vinyl records, and few know more about this topic than GrooveWasher founder, Steve Chase. We talk to Steve about his journey in building a modern record cleaning system designed to enhance the listening experience for new and veteran vinyl enthusiasts. Steve also has some expert tips for our readers to help keep your precious … Read More
Q&A: HD Vinyl – The Future of Record Manufacturing?
HD Vinyl Pioneer, Guenter Loibl talks to Sound Matters about his ambitions to revolutionize vinyl record manufacturing using lasers. The HD-Vinyl concept first caught our attention back in 2016, when Austrian-based company, Rebeat first filed the patent for a new vinyl record production process involving lasers. Naturally, it wasn’t long before the internet was awash with speculation about the new … Read More