Abbey Road Vinyl
Abbey Road Vinyl
Abbey Road Vinyl
Welcome ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 1: Components .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 2: Quick Start Guide ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Chapter 3: Interface and Controls ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Interface Panels .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Controls .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
WaveSystem Toolbar .................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Chapter 4: Vinyl Record Production and Playback .......................................................................................................... 18
Creating the Record ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Playing Back the Record ............................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 5: Vinyl, A Brief History ...................................................................................................................................... 24
Improvements in Vinyl Sound ...................................................................................................................................................................... 25
The Decline of Vinyl ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Vinyl Revival .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 27
We suggest that you become familiar with the Waves Support pages: www.waves.com/support. There are technical articles
about installation, troubleshooting, specifications, and more. Plus, you’ll find company contact information and Waves
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Introduction
For more than 50 years, music meant vinyl records. Vinyl was the format for everyone, from teenagers with portable record
players to critical audiophile listeners. Vinyl records were relatively affordable and easy to store. They could be played on any
turntable, and they sounded great. Vinyl’s purely analogue production and playback processes, and its standardized
frequency and dynamic specifications, yielded a listening experience that’s different—and some argue, more life-like—than
digital processes. Reproduction of sound in this analogue format was in many ways subjective, so there were heated
disagreements over tone arms, styluses, platters, motors, and other minutiae of turntables. At the same time, records were
subject to scratches, dust, warping, and more, so practices about caring for, cleaning, and storing these disks developed into
fetishes. Despite this, people loved their vinyl records because they provided unbeatable sound.
It’s this sound that Waves delivers in the Abbey Road Vinyl plugin. It doesn’t just add pops, clicks, and band limiting. Instead it
dissects the technical elements that gave vinyl its sound and it lets you deliver anything from a very subtle recreation of vinyl
for discerning listeners, to aggressive vinyl artifacts for club settings. While bringing you the attributes that make vinyl what it
is, Abbey Road Vinyl is not bound to the physical limitations of records, such as loudness. You create and control the
personality of vinyl rather than being a slave to it.
At the end of this manual is a description of the technology of the production and playback of vinyl records. This should help
you understand the physical world that the Vinyl plugin is recreating. There’s also a brief history of vinyl records to help
The Lite components require less CPU resources than the full version.
To get started:
1. Listen to your material with the different setups. Turn the TG Desk on/off. Toggle between the different Generation,
Turntable and Cartridge options, and decide which best compliments your material and does what you want to
accomplish.
2. Adjust the Noise, Crackle and Click levels and Click Density. You may want to go for an exaggerated noisy effect
or not use this effect.
3. Adjust the Wow and Flutter Rate and Depth controls. You can exaggerate these modulation effects or remove them
altogether. Note that the values in this section change from setup to setup to match the sound and behavior of these
setups.
4. Adjust the Phase Distortion controls. Abbey Road Vinyl creates and controls phase distortion by duplicating the
input signal and sending one source through a modulator. The other source is unaffected. When the two signals are
recombined, phase distortion occurs. You can increase or decrease the level, shape, and focus of phase distortion
effect by changing the bandwidth of the modulated signal. The HP/LP filters change the spectrum of the modulated
signal.
Increasing the value of the HP filter, for example, results in a “thinner” signal going to the modulator. The recombined
signal will have less phase distortion at low frequencies. Decreasing HP distortion, conversely, results in more low-
frequency phase distortion.
5. Experiment and adjust the Tone Arm position. As the tone arm moves closer to the center of the disk, the frequency
response changes (less High Frequency boost) and harmonic distortion increases. You can automate this control to
change the sound of your material as the virtual cartridge moves from the outside to the inside of the record.
6. Determine the desired Drive levels. Driving the plugin will result in a more saturated/distorted signal. Adjusting the
Drive level does not impact loudness.
7. Experiment with the Slow Down Mechanism:
• Select the Time Format you wish to use – Time or Bars, synced to your session tempo.
• Double click the Length field to enter the length in time or Bars/Beats of the stopping effect you wish to apply.
