I can think of a few things that fall in that category that still are being waged. ..
Shall I fill up my gastank? Should I buy this steak? Or should I put the heating on 21Ā°C?
Just to quote JFK
āWe choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.ā
BTW, in our language 'we are going to the moon' means unequivocally 'we're all going to die'.
(it just occurred to me that is an old pagan/catholic belief, reincarnation)
Sound like a leaning towards self-destruction. I'm sure that's not what he meant but happened nonetheless. Or, is happening.
I'm listening to another 35 year anniversary album; The Communards. Happy music for unhappy people who thought they had a tough time then. I have both original albums so not something I consider buying again. My copies are both mint and sound awesome. Music like this is the reason I am an 'audiophile'.
Yesterday I wstched day one of Michael Fremers report of the Warsaw audio show in the Sobieski hotel. (thanks to Jan for saving Europe, which no one seems to remember)
Some do remember (not many). Some choose to avoid the subject. And then there are those who are completely clueless or oblivious to history. Perhaps both.
Watched Michaelās report from the show as well. It is amazing to see so many new companies which are trying to make it, and within a year or two they become a background noise of someoneās YouTube video. Itās a tough business.
Finishing my date with āLa Dolce Vitaā.
And I hope that I was able to get the whole picture of this interesting and important restoration project?
Letās step back to session from yesterday.
Listening to this entire soundtrack though me two things.
That perhaps, there was a lot more going on behind the scene of this archival work and tape restoration. I appreciate that.
And second, to not judge a record by its spindle hole. Which is a silly QC issue to have. Luckily, it was much easier to ignore that flaw, while overall pleasurable experience with this album outweighed the pressing neglect by a wide margin (which falls mostly on pressing plant but someone signed of on it from heritage projectā¦so).
Back to the headphone system session. Yeah, itās not difficult to find flaws in any recording if your system is revealing enough. You donāt even have to know what to look for, itās quite obvious when recording or pressing fell short. UHQR, One Step, Analog Production, Impex or whatever. No one is safe and no one is perfect. Perfection in vinyl making business is close to unobtainable if not impossible. Flaws will show its face no matter what and the only question will be;
did they put enough effort to make their record sound great and musically engaging? And, is the product quality on par with price they want for it?
And itās no surprise that on my HP rig, this album was struggling quite a bit. Source quality, condition, mastering choices, and all the other usual suspects.
But that part was actually fun and very telling of the effort put into this project.
Then, comes the sound quality and ability to engage the listener with music.
And this album does that very well.
Aside from repetitive theme song that seems to come on every other song. Just in slightly altered version.
Overall, listening to this album via headphones was fine but I believe, itās the speaker system where this classic movie soundtrack can be fully enjoyed and appreciated.
First LP sounded surprisingly good in my speaker room. It wasnāt as clean as the second record of the album but still enjoyable, And it certainly didnāt suck as far as sound quality/mastering goes.
However, I believe that the gem of this reissue is the second LP. Sound quality wise, it provides richer variety of music and higher level of engagement. Crispness of the source (tapes) really comes through. Not always tho, (some songs lock clarity) but most of the time. Soundstage is a bit more narrow. As if it was mix/mastered within the width constrains of the movie screen.
What it gives back in return is quite a bit of depth that can only be compared to great mono recordings.
Piano, strings, triangles, hi-hat, drums, harp, mandolin all sounded great to excellent. Natural with a vintage twist is how I would describe it. Female vocals were extremely clear, powerful and full of texture. Excellent job on vocals. Eventho thereās not much of it but, thereās some. Especially on the second LP. Songs that were never released on vinyl. 2nd LP in my opinion, really steals the show. Without it, this album would have been extremely boring and one dimensional. Together with newly remastered songs on second LP, it tells a more convincing story that sucks you into the drama of the film.
Even tho this is not the music I often listen to, I couldnāt skip a song and thatās a great success of the composer IMHO. And execution ofcause.
All that wouldnāt matter if restoration project was a total fiasco. It wasnāt.
I came to this evaluation a little skeptical and concerned. Skeptical of the audio source quality and ability to of the team do this masterpiece justice. Happy to report that they did a fine job.
Certainly not for everyone. Again, I thought that it wasnāt something that I would be enthusiastic about but, I love it. And appreciate it.
I donāt know how to score a classic movie soundtrack that in itself is very lucky to exist and get a rejuvenation treatment? Itās not an audiophile reissue, even thought it sounds pretty good. Itās more like an old James Bond movie. A classic with a charm.
At the end you will get a piece of cinematographic history that is available, itās playable and it sounds pretty good on top of it. So, I guess thatās a great success.
Yeah, ā¦.. thatās my overall score.
A success.
Less noticeable off center issue on LP nr2.
BTW
Today is the birthday of BN (but not only) engineer and a legend, Rudy Van Gelder.
PS I can barely keep my eyes open so forgive me for any nonsensical text you might come across.
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