DS Audio To Demo ES-001 Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer At Quintessence Audio In Chicago This Saturday

It's demo time! Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings will demonstrate the new DS Audio ES-001 Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer, which was introduced at the Munich High End show, at Quintessence Audio in Chicago this Saturday, June 25, from 1 to 6 pm (Central time).

For further event information, you can contact Quintessence Audio directly by phone at 847-966-4434, or by email at sales@quintessenceaudio.com.

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Here's more info about the ES-001 Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer and what it does, as described in DS Audio's own words on the company site:

The overall wow and flutter of the entire system cannot be significantly reduced unless the eccentricity of the record is corrected. With an eccentricity width value of 0.34mm, even if there is no inherent wow and flutter (speed error) produced by the turntable in use, it reaches around 0.15% (WTD RMS) on the innermost grooves of the records playing surface.

Put simply, when using even the finest quality turntables, these factors combined can result in an overall wow and flutter value 20 times worse than that of the turntable in isolation. available, the overall wow and flutter of the entire system cannot be significantly reduced unless the eccentricity of the record is corrected. In order to faithfully reproduce the source material it is imperative to reduce the record eccentricity as much as possible.

Excessive wow and flutter presents two problems. The first is that the unstable rotation causes fluctuations in pitch across the frequency range. The second is that if the record eccentricity is not corrected, the cartridge and tonearm will be forced to sway from side to side as they follow the groove. This impairs the stylus ability to accurately track the groove and results in a muddy sound and an unstable sonic image.

As a result, the full potential of even the highest quality systems will not be realized by the listener. Correcting this eccentricity as much as possible you to unlock far more of the potential performance of your equipment.

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When the record player is rotated, the upper part of the stabilizer is held to stop the rotation of the stabilizer, and the stabilizer detects the rotation and shifts to the measurement mode.

Next, when you press the [Tap to start measure] button, the display changes to the [Measuring] button and the measurement is completed in about 2 seconds.

Next, while looking at the stabilizer screen, press the record board to bring the cross mark (center of rotation) as close as possible to the absolute center position.

The degree of eccentricity of the record is indicated by the color of the screen (outer circumference, cross mark, and ​​display bar at the bottom).

When the center of rotation is aligned with the absolute center position, rotate the record player again to check. Be sure to rotate the record player (33 rotations or 45 rotations) when measuring. If the record player is not spinning, the stabilizer will not be in measurement mode.

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SPECS
ES-001 Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer
Size: φ80 × H70mm
Weight: 620g (including batteries)
Material: Aluminum & Tungsten
Power supply: Two AA batteries
User Interface: Touch panel (2.4inch)

COMMENTS
jazz's picture

but I admire the Japanese for going into such detail and finding solutions.

rich d's picture

Every time I come anywhere near an eccentricity detector the damn thing goes off. They're obviously defective.

Jazz listener's picture

Sounds like something out of an Austin Powers movie.

Tom L's picture

than the time-honored practice of watching the head of the tonearm closely to see if it goes back and forth? The next step is usually to ream out the center hole a bit and clamp it in the correct position or return the LP.

timorous's picture

I use the visual centering method, with a good strong light, and sometimes magnifier. Then I carefully ream out part of the center hole as needed. Then make a pencil mark on the label, next to the reamed area, so that the next time I play the it, I just push the pencil-marked area against the spindle. Works fine, and it's free.

JoeESP9's picture

What you suggest makes a lot of sense and is free.

Anton D's picture

Kudos!

rich d's picture

I find the whole process works better if you use Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" as a template before making any alterations. Hope this helps.

volvic's picture

Sadly, the pricing is out of my reach, at least too hard to justify. The other reason, why I don't think this would work is that I also have suspended tables and moving and shifting the record around to center it might not be the best way to keep in tune. Still what a great product.

DietChapstick's picture

Very interesting device but the price is simply unrealistic for an normal person. It would be interesting to see them license the technology to a much larger company and get it manufactured at a much greater scale at a lower price.

For now I recommend everyone immediately return their off-center records if they are newly purchased LPs and complain loudly to pressing plants that make off-center vinyl. There is really no excuse for it these days and plants need to do a better job with quality in general. Even the plants that press audiophile label stuff need to tune up quality.

zimmer74's picture

Fine, this device can measure eccentricity, but how can you apply correction on a normal deck without reaming out the record hole? The description says "press the record board to bring the cross mark (center of rotation) as close as possible to the absolute center position." Huh? What is the record board?

Zardoz's picture

Why is the price not mentioned in the report? Or did I somehow miss it? Wouldn't be because it is outrageous, would it?

