Jeff Rowland, since his beginnings, has always designed equipment, to be warm and smooth, which has been a trademark of his. In my earlier days, I remember he wanted to create amps and pre amps with " tube like " qualities, without the drawbacks of tubes ( he is not the only ss designer who does, and this in itself can be another thread, but not here ). All of these brands typically have a house sound. The way " I " see it ( hear it ), I buy equipment, based on the music I enjoy listening too. Much of my music has become digitized, and the newer music, no question about it, is digitized. I wish every recording I owned, sounded as realistic, and smooth, as the three recordings by Tony Minasian ( the man behind Tonian Labs ), or by Chesky, Reference Recordings, Sheffield Labs, Blue Note, ECM, and Verve, just to name a few. With every piece of gear we purchase, it should be understood that we are all at the mercy of the recording companies, who’s recordings we purchase, download, or stream. I remember a discussion I had with viber 6 ( I believe this was through a private email exchange we shared, which he is, of course, free to comment on, if he reads this post of mine). Or maybe, it was here on this thread, as I really do not remember. I suppose I am one of those " old people " WC just referred to. If I remember correctly, viber stated that, only a handful of recordings he owned, accurately portrayed the " sound " of the violin. If this was because of poor miking, equalization, compression ( or whatever ), the fact is, we are all at the hands of the record companies, and labels. So, what to do. What I do is, I listen for the " musicianship ", the " playing ", and the " artistry ", of the musicians and performers. Example...I would rather hear an excellent, live, " tight, on the money " performance, of a group, band, or orchestra, in an environment, where the acoustics were just so so, as opposed to these same musicians, where, much more practice was needed, or the performers stayed out all night drinking and doing other things, as it showed, in the performance, but the acoustical space, was wonderful. I come from two backgrounds, which are being an audiophile, and a performer. It IS the music that matters. I know so many people, in and out of the audio industry, that only play / listen to " state of the art recordings " ( we all own some, as I mentioned above ), but, I want to listen to all of my recordings. In other words, recordings that are so so, to good, to very good, and of course, excellent, but where the performances are top notch ( many are studio albums, with over dubs ). Labels such as Columbia, MCA, Warner Bros., A &M, CBS, Sony, RCA Victor, Atlantic, EMI, Epic, and, so many more. I would not expect many of these recordings on these labels, to be played, today, at shows, as any of us who have been to / involved in shows, can attest to ( of course, back in the day, songs such as " Money for Nothing ", or " In the Air Tonight ", have been. In fact, I used a track from a Roger Waters cd, when I was doing the demos for Jadis, at the "96 N.Y. Waldorf Stereophile show ( the Eurythmie designer wanted me to play it many more times than I had anticipated over the 3 days, and, at levels, that I even thought was a bit too much, as we were getting complaints from other exhibitors ). I should not have played it for him during Thursday’s set up. But, I digress. Pretty much every recording I listen to, allows me to " get into it ", stay involved, and invites me to continue listening, instead of me thinking, what can I do, or get, that can make all of this better. Being around the block several times, I know there is better. Always will be. It is my opinion, that many folks, are chasing the horses tale, and will continue to do so. I see it as unfortunate, but for some, such as WC, and some others I read here, it is a blessing, as he ( they ) are having fun, and the journey of equipment " differences ", seem to be as much fun, as the music, itself. Of course, we lower income, older folks, get to read all about it. Sorry this was very long......Did I just read that the Neoliths are leaving ? On one hand, I am very surprised, and on the other, I am thinking, what took so long.... WC, still, a great thread, and much comradery ( unless people might negatively respond the my post, so who knows ? )... Enjoy ! MrD.
