What Could Be Better?!

I received this quote extracted from a newsletter sent by High Definition Tape Transfers, “HDTT’s new Double DSD transfers from the very fine source tapes at High Definition Tape Transfers are a real revelation! The sense of immediacy and the emotional connection to the music are extremely direct, and moved me to my soul. This is how splendid these tapes are, delivered in masterly glory and sensitivity by HDTT; this is how our listening experiences should be; this is what fine audio can deliver: life-blessing and transforming moments with great performances and wonderful composers. What could be better?!
The HDTT Double DSD albums are truly magnificent! They have my highest recommendation.”

David Robinson – Editor Positive Feedback Online

There’s a market for virtually anything in the land of audiophiles. And I certainly congratulate the owners of HDTT for receiving such a wonderful comment from the editor of Positive Feedback Online. I know David Robinson and I believe that he is sincere in his effusive comments on the DSD 128 transfers of 2.0 channel analog tapes. I know he’s a strong advocate of DSD sound and made a point of saying so during the Newport Beach panel discussion that he moderated some weeks back. It seems a 2.0 channel, 15 ips analog tape transferred to a DSD 128 digital file, meets his complete music/sonic requirements. That’s wonderful for him. For most of the rest of the music listening world, including myself, it’s not nearly enough!

One of MY favorite comments on our AIX Records productions came via email a few year ago, “I simply can’t find the words to congratulate you the way you deserve. Honestly, I expected very good playing and recordings, but not a completely new experience in musical listening. Actually, the only drawback I see in your recordings is the fact that now, by comparison, the rest of my musical collection sounds bad. Mark, thank you for this wonderful experience.”

Juan Miguel Della Maggiore/Customer

So whose opinion matters most? Dave or Juan…actually your own! Dave’s love for DSD 128 and analog tapes simply means that he prefers the sound of a recording technology that’s over 60 years old. Juan discovered something in a new state-of-the-art recording that wasn’t possible 50 years ago during the so-called “Golden Age” of recording.

At the end of his compliments, Dave asks, “What could be better?” Here are a few things, just for starters:

1. Recordings of great music and terrific musicians that have been made using CURRENT state-of-the-art methods, equipment and processes rather than accepting the limits and compromises imposed on engineers working in 50s, 60s and 70s.

2. Multichannel 5.1 or 7.1 surround mixes that envelope you in the sound of entire space as well as 2.0 channel stereo mixes. Musical presentations that bring you into the same space as the musicians/ensemble and don’t force you to “imagine” the ambiance of the space.

3. A format that offers the full dynamic range of a musical performance rather than one that require engineers to “compress” or “limit” the signals coming from the microphones to avoid “clipping” and tape distortion.

4. Records that don’t have audible speed fluctuations based on motors, belts, capstans, ruby guides and pinch rollers. Mechanical devices can be made to incredible tolerances but they can never be completely removed.

5. Technologies that capture and reproduce the entire sound spectrum and do not include large amounts of noise above 20 or 30 kHz just because they say you “can’t hear it”. I feel a lot better about a format (PCM) that has less amplitude for the higher frequencies than one that exhibits a rise in that area.

6. Recordings that haven’t been submitted to several generations of loss based on analog transfers from the source tape to the mastered tape to the safety copy. Each analog to analog tape copy adds about 6 dB of noise.

7. Products that don’t undergo any NAB or IEC equalization curves in an attempt to maintain linearity in both frequency and dynamic response. Let’s not talk about the high frequency bias current that is added to the audio signal.

8. Recordings made with multiple stereo pairs of microphones placed around the ensemble so that our sense of depth is captured and delivered through to the ultimate delivery format. A simple stereo pair works very well to produce a “distant” sound but there are other ways that bring the music up close AND maintain depth.

9. A format that is cost effective and easy to acquire.

10. A professional format that is supported by the professional audio engineering community rather than a format that was abandoned by it’s original developers and is now being talked about as if it’s the solution to all of our audio woes. It’s marketing hype not technologically accurate (if that’s what you want…I do!).

So there are my top 10 things that are technologically better than anything that is sourced from analog copies of vintage recordings.

So I went and downloaded some of the free samples from the HDTT website to see and listen for myself. I’ve prepared a comprehensive comparative spectragraph analysis on both the 192 kHz and 96 kHz versions…I’ll share that with you tomorrow.

NOTE: One of my readers pointed out that the COMMENTS section of each post page is pretty far down the page. I’ve tried to bring it up somewhat…but if you feel like making a comment, please scroll down a little. I look forward to hearing from you.