In Heavy Rotation
September 12th, 2025
Neil Young Releasing 4 Classic Titles: "Harvest Moon", "Unplugged", "Sleeps With Angels" and "Mirror Ball" FROM THE OFFICIAL RELEASE SERIES (ORS) VOLUME 6 - DISCS 26, 27, 28 & 29 By: Tracking AngleSeptember 12, 2025 – (Los Angeles, CA) – Neil Young continues his Official Release Series (ORS) with the next installment of four classic titles from the 1990s. ORS Vol 6: Discs 26, 27, 28 & 29 collects HARVEST MOON, UNPLUGGED, SLEEPS WITH ANGELS and MIRROR BALLin the ongoing reissue series and is set for release on October 24 via Reprise Records.Each disc in the limited edition, numbered box sets will contain 4 albums with the original, historically accurate... Read More
Comments: 1September 11th, 2025
Prince & The Revolution's 'Purple Rain' Gets a Splendid "One Step" Single LP Cut from a hi-res transfer of original EQ'd analog master, this reissue creates spectacular three-dimensionality from a bright, glossy '80s production By: Michael FremerPurple Rain arrived in 1984 two years after 1999, Prince's first big critical and commercial success. With songs like "Little Red Corvette" and the title track, It was the record that established his stardom and eventually in the year 1999, it was certified quadruple Platinum. Following his passing in 2016 it again charted, peaking at #7—better than when it was originally released.Quick aside: I was in Minneapolis on April 21st, 2016, the day Prince... Read More
Comments: 19September 11th, 2025
Dr. Dre's Hip Hop Classic Gets a Well-Deserved "One Step" Release From Tape hey boomer! You might actually like this! you'll love the sound for sure By: Michael FremerIn the audiophile ghettos otherwise known as "hi-fi shows" Hip Hop music rarely if ever gets played. Blues? Yes. A lot of blues. Jazz? Yes a lot of jazz. Some classical too, but Hip Hop? Not that I can recall. Some say it's the coarse language. Around the time this now classic Hip Hop album was released late 1992, a Howard Stern Show character named "Stuttering John" (Melendez) stuck a microphone in Walter Cronkite's face at a press event... Read More
Comments: 4September 10th, 2025
Dr. Dre's Hip Hop Classic "The Chronic" Gets the One Step From Tape Treatment Bernie Was in Da House in 1992, Chris Bellman cut this "One Step" double LP By: Tracking Angle(Press Release) When originally released back in 1992, The Chronic was a single LP with long sides. It was a gift that vinyl even existed for the original release – CDs ruled the day. By 2001, this landmark recording was split across 4 sides which allowed for a more authentic audio listening experience to what Dr. Dre had created.The Chronic One-Step release takes Dr. Dre’s production to a whole new listening level. The original analog master tapes were completely... Read More
Comments: 1September 10th, 2025
Dream Theater Shapeshifts Thematically on “Vol. 2” The second batch of reissues from the group’s long-out-of-print catalog By: Dylan Peggin‘The tide is turning… everything’s gonna be alright now’ - “New Millennium”. Progressive music is rarely the most commercially viable genre for the singles charts and radio. As the 1990s gave way to the 2000s, Dream Theater avoided becoming collateral damage catering to record label demands. The pressure to write shorter material and work with outside producers/writers—the antithesis of what the band had set out to accomplish—almost to it disbanding. Earning artistic... Read More
Comments: 1September 9th, 2025
New "Axis: Bold As Love" Box Coming With 5LP/4CD+Blu-ray, Stereo, Mono, ATMOS+40 Bonus Studio & Live Tracks! Bernie Grundman cut the originals from flat Olympic masters By: Tracking Angle5LP/4CD + Blu-ray Box Set Containing Landmark 1967 Album Axis: Bold As Love In Stereo, Mono, ATMOS, Plus 40 Bonus Studio & Live Tracks (28 Previously Unreleased) Out On Experience Hendrix/Legacy Recordings(Press Release): Experience Hendrix L.L.C. and Legacy Recordings, are releasing Bold As Love by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on November 7. Produced by Janie Hendrix, original Experience recording engineer Eddie Kramer, and John McDermott, this expansive... Read More
Comments: 5September 7th, 2025
The TEAC 500 Series Brings To "The Masses" an Array of Compact, Lightweight, Economically Sane and Feature Laden Components From Small Things Mama, Big Things One Day Come By: John Jay Jay FrenchTEAC's 500 series gives both experienced audiophiles and newbies a sane financial alternative and a clear pathway out of the Bluetooth speaker desert and into the world of high quality audio.Michael Fremer, editor & creator of the Tracking Angle made it clear when he asked me if I would like to write for this site that reviews need to be focused on a single piece of gear. As you will see, this set of reviews is decidedly different and I want to thank Michael... Read More
Comments: 4September 7th, 2025
The Cryogenic Chronicles, Part 1 Loudspeaker Crossover "Cryo processing" subjected to rigorous testing By: John MarksI am working on a major loudspeaker-design project. A floorstanding 3-way (not the speaker pictured, which is a pair of late 1990's era Ed Meitner designed Meliors). The Business Model is to deliver the sound quality of a $40,000/pair loudspeaker, but charge only $30,000/pair. Of course, in the Bill of Materials, I included both deluxe crossover parts, and the cryo processing of the completed crossovers. I was told that neither was necessary, but based on... Read More
Comments: 6September 6th, 2025
R.I.P. Mark Volman—Half of "Flo and Eddie" and Turtles Founding Member Harvey Kubernik Remembers By: Harvey Kubernik
Mark Volman — a founding member of the ’60s rock band The Turtles died on September 5th at age 78 following a “brief, unexpected illness” in Nashville, Tenn. In 2020 Volman was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
Read More Comments: 3September 5th, 2025
"Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings" From the Bill Evans Trio Featuring Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian By: Michael Fremer
Craft Recordings honors this inimitable trio through Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings—a brand new collection that, for the very first time, collects the complete recording studio output by Evans’ “Classic Trio.” Anchoring this 5-LP, 180-gram vinyl collection (also available in a 3-CD set and standard/hi-res digital) are the trio’s two acclaimed original studio albums, Portrait in Jazz (1960) and Explorations(1961), both of which benefit from meticulous audio restoration by Plangent Processes. Three additional LPs feature 26 breathtaking alternate takes and outtakes from these famed sessions—17 of which have never been released—offering rare insight into the trio’s innovative creative process.
