How stupid of me! A commenter correctly pointed out that the Kuzma tonearm has its own azimuth regulator near the base, on top of the arm (next to the little white line). I completely forgot about that. My mind is still biased by my old Technics! Sorry about that.
thank you for your informative video. I see few points that are needed to be taken care otherwise this tool might be miss leading: 1) Tool channel Balance: the tool internal channels has to be deadly accurate. if for example one channel has a 0.1 dB higher gain than the azimuth adjustment will be (Slightly) off balanced. 2) Cartridge Perfect Channel balance: If cartridge left channel has higher gain by 0.5dB than the adjustment will be (slightly) off balance 3) Head Lateral adjustment: Head Lateral alignment: If head has a 1.0 degree tracking azimuth error the two signals will be slightly out of phase there for the tool will guide you to (slightly) compensate the head azimuth to reach perfect Zero 4) Track location: If 1KHz signal has to be located at arm position of null Tracking angle position (the are 2 points on the record that meet this requirement, which are related to arm length and arm pivot location, otherwise the two signals will be slightly out of phase there for the tool will guide you to (slightly) compensate the head azimuth to reach perfect Zero. 5) Added verification steps are needed: some of the above issues can be verified by repeating the steps in reverse order: connect left channel to the right input and right channel to the left input. Repat the process until null is obtained on both sides. 6) Digital sampling: Personally, I do a lot of professional vinyl ripping for remastering process. using basic measurements available on most audio recording software (such as Steinberg, Sound forge, Audacity and more) you have an accurate view on the full picture (Azimuth, Lateral, channel balance, distortion, Surface noise level, rumble, Channel balance and Phase accuracy ) which are superior and cost free (if you do a vinyl RIP). Hope you'll find the above information is useful
@@anadialog I thought you blocked me or something. Anyway I think you did a video earlier discussing the fozgometer where I mention its really about channel balance and crosstalk. If the stylus is 100% perfectly aligned with the generator it correlates with the azimuth too but no stylus is 100% perpendicular to the coils. So while the readings might be perfect the azimuth is not, that can only be ensured correct visually.
Cool! The proper kit. Sadly i don't have the budget so i do it old school. I have an old Tektronix Duel Channel CRT Oscilloscope i hook up. Left to Ch1, Right to Ch2. I then play a Mono LP and with the two channel's waveform's superimposed one on top of the other I check both channels are giving the same signal, hitting identical peaks and make adjustments if needed. I then flip the two channels (Left to Ch2, Right to Ch1) just to prove the scope is in balance. Old audio engineers trick!
Thank you for the video and demo of the Fozgometer. I purchased the meter and tried it on my Rega Planar 8 and Dynavector 20X2. I followed the recommended procedure for setting azimuth which ended up tilting the cartridge considerably using the Wally Tools Azimuth Shim. To verify the setting, I reversed the inputs (Left to Right; Right to Left) and repeated the Azimuth verification. To my surprise, the meter readings changed significantly now showing a big imbalance. This observation made me skeptical of the Fozgometer calibration. To confirm, I downloaded the Musical Surroundings test tones and played them on my computer feeding the Fozgometer from the headphone output. I adjusted the computer volume to read ‘40’ on the left meter scale. Next, I swapped the leads to confirm the same results … yes, both channels read 40. Next, I lowered the volume to 30 on the meter and repeated the above. This time there was a difference in meter readings by 3 points (30 L versus 27 R) when fed with the same computer output. I rotated the leads to see if the problem was the source versus the Fozgometer. The readings stayed the same meaning the Fozgometer had a different sensitivity in each channel at 30 than it did at 40. I reduced the output volume further witnessing the same lower readings in the Right meter reading versus the Left. Maybe the Fozgometer I purchased is an anomaly but, for $400, I was very disappointed. The Manual for the Fozgometer states the input range to be 0.3mV to 2.7V which makes me question the use of the meter fed directly from a low output moving coil cartridge. I repeated the Azimuth calibration fed from the output of my phono pre-amp and had similar inconsistent readings when changing Left and Right inputs to the meter when trying to confirm Azimuth calibration. Overall, something is wrong wit the meter I purchased and the non-linearity of the meter readings make it impossible to use for Azimuth or Channel Balance confirmation. If you have the time, please update your post showing the Left to Right Input swap after Azimuth calibration to see if your meter is linear between channel readings. Thanks!
This product is very practical. But i think that if you have this test disk, then a simple two-channel handheld oscilloscope can make these measurements in more cheaply way.
I’ve had some cartridges where the stylus isn’t straight coming out of the cartridge body and some where the diamond wasn’t pointing straight down on the cantilever shaft. These were cheaper cartridges where quality control wasn’t so great in manufacturing. At the very least it’s a good idea to visually check for these problems. Great video.
I use a small circular sprit level and place it on top of the headshell. Just adjust the headshell till the bubble is centred on the spirit level. Assuming the cartridge is screwed sufficiently tight to the headshell not loose, and fitted properly, and your turntable and base are level, which you can check the azimuth should be fine. Grazie per il video!
Alternative: Play a mono record using a stereo setup. Aim at getting the sound to come exactly in the middle between your two speakers. Only a perfect cartridge to groove geometry will be able to do this perfectly for all frequencies
I was a skeptic of vta theory but after finally getting a gauge and using it my cartridge definitely sounded more neutral and record noise definitely decreased.
