but see: _http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190204709958_ (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190204709958) Allen _www.phonobooks.com_ (http://www.phonobooks.com)
**************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001) From [email protected] Mon Mar 10 11:36:44 2008 From: [email protected] (Robert Wright) Date: Mon Mar 10 11:37:06 2008 Subject: [Phono-L] abnormally good-sounding records? References: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> (regarding Sean's visit to Ward Marston's, and how impressed he was with the sound of the 12" Edison needle cuts): How cool. I've always thought the electric DD's sounded great, and my one Edison needle cut sounds great too (though how I wish it wasn't 'Hawaiian' music). Which leads me to another question. I have a few 78's in the collection that strike me totally different than others of their ilks, in that they sound like they were recorded 10 to 15 years later somehow. You never know what's going to line the planets up, as far as studio conditions and performances and pressing materials go. I wouldn't call the performances on my 'special' 78's particularly exceptional or grooundbreaking... It's just that for whatever reason, these records exhibit way less noise, way more signal, and much more frequency response than records of nearby matrices (I am only comparing them to other records of the same size, series, style, everything as close to the same as I can get it). I mean to tell ya, if the record in question was Victor batwing 50388, for instance, and you played it in a stack with 50386, 50387, 50389, and 50390, everyone in earshot would do a double-take in amazement when 50388 hit the platter. The difference is not subtle. Coming close would be a minty fresh Marconi Velvet-Tone -- which, unfortunately, there don't seem to be many of, as most were shredded within the first few plays (didn't anyone use that golden needle like he told them too?! would it have made any real difference?). For being acoustic recordings, they have way better signal to noise ratio and frequency response than one might expect. And though electrical, I could say the same thing about minty fresh Hit Of The Week records. But even those still have an averaged sound signature across the series. Let me share some of my standouts with you and see if any of you happen to have the same discs, and can perhaps confirm that something special was going on in the technical world when they were recorded. One is a 12" black label Columbia Viva-Tonal, G-50192-D, mx. 2-20686 tk 3 and 2-20687 tk 2: "Jubilee Overture, Pts. I & II", by Dr. Weissmann & Grand Symphony Orch. Yes, Viva-Tonals have plenty of low-end extension and generally quiet surfaces, but this record has more. It captures exactly the right amount of hall reverb (many Viva-Tonals are a bit dry), and in spite of plenty of full forte-fortissimo passages, it never gets harsh or brash. The strings, brass, and woodwinds have very separate textures from each other, something many modern recordings don't nail completely. And forget what you know about bass extension -- played on a modern turntable, there's useful information down to around 30Hz on this thing, where most Viva-Tonals have a respectable amount of bass down to about 45Hz. Mine's not in particularly good condition, and it doesn't matter -- it's still one of the first I reach for to demonstrate what late 20's electrical recording could do. Another one is a Columbia as well: black and gold 'Note the Notes' label of a variety I've not seen elsewhere, an even cross between ARLIE's 'Co VI A blk' and 'Co VI B' examples, more of a black version of the latter with the font from the former. It's A1672, mx. 29160 tk 2 and 29161 tk 3: "Arrival of the British Troops in France, Pts. I & II". Just an uncredited descriptive sketch, nothing special, but on this record, you are compelled to listen to every word, every inflection, every nuance, and to even cheer along with the men. When the mechanics of playback get out of the way sufficiently, as the clearing of fog on a window, you stop observing the shapes and colors behind the panes and start to see the drama in the details, and that's what happens with this record. You can understand plainly every word spoken, and follow along with every turn of the script. How many acoustic Columbia's can you say that about? Third and last example is a purple Victor, ARLIE ex. 'Vi VI B pur', number 70026, stamper T, "Wind Amongst the Trees", flute solo by John Lemmong?, acc. by Maurice Lafarge. Yes, it seems to be a very difficult solo to play, masterfully performed by a virtuoso, no doubt. But it's that you can hear every single change in timbre with every shift of his embrochure, and as he changes the shape of the inside of his mouth, every tonal color he's creating sings through the flute with stunning realism. I have a lot of fresh Victors that are pre-batwinged, and VTMCo was really doing something right with regard to low surface noise to a very impressive degree; but I have no other acoustic Victors that get anywhere near this one in terms of clarity and fidelity reaching up into what sounds like the 8-9KHz range, especially with such a quiet surface. I'm no fan of flute solos, per s?, but sonically, this record stops me in my tracks every time. Anyone else have any examples of records that sound way better than they should? Best to all, Robert
