For a devotee of recorded music listening, it’s been a two-decade journey of change. When I moved to New Zealand from England at the end of 2003, I had already been a vinyl record and CD collector for many years. The boxes filled a good part of the shipping container that carried our possessions to […]
This record found discarded in an op shop here in New Zealand recently is further evidence that record collecting is worthwhile, even when the recordings have been reissued on CD and can be streamed online. The sleeve carries something of its history, with signatures of the players and a previous owner on the back, and […]
I have no particular dislike of any weekday (I’m thinking of the inspiration for the Number 1 Boomtown Rats song!), and, generally, I do like stereo sound imaging. It’s for a long time been my default reproduction imaging effect, but I repeatedly have wondered if there’s a better way, and have experimented with ambiophonics, ambient […]
I’ve been talking again with Adam Rosner and discovering that he’s been busy since I very much enjoyed auditioning his Matariki valve amplifier back in 2019. I recall that what drew me to take an interest in Adam’s work back then was discovering that his father was a recording engineer for prestigious labels including Decca […]
In my research on the development of stereo, I found this in the Journal I.E.E., December 1959. “The dimensions of sound: A review of the convention on stereophony“
Scientists have find a practical use for ping-pong balls in protecting against low-frequency noise pollution. When used in certain combinations as an “acoustic metasurface”, these Helmholtz resonators turn out to be very effective absorbers, with use as acoustic insulator, and more. The international rules of the game now specify a ball mass of 2.7g and […]
We’re told she’s taking modern Jazz mainstream and has the mission to bring it to Gen Z. Laufey released her debut album Everything I Know About Love last year, and became the most-streamed Jazz artist on Spotify in 2022. She’s also currently the biggest streaming artist from Iceland! Her new album Bewitched was released in September, becoming the […]
It stood out among the couple of hundred abandoned LPs today. I recognised that it’s a Sheffield Lab album. Even though it has not had the best of storage conditions! The sleeve is way beyond preservation, and is in the dustbin. It looks so bad that I felt the need to explain to the shop […]
I just heard that loudspeaker innovator John Strohbeen at Ohm Acoustics has died. Steve Guttenberg re-shared his 2019 interview video, and in it John tells us that instead of falling for the (I argue, cynical) marketing ploy of an upgrade pathway of models from ‘good’ performance to ‘better’ to ‘best’ (intended to create dissatisfaction), he […]
David Mellor take us to the best listening room in the world in this video
There’s been some hi-fi audio equipment configuration changes in my listening rooms. As a result, I have three distinctly different home hi-fi audio listening situations: solid-state with DSP sound sculpting, a tube-sound with no-baffle full-range drivers and optional surround sound, and an (almost) nearfield sound field from stand-mounted bookshelf speakers. It’s that time of year […]
I’ve found the perfect book for a music-loving audiophile. At 524 pages, it seemed daunting, but I don’t usually get beyond 200 pages on the day I begin reading a book, but this is a compelling page-turner. I read it over three days. It was immediately enchanting. A hi-fi audio listening page-turner. For some time […]
I like this expression of mindful listening and sound as a culture. “SlowSound® was born in 2015 from an idea which came to Maestro Igor Fiorini through his work as a Sound Producer. He wishes to promote conscious listening and tasting of sound“. https://vdmsoundgroup.com/slowsound-manifest-eng I prefer the phrase slow listening (a slow living activity) as […]
I’m on about day ten since I abandoned many terrabytes of digital files assembled on multiple external hard drives. I’m feeling relieved of a (self-made) burden. Just one failed disk too many. The unpredictable lifespan, USB communication, and file recovery hassles became too much like no fun at all. I’ve moved on. Like these two […]
As a child of the 1950s England, an often meal treat was powdered instant milk-based imitation cream and flavoured desserts (they tasted much nicer than it sounds), especially Bird’s Angel Delight and Bird’s Dream Topping. Butterscotch flavour was my favourite. After some investigation and deliberation, drawing on the Audio Science Review SINAD ranking, I’ve expanded, […]
