[]eep]

So... Rabbit hole, huh? I only scratched the surface. This is vinyl related I promise. While I'm viewing Michel 45 's latest video.

I just watched another video about 'the new normal', 'the great reset' and where it's leading to, or be be more precise; what we are supposed to be led into. And it's not Star Trek or the 'holodeck' but rather the prophetic (canceled) Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica (which was awesome IMO). And they are working on it already, and losing big on it so far (only $100b, right Suckerberg?). Meta is a taste of where transhumanism is leading to. Just listen to Swabs prophet Yuval Harari (who is an absolute creep). We will live in a VR 'heaven' in a cybernetic body (just like in Caprica), all we have to do is upload our mind to the cloud. Digitize our personality.

Here comes the point: how are we going to measure that?

Will it be just as lackluster as meta? As 'perfect' as a CD? Isn't our organic body our soul our spirit capable of infinitly more than science is able to measure? Will we entrust our spirit in an audio science review 'perfectly measuring' virtual heaven, or stuck in an elevator with a digital insurance salesman? (Woody Allen's definition of hell).

Yesterday I listened to my digital player to the original version of 'Sleepwalkers' and some other things. While I thought I was happy with my DAC, it just didn't sound right. None of it. It just lacks life.

I for my part: I choose life.


-----

As for Michael's video: he showed another, indeed hard to get, album of David Sylvian; Blemish. And,.. I didn't expect that a Beethoven Symphonies boxset. But it's true audiophile by Tacet. They use all tube equipment recorded in a church, ½-speed mastered, and some are cut in reverse. From inside to outside for dynamics. The only thing is... It's a nice Orchestra and a decent conductor. But I know, if there's anything important for any enjoyable classic performance it's the conductor. It won't be the same as Carlos Kleiber or Klemperer. Polish chamber Philharmonic Orchestra under Rajski is nice but it's a typical €5 CD orchestra. Never heard of them.

I already noticed the 7th symphony in the Wehkamp shop. Surprised to find a Tacet lp, and a rare inside out groove at fhat. It's a hefty €36 but that's not the real problem. I'm afraid it will be a record for audiophiles in the bad sense of the word.

 

[FYFL]

Rabbit hole in a sense that science is …. How should I put it? Fluid. Based on snail’s pace advances of cosmology due to limited technology and physics to apply. Algorithmic mathematic computing power is helpful but far from where it needs to be.
And since science is widely politicized and state founded, it appears to be catering to certain ideologies and benefits of the few.
Also, where do you see worth of an ordinary human in a world of automation, AI and only two social classes…, Gods and their subjects?
And if our behavior towards each other and social construct is maintained as it is, self destruction is imminent. At least to the world as we know it.
It took car manufacturers a hundred years to figure out how to make it relatively safe for the driver and passengers.
Created a nuclear power 80 years ago and we still don’t know how to deal with the fallout that it could create.
All it takes is EMP or GMD (or a madman) powerful enough to sent us back to the Stone Age. That’s how fragile technology as we know it really is.

Analog might be a lot more than the best way to listen to music.
Maybe it’s not so flashy and advance but it works beautifully.

Didn’t watch latest 45RPM’s video.
I hate box opening videos. Even if it’s vinyl related.

Doesn’t 1/2 speed master requires a digital step in the mastering chain?

 

[FYFL]

I already noticed the 7th symphony in the Wehkamp shop. Surprised to find a Tacet lp, and a rare inside out groove at fhat. It's a hefty €36 but that's not the real problem. I'm afraid it will be a record for audiophiles in the bad sense of the word.

Can you elaborate?

 

[FYFL]

Just listened to “Midnight Blue” and I can’t hear anything that wouldn’t relate to other recordings from that era.
Sounds as fantastic as I remembered. Bluesy, groovy, cool and totally an audiophile’s wet dream.
Packaging is very basic, Pressing is excellent. No pops, clicks or excessive surface noise. Sound is a solid 9.5.

Cool album for Jazz skeptics.



Next:

 

[]eep]

Can you elaborate?

