Thanks Ron for another very interesting interview. Speaks highly of Michael that he manages to take balanced and considered views on so many aspects of audiophilia and the industry while still remaining passionate. He did avoid controversies, but I would have done the same.
We had a fun time making this video! I appreciated Michael’s thoughtful and measured answers. I, personally, love hearing the behind-the-scenes histories and anecdotes of the Classic Records re-issue projects.
Michael was incredibly gracious, and, after the interview, he treated us and his delightful girlfriend (a professional singer and actress) to a home-cooked gourmet meal complete with wine pairing. Then Michael curated and DJed a very thoughtful music listening program for us. We really had a wonderful evening with Michael!
Tinka told Michael that he “set a high standard for fun evenings with audiophiles!”
Great Ron. People should learn from you how to make a video with good sound quality, easily understood listening at low level. But is it my headphones or the left and right channel are reversed in the recording?
Curiously he dared to say the outcast words in this hobby about the controversial subject "Ask people blindly" !
Great Ron. People should learn from you how to make a video with good sound quality, easily understood listening at low level. But is it my headphones or the left and right channel are reversed in the recording?
The Sennheiser wireless receivers + lapel mics I am using are full professional quality. I am very happy with them. The 4K video camera we are using also is professional quality (just above “pro-sumer”), with built-in stereo XLR inputs. (I am a huge believer in the philosophy that “the right tools make the job much easier.”)
Eeesh! Every video we learn something new. My Sennheiser wireless mic used input 1. If input 1 is “left” then, yes, in the future, I have to be sensitive to putting the mic of the person sitting on the left in input 1. Sorry about that!
Eeesh! My Sennheiser wireless mic used input 1. If input 1 is “left” then, yes, in the future, I have to be sensitive to putting the mic of the person sitting on the left in input 1. Sorry about that!
Yes, usually left is channel 1 in many pro devices. I always must remember it with sound analyzers - they just label 1 and 2, but the software shows 1 as Left!
I found Michael to be very candid and forthcoming, which, of course, I totally appreciated. In this video I broke my self-imposed guideline about a video not running longer than about 20 minutes.
But Michael’s experiences and stories from all of his remastering adventures — his experiences dealing with the labels from which he licensed the titles; his experiences with Bernie Grundman Mastering; his experiences with remastering each of the individual analog master tapes; his experiences with different vinyl weights and formulations; anecdotes about different albums and musicians — are valuable historical pieces of information which only Michael knows and only Michael can share. I feel like a video like this plays a small part in preserving the archive of information we have about many of the albums we love and how they are being preserved. So I did not cut a second of the continuous recording of the interview.
Thank you, also, for posting the link to the Gregg Schnitzer interview. It was amazing to read about -- and to see preserved -- all of that technical detail and interpersonal detail about early MFSL history!
Excellent interview, Ron. You unearth many things regarding vinyl record making, tape sources, and the stories about LSC-1806 with HP that Hopson has never mentioned before.