Mudfoot's picture

Well this is neat. As an audio engineer, I’ve spent way too much time getting a disc perfectly centered for digitizing when master tapes no longer exist. (Mostly 45 & 78rpm) This may not be for everyone’s rig but it’s corrective effects have been noticed by every client and fellow record collector I’ve had.
Previously correcting off center records involved alot of trial and error. It’s very difficult and time consuming to ‘eyeball’ it, so I’ve made a primitive jig using a lazer pointer to shoot at the concentric run-out groove. Works about 90% of the time. If the record is warped, my jig doesn’t work that consistently. Vintage Jamaican 45RPMs are the worst in all these regards, horribly off centered, many different forms of warps, labels oversized covering the runout groove, sometimes NO RUNOUT GROOVE (i have a studio one 45 that plays well into the label then had the cutting stylus just liffed when the engineer ran out of real estate!). I can expect to spend 10-45mins getting a disc centered for digitizing!
78rpm I’m stuck with the eye-ball technique because the runout groove was cut eccentric as that was the standard at the time.
A device that can make this process take only a few minutes would be a dream come true! Assuming this device works consistently, I’m interested to try one. And if they could add support for 78rpm, many other professional Archivists would be interested as well.

Any chance you could add a website link to your post for the item please? I’d like to pass this along to some colleagues.

Cheers,
Jake

Lazer's picture

How much does it cost?

Wymax's picture

A Danish dealer has it listed, stating that it will land this summer, and that it is for vinyl-lovers. But you must really love it... For a sensible sum of 45.000 DKK, which converts to around 6.400 USD, you can purchase your item. However, the price on the American market will most likely be even lower!

MrRom92's picture

I truly think this could be a gamechanger for disc playback. I don’t even necessarily mind the high price. However they haven’t done enough to truly explain how this is even supposed to work. If it requires reaming out the center holes of all my records just to use it, then that’s a dealbreaker.

On this note, if Technics ever introduces a new version of the SP10 I’d like to see it have a threaded (or otherwise removable) center spindle on the platter, and a full +/- 50% range of pitch control as opposed to the 16% they offer now on the SP10R. These would be significant archival-friendly features.

zimmer74's picture

now in storage, would work. The center spindle was removable--after putting the record in place, you were supposed to remove the spindle (which sat on a smaller spike). Touraj was (and still is) of the opinion that this reduces motor noise transmitted through the spindle to the record.

Wymax's picture

My current Xerxes 20+, which I bought in 2009, also features that option. The other current Roksan turntables don't. I believe all of Touraj's new turntables under the Vertere brand also feature this option.

volvic's picture

Nice to meet a fellow Xerxes 20+ owner.

Recompensas's picture

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dial's picture

What tonearms are used ?

VinylKC's picture

tells you when you have an off-center record but clearly has no way to fix it? I can accomplish the same thing for free by using my eyes to watch for tonearm sway while the record is playing. Using my method (or this device it seems) still requires that you shave the center hole by some means in order to properly center the album. Not sure who the market is for this item...then again, perhaps I don't understand how it works.

mp's picture

>For a...sum of 45.000 DKK, which converts to around 6.400 USD, you can purchase your item.

Or, for about the same sum, one may purchase a vintage Nakamichi Dragon turntable which not only detects record eccentricity but also corrects for & plays it.

As always, your mileage may vary.

Wymax's picture

Sarcasm may have entered my posting, but that excentricity was perhaps not detected :-)

eugeneharrington's picture

I absolutely agree with you! When I heard about this product, I was curious. The number of records in the 'modern vinyl era' that turn up with 'off centre' spindle holes is beyond a joke. I have to fix most of the new records I buy these days, in some fashion. The problem is usually evident on one side only. I understand that this can be caused by the stampers in the press 'slipping' out of alignment during the manufacturing process? Presumably, they are correctly aligned before production starts, but don't count on it. I wonder.

This device, at a cool $6,500, will only allow you to centre a record if the record can actually be centred without recourse to a round file or reamer? In that regard, I question the need for a device like this. Your eyes can do the same job for zippo! I have to do it regularly. I did read subsequent to hearing about the device that it came with a reamer but I honestly didn't know whether to believe this or not. I thought maybe somebody was having a laugh. So in essence, you have a device that will allow you to centre a disc where that is possible, but is of no value to you if the spindle hole or part of it is in the wrong spot. That is my understanding at least. Please tell me I am wrong. Nothing I have seen or read to date, seems to contradict what I have just written.

And why oh why, is it so difficult to ensure that the stampers in the press do not move out of alignment during the pressing run, in the first place? A parameter like correct centering should be computer controlled so that every record pressed can rotate concentrically. I cannot say for sure, but I have found that records pressed on the new WarmTone presses manufactured in Canada do not seem to have eccentricity issues. Dublin Vinyl, which is a relatively new pressing operation here in Ireland, turns out perfectly centred (and I mean perfectly) discs that are totally flat and free of noise. I wonder if the eccentricity problem, in part at least, is due to the old machinery? I am looking forward to a review of this device but unless it solves all of the eccentricity problems, the price just does not make sense. Your eyes are your best friend in this instance!

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