Here is a statement issued by the Recording Academy:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Recording-Academy-Issues-Statement-on-Passing-of-Grammy-Winer-Doug-Sax-20150403Doug Sax' contribution was enormous. "Legendary" only begins to describe it.
Around 10 years ago I had an EBay store where I sold mostly used tables and audio. I had an old Mitsubishi DA C10 tuner/preamp for sale. Someone from California asked me some questions about the piece. In my reply I gave him my phone number if he needed more detailed information.
I got a call from that person and we had an unusual conversation, at least for a prospective fleabey sale. After hearing a little about my background, he wanted to know, how did the piece sound? I honestly told him it was one of the nicest sounding tuners I've heard.
He told me his name is Doug Sax and he needed a tuner for a studio. I was dumbfounded. After picking my jaw up from the floor I told him I was a big fan. He modestly said thank you and asked, how did the preamp section sound? I told him I wasn't sure. I only tested it and it works. It was fully functional, and the sound was clean, but kind of brittle. It would probably improve when the caps re-formed or were replaced.
He said he needed a nice sounding tuner with 600 ohm outputs (pro equipment), which the Mitsu had, said he'd have the guys go over it, and bought it.
I know this anecdote doesn't mean much in the scheme of things, and I've sold equipment and tweaked tables for all kinds of musicians - orchestra members, jazzers, rockers etc. But this long distance conversation stands out in my memory. Doug Sax was a giant. His contribution to sound quality can't be overstated. Check out post 35:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/rip-mastering-engineer-doug-sax.426199/page-2Rest in Peace Doug Sax.
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