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By rautsh Sun Mar 04, 2018 1:35 pm
ive been sampling vinyl for a few years now, but only recently noticed that 1 channel is about 3/4 db louder then the other.
didnt notice it initially because when i was only sampling, i was only listening to 70s and 80s stuff, where things where panned a lot more. only noticed it several months ago when i started ripping house tunes (to dj). kicks in house music are 99.9% of the time in mono and the loudest in the song, thats why it was so obvious on the meters that one channel was louder

i have the ortofon pro dj s and the shure m44g.
with the shure the right channel is louder then the left
https://imgur.com/a/YAEyN
i disconnected the cables from the headshell, reconnected them, tried flush aligning it, tried aligning it using a protractor, messed with the tonearm height, antiskating, cleaned connections to the tonearm, everything i could think of, nothing helped

and with the pro dj s the left channel is louder then the right
https://imgur.com/a/22iiB
since its prefixed to its headshell there is not a lot i could do with it, as far as trouble shooting goes.

with help of reddit i found out that there is something called stereo channel balance and therefore this is normal with TTs and most cartridges, and i pretty much just have to accept it.

is this so?

i just have been panning the difference when sampling, but i almost don’t listen to records now. also im afraid that it means that the stylus is tracking more on 1 side then the other and it is damaging my records.

so my main question, is this normal? still find it hard to believe for something with the reputation of the m44g.
has anybody else experienced this?
is there something i could still try/do?
would it be fixed with a new stylus? if so which? at a reasonable price range?

any feedback really is highly appreciated
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By tapedeck Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:40 pm
rautsh wrote:with help of reddit i found out that there is something called stereo channel balance and therefore this is normal with TTs and most cartridges, and i pretty much just have to accept it.

is this so?
yes - this is normal, its physics. the needle is pulling on one side as it rotates to the center.

rautsh wrote:also im afraid that it means that the stylus is tracking more on 1 side then the other and it is damaging my records.

yer just gonna have to get over that fear because playing your records AT ALL is damaging them. ever heard a worn out record? thats not from misuse, thats from regular playing .
(fun fact, i saw a dj once i hadn't seen in about ten years and he dropped one george strait record he used to do and i asked him, and he agreed, he hasnt changed that record the whole time - its just worn out.)

still find it hard to believe for something with the reputation of the m44g.

the 44g hardly has a reputation like the 447 so not sure what you mean (they are VERY different carts)
yea it happens to everyone. it almost doesn't matter in practice. set your cartridges up as best you can, angle them if you want, and maybe upgrade from the g's - those things wear out so fast in my experience. but yea yer gonna notice to an extent on almost any setup. dont split hairs. :mrgreen:
By rautsh Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:23 pm
yes - this is normal, its physics. the needle is pulling on one side as it rotates to the center.

isn't this what anti skating is for?

ever heard a worn out record? thats not from misuse, thats from regular playing .

yes i am aware that records get worn out throughout time, but i'd still prefer if the records get worn out from regular playing, not a 'damaged stylus' (or at least what i thought was a damaged stylus)

the 44g hardly has a reputation like the 447 so not sure what you mean (they are VERY different carts)


you absolutely got me here lol
i'm not the biggest needles expert, obviously, but from what i've read before purchasing i came to the conclusion that they were pretty much the same, except maybe the 447 is a bit more 'club suited'


are you saying to maybe upgrade, just because the 44g's get worn out quickly? or also because of the stereo balance?
and which would you recommend?

thanks a lot for your feedback btw!