[OldRoadToad]

Are you willing to take a chance...?

Sol on eBay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255796217900

Kinda cool looking but given my looks I am no great judge of beauty. I prefer my Dual or Fisher but this SOL does indeed have a bit of a "Metropolis"(1927) look. I would have a cork mat done with "Maria" the fembot from that film to augment its coolness factor.

Dr. Emmet Von Braun with "Maria".

ORT

 

[classfolkphile]

+1 for Mike Oldfield's classic -how many of you knew it before The Exorcist? And if you ever wondered who introduced the instruments at the end of side 1; it was the late, lamented Vivian Stanshall of Bonzo Dog Band fame...
Seems somehow appropriate to remember him in this spooky season, since like many hugely talented folk he had more than his share of demons...

Yes, I did.

And:

 

[earnmyturns]

The search on these services is so INSANE!!!! Witches' Brew New Symphony Orchestra of London does NOT bring this album to the top! But new orchestra of london alexander gibson does! I am not a programmer, but is it really THAT hard?

First album returned by Roon search.

 

[Erratic Gravy]

Are you referring to Yes, the band. And are you saying some remastering of their music used Lo Res versions of songs, and if so how does one recognize those (if so I would like to avoid them).
Or... am I totally misunderstanding/hallucinating what you meant?
Thank you.

Aha I see your point!! - Yes, the band are not guilty, the Steven Wilson remasters are testimony to this fact - sorry to have given you a ' Long distance run-around' but im sure you will 'Awaken' and be taken 'Close to the Edge ' -- enjoy !

 

[Erratic Gravy]

Are you referring to Yes, the band. And are you saying some remastering of their music used Lo Res versions of songs, and if so how does one recognize those (if so I would like to avoid them).
Or... am I totally misunderstanding/hallucinating what you meant?
Thank you.

 

[tin-ear]

As somebody with little bit of eBay selling I see a potential problem with this listing: the shipping costs. No, they are not too high. The shipping is too low: $6.10 to me ($5.xx to the east coast) via USPS First Class. Actual shipping is likely to be $61.00 or $120, and it is too heavy for First Class.
This probably happened because listing something for sale on eBay is a bit of a horror-show. Although recently they presented me with a new too simple listing page. Too many choices and they need to hire some former Apple computer-people interface designers to make it intuitive.
if you plan to bid I would contact the seller and ask about this. And ask "how thou plans to box and ship it."
The best fix is for the seller to cancel the listing due to "an error" and relist it with calculated shipping. You enter in the box measurements size and boxed weight. Ebay uses that info to generate shipping cost for various choices.

 

[Les Strat]

Loooooooooooong before. It was huge in the UK

Spot on @golfbravobravo
I bought it when it was first released in '73.
The album helped launch Branson's new record label 'Virgin Records' as it was the first release.
I met Mike Oldfield at his home about 20 years ago!

 

[Les Strat]

Love the notion of an embedded authentication code - I have already posted about the horrendous variation in sound quality of streamed content from various vendors even within the same broadcast parameters

I agree @Erratic Gravy!

I listened to the 'High Res' version of Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' on Qobuz last night.
That lasted about 2 minutes, because, to quote Mike Moffat, it 'sounded like ass'!

I then listened to my ripped copy of the album, from a standard 'Red Book' CD, and it sounded so much better!

This album was recorded in 1975, so it would have been on analogue tape. How can it ever be 'Hi Res'? It is modern day alchemy.

Reissuing 24/96 'High Res' versions of old analogue recordings is shameless profiteering by record companies and a complete waste of time (in my opinion).

With a few notable exceptions, such as Tool's 'Fear Inoculum' album, which is a superb digital recording, I find that most 'High Res' recordings 'sound like ass' compared with a standard 16/44.1 version.

The best sound quality I experience on my system, is undoubtedly from physical CDs, using my Jay's Audio CDT2 Mk3 CD transport, via original Yggy A2.

It beats even the best quality streams from Qobuz, or ripped versions of identical CDs, played from a hard drive.

