Can I Have My Money Back?

A recent comment posted under the story "Anonymous Mastering Engineer's Take on The Beatles MONO Box Set" prompted me to check out a recent post by AIX's Dr. Mark Waldrep on his site real HD Audio. I've appropriated the site's logo without permission but I can't imagine he'd object to the publicity and if he does I will take it down.

The comment on this site was about something Dr. Waldrep had passed on, which was a comment by the recording engineer Allen Sides, who told Dr. Waldrep that he'd heard that the reason there wasn't much bass on early Beatle albums was that the Abbey Road engineers had restricted the bass below 40-60Hz on the Studer tape recorders. Since the bass was on the tapes, though not on the early LP pressings—as anyone can hear who has compared the original pressings with the new LP reissues (or who has actually heard the tapes)— I figured I'd visit the site and throw in my own 2 cents.

When I got there I found a really interesting post by Dr. Waldrep dated October 23rd, 2014 titled Let's Talk to Professionals that I recommend you read. You'll find highly amusing/enjoying/frustrating/damn annoying Dr. Waldrep's encounters with engineers and the attitude of some of them towards "audiophiles."

Dr. Waldrep, who runs an "audiophile" label is more tolerant and understanding of audiophiles than are some of the engineers and he's more than willing to bust them when regarding high resolution digital audio he states "The reality is that engineers don’t really have the facts and they don’t really care. Their goal is to produce recordings that the labels and producers are willing to release…not ones that actually sound good."

But he also dips into condescension and mixed metaphors in describing audiophile "tweaks" recounting a conversation he had with a studio owner who saw lunacy in what audiophiles do. The studio owner ".... rolled his eyes and said, “don’t audiophiles know that we don’t use any of that stuff while we’re making records?” Waldrep responded "that (he thought) many are aware of the basics of audio production but they feel that they can get more out of the tracks with exotic cables, special treatments, and hocus pocus accessories."

I don't know about the "hocus locus" part, but I do know about cables and I do know that more and more mastering facilities are upgrading their cabling because the mastering engineers can hear the improvement. Maybe if the studio owner would sit down and listen he might consider using some of "that stuff"!

In any case, Waldrep's post is definitely worth a read but equally worthwhile reading are the comments below it. They caused me to post a few things that will surely piss off some of the posters (what else is new?). I posted this:

"I have to just laugh at the sarcasm and cynicism here about "audiophiles." I doubt most of you have actually heard a great audio system so you are forgiven for your condescension. It is based on ignorance.

The pros I've managed to snag for a listen to a really great system quickly lose their snotty attitude (the same one they accuse "audio fools" of having).

And of course there are many pros who are also audiophiles. The notion that there's an inherent divide is silly. I've visited Roy Halee's home a number of times and he's got quite the audiophile rig and he prefers vinyl. But what does the engineer/producer of many classical sessions and albums by Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan, The Byrds (etc.) know about good sound? (Answer: his recordings sound better than 90% of today's tripe).

I was at the AES in 1983 (could be one year on either side of that) when the CD was rolled out for the first time. They played Roxy Music's "Avalon". The sound was unbearable. While it played, all hard, flat and edgy, I said to myself "it's new technology it will improve but so far blechh".

When the demo was over all of the engineers around me were Gobsmacked by the "fantastic" sound. Recorded sound has deteriorated from there but you'd need to visit an "audiofool" for a demonstration of why that assertion is 100% correct.

What's particularly hilarious is the sour attitude towards the only people who are actually paying attention to your work."