Advice – What to Listen For – Tonality

We Don’t Need an Analog Revival If It Means Sound As Wrong As This

xxx

Acoustic Sounds had Stan Ricker remaster this record a number of years ago, and of course they (he) ruined it. A twinkly top end and flabby bass were just two of the major shortcomings of their version.

Nothing surprising there, as Stan Ricker is famous for his “smile” curve, boosting both ends of the audio spectrum whether they need boosting or not.

And half-speed mastered bass is almost always bloated and ill-defined.

If you add too much top end to a guitar record and ruin the sound of the guitar, how can anyone take you seriously?

Please note that not a single title from the Analog Revival series is any good, to the best of my knowledge, and all should be avoided. The same is true for all the 180 gram jazz titles on Analogue Productions mastered by Doug Sax, as you may have read elsewhere on the site.

Those records received rave reviews in the audiophile press when they came out, but you won’t find too many audiophile reviewers sticking up for them now, as they are, without exception, murky, compressed disasters of the worst kind.

I guess these reviewers eventually acquired equipment accurate enough to notice how bad those pressings are, which I guess goes to show there is hope for practically anyone!

Bob Seger – Night Moves – Our Shootout Winner from 2012

A distinguished member of the Better Records Rock and Pop Hall of Fame.

We’ve been trying to find killer copies of Night Moves for ages but it is not easy. Most copies out there are thin and dry, which is no way to hear these classic ’70s tracks. We brought in copy after copy that made us think, “I swear this sounds better on the radio!”

Finally, after pulling together a ton of copies from different eras, we started to realize that there were indeed vinyl pressings of Night Moves that sounded right… but they are few and far between, the exception and not the rule so to speak. Here’s a copy with an excellent side one and a killer side two — the first Hot copy of a Bob Seger album to EVER hit the site.

Mobile Fidelity did a version of this album that was so bright we found it not just hard to enjoy but actually hard to listen to. The typical domestic pressing ain’t much better but I’ll take boring, dry sound over the aggressive MoFi approach any day. (more…)

Mozart / Quintet – Piano + Winds & Trio

Another in our series of Home Audio Exercises with advice on What to Listen For (WTLF) as you critically evaluate your chamber music recordings.

This is a handy record for VTA setup as well. Listen for fullness and solidity, especially in the piano, although a rich, full sounding clarinet is a joy here as well.

Some of the copies lacked the weight and solidity to balance out the qualities of transparency and clarity. The resulting sound is less natural, with the kind of forced detail that CDs do so well, and live music never does. There is a balance to be found.

The right VTA will be critical in this regard. When you have all the space; the clearest, most extended harmonics; AND good weight and richness in the lower registers of the piano, you are where you need to be (keeping in mind that it can always get better if you have the patience and drive to tweak further). (more…)

Schubert / Symphony #9 (“The Great”) / Skrowaczewski

xxxxx

A distinguished member of the Better Records Orchestral Music Hall of Fame.

This Colorback Maroon Label RFR pressing (SR 90272) has wonderful orchestral sound, with both sides having Hot Stampers. Side two earned the full Two Pluses for its relatively rich strings, a quality one rarely hears on Mercury recordings from this era. The string texture is superb here, so critical to the enjoyment of a large scale romantic symphony such as this.

A Superb Super Hot side two – rich strings on a Merc? Yes!
Nearly as good on side one – spacious and open, with a huge stage
Reasonably quiet vinyl for a vintage Mercury
One of the great symphonic works of the Romantic period

(more…)

Bob Seger – Night Moves – MoFi Debunked

xxxxx

Sonic Grade: F

A Hall of Shame pressing and another Half Speed debunked.

The last time I played a copy of the MoFi I could not believe how ridiculously bright it was.

Grieg / Music From Peer Gynt / Fiedler – A Cisco Disaster

More of the music of Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

Music From Peer Gynt / Fiedler

Sonic Grade: F

A Hall of Shame pressing from Cisco / Impex.

Pretty bad, on a par with the shrill crap Classic Records has been dishing out for years, but in the opposite tonal direction: dull and deadsville. (more…)