Bargains on ebay?

[Beechwoods]

That approach would definitely defeat any shill bidders who pull out having driven the price up

[MartinT]

Ooh, look what I found. Incredibly rare to find an original direct cut LP (not the CDs made from the tape recording) and I couldn't resist. On its way to me soon.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[The Grand Wazoo]

If you're interested in getting hold of some good recordings on vinyl, you should try one or two of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MARK-LEVINSON-...#ht_5542wt_905
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MARK-LEVINSON-...#ht_4566wt_905
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mark-Levinson-...item5889f9b2a2
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MARK-LEVINSON-...#ht_4947wt_905
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MARK-LEVINSON-...#ht_500wt_1156
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mark-Levinson-...#ht_728wt_1139

Recorded on a Mark Levinson modified Studer tape deck & circa 'mid-70's ML electronics.
Pricey, but they sound incredible, by all accounts.

[MartinT]

I'd love to, but the prices

[The Grand Wazoo]

I know, frightening isn't it!

[DSJR]

Ooh, look what I found. Incredibly rare to find an original direct cut LP (not the CDs made from the tape recording) and I couldn't resist. On its way to me soon.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

If ALL LP's were made this way and with masters not compressed to high heaven, sparing those old groove-grinders I love so much, CD wouldn't have stood a chance. My copy of Thelma Houston hasn't been played for decades now, but I remember the consternation on the main session, as she saved her full performance for the actual take and the levels went off the scale on the main cutting takes.

Interesting for you analogue people to compare the direct cuts with the taped re-issues, as the losses in the analogue tape recording are clearly heard on comparison I remember.

[MartinT]

Interesting for you analogue people to compare the direct cuts with the taped re-issues, as the losses in the analogue tape recording are clearly heard on comparison I remember.

I have the Thelma on CD (from tape) and it's a distant relative in comparison with the direct cut LP which I've borrowed in the past. I'm very excited to have bagged the LP and hope that it's in as good a condition as described.

I do have the James Newton Howard and Friends direct cut LP and that has absolutely explosive dynamics, far superior to any CD I know. It has probably the best drums ever recorded, certainly that I've ever heard. Jeff Porcaro from Toto.

[DSJR]

Most recordings "feature" overly heavy compression IMO and sometimes this is done to get more "punch" from the finished mix. The thing is, to do this properly needs understanding and loads and loads of care. When technology is limited as it was in the 50's and early 60's, there was far less room for error, so the engineers dod the very best they could with what they had. This was done with the direct cuts, as there was no second chance. I still feel that CD in general and digital in particular has the *potential* to deliver amazing and jaw-dropping results, but it's up to the recording and mixing people (I hesitate to say "engineers" these days) to do the job properly and not surround themselves with effects and plug-ins which are so easy to use.

One final comment re compression. I listen a lot on some durable old Sennheiser HD25-SP's, the tone controls on the Quad 33 feeding the headphone amp taking much of the treble excesses out. The 33 has been modified as discussed plenty in other threads and I'm using the tape-monitor socket as input. On my newly discovered, much loved and often played "Hybrid" CD's, the bass is big, bold and very intense, the slight "thickness" I was getting put down to the headphones not being fully able to cope with it. I didn't like having to turn the Crown's gain pots down as going too low on these, buggers up the input impedance apparently, making the 33 sound "flattened," as it doesn't seem able to deliver into input impedances less than 20K. This last week, I removed the tape adaptor board and adjusted the playback gain to the middle position with the screw adjustments. Results? The Crown gain controls are now at maximum, the Quad volume control is set nearly half way up for loud listening and most importantly, the bass reproduction is so much better, it sounds more like a headphone upgrade, the biggest difference being on "difficult" mixes where there's little dynamic range to speak of (my 1960's singles benefit hugely too for the same reason, as the analogue tapes were the limiters in many cases)

[Marco]

Hi Dave,

I still feel that CD in general and digital in particular has the *potential* to deliver amazing and jaw-dropping results...

Undoubtedly - and I hear *precisely* those results every time I play an audiophile recording on my modified vintage Sony....

Thing is, when I play an audiophile vinyl pressing on my modded Techie, the results are even more jaw-dropping and amazing!!

Superb as Martin's Ayre CDP is (and it it VERY good), the same thing happens in his system, as I'm sure he'll agree. His Techie now leaves his CD source in the shade - and it's the very same chez-moi, simply because the performance of our T/Ts is now at such a high level.

Quite simply, experience tells me that when analogue replay is at the top of its game, it still delivers sonically and musically superior results to the best of digital - and trust me, I've heard some VERY GOOD digital replay, hi-res and otherwise.

That opinion is entirely flexible, of course, but will remain 'as is' until someone can successfully demonstrate to me the opposite, using my current analogue reference as the benchmark!

Marco.

[Spectral Morn]

I have the Thelma on CD (from tape) and it's a distant relative in comparison with the direct cut LP which I've borrowed in the past. I'm very excited to have bagged the LP and hope that it's in as good a condition as described.

I do have the James Newton Howard and Friends direct cut LP and that has absolutely explosive dynamics, far superior to any CD I know. It has probably the best drums ever recorded, certainly that I've ever heard. Jeff Porcaro from Toto.

Me too

Really nice jazz/rock album.

Regards D S D L