Vertical Tracking Angle
Updated from an original article by Noel Keywood in Hi-Fi Answers, 1979
(Reprinted with the best intentions, but totally without permission, from the Rohde & Schwarz Website, HI-FI WORLD)
High levels of distortion are produced on ste-
reo recordings from errors of what is known as
Vertical Tracking Angle in a cartridge, and precisely
what is shown in Fig 1. You can roughly visualize it
as the angle a stylus cantilever makes with a disc's
surface, although to be more precise it is the angle
between a line drawn from the stylus pivot to the
stylus point of contact with a disc and the disc's
surface, denoted by Ø in the diagram. Sometimes,
and for good reason, the vertical tracking angle Ø
is seen in the other position shown, transposed 90°
anti-clockwise. This shows that the plane of motion
of the stylus is in fact tilted over relative to the ver-
tical by an amount equivalent to the vertical track-
ing angle. Note that the actual angle of the stylus
on its cantilever may be entirely different from the
vertical tracking angle and is known as Stylus Rake
Angle. The two are however often confused.
Figure 1
So what's the significance of this angle? Its or-
igins lie in the mechanics of the disc cutting system
shown in Fig 2 where you can see that the cutting
stylus must itself have a pivot above the disc's sur-
face and therefore a vertical disc cutting angle of
some sort or another.
Figure 2
This was of little consequence until the intro-
duction of stereo in the 'Fifties when suddenly the
cutter was expected to move up and down as well
as sideways when cutting a lacquer. Now look at
Fig 3 to see what you get on a record when feeding
a nice clean sine wave into this system in the verti-
cal direction. The actual cut in a disc looks very
different from the original, 'distorted' in fact, and
so you can see that there is a mechanical transla-
tion process at work here due solely to the pres-
ence of this inclined plane movement in the stylus
cutter. Using a replay stylus at the same angle
does, as you might well imagine, translate the me-
chanical disc signal back into a clean sine wave
again so the final outcome is, all things being'
equal, which they aren't, zero distortion on play-
back with a pickup cartridge.
Figure 3
I should point out perhaps that the shape of
the signal on the disc is in itself of no consequence.
What does matter is that the playback stylus must
move in the same plane as the cutting stylus or dis-
tortion will result. Some of you may already be
mentally protesting that the stylus does in fact
move in an arc and so the plane of motion varies
its angle. Although this is true, maximum vertical
movement of a stylus rarely reaches 100µm (peak-
to-peak) or 1/10mm due to imprinted modulation
(as opposed to warps etc.) and with a typical canti-
lever length of around 5mm change of vertical
tracking angle will be about 1° maximum, which is
insignificant in practical situations.
To ensure that everybody used the same angle
and distortion was avoided on vertical cuts or
modulation a common cutting/playback angle had
to be adopted, and after a spell of technical anar-
chy this became 15° in the United States and 20° in
Europe, a tolerance of plus or minus 5° being al-
lowed on the European figure. In fact it does ap-
pear that Britain standardized on 15° according to
BS1928:1965 but this is of little practical conse-
quence now since most of the cutting lathes in this
country (and there are a lot) come from Europe and
are aligned to IEC/DIN standards, which we tacitly
acknowledge. This standardization would appear to
have solved matters with the outcome being distor-
tion free stereo reproduction, but as I said earlier,
all things aren't equal in the cutting/playback pro-
cess and there was one further complicating factor
to be discovered before the ideal could be ap-
proached in practice.
SPRING-BACK
In the early 'Sixties it was discovered by CBS
Laboratories in the United States that although cut-
ters worked correctly in the 15° cutting plane as
recommended by the Recording Industries Associa-
tion of America (RIAA), replay fidelity of test sig-
nals nevertheless appeared incorrect1. It was even-
tually deduced that the soft lacquer in which a cut-
ting stylus records the electrical signal fed to it was
in fact deforming under the strain of cutting and
then springing back after the cutter had passed as
shown in Fig 4.
Figure 4
With different amounts of spring-back, accord-
ing to cutter depth and hence stress on both the
lacquer and cutter itself this lead to the final
groove shape being equivalent to that theoretically
produced by a cutter with a vertical cutting angle
of about 0°. This would require a cartridge with its
stylus pivot lying on the disc surface to be de-
signed if minimum distortion was to be achieved
on playback, and so it was incumbent on cutting
lathe manufacturers to increase the actual physical
working plane of their cutters by a substantial
amount in order to realize ideal playback condi-
tions. In practice CBS found that their cutting angle
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needed to be increased by about another 14° in or-
der that final modulation slant on the disc sprang
back to 15°.
