Leonard Smalls

Talking of busy, I may not get it together either, despite lovely new speakers... Just moved house and I'm off on holiday on Friday!

I compromised and bought Adam F7s. And they're pretty darn good!

ER! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3m37l1md2U[/MEDIA]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1482252485' post='3198917'] Just reposting this as for some weird reason the Dropbox link doesn't appear on my mobile browser in the original post. EDIT: nor in this post! Is anyone else seeing Len's Dropbox link?? [/quote] Here's the url... Should perhaps maybe work! [url]http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37322824/Autobahn%20AusfahrtMP3.mp3[/url] edit: just comes out as an embedded player! Another edit - here's the url without the http bit: ://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37322824/Autobahn%20AusfahrtMP3.mp3

I'm always in awe of Colonel Claypool... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOr6TleLZM[/media]

I've done a take on a 42 year old classic... Edit: just discovered that a private soundcloud track is actually completely private! So here's Dropbox... https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37322824/Autobahn%20AusfahrtMP3.mp3

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1481724492' post='3194566'] When you can buy and RME ADI-2 Pro which is one of the best stand alone 2-channel studio converters available and does both ADC and DAC for around £500, I smell something fishy. [/quote] But does it come with a remote control milled from a solid billet of aluminium that's heavy enough to be ideal for home defence? Luckily, I only ever bought the big shiny shiny box part of hifi (which, incidentally often sounds better than studio kit - simply because it's designed to make your music sound good rather than to accurately reproduce it in glorious high fidelity!). I never fell for the more ridiculous cable lifter/RFI crystal/mains grounding end of it...

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1481548127' post='3193119'] Looking at the release dates of those I doubt the Bootsy album would have been mastered in such a way as to make the best of the medium, in fact it is quite probable that the CD version was made from a second generation pre-EQ'd vinyl production master tape (as many CD back catalogue issues in the 80s were) in which case it won't be a very pleasant listening experience. The majority of music I still have on vinyl is low-budget DIY releases from the late 70s and early 80s, when the pressing quality for all but the biggest selling artists left a lot to be desired. I'm snapping up CD re-releases of these as quickly as they get produced and in every case it's an improvement on the original. I suppose if what you are buying has has a sensible recording and production budget in the first place then good quality vinyl will be pretty decent. [/quote] As you say, it has to be done right! I've got lots of old Porky's Prime Cuts singles - most of which weren't exactly serious hifi quality. But then I much prefer lo-fidelity good music than hi-fidelity sh*te! Saying that, I find good vinyl to sound better than good cd... As for the art of vinyl mastering, there's quite a lot of good ones about. There's the legendary Howie Weinberg at Masterdisc, then there's young hipsters like this chap: https://www.cnet.com/news/mastering-engineer-says-the-lp-is-the-most-accessible-high-resolution-music-format/

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1481534181' post='3192918'] Have you done a back-to-back listen of the same album on CD and vinyl where you know that each version has been specially mastered to make the most of its respective delivery medium? [/quote] I've done that on a few occasions, though I can't guarantee the mastering process! Frinstance, Bootsy's "Ultrawave" sounds lots better on vinyl, as does Nazaire's "Whose Blues"; they're the only 2 duplicates I've got. But you're right about cost; a cheap cd player is much better than a cheap record player. If you want to get the best out of vinyl you'll really need to spend well over £1k (new, that is). My phono stage alone has an rrp of £1200! But then I'm sad hifi nerd who used to spend all his money on box-swapping. Luckily I'm happy with what I've got now...

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1481488449' post='3192677'] In fairness I'm sure an eye-wateringly expensive audiophile setup playing high-end pressings would doubtless sound immeasurably better than the cheapo Amstrad separates system I deafened myself with Motorhead on when I was 18.[/quote] Amstrad, eh? I had a mate with an impressive tower of cheapo lights labelled "Amstrad". If we wanted to listen to music we usually went to my house. [quote] But the bottom line is, no matter how superlative your system might be, you are listening to the sound of a pin being dragged along a lumpy plastic trench. There's only so much you can do.[/quote] Luckily, the resolution of vinyl depends on the grain size of the vinyl used, just how well the mastering engineer has carved the master disc (as well as the quality of the master), and how well the "pin" tracks the groove. If the "pin" is small enough (like my Audio Note cartridge is), the arm and cart are sufficiently isolated from outside vibrations (wall-shelf, 20kg turntable), and the RIAA decoding is accurate, a well-cut record has at least the resolution of cd, with a higher potential maximum frequency, but lower available dynamic range (not that most cds use that range, wot with loudness wars). And it also has the advantage of not being a torch dragged across a lumpy plastic disc! [quote] Now you mind how you go on that fixie. Not good for the knees. [/quote] Fixies are sooo yesterday. I've got a recumbent with an anarchy flag.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1481477728' post='3192564'] a lot of the bad press for 'digital' comes from bad mixes/masters, and the awful compression war that started in the late 80s. [/quote] Don't get me wrong - digital can sound deeply excellent too especially at higher res. And vinyl can sound terrible if it's a scratched record, or a bad pressing. But it's amazing how quiet a freshly-cleaned quality bit of 180g vinyl can sound; vanishingly low background noise - often it's only the master tape hiss on an older recording from before the days of Dolby SR, and somehow, despite the alleged inferiority of the format (you can argue tech specs for/against digital and vinyl all day without coming to a serious and meaningful conclusion), it sounds so much more immediate, more like you're actually there rather than listening to a recording. And every bit of vinyl I play that sounds that good makes up for all the scratchy and knacked ones I've played before it! Still, each to their own!

