2M Black / AT440MLa / MP500 setting and comparison

Anyway... In January, apart from the stylus replacement on the AT 440MLa, I have been using the Ortofon 2M Black A LOT. I put up some 50 hours on it in just one month. With headphones, no casual listening.

Still a love/hate relationship with it, even when perfectly set. With good pressings... boy, does it shine! You may not like the music, but Muse have an excellent history of quality pressings, and all their albums sound fantastic on vinyl with the 2M Black. Arctic Monkey's AM, ditto. Metallica's St Anger... ditto. But also Red Hot Chili Peppers, Opeth, New Order... They all sound great, with meaty bass AND extended highs, on this cartridge.

But take something pressed/mastered not as well... Take a record with hints of sibilance on the vocals, and it's amplified. Take a record with high-ish noise floor, and it will become distracting. Take a record with a couple of pops, and they will sound like gunshots. Take a record with hot mixing and ringing cymbals, and your ears will bleed.

In the past I stated that I used to prefer the Bronze stylus as it's more tolerant of less than perfect pressings, while not losing quality with the perfect ones. I still stand to that predicament.

Some say the Black is fussy with its setting. Maybe, but it's even fussier with the quality of the LP it's riding on, to the point of being (at times) distracting from the enjoyment of the music.

And I don't know if I have already suggested it in the past, but try to find a good copy of this:

It should be cheap... I found a pristine copy in my father's records. The music may be a bit cheesy at times, but the virtuoso playing is impressive. And sonically, it's one of the best records I have ever heard. No surface noise at all, and the frequency extension, transparency and clarity is impressive, and the same can be said about pacing, drive, decay and liveliness. 60 years old, and you would be excused for thinking it was a high res digital recording rather than a 12" slice of PVC recorded with "obsolete" equipment. Decca really knew what they were doing...