[78-L] The record or the recording? (was: Alec Templeton)

[Michael Biel]

David Lennick wrote:
> Steven C. Barr wrote:
>   
>>  
>> since I am NOT that
>> familiar with CD sound, I remain convinced that modern-day
>> "de-noising" is entirely TOO aggressive! 78's are SUPPOSED to
>> sound like that...dammit, folkses?!
>>     
>
> Shh....I've been putting a lot of my old deleted Intersound and other 80s and 
> 90s masters onto Naxos Online, and many of them predate CEDAR and they sound 
> like RECORDS. Very enjoyable.  dl
>   
I want to make it clear that I am NOT advocating OVER-processing, 
because that adds distortion such as digital artifacts.  But, if I 
didn't know better, this sounds almost like the arguments I have with a 
few Old Time Radio people when they want OTR recordings to sound like 
they are on a cheap old radio with a torn speaker in a thunderstorm (one 
of these idiots asked "What would Fibber McGee think if he heard his 
programs in quiet hi-fi?"  I replied that this is how he heard them when 
he performed them, PLUS he heard them in surround sound with the band 
and the cast members and the sound effects all over the stage!!); and 
the 78 collectors who have been reading too many sleeve notes and think 
that the records MUST be played on old acoustical machines (playing 
records on old acoustical machines is listening to the MACHINE, not the 
recording).   If you are going to reissue a RECORD, fine, make it sound 
like a record.  But if you are going to reissue the RECORDING allow it 
to sound as much as you can like the musicians sounded like in the 
studio.  I listen to records all the time.  If it can be done, I would 
rather listen to the recording. 

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com