Ripping your digital files to vinyl

[wgscott]

https://www.wired.com/story/phonocut/

 

 

Quote

The Phonocut is an analog vinyl lathe, the first consumer device capable of making custom records immediately, right there in your home (assuming you’re willing to pay $1,100 for the privilege).

 

The device cuts 10-inch vinyl records, which can hold about 10 to 15 minutes of audio on each side. It’s a connected device; a companion app helps with formatting and song arrangement to better fit your music onto the two sides. But at its core, the Phonocut was designed for simplicity. All you have to do is plug in an audio cable, like from a headphone jack, and press Play.

 

“It has to be idiot-proof,” says Florian “Doc” Kaps, an Austrian analog enthusiast and Phonocut cofounder. “Even I myself should be in a position to cut the records.”

 

It has to be idiot-proof because only an idiot would do this.

[Hugo9000]

I was thinking recently that I'd like to convert some of my favorite recordings to 78 RPM discs that can be played on a wind-up Victrola, so I can still listen to them after WWIII (next year?).

[wgscott]

I want to rip some Classical music to 33 1/3 and play them back at 78.

 

 

[Archimago]

Silly product but could be fun novelty for some.

 

I wonder though how this sounds like (need a YouTube video). Would be impressed if the cut 10" disks eve n halfway sounds decent...

 

I don't think they said how much for each blank disk.

[elcorso]

30 minutes ago, Archimago said:

Silly product but could be fun novelty for some.

 

Absolutely!

 

The other day they asked one of my granddaughters that they had to bring something technologically weird and different to school. I gave her some audio tubes and not even the teacher knew what they were or what they were for ...

 

Roch

[Ralf11]

the roundness of the analogy LP inspired me to order in a pizza

 

I hope everyone has their X-ray crystallography setups back up after power failures...

[sandyk]

1 hour ago, Archimago said:

Silly product but could be fun novelty for some.

 

I wonder though how this sounds like (need a YouTube video). Would be impressed if the cut 10" disks eve n halfway sounds decent...

 

I don't think they said how much for each blank disk.

You would also first need to use RIAA EQ before cutting it, in order to play it back with a normal Vinyl setup.

[wgscott]

7 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

I hope everyone has their X-ray crystallography setups back up after power failures...

 

Power failure destroyed ours in 2007.

[Ralf11]

I was just talking to a buddy at the USGS Nat'l Water Quality Lab - they have a bunch of mass spec.s etc. for contaminants analysis, and require several hours notice to do a shutdown to prevent harm.

 

I guess everything will need a BPS as the US approaches 3rd world conditions...

[wgscott]

Here we go again.

[sphinxsix]

On 10/12/2019 at 8:16 PM, wgscott said:

 

An easy way to get the very first pressings of a given music material (which are usually in high demand) . 

[Cebolla]

Aye aye, Cap'n - plenty of gullible landlubbers out there interested in false plunder!

[Ralf11]

16 hours ago, wgscott said:

Here we go again.

 

heading for the 3rd world...

 

just wait - we will adjust and then it will get worse, then more adjustments, then...

[bluesman]

I'm truly amazed at how far off the mark these responses are!  No audiophile would actually want to rip digital files to vinyl copies, especially given the data storage and cost limitations of a 10" record that will cost at least $10 - that's not the target market.  The stylus is projected to be good for about 100 discs - but it's part of the cutting head, which is not user replaceable and will apparently have to be exchanged when a new stylus is needed.  They do not even project a cost range for this, and you know it ain't gonna be cheap.   

 

The Phonocut is for more specialized use, e.g. as a niche tool to mix digital files into "cool" mix discs for amateur DJs at parties (and maybe even to impress a hot date...).  It's for pro and competitive DJs wanting to put specific sounds on their own discs for scratching / scrubbing.   Even better, if the quality is there, this device would be a very useful adjunct to anybody's recording setup for direct to disc live capture of one or two tunes. And it could also be useful for mixing down and mastering high quality digital recordings directly to vinyl (e.g. as one-off gifts or demos). 

 

This'd be great for students of the music and recording business to learn and develop their interest in and skill with vinyl.  It also offers a way for an artist to prepare a pretty special press package to promote himself or herself and to stand out from the pack of those who hand out CD and USB sticks or download links.  With printable labels, jackets and sleeves, such a demo could be a really powerful intro to an unknown.  If used by an independent studio whose clients are budding pros, it'd get the job done a lot cheaper and faster than having to send the recording to a mastering / cutting lab for a few discs.  I can't find any mention on their website of whether it will cut a second side.  I suspect not, but putting 4 tunes on a 10" disc that sold for $35 might even make it useful for indie artists and bands who do it all themselves.  That market seems to value spontaneity and coolness over perfection in performance and recording.

 

I couldn't find any useful tech info on their website, so I have no idea how good it is electronically or mechanically.  They're apparently testing prototypes in LA studios right now, so if it's any good we'll almost certainly hear about it. They do offer an interesting video of a live session in which they make comparison of a tune from vinyl that was cut the "real way" on a Scully with the same performance cut at the same time on the Phonocut. Unfortunately, it's only an mp4 , so I didn't learn much from it except that the Phonocut is not a toy.

 

It's hard to imagine that it rivals a Scully at a projected price of $1200 - but how many Kickstarter projects actually end up selling for their projected price?  I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what it can do.......and at what final price. 

[botrytis]

https://www.sweetvinyl.com/

 

Here ya go.....