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21 June 2010: Oh the beauty of the vinyl format: Working outside of the country my time listening to vinyl is restricted. I would not dare take my system to my workplace in darkest Africa. And with the many power cuts we have over there, it really does become dark. Thus, when I am home, I make the most of the available time.

Today I received a long-awaited upgrade to my system. First, the Rega RB700 arm on my P7 turntable was tweaked by removing the standard RCA cable and having it replaced with an XLR (balanced) cable. This significantly reduces the noise floor. Second, I have fitted a brand new Ortofon Cadenza Blue low output MC. I am an Ortofon supporter. Full stop. For me Ortofon simply knows how to make a good cartridge. Following the untimely death of my Jubilee MC, I thought I'd spoil myself with a new purchase. Now, good as the Jubilee is, the new Cadenza range uses the best of what the Jubilee could offer, and more, at around R8000.00 less than a new Jubilee. If you liked the Kontrapunkt series and yours is getting to the end of its life span, consider a Cadenza Red, Blue, Bronze or Black.

Third, and most important, is the addition of a Valve Audio Whisper phono stage. Together with the Predator integrated amplifier, also from Valve Audio, all I need now is a balanced cable from the phono stage to the amplifier.

The Whisper allows a number of options making it ideal for a wide range of cartridges. [ View details... ] Of course, partnering the valve based amplifier with a similarly designed phono stage makes a lot of sense and it takes care of a slight harshness the Cadenza shows at times. If you have a solid state amplifier, audition the Cadenza first before purchasing!

First up was one of my new CCR reissues (see article below). What always amazes me about the seven reissues of the CCR catalogue is the sheer guts displayed by these old recordings. The bass is immense without ever becoming over powering. Two more reissues, Dire Straits' Communique and Brothers in Arms show exacly why the vinyl format has remained popular. And make no mistake, I enjoy high resolutions formats such as SACD and XRCD. Yet the analogue format somehow is just more natural. At the moment Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" shows why.

With the few days I have left before returning to my workplace, the analogue front end is going to work overtime. Tomorrow my copy of Dire Strait's Love over Gold should reach me and I cannot wait to take this excellent album for a spin. I have owned, at various times, the original Vertigo UK pressing; as well as a later 180 gram pressing. If comments on various web sites are to be believed, the new reissue is going to be a stunner!

10 April 2010: Classic FM interview: I located an MP3 of an interview I did in 2006 with Classic FM on the revival of vinyl. I never actually placed this on the web site. The content and comments are as relevant now as back then. It's quite a nervous experience sitting in the studio and telling the country whatever it is that is on your mind, with no chance to correct anything. Enjoy. [ Listen to podcast... ]

26 March 2010: Having fun: Too many audiophiles are simply too serious with so much attention paid to have the best pressings and the best hardware, that it becomes a race to be better than Mr Jones next door. Let's "chill" (learnt from my teenage kids) and have some fun.

Enter my latest purchase, Herp Alpert's "Whipped cream and other delights". Released in 1965, this album became a household name for just about anyone who had a hifi in an era where vinyl did not have to compete against other inferior formats.

There's hardly any need to describe Alpert's famous LP, and the girl who, clothed in cream, made it famous. I collected the whole family to play them my new LP, this after everyone had had a chance to look (but not touch!) one of only two picture discks I own. The music brought back memories of garage parties with the floor covered in maize meal and sometimes baby powder. I then took out an older copy I own. Pressed by Teldec (Telfunken and Decca collaboration of yesteryear producing mostly excellent classical music. This copy is some thirty years old and sounds just perfect. A quick comparison between the reissue and the older copy yielded no notable differences.

From the Elusive Disc web site

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass' "Whipped Cream & Other Delights" was released in April, 1965, debuted on the Billboard Top 40 on June 12, 1965, and spent eight weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard album charts beginning November 27th. In all, the album spent 141 weeks in the Top 40, and 61 weeks in the Top Ten.

The Whipped Cream cover is considered a classic featuring model Dolores Erickson wearing only what appears to be whipped cream. The album produced "A Taste of Honey" which won a Grammy for the Record of the Year.

