John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

[SY]

Originally Posted by john curl

How can you improve on PERFECTION? I thought that MP3 was virtually perfect. Gee, I was also told the same thing about CD audio. '-)

Why do you keep telling the same false story? Or do you actually have a cite? How does it benefit you to mislead people?

[kgrlee]

Originally Posted by john curl

With inferior sources and loads, the Blowtorch could in fact sound worse than a 4558, that is bandwidth limited on purpose.

It may be that ALL sources in the known universe are so poor that Blowtorch ALWAYS sounds worse than evil 4558.

To do this, first I have to put the resistor matrix in. The resistors are already specified as to their part #'s and respective bins. It took 2 hours to stuff the resistors, and another 2 hours to check, rotate (for direction, in order to read them properly later), and finally solder them in. Total cost: labor $100, and the raw board cost $50, resistors, maybe $10. Quite a bit of money for an almost bare board isn't it? Now for the active parts and finally the caps.

Truly hand carved from solid Unobtainium by v****ns.

Though I hesitate to pontificate on our Lord JC's virginity, his virgin birth is beyond doubt to all true BELIEVERS.

[Esperado]

Originally Posted by john curl

How can you improve on PERFECTION? I thought that MP3 was virtually perfect. Gee, I was also told the same thing about CD audio. '-)

What do you want to put in front of CDs ? Vinyls ?
When you just have finished the last mix of your last record, and listen to the first test sample of the disc burning, in the mastering room, you can just cry.
Your beloved tune had been equalized, peak limited (often with digital equipment) , and what you hear, in the middle of this ugly friction noise and the first clics of the dust is a pain you know where. With the coloration's gift of the PU head (no one sound the same).
Even a deaf person can hear instant the degradation. No need of blind tests.
While the CD copy is near perfect, and you have to listen VERY carefully to find so subtle differences your not absolutely sure...
And this digital master can be copied on various supports without ANY changes or deteriorations.
May-be you don't like combustion engines, and humanity is on the way to find better ways to produce horse power, may-be you are nostalgic of steam, or horses, but that was the best we we could do... for the time.
I know vinyls are hype, those last years, i let nostalgia to the museum and audiophile maniacs to their illusions.

[Esperado]

I remember those nice analog multi tracks recorders. You had to demagnetize the heads all 4 hours (if you were serious) .You had to tune the HF polarization of the 24 tracks each morning (if you where serious). Your nice drums tracks, slowly deteriorate themselves at each passage in front of the magnetic heads, during hundreds of re-recordings and mixing hours. So you where obliged to equalize them during the mix in attempt to try to recover a little of their original dynamic !!!!
You had to carry a calibration tape all along with your master tape, to be sure the mastering machine was correctly calibrated (not often perfect) and fight with the guy pretending (of course) his machines are perfect !!!
And even if you don't used them and stocked the original tapes in the most perfect place you can find, there is not much left on them, 40 years later !!!! And a lot of copy of each tape turn (coil ?) on the previous and next one.
My Lord, thanks to evil digital. And thanks to USB keys :-)

[john curl]

The last time I listened to analog tape, it was at a hi fi show, and it was wonderful. It was so good that I now took a number of pretty good analog machines out of storage and they are now in my office. Sooner or later, I will get around to making them 'sing' again.

[Esperado]

Mine are in my living room (A Nakamichi cassette desk and a modified 38/76 ( 15/30 ) Revox). But i had sell my Ampex ATR 100 machine.
Read my lips, i never said a word about the way they 'sound'. I talked about their 'transparency'. I had, some times, used my ATR100 as a post processing machine, to distord some of my digital productions in an agreeable and nostalgic way.
Painting vs photography.

[Esperado]

I have some original 20 years old analog tapes, at home. and the CD made from them at this time.
Comparing the two can lead-you to some sort of analog genocide.

[john curl]

I have relatively few analog tapes left since the firestorm in 1991, but I do have a number of analog alignment tapes, and a few pre-recorded tapes that Enid Lumley sold to me, when she dismantled her hi fi about 25 years ago. I will try to listen to them, sooner or later. My biggest headache is software, I lost many, many hours in the fire.
I do have a Nak, but I prefer 15ips/1/2tr minimum, if possible.
Of course, 30ips full track is even better. I wonder how Dave Wilson's tape library is holding up? I bet, pretty well.

[Esperado]

Originally Posted by john curl

but I do have a number of analog alignment tapes,

So, you can buy fresh ones and compare with your oldest (we used to replace our alignment tapes all the years). You will find what i tell and you seem to do not believe.
Drop outs, losses of level, specially at trebles. And, if you have some square waves, diminution of slew-rate. And you will hear and see pre and post echo.
You will constat too the losses of level is not linear, more level, more losses: direct impact on dynamic.

Originally Posted by john curl

I wonder how Dave Wilson's tape library is holding up? I bet, pretty well.

Knowing-you will prevent him from the common law ?
May-i send-you some of my master tapes for you practice a laying on of hands ?

[Esperado]

To be honest, the problems with magnetic tapes is not correlated with analog-digital: Old DAT cassetes are just impossible to read, or the error diode act as a power-on indicator.
We had several years ago to save in emergency all our sound library from DAT to HDD or magneto optic disks.