Reply to post: Re: MiniDisk? Bah!

Return of the audio format wars and other money-making scams

martinusher Silver badge

Re: MiniDisk? Bah!

>78s encode the sound vertically.

Er, no. They're side to side just like long playing records (and 45's). They just use a very wide groove. There was an attempt to market 'hill and dale' records -- I think it was Edison's company that pushed it -- but it never caught on. Another feature of 78s is that each company had its own compensation curve rather than the standard 'RIAA' curve used with LPs so if you were an early audiophile you'd have either extra controls over the compensating filter or an adapter for your favourite brands.

(The original name for LP format was 'Microgroove'; its an example of the prefix 'micro' predating our modern world. Its actually older than 'transistorized'.)

BTW -- You can get away with playing a mono record with a stereo needle but not the other way around. A mono stylus has a round tip, the stereo one is elliptical; the mono stylus won't fit in the stereo groove properly so is likely to damage the record.

Another BTW -- If you're a true 78 lover then you won't use steel needles on your gramophone but rather wooden ones -- the thorns of a prickly pear cactus sharpened before each use with a gadget that's driven off the turntable. (No -- I am not joking....I knew a fellow that was a serious collector who used one of those pencil sharpener type gadgets.)

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