Variable Quality of Master Tapes

In the computer profession there is an old aphorism. Garbage in and Garbage out or "GIGO. This applies to the sound reproduction of music.

The other day I was playing a compilation disc of Caravan recordings. At one point I though that something had gone wrong with my amplifier and I would find an excuse to buy a new one. Not so, the dynamic range on the different tracks was very variable and so was the volume. All of the tracks sounded fine on  their own but when compared to one another quickly they exposed differences in the mastering techniques.


I played a John Fahey recording which I use as a reference and there he was sitting in my living room and playing to me; the sound reproduction was perfect. There was no excuse to re-invest.

If poor equipment is used to make the original recording or if a mistake is made then a poor master recording will result. Then there will be poor musical performance all the way through to your loudspeakers and eventually your ears.

If, a sound engineer does not master the recordings well then the music can be ruined. Too much compression will result in music reproduction that is boring and soulless.

If there is a poor master recording nothing much can be done to resolve the situation by using 180 gm vinyl pressings or so called high resolution digital 24 bit /192 kHz master tapes. They cannot correct an inadequate frequency response or rectify harmonic distortion or excessive noise etc.

Remember, all sound reproduction systems will degrade the sound coming out of your speakers to a lesser or greater extent. No turntable, cartridge or tone arm combination can put right the mistakes made in the original recording or master tape. The same applies to Digital to Analogue Converters. No form of investment in high end equipment will rectify these errors either.

This facet of Hi-Fi sound reproduction is regularly ignored by some magazines and manufacturers. I wonder why? But be assured that "GIGO"reigns supreme.

Long Playing Albums - Love or Hate them they are still fun

The other day I was looking through some LP albums that I have not played for years and found a 1987 record - Heyday by the Fairport Convention.

I inspected the record surface and could see no significant marks or scratches. I cleaned it and played it and  there was very little snap crackle or pop and you could only hear it between the tracks; there was no sound of a deadly scratch either.

You could notice that the tracks had not been mastered very well as they were recorded live by the BBC during the 1968 and 1969. At this time Fairport were singing cover versions of American artists such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and even the Everly Brothers. Perhaps the BBC had never originally intended to release these recordings on album.

The listening was going well and the record sounded almost pristine until the last few bars of the last track on the first side. The record got stuck before it could run off. I examined the record again and saw the slightest of scratches. Some of my other records were much more heavily damaged than this one but played all the way through. Why does one of my favourite albums have to behave this way?

There was no other choice but to increase the tracking weight so I could play the last track to the end.

I always like to listen to an LP all the way through and it is bad enough having to flip the record over to the second side let alone go through the rigmarole of changing the tracking weight. This is why I am going to buy the CD when  see it.

This type of bad experience, with a vinyl LP, is one of the reasons why I converted to digital media - the music does not sound that different after all.

I packed away the records and the turntable despite appeals from my wife. I don't know how long it will be before I listen to an LP again but I will; I still like the sound despite all the difficulties.