STANDARDS
Although this discovery was presented at an
IEEE meeting in February 1963 I have not been en-
tirely happy that it got much further since the topic
seems rarely to be mentioned compared with say,
lateral tracking error, where enormous amounts of
energy and time are devoted to the removal of its
last effects. Measuring vertical tracking angle on
cartridges tends to enforce this feeling since signif-
icant errors often exist. However, London's thriving
cutting industry is probably responsible for a ma-
jority of the records we listen to in the UK and
most studio cutters seem to be compensated for
the effects of lacquer spring-back, as far as my
casual enquiries over the last few years can ascer-
tain. Neumann, whose lathes and cutters seem
most popular by far, include this paragraph in their
literature for the SX-74 head, for instance - 'Care
was taken with regard to the vertical tracking angle
to assure, on the one hand, a 15° angle to meet the
DIN 45 542 standard and, on the other hand the
desire of the International Electrotechnical Com-
mission (in IEC Publication 98) to standardize an
angle of 20° ±5°. For this reason the cutter was con-
structed to cut an 18° angle when correctly mount-
ed. Lacquer spring-back is included in this calcula-
tion.' I haven't yet found the time to sort out the
discrepancy between Neumann's quoted DIN spec
of 15° vertical tracking angle against that published
in DIN 45 500 where an angle of 20° ±5° is quoted
as per IEC 98 for cartridge vertical tracking angle,
except that allusions are made in the latter docu-
ment to inevitable assessment errors and the need
for tolerances to be kept in mind. It would appear
that the cutting world is now achieving an effective
modulation slant on disc of around 15° in the Unit-
ed States and 18° in Europe and that for minimum
distortion we should therefore be aiming for these
figures in pickup cartridge vertical tracking angle.
As you might have guessed, the point I am about to
make is that in spite of adequate passage of time
too many cartridges do not appear to approach this
ideal.
Both CBS Laboratories in the United States and
Germany's technical standards institute Deutsche
Industrie Normen issue test discs suitable for as-
sessment of vertical tracking angle or distortion
due to error in this parameter on a pickup car-
tridge. Although from entirely different sources,
results obtained from these discs tally well, correct
as indicated by the DIN 45542 disc consistently
leading to low distortion on vertical modulation
from CBS STR-112, optimized to possess a 15°
modulation slant. All measurements referred to
here have been taken from these two sources.
 Because the practical subjective consequence
of vertical tracking angle errors on sound repro-
duction are really of most significance I don't in-
tend to dwell too long upon measurement techni-
calities, but a few consequences of incorrect verti-
cal tracking angle are presented for illustrative
purposes. Classic in measurement terms is what is
seen in a playback waveform, showing rounded and
sharp peaks of significant second harmonic distor-
tion; a spectrum plot shows the harmonic struc-
ture. From the same disc can be seen significant
intermodulation distortion due to this cause. Two
signals, one of 4kHz and one of 200Hz, are repro-
duced from the disc. The 4kHz component is fil-
tered out, and the change in level is due to pres-
ence of distortion sidebands from amplitude mod-
ulation which, in more straightforward terms,
means that the 4kHz tone is now accompanied by
other tones of significant level that weren't there in
the first place and wouldn't be there either but for
a vertical tracking angle of just over 30°.
Actual level of intermodulation distortion here
reaches around 14%, no less, and can be heard as a
wavering grating buzz behind the 4kHz tone. In
fact the ear can pick up about four to six distortion
sidebands at this level, and they are spaced at mul-
tiples of 200Hz above and below the 4kHz tone. It
is sometimes argued that changes in tracking force
and stylus movement over warps introduce too
much variation into the vertical tracking angle to
make any one figure valid, but this is not true. An
oscillogram shows, for instance, that the 10% dis-
tortion component varies by about ±5% of its own
value once every disc revolution (1.66 secs or 1.6
divisions on the x axis) over a common dish warp,
or by about 1% of the total signal level. My own
measurements are made on cartridges at or near
the recommended tracking force where any error
will be at a minimum but even so I find that verti-
cal tracking angles commonly extend upward from
18° to around 30° on modern cartridges. A graph
shows the results of measurement on a Shure VI5-
III using the DIN 45542 disc. The purpose of this
disc is to determine vertical tracking angle rather
than measure its effects. The VI5-III shows an ef-
fective angle of 26° which is too high. Distortion
when tracking vertical modulations on STR-112
was as a result 6-7%, whereas a properly engineered
cartridge will manage typically 3% or less on this
disc. From experience I notice that in general Shure
cartridges hover around this vertical tracking angle
figure of 26° whilst ADC and Empire designs gener-
ally display angles of 26° plus, often reaching 30°.
