Some things were "meant" to be. Following High End Munich i spent a few days in Switzerland that included a visit to Micha Huber's HiFiction factory in Turbenthal. The video tour includes the launch of the new Thales Magnifier phono preamp/preamp. Early in the afternoon, following the tour, I overheard two of HiFiction's distributors talk about driving to Schlieren to visit HSE Swiss, manufacturer of, among other products, the Masterline 7 phono... Read More

Every properly overseen vinyl record reissue series should have a gatekeeper/curator like Blue Note's Tone Poet series Joe Harley. Craft Recordings has brought on board for its new Bluesville series, Scott Billington, clearly the best possible individual for the job. Scott is a Grammy winning producer, musician, writer and record executive who's produced more than 150 records, even playing on a few. He's produced records by, among others, Charlie Rich,... Read More

Los Angeles, CA (June 20, 2024)—Craft Recordings and Bluesville Records proudly announce a pair of classic reissues from two of blues music’s most influential artists: Albert King’s career-defining 1968 concert album, Live Wire/Blues Power, and 1961’s poignant Last Night Blues from Lightnin’ Hopkins with Sonny Terry. Releasing September 13 and available to pre-order today, these titles mark the latest releases in the acclaimed new series, which celebrates America’s... Read More

LOS ANGELES – After The Hissing Of Summer Lawns tour, Joni Mitchell retreated to Neil Young’s beach house to recover. Eager to travel but undecided about a destination, Mitchell was unexpectedly invited on a cross-country road trip with friends. It was one of three road trips she took between 1975 and 1976 and the beginning of a period defined by wanderlust, both in her physical travels and musical exploration. This transformative phase is the focal point of The... Read More

This is great news! Ween's 1994 classic "Chocolate and Cheese" is getting a deluxe, expanded 30th anniversary reissue including original double LP plus fifteen unreleased demos. Bernie Grundman ...well, read the press release below:Since its debut 30 years ago, Ween’s Chocolate and Cheese has become an alternative rock classic and a highwater mark for Gene and Dean Ween’s polished songwriting and irreverent humor. To celebrate the anniversary, Rhino... Read More

Los Angeles, CA (June 18, 2024) – Craft Recordings announces the final batch of 2024 reissues for its Original Jazz Classics series, beloved by collectors and critics alike. The latest reissues include Clark Terry Quartet & Thelonious Monk’s In Orbit, Mal Waldron’s The Quest, Thelonious Monk Septet’s Monk’s Music, Blue Mitchell’s Blue’s Moods, and Cal Tjader’s Latin Kick. All of these titles can be pre-ordered today. As with previous releases, these new reissues... Read More

Deutsche Grammophon’s outstanding, AAA-mastered Original Source Vinyl Series continues apace with four more titles just announced, slated for release on October 4th. 

Like previous releases, these are all mastered and cut directly from the original 4-track master tapes by Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios, incorporating 2-tracks of ambient hall information recorded at the original sessions.  (For the full technical background on this series I refer you to my review of the first batch here).

Handmade in San Diego California, Wrensilva's eye-catching custom cabinetry houses a modernized version of a 50's/60's era console stereo. Revered among the attaché case carrying corporate climbers of the late '50s and early '60s, the form factor lost its hipness as the JFK era gave way to assassination, war and chaos, bringing with it a more austere, raw component esthetic.Wrensilva is one of a few companies riding the vinyl revival wave,... Read More

In Part 2 of this look at Giulini's legendary recordings of the late symphonies of Anton Bruckner, we review Symphonies 8 and 9, and talk with Rainer Maillard at Emil Berliner Studios about what made the original recordings so successful (even though early digital), and how he went about freshening up the original masters to create these new vinyl reissues (which include the first ever vinyl release for the 9th Symphony). You can read Part 1 here.

Carlo Maria Giulini is one of those conductors whose discography yields constant treasure, from his early Philharmonia recordings on EMI to his always surprising DG legacy with American orchestras like the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  A highlight of his later discography were the three Bruckner symphonies he recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the fabled Musikverein. In the first of two articles we talk about what made conductor and composer so unique in their own fields and time, and review this new remastering from the same team at Emil Berliner Studios responsible for the highly successful Original Source Series of vinyl reissues - this time working from digital master tapes. Part 2 includes an extensive interview with Rainer Maillard about how the original sessions were recorded, and how he went about improving the sound for this landmark reissue.

There was something comforting about espying the large black banner with white lettering proudly waving “Innovative Audio” on Manhattan’s East 58th street, just down the block from the big boys of high end retail like Bergdorf Goodman. At a moment when hifi stores can seem like an endangered species, Innovative, as it’s known, represents a welcome success story. Run by audio veteran Elliot Fishkin, its elegantly spartan showrooms can be quickly reached by taking an... Read More

Directly following Munich High End 2024 I drove with a friend to Switzerland and the next day attended along with some of Hi Fiction's international distributors a classical music concert of music by Dietrich Buxtehude performed by a quartet at a small, ancient church hosted by HiFiction's Micha Huber. It was a pleasant respite from the four days of show craziness!The next day at the Turbenthal factory, the company introduced its new Magnifier moving coil... Read More

Last winter I was asked by the High End Society, organizers of the High End Munich show to assemble and moderate a panel discussion revolving around vinyl playback. We agreed on the topic "Has Vinyl Playback Technology Gone As Far As It Can Possibly Go?" and I got to choose the participants, all of whom agreed to take part. In the photo above, (L-R): Ortofon's Chief Officer of Acoustics and Technology, Leif Johanssen, WAM Engineering / WallyTools... Read More

In Part 3 of this special Memorial Day weekend celebration of Benjamin Britten's timeless anti-war statement, we tell the story of how Decca revisited the master tapes and used the latest technology to bring this historic recording back to life for a new generation of listeners on vinyl and CD/SACD.

In Part 2 of this special Memorial Day weekend celebration of Benjamin Britten's timeless anti-war statement, we tell the story of the Decca sessions - led by producer John Culshaw and engineer Kenneth Wilkinson - which created one of the acknowledged classics of the gramophone.

By Sunday most everyone is beat to a pulp and ready for the show to be over but go on it must! For those covering it there's never enough time. As I began assembling day four's videos I realized I'd missed some key ones that should have been posted on days one, two and three, so in addition to what I managed to get on day four, you'll find some earlier coverage. This one begins on the show floor with Audio Research's Dave Gordon who runs us... Read More

From the moment it was released in 1963, Decca's recording of the War Requiem with the composer conducting was hailed as a supreme achievement of the gramophone. It sold over 200,000 copies in a few months, and is universally acknowledged as a classic. Marking Memorial Day weekend, we tell the story of its composition, recording, and assess the new vinyl and CD/SACD remasterings.

Day Three included two breaks in the normal convention coverage flow: first in the A.M. I moderated a seminar titled "Has Vinyl Playback Technology Gone About As Far As It Can Go?" with participants Mark Dohmann (Dohmann Audio), Craig Milnes (Wilson-Benesch), Leif Johannsen (Ortofon) and J.R. Boisclair (WallyTools/WAM Engineering). All over the past decade have advance the art and science of vinyl playback, so their take on the question was interesting and... Read More