The 24/96 High Res version of Tool's 'Fear Inoculum' sounds fantastic on Qobuz.
However, even that album sounds just as good to my ears (maybe even slightly 'better'...) when played direct from CD.

I am completely sold on CD playback

Mike said several years ago, before announcing that Schiit intended to build a CD transport ('Urd'), that CD remains the best way to replay digital audio.

I completely agree, and as a result, I am now buying a lot of CDs!

 

[Les Strat]

Had anyone heard the new Giles Martin master of Revolver? Just dropped on Qobuz. Holy schiit, he's even fixed Eleanor Rigby!

Mine is in the post.....
I ordered the 2 CD version.

It could be a while, as Royal Mail are on strike!

Can't wait to hear it

Edit: The Postman has just delivered it!

 

[bcowen]

As somebody with little bit of eBay selling I see a potential problem with this listing: the shipping costs. No, they are not too high. The shipping is too low: $6.10 to me ($5.xx to the east coast) via USPS First Class. Actual shipping is likely to be $61.00 or $120, and it is too heavy for First Class.
This probably happened because listing something for sale on eBay is a bit of a horror-show. Although recently they presented me with a new too simple listing page. Too many choices and they need to hire some former Apple computer-people interface designers to make it intuitive.
if you plan to bid I would contact the seller and ask about this. And ask "how thou plans to box and ship it."
The best fix is for the seller to cancel the listing due to "an error" and relist it with calculated shipping. You enter in the box measurements size and boxed weight. Ebay uses that info to generate shipping cost for various choices.

Yeah, $5.85 to me (on the east coast) may cover an envelope, but not a Sol. That's a problem for the seller though...they're committed to what they listed it for. Add to that that using USPS for big, heavy packages is an almost assured disaster. IME, USPS does pretty well with small and lightweight packages. For something large and heavy, UPS or FedEx are not only less risky but quite a bit less expensive.

 

[Randolf711]

I agree @Erratic Gravy!

I listened to the 'High Res' version of Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' on Qobuz last night.
That lasted about 2 minutes, because, to quote Mike Moffat, it 'sounded like ass'!

I then listened to my ripped copy of the album, from a standard 'Red Book' CD, and it sounded so much better!

This album was recorded in 1975, so it would have been on analogue tape. How can it ever be 'Hi Res'? It is modern day alchemy.

Reissuing 24/96 'High Res' versions of old analogue recordings is shameless profiteering by record companies and a complete waste of time (in my opinion).

With a few notable exceptions, such as Tool's 'Fear Inoculum' album, which is a superb digital recording, I find that most 'High Res' recordings 'sound like ass' compared with a standard 16/44.1 version.

The best sound quality I experience on my system, is undoubtedly from physical CDs, using my Jay's Audio CDT2 Mk3 CD transport, via original Yggy A2.

It beats even the best quality streams from Qobuz, or ripped versions of identical CDs, played from a hard drive.

The 24/96 High Res version of Tool's 'Fear Inoculum' sounds fantastic on Qobuz.
However, even that album sounds just as good to my ears (maybe even slightly 'better'...) when played direct from CD.

I am completely sold on CD playback

Mike said several years ago, before announcing that Schiit intended to build a CD transport ('Urd'), that CD remains the best way to replay digital audio.

I completely agree, and as a result, I am now buying a lot of CDs!

Amen!

In regards to my system and using a Yggdrasil, Cd is the best. I have gone through the vinyl and hi-res worm holes and came out with CD being the most enjoyable experience for me. Sounds great, convenient, and is a physical media.

 

[AstronomerXI]

I was listening to a jazz playlist on Apple Music, and this song made me sit up and take notice. This young woman has quite the timeless voice, and her backing musicians are excellent. Lady Blackbird "Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You"

 

[US Blues]

I agree @Erratic Gravy!

I listened to the 'High Res' version of Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' on Qobuz last night.
That lasted about 2 minutes, because, to quote Mike Moffat, it 'sounded like ass'!

I then listened to my ripped copy of the album, from a standard 'Red Book' CD, and it sounded so much better!

