As some of you may know, Peter Lindemann at Soundsmith has been recording a number of D2D performances on his own cutting rig for some time now and offering them for sale. It's all to support a child welfare charity that he is a part of. You can check them out on his site.
The very best sound: Direct to Disc
Since I got a new cartridge (Clear Audio Virtuoso) i’ve rediscovered the Sheffield and RR Direct Disc albums in my collection.
Wow! they put everything else to shame. I picked up about twenty Sheffield D2D’s when Tower Records went out of business for a song (no pun intended.) I’m just now listening to them and find there’s nothing that sonically compares. They’re just more real sounding than anything else. Not spectacular but realistic.
Wow! they put everything else to shame. I picked up about twenty Sheffield D2D’s when Tower Records went out of business for a song (no pun intended.) I’m just now listening to them and find there’s nothing that sonically compares. They’re just more real sounding than anything else. Not spectacular but realistic.
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I was fortunate to purchase over 75+ D2D discs, half from wholesalers at $1/disc in the 1980s when CD was driving out LPs. They include many RR, Sheffield, Crystal Clear, Toshiba, RCA and American Gramophone discs. They are generally well recorded. The Japanese discs were generally of Japanese performers but still very enjoyable. The performances often have a hightened presence, an excitement (or anxiety) to create a perfect performance. I find them close to R2R dynamics and sound quality. Just great to hear. |
no one mentioned the 1982 Nautilus D2D LP "Secrets of the Andes" by Victor Feldman? Lots of 'air'....you can hear the musicians breath and turn pages on the music stands if one listens closely....hard to find nowadays in mint condition...a CD is available but no cigar compared to the LP IMHO. https://www.discogs.com/Victor-Feldman-Secret-Of-The-Andes/release/3447375 |
My first Sheffield was Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues, which I purchased at Opus One in Pittsburgh in 1973. I've enjoyed many, particularly the Harry James and Erich Leinsdorf leading the LA Philharmonic in Debussy's Prelude to the afternoon of a fawn and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. Other D2D's are Virgil Fox on Crystal Clear Records playing the Fratelli organ at the Crystal Cathedral, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Louis Bellson Note Smoking on Discwasher's label. My analog setup is a Linn LP12 with Cirkus and Lingo, an Ekos arm and Akiva cartridge feeding a Clearaudio Balance phono stage, Parasound Halo P7, Classe CA-5200, and Revel Performa F30's and a Performa B15 sub. |
I have most all of the D2D mentioned, but feel I should submit some other great LPs. The OPUS 3 are fine recordings with special mics in defined acoustical spaces. They issued a series of system setup discs: imaging, dynamics, timbre, etc. Even better are the Pierre Verany LPs. The Mamba Percussions is amazing! |
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