It's a shame it's so expensive. If you open one of these up there's not much to it electronically. It was originally released way before vinyl had the momentum it has today so I can see why the specialist price tag. Now if it was half the price they'd sell 5 times as many. Would be one of those essentials that most people could afford. Yes theres other ways and means with software etc. But an affordable version of this would save a lot of faf for many.
hi this is for the service lot test records are very good to have i have some the levels when recording is great to use them i got this kind of gear when i sold all my records very good super point to make this video i have a test audio tape for my betacam sp and it cost money
the bias will change the left and night readings as well it seems a bit high turn it down a bit or adjust the cable it can change going from outside of the record to the inside of record. possible to use at voltmeter but an oscilloscope is best, can pick up 10000k oscilloscope for about 30€
Looks like a voltmeter with a few lights. If the cartridge is MC I guess you'd need to pick it up from the preamp. My tone arm doesn't use a head shell. Nice toy but at that price?
Great video as always 👌 If your channel balance is off according to fozgometer, how would you be able to tell if this was caused by slight inaccuracies in levels of anti-skating or instead skewed azimuth? How could you calibrate "perfect" anti-skating with imperfect azimuth and vice versa.. According to literature provided by the famous cartridge producer Sumiko, - adjusting azimuth using fozgometer or other similiar equipment will not produce ideal results, as they say - often the equipment will tell you to overly tilt the stylus to obtain 'correct' values while this is actually incorrect azimuth. In short, they don't recommend this approach. I'm not sure who to trust on this topic.. Micheal F. definately has the credentials though.. I've been on the fence buying a fozgometer myself, and would love to hear some subjective opinions - did the sound improve after getting left and right closely matched on your equipment?
I'll start from the bottom. No, the sound didn't increase because my TT was already properly set. I doubt that dramatic change occur anyways. It helps but after all a good test disc will do the trick IMO. In any case, antiskating can be set without having perfect azimuth. Perpendicularity won't influece the antidkating, and then you can set azimuth after that.
@@anadialog thanks for the reply 😁 I might be completely off, but it seems natural to me, that having incorrect anti-skating value would cause the stylus to ride one groove-wall with higher 'vtf' than the other - thus creating a channel imbalance somewhat resembling skewed perpendicular orientation. (From the perspective of a channel balance meter) This is only my own theory 😅
Those just indicate the signal output before passing through a circuit, you could check if the intensity is higher on one side but the scale of precision is much much lower. Yes, you can also use a test disc but clearly it will never be precise. In any case, there are also other solutions and I must admit that this one is quite expensive, perhaps too expensive.
Sorry, but with all due respect you really need to read the instructions for your Fozgometer and your 4Point arm more carefully. Most of the information you give in this video is simply wrong. The Fozgometer primary function isn't to measure channel balance, it measures the balance in the crosstalk levels between left and right. So when you play the left channel test signal, it shows how much of that signal is getting into the right output of the cartridge, and vice versa. You want to adjust the azimuth so the crosstalk level is the same for both channels. The stuff you say about the reading being on one side of center for left, and the other side of center for right is nonsense. Where the meter sits for the left and right crosstalk signals is irrelevant, and will vary depending on your cartridge's output, you just want to make it so the left and right readings match each other. The LEDs are just there to show you what type of signal on the test record is being played, left, right, or L+R (mono) which is the green LED. The LEDs don't yell you anything about the balancing condition. Once the crosstalk is balanced, you can use the meter to check the output level channel balance by playing a L+R mono test signal. Each notch above the zero mark on the meter is 1 dB of imbalance. But you cannot tweak out any imbalance with the cartridge setup. The azimuth adjustment on your Kuzma arm is not done at the headshell. That hole you pointed to is for removing the headshell only. Near the back of the armtube you can see a little white line on the top of the arm tube. This crosses a split in the arm tube, and the entire front part of the arm tube from that point forward can rotate. To adjust the azimuth, you first slightly loosen the two 2mm lock screws that are behind the white line on the top of the arm tube. Then you use the 2mm sideways screw on the bottom of the arm at the split to turn a worm gear that very precisely rotates that arm. You can see how much you have rotated the arm by the amount of separation in the little white line on the top. With that cartridge, you should have no problem getting the left and right crosstalk readings to match perfectly. I hope this information is helpful.
I completely forgot about the azimuth setting of the 4point9 (I will put that in the video description and on top of comments). I'm still biased by my Technics, darn! You are right and thanks for pointing that out. For the rest I may have been too strict in following the images. I will edit that part. In any case, remember that for this first measurement, if one of the right or left leds turn on that does mean there is a problem since it should read only "center". In any case at the end I did say that the two measurements should be as close as possible so I think people will be doing the correct thing.
@@anadialog I have adjusted literally hundreds of cartridges with the Fozgometer. First with the Mk1, and more recently the Mk2, With all but the most out of spec cartridges it should be possible to get the left and right crosstalk readings to match perfectly, although you also need to recognize when there is a problem and you're getting erroneous readings. It's also important to check that the Fozgomerter is calibrated correctly. This is easy to do by noting the left and right readings, then swapping the left and right cables and testing again. You should get identical but reversed readings.
... I am confused now. You said: "But you cannot tweak out any imbalance with the cartridge setup." The manual reads: "Channel Balance Check: After setting azimuth, go back and check channel balance. If it is not measuring better than your first channel balance reading, you should redo azimuth adjustment for best readings for both channel separation and balance."
