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Isolation Ward From ebony pucks to magic foil, mystical and controversial tweaks. |
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Isolation Ward From ebony pucks to magic foil, mystical and controversial tweaks. |
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In Reply to: RE: Did you know.... posted by Posy Rorer on July 31, 2007 at 21:44:17:
JD-63 is the Chesky catalog number.In another post I made the observation that on my EZ CD creator software, if I placed a ripped file into the hard drive and then recorded from it later, the recording was inverted in relation to the original file. A friend with the latest Mac reports the same.
I do not know why this is so as I have never bothered with reading the lines of code. I can work around the limitations.
The point about the HCT recording is that in one orientation, the piano is extremely clear and in another it is muffled and distant. The same occurs for the other two members of the trio, inverted to the piano, of course. Which is correct: well, what instrument or voice do you want to hear? Now, overall, having two members of the trio in 'correct' phase is usually preferable than having only one.
A nationally distributed magazine and it's staff comes out and proclaims one version of the recording 'sounds' better. Had they been aware of the issue, such a statement would not have been printed. While I'm sure the Canadian manufacturer was pleased with a boost in sales, it confounds the general public.
The same occurs with LP collectors. Certain pressings are deemed 'hot' stampers and often become highly sought after pressings, commanding higher prices. Sometimes the differences may be simple polarity swaps. You can tell that I'm a cheapskate: I really do not like paying high digits for something which can simply be resolved with a flick of a switch at times.
Preserving polarity in a piece of electronic gear is fairly easy. Signal generators can produce impulse tests quite readily. It can be 'iffy' with recordings, but a careful engineer can maintain polarity all the way through the manufacturing process. Ray Kimber says the easiest way to insure it is to fire a cap pistol at the recording session. You have a reference for the recording which can be followed through the chain. You can even use an oscilloscope to measure it as it proceeds through the recording and playback chain. Of course denial of any convention or standard leads to many inconsistencies and problems.
The question is thus: do you wish to see a cure or not? If you do not care or refuse to accept that a solution can be worked out, then absolute polarity should not be bandied about, and it becomes a non issue. If you do care, then an understanding must be established, and then listeners will be able to recognize and create a demand for better recordings.
I do not accept the attitude that constant grumbling about the issue but doing nothing is somehow OK. If it is of importance, then education is the key, and that will lead to a demand for change. Nebulous claims and statements, like recordings are 50-50 in nature, do nothing to aid the situation, as most readers will have no desire to create change, having little to reference their listening preferences to. I find it imperative to have lists of recordings in one polarity as compared to others in another. That gives everyone a reference point from which to start.
Stu
Edits: 08/01/07
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- RE: Did you know.... - unclestu52 01:11:21 08/01/07 (0)
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