Last year I was introduced to mono by a record shop owner here in the Netherlands. I nearly bought an expensive cartridge instead of records. It blew me away! I decided to check myy Jazz collection on original mono pressings first and do some reading on mono playback. I had about 200 mono pressings so, a mono cartridge would be a good investment. Then I read about the streo/mono switch on older amps, Y splitters etc. I bought an amp at a junk shop, switched it to mono and......it sounded pretty good!!! I now hav 3 of such amps and they do the job very well.
One of the best arguments, "if you stream, you have nothing"...if you have a CD, you have a product with a limited lifespan (that sounds often bad), ....if you have vinyl, you have it for your whole live and you have the best sound (in general)
What a cool guy. Like a lot of people I have been under the impression that he was just an old man shaking his analog fist telling digital kids to get off his lawn. But I could totally hang out with him and listen to music, as long as he didn't mind that a lot of it was on my phone.
Excellent video, you showed who and what Michael Fremmer is and you did this well. Michael is deserving of that award being a voice of vinyl when it wasn’t popular. Michael has been relentless of what he believes in and why and heck, he can probably set up a cartridge better than anyone. Michael should be proud, you did him justice, talking to him, showing his system, his vast record collection and his outlook (knowledge)on music, mono, stereo, and the curves priceless. Way to go Ken, you are getting better and better at this RU-vid thing and yes Ken I have been following you as well and I like your writing style.
While you were living at 1404 Commonwealth, I was living just down the road in Kenmore Square in a B.U. dorm. We may have purchased "In a Silent Way" at the same record store.
Great fun, as Mr. Fremer always is. One observation: I don't think a mono switch on the preamp will cut the noise, it will just put the clicks and pops in the centre.
Analog Planet Thanks for the response but I only mean the mono switch. The mono cart, sure, it only responds to horizontal modulations. But once a stereo cart has picked up the unwanted vertical modulation, how does a mono switch filter that out?
Great interview with Michael and hreat info on mono records which I have many of....been listening over two weeks of Blue Notes and many other jazz records over this time and still waiting for my order of Blue Note tone poems from Blue Note it's been like 3 weeks now....oh well....be safe.....
Hi Michael another great review, thanks will ,look out for those on my Crate digging sometime in future?, here are a few of my record finds, you might be familiar with :- Johnny Mathis Jonny's mood ( columbia ), Nat King Cole Sings with the Nat King Cole trio ( mpl ) , Lina Horne/Harry Belafonte Porky & Bess living stereo LS-1507, Hurbert Laws The Rite Of Spring CTI Japanese pressing King record co, ltd 1972...just a sample !
“at least in that regard we’re on the same page” OMG it’s good I wasn’t drinking coffee - I would have spit it all the way across an empty stadium! I laughed out loud so much I felt self-conscious!!! I’m not on the same page as Kathy Dawn but sometimes wish I were 🤣
Movies are my life. Vinyl is my second life. But I've never been onboard with streaming. I'm ride-or-die on Physical Media Forever until I draw my last breath. And I think people skimped on the Davis MoFis because it's a hefty price for his lesser-known albums; I think people want the vintage but now I'll be gunning for them myself.
Love my records but I should have more jazz. I only have about 5,000 records right now. Whats with the Thorens TD124 ? I have one but it has a Rabco arm on it.
I love that In A Silent Way is as special to Mikey Fremes ;-) as it is to me. My story is that I found it in my parents' dormant record collection and took the albums and the shitty Sansui turntable to college with me. I knew who Miles Davis was but I had no idea of In A Silent Way's place in his oeuvre. I just remember it sounding different from my preconceived notion of Miles and Jazz in general and really cool. Classic example of not knowing shit from shinola but knowing that this... is... something!
You notice that you never saw Michael Fremer and Jerry Lewis in the same place. Just saying.......he cracks me up sometimes. Needed this break from world situation. Thanks .....
Yes, MJQ, one of my likes as well. When it comes to jazz, I am into jazz drummers and I like bebop, improv, basically, if it is bouncy, groovy and had drum solos, bass solos, etc. I'm all over it! I like stuff like "Take five" and other sophisticated sound. Ironically, I even liked that type of jazz in my younger years! I'm not sure if that means there is something wrong with me or not..ha ha ha. (I can't stand "adult jazz", what the hell is that supposed to mean anyway? or corporate jazz, in other words commercial stuff). That stuff just drains me instantly. For some reason though I don't have many jazz records. Perhaps due to prices, I don't know. When this virus stuff is done and such, I hope to be able to grow my meager jazz record collection. I'd be happy with 40, which is far better than the 12 or so I have now. Yes, Mono is the secret sauce. All my records are in very good shape, but some just sound far better in mono. I play The Beatles stereo records in mono now. One day I had put on a stereo Beatles record and forgot that I had the mono switch engaged on my preamp. I sat there, listening and thought "hey, these Beatles stereo records sound even better with mono engaged"! So now I look at stereo Beatles records as fun in stereo so you can play with the balance switch and get strange effect, but for serious listening, engage the mono switch. Yes, absolutely correct, the Londons and the Deccas are the same! I have experimented with it myself.