Such angles yield harmonic distortion figures of 6%
to 8% from the STR-112 test disc and are not con-
fined to budget designs. I have measured two ADC
XLMs at 30° and two Empire 2000s at 30°, neither
design being exactly cheap to buy. Stanton general-
ly manages 22° and so does Pickering, since they
are associated with Stanton, this figure being with-
in IEC limits. Generally, European and Japanese car-
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tridges measure within IEC 98° limits too, of 20 ±5°
and this leaves Shure, Empire and ADC out in the
cold. The only possible excuse these three large
manufacturers of cartridges can make concerns
accuracy of the CBS and DIN test discs, for in any
measurement work concerning the use of discs ac-
curacy of the disc itself must always be kept in
mind. However, if the discs are both wrong, then a
majority of cartridge manufacturers are also wrong
too, and I think both these possibilities unlikely.
The subjective effects upon music of incorrect
vertical tracking angle are known but little talked
about. You may have wondered by now why, if they
generate so much distortion, expensive cartridges
can sound any good at all when suffering this fault.
I have purposefully left this point to the end in or-
der that a sense of perspective can be obtained.
Needless to say, such distortion levels are not gen-
erated all the time on all signals. If they were ADC,
Shure and Empire cartridges would, for instance,
sound as awful as you might imagine, but this is
not the case. The contribution made to fidelity by
achieving correct angle is minor relative to many
other design factors but nevertheless important
and easy to achieve. Pure centre images in the ste-
reo stage are produced by lateral stylus movements
and remain unaffected by vertical tracking angle
errors. Full left or right images in one speaker or
the other are produced by the stylus moving both
sideways and upwards (or at 45° upward from the
horizontal) and the upward component will be dis-
torted. Pure out-of-phase signals resulting from
vertical only movements will also be distorted.
By connecting a high quality speaker across
the positive terminals of an amplifier's left and
right output channels vertical components within a
music signal can be listened to, and with this tech-
nique the advantages of getting the vertical track-
ing angle right become obvious. I have noticed in
particular that cymbals possess less of a grey rasp
and become better defined and natural whilst
spread choral works also show less edginess and
considerably greater freedom from what can only
be termed raucous background muddle. In general
left and right images are cleaned up and become
aurally more palatable. The amount of distortion
generated rises considerably with recorded level
and these effects are not pronounced at low levels.
Others have noted the same effects2. Raising or
lowering the pickup arm so that it is angled makes
little difference since it will change matters by a
few degrees at the most, by the way.
REFERENCES
1. 'The Vertical Tracking Angle Problem in Stereo-
phonic Record Reproduction' B.B. Bauer, CBS
Laboratories
2. 'How we Judge Stereo Cartridges'. High Fidelity STANDARDS
Magazine, Vol 19, No 2, Feb 69. Daniel
Gravereaux (CBS Laboratories) 1. BS 1928:1965 Specification for Processed Disc
Records and reproducing equipment. ¶4.3.21.
3. 'A Study of Tracking Angle Errors in Stereo Disc
Recording' Woodward and Fox, RCA Labs. 2. DIN 45500, sheet 3. Requirements for Disc
Record Reproducing Equipment. ¶3.9, IEC
4. 'Measurement of Distortion Due to Vertical Publication 98.
Tracking Angle Errors in Stereo Disc Systems'
Halter and Woodward, RCA Labs.
5. 'The Design of High Quality Stereophonic
Gramophone Pickups for Minimum Wear and
Distortion' D. Jaquess, Decca Record Co.
6. 'Pickups - The key to Hi-Fi' J. Walton

‘Recompiled’ 11/24/2016

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