I think it wil sound fantastic. I know Tacet from diverse flacs and they do sound great. All analog, tube gear etc. Also the reverse cut direction will help in the crescendo.

Beethoven 7 is one of my favorite pieces. I know it and I can hear what the director is doing. Not that I could direct it myself, but I get Hannibal Lecter in Red Dragon when the flutist is errr, not up to the standard. I have my favorites. Like I said, Klemperer and Kleiber are hors categorie, Karajan is good too, but I can't abide Walther or Krips. I would rather have music 10, sound 8 than music 6 sound 10. It's not worth it. Mind you, an old mono Klemperer works for me. But I have a complete Klemperer Mozart boxset with mint lp's that sounds pretty amazing too.

Another example. I grew up with one of my fathers lp's, Tchaikovsky's 1812 by Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker & Don Kosakken Chor. I had to get the Minneapolis Dorati version on Mercury because it is an audiophile highlight. Or so they say. It was a total deception. It doesn't sound so great (might be my copy of course), it sounds aenemic an lifeless in comparison. It's not that I don't like it, I hate it. On the DGG version the cannons thunder, the bells toll, the choir rumbles, and the music comes alive. With Dorati it sounds Iike a chore 'Ok, we're done. Next'

Look at some comments on the 'best' Wagner cycle... So many plusses and minuses that sound quality is almost never mentioned.

These audiophile records that require a local orchestra because audiophile is not for a large audience, it must be low budget to make it feasible, you still have to pay all those people. What you end up with are recordings that you can't sell in the top range, only low budget range for the supermarket ** if it was not for the 'audiophile' recording. That's always the trouble with audiophile labels.
I'd rather have Haitink on the Concertgebouworkest, that always sounds great on Philips. Or EMI or DGG or any big Label, they know a thing or two about recording too.

½-speed mastering does NOT require digital. Even worse, you can't master Bitstream in ½-speed, you'd have to convert to PCM first. Then it's easy.
Tape recorders have several speed options. Simply play a 19 ips recording at 9½ips and you're done. It just takes a lot of tape.

 

[FYFL]

I think it wil sound fantastic. I know Tacet from diverse flacs and they do sound great. All analog, tube gear etc. Also the reverse cut direction will help in the crescendo.

Beethoven 7 is one of my favorite pieces. I know it and I can hear what the director is doing. Not that I could direct it myself, but I get Hannibal Lecter in Red Dragon when the flutist is errr, not up to the standard. I have my favorites. Like I said, Klemperer and Kleiber are hors categorie, Karajan is good too, but I can't abide Walther or Krips. I would rather have music 10, sound 8 than music 6 sound 10. It's not worth it. Mind you, an old mono Klemperer works for me. But I have a complete Klemperer Mozart boxset with mint lp's that sounds pretty amazing too.

These audiophile records that require a local orchestra because audiophile is not for a large audience, it must be low budget to make it feasible, you still have to pay all those people. What you end up with are recordings that you can't sell in the top range, only low budget range for the supermarket ** if it was not for the 'audiophile' recording. That's always the trouble with audiophile labels.
I'd rather have Haitink on the Concertgebouworkest, that always sounds great on Philips. Or EMI or DGG or any big Label, they know a thing or two about recording too.

½-speed mastering does NOT require digital. Even worse, you can't master Bitstream in ½-speed, you'd have to convert to PCM first. Then it's easy.
Tape recorders have several speed options. Simply play a 19 ips recording at 9½ips and you're done. It just takes a lot of tape.

Got ya.
As to 1/2 speed remastering. I am just revisiting facts given by Giles Martin who remastered/mixed Revolver. Pretty much all his work is done in 1/2 speed.
Not saying that it has to be (when they first implemented this technique there was no digital) but in vast majority of 1-2 speed remastering works, there’s a digital step.

 

[FYFL]

Quick initial impressions.
I thought about giving it a little bit more though and more in-depth look but one, I really don’t have LP copy to compare it to. and second, I’m not Jethro Tull buff by any stretch of the imagination.
My only familiarity with this album has been via Qobuz streaming.
OG copies go for quite a bit more than this limited audiophile reissue and even MoFi gold CD can get in couple hundred dollars range.