I have an expensive digital front end. Can't match turntable and phono stages. and where have you been? Over the past 10 years vinyl has increased sales 22% every year! get your head out of the sand
@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455he’s referring to the fact MoFi were exposed for claiming their reissues were from the original analogue tapes when they were in fact from digital copies. They were taken to court and had to pay compensation. Michael commended MoFi in this video for being analogue so didn’t detect they were digital… I think you misunderstood the commenter’s point.
It will be on sale sometime next week! I’ll be posting updates and letting Michael know so he can tell everyone. I don’t want to say a day yet because with everything going on, I want to make sure they are actually in the warehouse and ready to go before we announce. But it will be soon.
sadly, MoFi's 'In a Silent Way' has been sold out for some months now and now it sells on Discogs for a three digit number. I was kinda hoping for a repress but in these dire straits the world is in right now - not sure about it
I think the liner notes for "European Concert" probably say it was recorded "in Scandinavia" because it's from multiple concerts in different countries. Also, the bass isn't a percussion instrument!
Ken Micallef Jazz Vinyl Audiophile Yes, absolutely - just about any physical object CAN be played as a percussion instrument, and an acoustic bass works better for this purpose than most objects! But the bass isn’t a percussion instrument by design or definition, and (more to the point) MJQ bassist Percy Heath didn’t play play it as a percussion instrument.
Michael is great, and he knows his stuff! He speaks his mind and there are some that think he's a jerk! Those people are sad and scared to speak their mind! Much respect Mike!
Wait, I’m confused…I’ve literally heard Fremer say that the Stones’ Let It Bleed Decca was better than the London label. If it’s what he describes here, it shouldn’t be any different.
I was wondering, with all the those records, and living on the east coast with the high humidity summers, Does MF use a dehumidifier and what is the ideal percent humidity for playing and storing records?
My room is the lower level of a bi-level home so it's not quite a basement but it's partially below ground level and has central air conditioning so in the summer it's fine for records. If anything it gets dry in winter...
Wait...RIAA did not exist before 1958?? Wouldn't that mean that pre-1958 records would sound really weird through a modern preamp? Sort of lacking top end?
Michael, I have a mono press OG of Julius Watkins Sextet Blue Note 1961 I believe, the record looks like it has been through a war but play great the cover has a few problems but on Discogs on the low side, it has this record worth 160.00 I picked it up for 3.00.
Great video... Hate to confess but after 2 years have given up on Jazz... Have tried it all... Davis, Monk, Blakely etc... Does nothing for me. The way I sum up jazz is a bunch of VERY talented musicians just noodling with their instruments... Just goes on and on and on. The best way to summarize jazz is one word... Boring🙉🙉🙉Sorry The only positive is when I traded in 30 plus albums they kept there resale value 👍 Be safe and keep the videos coming...
While I've enjoyed re-engaging with vinyl since about a year before this video... that really puts the kibosh on the whole "you can just tell digital misses something" comments Michael and others made for a long time. Done well from a good source (and without destructive techniques), either is capable of great sound.
@11:22 "...but there are still people out there, and you can find it on the internets, that will insist that the Londons and Deccas are different and if you play them they sound different." Michael: -- The Londons and the Londons sound different. -- The Deccas and the Deccas sound different. -- The Londons and the Deccas sound different. No two records sound the same. Surely your turntable, professional tuning skills, and associated gear reveals that. If people are saying that entire runs have a certain character, and that character is similar on the same label, but differs from label to label, then that should not be possible from pressings from the same plant (assuming the same stamper was used). If a different stamper was used when the labels got switched, then all bets are off. So, at 11:18, if the same pressers were used, but they used different stampers, then they will sound different. The pressers are one part of the equation. The plates that the pressers use play a huge role in the final product. Michael, have you compared the two? Have you identified the stamper codes on pressings that sound similar, and the stamper codes from the other label that supposedly sound different?
