Recently my mother-in-law's good friend needed to sell her late husband's audio gear and record collection so I went over to see what was there. She had a mint Denon DP-59L turntable fitted with an ADC XLM MKII cartridge, a Panasonic SA HE100 AV Control receiver and a pair of Boston Acoustics A100s, big floor stander two ways.
2017 has been an amazing year for vinyl and an equally amazing one for AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer. He attended a Direct to Disc recording session at London's famous AIR Studios and during the same trip interviewed recording engineer Phill Brown and toured Rega Research. In a second London trip he visited SME and interviewed Pink Floyd's "The Wall" illustrator and balloon designer Gerald Scarfe. Later in the year after the Munich High End show he visited Pro-Ject's new Czech Republic factory and over the summer attended audio shows in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo. But the most exciting adventure was being an expert witness in the recently concluded Quincy Jones vs. The Estate of Michael Jackson lawsuit won by Quincy Jones.
Here's a vinyl transcription at 96/24 of "Rocks Off" from an original Artisan mastered copy of Exile on Main Street. After the band finished their overdubs in Los Angeles they ran the tape over to Artisan for vinyl mastering. This is the version to own.
Back in 2015 Wall Steet Journal correspondent Neil Shah wrote a curious piece called “The Biggest Music Comeback of 2014: Vinyl Records”. Curious because while the headline heralds that “the biggest music comeback of 2014” was the resurgence of vinyl records, the story itself threw a mud caked wet blanket over the entire experience, one created by Mr. Shah’s cynical and highly selective use of the information he obtained by talking to people in the industry.
Today (Tuesday, Feb. 21st) is the final day for entries into the +1 "competition". So this afternoon I will have to choose one of the following unless a late entry appears:
After posting the story "Three Percussion Records You Should Own Bob Ludwig emailed that I should get Percussion Music (Nonesuch H-71291). I emailed back that I had it and that prompted the decision to produce an all-percussion show for tomorrow’s WFDU HD2 AnalogPlanet radio show.
True that Bluetooth speakers are not AnalogPlanet's beat, but over the past few years I've found these devices super-useful for when I jog, or when traveling or just sitting outside during the summer. Longtime AnalogPlanet readers know that for large box Bluetooth speakers I like the ones from Riva Audio, but even the smaller of the two is too large for taking on a jog or a hike. For that I've used the Soundmatters FoxL , which is a flat-out amazing sounding tiny stereo speaker that uses as a "passive radiator" its flat battery encased in a rubber surround.
ELAC's Debut speaker line designed by Andrew Jones includes the B5, a diminutive 2 way loudspeaker that sells for $229.99/pr. It is not good for the money.
Way back in 1994 (that's 22 years ago for those of you who forget how quickly time flies by) I was a guest on Gil Gross's radio talk show on the now defunct CBS Radio Network. Gil's show was mostly about politics but he made some room for other topics and on July, 29th, 1994 he had me in the studio for an hour-long show called "CDs vs. LPs: which is better?" Can you guess where I came down here?.
We strive to be factually correct but occasionally make a mistake. A Sundazed representative called to correct a major error and rather than correct it in a tiny box placed inconspicuously on this website, we're putting it here.
My understanding, perhaps incorrect, is that because the radio show aired and is archived for streaming on a radio station that is a signatory to the licensing agreement that allows music to be played on the radio and streamed on the Internet in the first place, that it would be legal for me to put the show on Soundcloud and allow you to hear it.