LATEST ADDITIONS

This past Saturday, vinyl mastering gurus Bernie Grundman and Ryan K. Smith, together with Acoustic Sounds founder and CEO Chad Kassem, all partook in a fascinating livestream event during which they discussed the mastering process and its role in creating a “perfect” vinyl LP. Read on to find out more of what they said, and how you can check it out firsthand. . .

Freedom is 73 minutes of prime 21st century Journey, whether it’s the affecting balladry that made the band a household name or the more adventurous, progressive-leaning epics that hearken back to the band’s early/mid-’70s roots. Founding guitarist Neal Schon speaks exclusively to AnalogPlanet about the challenges of sequencing Freedom for double vinyl, how listening to jazz and blues records growing up influenced his playing and arranging skills, and what vintage deep cut he’d like to pull out of the vaults to play during Journey’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations. Don’t stop readin’ . . .

The Manley Chinook MC/MM phono preamplifier is one of the most highly regarded, favorably reviewed phono stages on the market. A true hi-fi bargain in audiophile terms — a veritable giant killer, you might even say — we think it’s a perfect candidate for an AnalogPlanet review. So, just how good is the Chinook? Read on to find out. . .

Everybody oughtta make a change sometime, as the lyric goes, and Eric Clapton fully embraced that concept when he switched record labels from RSO to Reprise Records in 1983. To properly fete Slowhand’s six studio albums during his initial 1983-98 Reprise era, a 180g 12LP box set dubbed The Complete Reprise Studio Albums – Volume 1 is set for release on September 30. Read on for all the details. . .