@@MrDolphin1957 Incorrect azimuth can create a channel imbalance, but more often a channel imbalance is caused by slightly different windings n the left and right coils, or other mechanical issues like the position of the coils relative to the magnet. An imbalance can be measured with the Fozgometer, but not corrected beyond getting the azimuth correct.
@@gotham61 Many thanks for your reply ! Your answer helps a lot. It was my assumption that the measured imbalance was caused by the cartridge itself - but I was not sure. I measure 0.3 - 0.5 db (Fozgometer precisely calibrated). I hope this lies within the manufactures product specification and can be considered as “normal”.
A progressive Forward Thinking company could start renting out equipment like this..! I thought for years it would be nice to rent the " Cable Cooker" equipment to burn in cables as another example. Someone get on that quick.
I owned one a number of years ago and know the person who designed the chassis. It is of limited value at best. They frequently "lose their minds". Basically not usable until you are almost there anyway. I was using it with VPI unipivot arms where azimuth is kind of weird and it was basically worthless for that. I simply won't use one again. Sorry to disagree. I was a dealer for many years for tables and quit offering it as part of the setup.
Sure no problem, it isn't anything fundamental. Though do remember that "a number of years ago" there was the first version which is unanimously considered as crap.
@@anadialog Perhaps that is what my experience was with. It was early. And crap is the perfect description. It seemed to be a godsend but.... Thanks, good to know.
Vpi equipment is worthless anyway. Glorified painted mdf with unipivot arms that are not possible to ever set proper zenith angle unless heavily damped. Get a Kuzma rig if you ever want to hear a record or die trying to.
So funny, solving problems the CD solved 40 years ago. Actually I thought this was about cassette and R2R playback azimuth. huge issue why cassettes used to suck. and why some remasters to digital from analog suck. vinyl and tape in 2020 are just stupid.
Oh you are missing out on so much! Never getting to feel sub below 20hz and unaware of the air of brilliance over 20Khz. Not for me mate. I like my music how nature intended... with an infinite sample rate!
@@janedoe6350 frequency response of CD 2hz to 22Khz, LP??? barely 20Hz , in fact they high pass the signal when they cut LPs , some even 40Hz because there is limited dynamic range that can be cut in an LP, your needle might jump, or the cutter might hit the aluminum under the lacquer. with stupid vinyl, it’s all rumble and noise below 30hz, that is why when you play it, your speaker cone can be seen moving sub harmonically, so that was your lack of physics understanding #1, your second ignorance , is that CD playback is not made of steps , it is perfectly reconstructed, is your amplifier class AB?? probably yes, did you know that half your wave is amplifier by a PNP transistor and the other half by an NPN transistor? yes it’s cut in half and they paste the 2 half together in a way which is far more distorted than a digital 💿 CR, also there is no musical information beyond 20Khz besides noises and artifacts and you cannot hear them, ask you dog or cat for help on that one, so vinyl total bull crap, PROVE ME WRONG
@@xprcloud No, i don't use Class AB. I have a home made tube amp which is Class A... driving ESL 57s electrostatic speakers. plus, a Technics New "Class A" (which eliminates the zero crossing distortion you get from a Class AB and..... a Quad 405 current dumping amp which i believe is Class AD but that's in the cutting room. There's plenty of info above 20Khz on vinyl... How do you think they cut 40k encoded signals on Quadrophonic records? And there is plenty of "musical information" above 20K but as i clearly said, you have to FEEL it. Also, frequencies above audible range still "move air" in the room and, as a consequence, their harmonics effect the frequencies that are within the audible range via comb filtering effect. You do no what comb filtering is don't you? So... you want a little proof frequencies above 20K have EFFECT on the human body.... Check this, czcams.com/video/tNpPFEwX6Y4/video.html but your gonna have to do your own research from now on. I'm not spoon feeding you... well not unless you'er real nice! But like i say, you don't know what your are missing buddy... take a deep breath and try a little relaxing music as you study.
@@janedoe6350 The video you sent TOTALLY AMATEURISH, a mobile phone speaker, its class-d amp and internal DSP processing cannot be used for ultrasonic testing, it will produce fully audible sub-harmonics in the audio spectrum, so this test is totally flawed, it's a joke. Dynamic range is just if note more important as frequency response , so ESL 57 are very low efficiency, I doubt you run them with SE tube amps (2-8 watts), more likely they are P-P amps. The Technics "New Class-A" is simply a marketing ploy, its not class-A, its a dual rail power supply running NPN-PNP transistor pairs encased in an epoxy module, but you can have a look at the circuit, it still switches even if the transistors are biased higher than the typical class-AB (that's why all amps are class-AB...) Quad-405, same deal, it still switches to class B beyond about 5 watts, I'll remind you that music is not an RMS sine wave, the waveform peaks can reach +10db, so if you are at 2 watts RMS, your actual music wave form peaks can reach 20watts, Quad will be class-B'ing (to bad those listening with low power tubes need to relay on tube compression, and still call it hi fidelity) so there you are...switching again, is that a typo of yours? class-AD? (such a thing does not exist). most amps are Class-AB, if you really want to avoid class-AB crossover switching, use a modern Class-D, such as ICEpower and Hypex, You cannot feel ultrasonic, (you CAN feel subsonics ), of course if I put a piezo element on your skin, and blast ultrasonics through it, you the energy will turn into heat which you can feel as well as potential cell damage. IF there was any musical information beyond 20Khz, get the original source, many of the original files they used to cut the silly vinyl are available for purchase and streaming up to 44Khz (24/96). vinyl is like listening to someone else's DAC though their speaker (a lacquer cutter is a form of a speaker hooked up to an amp) Beyond 20Khz, its mostly noise and artifacts such as analog tape bias, There is NO useful musical information in there. As for comb filtering, look I really want to respect you, lets just say you should go re-learn what it is, ultrasonics are not relevant to comb filtering, (Are you using more than one tweeter for 10Khz -> 40Khz ?).
