I have a lot of mono reissues of albums from the 50s. Many have facsimile jackets with the same instruction to use the RIAA playback curve. It's true that just about anything cut since that period use RIAA equalization by default. The guidance to use RIAA for playback is just a relic of the era, when other equalization curves were also used. My phono-stage has RIAA playback by default, but it also has switches for EMI, Columbia and Decca (FFRR) curves, for those who have original records from the period mastered/cut with them.
"Users of wide-range playback equipment should compensate for the RIAA curve"
On a whim, I bought "Duke Ellington Presents ..." as an LP record from Presto. Well, it was half price and turned out to be mono. The sleeve has the title line printed on it and I am confused about what compensation means in this context.
Now the original recording was made in February 1956 and my copy is made in Czech by Bethlehem Records in 2022 and is described as High Fidelity.
The sleeve contains what could be original notes by one Joseph P Muranyi, immediately followed by compensation notice, then a list of similar recordings from Bethlehem.
There is a lot of treble energy on the record but that's expected because there’s four trumpets in the band! It sounds better than expected for 1956.
Surely Bethlehem in 2022 would have applied the RIAA curve reasonable correctly and only included the compensation warning for nostalgia? What am I missing?
Showing 3 responses by dwette
@richardbrand I have a Boulder 1108 phono-stage. |
@richardbrand I don't know where you are (I guess A$ is Australia), but Boulder is an American product, and that's where I am. The retail price here for the 1108 is $21,000. |