So what do I think about this AAA release from Analog Production?
Well, it’s beautiful. Ultra quiet double 45rpm LPs in boutique quality packaging. The only thing missing IMO is a booklet or some extras giving us a bit of on insight about making of this album.
First, no streaming can equal sound quality of this particular reissue.
It’s just on another level.
I’ll leave comparing it vs original pressing to others, like Michael 45RPM.
Speaking of which, Michael didn’t think that this particular album got enough going on for it to qualify as an audiophile release. I disagree.
If by audiophile we think “you’re there” sort of experience then this album get you 90 percent there. As far as high fidelity, open and clean sounding rendition of a historic album, then yes, this is most certainly as good as it gets.
It’s engaging, non fatiguing, crisp and transparent enough to call it audiophile grade (in the best way).
Sound quality overall - 9.5
From soundstage, imaging to rendition of string instruments or hi-hat it delivers. The only thing that could have been a little more impressive is the lower bass. Which is totally fine but it’s missing snappiness and lifelike dynamics. Let’s call it warm bass in audiophile terms (pro def of warm is different).

Music - 9.5

Pressing/packaging - 10
Extras - non
Plated at QRP, pressed at RTI/double 180g, mastered by Kevin Gray from OG master tapes.

Highly recommended

 

[]eep]

I looked up the price of that Tacet Beethoven boxset. It's €1 a day for a leap year...
Not cheap. Considering I nought my Klemperer and Karajan boxsets for less than €10. Also all analog on tube gear.

I didn't watch all of the video either, I just skip to where I see a sleeve and watch which one it is. But some are interesting. And as a Sylvian fan I was intrigued. Indeed, 'Blemish' is a hard to get Album. Not the easiest music. Pretty stark and bleak. But I like it. So I just ordered it on Amazon, together with Goldfrapp that was to cheap for free shipping.
Funny; I pressed 'order now' while listening on Qobuz. The song playing was called 'late night shopping'.

That's going to be another week of cheap dinners. But cheap doesn't mean bad.

 

[FYFL]

I looked up the price of that Tacet Beethoven boxset. It's €1 a day for a leap year...
Not cheap. Considering I nought my Klemperer and Karajan boxsets for less than €10. Also all analog on tube gear.

I didn't watch all of the video either, I just skip to where I see a sleeve and watch which one it is. But some are interesting. And as a Sylvian fan I was intrigued. Indeed, 'Blemish' is a hard to get Album. Not the easiest music. Pretty stark and bleak. But I like it. So I just ordered it on Amazon, together with Goldfrapp that was to cheap for free shipping.
Funny; I pressed 'order now' while listening on Qobuz. The song playing was called 'late night shopping'.

That's going to be another week of cheap dinners. But cheap doesn't mean bad.

Sylvian’s other album (Blemish) is coming out soon. I have three of his albums in Amaz shopping cart (I think there is a bit of a discount if you buy all three). Hopefully price will drop a little. They do inform you about price change of items in your cart.

 

[FYFL]

Listening to John Coltrane ‘Blue Train’ Tone Poet series (stereo) double LP cut by K. Gray.

I hear things I haven’t heard before.
Excellent packaging, pressing and sound quality.
As with most BN stereo recordings of late 50’s early 60’s, there’s very fainted center image. Music comes out prominently from left and right speakers with minuscule effort being made to fill the center stage.
Call it an artifact in early days of stereo and experimental phase of rec. engineer Rudy Van Gelder.
When you listen to recording such as this, there’s little doubt what the source for the mastering was. No need for pictures of the master tapes with today’s newspaper to legitimize authenticity of the analog source. You can hear freshness, crispness and airiness of the tapes from which Kevin cut the lacquers.
‘Blue Train’ being one of Blue Note’s most popular and probably one of the best titles in their vault doesn’t hurt making it a home-run of a release.
Highly recommended

5 is a max score
Packaging/pressing - 5+
Sound - 4.9
Extras - 5+

 

[FYFL]

Bonus:
Van Halen ‘Women and Children First”. Remastered by Chris Bellmen mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

Packaging - 3.5
Pressing - 4.25
Sound - 4.1

Very nice release that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Very good but short of great.

