Audio News for October 25, 2013

by | Oct 25, 2013 | Audio News

Everest Records CD Reissues Again – A German firm is reissuing many of the Everest Records, one of the leading audiophile labels in the so-called Golden Age of Stereo Recording during the last 1950s and early 1960s. Founded by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958, the label made minimally-miced three-channel recordings, often using 35mm film recorders. Whyte was the guiding force of the label and they equaled or surpassed the efforts of the other Golden Age labels such as RCA, Mercury and Decca. They presaged the use of 2-inch multi-track tape as a recording standard years later. They secured major conductors such as Adrian Boult, Leopold Stokowski, Josef Krips, Malcolm Sargent and Eugene Goossens, and often used Walthamstow Assembly Hall in the UK, one of the recognized acoustic gems, for their recordings. Everest also recorded several famous composers conducting their own works, including Aaron Copland, Morton Gould, Malcolm Arnold, Carlos Chavez, Ferde Grofé and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Omega Records did a magnificent job of reissuing some of their album on CD in the 1990s. Almost 75 recordings from Everest will be reissued on physical CDs, plus made available for downloading in hi-res from HDTracks, from iTunes’ “Mastered for iTunes” and at standard CD quality from Amazon. Each one comes with the original cover art, liner notes (the CDs have an 8-page booklet), tech information, performance and production credits. We’ll be reviewing some of them.

Music Matters Ltd. Reissuing Blue Note Classics on 45 rpm Vinyl – A firm including record producer Joe Harley has been reissuing Blue Note jazz classics on double 45 rpm vinyl sets retailing for $ 49.95, and most of them are already sold out. For nearly 70 years, Blue Note—producer Alfred Lion, photographer Francis Wolff and famed recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder and his home studio—have been synonymous with the finest in recorded jazz. The artistic level, graphic presentation and sonics of the label set the standard for all jazz recordings to come. Just as AudioWave has been reissuing some of the Blue Note material on xrcd24s, Music Matters presents their definitive new editions on vinyl. The 45 rpm speed used by AcousTech Mastering allows for a 35% increase in groove velocity at any point on the disc, as well as mastering at a higher level. It avoids most of the loss of the higher frequencies as the stylus approaches the center label.  Of course it also cuts the recorded time by 35%, so two 45 rpm 12-inch discs and four sides are required, doubling the cost. The discs are 180 gram audiophile pressings, not 200 gram, because their research showed no advantage of the heavier vinyl and in fact more warpage problems.

CEA Honors Consumer Electronics Manufacturers and Retailers for Recycling – The Consumer Electronics Association has honored Best Buy, Dell, HP and Samsung with the inaugural eCycling Leadership Award for their ecycling efforts in 2012. The award recognizes consumer electronics companies who are recycling above and beyond any level mandated by government. So far, the CE industry is on track to meet a goal announced in 2011 to increase the amount of recycled consumer electronics to one billion pounds annually by 2016. The award itself is made out of recycled cathode ray tube glass by Nulife Glass Processing Ltd.

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