Let's see now, long time audiophile. First system was in 1963, a little KLH 20 system. After receiving some money from a terrible accident settlement in which i escaped mostly in tact, I was able to move up more than several rungs. No doubt it will be boring to hear about my system, but having been asked for an introduction, I'll give it a stab, as I can remember most of everything in that second system "upgrade" which provided me with some hands on experience at home. That 2nd system so many years ago was comprised of two pair of KLH Model Nine electrostatic loudspeakers (four panels in total), two McIntosh 2105 Amps running in Mono, McIntosh C22 (i think it was) Preamp, Thorens 124 turntable with SME Tonearm and Ortaphon cartridge, and Revox A77 quarter track (used mainly for playback). I have had recorders since then, and many systems since that second one, but for a long for time my affair with electrostatic loudspeakers continued. In the mid 70s, I was already selling audio, and got to meet and be friends with Mike Wright from whom I bought 2 pair of Dayton Wright electrostatic speakers, which I loved (and wished they could hold on to their internal gas supply ... meant to keep the electrostatic drivers from arching and blowing up ... but alas, not possible in the long term). They were, at their best, far better than the top of the line Quad electrostatics are today. They played loud and they had more solid and defined bass, and vanished completely in a symphony of orgasmically defined yet fully rich ... transparency (bring a fine recording and payback was enormous).
As an amateur musician (pianist) and music lover, my interest in recording music grew faster than any other aspect, and I continued to collect recording equipment: more recorders (including more Revox recorders ... another A77 15ips and a 15ips B77, and (Yay at long last) a Nagra IVS along with a growing list of quality microphones, including some wonderful vintage Sony microphones (new C-37, and several new C500s ... why did I ever sell them? Tip never sell a good vintage mic!) as well as a number of different AKG and Sennheiser models.
Later I attended Eastman School of Music's Summer Recording program and got to study with Phil Ramone (the musical - violin - and producer: A&R records) and David Green from Manta Sound. Phil got me to think and hear outside the box, and that the most important thing in creator a composition was understanding how musical colors are very much like a painter's palette and that if you wanted a good mix, you had to avoid one color from blotting out another. Actually that's over simplifying his teaching. Microphone choice for example in his mind was not anywhere near as important as microphone placement. Instruments for example have a primary set of harmonics, but their characteristic "sound" requires capturing as much of the harmonic structure as possible, and that's why microphone placement always relies on what particular instrument you are recording, and knowing where... how far away the mic needed to placed for the spectrum of harmonics that instrument produced. I also got a chance to learn about recording some from David Green of Manta Sound. We had one thing in common right from the start: our love of Nagra tape recorders. David was known for many great recordings, not the least of which were his two Nagra recordings of Paul Horn inside the Taj Mahal in India and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. My own recordings on the Nagra can't compare, but I did make some really lovely recordings at folk festivals that sounded pretty descent: Louden Wainright II, John Prine, and a great recording of Leo Kottkee singing "Louise" that i an very proud of. It pays to pack a Nagra with you wherever you go. In my case, it didn't actually pay that much, but was a great recording!
I think Eastman really did help me land my first job at a 32 Track recording studio. I became a member of the Audio Engineering Society too (a membership I've let lapse. Aside from DB magazine, though, the membership seemed to lack purpose. And, the career as a recoding engineer was also increasingly difficult to stomach. I couldn't really stand working all night in a control room ... getting there at 4pm, cleaning up from the night before, helping musicians learn how to tune their drum kits to avoid disaster, making sure everyone had enough coffee/drinks/smokes to get through the night without having to stop, and having to expect screw ups until it was later in the evening ... since almost none were accustomed to playing before their usual gig time (9 to midnight). Getting home from work before the sun comes up does indeed make one feel like a vampire, and let me tell you, that's not a good long range plan. Add to that shortcoming the fact that in the 70s and early 80s smoking indoors was a fact of life in studio control rooms creating the impression one was living inside a cigarette, and you have a recipe for one long endless hangover, also not a good long range plan. A life in recording studio can be fun, but not for 365 days a year, let me tell you. You are better off being the client than the one recording the client.
Let's see, oh yes, for a time I also got to sell audio equipment at a high-end store. The best thing about it actually was not simply getting to listen to a lot of near gear, but going to audio shows around the country. I also got to know some designers and went to some shows to help them man their hotel room "show room" exhibits and talking to attendees. Seeing the shows from the inside was great because I got to meet many more significant designers and in some cases go out to dinner with them. Lots of learned lessons there both about our industry and the people who design our audio gear, and also review it.
While there's a lot to be saddened over the near takeover of digital music or the impact of Apple and low resolution digital audio, plus the growing trend of streaming and even worse, the notion of paying flat fees to a streaming provider and therefore the loss of payments to the musicians and composers who have created the music, I am still optimistic that things can and will improve. Tidal's model gives some hope. Places like "Presto Music/Classical and Jazz" show that online models can still work to support record companies and artists. Sure the cost of audio gear compared to in my youth is horrendous, but lately I see some reassuring trends where the cost of acceptable reproduction can be had for less than an arm and a leg. Case in point, the wildly successful KEF Wireless which currently seems to be flying off dealers' shelves.
So overall I am optimistic about the future of audio. I do think things have improved mightily over the last ten years, and I do think that many companies have contributed to advance the state of the art albeit at higher prices than most people can sensibly afford. There is still a huge problem for independent musicians, like singer-songwriters and jazz performers. Now, if we can just figure out in Apple Music age of people wanting free music ... how the heck to pay dedicated musicians who have given their lives to music ... can afford a roof over their heads ... we might all have a bright future ahead with plenty of new music to play on our splendidly updated audio equipment! That continues to be a growing problem in search of a solution.
I continue to work on tweaking my analog and digital hardware, especially updating the digital front end to my DSS DAC, hopefully finding a better, quieter solution to media storage and the evolution of players designed to stream digital music. I remain optimistic about audio, even after over fifty years of both amateur and professional audio exploration, remaining eager to participate in both contributing and also learning from the many others who participle in the AudioCircle. Cheers!