A new appreciation of Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies has been posted at Stereophile, with this opening comment: 1972 is widely praised as the most fertile year ever for rock albums, notching such classics as The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from […]
This really got my adrenaline flowing. A custom listening room with a huge record collection, adjacent to a state-of-the-art recording studio. https://www.littlebigbeat.com/magicroom
“Ulrike Schwarz, Jim Anderson, and Their New Paradigm for Remote Interactive Recording (with Jane Ira Bloom)“. A detailed two-part telling of the story of adapting composition and technology-based recording process to create an award-winning immersive live improvisational album with players remotely located in very different spaces. It’s surprising what can be achieved using some standard […]
Researching Ambisonic recording leads to Nimbus Records, and their historic opera vocal archive series Prima Voce. This label, started in 1989, specialises in the transcribing of original early acoustic recordings from 78 rpm disc to CD. The original Nimbus Natural Ambisonic Transfer method involved the use of thorn needles and a giant acoustic horn on a […]
An article that does a good job of explaining the principles, history, and practicalities of Ambisonics, calling it “super stereo”. A nice take from the discussion: a decoder is not necessary to enjoy the spatial enhancement. I wonder how many Nimbus Records recordings I’ve seen without realising they are ambisonically recorded. https://www.ambisonic.net/ambi_AM91.html
Found today, this is my only Ambisonic encoded LP record (I have at least one album on CD. See below). Ambisonics is a method for recording, mixing and playing back three-dimensional 360° audio. It was invented in the 1970s but was never commercially adopted until recently with the development of the Virtual Reality industry and […]
Sifting through boxes and shelves is like panning for Gold, or diving for Pearls. Work at it long enough and the gems turn up. Tale is a South African neo-prog band new to me. This 1997 pressing was made for promotion in the search for a record release deal. It was officially released in 1998. […]
I just couldn’t do it. The baffle board was on the bench ready for measuring and marking out before cutting. It’s dense and dark. It would look great waxed with the Lii Audio F-15 full-range drivers mounted. It’s not that I’m lazy or unable to do the work of mounting these drivers. I’d happily invest […]
With rainstorms blanketing our region for a couple of days, my hobbying has turned to cleaning, cataloguing, and shelving/filing the 90+ LPs I’ve bought in recent weeks. It has been a sobering experience, and I’ve realised and accepted that now the shelves are almost full, for practicality, my record collecting must shift from acquiring to […]
They’re out there in crate-digging territory. I often find them. Almost always, they’re wrecked beyond rescue. How do Cat Stevens LPs get so badly scratched and the sleeves torn and stained? All-night smoke-shrouded booze-addled hippy parties? Portable record player on the floor. Ash and beer everywhere. And more? I love his songs, and the recordings […]
Here’s to an enjoyable melodious, harmonious, and rhythmic Christmas, and a prosperous and enlightening 2023 with lots more music and hi-fi appreciation.
I share the view of this interview article. My sound system enables ‘well-being experiences’, and listening to and enjoying music is a major source of positivity in my life. It’s the sixth in a series talking with listeners about their own spaces. https://www.resistormag.com/features/listening-space-shawn-boucher-phoenix-arizona/
Frank Dunnery is preparing for his UK gigs on his Tombstone Dunnery Blues Tour 2022, and has posted this on his Facebook page. I’m listening to lead belly today. Soaking it all in. Early blues. It just dawned on me that I listen to leadbelly for a different reason that I listen to patto or […]
My latest system enhancement pushes frugality to the limit. I’ve added a networked audio bridge with a 192 kHz 24-bit DAC, with Gold-plated RCA sockets, so I can play files from my music PC using JRiver Media Server and JRemote2 control app on my second system in my upstairs reading room. I can stream music […]
The New York Philharmonic’s new home is finally designed for good sound. https://www.npr.org/2022/10/07/1126599633/new-york-philharmonic-david-geffen-hall-classical-music-concerts-acoustics I’ve just read Fink et al’s The Relentless Pursuit of Tone (2018), and here’s a passage that adds to this story of concert hall sound quality. Any listener can appreciate the acoustic character of a monastery, a church, or a concert hall, […]
Music & Hi-fi Appreciations 