You can also drag your mouse or use the keyboard arrows to change the length. If your session includes tempo
changes and you have selected Bars as your time format, the length will adjust accordingly at the tempo change
events.
• Press Stop – This will slow down the playback to a full stop. This effect will take as long as the value you have
set in the Length control.
• Playback is stopped until Play is pressed.
• You may turn on Auto resume control for creative effects. When Auto is activated, playback will resume
immediately at the end of the slow down effect.
• Experiment with automating these controls.
Note: You can stop the record from spinning by clicking the left-hand side of the record.
Input Level
Determines the level at which signal enters the plugin.
Range: -18 to +18 dB
Default: 0 dB
Reset: 0 dB
Input Drive
This control increases the level going into the plugin, while inversely decreasing the output in order to maintain equal
loudness. Higher Drive levels result in increased harmonic distortion. Note: At higher Drive levels the amplitude of the signal
may be clipped (depending on your source material), which may result in lower perceived loudness.
Range: 0 to 100
Default: 0
Reset: 0
Turntable
Select which turntable you wish to use for playback:
1. Abbey Road (Default/Reset): Playback on the built-in turntable of the Abbey Road vinyl lathe.
2. DJ: Playback on a popular DJ direct-drive turntable.
Cartridge
Select which cartridge you wish to use for playback:
1. MM – Moving Magnet: (Default/Reset): A classic, much sought-after cartridge from the 1980s, used regularly on Abbey
Road’s turntable for playback.
2. MC – Moving Coil: A modern, high-end audiophile moving-coil cartridge.
3. DJ – Disk Jockey: A modern, popular, midrange moving-magnet cartridge used by many DJs.
TG Desk
Applies the modelled frequency response and harmonic distortion and noise profile of the Abbey Road TG12410 mastering
console.
Range: Off, On
Default: On
Reset: On
Crackle Level
Crackles are a constant granular noise created by roughness of the record groove.
This control adjusts the level of crackle added to the signal. It changes as you select different
Generations/Turntables/Cartridges.
Range: -INF to +48 dB
Default: 0 dB
Reset: 0 dB
Clicks Level
A click is a short, loud burst created by the stylus striking a physical interference on the record.
This control adjusts the level of clicks added to signal. It changes as you select different Generations/Turntables/Cartridges.
Range: Off to 100
Default: Off
Reset: 50
Time Format
Toggles the Length display between Time and Bars.
Stop/Start
Indicates if plugin is currently stopped (play icon) or playing/stopping (stop icon). Pressing this button engages the slow-down
effect manually for the duration of the Length setting. Once The slow-down effect has ended, the control will remain “stopped,”
waiting to resume playback. Press Play or use the Auto Resume feature to restart play.
Auto Resume
When engaged, Playback will resume immediately when the slow-down effect is completed. When disengaged, no sound will
pass once the slow-down effect has ended–until the Play button is pressed once again.
Range: Off, On
Default: Off
Reset: Off
Wow Depth
Determines the amount of Frequency Modulation (FM) applied. This setting changes according to
Generation/Turntable/Cartridge selection.
Range: -50 (off) to +50
Default: 0
Reset: 0
Flutter Rate
Determines the rate of Amplitude Modulation (AM) applied. This setting changes according to Generation/Turntable/Cartridge
selection.
Range: Off (-) to 100
Default: 50
Reset: 50
Meter selector
Toggles the meter displays between input and output.
Range: In/Out
Default: In
Reset: In
Output Level
Controls the total signal output level.
Range: -18 dB to +18 dB
Default: 0 dB
Reset: 0 dB
Monitor selector
Changes the monitoring of the plugin.
Range: Stereo/Mono/Left/Right
Default: Stereo
Reset: Stereo
WaveSystem Toolbar
Use the bar at the top of the plugin to save and load presets, compare settings, undo and redo steps, and resize the
plugin. To learn more, click the icon at the upper-right corner of the window and open the WaveSystem Guide.
