January 31st, 2025
Steely Dan's Controversial 'Katy Lied' Gets the Analogue Productions UHQR Treatment tried and true, or something new? By: Michael FremerOnce upon a time, when great recording studios were a “thing”, long before they became almost extinct—when no one thought such a thing was even possible—studio owners and sound conscious musicians competed with one another to find new and improved recording technology.“Improved” came in many guises, some of which turned out to be worse. For instance, in the mid-1970s, the Aphex Aural Exciter grabbed the attention of both studio owners and musicians. It did what the... Read More
Comments: 48January 31st, 2025
4 Tape Machines and 1 Cutting Lathe: Remixing Karajan’s Mahler 6 at Emil Berliner Studios Go behind the scenes at the most complex mix yet for the Original Source Series By: Mark WardBatch #7 of the Original Source Series from Deutsche Grammophon is almost upon us, with Karl Böhm conducting Mozart’s Requiem and Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 to be released next week, and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet plus Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy from Claudio Abbado in Boston due the week after.Also coming out on February 14th is Herbert von Karajan’s truly monumental recording of Mahler’s 6th Symphony, which I consider to be his... Read More
Comments: 35January 28th, 2025
Technics SL-1300G Fills $2000 Gap With Sonic Excellence The "sweet spot" in the Technics turntable lineup? By: Michael FremerTechnics has a turntable problem most turntable manufacturers would be happy to have. The company’s SL-1200 introduced in 1972 and in continuous production until the “death of vinyl” in 2010, only to return to production with the “resurrection of vinyl” in 2016, is iconic. More than 3.5 million were sold and many are still in use.Because it’s iconic and instantly recognizable, Technics wisely chose to maintain the turntable’s oft-copied basic looks and even keep the... Read More
Comments: 12January 27th, 2025
Records Pressed in Iceland From Sugar Beets Not PVC is Larry Jaffee's and Kevin DaCosta's Sweet Dream Is the Thermal Beets Record Pressing Plant A Sustainable Concept? By: Evan Toth
Blondie released its fourth album Eat to the Beat in 1979. No way then could the band have known that nearly a half-century later it might be possible to press beats onto records made of beets that, at least theoretically, one could actually eat! Thermal Beets Records is a partnership founded by Larry Jaffee, the author of "Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century" and co-founder of the Making Vinyl conference, and Kevin DaCosta, a vinyl manufacturing consultant and the technical director for Evolution Music.
Read More Comments: 7January 25th, 2025
Turntable Set-Up Guru Chad Stelly Returns to Acoustic Sounds an all-brand set up expert By: Michael FremerPress release: Acoustic Sounds - the global leader in analog expertise - is proud to announce the return of Chad Stelly, a renowned turntable setup specialist and audio guru, to their team. With Stelly back in the fold, Acoustic Sounds will offer customers the same level of personalized, and solutions-driven equipment sales that defines their best-in-class, in-house brands, Analogue Productions and Quality Record Pressings.Chad Stelly, affectionately known as... Read More
Comments: 2January 25th, 2025
The Dawn of a New Era in Berlin A Deluxe Vinyl Set celebrates the Beginning of the Kirill Petrenko partnership with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra By: Mark Ward
Repertoire both familiar and welcomingly unfamiliar is put through its paces by this nascent collaboration between one of the world’s top orchestras with its dynamic new Chief Conductor. This gorgeously appointed set is not only a compelling snapshot of a new musical era at the Philharmonie, it’s also a great way for classical novices to introduce themselves to an eclectic range of music in first-rate performances.
Read More Comments: 14January 25th, 2025
dCS Debuts Varése DAC at Innovative Audio Press Event you are invited to watch and listen By: Michael FremerU.K. based dCS debuted its new Varése DAC at NYC's Innovative Audio, January 23rd, first in a mid-day press event to which you are invited (in this video) and later in the day to the public. dCS Managing Director David Steven, North American Director Emron Mangelson and Programme Director Andrew Szelke were on hand to make the presentation of the company's new $270,000 DAC. You will see in this video what went into the research and development of this... Read More
Comments: 2January 21st, 2025
Needle Clinic’s Denon DL-103 Phono Cartridge A classic and widely loved vintage phono pickup gets an upgrade that makes it competitive with some of the best contemporary cartridges. By: Paul Seydor
Read More Comments: 20Needle Clinic is a Northern California company that offers retipping and repair of moving-coil cartridges, including upgrades.
