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Review and Measurements of Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL

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amirm

amirm

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Typically one only hears this noise between tracks on LPs. A record needs to be pretty damaged for it to be heard when music is playing, or on classical music which often has 50 dB of dynamic range.
I am using headphones so I can hear more than someone using speakers. I did note that this was during fade-outs where there was still music but at lower levels. My point wasn't as much that there was groove noise but that it provided a false sense of ambiance.
 
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amirm

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The Music Hall mmf-2.2 turntable is only 430 USD on amazon. Is its quality good enough for a listening test? I am not sure.
Nowadays you can buy a great headphone amplifier for 100 USD, but the turntables are a pricey hobby.
Even if I bought a $100,000 turntable, folks will complain that it is not the same one they have, the same arm, cartridge, etc. So it is a non-win game.

Our audience here is mostly interested in budget-friendly products so I think the Music Hall fits the bill.

At the end of the day, the real data here is the objective data. Subjective data given the variability of the format is a distant second to that.
 
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That's normal in the UK - down for on, up for off - same for light switches etc. But I know the feeling - when I moved to the US in '74 I was surprised to find that switches were backwards - very odd. ;):D
I lived in UK for a short while but was more than 40 years ago so I have forgotten. :) It was in 1977 so I am pretty even with your experience in reverse. :)
 

maty

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This vinyl has noise that should be in the master. But the sound and music is very good!

Lightnin' Hopkins - Lightnin' (The Blues Of Lightnin' Hopkins) (1961), Vinyl, Prestige Bluesville 2017, Remastered, US

https://www.discogs.com/es/Lightnin-Hopkins-Lightnin-The-Blues-Of-Lightnin-Hopkins/release/9944720

R-9944720-1488993597-2859.jpeg.jpg


DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR14 -0.61 dB -18.29 dB 4:34 A1 Automobile Blue
DR13 -1.28 dB -17.49 dB 5:01 A2 You Better Watch Yourself
DR12 -1.10 dB -17.81 dB 3:43 A3 Mean Old Frisco
DR14 -2.42 dB -19.71 dB 4:09 A4 Shinin Moon
DR14 -0.87 dB -18.26 dB 3:30 A5 Come Back Baby
DR13 -1.10 dB -18.22 dB 5:08 B1 Thinkin' 'Bout An Old Friend
DR12 -0.54 dB -15.64 dB 3:25 B2 The Walkin Blues
DR12 -0.61 dB -16.19 dB 3:22 B3 Back To New Orleans
DR14 -0.83 dB -18.30 dB 4:05 B4 Katie Mae
DR13 -0.71 dB -18.58 dB 4:08 B5 Down There Baby
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR13

CD ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightnin'_Hopkins
 
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Recently tried out vinyl again after I got an old (80ies) Sony amp with, according to reviewers back then, really good phono stage. Record player is the classic Technics SL1200 with a good cartridge and new needle.
Dug out a LP with classical music from my collection - a recording which I'd recently listened to on Spotify. LP was clean and appeared virtually unplayed (very well possible, I was a bit of an obsessive collector back in the day).
The experiment lasted half a side (<10 minutes). There was the hiss, there were the crackles, there was the obvious limits on dynamic range. There also wasn't anything there that would have made the defects of the format worthwhile.
I still like the large covers, occassional liner notes, and the optics and haptics of putting a record on the player. Actual playback from LP is no longer acceptable to me.
 

maty

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Do not generalize. The record label is very important, because there were a lot of sloppies then too.

More than 90% of what I hear comes from vinyl. Well, and a lot of classical music from the FM radio.

But you have to be selective, investigate first and do not get carried away.

Now that they have become fashionable, many start to rip without having much idea. And, as usual, they intend to solve their problems by spending and spending instead of properly informing and asking those who have much more experience.
 
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Do not generalize. The record label is very important, because there were a lot of sloppies then too.

More than 90% of what I hear comes from vinyl. Well, and a lot of classical music from the FM radio.

But you have to be selective, investigate first and do not get carried away.

Now that they have become fashionable, many start to rip without having much idea. And, as usual, they intend to solve their problems by spending and spending instead of properly informing and asking those who have much more experience.
I listen to $300,000 turntable setups at audio shows. And of course they play the best LPs they can get. The artifacts are still there. LP listeners tend to get numb to it and learn to ignore them. But to those of us who come from digital, they are clear and objectionable.

For analog fix I much prefer Reel to Reel where almost none of the degradations in LP are present (glitches, pops, ticks, groove noise, etc.). So yes, there are better mixed analog content but in LP envelop, it is mostly not enjoyable to me.
 
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A kind soul donated a Music Hall mmf-2.2 with the stock Music Hall tracker cartridge. I had to rewire the cartridge which I managed to do after a bunch of cursing. Had to use every bit of my skills in fishing wires to get the darn wires through the arm. Anyway, it is done and I am thankful for having the unit.

Hi Amir.

Was the re-wiring done to get a balanced output from the turntable? If so, how did you do the wiring? I don't know of any turntables with balanced outputs; perhaps that explains why it's rare to see balanced inputs on phono preamps.
 

maty

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Can you hear the noise with the speakers? Sometimes I hear some noise, depending on the condition of the vinyl and whether it has been properly washed and processed through soft.

It is always better to find vinyl in very good condition or new edition that does not require the use of software for cleaning.

Many times the noise comes from the old analog master and not so much from the vinyl itself, as I listen to many recordings from the late fifties and early sixties.

Ideally, digital copies should be done well, respecting the quality of the master, but unfortunately it is not.

I also have music from reel and cassette.

Btw, It seems stupid to spend so much money. With less than ten thousand euros you can have a very great sound. With less than fifty thousand you can get exceptional ripping. What has been said, people buy with their eyes and believe that money is the shortest way.