The final mixed audio passes through the TG 12410 Transfer Desk. This gives the mastering engineer the tools
needed (EQs, filters, limiters) to master the musical content for optimal placement on the lacquer.
The RIAA curve is added during the cutting process–it has crucial impact on the signal being cut to the disk. The
Abbey Road VMS-80 RIAA curve was precisely modeled, as was a slight modulation due to the spinning engine of
the VMS-80.
The press process has the biggest impact on sound, and plays a big role in what we call the “vinyl sound.” It increases
the noise level and adds crackling to the sound.
a. Master acetate
At the end of the cutting process, the 14” acetate is the considered the master. An acetate is a piece of aluminum
coated with a layer of vinyl, into which grooves are cut, like a record.
b. The “Father”
The master is sent to the pressing plant, where it is plated by silver and then electroplated with nickel. This
creates the “Father.”
c. The “Mother”
The father is then oxidized and plated once again. The result is a metal plate that when separated from the father
can be played back on a turntable to check for errors. This is called a “Mother.” The mother is used to create the
“Stampers.”
To understand how the program material is altered by this process, switch between “Lacquer” and “Print” in the
Generation section.
3. Confirm quality:
After a stamper is created, about ten records are produced for evaluation and approval by the Abbey Road mastering
engineer and the artist. The mastering engineer will assess whether the noise level and profile are what one would
expect from a test press (about 3–6 dB louder than the master when pressing is done properly). Once the test pressing
is approved, the stampers are used for mass pressing.
To experience how playback sounds at Abbey Road mastering suites, Select AR in the Turntable section. You can also
play back through a standard DJ turntable, which although not as pristine as the Abbey Road turntable, provides a
classic “vinyl sound.”
Turntable
The turntable is the circular, spinning platform upon which the record rests. A quality turntable must deliver a correct,
consistent rotation speed, without short-term irregularities such as wow (a once-per-revolution speed distortion) and flutter
(short-term speed changes). To prevent motor noise from passing acoustically to the audio chain, most turntables from the
1970s and later were belt driven. Certain audiophile turntables used an isolated direct-drive turntable that was an integral
element of the driving motor. These turntables are typically expensive to produce.
Tone Arm
The tone arm is a lightweight counterbalanced cylinder or lever that connects the chassis of the turntable with the pickup
cartridge. It must weigh very little, so as not to distort and damage the grooves. Yet it must have sufficient mass to track well
and to prevent passing motor rumble to the cartridge. Philosophical disagreements over tone arm specifics have led to lost
friendships among vinyl record enthusiasts.
When a lacquer is made at the mastering studio, the grooves are cut with a lathe. The cutting head is always perpendicular to
the axis of rotation of the disc. However, when playing back the record, the stylus—at the end of the tone arm—is moving
more obliquely near the inner part of the record than at the outer part. This can result in phase distortion, a difference in the
frequency response of the cutting head and the playback device. The shape and design of the tone arm influence the phase
distortion. Certain turntables offer linear tracking, in which the stylus moves laterally with respect to turntable rotation. This
reduces phase distortion, but such turntables are expensive and relatively rare.
The pickup cartridge converts the vibrations of the stylus into an electrical signal, which is then amplified and sent to
loudspeakers. The stylus, usually made of diamond, is at the end of a metal cantilever, which mechanically amplifies the
stylus’ motions. This metal bar connects to either a magnet within a coil or a coil within a magnetic field. It’s this motion that
generates a small electrical signal for amplification. There are two types of pickup cartridges: moving magnet and moving coil.
Moving magnet cartridges are often found in inexpensive record players, while moving coil cartridges usually used in more
critical applications. However, a good moving magnet cartridge can often outperform a comparable moving coil. Moving coil
cartridges typically have lower inductance and impedance than moving magnet types, which means less capacitance in the
cables within the turntable electronics. Moving coil cartridges often have less mass, which can reduce groove wear.
• Moving Magnet (MM)-This is modelled from the cartridge stylus that’s used at Abbey Road Studios. It is one of the
best moving magnet cartridges ever produced, and is defined by very good transient response and very flat frequency
response.
