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  1. Mcsnare

    Westminster Lab Monologue phonoamp - a new 2023 product

    Thanks, Ron. I had fun on this one. The Monologue and Rei are superb sounding.
  2. Mcsnare

    Retip or upgrade Ortofon SPU Synergy?

    I own one and love it. I recently put it back in the system and was surprised. It sounded better than I remember!
  3. Mcsnare

    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    This is why playing a tape without alignment tones is a total roll of the dice. An oval indicates 90 degrees out of phase. Using a cal tape to set up playback at home is better than nothing but it doesn’t mean your playback head azimuth or eq will match any given tape without using its own test...
  4. Mcsnare

    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    This only has to be done or checked on each song in one case: mastering from a compiled tape of songs done in different studios. No one ever tweaks head azimuth except for once at the beginning of a mix-to-tape session or a mastering-off-tape session.
  5. Mcsnare

    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    6. Now you're ready to set record level by tweaking gain and eq on the record cards while looking at the meters in playback. The prime reason to include at least 1K, 10K, and 100hz tones on tapes intended just for playback is to set azimuch and playback level and eq to precisely match the...
  6. Mcsnare

    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    I have many years of experience with tape during my recording engineer days. Here's how it works: 1. The first thing is to use a cal tape to set an even level in both (or all) channels at 1K and 10K using the record head to play back (sync mode.) 2. Set azimuth on the record head while playing...
  7. Mcsnare

    New source for Master Calibration tapes; ATR Service Inc.

    I've always thought the lack of playback cal tones on most tapes owned by audiophiles is quite unprofessional. Who are the companies that sell R2R tapes with calibration tones included?
  8. Mcsnare

    Westminster Lab Monologue phonoamp - a new 2023 product

    I'm almost finished with the review. I can tell you one thing, the DS decoder module with a DS W3 cart is outstanding!
  9. Mcsnare

    Hi-Fi is NOT a subjective hobby.

    No.
  10. Mcsnare

    Hi-Fi is NOT a subjective hobby.

    I've always arranged things in the stereo field by intent when recording or mixing. How that was portrayed on whatever monitor system I used is only one representation of that intent. I would never consider that situation the only correct portrayal of my intent. How it sounds on my home system...
  11. Mcsnare

    Hi-Fi is NOT a subjective hobby.

    The hobby of audiophilia is most certainly subjective. It always comes down to whether or not the audiophile enjoys listening to music on his or her system. Chasing accuracy beyond a certain subjective point is a fool's errand. The correct imaging properties of a system are the ones the...
  12. Mcsnare

    Does Analog EQ belong in State of the Art Systems?

    Most of the Manley pro stuff is decent but it's quite colored. Transparency is seldom preferred in music production, except in a mastering context and even then, not always. Using that on a hifi is not what I would recommend. The handful of amazing sounding studio control rooms that I've worked...
  13. Mcsnare

    AXPONA 2024 Ron Reporting

    Looking at the picture of all the wiring, I wonder how much a customer would spend on cable lifters. :)
  14. Mcsnare

    UHQR Aja

    If the tape copy you refer to is indeed a production master, that means it has all the EQ used for cutting. Those "eq'd tape copy" tapes are made simultaneously as the first lacquers are cut. The second deck used is usually a 1/4" running at 15 ips with Dolby, recording the real-time feed to...
  15. Mcsnare

    Axpona 24’ Mike Lavigne pics

    Thanks for the pics, Mike. Great photography! What did you think about the Acora room?
  16. Mcsnare

    Most under-rated guitarist of all time?

    Greg Koch. https://www.instagram.com/gregkochmusic?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
  17. Mcsnare

    Ron’s New System

    I actually don't strive for my system to fool me into thinking there is a performance in front of me. Probably because I am intimately familiar with how recordings are made, and a mere handful are designed to try and pull that off. I just want it to sound good.
  18. Mcsnare

    Ron’s New System

    Knowing Ron, I really can't imagine his "not my cup of tea" comment being anything other than what he has clarified it to be. As far as visitors comments, I already am intimately familiar with what my system does well, and what could be improved. Any visitors are welcome to comment but I am the...
  19. Mcsnare

    Ron Resnick Launches Audio Cafe LLC, a New Clarisys Audio Dealer

    Sounds exciting! Best of luck, Ron.
  20. Mcsnare

    Record Label Honesty In the Download Era

    Two things: The consolidation in the nineties and beyond has resulted in there only being 3 major labels, with UMG being the largest and most significant player. The major labels no longer make money from selling music, but rather from licensing, publishing, owning a large piece of Spotify, and...
  21. Mcsnare

    Record Label Honesty In the Download Era

    You have the major lables confused with people who care about music and artists. The labels will be the ones to release AI generated content of artists under contract to them.
  22. Mcsnare

    Record Label Honesty In the Download Era

    100% agree.
  23. Mcsnare

    Record Label Honesty In the Download Era

    Up until about 2010, the vast majority of mastering engineers capured any eq, level adjustments, and other processing at 24 or 16bit 44.1K. This was so an additional step of sample rate conversion did not have to be used owing to the CD standard. It didnt make sense to play mixes whether off...
  24. Mcsnare

    Record Label Honesty In the Download Era

    I feel the same way, altough I do think most of the Stan Ricker era releases are excellent, My dislike of MoFi vinyl is all about what I consider to be poor eq choises and a poorly curated, un-musical sounding, analog signal path. Using a carefully done DSD capture of the tape with high...
  25. Mcsnare

    Record Label Honesty In the Download Era

    Mastered for iTunes is the result of producer Rick Rubin noticing that his productions (more obviously than the full rez file) distorted when played back in mp3 format. This is because the data reduction of the mp3 codec results in a higher level and more intersample peaks. The answer was to...
  26. Mcsnare

    Westminster Lab Monologue phonoamp - a new 2023 product

    I just got one in to review for Tracking Angle.
  27. Mcsnare

    Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

    While I completely agree with you in principle, professional A/D converters are very good with respect to low jitter. Many in widespread use introduce a level of of jitter that is extremely small. It's actually easier to make a good A/D than it is the make a good D/A. The bulk of imperfections...
  28. Mcsnare

    Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

    This is why I seldom comment in forums. What did I say to perpetuate myths? I said I prefer the sound of vinyl (in most cases) even with it being less true to the master than digital playback of the same source. I’ve written many times that the digital version is what the artist creates for...
  29. Mcsnare

    Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

    The thing is, it’s an ever changing situation. Forums tend to bring out black or white positions when the truth is gray. I would have agreed 100% with Mikel in the 90’s and into the early 2000’s. Back then digital recording was mostly hideous sounding to me. A subtle but definite perception of...
  30. Mcsnare

    Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

    100% I'm not here to argue either. And I certainly think it’s absurd to tell people what they should like. The only reason I post is I’m in a position to know things that most audiophiles do not. My hope is my first hand experience can add some amount of truth to a murky subject. I prefer...

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