It is a very expensive hobby but not so much!

In any case, let is finish the discussion, which starts being too off topic.
 
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amirm

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Hi Amir.

Was the re-wiring done to get a balanced output from the turntable? If so, how did you do the wiring? I don't know of any turntables with balanced outputs; perhaps that explains why it's rare to see balanced inputs on phono preamps.
No, the wiring was broken completely and I re-wired it as unbalanced. It is easy to run it balanced since they are that way already (plus and minus for each channel).
 

Daverz

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No, the wiring was broken completely and I re-wired it as unbalanced. It is easy to run it balanced since they are that way already (plus and minus for each channel).

This is true, plus/minus for each leg and a common ground. A DIN connector would just combine all that into one connector.
 

Blumlein 88

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Even if I bought a $100,000 turntable, folks will complain that it is not the same one they have, the same arm, cartridge, etc. So it is a non-win game.

Our audience here is mostly interested in budget-friendly products so I think the Music Hall fits the bill.

At the end of the day, the real data here is the objective data. Subjective data given the variability of the format is a distant second to that.
Yeah, but price is objective data. I'm not saying what kind of data. But nothing subjective about price.

So how about a $200 DAC vs $200 LP rig showdown based upon listening tests. Plus maybe a $1000 DAC vs $1000 LP rig.
 

Blumlein 88

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I listen to $300,000 turntable setups at audio shows. And of course they play the best LPs they can get. The artifacts are still there. LP listeners tend to get numb to it and learn to ignore them. But to those of us who come from digital, they are clear and objectionable.

For analog fix I much prefer Reel to Reel where almost none of the degradations in LP are present (glitches, pops, ticks, groove noise, etc.). So yes, there are better mixed analog content but in LP envelop, it is mostly not enjoyable to me.
Yes, this. RTR is the real analog reference format. LP was the MP3 of its time. Cheap and easy to produce in volume.
 
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So how about a $200 DAC vs $200 LP rig showdown based upon listening tests. Plus maybe a $1000 DAC vs $1000 LP rig.
That is what I did: the digital side was $250 Topping DX3 Pro. The analog side was nearly $500 tuntable, $1000 phono stage and $400 headphone amp. That is almost $2000 for the LP fork. So the cost was in favor of LP.
 

Dj7675

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I was curious enough about this unit to purchase it used and send it in. I was hoping that with the published specs and having balanced in/out it better the Cambridge Duo, but while it didn’t end up being the case it is great knowing actual measurements. Thanks Amir for such a unique service and place!
 

Jimster480

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I was curious enough about this unit to purchase it used and send it in. I was hoping that with the published specs and having balanced in/out it better the Cambridge Duo, but while it didn’t end up being the case it is great knowing actual measurements. Thanks Amir for such a unique service and place!
I appreciate you sending gear into Amir to test! We are building the biggest DB here for audio products :)
I refer everyone who asks me about audio to read this forum!
 

LTig

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL phono stage/preamplifier. [..]
The IEC curve is pretty odd. It is not steep enough to get rid of all rumble yet it intrudes into the spectrum of music. It is a half-cure with bad side-effect so not sure why you would want to use it.
You cannot blame Musical Fidelity, the implementation of the IEC pole is AFAIK correct.
 
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You cannot blame Musical Fidelity, the implementation of the IEC pole is AFAIK correct.
The manual says this:

1560042659140.png


That is not what it is doing (only filtering subsonics).
 

LTig

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[..]
Listening Tests
A kind soul donated a Music Hall mmf-2.2 with the stock Music Hall tracker cartridge. I had to rewire the cartridge which I managed to do after a bunch of cursing. Had to use every bit of my skills in fishing wires to get the darn wires through the arm. Anyway, it is done and I am thankful for having the unit.
[..]
Subjective testing showed there is no magic to LP as a format and the combo as a musical experience. Other than groove noise possibly having a side-effect of giving one at times the impression of wider stage, the experience is definitely inferior to digital. Nothing was done in the MX-VYNL to bring more reality to music.

I fear that for getting a bit of the magic of LP one needs a much better turntable.
  • Many problems with surface noise, clicks and pops are much reduced using a sharp needle cut like on my Van den Hul MC-One Special.
  • Good bass needs a very good drive.
If you ask me I would always recommend to stick with a company haveing a long and reputable history of making good turntables, and not one of those companies which try to ride on the current wave, throwing in turntables made from scratch without any former experience.

Unfortunately there are not many left of those recommended companies and their products are not cheap. Linn, Technics, Pioneer (DJ), Clearaudio, Transrotor, SME come to mind. Going cheap I would try a Pioneer DJ tt, with a higher budget a Linn LP12 in one of its various versions. Anyway, I do not recommend newcomers to invest into vinyl at all - it makes no sense if you don't already own a large collection of vinyl. The costs of getting good vinyl playback are prohibitively high.
I have a few more LPs coming in this weekend for which I have matching digital so I will continue this testing and report then.

Try to get a mint vinyl of the original Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits and the first version of the corresponding CD (the remastered versions are compressed). I own both and on my tt CD and LP sound almost identical - the CD is somewhat cleaner but also a tiny little bit sterile. The LP sounds somewhat more convincing, there is more flow and the bass has more drive - lets name it more PRaT - here, I said it:eek:.

This year I bought this for a test:


The package contained both LP and CD. The mastering is different which I saw when I ripped the LP and compared the tracks to the CD, so I don't know how much of the difference in sound results from mastering and how much depends on the format. The difference is also evident in the rip, of course (done with an old Edirol UA25).

However, the LP image sound is broader and not very deep, while the CD sound is a bit more narrow, but deeper and cleaner - and much louder. But the LP is more like a wall of sound (2D) than the CD (3D).
 
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