No nothing is perfect. The calibration disc come and pressed with different stampers. There is also another hand full of different record labels that has calibration discs. All of them use of course different stampers. That means they have been cut on different lathe. So the stone that made the groove in the lacquer will have a slightly different angle and azimuth. The same goes for ALL your records in your collection that have more or less a slightly better/different setup of azimuth. So what have you actually done here? What you do is that you have calibrated your azimuth perfectly to that specific test record or more precise the azimuth angle that the lathe machine had when it cut the lacquer at that time.. So nothing is perfect.. when actually you will have a deviation between each album you play. Then the best you can do is to set it as accurate as possible and you will get as good you can get on a AVERAGE when playing your record collection. (That is my consensus when i read many years ago that a guy that has 28 (!) Difrent calibration discs.. and he concluded that majority of them did not measure the same..) So the bottom line it is pointless to go into that rabbit hole. But when you don't know how things work or the production process then it is easy to get happy and content when you have got a good calibroon ONE disc.. But that may be all that is probably needed to "feel" that it is "perfect" and put it to rest. Sorry to probably burst your bubble or maybe some find it useful when it is of lower value this kind of tool. 🤔😍🥰🎶🎼🎉
No, fortunately Analog Productions has their own stamper (Quality Pressing) so all are the same. I believe they have put great effort in making this as precise as possible and knowing their other releases I am pretty sure this is the best you can get without using computers. Certainly this is not a must have, I said that, but if you need something to set this rapidly and repeatedly then it's killer it's so easy. But hey! You can get the 6K$ centricity tool and be sure about that! ;-)
@@anadialog We can argue all day. 🤣 But no it doesn't matter if they have their own pressing plant or not. Neither if they have put a great effort or not. The fact still remains that the next album you grab on your collection will NOT have the same "perfect" angle as what your analog production record has/had.. So what have you accomplished then? At it best you have made a azimuth adjustment that on AVERAGE is OK for your entire vinyl collection but NOT "perfect". That is just not true. And are a totally wrong mindset. 🎉🎶🎼💕 Yes it is only true that it is "perfect" for your analog production calibration discs that you calibrated against! Nothing else. We need to keep our expectations real. (Just think about it.. ..when they cut into the lacquer, for one of the albums on your shelf did it have the exact SAME azimuth that when they had for the analog production calibration disc cutting.. No of course it were not exactly the same and THEREFORE it will never be PERFECT.) You need to think logical and have a deeper understanding of the production processes to see that. 👍🎼🎶💕
@@leon9021 the more it is perpendicular to the groove the more the separation and less crosstalk. But in the end a reading like the one I had by default is more than enough IMO even though with the newer types of stylus like microline etc. we must pay some attention to this aspect.
@@anadialog That is not entirely correct, the generators perpendicularity to the cantilever affects the readings more. That is why you are mostly optimizing the generator and not the stylus. That is likely also why its nigh impossible to get it perfect because even if the generator is perpendicular the stylus is not and throwing off the readings a bit.
![ANA[DIA]LOG](http://yt3.ggpht.com/50CpmGNilS8aoMlarZVhI_GxRDoZdbj4ZgwCMZXg-Rq2PrEvCytlE6RVyLUrNY-rwE_sAlZ1Zw=s48-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)
How stupid of me! A commenter correctly pointed out that the Kuzma tonearm has its own azimuth regulator near the base, on top of the arm (next to the little white line). I completely forgot about that. My mind is still biased by my old Technics! Sorry about that.
I was about to say this.. only cause cause I have this arm. LOVE your work..
thank you for your informative video.
I see few points that are needed to be taken care otherwise this tool might be miss leading:
1) Tool channel Balance: the tool internal channels has to be deadly accurate. if for example one channel has a 0.1 dB higher gain than the azimuth adjustment will be (Slightly) off balanced.
2) Cartridge Perfect Channel balance: If cartridge left channel has higher gain by 0.5dB than the adjustment will be (slightly) off balance
3) Head Lateral adjustment: Head Lateral alignment: If head has a 1.0 degree tracking azimuth error the two signals will be slightly out of phase there for the tool will guide you to (slightly) compensate the head azimuth to reach perfect Zero
4) Track location: If 1KHz signal has to be located at arm position of null Tracking angle position (the are 2 points on the record that meet this requirement, which are related to arm length and arm pivot location, otherwise the two signals will be slightly out of phase there for the tool will guide you to (slightly) compensate the head azimuth to reach perfect Zero.
5) Added verification steps are needed: some of the above issues can be verified by repeating the steps in reverse order: connect left channel to the right input and right channel to the left input. Repat the process until null is obtained on both sides.
6) Digital sampling: Personally, I do a lot of professional vinyl ripping for remastering process. using basic measurements available on most audio recording software (such as Steinberg, Sound forge, Audacity and more) you have an accurate view on the full picture (Azimuth, Lateral, channel balance, distortion, Surface noise level, rumble, Channel balance and Phase accuracy ) which are superior and cost free (if you do a vinyl RIP).
