With the rapid progress of digital this is akin to getting off a horse and driving away in a car.
Michael Fremer leaves Analog Planet
I'm not sure who I can trust anymore.....
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Wishful thinking! Michael Fremer heart and soul belongs to Vinyl. He may dabble into digital here n there for convenience but I can’t imagine him dumping his massive record collection for digital streaming. Most of these transitions are money driven and exposure to new things. Rumor has it that he may be joining TAS :-) |
Mr Fremer messaged me personally to tell me I was an a-s hole for contradicting a buddy of his. I thought that rather odd as all I had stated was a simple fact not my opinion. Mr Fremer is a record collector. He has more records than the Library of Congress. Good for him. His opinion on the sonic qualities of anything means a little more than zero to me. All I have to do to make something sound better to him is jack the price. It is great that he can make a living doing what he loves and in that I am jealous. |
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@teo_audio: Without Art Dudley, Stereophile is barely worth reading (I have a complete collection of his Listener magazine). I stick around for John Atkinson's amplifier and loudspeaker measurements. When Fremer was originally with TAS, he never missed an opportunity to badmouth Stereophile. Wonder if he'll repeat himself. |
I will say the same thing here that I just posted on AP.
Let's take a simple look at history. Tyll Hertsens WAS InnerFidelity and once he was gone the website by that name died. Gone. |
Whether you agree or not with the veracity of Fremers reviews, he has had an immense impact on the resurgence of vinyl after the digital onslaught in the late 80's, particularly amongst the baby boomers - we should be thankful. I think AP & Sterophile will miss Fremer much more than they think, particularly since Art Dudley's passing as well. I only ever read Fremer and Dudley, and of course the record reviews. The equipment reviews these days are pretty much advertorials - like the car mags where everything is great - until the new model comes out - thats when they reveal the obvious flaws in the previous model. |
Thank god he’s going to TAS because I don’t read TAS anymore due to their ridiculously always favorable reviews, every product reviewed is the best product ever made. In the past, I refused to read any of Fremer reviews outside of analog products due to his huge bias against anything digital. BTW, after my stereophile subscription runs out, I’ll be done with that magazine too for the same reasons.
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I like Fremer. I like his reviews and his quirkiness. And I’ve found his videos very informative. But I can’t stand his protege, that self-entitled little brat called Malachi. He may be a wunderkind when it comes to knowledge of vinyl history and production, but he’s been set free on AP to write what he wants, insult the artists he reviews and insult the readers. And at his age he doesn’t have the skills or life experience like Mikey. He should not be telling us what it was like being a protester of the Vietnam war, he thinks he’s a mini Mike.
Anyway, if you read the comments included in the provided link, he drops a bombshell, writing that he’s leaving AP and following Fremer on his next endeavor. And it’s obviously a shock to the publisher. His first job and he’s burned a bridge. I hope MF stops mentoring this kid and continues doing what he does best. |
Pity. I quite liked Mikey's columns but unfortunately his liking for expensive kit (especially turntables/arms) may be associated with the terms on which he is said to be able to acquire them. In the good old days his reference for 8 years was Simon Yorke's S7 that cost a mere $12,000 or so then and played records rather than did bling. I still reference Simon's record players. Absolute Sounds sucks compared to Stereophile, so I won't be reading any Mikey in future. |
@dover +1 on the "advertorials" I had never laid eyes on that one before. So true. Bring back J. Gordon Holt! Regards, barts |
Never read his articles, never cared about what he said. Dropped my subscription to AS and Stereophile a few years ago, never experienced the “vinyl resurgence” as vinyl never left me. Only eventually bought a CD player because I could not get new music by my fav artists on vinyl. Felt like digital was forced upon me as a consumer. The only expert I care about, is how my “expert” ears hear. |
@dover, +1 on Fremer’s contributions to the resurgence of vinyl (and on “advertorials”). I have liked Fremer since his early TAS days. First of all, and important to me when assessing a reviewer’s relevance, is that when he speaks about the music he does so intelligently. I remember his early TAS review of his capacitor mods to his lowly Hafler preamp and what a revelation this was for him….and me. This was back in the day when hobbyists were just learning about the benefits of mods like capacitor upgrades. I like his passion for the hobby and his quirky and sometimes funny style; a style befitting his background as an aspiring stand up comic…. ok, sure, let’s hear the snarky comments about that one!