• Moving Coil (MC)- a model of a very high-end moving magnet cartridge that is characterized by good super-
frequencies response, lower noise level, and great sub frequencies response.
• DJ (DJ)- A “cheap” DJ cartridge, widely used in DJ setups. This provides a “dirty, gritty” sound.
Together, these provide a wide variety of vinyl playback options.
There’s a great deal of room for a consumer to shape his or her listening experience when it comes to vinyl. It’s a matter of
personal taste, music preferences, and, of course, budget.
A vinyl record is an analogue sound storage medium, usually made from polyvinyl chloride. Sound is recorded in a
spiral groove that starts near the outer edge of the disc and ends near its center. Just as magnetic recording uses the
changing organization of oxide to store an audio signal and optical recording uses changing shapes and densities of
transparent materials, vinyl records use the changing shape and depth of these grooves to reproduce sound.
Recording an analogue signal onto some sort of malleable disc or cylinder dates back to the 1880s, if not earlier. Thomas
Edison’s mythic recording of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” onto a turning cylinder covered with tinfoil is generally touted as the first
sound recording. Early recordings were made acoustically: the artist’s sounds moved a diaphragm that then caused a needle
to move and cut into a wax mastering material (later in history wax was replaced with lacquer). Using a diaphragm to capture
and amplify sounds for “recording” is the same process that the human middle ear uses to amplify the air compressions and
rarefactions that make up sound. Wax soon replaced tin foil as the mastering media. Electric recording came into being in the
1920s, when the vacuum tube, the preamp, and a means of moving the cutting needle electrically became commercially
available. These developments also brought about electrical sound amplification.
By the 1910s, spinning discs had replaced cylinders as the preferred sound storage media. Discs didn’t necessarily sound
better than cylinders—they often sounded worse, since a rotating disc has a higher linear speed at the outer grooves than at
the inner ones, which can cause distortion and other problems. But discs were cheaper to produce on a large scale, since they
can be stamped rather than individually engraved. The disc format survives to this day. As the record-making industry
developed, a number of different media were used for records, including rubber and celluloid, but shellac soon became the
most common material. Shellac records are durable, but they suffer from very high surface noise. Other materials were offered
as alternatives, including vinyl, but no other record material was able to displace shellac commercially. This changed during
World War II, when shellac was scarce. It was vinyl’s big break.
To address the issue of putting an increasing amount of information into narrowing grooves, the Recording Industry of
America (RIAA) established a specification for the recording and playback of phonograph records. By adapting this
equalization curve, record manufacturers are able to decrease the average width of each groove, thus yielding greater
recording times, to improve overall sound quality, and to reduce groove damage.
High quality production and equipment provided deep-pocketed audiophiles with amazing sounds. At the same time, a
modest, perfectly decent “stereo system” that sounded good was not terribly expensive.
In the early 1990s the compact disc was released on a large scale. This was an even bigger challenge to vinyl records. For
years, people recognized the unique sound quality of vinyl, but there was always complaint about surface noise and clicks.
Plus, vinyl records are fragile and utterly impossible to enjoy on the go. Early CDs were sold as being quiet, but not for their
sound quality, which couldn’t match LPs. But quickly, A/D/A converters improved, reducing the “zipper noise” that
characterized early players. Recording and production technology improved, and developments in noise reduction enabled the
resurrection of archived albums ranging from Caruso to Led Zeppelin. Audiophile listeners hung on to their LPs for a long time
(perhaps forever), but the market had made its choice. By the early 1990s, many were declaring the death of vinyl. This was
essentially true, given the many market forces standing in its way.
Since the mid-2000s there’s been a steady decline in CD sales, coupled with a huge increase in sales of vinyl records. By the
mid-2010s, it was clear that the boom in the number of people who like to listen on vinyl is not just a fad. Vinyl was back, and
for the same reasons that existed 50 years before. The fun of opening the sleeve, lowering the needle, and experiencing the
music in a special way. But mostly, it’s because a well-made record gives us an unbeatable sound.