What are you listening to right now?

etcarroll · June 24, 2011, 07:57:32 PM

Put on new Dynavector cartridge and now relistening to everything vinyl I listened to over last few days. Hendrix and Ronstadt sounded better, cleaner, but a little stiff. Now on this, I think cart. is loosening up, both ladies voices sound fine, guitars very nice, bass not as deep as with MM cart, but not as boomy and bloated either.

Three albums down, rest of my life to go.

Quote from: etcarroll on June 21, 2011, 04:53:23 PM
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac | Format: vinyl

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:06:03 PM

Quote from: etcarroll on June 24, 2011, 07:57:32 PM
Put on new Dynavector cartridge and now relistening to everything vinyl I listened to over last few days. Hendrix and Ronstadt sounded better, cleaner, but a little stiff. Now on this, I think cart. is loosening up, both ladies voices sound fine, guitars very nice, bass not as deep as with MM cart, but not as boomy and bloated either.[quote

Gene,
A new cart like that needs a good 25 hours for the suspension to loosen up. After this initial time be sure to check all of your algiments again as the cantiliver position can change as the supension breaks in.

Quote from: etcarroll on June 24, 2011, 07:57:32 PM
Three albums down, rest of my life to go.

So many records...so little time.

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:08:08 PM

John Klemmer: Hush

LP

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:10:20 PM

David Benoit: Waves of Raves

LP

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:16:18 PM

Belefonte Returns to Canegie Hall

2 LP Set

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:22:19 PM

Count Basie and his Orchestra: Basic Basie

CD

Didn't sound to basd in the car, but it is kind of thin on the main system.

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:27:18 PM

Ella Fitzgerald: The Very Best of the Cole Porter Songbook

Verve CD

Great SQ, Great music.

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:50:12 PM

Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1 & 2 - Arthur Rubinstein/Barenboim/London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 08:54:31 PM

Beethoven: Piano Concertos 3 & 4 - Arthur Rubinstein/Barenboim/London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 09:00:09 PM

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 - Arthur Rubinstein/Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra

CD

Also Fantasia on Polish Airs and Andante spianato & Grand Polanaise with Wallenstein and the Symphony of the Air

Hey, my posts are actually all caught up again.

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 09:49:57 PM

The Blues Brothers: Briefcase Full of Blues

LP

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 10:25:39 PM

Walt Disney's Fantasia - Stokowski/The Philadelphia Orchestra

3 LP Set w/ 24 Page Full Color Program

1957 Stereo release taken from the photographic film soundtrack recording. SQ is not great, but the performances are wonderful.

From the LP cover:
"The recording of Fantasia was a pioneering effort in multichannel stereophonic recording. Compared with today's modern equipment and techniques, our tools were crude and our theories unproved. Photographic film, with its inherent high noise level and other limitations, was the only suitable recording medium. In 1939, when the music for this motion picture was recorded, the results were considered sensational and seldom, if ever, has the marriage between picture and sound been so complete."

The beautiful 24 page 12"x12" program was worth ther price I paid for the whole thing.

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 11:43:57 PM

OK, I went to the back wall and pulled out the CD set I had of the Fantasia soundtrack.

Turns out that this is a new digital recording made by an "all-star" orchestra of "concertmasters and star performers from the finest symphony orchestras in the world" chosen and conducted by Irwin Kostal. While the SQ is much better than the original recording, Kostal is no Stokowski and the performance does no match that of the original.

Just for kicks I pulled the Fantasia 2000 soundtrack out.

This soundtrack was recorded by James Levine and the Chicago Symphony. There is one track that is common to all three recordings, Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" . In addition to having better SQ, the Levine performance is just a much better reading than Kostal's (which was supposed to be based on the Stokowski performance, but doesn't come close.

I am wondering if this has something to do with the fact that both the Stokowski and the Levine recordings were made with currently sitting orchestras while the Kostal recording was made with a group of musicians who although they were all supposed to be very talented, were assembled specifically for this one recording. Could it be that just like in sports having a group of athletes (or in this case musicians) who can function as a cohesive team is far more important than the sum of the individual talents of the group?

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 11:48:45 PM

Toyota Jazz Parade - Dixie & Rock

LP

tmazz · June 24, 2011, 11:55:47 PM

Artie Traum: Cayenne

LP

From Amazon:
"In contrast to Artie's earlier folk-oriented Rounder albums, "Cayenne" explores the jazz side of New Acoustic Music. Artie's acoustic guitars and original compositions are supported by Larry Hoppen, Jay Ungar, Rick Derringer, and others, allowing his musicianship to shine on record as never before."

I agree, nice album and well worth the $1 I paid for it.