Vinyl mastering must account for the cartridge compliance of the intended playback system

Turntable cartridges differ in compliance (the stiffness of the stylus suspension). A cut optimized for a high-compliance audiophile cartridge can have groove geometry that makes a low-compliance DJ cartridge skip, especially under club handling. A mastering engineer cutting vinyl for DJ use therefore makes the cut robust enough to track and play reliably on DJ gear, trading some audiophile detail for playability.

Examples

David Cheppa: ‘If they’re going to use a DJ setup, let’s make it so they can play it.’ He cuts DJ releases differently from audiophile releases.

Assessment

Why might a vinyl master cut for audiophile playback be problematic when used in a club DJ setup?