Hope you'll find the above information is useful
Thanks for adding that!
Ive already told him these things, he doesnt seem to care.
@@leon9021 of course I care! Sorry if I missed your comment. The CZcams app to manage them is terrible!
@@anadialog I thought you blocked me or something. Anyway I think you did a video earlier discussing the fozgometer where I mention its really about channel balance and crosstalk. If the stylus is 100% perfectly aligned with the generator it correlates with the azimuth too but no stylus is 100% perpendicular to the coils. So while the readings might be perfect the azimuth is not, that can only be ensured correct visually.
@@leon9021 I only block people who off3nd other people (not even myself). Never did a video on the Foz or discusssing about it...maybe someone else?
Cool! The proper kit. Sadly i don't have the budget so i do it old school. I have an old Tektronix Duel Channel CRT Oscilloscope i hook up. Left to Ch1, Right to Ch2. I then play a Mono LP and with the two channel's waveform's superimposed one on top of the other I check both channels are giving the same signal, hitting identical peaks and make adjustments if needed. I then flip the two channels (Left to Ch2, Right to Ch1) just to prove the scope is in balance. Old audio engineers trick!
Nice!
Thanks :)
Thank you for the video and demo of the Fozgometer. I purchased the meter and tried it on my Rega Planar 8 and Dynavector 20X2. I followed the recommended procedure for setting azimuth which ended up tilting the cartridge considerably using the Wally Tools Azimuth Shim. To verify the setting, I reversed the inputs (Left to Right; Right to Left) and repeated the Azimuth verification. To my surprise, the meter readings changed significantly now showing a big imbalance. This observation made me skeptical of the Fozgometer calibration. To confirm, I downloaded the Musical Surroundings test tones and played them on my computer feeding the Fozgometer from the headphone output. I adjusted the computer volume to read ‘40’ on the left meter scale. Next, I swapped the leads to confirm the same results … yes, both channels read 40. Next, I lowered the volume to 30 on the meter and repeated the above. This time there was a difference in meter readings by 3 points (30 L versus 27 R) when fed with the same computer output. I rotated the leads to see if the problem was the source versus the Fozgometer. The readings stayed the same meaning the Fozgometer had a different sensitivity in each channel at 30 than it did at 40. I reduced the output volume further witnessing the same lower readings in the Right meter reading versus the Left. Maybe the Fozgometer I purchased is an anomaly but, for $400, I was very disappointed. The Manual for the Fozgometer states the input range to be 0.3mV to 2.7V which makes me question the use of the meter fed directly from a low output moving coil cartridge. I repeated the Azimuth calibration fed from the output of my phono pre-amp and had similar inconsistent readings when changing Left and Right inputs to the meter when trying to confirm Azimuth calibration. Overall, something is wrong wit the meter I purchased and the non-linearity of the meter readings make it impossible to use for Azimuth or Channel Balance confirmation. If you have the time, please update your post showing the Left to Right Input swap after Azimuth calibration to see if your meter is linear between channel readings. Thanks!
This product is very practical. But i think that if you have this test disk, then a simple two-channel handheld oscilloscope can make these measurements in more cheaply way.
Indeed! Someone else mentioned that...
Thanks a lot for the video ! 😊
Thank YOU!
I’ve had some cartridges where the stylus isn’t straight coming out of the cartridge body and some where the diamond wasn’t pointing straight down on the cantilever shaft.
These were cheaper cartridges where quality control wasn’t so great in manufacturing.
At the very least it’s a good idea to visually check for these problems.
Great video.
I use a small circular sprit level and place it on top of the headshell. Just adjust the headshell till the bubble is centred on the spirit level. Assuming the cartridge is screwed sufficiently tight to the headshell not loose, and fitted properly, and your turntable and base are level, which you can check the azimuth should be fine. Grazie per il video!
What about VTA? The headshell should actually NOT be leveled. Plus levels aren’t that accurate when we are talking sub-millimeter measurements
Having bias compensation (anti-skate) adjusted perfectly using a analogue test record is just as important.
Indeed! As mentioned all other calibrations must be done correctly before doing this (allignment, VTA, antiskating etc.).
Alternative: Play a mono record using a stereo setup. Aim at getting the sound to come exactly in the middle between your two speakers. Only a perfect cartridge to groove geometry will be able to do this perfectly for all frequencies
great video. I use a Parks Audio Puffin to adjust azimuth -- I also use it for many other things .. highly recommended. def check it out
A little something for the Crosley Cruiser....
I was a skeptic of vta theory but after finally getting a gauge and using it my cartridge definitely sounded more neutral and record noise definitely decreased.
Much need for a VPI using the "wobbly goblin" Uni-Pivot arm.
Thank you so much for posting yet another analog/vinyl issue. And demonstrate why digital is so good.
The problem is that digital sounds awful and nothing like music so these tools are worth ir
Anadialog.
My show 15 on left and 15 on the right.
Also have to make sure that the test record is perfectly flat, otherwise you wont get the right reading, thanks for the video.
Good point! Clearly there will always be a error margin...
Great Job , Thanks for the video
The Parks Audio Puffin phono preamp is also a good way to check this.
with much more functionality.
Love love your videos , really ! Thanks for that !
It's a shame it's so expensive. If you open one of these up there's not much to it electronically. It was originally released way before vinyl had the momentum it has today so I can see why the specialist price tag.
