Is there really a strong interest in film photography?

[Cholentpot]

I don't have any idea. I haven't bought any new (old) music in several years. The last time I bought Revolver was in 2009 when the remastered CD sets came out.

They fixed the stereo version, that much I can tell you.

 

[faberryman]

They fixed the stereo version, that much I can tell you.

I think the original 1966 version of Revolver was mono. I am not sure why they decided to do a stereo version. I guess it must be twice as good since it has twice as many channels. I saw that the newest remaster has a Dolby Atmos version. Who knows how many channels that has. I think the max is 128.

I remember listening to this famous album that was originally recorded in mono and remastered in stereo. It may have been a Bob Dylan album. Anyway, in the stereo version they put his voice in the left channel and his guitar in the right channel. Boy, was that a improvement. So realistic.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Let me introduce myself. I had a brief flirtation with CDs 1987-89 before going back to vinyl and never looking back. I buy CDs only where the music is not available on a better format (vinyl or 24-bit lossless download...I miss DVD-A too). 80% of my music listening is on vinyl. 10% from magnetic tape. 10% digital. I even have an office turntable. I realised that tide was turning about 10 years ago when my cousin visited with his kids. I was searching for a record cousin and I used to enjoy as teenagers and this 10 year old kid said "Ooooh, vinyl. Do you know they're better than CDs?". Even Audio-Technica are re-releasing the Sound Burger. Record players and turntables at all price points are selling. Last year the most popular Christmas purchase from one major, mainstream retailer in the UK was.....a turntable. Rega now do great business at the Ideal Home Show. I've even seen half decent, non-destructive turntables on sale at the supermarket (yay Tesco!).

And no, one does not need a turntable and amp that cost as much as a car. While I am very happy that I invested in a Systemdek for home use back in 1991 (probably the most shrewd purchase I ever made), my office turntable is a modest 80s model sold under several names (Sansui, Memorex, Marantz to name three). And even through my 42 year old Realistic micro amp it sounds audibly better than streaming from my office computer. A few years ago I restored my late father's 1960s Garrard and gave it to a friend who plays it through a Bose bluetooth speaker. Knocks the socks off Spotify etc.

In the last four years (pandemic aside) I've been seeing a lot of small bands at a jazz and blues club. They've also seen a shift into people wanting to buy their music on vinyl records and not CDs. Music lovers who want to *listen* to the music. I have a fair few musician friends (including one or two famous ones) who say the same, their music is selling on vinyl and they're starting to actually make money from music again. Let me tell you, Spotify reduced a man who has had a near 50 year career at the sharp end of rock music including a decade as a full member of a household name band to driving a 15 year old Honda Civic because he makes almost no money from streaming.

As for film being a fad and driven by the come and go weird films.....again....read the info being presented. Kodak are hiring people to manufacture 35mm C41 film because of specific, sustained increase in demand for colour 35mm film. Retailers cannot get hold of enough C41 colour film. Film cameras are flying off shelves of brick and mortar shops and prices on auction sites and even charity shops/flea markets have doubled in recent times. TALK to the people selling these items and they tell you people are buying them to use, not to display or turn into a novelty desk lamp (oh, the horror).

What are these CDs and DVDs of which you speak?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I think the original 1966 version of Revolver was mono. I am not sure why they decided to do a stereo version. I guess it must be twice as good since it has twice as many channels. I saw that the newest remaster has a Dolby Atmos version. Who knows how many channels that has. I think the max is 128.

I remember listening to this famous album that was originally recorded in mono and remastered in stereo. It may have been a Bob Dylan album. Anyway, in the stereo version they put his voice in the left channel and his guitar in the right channel. Boy, was that a improvement. So realistic.

OMG what if they had remastered it in quadraphonic!

 

[faberryman]

OMG what if they had remastered it in quadraphonic!

There are a lot of surround sound remasters, about which the less said the better.

I built this kit from Dynaco that gave you synthesized quadraphonic. That would have been circa 1972. I thought it sounded great. Ah, to be young and foolish again.

 

[Sirius Glass]

OMG what if they had remastered it in quadraphonic!

There are a lot of surround sound remasters, about which the less said the better.

I built this kit from Dynaco that gave you synthesized quadraphonic. That would have been circa 1972. I thought it sounded great. Ah, to be young and foolish again.

I was being sarcastic.

 

[Cholentpot]

I think the original 1966 version of Revolver was mono. I am not sure why they decided to do a stereo version. I guess it must be twice as good since it has twice as many channels. I saw that the newest remaster has a Dolby Atmos version. Who knows how many channels that has. I think the max is 128.

I remember listening to this famous album that was originally recorded in mono and remastered in stereo. It may have been a Bob Dylan album. Anyway, in the stereo version they put his voice in the left channel and his guitar in the right channel. Boy, was that a improvement. So realistic.

*Cracks knuckles*

The Beatles themselves mixed it down into mono back in the day and as stereo was somewhat of a novelty the engineers went overboard and made a stereo mix that did not age well. When the CD version came out in the late 80's it still used that wonky Stereo mix due to the limitations of a 4 track recording mix. When the remaster was put out in '08 again, the master stereo mix had to be used. It was cleaned up but still that full-pan style stereo from the 60's. The mono version was re-released and remastered in '08 which was superior to the stereo mix.

And then this latest release is a remix. Martin Jr used the tech from the Get Back Documentary (It's amazing) to isolated tracks using AI and magic. Thusly making a stereo mix that sounds top notch albite with a few odd choices. No more guitar in one ear and drums in another. It's a full range stereo mix. I have no clue how they did it but it sounds amazing. I've only heard the streaming version, I'd love to hear it on vinyl at some point.

