RECORDS

Our fine audio equipment is designed to let you enjoy your music at home. It's our intention to give you some ideas for your music collection. Although your music choice is personal the suggestions, most being our own references, can help you finding some recordings and sharing our experiences. If you have any comments don't hesitate to let us know!

Records are recorded and played back the analogue way. This means that the only limit in sound volume is the cutting capabilty of the cutter. In principle there's no compression whatsoever. That's one of the reasons why many music lovers favor playing records over the more recent technolgy of digital recording and playing back. Today some recording companies offer analogue records as well as their digital pendants.

Verve 2304 243

This is an older record of Billie Holiday, one of the greatest singers in jazz. It's recorded in mono in 1957. When playing this fine record, possibly made with only three microphones, on a good modern audio set you will forget all the technical "mishaps". This records brings an atmosphere to your room as if Billie is standing right there, performing just for you, in your own room.

Archiv 2533 402

This was recorded in 1978. Trevor Pinnock plays the harpsichord and that instrument could mean trouble if something is wrong with your stereo equipment. The way the strings are "pulled" causes a "step" at the beginning of a tone. So your equipment should handle the dynamics in a way that there are no limits caused for this extraordinary instrument.

Trevor plays the Bach pieces with a nice touch. This is a record to listen to on your own and enjoy.

Verve 2352 065

This is Oscar Peterson, one of the best jazz piano players ever, at the top of his career somewhere during the 70's playing with Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. The recording is not of the highest quality, but Oscar plays "the stars from heaven".

EMI 5C 062-04550

"Atom Heart Mother" is one of the finest standards in pop music. It's recorded in the famous Abbey Road Studios in England in 1970. It was the start of Pink Floyd and made him famous all at once! Nice to hear how pop music sounded almost 40 years ago and still pleasing.

Proprius ATR003

"Jazz at the Pawnshop" is one of the very few standards in audiophile circles. It was recorded the analogue way on a two-channel tape recorder in 1977. The fun of the record is in the (Swedish) musicians clearly having fun with the performance and the outstanding recording. From beginning to end it gives you the feeling of being in that jazz cafe, surrounded by people and the bar at the far end. Later, when even audio fanatics switched to CD, the record was also brought out on CD and recently there's even a DVD of that performance. Believe me, the analogue record still outperforms the other ones.

Capitol 21797 13261

Frank Sinatra's "Only the Lonely" is a recently rereleased album. The record is pressed using the original tapes from 1958. That time was the beginning of stereo and some may remember the enthousiasm of music lovers with the new format at the time. Most records in the beginning were recorded the "ping - pong" way. Sound came from left or right with nothing inbetween. Not so on this record. The orchestra is spread widely in space and "the Voice" is in front at the center.

The sound quality is good and the record is pressed on heavy vinyl (180 grams). But I suppose the engineers used some digital equipment to restore the sound from the old tapes. The old original records really perform better.