Speaking of snarky comments, I would also say that the vitriol directed at Fremer (and audio critics in general) by some “enthusiasts” is often nothing more than sheer envy. On some level we all wish we could afford, or at least have access to all those uber expensive toys. It’s just not fair, right?! |
@frogman his quirky personality and how he speaks his truth is why I've enjoyed him so much. Plus he's hilarious. There are so many sticks in the mud in audio and all this weird classism over products +$100k, I've always gravitated to the guy. Sure he's got expensive equipment, but he's really one of the few who's worked his life in audio and has done well so why shouldn't he have the best he can afford? |
Don't cry too much for Mikey, Audiophiles! I wonder how much of this move was his decision, as opposed to Stereophile suggesting he take a hike. He and Stereophile took a lot of heat after that article he published about the Onzow Zero Dust Stylus Cleaner several months ago. That was arguably a real half-ass hatchet job of journalism or reporting, as it were. I wonder if Onzow and some of the other goop-type stylus cleaners may have threatened to sue him and Stereophile. |
Just to clarify the timeline, I suspect that you know Michael’s writing all started after he was the sound design supervisor for TRON in 1982 – he was responsible for the finished soundtrack, consisting of music and sound effects. He first showed up on the TAS masthead in the Sept/Oct 1986 - Vol. 11/Issue 43, as a Correspondent (LA). The next issue, Nov/Dec 1986 - Vol. 11/Issue 44, he was listed at the Popular Music Editor, right up until the Dec. 1994 - Vol. 19/Issue 100, where he was listed as Senior Editor (Popular Music). Come the next issue Vol. 20/Issue 101 – no Mikey. He didn’t show up on the Stereophile masthead until July 1995, Vol. 18/Issue 7, where he was listed as a Contributing Editor (Hardware), where he has been ever since. (Yes, I have just about every issue of each magazine! 😉). Now, he’s headed back to TAS... You just can’t make this stuff up... |
Phantom-av, sure magazines need to make money to stay in business but the audio magazine groups do it the worst way possible compared to other high budget hobby magazines: like car magazines. You can take any 6 of car magazines and they do a much better job at describing their car up for review without the unnecessary sugar coatings that audio mags introduce. In car mags, you will see true head to head real-time comparisons between 2 to dozen related cars, and guess what, there is 1 winner and 1 or more that didn’t win, not every car is the best they have reviewed. I never trust an audio magazine review for the sq of the product, I view other avenues that I have found trust in to base my initial feeling on a new product. |
Michael Fremer Launches TrackingAngle.com global online audiences Wyckoff, NJ—June 16th, 2022—Veteran audio journalist and music writer/critic Michael Fremer will launch the website TrackingAngle.com, the new online home of the pioneering 90s- site is expected to go live in late Summer 2022. As this new venture begins, Fremer will move For more information and to register for the mailing list to receive launch notifications, please Media contact: |
@mijostyn +1 OP, trust your own ears. |
I knew several reviewers back in the 90s, and Mikey was one of them. Let me say about him, his ears weren't what you'd think they were back then, and I doubt they got any better with time. Yes, he kept the torch lit for analog and deserves credit there, but I don't trust his reviews. Reviewing is a business. Enough said. |
@mijostyn I agree with much of hat you wrote - that said don't envy him. I take his reviews with a jar of salt ever sincee his 'about turn' on the whest 0.2 review hen he first said it was superior to his mate Eva Manley Steelhead - and then retracted the review. he's useful for informing you about what is out there - but given his reviewing job, shows, setting up for record bosses - i don't kno how he ever listens to any music... |
Guy's, Michael Fremer had squat to do with the resurgence of vinyl. Most of the kids getting into vinyl have no idea who he is and us old guy just kept doing what we have always done long before Fremer ever wrote a word for TAS. Vinyl would have had a resurgence in any event. Fremer is just a cheer leader. |