And I’ll throw this one in. Because the interesting fact about it is, that this album was recorded live to analog tape in 2003. Something that you just don’t hear very often. Especially when everyone is consumed with latest plug-ins for protools.

Album consists of mostly ballads so this is probably a good spin when you’re on your down time.
Very nice, chillin’ and tuneful sax with beautiful piano accompanist and both bass a drums filling in the void for very intimate musical landscape.
Cut by K. Gray. Made in Germany. Gatefold double 180g 33/3rpm.

Packaging/pressing - 4.75
Sound - 4.5
Recommended

 

[]eep]

I've seen that now Ikea not only makes the best lp shelves but decided to be totally groovy and even sells a record player now. Called the Obegränsad and priced at €160. It looks nice on the picture.

I'll save you the research. It's not total crap, it is almost entirely made of thin plastic, the platter is wobbly, it feels like a toy but...
It has a built in phono amp which is nice for beginners (can't bypass or upgrade)
It works on usb power and everybody therefore already has a power supply (ditto)
It has an aluminum arm that is sort of ok
It has a good cartridge, the AT3600 (that must be a big dent in Ikeas budget at around €8 bulk)

At least it's better than those crappy Crossleys with their saphire stylus lp destroyers. It's just so well thought out to save to the maximum of what is acceptable to not sound like crap. Not recommended.

The name though... It's actually the same in Dutch, or German ; onbegrensd, unbegrenzt . That's a real joke. Borderless or unlimited. I know another word: chutzpah

 

[FYFL]

I've seen that now Ikea not only makes the best lp shelves but decided to be totally groovy and even sells a record player now. Called the Obegränsad and priced at €160. It looks nice on the picture.

I'll save you the research. It's not total crap, it is almost entirely made of thin plastic, the platter is wobbly, it feels like a toy but...
It has a built in phono amp which is nice for beginners (can't bypass or upgrade)
It works on usb power and everybody therefore already has a power supply (ditto)
It has an aluminum arm that is sort of ok
It has a good cartridge, the AT3600 (that must be a big dent in Ikeas budget at around €8 bulk)

At least it's better than those crappy Crossleys with their saphire stylus lp destroyers. It's just so well thought out to save to the maximum of what is acceptable to not sound like crap. Not recommended.

I've seen it. Looks like a toy. I was surprised that there wasn't any assembly involved and it didn't come in a flatpack IKEA standard box. Lol

 

[FYFL]

PS
When you see IKEA making turntables, you know that vinyl officially made it into the mainstream.

 

[FYFL]

Coming up:

From Decca Records:
“CAM Sugar is proud to announce the release of the restored soundtrack of LA DOLCE VITA, one of the timeless milestones of Italian cinema, directed by Federico Fellini and featuring music by NINO ROTA. The release marks a new instalment of CAM Sugar’s Heritage series, the label’s collection dedicated to the scores that made the history of Italian cinema.

LA DOLCE VITA is here presented in a newly-remastered version of the original album with 14 tracks previously unreleased on vinyl and digital. Among these stands out the vocal version of the main theme performed by the delightful voice of Katyna Ranieri, wife of composer Riz Ortolani. La Dolce Vita will be available on 2LP vinyl and on CD featuring a new artwork that offers a contemporary update on the film’s iconography.

The timeless elegance of Nino Rota’s music — immediately recognisable in the world of Federico Fellini is constantly suspended in the film between melancholia and up-tempo amusement. Rota blends jazz, rock ‘n roll, Latin rhythms and circus music to offer a compendium of mundanity and solitude, of desire and dissatisfaction, perfectly capturing the sweet but cheeky attitude of protagonist Mastroianni.”





And this UK version (at least that’s what I have been told) of ‘Erotica’. 200 copies.