Analogue Productions Ultimate Analogue Test Record

The Test LP That Won The Absolute Sound's Editors' Choice, Pressed on 180 Grams

The Ultimate Analogue Test LP is a full-range test record for setting up and checking a turntable. Analogue Productions built it with mastering engineers, turntable specialists and audiophile listeners, and pressed it on 180-gram virgin vinyl.

A test record is the only way to hear what your setup is actually doing. Alignment, azimuth, tracking force and speed all leave audible signatures in a known signal that they hide inside music, where you have nothing to compare against.

Accuracy, Range and Fit

What Is On the Disc and What It Is Cut To

The disc carries test signals encoded to high precision, which is the property that separates a usable test record from a novelty. A tone is only a reference if the cut is accurate; otherwise you are measuring the record rather than the turntable.

It is pressed on 180-gram virgin vinyl, which matters more on a test disc than on a music record. A warped or noisy pressing puts artifacts into exactly the signals you are trying to read; a heavy, flat one keeps them out of the way.

It works with any turntable and cartridge. Nothing on the disc is specific to a deck, an arm or a cartridge type — the signals are standard, and what varies is what your system does with them.

What Reviewers Are Saying

The Absolute Sound gave the Ultimate Analogue Test LP an Editors' Choice Award in 2024, calling it "the new reference in test discs" and noting that it is "loaded with useful test signals that are encoded with high precision." The disc has taken Editors' Choice Awards from the magazine going back to 2008.

Who Is the Ultimate Analogue Test LP Best For?

• You set up your own turntable — this is the disc that tells you whether the setup worked
• You have just fitted a cartridge — alignment and azimuth are easier to hear on test tones than on music
• You want signals you can trust — encoded to high precision and pressed on 180-gram virgin vinyl
• You want one disc rather than several — it covers the range rather than specializing in one measurement
• You are looking for a strobe disc — platter speed is checked with a strobe, not with test tones; those are in test records

How Do You Use It?

Clean the record and the stylus first — a dirty stylus will fail a tracking test that a clean one passes. Work through the signals in order, changing one setting at a time and re-listening before moving on. Note what you had before you change anything, so you can go back.

Pairs Well With

What most test-record owners shop next.

• Stylus force gauges — a test record shows the problem; a gauge is how you fix half of it
• Cartridge alignment tools — the other half, and the one a test disc will expose
• Record cleaning solutions — test signals are only as clean as the groove carrying them
• Stylus cleaning — do this before you trust anything a test record tells you

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is it?

The Absolute Sound describes the signals as encoded with high precision, which is what makes the disc a reference rather than a demonstration. The pressing is 180-gram virgin vinyl, so the medium adds as little as possible to what you are reading.

Will it work with my turntable?

Any turntable and any cartridge. The signals are standard; what differs is how your system reproduces them.

Do I need measuring equipment to use it?

Most of it you use by ear. Some tests are easier with a meter, but the tracking, alignment and channel checks are all audible.

Does it check platter speed?

Speed is checked with a strobe disc under a strobe light rather than with test tones. This disc covers the signal side of the setup.

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Learn More

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