Now if it was half the price they'd sell 5 times as many. Would be one of those essentials that most people could afford. Yes theres other ways and means with software etc. But an affordable version of this would save a lot of faf for many.
I completely agree, marketing is absurd here!
hi this is for the service lot test records are very good to have i have some the levels when recording
is great to use them i got this kind of gear when i sold all my records
very good super point to make this video i have a test audio tape for my betacam sp and it cost money
the bias will change the left and night readings as well it seems a bit high turn it down a bit or adjust the cable it can change going from outside of the record to the inside of record.
possible to use at voltmeter but an oscilloscope is best, can pick up 10000k oscilloscope for about 30€
Looks like a voltmeter with a few lights. If the cartridge is MC I guess you'd need to pick it up from the preamp. My tone arm doesn't use a head shell. Nice toy but at that price?
I forgot to mention that it works with both MM and MC. Yes, I agree, it's too expensive unless you do this every week for some reason!
@@anadialog interesting though. I'll get out my test lp and run my digital meter on the leads. Cheers. Great channel btw
Actually, that is not an American plug. It just happens to fit American outlets. I think it's Japanese, maybe.
I had version 1 and it wasn’t that accurate and I returned it. I kept the test record hoping for a version 2.
What about the Ortofon Concorde used with a Reloop RP 7000 MK2? Or better use a tangential record player?
Great video as always 👌
If your channel balance is off according to fozgometer, how would you be able to tell if this was caused by slight inaccuracies in levels of anti-skating or instead skewed azimuth?
How could you calibrate "perfect" anti-skating with imperfect azimuth and vice versa..
According to literature provided by the famous cartridge producer Sumiko, - adjusting azimuth using fozgometer or other similiar equipment will not produce ideal results, as they say - often the equipment will tell you to overly tilt the stylus to obtain 'correct' values while this is actually incorrect azimuth.
In short, they don't recommend this approach.
I'm not sure who to trust on this topic.. Micheal F. definately has the credentials though..
I've been on the fence buying a fozgometer myself, and would love to hear some subjective opinions - did the sound improve after getting left and right closely matched on your equipment?
I'll start from the bottom. No, the sound didn't increase because my TT was already properly set. I doubt that dramatic change occur anyways. It helps but after all a good test disc will do the trick IMO. In any case, antiskating can be set without having perfect azimuth. Perpendicularity won't influece the antidkating, and then you can set azimuth after that.
@@anadialog thanks for the reply 😁
I might be completely off, but it seems natural to me, that having incorrect anti-skating value would cause the stylus to ride one groove-wall with higher 'vtf' than the other - thus creating a channel imbalance somewhat resembling skewed perpendicular orientation. (From the perspective of a channel balance meter)
This is only my own theory 😅
I have my eye on that stabi r
I use a mirrored alignment protractor, and my ears!
Works every time.
Use headphones... and then when you think you got it correct... put the headphones on backwards just be sure.... both ears being equal that is!
Why can't you just use your VU meters from the amplifier with the test record and a high volume?
Regards, Andreas
Those just indicate the signal output before passing through a circuit, you could check if the intensity is higher on one side but the scale of precision is much much lower. Yes, you can also use a test disc but clearly it will never be precise. In any case, there are also other solutions and I must admit that this one is quite expensive, perhaps too expensive.
@@anadialog Thanks for your reaction!
Can you do the same the same thing with a dual channel osciloscope?
I never tried but others here claimed they could...
Would be a cool follow-up video , because I would rather spend my money on an 2nd hand scope then the fozgometer.
A temperature/pressure/humidity changes and your azimuth goes away. When this ancient format will be abandoned?
Hi can anyone help me please I've got a analogue productions test LP what speed do you use 45 or 33 thank you.peter
33
Thank you 😊
Sorry, but with all due respect you really need to read the instructions for your Fozgometer and your 4Point arm more carefully. Most of the information you give in this video is simply wrong.
The Fozgometer primary function isn't to measure channel balance, it measures the balance in the crosstalk levels between left and right. So when you play the left channel test signal, it shows how much of that signal is getting into the right output of the cartridge, and vice versa. You want to adjust the azimuth so the crosstalk level is the same for both channels. The stuff you say about the reading being on one side of center for left, and the other side of center for right is nonsense. Where the meter sits for the left and right crosstalk signals is irrelevant, and will vary depending on your cartridge's output, you just want to make it so the left and right readings match each other.
The LEDs are just there to show you what type of signal on the test record is being played, left, right, or L+R (mono) which is the green LED. The LEDs don't yell you anything about the balancing condition.
Once the crosstalk is balanced, you can use the meter to check the output level channel balance by playing a L+R mono test signal. Each notch above the zero mark on the meter is 1 dB of imbalance. But you cannot tweak out any imbalance with the cartridge setup.
The azimuth adjustment on your Kuzma arm is not done at the headshell. That hole you pointed to is for removing the headshell only. Near the back of the armtube you can see a little white line on the top of the arm tube. This crosses a split in the arm tube, and the entire front part of the arm tube from that point forward can rotate. To adjust the azimuth, you first slightly loosen the two 2mm lock screws that are behind the white line on the top of the arm tube. Then you use the 2mm sideways screw on the bottom of the arm at the split to turn a worm gear that very precisely rotates that arm. You can see how much you have rotated the arm by the amount of separation in the little white line on the top.
With that cartridge, you should have no problem getting the left and right crosstalk readings to match perfectly.
I hope this information is helpful.