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1481402146' post='3192116'] Vinyl was always crude & crap - now it's trendy hipster crap. [/quote] I feel that those who shout loudly about how crap vinyl has always sounded have only ever heard a 20s hand-cranked gramophone with hawthorn needle and large horn, or at best a Dansette! Once you've experienced a really good vinyl system you'll know what all the fuss is about... Now I'm off to oil my beard and sculpt my man-bun.

CD easily outperfoms vinyl? Depends on what you're listening to them on! My Advantage cd player rarely sounds as good as my Clearaudio/SME/AudioNote/EAR vinyl set-up...

[quote name='fingers211' timestamp='1481209985' post='3190591'] ....(or maybe Germanic?) [/quote] Getting warm!

It's not often that I do a cover, but I've made a start on one. Just have to work out how to make my bass sound like a 42 year old synth!

I'm kind of tempted by a Launchpad, possibly pro... But perhaps I'll do the unthinkable and read the manual on my Novation first to see if it'll actually do what I want first!

<p>[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1479399162' post='3176265'] Hard to tell on my sh*tty speakers. [/quote] </p> Sounded pretty good on my crappy computer speaks! Worryingly good.. But luckily it'll have to be disqualified due to being 15 seconds too long.

Has anyone used a grid controller, such as Novation Launchpad, or Ableton Push, or N.I Maschine for mixing? I'm wondering if there would be an increase in functionality over the basic controller on my Novation Impulse keyboard? Are they intuitive? Is it wise to use an extra mix surface such as a Launchcontrol, or just buy an Akai APC40/2? Or are they only any use for completely electronic music and bangin' tunes, man?

I've been looking at the Yams too... Twas somewhere between them, the Events and the Adams. However, I may well spend the money on an Ableton controller like an Akai APC40, plus a Behringer 250W power amp, then see how well my 1.1m high Leemas with bass down to 28Hz (-3dB) work as a nearfield monitor!

Time for some most excellent free improv with the Philly funk section of Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston groovin' with The Master, Derek Bailey... [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOGdAFxe9_0[/MEDIA]

Here's a quick one from me - didn't have time to record lyrics or roll it in more than one layer of glitter! Still, the trusty Wal gets to pretend it's all sorts of other things.... [url="http://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/bird-brain"]http://soundcloud.co...weed/bird-brain[/url]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1478437707' post='3169014'] The HS7s are a descendant of the HS10s so they're harsh (as a monitor should be?) and not for general listening or enjoyment of music. [/quote] A monitor should be as flat as possible between its frequency extremes if it's to be "perfect"... NS10s had a particularly lumpy frequency response in order to highlight certain areas, like vocals - this is why they sounded harsh. If you could get something to sound OK on these they'd sound fine on just about anything else! But because of their poor lower end response and general screechiness many folks would do the majority of their mixing on something that wasn't quite as tiring to listen to and just test final mixes on them. I understand the HS7s (and 8s) are nowhere near as fatiguing, so you won't come away with a terrible headache!

I think the reason you're not hearing any bass from the M-Audios is because there isn't any! Some manufacturers will give a quoted frequency range that's completely meaningless; if they say 56Hz - 20kHz does that mean flat? Or are these the -3dB, or -6dB or -10dB points? And what's the gradient of the frequency graph below the lowest alleged frequency? With my hifi speakers they're -3dB at 28Hz and -6dB at 18Hz... My problem is that in my new studio room, the hifi speakers and enormous amp are just too large, so I'm going to be going for some similar monitors; I've only looked at frequency graphs and reviews as I've got no chance of listening to them, but I've narrowed it down to Adam A7X (~£900/pair), Presonus Eris e8 or e66 (£4-500ish) or Event 20/20 BAS. All are front ported (which means they'll work against a wall), all will happily play bottom E, and all have sufficient amplifier oomph to go loud and still accurately reproduce bass, and all have an even frequency graph. I've discounted the Yams, simply because of unpleasant memories of the NS10. A full day listening to them would send you mad! I'm tending toward the Events, because if they're anything like the Event Opals at just over £2k - which I gather they are - they'll be a steal at the price.

Everything's funky, bubba!

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1478278416' post='3168155'] there is no image there for me again [/quote] It's a bloke with dirty hands doing terrible things to a bird... In a tank.