Robert, thanks so much for having me on. Here is hoping that audiophiles of the vinyl persuasion will find something of value in our conversation. You've come a very long way in the years I've known you. Sharing with others what you've learned as you've made such great progress can be a real boon to audiophiles willing to put in the time and effort that you did. It paid off for you and it will pay off for anybody who follows the path you are on. Best, TP
Stumbled upon your videos. Best of luck I subscribed. Great video. I always like to hear Tom Port. Controversial figure. But I actually think he is a very knowledgeable guy.
Hey you two, that was packed with information. Thanks. A question - I get it that original pressings and modern remasters don’t always sound the best, despite all the hype that surrounds them. But why is it that some early re-masters sound better than the original pressings? Maybe have on a retired mastering engineer from the golden days of vinyl to have them explain what they were aiming for?
Sometimes the mastering engineer that cuts the original version just doesn't get it right. Then someone else cuts it again and nails it. Sometimes it's the other way around. In the case of The Beatles and the UK pressings, it appears to be the former. Hard to say why, but it could also have to do with the cutting system used later, which was perhaps of higher quality and more revealing. Also, some mastering engineers, Robert Ludwig comes to mind, just have a knack for getting the leveling and the limiting to best suit the material they're working with.
It was a long discussion so maybe I missed this but I don't think you explicitly talk about the results of your Revolver shootout compared to Better Records' rankings. Was your "best" the same as theirs? It would be interesting if this were the case because it would allow for a deeper discussion on what your shootouts are capturing/missing versus theirs. Which would of course help your viewers in developing their own internal beauty contests.
My "best" was the same copy the staff at Better Records considered the best of those they loaned me, which was an A++- A+++/ A++-A+++ copy, and it was clearly the best one. That copy is available on their website, by the way. What was less clear to me was how exactly to rank the others. There were some A++/A++ copies and some lesser ones, and I had a rough idea of how they might be graded because I had my A+-A++ copy as a baseline. But the staff at BR have done a lot of these shootouts and have heard many more copies than I have, and therefore have much more experience with what to listen for and how to grade copies. Better Records also has much better control over their electricity than I have, and that makes a substantial difference with a highly sensitive and revealing system.
One more thing: feel free to change the speed to 1.5 or even 1.75. At those speeds the conversation is intelligible and, when it comes to my offerings, if I may be honest, a lot less tedious.
Not sure viewers will want the Alvin & The Chipmunks version of our conversation, but maybe i should get in there and edit out all of my long pauses and my big brain lapse. That would move things along and make for better viewing!