I completely forgot about the azimuth setting of the 4point9 (I will put that in the video description and on top of comments). I'm still biased by my Technics, darn! You are right and thanks for pointing that out. For the rest I may have been too strict in following the images. I will edit that part. In any case, remember that for this first measurement, if one of the right or left leds turn on that does mean there is a problem since it should read only "center". In any case at the end I did say that the two measurements should be as close as possible so I think people will be doing the correct thing.
@@anadialog I have adjusted literally hundreds of cartridges with the Fozgometer. First with the Mk1, and more recently the Mk2, With all but the most out of spec cartridges it should be possible to get the left and right crosstalk readings to match perfectly, although you also need to recognize when there is a problem and you're getting erroneous readings. It's also important to check that the Fozgomerter is calibrated correctly. This is easy to do by noting the left and right readings, then swapping the left and right cables and testing again. You should get identical but reversed readings.
... I am confused now.
You said:
"But you cannot tweak out any imbalance with the cartridge setup."
The manual reads:
"Channel Balance Check:
After setting azimuth, go back and check channel balance. If it is not measuring better than your first channel balance reading, you should redo azimuth adjustment for best readings for both channel separation and balance."
@@MrDolphin1957 Incorrect azimuth can create a channel imbalance, but more often a channel imbalance is caused by slightly different windings n the left and right coils, or other mechanical issues like the position of the coils relative to the magnet. An imbalance can be measured with the Fozgometer, but not corrected beyond getting the azimuth correct.
@@gotham61 Many thanks for your reply ! Your answer helps a lot. It was my assumption that the measured imbalance was caused by the cartridge itself - but I was not sure. I measure 0.3 - 0.5 db (Fozgometer precisely calibrated). I hope this lies within the manufactures product specification and can be considered as “normal”.
🤗👍😎 HERE TO SUPPORT YOUR CHANNEL GUIDO AND I HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL 🤗💚💚💚
Thanks!
A progressive Forward Thinking company could start renting out equipment like this..! I thought for years it would be nice to rent the " Cable Cooker" equipment to burn in cables as another example. Someone get on that quick.
I owned one a number of years ago and know the person who designed the chassis. It is of limited value at best. They frequently "lose their minds". Basically not usable until you are almost there anyway. I was using it with VPI unipivot arms where azimuth is kind of weird and it was basically worthless for that. I simply won't use one again. Sorry to disagree. I was a dealer for many years for tables and quit offering it as part of the setup.
Sure no problem, it isn't anything fundamental. Though do remember that "a number of years ago" there was the first version which is unanimously considered as crap.
@@anadialog Perhaps that is what my experience was with. It was early. And crap is the perfect description. It seemed to be a godsend but.... Thanks, good to know.
Vpi equipment is worthless anyway. Glorified painted mdf with unipivot arms that are not possible to ever set proper zenith angle unless heavily damped. Get a Kuzma rig if you ever want to hear a record or die trying to.
Great, but $400, can't afford it.
So funny, solving problems the CD solved 40 years ago.
Actually I thought this was about cassette and R2R playback azimuth. huge issue why cassettes used to suck. and why some remasters to digital from analog suck.
vinyl and tape in 2020 are just stupid.
Oh you are missing out on so much! Never getting to feel sub below 20hz and unaware of the air of brilliance over 20Khz. Not for me mate. I like my music how nature intended... with an infinite sample rate!
@@janedoe6350 frequency response of CD 2hz to 22Khz, LP??? barely 20Hz , in fact they high pass the signal when they cut LPs , some even 40Hz because there is limited dynamic range that can be cut in an LP, your needle might jump, or the cutter might hit the aluminum under the lacquer. with stupid vinyl, it’s all rumble and noise below 30hz, that is why when you play it, your speaker cone can be seen moving sub harmonically, so that was your lack of physics understanding #1, your second ignorance , is that CD playback is not made of steps , it is perfectly reconstructed, is your amplifier class AB??
probably yes, did you know that half your wave is amplifier by a PNP transistor and the other half by an NPN transistor? yes it’s cut in half and they paste the 2 half together in a way which is far more distorted than a digital 💿 CR, also there is no musical information beyond 20Khz besides noises and artifacts and you cannot hear them, ask you dog or cat for help on that one, so vinyl total bull crap, PROVE ME WRONG
@@xprcloud No, i don't use Class AB.
I have a home made tube amp which is Class A... driving ESL 57s electrostatic speakers. plus, a Technics New "Class A" (which eliminates the zero crossing distortion you get from a Class AB and..... a Quad 405 current dumping amp which i believe is Class AD but that's in the cutting room.
There's plenty of info above 20Khz on vinyl... How do you think they cut 40k encoded signals on Quadrophonic records?
And there is plenty of "musical information" above 20K but as i clearly said, you have to FEEL it.
Also, frequencies above audible range still "move air" in the room and, as a consequence, their harmonics effect the frequencies that are within the audible range via comb filtering effect. You do no what comb filtering is don't you?
So... you want a little proof frequencies above 20K have EFFECT on the human body.... Check this, czcams.com/video/tNpPFEwX6Y4/video.html
but your gonna have to do your own research from now on. I'm not spoon feeding you... well not unless you'er real nice!
But like i say, you don't know what your are missing buddy... take a deep breath and try a little relaxing music as you study.
@@janedoe6350 The video you sent TOTALLY AMATEURISH, a mobile phone speaker, its class-d amp and internal DSP processing cannot be used for ultrasonic testing, it will produce fully audible sub-harmonics in the audio spectrum, so this test is totally flawed, it's a joke.
