When Does A Tonearm Have Medium Effective Mass Etc

[Aerobat]

I appreciate ld's work and think it's valuable. Some folks should just stay away from the keyboard.

[satanfriendly]

I for one have appreciated the calculator and found what I thought not to be possible, possible and loving the results. It gave me a bit more confidence to go forward.

I will be posting a thread shortly on an odd pairing I am now using, but the calculator said 'try it'. As it is, turned out one of the best matches I have experienced for a long time.

[Ldg]

Thanks guys. Previous results are still good, BTW. Update improves accuracy for detachable headshell arms.

The link is always

In my previous post there's a '.' at the end of the url that stops it from fetching.

[BigE]

On a related question, what software would I need to create the transient response plots and calculate the damping ratio of my tonearm?

Thanks.

[Ldg]

Hi BigE. That's loafer

Sticky thread has commentary on how to use it, especially the measurements. And one doesn't have to use the measurement functions. And just playing about with what's possible can be insightful and pretty useful.

[BigE]

Oh it is, but I need to capture the waveform somewhere, to view the transient.

Maybe on a 'scope with a trigger?

I'm a newbie with a borrowed Tek 2300 series. That should be able to capture a shot if the trigger is ok, but it's got to be mono doesn't it?

I'm talking about cheap laptop stuff. Maybe using the mic input?

[Ldg]

Hi BigE. Ahhh, I understand what you mean, my bad.

Yes, a storage oscilloscope will work really well.

But you can also use your PC. Record clicks or very delicate headshell taps with a rubber pencil end, using the PC's line input to a wave file. Then there is free software, such as Audacity, which allows one to examine the waveform of what's recorded. In Audacity you can combine to mono, if you like. But stereo is also fine, just look at one channel.

Very delicate headshell displacement and release is ideal. You can also see the difference between vertical and horizontal headshell motion behaviours.

HTH !

[BigE]

Well, I think I got it, but many times it did not work right -- the second peak was often higher than the first. I put a scratch on the lead in groove, but the second peak was always higher than the first....

I finally found a peak in audigy that had the second peak lower than the first, but it took a while. the damping ratio of about 0.25, but I don't trust the result, since I could not repeat it.

Since then, I radically changed the effective mass and damping.

I have an SME IIIS with Denon 103D. I have added about 13 grams of mass to the headshell, and added weight in the form of duct seal to the rear of the arm. It looks like quite a mess, but it sounds excellent. Full, rich and good HF extension. According to a pal, it can sound too bright on some material, so I think it is not overdamped.... but have not yet remeasured.

I must be doing something wrong.... the light taps with the pencil failed terribly -- the second peak was always higher. It is as if the pencil holds the stylus down, and then lets go.