[78-L] Silence (no 78 hiss) on CD issues

[Michael Shoshani]

On Fri, 2010-02-05 at 13:26 +0100, Kristjan Saag wrote:

> There was no hiss in the studio when the recording was made (unless the 
> windows were open and it was raining outside).

The other thing is, the hiss is present on our 78s due to abrasives in
the shellac compounds, but I would imagine that the metal parts and
vinyl test pressings that are used by the major labels for CD transfers
from their own catalogues are relatively free from abrasives, and thus
from hiss.

They should, in theory, also have far superior sound just due to their
being that much closer to the actual source. Even in the late CBS days,
there were Columbia reissues of Cab Calloway and Will Bradley that were
absolutely *stunning* in their quality, because they were transferred
(in a few cases, using alternate takes) from original session lacquers
rather than from 78 pressings which themselves came from dubbed masters.

MS