HD Vinyl Record Pressing

Neuman VMS70 Lacquer Cutting Lathe

What is HD Vinyl? Is this an oxi-moron, or is there really something more to it? Read on.

Introduction

Ever since the introduction of those vinyl cylinders there have been huge strides in the improvement of the audio replay quality of vinyl. From standardized replay equalization to improved vinyl formulations and of course improvements in leaps and bounds in the mechanical replay chain from the turntable, arm and most importantly the cartridge.  The last large major leap was made with Direct To Disc recording mainly spear-headed by Sheffield Lab.

Well we are about to take, hopefully, another major leap in the vinyl reproduction process; referred to as HD Vinyl.

Rebeat Digital an Austrian company known for its Music Enterprise Software that is used to manage record labels releases, filed patents in Europe in 2016 for a new method of producing vinyl albums that would provide higher quality.  Rebeat Innovation has received almost $5 million dollars in investments and another $2 million in pledges to bring to market a new process to produce vinyl albums at a far higher quality than can be achieved with the current cutting and pressing process. They have also secured a number of deals with various pretigous vinyl record pressing plants including GZ Media (Czech Republic), Record Products of America (RSA) (CT, USA) and Viryl Technologies (Toronto).

So is this just ‘pie in the sky’ and a marketing scam or a process that will provide audiophiles with an even better analog source.

The Process

The new cutting process is said to be able to provide:

• Full backward compatibly with your current vinyl replay system
• 30% more time per side with up to 30 minutes of highly dynamic material
• 30% higher dynamics and improved signal to noise
• The vinyl stamper is not a copy
• The first pressing is just as perfect as the last pressing
• A possible recording frequency of up to 100KHz at the outer edge of the vinyl
• Optimization of either radial or tangential scanning by the cartridge

So what makes this process so much better than the current mastering and pressing process?

1. It is a one step process, a laser cuts a CERAMIC vinyl stamper that is not a copy of anything. (Traditional stampers are third generation)
2. The same CERAMIC stamper can be used to produce almost an unlimited number of identical pressings
3. The groove shape can be optimized and controlled ensuring a perfect fit for the stylus tip

This process uses a laser to cut the CERAMIC stamper. What is very different is that the material to be recorded is first analyzed and converted into a 3D topographic map that represents the EXACT cut. This allows all the track spacing to be optimized and enables all peak excursions to be dealt with by optimizing the track spacing ONLY where required, and the groove shape can be modified to compensate for cartridge tracking errors. It is this digital file that is then laser etched into the surface of the CERAMIC stamper.

This whole process is also very environmentally friendly with no plating, no chemicals and no creation of any waste byproducts.

HD What?

The biggest issue here is that the signal to be cut into the surface needs to be digitized for analysis and to drive the laser. The million dollar question is, especially for purists like me, is just how good is the digitization process and is it audible? The ALL  ANALOG Direct To Disc process had ZERO signal chain processing and you paid a price for that. You needed expert cutting engineers and were very restricted on the time available per side; not to mention the musicianship issues with having to cut all tracks in one session with no ability to ‘fix it in the mix’.

With most modern albums coming from digital sources anyway, unless they are a re-release of the original analog masters or multi-track tapes, this process should provide all of us with a far better copy of the original source material, with the capacity to support better dynamics and improved signal to noise ratios. The question here is, will this new capacity be used just to cram more material onto one side of a disc or to provide an audiophile experience? Music compression is widely deployed in many recordings and mastering processes, let us hope that the labels use this new technique for audiophile music, not just MORE loud compressed crap on each side of an album.

Understandably there is some skepterciscm in the professional, audiophile and vinyl communities as to whether this new process will deliver what it promises. Several vinyl companies with terrific track records in the industry like Pro-Ject Audio Systems, Grado Labs and Vinyl Me, Please, seem to be impressed and feel that this new technique holds great promise and is not just a marketing ploy or buzzword. One thing it could easily solve is the current shortage of mastering facilities that are heavily loaded with producing stampers for the large resurgence in demand for vinyl albums. While at the same time providing every purchaser with the same quality of pressing.

HD vinyl? Well I am not too sure what the HD really stands for; Hopeful Devotees to vinyl! If the process delivers the improvements it promises and the labels use the improved dynamic capacity then we should all be listening to more vinyl that approaches what Sheffield Lab and a few other Direct To Disc houses used to release. In the final analysis, no matter how good the transfer medium is, a poor musical performance and mix is just that, POOR. This is not a magical panacea that fixes a bad performance and mix.

Where Are We Now?

Rebeat has received the equipment it needs to start making its laser-etched ceramic stampers, which arrived in July 2018. It hopes to make some test plates for a number of pressing-plants available shortly. If everything goes perfectly, then we could see this HD vinyl hit record stores by late Summer 2019.

The good news here is that the CERAMIC stampers can be fitted to any old or new pressing machines with little to no modifications.

Lets hope that this new process doesn’t push the price of vinyl up by any significant amount (just because they can) or it may well be dead in the water before it gets a foothold. It may however give a boast to the cartridge manufacturers who would be able to create special styli to perfectly match the controlled groove shape.

The Future And The Past

Will this technology, if successfully deployed, result in the resurgence of the optical turntable and laser cartridge? The perfect combination….maybe! Unfortunately for many purists that totally analog chain from studio micophone to living room speaker may still be elusive, leaving us to rely on those rapidly vanishing Direct To Disc pressings of yesteryear.

As with many promises made by record labels and record pressing companies, that have bitterly disappointed me with their supposed audiophile pressings, I truly hope that this promise is kept and that the labels use this technique to give vinyl its next step up.

Coming late 2019 to a vinyl outlet near you…..hopefully!

Still want to listen to some of vinyls best of the best? Check out my reviews of the entire Sheffield Lab Series here.