Skeptical Thinking Is the Foundation of Audio Advancement
Pete Hutchinson of The Electric Recording Company came up with a new idea that he believes can solve all the problems of the record world.
He wants people to understand that records don’t need to be mastered.
In order to make the best sounding pressings, you just buy the right old tube equipment, get it working, get hold of the master tapes, and then patiently and carefully transfer them as flatly as possible, with the least amount of meddling.
You see, in his world the meddling is the problem.
And, like all crackpots, he has a simple but wrong solution for a complicated problem.
If you think cooked food is the cause of human ailments, and raw food is the solution to the health problems of the modern world, you are a crackpot.
If you think the world is flat and not more or less spherical, you are a crackpot.
If you think you have an aura of energy surrounding you which no one can see but which is part of your true being, a sign of your true, spiritual self, you are a crackpot.
If you think that three-wheeled cars are the solution to transportation problems in the modern world, and you’ve built one in your garage, and now all you need are investors to get the word out, you are a crackpot.
And Your Point Is?
Pete Hutchinson is someone who fits nicely into this group, because he is also a crackpot. He is an audiophile crackpot.
His “solution“ to the problems of the sound of records may be novel in the sense that no one has ever tried it at scale, but there’s a reason no one would be foolish enough to transfer master tapes to vinyl without the benefit of equalization, level adjustment, compression and a host of the other interventions mastering engineers make use of.
Records some of those things — maybe not all of them, but certainly some of them — in order to sound their best.
The fact that he is unable to hear how bad his “unmastered” records sound — and we can lump him in with all his customers who appear to be equally hard of hearing — is both comical and pathetic in equal measure.
We heard how bad his pressings sound, and we wrote about their many faults here.
Further Reading
- Record collecting for audiophiles from A to Z
- Playback accuracy is key to audio and record collecting
- Customers react to the sound of their White Hot stamper pressings
This is the best thing I have read all day!! I was a skeptic until I purchased a couple of 10cc hot stampers from your website. I am now convinced that you are doing God’s work. You provide an amazing service to those seeking out the best sounding pressings and I am very grateful!
Aaron
Aaron,
We try!
It’s crazy to think that there are self-described audiophiles who buy this man’s records. Collectors I get, they want high quality reproductions of the jacket and label and such.
But the sound is mostly hopeless, so how can any audiophile worthy of the name fall for this kind of foolishness?
Best, TP
I just listened briefly to a YouTube video of a German so called “audiophile”.
What does he say concerning the album “Europe ’72” by The Grateful Dead (re-issued by The Electric Recording Company in 2025 and selling currently used for about € 1000.- plus)?
“As you might know, I own quite some releases by the Electric Recording Company. The records from them totally benefit from their way of doing things.
They have two knobs on their mastering system, one is for mid-range, the other one is for high-range, and sometimes they move them for (just) one millimeter, otherwise you get the tape.”
And I (almost) forgot to mention that he also said:
“They have that old all tube mastering system, which (of course!) is a wonderful thing …. ”
Oh , what an expert that person seems to be …. .
Dear Sir,
My understanding is that there are no knobs on the mastering system, that all the records are flat transfers.
Some tube-based mastering systems produced wonderful recordings.
Some transistor-based mastering systems did the same. Artisan did not use tubes, and most of the records Artisan cut are tough to beat, if they can be beaten at all.
The absurd idea Mr. Hutchison turned into a multi-million dollar business — that his vintage tube equipment has the power to transfer master tapes to achieve superior sound quality — has worked very well for him, no matter how idiotic it is in reality. It rests on the fact that there are apparently enough idiotic audiophiles with enough money to purchase his special pressings, no more, no less.
The market has spoken and made him rich, as it has other equally benighted audiophile mastering houses.
Thanks for writing,
TP
Jamie Howarth commented (concerning this Electric Recording Company re-issue of Europe ’72) on The Tracking Angle:
“Having had considerable experience with these tapes both as a listener and as a remastering engineer, I would first point out that the original recordists would have found the ERC equipment antiquated in the extreme. Their techs were among the most talented and forward-thinking… a couple of their albums “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty” are the apotheosis of recordings made in that era. Ron Wickersham of Alembic was one of the Ampex developers of the multitrack machines used, and the multitrack and stereo recorders were at least 5 models more modern than those ERC slavishly employs. Speaking of multitrack, I’ve worked with the 16track 2″ these shows were recorded on (all 85 reels). It’s an odd mix, hampered by the fact of overdubbing- the overhead mics and the drums were kept low in the mix to prevent the vocal monitor spill from flamming with the new performances recorded in SF over the summer. Garcia was fairly good at looping his own performance, Weir a bit less so. And the piano was replaced and the whole thing sped up almost a percent. So it’s not the best mixed of their albums. Needs a lot of EQ, which Dave Glasser did a great job with. Not because the engineers were deaf, but because it was tough technically. The leakage was killing thrm. In any event it would be unfair to prejudge this reissue, and I wish them well. But a flat unmastered transfer of these tapes, played back on tape players in use 30 years prior to the modern machines it was recorded on – well, the claim that this represents the content creators’ original intent is simply not factual.”
This all sounds very plausible.
As for prejudging the reissue, what do you learn from the second kick of a mule?
Thanks for writing.
Best, TP