This album was recorded in 1975, so it would have been on analogue tape. How can it ever be 'Hi Res'? It is modern day alchemy.

Reissuing 24/96 'High Res' versions of old analogue recordings is shameless profiteering by record companies and a complete waste of time (in my opinion).

With a few notable exceptions, such as Tool's 'Fear Inoculum' album, which is a superb digital recording, I find that most 'High Res' recordings 'sound like ass' compared with a standard 16/44.1 version.

The best sound quality I experience on my system, is undoubtedly from physical CDs, using my Jay's Audio CDT2 Mk3 CD transport, via original Yggy A2.

It beats even the best quality streams from Qobuz, or ripped versions of identical CDs, played from a hard drive.

The 24/96 High Res version of Tool's 'Fear Inoculum' sounds fantastic on Qobuz.
However, even that album sounds just as good to my ears (maybe even slightly 'better'...) when played direct from CD.

I am completely sold on CD playback

Mike said several years ago, before announcing that Schiit intended to build a CD transport ('Urd'), that CD remains the best way to replay digital audio.

I completely agree, and as a result, I am now buying a lot of CDs!

A "Hi Res" release of an old analogue recording like the fabulous Wish You Were Here would first and foremost require a high resolution transfer of the master reel of the final mix. Without this a new "Hi Res" release of an old chestnut is BS. Would it sound 'better?' If the transfer chain was top shelf, and the mastering was done by someone with very good ears, then a Hi Res copy could sound better. It may also sound better as a Redbook CD than prior iterations. yet there are many factors involved. The reality is that very few such productions provide enough technical information to understand how the final product was created.

Steven Wilson's remixing is a great example here. He begins with a Hi Res transfer of the multitrack reels for an album, we'll use Jethro Tull's Benefit as an example, because I found his remix to be a genuine revelation. Steven will analyze his Hi Res copy of the original master tape (Jah forbid that MFSL gets their hands on this transfer, they'd burn it to vinyl and call it good), to understand the original mix in detail. He then builds a remix from the multitrack reels dancing a fine balance of maintaining the same mix parameters of the original recording, while presenting the sonic clarity of each original track in a manner unheard on the original mix. His mixes are faithful, and yet the details of the instruments and voices are notable. His final mixes are available in Hi Res format, and in Redbook format, and pressed to vinyl with transparency regarding the chain of events.

So a truly new Hi Res can be wonderful, proper remixes can be a blessing, so long as sound quality is the priority of the project. And our gear, across the spectrum of boxes, cables, and transducers, brings us the joy of the music.

 

[EricDH]

Everybody steals from everybody when it comes to music. I never kept a record but I can't tell you how many times I've heard a film score and at some point I say to myself "That's Stravinsky-like". Or, very often music to romantic episodes in movies is lifted/adapted from Rachmaninoff (a strong influencer of John Williams). And of course my favorite, the original Star Trek TV theme is lifted from Mahler's 7th. Hell, even Handel made a statement that he "borrowed" snippets and themes from other composer(s). But other than court room dramas involving pop music material today, if the music works for me, I'm good with it.

And talking about Stravinsky, he was also a very enthusiastic "borrower".

 

[EricDH]

His 5th and 9th. (actually with the exception of the 8th I like'em all, even the unfinished versions of the 10th because I feel he's truly reaching into the future of 20th Century music.) That Star Trek theme can be heard about 2/3's of the way into the 1st movement of the 7th. As is his way of composing he will give a a few bars of that theme not completely fleshed out and your brain tells you it sounds familiar. He generally does it a second time but not completed and when you get to the third time its note for note on solo trumpet you'll say "of course". He also likes this technique on a bigger scale for entire movements, especially it seems to me, opening and closing ones. It's like a logical building progression with varying instrumentations (where Beethoven's developments are inevitable, they must be). I like many different composers but Mahler speaks to me in a very personal way that fits like glove (but not like O.J.'s).

For me the 9th (and close after that the 2nd, 3rd and 7th).