Been awhile… Question:
Is anyone cutting vinyl with a Presto K8?
I’ve been embossing with good results. But…volume! Love to get more volume!!
I’d be intrigued to hear if anyone has been cutting vinyl on a K8 and what needle they are using (Diamond?) onto what material?
Beyond that, a way to get more volume while embossing? I have a studio full of gear, so if I can impart say lower input gain on K8 but send more or vice versa…Ive got tube compressors, 1176’s, limiters etc… as yet to find a magic way to get more volume.
But I’m ready to experiment.
Cutting with a Presto K8
Moderators: piaptk, tragwag, Steve E., Aussie0zborn
Re: Cutting with a Presto K8
Limiting your high frequencies by chopping them with a higher order low pass filter will usually allow you to cut hotter as it takes quite a bit of power to cut higher frequencies. Try a 4th order (or higher) filter from 10-15 Khz and see if you get more level. You can also cut hotter if you half speed master. On the K8, you don't have that option, but you can cut at 33 for 45 if you process your audio prior to cutting. Doing both will get you even more level.
When embossing, you have to be careful that you don't cut so hot that the playback stylus will not be able to track the cut. In this case, cutting the low frequencies will help as they require large excursions of the stylus.
Mark
When embossing, you have to be careful that you don't cut so hot that the playback stylus will not be able to track the cut. In this case, cutting the low frequencies will help as they require large excursions of the stylus.
Mark
Re: Cutting with a Presto K8
Adventurous day with the K8. Tried program material and used Fabfilter EQ plugin to match on embossed record with original file. Then placed those EQ cruces “ pre cutting” and cut again. Worked great! Thanks for that suggestion Markrob!!
Couple things:
1-What are people using to lubricate the gears on their Presto K8/10’s? Manual says Vaseline, But after a few runs it seems to ball up at the end. Don’t want to leave it running without some grease. Where else do you lubricate? I have sewing machine oil if that is useable somewhere?
2-Tried adjusting cutter head down and then different angles etc…more surface noise and less volume. Seems Better sounding with the sapphire embossing needle not placed fully into the head but protruding more. Louder and brighter cuts! Maybe that’s because it naturally adds a bit more angle?
Hey!, anyone recognize this sticker? I’m interested to see if this head was worked on, or selected out of a batch of heads. I must say it has no issue cutting up to 10khz and beyond. I’d venture to say there’s still a fair bit at 12khz and maybe even upwards to 15khz.
https://ibb.co/MZ38jGd
Couple things:
1-What are people using to lubricate the gears on their Presto K8/10’s? Manual says Vaseline, But after a few runs it seems to ball up at the end. Don’t want to leave it running without some grease. Where else do you lubricate? I have sewing machine oil if that is useable somewhere?
2-Tried adjusting cutter head down and then different angles etc…more surface noise and less volume. Seems Better sounding with the sapphire embossing needle not placed fully into the head but protruding more. Louder and brighter cuts! Maybe that’s because it naturally adds a bit more angle?
Hey!, anyone recognize this sticker? I’m interested to see if this head was worked on, or selected out of a batch of heads. I must say it has no issue cutting up to 10khz and beyond. I’d venture to say there’s still a fair bit at 12khz and maybe even upwards to 15khz.
https://ibb.co/MZ38jGd
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Angus McCarthy
- Posts: 760
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:22 pm
- Location: Bloomsburg, PA, USA
Re: Cutting with a Presto K8
Hi James! Always happy to hear of another K-series operator out there.
To answer your questions:
1) Lithium grease on the rack gear (after a careful cleaning, of course). Fine machine oil for most other spots that need it.
2) The longer shank being louder makes perfect sense, since the tip of the stylus is now swinging in a wider arc compared to when it was fully seated in the armature. I've resorted to this myself since my embossing stylus was DIY'd from a relatively long gramophone needle, which is still shorter than your usual cutting or embossing stylus. Getting the geometry just right for embossing on a K8 carriage can be difficult with a shorter stylus. Another possible result of not being fully seated and protruding longer is that it may allow the shank to bend slightly more when recording, which would contribute distortion, making things "sound" brighter. A good way to check is to get a spectral graph of your cut, and see if there is upper harmonic distortion present that was not in the source recording.
To answer your questions:
1) Lithium grease on the rack gear (after a careful cleaning, of course). Fine machine oil for most other spots that need it.
2) The longer shank being louder makes perfect sense, since the tip of the stylus is now swinging in a wider arc compared to when it was fully seated in the armature. I've resorted to this myself since my embossing stylus was DIY'd from a relatively long gramophone needle, which is still shorter than your usual cutting or embossing stylus. Getting the geometry just right for embossing on a K8 carriage can be difficult with a shorter stylus. Another possible result of not being fully seated and protruding longer is that it may allow the shank to bend slightly more when recording, which would contribute distortion, making things "sound" brighter. A good way to check is to get a spectral graph of your cut, and see if there is upper harmonic distortion present that was not in the source recording.