Read More Comments: 9September 4th, 2025
Technics Launches Two New Moderately Priced Direct Drive Turntables at CEDIA $899 price point for both, features differ By: Tracking AngleNewark, N.J. (September 4, 2025) - Technics today announces the introduction of the new SL-40CBT and SL-50C Direct Drive Turntables at this year’s annual CEDIA convention in Denver. The latest models continue the iconic Technics legacy while introducing a fresh contemporary design and convenient new features aimed at both Hi-Fi users and modern home audio lovers. The SL-40CBT / SL-50C maintain the classic Technics turntable characteristics, such as the iron-coreless... Read More
Comments: 12September 4th, 2025
"Wildflowers" One-Step 30th Anniversary Release Drops October 10th "It’s the album I'm most proud of”—Tom Petty By: Tracking AngleSeptember 4, 2025—Marking the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Wildflowers, one of Tom Petty’s most beloved and enduring albums, the all-time classic will see a special two LP One-Step vinyl release with Because Sound Matters, set for October 10 via Warner Records. Limited to 6000 numbered copies, the first pressing has been cut directly from the original master tapes by engineer Chris Bellman, overseen by Petty’s longtime audio engineer Ryan Ulyate and cut for... Read More
Comments: 8September 4th, 2025
The Bird of Prey Tonearm Takes Flight! Top of the tonearm food chain? By: Michael FremerOne thing you learn from doing this for decades is that orthodoxy can be a straitjacket. You must give odd birds a test flight before you dismiss them. Then you dismiss them! Ah, but I’m kidding my friend Robin Wyatt who, yes let’s immediately dispense with that part: the importer is a friend and a one-time business partner in the enterprise of releasing Rufus Reid Presents Caelan Cardello. That worked out well for everyone! And his wife Carol and mine show dogs and... Read More
Comments: 43September 4th, 2025
The WAM Engineering Colossus Challenging Your Assumptions With J.R. Boisclair By: Brian Fisher
WAM Engineering's J.R. Boisclair has introduced a new high mass, rigid headshell for Kuzma 4 Point tonearms that challenges commonly-held tonearm design beliefs.
Read More Comments: 41September 3rd, 2025
Little Feat "The Last Record Album (Deluxe Edition)" Drops October 24 Deluxe CD set includes 1975 Boston Orpheum Theater Halloween Concert— Feat Fans rejoice! By: Tracking AnglePress Release: (September 3, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA) Little Feat’s The Last Record Album arrived in October 1975, lean and sly, with the band deep in its creative stride. Nearly 50 years later, the album returns in a newly remastered and expanded edition that brings fresh light to one of the most quietly compelling records in the band’s catalog.(no mastering, pressing or source credits included in press release)The Last Record Album (Deluxe Edition) will be available... Read More
Comments: 0September 2nd, 2025
Jerome Sabbagh Reconvenes His Longstanding Quartet for the First Time in More Than a Decade for the Timely "Stand Up"! Due Out October 17, 2025 via Analog Tone Factory, the Album Features Guitarist Ben Monder, Bassist Joe Martin, and New Addition, Drummer Nasheet Waits By: Tracking Angle(Press release): Saxophonist and composer Jerome Sabbagh has always prided himself on being an artist who stands up strongly for the qualities and principles that he believes in – artistic integrity, bold individuality, social consciousness, and a distinctive personal vision. His vibrant new album, Stand Up!, asserts those values in a number of ways, wedding memorable compositions to fervent playing by Sabbagh’s longtime quartet. Stand Up! was recorded live to analog... Read More
Comments: 4September 1st, 2025
New HANA-Umami Black Continues the Brand’s Legacy of “Brilliant and Gorgeous” Sound diamond cantilever and newly developed "OKD" high efficiency generator are two of the $11,500 cartridge's core features By: Tracking Angle
(Press release): The HANA-Umami Black continues the brand’s legacy of “Brilliant and Gorgeous” sound. Master cartridge designer Masao Okada-san of Excel Sound celebrates over 5 decades of innovation and excellence with his new masterpiece, featuring a diamond cantilever and new “OKD” High-Efficiency Moving Coil Generator. The Umami Black is much more than just an Umami Red with a diamond cantilever.
September 1st, 2025
Legacy Assembled—The Record Plant Story Told Book Review: "Buzz Me In, Inside The Record Plant Studios" By: JoE Silva
Martin Porter and David Goggin’s detailed history of the famed U.S. recording facilities
Read More Comments: 0