LATEST ADDITIONS

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 06, 2015  |  17 comments
I am in Ann Arbor Michigan today, Friday November 6th, for an in-store appearance tonight at a Paragon Sight And Sound event.

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 04, 2015  |  47 comments
Here are five "fair use" length 96/24 aif files of David Bowie's sublime "The Man Who Sold The World" (the song). The cover art is from the original German issues, that I do not have.

The five are: the original American Mercury pressing, the UK RCA early '70s reissue, the Japanese late '70's reissue, the Rykodisc digitally remastered and finally the new "Five Years" box set version, whose provenance remains unknown.

The files are not presented in that order, nor are they identified in any way. This is not a formal test so while I normalized peak levels, these are not all presented at identical levels. Please try to adjust levels for each when listening and don't spectrum analyze and spill the analog/digital beans okay? Just listen for yourself and pick your favorite, or maybe you think they all sound good (or not). Also please comment!

I'd pay particular attention to the güiro and to the flanging on Bowie's voice as well as to the air and space around the instruments. Unfortunately the tracks are limited to 45 seconds to avoid legal issues.

And yes you can say there's something oxymoronic about presenting digital files of what might be digitally sourced LPs, or you could say the entire exercise is moronic, which is fine with me.

Source: Caliburn TT, SAT arm, Lyra Atlas cartridge, Ypsilon MC-10 SUT/VPS-100 phono preamp, Lynx Hilo A/D converter.

(Note: when these files were first posted the file names accidentally gave away their identities. The names have been changed as have the order so "A" before is not "A" now!)

File "A"

File "B"

File "C"

File "D"

File "E"

You Tell Me Which "The Man Who Sold The World" You Prefer !
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 04, 2015  |  10 comments
The Bowie dress cover did not make the American cut when the album was first released in America in the Fall of 1970.
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 03, 2015  |  7 comments
Gerry Rafferty has long been under-appreciated. Oh, sure, "Stuck in the Middle" was an unlikely hit when first released by A&M in 1972 and later found its way into Quentin Tarrantino's "Reservoir Dogs" where the bouncy, anthemic, Dylanesque record company exec knock reached a new audience.

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 03, 2015  |  6 comments
If you're looking for a good place to delve into the Sam Records reissue catalog beyond the obvious Chet Baker entry point, try this record featuring pianist John Lewis originally issued by Disques Versailles (MEDX 12005) in 1956.

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 02, 2015  |  17 comments
With this Direct to Disk show, Analog Planet Radio expands its Monday noon show to two hours. This is also the first show to be broadcast over the air on WFDU-FM's HD2 channel. The antenna is located atop the Alpine Tower built on the New Jersey Palisades by General Edward Howard Armstrong, invented of FM radio. He built it there so it would be visible to his nemesis RCA's Dr. David Sarnoff.

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 01, 2015  |  21 comments
Hunky Dory introduced a kinder, gentler David Bowie after two heavy albums laden with mythological imagery and pleasant dread—not that this album doesn't also include heavy doses of the latter.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 29, 2015  |  53 comments
It's easy to forget in today's image and video drenched world how little we got to see during the 1960s of The Beatles and other rock groups.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 27, 2015  |  20 comments
More from the WAX event coming up, but for now, here are the videos of the mastering panel I moderated featuring Bernie Grundman, Kevin Gray, Chris Bellman and Rob Tame (not in the above photo).

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