gregr (04/21/83)
After reading the many complaints about record quality on the
net during the last few weeks I feel compelled to speak.
THERE IS A SOLUTION. I have suffered through the same frustrations
as everyone else over the last 10 years going through periods of
returning records, writing letters, calling executives of record
companies and all the rest. Believe me none of this will make
the slightest difference beyond the immediate poor record you
have purchased. If you believe that you will ever make a
difference then you must be new at this game! About two years
ago I quit buying any "standard records" and only purchased
"audiophile editions" from that time on. Although this
dramatically improved the percentage of listenable records that
I purchased I still had to put up with far more ticks, pops,
and surface noise than I could listen to. I will freely
admit to being a MUCH MORE critical listener than most, even
others who would classify themselves as audiophiles. (I don't
own a cassette deck, I can't stand the sound of tape hiss,
Dolby B, reduced dynamic range, etc. etc.) But I also know
that there are others equally particular about the quality of
their sound. Finally, about a year ago I simply quit purchasing
any records and waited....
THE WAIT IS OVER. Run do not walk to your nearest audio store
that carries the Sony CD digital player. I listened for 30
minutes and plunked down the cash. You will not have to listen
to another tick, pop, warp, or disk surface noise again. Never!
This is the ONLY available answer to the problem of bad disk
quality. HOWEVER, this will do nothing about poorly recorded,
poorly miked, or poorly played music. In fact you will probably
be bothered more than ever about these problems because they
become so obvious without the poor disk surfaces to cover them
up. I believe improvements in these areas will result from the
CD disk technology because each of these areas are measures of
individual personel pride in these arts.
This is getting a little long so I'll make only one last
comment. If you have followed the debate about the digital
sound vs analog sound you should realize that most opinions have
been based on listening to conventional analog disks reproducing
digital recordings. I believe that when those critical of
digital get to hear the true digital disks they may need to
reevaluate what the source of their discomfort with the
analog/digital disk really is. Anyway, as for me, while others
continue their useless complaints about disk quality or debate
the sound of digital vs analog, I intend to simply sit back and
listen to my system and smile.
Happy at last
(about surface defects anyway)
P.S. There are great differences in the quality of the master
tapes both digital and analog used for these disks. So what did
you expect? On the Also sprach Zarathustra disk (CBS/Sony) the
mikes appear to overload badly on the timpani during the famous
2001 opening. I checked several disks, several players, and
used a storage oscilloscope to examine levels and waveshapes.
It is possible but appears very unlikely the problem occurred
during the disk production. Why then I ask would CBS choose this
recording for a digital disk knowing it was defective? Where
did I leave the CBS executives telephone numbers......?