The audiophile reissue label IMPEX (essentially, a major player in the same marketplace as Mobile Fidelity) last month reissued on Crystal Disc CD the David Hancock-engineered former North Star, former MFSL, former JMR/John Marks Records title "Songs My Mother Taught Me/Romantic Music for Violin and Piano," with violinist Arturo Delmoni and pianist Meg Bachman Vas.
This CD starts with an optical-glass substrate. (That makes for a very heavy CD.) The pits are embedded in a special plastic that is cured under pressure and light (I assume ultraviolet light), and the reflective layer is gold. The liner-notes booklet was signed and numbered by Arturo Delmoni. The packaging is beyond deluxe. The Crystal Discs are made one at a time; each one takes hours, I am told.
The target market is well-heeled audiophiles in Asia, where Dr. Delmoni is something of a cultural demi-god. People put up YouTubes of their stereos playing the North Star LP of what I call "SMMTM" (Songs My Mother Taught Me) just to show off that they own the North Star LP.
North Star LPs have gotten up as high as $400 on eBay. Verified sales, not asking prices.
The CD data on this release is from the Bob Ludwig 1993 digital transfer directly from from David Hancock's 30-ips, half-inch two-track original, in-machine, at-session tapes. David had a unique asymmetrical combination Noise Reduction and Playback EQ encode/decode. Bob Ludwig is the keeper of those keys. Arturo and I attended that session.
To me, the Crystal Disc has more detail and more body. I do plan to send an aluminum JMR CD and the Crystal Disc to Bob Ludwig for his evaluation.
The limited edition was pre-sold about 80%; I don't know if there are any left.
I am not posting this to brag. I think that what is remarkable is that a young recent law-school graduate with no real direct relevant experience managed to put the moving parts together for a shall we say, near-totally underappreciated young violinist to make a recording. 40 years ago.
Thank God money was so tight that we could not afford digital!!
If SMMTM had been recorded in 1982-vintage de-facto 14-bit digital resolution, nobody would care at all today.
In early May of 1982, I never would have dreamed that 40 years later, people on the other side of the world would pay so much money to get just that last little bit closer to one precious moment in time.
Which, thanks to David Hancock, Bob Ludwig, and Abey Fonn at IMPEX, remains ever frozen in amber.
https://www-joyaudio-com-tw.transla...=zh-TW&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
If anyone wants more background, my memoir about Herb Belkin of MFSL tells the story.
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/mfsl-herb-belkin/
amb,
john
This CD starts with an optical-glass substrate. (That makes for a very heavy CD.) The pits are embedded in a special plastic that is cured under pressure and light (I assume ultraviolet light), and the reflective layer is gold. The liner-notes booklet was signed and numbered by Arturo Delmoni. The packaging is beyond deluxe. The Crystal Discs are made one at a time; each one takes hours, I am told.
The target market is well-heeled audiophiles in Asia, where Dr. Delmoni is something of a cultural demi-god. People put up YouTubes of their stereos playing the North Star LP of what I call "SMMTM" (Songs My Mother Taught Me) just to show off that they own the North Star LP.
North Star LPs have gotten up as high as $400 on eBay. Verified sales, not asking prices.
The CD data on this release is from the Bob Ludwig 1993 digital transfer directly from from David Hancock's 30-ips, half-inch two-track original, in-machine, at-session tapes. David had a unique asymmetrical combination Noise Reduction and Playback EQ encode/decode. Bob Ludwig is the keeper of those keys. Arturo and I attended that session.
To me, the Crystal Disc has more detail and more body. I do plan to send an aluminum JMR CD and the Crystal Disc to Bob Ludwig for his evaluation.
The limited edition was pre-sold about 80%; I don't know if there are any left.
I am not posting this to brag. I think that what is remarkable is that a young recent law-school graduate with no real direct relevant experience managed to put the moving parts together for a shall we say, near-totally underappreciated young violinist to make a recording. 40 years ago.
Thank God money was so tight that we could not afford digital!!
If SMMTM had been recorded in 1982-vintage de-facto 14-bit digital resolution, nobody would care at all today.
In early May of 1982, I never would have dreamed that 40 years later, people on the other side of the world would pay so much money to get just that last little bit closer to one precious moment in time.
Which, thanks to David Hancock, Bob Ludwig, and Abey Fonn at IMPEX, remains ever frozen in amber.
https://www-joyaudio-com-tw.transla...=zh-TW&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
If anyone wants more background, my memoir about Herb Belkin of MFSL tells the story.
