Vinyl Recorders:
Vestax VRX-2000
Sean
Humphries Contributed to this Article. Edited by Disc Jockey
101.
July 2003
Scratching your DJ name on a
vinyl record is a unique and novel way of cultivating your image.
Bad Boy Bill, for example, is famous for scratching his name
during a performance. But you will need to have your name recorded
on to vinyl, which as you will see below, can be quite expensive.
Recent History
Vinyl, the preferred playback
medium for decades of music listening suffered badly during the
technology boom of the 80's, and was filtered out of domestic
sales through first the audio cassette, and then the compact
disc. Commercial record companies stopped vinyl production, and
the popularity of vinyl was taken over by the CD.
So
vinyl was forced even further underground. Throughout the club-house
boom of the late-80's, the evolution of techno/trance in the
90's, and throughout the standards set by turntablists and hip-hop/scratch
DJ's that pioneered the art of turntablism, there is one consistent
factor that has kept vinyl alive:
Vinyl is the preferred format
for the majority of the world's professional DJ's.
In more recent years, the popularity
of club culture and hip-hop/turntablism has increased the global
sales of vinyl. Recent trends have seen many popular live bands
and R'n'B artists incorporating a DJ into their line-up. Throughout
this time, DJ's searched for the latest sounds or the hardest
to find records to enhance their performance.
Not all dance music tracks are
pressed in commercial quantities. As a result, many unofficial
releases make their way to the shelves as bootlegs or white label
records. High profile DJ's, promoters, and record shops receive
one-off pressings from producers and record labels to test a
release's popularity before committing to quantity vinyl pressings.
These "one-off" pressings are often referred to as
acetates - or more commonly within the dance-music industry as
"dubplates." However, as Graham Newton points out:
If there is a "proper"
name, it is probably "lacquer" because of the fact
that they are lacquer coated with a compound of cellulose nitrate,
and acetate had little to do with it, although it has become
a common name for a lacquer coated disc, and many professionals
still use the term "acetate." Habits are hard to break.
The
Record Collectors Guide
Nevertheless, it is these dubplates
that often make or break the next biggest thing.
Vestax Harmodisk Supersedes
the Dub-Plate
Up until now, "dubplates"
have been quite expensive to produce, and have had an extremely
limited lifespan in comparison to 
standard
vinyl. Does the Vestax VRX-2000 - with a $10,000 price tag -
change the DJ's ability to record tracks on vinyl at a reduced
cost?
When it was released, the Vestax
Harmodisk blank vinyl record was a totally new plastic that can
last up to 90% of the time of a standard record, maintaining
excellent sound quality throughout playback. Many DJ's are unaware
that the type of vinyl employed in the recording process affects
the record's audio fidelity. For example, French atofina is the
highest quality vinyl, and "regrind" vinyl supposedly
improves audio quality. As Stan Ricker contends:
I encourage people, when they
want to make a record that's got a lot of snap or bang to it,
as in DJ dance-club music, to get as high a percentage of regrind
in the vinyl as they can get, consistent with the quality that
they want. Enjoy
The Music.com
This may explain why some vinyl
recordings (such as 'made-for-scratch' records) are less vulnerable
to "cue-burn" than other records.
With 90% the durability of a
standard record, the Vestax Harmodisk is - relatively speaking
- the DJ's best option in creating a dubplate. Vinyl recording
works in real time, allowing for instant duplication from any
line level audio source: Compact Disc, DAT, Mini Disc, Cassette,
MP3 data, even the audio output on a computer's sound card. It
should be noted that vinyl blanks and replacement cutting styli
are only available through Vestax VRX-2000 dealers.
The VRX-2000 is a compact machine,
only 18Kg in weight, and it has changed all of the rules about
what vinyl cutting and mastering is all about. The Vestax stereo
cutting head cuts directly into the vinyl without any mother
plates or processors, and the recording is instantly playable.
Conclusion
It is now several years since
Vestax launched the VRX-2000. The retail price remains near $10,000
for one recorder. At that price, DJ gear stores rarely have a
machine in their inventory. One DJ, who purchased a used vinyl
cutter on e-Bay for $1,000 (made by another brand), paid for
his investment by starting a side-business producing custom name
drops and beats for DJ's.
While the machine was intended
as a low-cost alternative to CD burning, there aren't that many
DJ's that can afford the hefty price tag. According to one salesperson
at a major DJ gear retailer, "I haven't sold one yet, and
I don't know anyone that has sold one either." When you
consider the creative opportunities the VRX-2000 offers, that's
disappointing news.
Related Links
Bill Price Interview (Digital Pro Sound.com)
How Vinyl Records Are Manufactured (Disc Jockey 101)
Main Vinyl Mastering Suite A (Stratozoo.ch)
Pressing Matters, The Production of Phonograph
Records (Record Collector's
Guild)
Stan Ricker Interview (Enjoy the Music.com)
Vestax
Vinyl Mastering (Sterling Sound)
VRX-2000 CURRENT SPECIFICATIONS
INPUT:
LINE IN: -10dBm (unbalanced RCA jack)
-10dBm / 0dBm / +4dBm selectable (balanced XLR connector)
OUTPUT:
PHONO OUT: -45dBm (unbalanced RCA jack)
CUTTING HEAD:
Vestax Original Stereo V-DRIVE system: VCH-1
Stylus angle : +5
Stylus Pressure: 35g
Cooling: Natural Air Flow
STYLUS CUTTER:
Material: Sapphire
Heat Wire: Nichrome Wire 3ohm
Lifetime: 20H (approx)
CUTTING ARM:
Vestax Original Static Balance Cutting Arm
Track Pitch: Fixed Speed
ELECTRONICS:
Maximum Cutting Level: 5cm/sec +10dB
Record/Playback Frequency Response: 20Hz >>12.5KHz plus/minus
3dB
Peak Limiter: ON/OFF selectable (on the PCB)
Vertical Limiter: Fixed
Driving Power Amp: 80W x 80W
OTHER:
Recording Time: 15min (single side) 30min (both side)
Speed : 33 1/3 rpm / 45 rpm
Blank disk : VBM-1 Vestax original Vinyl disk (Harmodisk)
: VBM-2 Vestax original Lacquer disk 12" or 10"
Electronic Static Prevention.
Vestax ASTS playback arm.
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