Half Speed Mastering

[Oxfordian]

Time to show my ignorance of vinyl pressing terminology.

I was browsing a well known UK High Street retailers website and noticed that there was a considerable price difference between a regular copy of an album and the same album with half speed mastering applied.

The description gave little away only say that two different people appear to be responsible for this mastering, which is confusing to say the least.

A scan through my vinyl showed that I have purchased two LP's that have this half speed mastering, didn't realise at the time of purchase just liked the album, now without having a non mastered copy to compare each recording against I was just wondering whether there is any real benefit to looking out for vinyl with half speed mastering rather than picking up a 'regular copy'.

Is 'Half Speed Mastering' actually beneficial or is it just another bit of marketing jargon designed to extract a larger chunk of our hard earned cash from our bank accounts for very little benefit?

Apologies if this has been discussed many times before.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Is 'Half Speed Mastering' actually beneficial or is it just another bit of marketing jargon designed to extract a larger chunk of our hard earned cash from our bank accounts for very little benefit?

The cynic in me is expecting the latter, though as I haven't used vinyl in decades that's not an informed opinion.

Never heard the subject raised before, so am sitting back to see what those more 'in the know' have to say.

 

[Al ears]

The cynic in me is expecting the latter, though as I haven't used vinyl in decades that's not an informed opinion.

Never heard the subject raised before, so am sitting back to see what those more 'in the know' have to say.

Don't think the subject has been raised before as far as I am aware.
I to have a number of half speed mastered discs but obviously do not have standard speed versions of the same albums.
There is some evidence that sound quality can be improved in the upper frequencies when mastered at half speed.
Technically you should get higher frequencies, less inner groove distortion and a greater dynamic response.
To my way of thinking the sound is improved on a disc that plays at 45rpm more so than one which has been half speed mastered.
Are they worth paying more for? Possibly, with certain genres of music.
This article may help:-

Half-Speed Mastering: What's It Mean With Vinyl Records? - The Sound of Vinyl

For vinyl enthusiasts, half-speed mastering is a recording technique that can expand or ruin the quality of your record listening experience.

thesoundofvinyl.us

 

[Friesiansam]

I'm thinking, that by the time most HiFi enthusiasts have reached the point in life, where they can afford nice hardware and, to pay extra for half-speed-mastered vinyl, their ears can no longer hear high enough frequencies to enable them to tell the difference.

 

[Oxfordian]

Don't think the subject has been raised before as far as I am aware.
I to have a number of half speed mastered discs but obviously do not have standard speed versions of the same albums.
There is some evidence that sound quality can be improved in the upper frequencies when mastered at half speed.
Technically you should get higher frequencies, less inner groove distortion and a greater dynamic response.
To my way of thinking the sound is improved on a disc that plays at 45rpm more so than one which has been half speed mastered.
Are they worth paying more for? Possibly, with certain genres of music.
This article may help:-

Half-Speed Mastering: What's It Mean With Vinyl Records? - The Sound of Vinyl

For vinyl enthusiasts, half-speed mastering is a recording technique that can expand or ruin the quality of your record listening experience.

thesoundofvinyl.us

A good informative article, thanks for sharing.

Both my HSM LP's are 33 1/3 but double albums, so I would guess that the originals are single LP's.

 

[Al ears]

A good informative article, thanks for sharing.

Both my HSM LP's are 33 1/3 but double albums, so I would guess that the originals are single LP's.

Probably not.
If your double albums were 45rpm versions then there may be a single 33.3 version available.
Half speed mastering does not require more disc space as far as I am aware.
They might have made them double LPs so they could charge more.

 

[Al ears]

I'm thinking, that by the time most HiFi enthusiasts have reached the point in life, where they can afford nice hardware and, to pay extra for half-speed-mastered vinyl, their ears can no longer hear high enough frequencies to enable them to tell the difference.

Quite possibly....

 

[Symples]

I do believe that half speed masters are pressed on to virgin, 180g vinyl

 

[Oxfordian]

Probably not.
If your double albums were 45rpm versions then there may be a single 33.3 version available.
Half speed mastering does not require more disc space as far as I am aware.
They might have made them double LPs so they could charge more.

Just picking up on the comment in the article which indicated that half speed masters may increase disc space, hence singles to doubles.

But you're probably right more £'s leaving your bank.

 

[Al ears]

I do believe that half speed masters are pressed on to virgin, 180g vinyl

I don't know about virgin but usually if is newly created, as are most albums these days, and it can be 200gm....

 

[Al ears]

Just picking up on the comment in the article which indicated that half speed masters may increase disc space, hence singles to doubles.

But you're probably right more £'s leaving your bank.

It maybe the case for some albums that were long recoding time in the first place but I have some single discs that are half speed mastered.

 

[daytona600]

Decca used 1/2 speed mastering in the late 1950's
Tape deck & Cutting lathe both run @ half speed

These days marketing BS for a extra Tenner per record as you cant run a ProTools digital work station @ half speed

MFSL used HSM in the 70/80/90s
GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ is a proprietary cutting system built and designed by legendary design genius Tim De Paravicini, with consultation from one of MFSL’s founding fathers – Stan Ricker, an audio engineer responsible for many of MFSL’s most heralded past releases.

The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system is comprised of a Studer™ tape machine with customized reproduction electronics* and handcrafted cutting amps that drive an Ortofon cutting head on a restored Neumann VMS-70 lathe. (*It is worth noting that independent studies have confirmed that the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system can unveil sonic information all the way up to 122kHz!)

First and foremost, we only utilize first generation original master recordings as source material for our releases. We then play back master tapes at half speed enabling the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system to fully extract the master’s sonic information. Our lacquers are then plated in a specialized process that protects transients in the musical signal.

 

[Al ears]

Decca used 1/2 speed mastering in the late 1950's
Tape deck & Cutting lathe both run @ half speed

These days marketing BS for a extra Tenner per record as you cant run a ProTools digital work station @ half speed

MFSL used HSM in the 70/80/90s
GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ is a proprietary cutting system built and designed by legendary design genius Tim De Paravicini, with consultation from one of MFSL’s founding fathers – Stan Ricker, an audio engineer responsible for many of MFSL’s most heralded past releases.

The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system is comprised of a Studer™ tape machine with customized reproduction electronics* and handcrafted cutting amps that drive an Ortofon cutting head on a restored Neumann VMS-70 lathe. (*It is worth noting that independent studies have confirmed that the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system can unveil sonic information all the way up to 122kHz!)

First and foremost, we only utilize first generation original master recordings as source material for our releases. We then play back master tapes at half speed enabling the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system to fully extract the master’s sonic information. Our lacquers are then plated in a specialized process that protects transients in the musical signal.

Mobile Fidelity are still producing albums using this method I believe as I have quite a few....