Dynamic range is just if note more important as frequency response , so
ESL 57 are very low efficiency, I doubt you run them with SE tube amps (2-8 watts), more likely they are P-P amps.
The Technics "New Class-A" is simply a marketing ploy, its not class-A, its a dual rail power supply running NPN-PNP transistor pairs encased in an epoxy module, but you can have a look at the circuit, it still switches even if the transistors are biased higher than the typical class-AB (that's why all amps are class-AB...)
Quad-405, same deal, it still switches to class B beyond about 5 watts,
I'll remind you that music is not an RMS sine wave, the waveform peaks can reach +10db, so if you are at 2 watts RMS, your actual music wave form peaks can reach 20watts, Quad will be class-B'ing (to bad those listening with low power tubes need to relay on tube compression, and still call it hi fidelity) so there you are...switching again, is that a typo of yours? class-AD? (such a thing does not exist). most amps are Class-AB,
if you really want to avoid class-AB crossover switching, use a modern Class-D, such as ICEpower and Hypex,
You cannot feel ultrasonic, (you CAN feel subsonics ), of course if I put a piezo element on your skin, and blast ultrasonics through it, you the energy will turn into heat which you can feel as well as potential cell damage.
IF there was any musical information beyond 20Khz,
get the original source, many of the original files they used to cut the silly vinyl are available for purchase and streaming up to 44Khz (24/96).
vinyl is like listening to someone else's DAC though their speaker (a lacquer cutter is a form of a speaker hooked up to an amp)
Beyond 20Khz, its mostly noise and artifacts such as analog tape bias, There is NO useful musical information in there.
As for comb filtering, look I really want to respect you, lets just say you should go re-learn what it is, ultrasonics are not relevant to comb filtering,
(Are you using more than one tweeter for 10Khz -> 40Khz ?).
@@xprcloud You think Dave Rat is using a telephone?
Romanian? Just a guess.
Nope, 50% ITALY 50% USA
No nothing is perfect.
The calibration disc come and pressed with different stampers.
There is also another hand full of different record labels that has calibration discs.
All of them use of course different stampers. That means they have been cut on different lathe. So the stone that made the groove in the lacquer will have a slightly different angle and azimuth.
The same goes for ALL your records in your collection that have more or less a slightly better/different setup of azimuth.
So what have you actually done here?
What you do is that you have calibrated your azimuth perfectly to that specific test record or more precise the azimuth angle that the lathe machine had when it cut the lacquer at that time..
So nothing is perfect.. when actually you will have a deviation between each album you play. Then the best you can do is to set it as accurate as possible and you will get as good you can get on a AVERAGE when playing your record collection.
(That is my consensus when i read many years ago that a guy that has 28 (!) Difrent calibration discs.. and he concluded that majority of them did not measure the same..)
So the bottom line it is pointless to go into that rabbit hole. But when you don't know how things work or the production process then it is easy to get happy and content when you have got a good calibroon ONE disc.. But that may be all that is probably needed to "feel" that it is "perfect" and put it to rest.
Sorry to probably burst your bubble or maybe some find it useful when it is of lower value this kind of tool. 🤔😍🥰🎶🎼🎉
No, fortunately Analog Productions has their own stamper (Quality Pressing) so all are the same. I believe they have put great effort in making this as precise as possible and knowing their other releases I am pretty sure this is the best you can get without using computers. Certainly this is not a must have, I said that, but if you need something to set this rapidly and repeatedly then it's killer it's so easy. But hey! You can get the 6K$ centricity tool and be sure about that! ;-)
@@anadialog We can argue all day. 🤣
But no it doesn't matter if they have their own pressing plant or not. Neither if they have put a great effort or not.
The fact still remains that the next album you grab on your collection will NOT have the same "perfect" angle as what your analog production record has/had..
So what have you accomplished then?
At it best you have made a azimuth adjustment that on AVERAGE is OK for your entire vinyl collection but NOT "perfect".
That is just not true. And are a totally wrong mindset. 🎉🎶🎼💕
Yes it is only true that it is "perfect" for your analog production calibration discs that you calibrated against! Nothing else.
We need to keep our expectations real.
(Just think about it.. ..when they cut into the lacquer, for one of the albums on your shelf did it have the exact SAME azimuth that when they had for the analog production calibration disc cutting..
No of course it were not exactly the same and THEREFORE it will never be PERFECT.)
You need to think logical and have a deeper understanding of the production processes to see that. 👍🎼🎶💕
@@AmazonasBiotopthen set your azimuth for every record you play
Fozgometers get you the perfect channel separation, not azimuth.
One detertermins the other, as a matter of fact you are trying to set the stylus' azimuth, more than the cartridge.
@@anadialog Even if the stylus is not 100% perpendicular?
@@leon9021 the more it is perpendicular to the groove the more the separation and less crosstalk. But in the end a reading like the one I had by default is more than enough IMO even though with the newer types of stylus like microline etc. we must pay some attention to this aspect.
@@anadialog That is not entirely correct, the generators perpendicularity to the cantilever affects the readings more. That is why you are mostly optimizing the generator and not the stylus. That is likely also why its nigh impossible to get it perfect because even if the generator is perpendicular the stylus is not and throwing off the readings a bit.
@@leon9021 if the generators are that off in respect to the stylus, I think azimuth is the least of your worries.