michel devos

I t just came in this morning, I'll give it a spin at lunch time. Just love the beautiful cover design : very Blue Note-ish, very classy! And thanks a lot Jim, for correcting my oversight...!

Nothing received yet...Anything went wrong...? Can't wait to listen to it!

Thanks Stefan : I feel this is really worth investigating, I also read nice things in some audio magazines. I think there is nothing wrong in producing components in China and then having them assembled in the market where they are expected to be sold : we see a similar thing here in Europe where Behringer designs and assembles in Germany their units with components manufactured in China. One can't expect the same ruggedness and performances as from the established professional equipment manufacturers, but then the selling price of these goods are only a fraction of their westerner competitors. It looks like an european Emotiva distribution center is now set up in Rotterdam : I'll keep an eye on that, since ordering and shipping from USA to Europe doubles the price..!

Hi Stefan, Did you hear their Usp-1 preamp? How does it sound , is the construction sturdy enough? I'm looking for a replacement of my faithful NAD 1020B preamp for my mastering unit and, since I do not like the professional preamps on the market and I'm not willing to pay crazy prices for Audio Research, Krell or Burmester, this Emotiva preamp sounds like a good deal. Any experience? Yours comments will be appreciated.

This record is stunning : excellent, punchy sound, great playing and wonderful program. I sent a PM to Mike to order a CD: I hope a shipment to Belgium will be possible, despite the ridiculous levels overseas shipping costs have now reached. From what I heard, the recording quality is brilliant, but what has it to do with vinyl? I'd rather say : very proper mixing and mastering are the key issues. Nevertheless, a superb CD...Bravo!

There have been many reports of rough behaviour of Jimmy, and I feel this one rather measured and with no intention to compromise . However, this story, and many of the comments I read here are related to the last years of Jimmy's life, and maybe alcohol brought him to that sad stage. I met him twice : the first time after a concert in Brussels in 1963, where he played with Quentin Warren and Bill Hart. I went to see him backstage with my collection of Blue Note sleeves to sign and he looked pleased to see his albums sold in Belgium. The second time was in a jazz club in 1987, where he was playing with Grady Tate and Terry Evans. As a sound engineer crazy about the Hammond and Jimmy (that goes together, isn't it?), I asked permission to make a private recording of the evening. He agreed to without hesitation, provided, he added, this would remain totally private...and it has, since then. When listening back to these 26 years old tapes, one can hear a dynamic man, full of wit, making jokes with the audience, pretending to speak japanese, very funny indeed. And his playing was of the highest standards possible in a club, much similar to the TV recording in Germany that is mentioned somewhere in the above posts. I'm rather happy I never saw him as described in this video and in several stories even witnessed by his fans. Every man has his dark side : think simply of Beethoven, or Miles Davis. I'm glad I only met Dr Jeckyll, Mr Hyde was still in a very deep sleep...

Bought this recently for a ridiculous price and the sound quality is excellent : http://www.amazon.com/8-Classic-Albums-Three-Sounds/dp/B005SQ3B2K

Thanks for this documentary I did not know. But what about the video Killer B3 that was supposed to be released some time ago but remains unavailable..? I heard there were some copyright problems : if that is still the case when 99% of the production is ready for release, chances to have this documentary released grow thinner and thinner. Anybody heard of it?

I attended yesterday in Angelbachtal a magnificent concert given by Barbara in a quintet setting, including trumpet, tenor sax ang guitar. Very, very impressive, great sounds from her midified B3. But she will be playing soon in San Diego : 29.07.2013 19.30 San Diego/USA, CA 92101, Spreckels Organ Pavillon, Balboa Park (Solo/church organ).

I expect this is a very common problem...but whenever it strikes, the results may be devastating. I seldom had the problem you describe (sticky tape), possibly because I have very few Ampex tapes, but the opposite is even worse : the binder dries out and falls off the tape, taking the iron oxyde particles in the process and leaving bald spots on the tape...no more sound, not even tape hiss..! It happened frequently with Memorex 2500 tapes, leaving several works on this tape unusable because of sound drops of 1 or 2 seconds. These tapes date back from 1973-74. I even tried to repair the digital transfer of the tape when by chance sme soonatas have repeats in the score, but then that is pure luck. Do you feel the baking process might be a temporary cure for this?

Splendid! Very well done...

Right. But there have been at least some attempts...One of them was from In Sync. This company was (is still ?) owned by a Mr Silver (not the one from the cd's) who was also the leader of an american vinyl company named Connoisseur. In the 60's-70's, they released excellent material extremely well recorded but often plagued by the vinyl illness : cracks, popples, hiss, noises... Some of the Connoisseur Master tapes were released in cassette tape format trying to preserve their quality and remove the noise problems. I owned only a couple of these featuring the great Ivan Moravec and I must say the sonic results were more than acceptable, with some of the master tape qualities retained and the crackle and pops replaced by a continuous but faint tape hiss (Dolby-ized, of course). In Sync cassettes have now disappeared but they at least tried to improve upon the very average sound quality of this format. Though they could hardly have been called audiophile by today's digital standards.

Good idea...it made myself think of a project I have for a long time of converting my old recordings into some nice lossless format. But I need help with the original material during summer time : would anybody advise me how to keep it cool? http://lowres-picturecabinet.com.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/29/main/5/138997.jpg

Hi Sonnymax, Having read your post and the comments, it looks like nobody asks the vital question before starting this discussion : are the audio signals comin' out of your computer of a high quality enough to justify the expense of active studio monitors? The old story dating back from the early times of hi fi has never been more valid than today : trash in, trash out...! That means unless you have a decent sound card preferably located outside your computer and linked to it via USB or Firewire, it doesn't matter how many bucks you spend for high quality speakers, the resulting sound will be bad, distorted, noisy and muddy... I'd start with a very good sound card and then upgrade with a good stereo amp and hi-fi speakers like most of the BW line. If you are prepared to invest in real studio quality active speakers, have a look at he ADAM 7or A7X : they have a quality-price ratio second to none. But seriously, before spending considerable amounts of hard-earned cash into a computer audio system, check the material youre gonna feed your system with. If it's just MP3...

I was fascinated by this demo...knew the SK2 is fabulous, but here you prove it is practically impossible to distinguish it from the C2. Although I believe the SK2 is on YOUR right handside, or left of MY screen. Crisper, sharper, cleaner sound...I just love it. I never found the 3300 really lacked any bass : but that would depend of course on the music played. And also that I never had an opportunity to listen to a good subwoofer system : my visit this year at the Musik Messe in Frankfurt was less enjoyable regarding organs. They simply were not there, except for Nord with only a couple of items on active display. Maybe I'll have to keep an eye on your schedule, if you play at less than 4.000 miles from my home..!