Any needle drops for setting VTA?

I have been reading about the David Shreve method for setting your VTA. With certain records you can tell if its is too high if it sounds one way and too low if it sounds a different way. You converge on the correct setting using iterative mid-point selection method until you can't tell any difference. The range of adjustment is tiny, you are looking for a magic sweet spot in height thats sits inside maybe less 0.5mm height variation at the arm.

Of course I have tried and I don't get anywhere.

English descriptions of the "sounds" are no use to me, they say "muddy" "bloated", or "hard", "edgy", "sibilant", but I have a good system and i doesn't hear any of those things anyway.

I want to be able to "hear" what it sounds like, the extent of variation.

So I am looking for an audio recording somewhere that clearly illustrate how it sounds when too high/too low/and in focus. But I can't find anything. Anyone have a link, does anyone fancy doing one, am I deaf, or is it all a load of nonsense anyway?

AI tells me "nonono you can't use generic needle drops, they are not from your system, you must do your own", this isn't helping.

I apologise in advance if this has already been asked and answered.

Happy new year!
Peter.

I think you can drive yourself mad trying to find the ideal - thicker 180-200g pressings will cause the arm to be more 'tail down' compared to older 120-150g discs, making the sound more bassy and less defined (to my cloth ears anyway).

And Shibata stylus profiles are reportedly more critical then say eliptical. That is my understanding, but I could be mistaken. I certainly didn't want to have to go to the lengths of changing platter mat thicknesses to suit, so changed my 2M Black for a "lesser" Quintet blue, and no longer think about it.

So many ways to set VTA, use the one which sounds best.

what cartridge do you use?

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Originally Posted by karma1967

what cartridge do you use?

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Fozgometers are easier to use than Oscilloscopes. :lol:

What is a "needle drop" in the context of audio? I've heard the phrase a few times in recent years but never before, is it an Americanism or something that started getting used the same time as "vinyls" for records?

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Originally Posted by Lawrence001

What is a "needle drop" in the context of audio? I've heard the phrase a few times in recent years but never before, is it an Americanism or something that started getting used the same time as "vinyls" for records?

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The term “needle drop” refers to the sound made when a needle is placed on a vinyl record. It was originally used by radio DJs who would play records live on air. The phrase became popularized in the 1960s when it was used as a technique in film scoring.

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Originally Posted by peter

Ortofon Cadenza Black.

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That Cadenza Black is fitted with a nude Shibata stylus on a boron cantilever. It is thus very sensitive to VTA setting.

The only practical way of finding the optimum VTA that suits you is to use a pickup arm which allows a continuous adjustment of VTA whilst the record is playing.

I have a cartridge fitted with an Ogura 5 x 20 um stylus which is a fine-line stylus similar to, but slightly smaller than a Shibata stylus. I find that the best VTA is achieved when the tone arm is exactly parallel to the record surface, when the cartridge is playing at the recommended VTF (usually about 0.25g below the maximum).

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Originally Posted by Barry

The term “needle drop” refers to the sound made when a needle is placed on a vinyl record. It was originally used by radio DJs who would play records live on air. The phrase became popularized in the 1960s when it was used as a technique in film scoring.

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I assumed it was referring to the same thing but I can't imagine what it means in the context of setting VTA. As in what information you can get to help you set vta from the fraction of a second the needle physically lands on the record and stabilises. I'm still sure I've never heard it in the context of turntables until recently.

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Originally Posted by Wakefield Turntables

Fozgometers are easier to use than Oscilloscopes. :lol:

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The Fozgometer is designed to help in setting up the cartridge azimuth, and hence the L - R channel balance. It cannot be used to set up the correct VTA for a cartridge.