The first bi-annual Blue Note Review may have been a somewhat tentative and ill-focused project as label head Don Was worked to re-establish with a younger generation the Blue Note brand identity and “community”, yet few who purchased were disappointed (the set sold-out) other than in the digitally mastered Blue Mitchell album and its grade B jacket.
Yes, the megabuck turntables and other costly products get the most attention, but the introduction of the Vertere Dynamic Groove turntable, a circa $4000 "plug'n'play" design from Vertere struck me among the most significant debuts at High End Munich 2019.
The days are over of aimlessly wandering around the MOC searching for turntables and other analog accouterments. This almost two hour video covers just what I saw on opening day (press day) at High End Munich 2019! And it's not padded with "drive by" footage.
In advance of Munich High End 2019 Ortofon announced a new "flagship" moving coil cartridge the Anna Diamond that features a diamond cantilever and a Replicant100 stylus. Based on the specs, what's "under the hood" appears to be similar to that of the limited edition, now sold out MC Century.
Following opening remarks by Making Vinyl co-founder Larry Jaffee, Record Store Day founder Michael Kurtz opens programming on day two of "Making Vinyl" Berlin followed by British, French, Italian and Dutch RSD organizers to give you a detailed picture of the continent's activities on this past April's Record Store Day.
You do not want to miss the entertaining, informative and important "Making Vinyl" day two keynote address with visuals by Sony Music Entertainment International Services Co-Managing Director Gerhard Blum.
Mastering engineer Reiner Maillard invites us into Emil Berliner studio. (Photo: Michael Fremer)
I arrived in Berlin early Wednesday morning and was picked up by a fellow named Frank Wonneberg, who I didn't really know, though I think we may have met years earlier at the High End Show when it was in Frankfurt, probably in 1996. He offered to pick me up and take me to the hotel, which was beyond kind. He also took me on a tour of Berlin. It was May 1st, which is a holiday in Germany so the streets were open though there were tourists and others at the big sights. I saw the Reichstag, and other similar touristy spots but Frank also took me to some amazing record-centric spots that few people know about including a small, run down little car repair joint that once was where the Odeon record label started in the early 20th century. It's where two sided records were born.
In a pre-Munich press release, SAT announced the debut in Munich of its new XD1 Record Player System that will be presented in room F214 in Atrium 4 along with Marten Audio loudspeakers.