Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Tchaikovsky Available Now
This is an older review from at least ten years ago and perhaps more. We no longer sell the MHS pressing of this recording, or any MHS pressing for that matter.
We much prefer the Heifetz recording for RCA from 1958. We’ve identified about 170 orchestral recordings that offer the discriminating audiophile the best performances and top quality sound. The right pressings of the Heifetz (the ones with Hot Stampers) have earned a place on that list.
For our review for the MHS pressing of the concerto, we noted:
MHS remastered the original 1967 Melodiya tape in 1979 in order to produce this record, dramatically improving upon the sound of the version that I knew on Angel, which shouldn’t have been too hard as the Angel is not very good.
Wait a minute. Scratch that. MHS didn’t cut the record, an engineer at a mastering house did. Fortunately for us audiophiles, the job fell to none other than Bill Kipper at Masterdisk.
Think what a different audio world it would be if we still had Bill Kipper with us today, along with the amazingly accurate and resolving cutting system he used at Masterdisk.
As far as we can tell, there are no records being produced today that sound remotely as good as this budget subscription disc.
Furthermore, to my knowledge no record this good has been cut for more than thirty years. The world is awash in mediocre remastered records and we want nothing to do with any of them, not when there are so many good vintage pressings still to be discovered and enjoyed.
The likes of Bill Kipper are no longer with us, but we can be thankful that we still have the records he and so many talented others mastered all those years ago, to enjoy now and for countless years to come. Keep in mind that it’s all but impossible to wear out a record these days with modern, properly set up equipment, no matter how often you play it.
Hi. Not sure what you’re saying. Do you know if Bill has passed away?
Hi, I was making the point that BK is a great mastering engineer and that common records were mastered by talented engineers back in the day, which no longer seems to be the case. I do not know if he is still alive.
TP
Hi. Thanks for the reply. That’s what I initially assumed you meant. I worked at Masterdisk for a couple of years, still occasionally communicate with Bob L, and know where Howie is, but never heard anything about Bill K. I can’t remember what tangent led me to your post. (I’m so old!) It just makes me panic to think of people I once knew passing on. I thought I’d ask anyway.
Thanks very much.
Hi, if you find out please let us know.
TP
Before Bill Kipper, MHS records sounded good. When Bill Kipper came along, they stopped sounding good. He compressed them like rock records. I’m selling off my Bill Kipper MHS. Do you want them?
Hi, a lot of the later MHS records do indeed sound like they are made from digital masters. Many years ago I traded close to a hundred copies back to the stores that would take them, the rest went to Goodwill.
We think the Tchaikovsky might still hold up, but we haven’t played one in close to ten years. We prefer the Heifetz on RCA now, so we just buy those and put them in our shootouts.
The MHS is a record that would not command much money these days, better to trade it in if you’re not happy with the sound.
Best, TP