January 17th, 2025
King Crimson Left a Progressive Rock Legacy With “Red” 50th anniversary release includes new stereo and elemental mixes By: Dylan PegginThere's a misconception among some that King Crimson was Robert Fripp centered around a revolving door of personnel. The group's ever-changing style followed a new age philosophy of the music finding its players, leading to constant reinvention and being purely progressive. By the mid-1970s, King Crimson’s third lineup consisted of guitarist Robert Fripp, bassist/vocalist John Wetton, violinist David Cross, and percussionist Bill Bruford. This incarnation’s... Read More
Comments: 15January 17th, 2025
Evacuating my Life in Records - in 15 minutes... PART 2 Choices and Reflections from the Los Angeles Wildfires of 2025 By: Mark Ward
Last Friday night, with the Palisades Fire moving in the direction of our house, my wife and I loaded the car with photo albums, sleeping bags and a tent, and had our suitcases ready to go. Then, I realized I might have time (and the space) to pick out some records to take with me. In Part 1 I talked about my classical selections. In Part 2 it is time to go through my rock, jazz and film music collection and make my choices...
Beyond the seriousness of this moment, you might call this an impromptu tour through some of the highlights of my record collection: a diversion in harrowing times.
Read More Comments: 18January 16th, 2025
Evacuating my Life in Records - In 15 Minutes... PART 1 Choices and Reflections from the Los Angeles Wildfires of 2025 By: Mark Ward
As the LA Fire Tyger Roars, I decide which music to save that has accompanied me across 50 years and two continents...
Beyond the seriousness of this moment, you might call this an impromptu tour through some of the highlights of my record collection: a diversion in harrowing times. Part 1 focuses on my classical records; Part 2 on my rock, jazz and film music titles.
Read More Comments: 18January 15th, 2025
Rudy Van Gelder Records IN STEREO Gary Davis "One of the Last of a Long Line of Religious Street Singers" (REVISED REVIEW) a stirring record that surely influenced more commercial folksters By: Michael FremerThe jacket is for a mono record so guess what? I played this record using a mono cartridge. Someone, (I thought in a comment but now I don't see it) claimed the recording was in stereo so upon returning from a trip to Seattle I played it using a stereo cartridge and? Yes, it's a fine stereo recording! Fine in that RVG kept it "natural", using stereo simply to produce space. Collapsing it to mono either with a mono cartridge or a "mono"... Read More
Comments: 14January 12th, 2025
Modern Marvel of Miniature Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Delivers Exceptional Sound and Feature Set this bud's for you By: Michael FremerTechnics introduced these new $299.00 earbuds early last December to a group of editors, journalists and influencers at a Kyoto, Japan press event. The big launch was earlier this week at CES. Other than me and I think a writer from What Hi-Fi in the U.K. the "audiophile press" was absent. I travel a lot —I am a million miler on United and I always bring music and headphones. I've got multiple pairs of small "in ear" models from various... Read More
Comments: 19January 10th, 2025
Technics Launched the Truly Exceptional Sounding EAH-AZ100 Earbuds at CES January 7th, But I Heard Them In Japan December 4th! Embargo Lifted—Now I Can share the experience By: Michael FremerOn January 7th at this year's CES Technics introduced the EAH-AZ100 flagship Bluetooth earbuds but I got to experience them a month earlier in Japan. When the invite arrived in my inbox I really didn't know what to make of it. Earbuds? Me? Japan? Sign an NDA? Sure, but was Technics really flying me to Japan for a headphone launch? Until I got there I thought maybe the trip was really about a new top end turntable and they were just making sure I didn't... Read More
Comments: 2January 10th, 2025
Rhino High Fidelity Series Rocks Out Twice With Television's "Adventure" and Faces' "Ooh La La" double rock release is break from the label's typical rock/jazz coupling By: Tracking AnglePRESS RELEASE: (January 10, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA) Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) cranks up the volume again on its series of acclaimed limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues by revitalizing and re-energizing two more rock classics! New Rhino Hi-Fi versions of Television’s pivotal sophomore LP Adventure and Faces’ fourth full-length album, Ooh La La, will be available today, exclusively at Rhino.com and internationally at select WMG stores. Each release is... Read More
Comments: 3January 8th, 2025
The ampsandsound Yellowstone Vacuum Tube Preamplifier—A Geyser Spew of Musical Greatness includes MM/MC input and remote control volume/mute By: Michael FremerReviewing, or judging the sound of audio gear at hi-fi shows is a fool's errand. I've written that before and I'll never stop writing it as long as some reviewers insist upon doing so in lousy sounding hotel rooms, I don't care the size. Sometimes good sound does happen and of course it should be pointed out and lauded and there are some exhibitors who know how to work around bad acoustics and bad electricity to achieve acceptable sound (High Water... Read More
Comments: 9January 8th, 2025
Donny Hathaway's Self-Titled Second LP Reissued at 45 rpm in Atlantic 75 series By: Joseph W. Washek1971 was a pivotal year for R&B/soul music. Stevie Wonder's Where I'm Coming From was released in April. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On was released in May. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic was released in July, Curtis Mayfield's Curtis in September, and Sly's There's a Riot Goin’ On in November. All of these albums were entirely composed of original music and expressed the disappointment, despair, and anger of young Black people living... Read More
Comments: 4