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Tape Trail!
Follow Ups:
I had a similar "Walkman moment" about five years prior to that.... My most-referenced post ever on AA (link).....This past Sunday, I had Don Allen upgrade his incredible phono stage and step-up transformer unit. (The BRB phono stage finally dethroned.) To the next level And since I was in Phoenix, and had to return to California the next day, I just had to give it a whirl.
First played the Chopin Scherzi 1 and 2.... I just got tired of the ones on YouTube, had to hear the Master, Antonio Barbosa, and then it hit me. I'm starting to forget what analog **really** sounds like. It may have been the upgrade, but it may have been the performance. Or lack of exposure to a recent concert or good analog.....
(Remember, back before digital, reviewers oft mentioned the term "intertransient silence?" Nobody talks about that anymore because we no longer hear it.)
Then I did it.... Grabbed the Smuckers/Cleveland Orchestra vinyl of the final movement to the Dohnanyi Schumann 2..... That one in 1984 with the Cleveland Orchestra. And for the first time, thanks to the improvements in linearity, I heard that Cleveland brass break through the inner grooves on the vinyl.
The 3-D soundstage, the "heft" of the physical presence, the seemingly-infinite "information density".....
Amidst the inner groove distortion, I heard, for the first time since on broadcast, the sense of the string choirs, the wind choirs, then the low brass, playing as one. The wind choirs return, then again, the low brass, playing that tight, soft, and exquisite tone, then the repeat, this time with Bernard Adelstein's trumpet on top.
Goosebumps.
The very end of the great Cleveland era, a year before Adelstein's retirement..... (No way was Bud Herseth better..... No f'n way....)
How much I try, I like what I have, but still, the essence of the magic just cannot be captured on digital recording.
It may be that we're forgetting how music is supposed to sound like.
By the way, if you can, try to get a DAC or CD player with a balanced output if the system also has vinyl. Where the ground is not tied to the line stage- Your analog will love it. And you will love your analog.
You should post all this over on Tape Trail too.You familiar with how swell prerecorded tapes are sounding these days?
clark
So long as an academic and engineering "elite" insist that it's all in the 1's and 0's, we won't be getting any further in our understanding, although we *will* be sold consecutively more successful bandaids.This may be the most-brilliant comment I've seen on the Asylum.....
Except I'd reword it.... It's not just digital audio.....
So long as an academic and engineering "elite" insist that their championed theories are correct, their understandings are absolute, and either alternative theories or questioning of their pet theories are born solely from "charlatans" and "crackpots", we will never go any further in our mutual understanding, although we *will* be sold consecutively more-successful "band-aids".
Bravo Clark. I also thank you for the article/thread about vocal "pitch correction," which for me was the most-ear-opening revelation on the music industry.
...try this!
It might be brilliant, but I got bored about one-third of the way through it..... I think AC mains and power cords are an issue, but not necessarily a major issue.
...the last pitch is a doozy.
Last year I hooked up my old JVC KDV6 deck (not top line but not too shabby either, decent Dolby C capable deck with models DDVR7 and DDVR9 above it that year.)This was an interesting experiment, because I have never had that deck hooked up into *truly* resolving speakers, except for some decent sounding custom made PA speakers, if there is such a thing.
So I played some Phil Collins (Home by the Sea, Long long way to go) and some Peter Gabriel (Shock the Monkey, Red Rain, Sledgehammer). Threw in some Pink Floyd too - Momentary Lapse of Reason. Most of my cassettes are pop rock and hard-rock, since most of my cassettes were purchased back in my "pre-cd" high-school days.
I was totally blown away by how good casette could sound - especially on that aging JVC cassette deck.
Sure, CD's got rid of tape hiss.
And sure 16/44.1 is sufficient for CAPTURING audio.
But doing digital mastering, mixing and PROCESSING at 16 bits when CDs and digital recording and mixing equipment first came out? Hmmm... I definately think differently about DDD discs from the mid eighties! Now, a really nice transfer from analog masters (ADD or AAD) can sound extremely good - if the analog recording was any good to start with!
I still think that even the best format is no better than it's worst recording. If you are fortunate and the music you like is recorded *well* on a given format, then you're okay. If you are willing to be flexible with formats to maximize your exposure to the music you love, then all the better. I think that "vinyl only" guys often don't admit that if their musical preferences were perhaps different, that being a "vinyl only" advocate would be limiting at best.
At the same time, I have some CD's I don't play because any enjoyment of the music (and love for that genre or group) is lost in a world of compression and digital artifacts.
I tend to side with those who simply collect GOOD recordings in ANY format, and don't get hung up on where the good sounding music is had. But I will admit I'd probably be more inclined to go the vinyl route if I were to expand my horizons, since I do not already have a large vinyl collection in place, and cassettes are not being made but vinyl still is.
Are the guys who use (or used to use) top-end 30ips reel-to-reel to capture the first-play of a vinyl record nuts? I say "No way". This captures the "first play" on a format that is far superior to casette tape. I bet those with reel upon reel of prestinely recorded vinyl are happy campers indeed...
Anyhow, just needed to babble a bit. Back to work.
"If you are fortunate and the music you like is recorded *well* on a given format, then you're okay."I couldn't agree more. This has been a life-long hobby for me and having ran the course of 78's to 45's to 33's to reel-reel to cassette to CD to MP-3's I'm gettin' plumb tired of format changes.
But in every case a good recording was just that and gave real satisfaction. And then there were the rest...
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