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/mfsl-herb-belkin/
amb,
john
Attachments
Oh man. I paid $40 for my CD player. I've got a crate of discs that goes back to the 90's. My friend recently gave me his entire CD collection for free.
I guess I don't get it.
I guess I don't get it.
No need to handle the idea...it's a free market. If the price is too high for you, don't buy. Simple!
Thanks for writing.One of my peak listening experiences was on a portable radio that was my only sound system when I was living on a shoestring in Nashville in the 1970s. I was just about the only tenant in that building who was not on heroin. A live San Francisco Opera radio broadcast performance of Montserrat Caballe in "Tosca" transfixed me. So, I can relate to all manner of listening experiences.
That said, last time I looked, the dCS four-box "DAC Stack" had an MSRP of $114,900.00. On the other hand, my former cardiologist in Boston has in his garage a used car that is a Ferrari 458 drop-top, which as a used car is worth circa $325,000.
ciao,
john
You need physical / chemical vapor deposition to get the metal layer, which must be protected from the atmosphere.
So, piece of glass, coated, written, coated against atmosphere.
That glass must be optical flat quality, and withstand some parameters, though at that price, the glass may be worth it.
Main thing is flatness in a thin piece of glass.
And the protection after metal coating.
Silly people, it will not last 20 years, unless they used space probe quality materials, and REALLY good process control.
Bonding to glass means etching grade cleaning.
Ask for a time limit warranty, at that price you must insure it as well.
Actually, it is a data storage device...the same date can be stored in other media.
Try finding CD player parts .....
And we can start a thread about super deluxe Medulla-Oblangata-Glutz CD players, as in show off!
Most used bought out mechanisms, by the way, Philips and Sony mechanisms were common in over priced systems.
Same DACs too....it is all about perception.
So, piece of glass, coated, written, coated against atmosphere.
That glass must be optical flat quality, and withstand some parameters, though at that price, the glass may be worth it.
Main thing is flatness in a thin piece of glass.
And the protection after metal coating.
Silly people, it will not last 20 years, unless they used space probe quality materials, and REALLY good process control.
Bonding to glass means etching grade cleaning.
Ask for a time limit warranty, at that price you must insure it as well.
Actually, it is a data storage device...the same date can be stored in other media.
Try finding CD player parts .....
And we can start a thread about super deluxe Medulla-Oblangata-Glutz CD players, as in show off!
Most used bought out mechanisms, by the way, Philips and Sony mechanisms were common in over priced systems.
Same DACs too....it is all about perception.
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You said a mouthful there, brother.
That said, I would love to own one of the analog instantiations, just for fun. I have never heard the recording.
That figurine is most likely laser etched acrylic, glass is fragile in comparison.
The lights are mostly the 4 color LED strips used for decoration, controlled by a similar controller as used in strips.
Only difference may be that this may have battery power supply, instead of mains supply.
The lights are mostly the 4 color LED strips used for decoration, controlled by a similar controller as used in strips.
Only difference may be that this may have battery power supply, instead of mains supply.
I am sorry, aliexpress is not accessible from India.
It could be glass, polycarbonate, or another transparent material.,
The article weight might give a clue, glass is heavier.
It could be glass, polycarbonate, or another transparent material.,
The article weight might give a clue, glass is heavier.
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Glass is not a solid material, it is a liquid..it flows and melts at room temperature!
In 40 years time if the disk was resting on its side , its flatness is compromised.
In 40 years time if the disk was resting on its side , its flatness is compromised.
This old wive's tale about glass creeping or flowing at room temperature is wholly incorrect and has been thoroughly debunked time and time again - particularly the 'flowing church window glass' myth. If true, it would mean that the lead came which holds the glass together would have been a puddle on the floor, given its flow rate many orders of magnitude higher than glass.
It has been estimated that the rate of flow of glass under gravity would not exceed 1nm per billion years.
And glass definitely does not melt at room temperature; why would you believe this to be true? We have glass fusing kilns in our business and I can assure you that the melting temperature is a tad higher than 20C.
Corning glass flow
You were taught wrongly; most glasses are amorphous solids unless cooled extremely rapidly, when the supercooled liquid structure is frozen into a solid.
Here in the UK the myth began when many church windows were found to have pieces of glass consistently thicker at the bottom than the top, but further discoveries during other repairs showed exactly the opposite; the difference were due entirely to the traditions and preferences of those who built the windows. I have studied glasses extensively, and my wife's business covers all styles of glass crafts including fusing and leaded windows.