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Replacing Vinyl...


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Theoretical thought provoking question - Are there other materials that could be used to replace Vinyl?

So much has been done to improve Vinyl playback source equipment, but what has been done to improve the media itself? I've been pondering this question.

What would a record sound like if it was made of some other material? Glass, polyurethane, fiberglass, etc. Certainly a new material could be found that could do all that vinyl does and more?

I did a search on AA to see if this topic was talked about before... Sure enough it was...

http://db.AudioAsylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=vinyl&n=10408&highlight=how+is+vinyl+made&r=&session=

I doubt it would ever happen due to the huge devlopment expense, but the results could be profound.

- tb

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Yikes a plastics question.

This is my field but have not thought about this much.

Each Plastic is a balance sheet of assets and liabilities

PVC or vinyl is pretty good for:

- moldability

-low friction

-reasonable surface hardness for scratch resistence

-low cost

Negatives

-highly carcinogenic in the basic building block(monomer) of the polymer

-low impact performance, even worse at cold temps

-recycled PVC tends to have greatly reduced physical properties

Acetal would have lower frictional characteristics than PVC.

BUT it is not moldable(tends to warp), more expensive and is made from formaldehyde

I would have to talk to some other people, but at the price point per pound for PVC; it is pretty good for this application.

I will keep thinking...

Rick

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Interesting,

This is something I had thought about and mentioned to my dad awhile back when talking about media formats(SACD, DVDA, CD, Tape, Vinyl).

I also wonder how far we can go to produce better magnetic tape, something with higher retentivity and coercivity specs on the magnetic side of things.

Peace, Josh

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Rick, is Acetal the same thing as or similar to Acetate?

I have a near mint condition portable Meissner disc recording machine that I inherited from my long gone father when I was a kid. He bought it when I was born. I believe it used "slow burn" acetate discs. I still have NOS unopened box of 25 disc recording blanks made by Audiodisc. There's a recording of me woofin on a harmonica when I was 1 or 2 years old around here somewhere. I guess you could say I've been doing the direct-to-disc thing all my life! (LOL)

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