The board's server will undergo upgrade maintenance tonight, Nov 5, 2014, beginning approximately around 10 PM ET. Prepare for some possible down time during this process.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47014 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
Plunked down some dough for a fancy tube phono stage. Won't have it here for a couple weeks, and probably another week or so to get it all set up (sort of a weekend project). But this is the next step in my system buildout, have been saving for a while; and it will probably be the only major purchase for another 6-8 months. Will report back once I've had a little experience with it.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47014 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
bodysnatcher wrote:
Curious how it sounds. What exactly does a tube setup like that do? I have no idea.
I immediately thought I’d that Marc Maron story about buying a tube
where is this story? I'd get a kick out of it.
"Tube" isn't necessarily a code word for "awesome." There's all sorts of bad tube gear out there, most of it on the cheaper side. But a good tube setup, ideally with super short (like point-to-point) wiring should allow for:
1. "Holographic imaging", which is just a common phrase meaning that well-recorded material takes on a new level of depth/space typically unavailable with solid-state stuff. (Or you'll often have to pay quite a bit more for the same effect with solid state).
2. Super fast articulation of transients, and tight bass. Everything should be more clearly defined, punchier, just more responsive overall.
And then you can get into tube rolling for tweaking the color profile. I'll get there eventually, but not for a while.
More immediately I need to start thinking about maintaining a steady power supply for my whole system. There's a power regenerator that I'll get either next, or next-next, depending on when some of my other previously ordered gear is ready (roughly a year I think).
there's a local dude I follow on IG, mostly because he posts pics of his vinyl/stereo setup, and regularly posts PJ albums next to it. Not just Ten or Vs...like Binaural, Riot Act, LO2L, etc. He's clearly a fan. I think he actually designs a lot of cabinets for local businesses, as well as shelving for speakers.
anyway, every time I see one of his posts I think...I bet trag would along with this guy.
_________________
tragabigzanda wrote:
Guys I was baked out of my mind, I was just grooving
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47014 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
dad wrote:
there's a local dude I follow on IG, mostly because he posts pics of his vinyl/stereo setup, and regularly posts PJ albums next to it. Not just Ten or Vs...like Binaural, Riot Act, LO2L, etc. He's clearly a fan. I think he actually designs a lot of cabinets for local businesses, as well as shelving for speakers.
anyway, every time I see one of his posts I think...I bet trag would along with this guy.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47014 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
Debated whether to put this here or in the Gillian Welch thread. Long-story-short, vinyl fans have been clamoring for an LP of Time (The Revelator) for a while, and here Dave Rawlings expounds on why it's a difficult task, and really explains some of the physical limitations of vinyl that can make for a double-edged sword:
(Quote is from mid-interview in which Rawlings is discussing The Harrow & The Harvest reel-to-reel project)
Quote:
Rawlings: [...]
What’s also interesting is, I considered doing this with Time (The Revelator) [initially released on Acony Records in 2001, albeit on CD only]. And the thing about Time (The Revelator) is, I had started down the path before the tornado of cutting the lacquers for that happened. It’s an incredibly challenging record because of the sheer length of it.
Mettler: Yeah, because it’s like 50, 51 minutes long, right?
Rawlings: Yeah, and also, it is incredibly dynamic and uncompressed. And what I mean is, if you want the guitars to be at a healthy level on a lacquer, the vocal is tearing. It’s too dynamic for a lacquer. No one ever would have made that record in the lacquer era. That record only got made because it was the CD era, and you had all this extra headroom.
Mettler: Right. A track like “Elvis Presley Blues” (Track 7) — would you have to think about that one differently?
Rawlings: Well, yeah/ “Elvis” has some peaky vocals, but even something like “Everything Is Free” (Track 9) — I mean, the guitars are so delicate, and the vocal is so loud over the guitar. In the vinyl era, that just would have gone off to a mastering engineer who would have put the whole thing through a [Universal Audio Teletronix] LA2A [tube compressor], and just squashed the heck out of it, you know? (laughs)
Mettler: Sadly, yes, I do. So, would you do a 2LP set for Time (The Revelator)? Are you thinking about what you’d do for that album?
Rawlings: Well, this is the big question. To be honest, for the experience, I think a lot of people don’t love jumping up to keep switching sides. I think it would be three-sided, because I don’t want to put two songs on a side. But there is a real dream that, if we can figure out how to get it sounding good enough on one disc, then that’s a great experience for people.
Mettler: Yeah, that’s going to be an interesting challenge, because you probably don’t want to be pushing 25 minutes a side there.
Rawlings: It’s going to be very, very difficult. But where I was leading with this is, if we did do a reel-to-reel project on Time (The Revelator), there is an opportunity where you can get it, and it is on tape currently — and granted, 15ips doesn’t have quite the headroom that 30ips has — but I think the Time (The Revelator) reel-to-reel would be less of a challenge in getting it to lacquer.
Mettler: Okay, well, consider this as my official vote for you to do Time (The Revelator) as your next reel-to-reel project, please.
Rawlings: Yeah, that’s a fantastic idea. I mean, we just wanted to put out The Harrow & The Harvest on reel-to-reel to see what happened because, given that I’m running all these things myself, it’s a little bit of a (laughs) — well, if we sell a ton of them, I’m going to be like, “Ooh, what have I done?” (more laughter)
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 11:15 pm Posts: 20771 Location: the bathroom
But he’s right. It has to be a very special album for me to get up and flip a record every 2 songs.
But I’m confused. Mostly bc of my kindergarten knowledge of mixing and mastering albums. But why not just remix it so that the levels of — for example — the vocals and the guitar aren’t more in line with each other? Or is it more about maintaining the integrity of the original album?
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47014 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
Yeah I'm not sure why re-mixing it isn't an option. Maybe it was cut to tape then mixed analog, and didn't become digital until mastering? In which case it would be remixing a beloved album just to make it work on viny. IDK?
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum
