aussievintage Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Getting a huge kick out of playing this very old record. A 12" shellac 78 - Santa Lucia recorded in 1916 by Enrico Caruso. I was able to make it sound quite good and listenable using my home brew digital phono preamp (link to thread below) 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLXXX Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Congratulations @aussievintage on your preamp project. How did you come by the 78rpm disc? Fascinating that in playing it you are recreating sound waves produced 104 years ago! Of course you'd be getting better sound with your modern stylus and cartridge, than the sound from a purely mechanical 78rpm setup, though such sound can be surprisingly good. For example I don't know whether the recording below on Youtube is truly based on the sound emerging from the gramophone horn rather than from a modern pickup. If it's from a horn, it's remarkably good! Caruso had an exceptionally fine operatic tenor voice. His interpretation and tone shine through in this recording of Santa Lucia, despite its by current technical standards very low audio quality:- 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 24, 2020 Author Share Posted September 24, 2020 1 hour ago, MLXXX said: Congratulations @aussievintage on your preamp project. Thanks 1 hour ago, MLXXX said: How did you come by the 78rpm disc? When I became interested in old recordings, I bought some bulk lots from gumtree. It was in one of them. 1 hour ago, MLXXX said: Fascinating that in playing it you are recreating sound waves produced 104 years ago! Of course you'd be getting better sound with your modern stylus and cartridge, than the sound from a purely mechanical 78rpm setup, though such sound can be surprisingly good. For sure. I do have a couple of windup mechanical gramophones, and the sound is very much as per that youtube video. They work because of the limited bandwidth. I have to use software filters to do the same thing to eliminate as much noise as possible from what the more modern system picks up off the old record. It is surprising that an old record, that's been played by steel needles, still retains that much clear information. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 There is a lot of fantastic music neglected in old grooves. Enough of the vinyl resurgence - we need a shellac resurgence! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awty Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 I found a couple of Caruso's in my stash, probably some more. Must be over 500 78's to sort out. All ineed of a clean, quite a few in bad shape, but many just need a good clean. Can you still buy pouches for them? Silverfish have wrecked a lot of them. They are ridiculously heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 25, 2020 Author Share Posted September 25, 2020 17 minutes ago, awty said: Can you still buy pouches for them? Yes, the same ones they use for 10" and 12" LPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 The replacement 10" sleeves are quite expensive for what you get. I've spent a lot of time looking for suitably sized envelopes to cut down, with the intention of getting a cutting compass to get the hole to view the label. Unfortunately, I can't find anything the right size (and I don't want to be getting oversize). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 25, 2020 Author Share Posted September 25, 2020 11 minutes ago, audiofeline said: The replacement 10" sleeves are quite expensive for what you get. I purchased 50 ready made ones. But I only use them for pristine or rare shellac. Most old records are well scuffed and I just try to have those with covers interleaved with those that don't. I have this old stack of Bing Crosby that simply aren't worth the effort or cost of covers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surprisetech Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 On 24/09/2020 at 3:03 PM, aussievintage said: Getting a huge kick out of playing this very old record. A 12" shellac 78 - Santa Lucia recorded in 1916 by Enrico Caruso. Joan Baez would agree. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awty Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 I put the copy of al donna i found on the gramophone and cranked her. Pretty impressive, especially on the high notes. Unfortunately the rest I found so far of Caruso were cracked or chipped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 Found another Caruso, and in very nice condition. This one has Enrico Caruso (tenor), Geraldine Farrar (Soprano) and Marcel Journet - Bass doing Alerte! ou vous etes perdus from Faust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypr1961 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 If youre looking for old stuff heres a guy I used to work with. He used to run Vintage Jazz Mart, looks like hes retired from there but still has his own site. I remember he had an amazing setup to play just any sort of record and electronics built by a mate at the BBC http://www.jazzhound.net/ http://www.vjm.biz/about-vjm.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 Just another pic that shows the nice little Luxman amp I am using. Currently playing 1923 recording of the Coldstream Guards - "The daughter of the regiment" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 All these variations on HMV labels, different colours and sizes. I think it's the definitive gramophone label This was a GREAT record I just played. From 1928 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 1 hour ago, aussievintage said: Just another pic that shows the nice little Luxman amp I am using. Currently playing 1923 recording of the Coldstream Guards - "The daughter of the regiment" That title sounds a bit dodgy.. Couldn't they tell which one was the father? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 On 25/09/2020 at 12:01 PM, audiofeline said: There is a lot of fantastic music neglected in old grooves. Enough of the vinyl resurgence - we need a shellac resurgence! Yeah, but the lack of modern artists on them would kill it for most.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 Just now, bob_m_54 said: Yeah, but the lack of modern artists on them would kill it for most.. Maybe, but tracks like "Room for the factotum" and "Santa Lucia" are timeless. I bet everyone's heard them before and would enjoy them still. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 On 25/09/2020 at 3:34 PM, surprisetech said: Joan Baez would agree. Speaking of voices though, I think Joan would have to be the most listenable vocalist I can think of. She's definitely my favourite anyway. Such a pure voice, especially in hey younger years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Just now, aussievintage said: Maybe, but tracks like "Room for the factotum" and "Santa Lucia" are timeless. I bet everyone's heard them before and would enjoy them still. Sorry, just my attempt at ironical humour... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 I just played Danube Waves, and was able to compare what I was hearing to the carefully restored version in the US archives (which they used 4 different sized styluses to create) and I reckon my copy must be better than the one they had, because I preferred mine 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 Just now, bob_m_54 said: Sorry, just my attempt at ironical humour... No probs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Just now, aussievintage said: No probs. It is pretty damn amazing though, that you can do that. And with something you designed and built yourself. No small feat there mate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awty Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 (edited) Sorry for the back ground noise and poor filming. Guess the record could do with a better clean aswell. Sounds much better in real life... Edited September 28, 2020 by awty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, awty said: Sorry for the back ground noise and poor filming. Guess the record could do with a better clean aswell. Sounds much better in real life... I bet it does. Who is that? Sounds a bit different to the Caruso I have heard. Judging by the orange small label, it is something a bit later - although it may be a re-pressing of an older recording. Edited September 28, 2020 by aussievintage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 6 minutes ago, aussievintage said: I bet it does. Who is that? Sounds a bit different to the Caruso I have heard. Judging by the orange small label, it is something a bit later - although it may be a re-pressing of an older recording. I thought they were hand carved back then.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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