SH Spotlight I'm asked stuff: Favorite mastering engineer, best BOSTON CD, best TRAVELING WILBURYS CD, etc..

Based on that information, would it be correct to write that the 2002 Sin City The Very Best Of The Flying Burrito Bros is the last word on a CD of the Gram era Burritos? The Flying Burrito Bros - Sin City The Very Best Of The Flying Burrito Bros

 

It’s good and the best comp out there IMO but it shows using a copy tape doesn’t always mean it has to be worse IMO per here New Record Label: Intervention Records

 

There is something I must tell you, you must know - the Gram Parsons thread

 

Steve do you know if MFSL's Simon & Garfunkel Bookends was a flat transfer or just minimalist intervention from MFSL? I picked up a cheap copy of this recently and it sounds really good and natural unlike many of their interventionist EQ masterings (the better my stereo and room/treatments get the more many of these sound bad). I seem to recall you saying MFSL Disraeli Gears was a flat transfer which is why I bought that one a couple of years ago, really great sound on it given the limitations of the recording.

 

Hi Steve. In your 2017 comment linked below you mention that the Stevie Wonder CD of Innervisions sounds most like a flat transfer of the master tape as compared to the MFSL and AF masterings. Is it the case with all the Tamla/Motown CDs of his classic period (that they are likely flat transfers of the master tapes}? Thanks in advance.

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions - your favorite mastering?

 

@Steve Hoffman

Hi, Steve. I apologize if this has been asked already. (Hell, I may have asked it before.) How important is track by track azimuth alignment when transferring an old analog master? I assume the potential is there for it to be different on a track by track basis, especially if the master was assembled from various times or studios. During real time transferring to lacquer I imagine track by track isn't possible, so do you compensate with EQ? For digital mastering, or transferring to a safety, you could take the time to do so, but how important is it? Would it be done by ear, by scope or both? Easy or difficult? Just curious. Thanks.

 

Has there ever been an explanation for why Intervention's 2 reissues were so dramatically duller or muddier than any previous reissue? I can understand wanting to boost the bass a bit but other reissues managed to do that without lopping off nearly all of the high frequencies.

 

They are from copy tapes so there’s that as far as potentially duller or muddier. There’s less top end but it’s more how I would expect is on the tape myself based on the more organic music style; just more couched within the mids rather than riding high up top. I’ve never compared to any original vinyl however so I can’t truly say; and likewise I think many of the other releases including the very good Sin City Best Of have a treble boost, so I probably don’t subscribe to the point in your question. I don’t find them dull or muddy in the least; certainly different though. All just my opinion of course, there’s plenty of room for other opinions in this pool.

You’ve given me inspiration to play those tonight thanks much.

 

Heaven forbid you send a label back a "DO NOT USE" tape with fresh splices.

 

Hey Steve, is this your handwriting on this Buddy Holly tape box in the video below (at about 7:00)?

 

At the risk of making a fool of my self....who is the narrator on this video?

 

Michael Fremer.

 

Steve,

I have a question about the Del Rack title Freddie King, "Key to the Highway", DRZ-920. Is there anything unique about this CD (similar to the Leon Russell Delta lady DRZ-918) or does it just use the same mastering as the Freddie King DCC CDs.

 

Barely related. I just bought a used copy of The Best Of Freddie King on DCC and it sounds perfect.

Happy listening, Michael

 

Thanks. I suspected as much. Just wanted to confirm.

 

Steve,
A longer one. If you are still checking this.

45 rpm, 7" singles. Vinyl vs. Styrene.

I've found 45s need a good clean. They are completely unprotected in their paper sleeves and generally arrive with 30, 40, 50 years of crud and dust in them.

For styrene singles, I look for "NM" or "unplayed" old stock. Or ones that just look like they have not seen much play.

Before playing they always get a four phase cleaning routine on a VPI 17, using cotton cosmetic remover pads, cut to size, clipped onto toothbrushes. Yes, really.
1. start with an iso-propyl alcohol cleaning solution;
2. Audio Intelligent Enzyme solution - to get rid of any mold or other residues
3. Audio Intelligent Archival - non alcohol - cleaner
4. Triple distilled water rinse

This is the most effective cleaning regimine I have found. Regularly changing the cotton pads when they go brown or black.

I think this is why singles and styrene get a bad rap on the sound quality. They have so much crud on them, the stylus is grinding its way through and over the crud.

I am finding that all else, more or less, equal, the styrene is actually sounding better than the vinyl. So long as the styrene is relatively virginal and has not been abused by some 5 or 10 gram tracking force cartridge. Or other abuse.

Q1. What is your opinion?
Is the styrene as good as or better than vinyl?


I'm wondering why it is. It occurred to me that because styrene is a more rigid material than vinyl, when the stylus tracks through vinyl, the vinyl walls and grooves "give" a little. Whereas styrene is a harder material and just does not "give" at all. So physically, from a materials perspective, you may be getting better sound reproduction.

Q2. Cartridge. Am I chewing up the styrene?
I am using a line contact stylus cartridge - a Lyra Atlas Lambda SL set at 1.7 g. tracking force. So far as I know, I spent some time on it, it's pretty much perfectly aligned, plus I set a 92 degree angle on the diamond, using a digital microscope. The cartridge does not seem to be chewing up the grooves, but is it?

Over the past couple of years, I've become a real fan of 45s. When clean, they can sound amazingly good. Tend to be cut with a tonne of headroom. Fidelity, on some of them, is just amazing.

 

What's your favorite CD of Tommy?

 

Try this one for the original mix (with a live concert on the second CD).
The Who - Tommy

 

Do you mean on CD or does that include vinyl too?