Herb Alpert is rightly considered a legend in the music business. With partner Jerry Moss, he founded A&M Records in 1962, creating one of the most successful independent record companies of all time before its sale to PolyGram Records, now part of the Universal Music Group, in 1989. The phenomenon that started it all was his hit group, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. With that outfit and as a solo artist, Alpert has sold more than 75 million records. He has earned seven GRAMMYs®, and has scored 14 platinum and 15 gold records in all.

My picture disc cost only about 20 USD and is available locally for around R270.00. Worth every cent. Now all I need is the 2009 version, shown here...

16 February 2010: What drives you to purchase new vinyl?: Working in some remote part of west Africa for the past year, I have had to learn to adapt to a life without music. Yes, there is a PC with a tinny sound, reproducing music from a format that is equally tinny. But MP Whatever is not exactly my favourite format and I miss the velvet touch of playing a vinyl record. Which is why every other few weeks before taking a 3 hour flight due south, I order some vinyl which usually waits for me when I get home.

OK, so I had a few misses. A package from the USA arrived in early November and I eagerly opened the box containing John Klemmer's Touch; Supertramp's Crime of the Century, Joe Cocker's Sheffield Steel and Georg Solti's Romantic Russia, all on Mobile Fidelity's Original Master Recording pressings. Of the four only Romantic Russia was not warped. All were sealed copies but keeping in mind that these go back to the early eighties, time spent lying in some warehouse had taken its toll. Sheffield Steel is a marvellous 200 gram pressing (number 360) but on both sides the first cuts are unplayable. Crime of the Century is now beautifully framed and a mere memory of what could have been. Fortunately the A&M 180 gram reissue is available and probably sounds better than the MFSL half speed master anyway.

In December I bought Norah Jones "Not Too Late" and Holly Cole "Temptation" albums on 200 gram Quiex "Clarity" vinyl but had only a few hours to enjoy them. This time round I thought I'd spoil myself and ordered the remainder of the CCR catalogue, already owning Green River, Cosmo's Factory and Willie and the Poor Boys. Pendelum, CCR, Madigras and Bayou County now make up a total of seven CCR reissues of the originals. And boy, am I chuffed!

From a pure sonic point of view CCR's music may not be thought of as the ultimate in detail, stereo, clarity or whatever. But there is something about this old style rock and roll that makes me buy stuff from the 60's, 70's and early 80's more often than I would indulge in music of let's say, the past ten years.

True to the original issues to the very blue Fantasy labels, the one difference is the immense "presence" of these reissues. The bass is quite amazing, especially on Green River, which was the first LP I bought when I returned to the format in early 2004. I do not own any of the original issues for a direct comparison but then that is no loss. Of course, the ultimate would be to purchase the seven albums, or at least selected songs from each album, on 45rpm. Having heard that the 45rpm pressings mostly really do trounce the standard 33rpm pressings, this must be quite amazing. For the moment I will stick with the 33s. Now all I need to do is organise a real vintage garage party!

I also simply could not resist getting a copy of the Dire Straits album, Brothers in arms, as a 2LP issue. Now I remember when Brothers in Arms was released in 1985, I was doing my bit for the country in the SADF. There being no point in buying something expensive the rest of the bungalow was going to use, I bought a locally produced cassette, nogal, whached it into my Aiwa ghettoblaster and the platoon of some thirty okes came to a halt and all stormed to my bed to hear what was simply a radical departure from anything Dire Straits had done before. I also introduced them to one of my all-time favourite LP's, the Eurythmics' Be Yourself Tonight. Once home on leave, I obviously purchased an imported copy.

Now here is music that is completely the opposite of CCR, sharing only one aspect: pure musical brilliance. Brothers in Arms is immaculately produced. Where CCR's music was compressed to satisfy the requirements of radio stations of the day, often less than three minutes, and stereo just surfacing, Brothers in Arms takes you on a long and flowing journey, as wide as your stereo system can go, without becoming unnatural. The 2LP remaster is a perfect replacement.

For me there is something about holding a new LP cover, admiring the artwork down to the fine print on the back, something I just do not do with CD, DVD or other digital format in a small plastic case. That's why I am pleased that there are local suppliers who still have a passion for the medium. That it is expensive is true, but fortunately Missus does not control my wallet. All that was needed was a considerable investment in a bit of something to wear on the finger...

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