 

[faberryman]

I was being sarcastic.

I know.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I know.

Good. I was getting worried.

 

[Arthurwg]

Contrary to a common factoid, there is a tonne of good stuff not released on CD or streaming.

Yes. I've been looking for wonderful record I had years ago, Laurindo Almeida playing the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos. Very folkloric, nowhere to be found these days.

 

[logan2z]

Yes. I've been looking for wonderful record I had years ago, Laurindo Almeida playing the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos. Very folkloric, nowhere to be found these days.

Is this it?

Laurindo Almeida, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Sylvius Leopold Weiss - Villa-Lobos: Concerto For Guitar And Small Orchestra, Weiss: Suite In A Minor, Bach: Arioso (Vinyl, US, 1966) For Sale | Discogs

Shop the 1966 US Vinyl release of Villa-Lobos: Concerto For Guitar And Small Orchestra, Weiss: Suite In A Minor, Bach: Arioso by Laurindo Almeida, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Sylvius Leopold Weiss at Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[warden]

I am familiar with the evils of current recording practices and remastering rock. Here is a piece I wrote on it a while back when I was reviewing high end audio equipment.

That's very cool. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Curious. Do commercially bought music CD's die as often as my personal backup data CD's?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Curious. Do commercially bought music CD's die as often as my personal backup data CD's?

It depend on the quality and life of the reflective coating on the label side of the CD. Evidentially, vinyl recorders do not have this problem.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

It depend on the quality and life of the reflective coating on the label side of the CD. Evidentially, vinyl recorders do not have this problem.

I realize that. But do they die as often as mine do? Should people duplicate their commercially bought CD's from time to time?

 

[Arthurwg]

Is this it?

Laurindo Almeida, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Sylvius Leopold Weiss - Villa-Lobos: Concerto For Guitar And Small Orchestra, Weiss: Suite In A Minor, Bach: Arioso (Vinyl, US, 1966) For Sale | Discogs

Shop the 1966 US Vinyl release of Villa-Lobos: Concerto For Guitar And Small Orchestra, Weiss: Suite In A Minor, Bach: Arioso by Laurindo Almeida, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Sylvius Leopold Weiss at Discogs.

www.discogs.com

The one I remember was just solo guitar.

 

[Pieter12]

It depend on the quality and life of the reflective coating on the label side of the CD. Evidentially, vinyl recorders do not have this problem.

I have heard that data CDs are susceptible to digital rot. Never experienced it myself, and I don't know if it applies to mass-produced musical or data CDs. Vinyl is delicate, easily scratched and susceptible to warping and of course breakage. They also will deteriorate with use, especially when equipment is not set correctly. And magnetic tape doesn't age very well unless kept under controlled conditions.

 

[Pieter12]

I realize that. But do they die as often as mine do? Should people duplicate their commercially bought CD's from time to time?

Could it be your CD burner or the blank CDs you are using?

 

[Helge]

I realize that. But do they die as often as mine do? Should people duplicate their commercially bought CD's from time to time?

Recordable CDs and pressed CDs are fundamentally different.

Recordable CDs use various technologies. One of them is dye based and that dye will fade at some point.

Pressed aluminum CDs can rust/oxidize if the glue used to seal the two translucent discs around the alu-coating is not of sufficient quality. But that is quite rare for CDs.
More common for Laserdiscs, but only from one of the three or four factories that made Laserdiscs.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Could it be your CD burner or the blank CDs you are using?

I lost GOld-type DVD's after ten years. Which are the best for archiving?

 

[VinceInMT]

I lost GOld-type DVD's after ten years. Which are the best for archiving?

I’ve used all types of CDs and DVDs for trading and archiving my collections of radio broadcasts and started doing this quite some time agO, like when CD-Rs first came out. I recently copied all of them to an external HD. (We are talking about hundreds of disks and around 200,000 files.). All the disks read OK but I had a few where the blank white painted label flew apart inside the reader. I had to clean the reader but the disk read OK. I’m a belt and suspenders person so I copied the whole collection to a space in the cloud where I have (sort of) unlimited space.

I’ve also been digitizing all the stuff I have on magnetic tape. Interestingly, I have about 200 reels from the late-1940s (picked up at an estate sale) on paper backed tape and they play just fine. I have another 600 reels (from another estate sale) recorded in the 50s and 60s and they play just fine. The only issue is that the acetate backed ones can be fragile. Luckily none of them have degraded (no acetic acid smell) but any splices put in by the previous owner have to be replaced.

Copying everything to an external drive (and then backing it up to another drive and the cloud) isn’t just for backup but its hooked up the web server I run on my home network (on a Raspberry Pi.) The custom software I wrote allows me to search and play anything on the drive. I’m working on a search and view tool that allows all my film (which I’ve scanned) to be “played” the same way, even with custom playlists/slide shows.

Bottom line, I think backing up to the latest tech is just something we have to do occasionally.

 

[VinceInMT]

Regarding the hunt for better audio quality, I got off that train a few stops back. Between the natural decline in hearing with age and a loud case of tinnitus I have, I’m just happy I can still still hear what I do. While I do still enjoy my 1970s system that I bought when I was in the army and few pieces added after that, I do listen quite a bit with my AirPod Pros. I also listen to music while riding my motorcycle with JBL speakers inside my helmet which sound surprising good.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Regarding the hunt for better audio quality, I got off that train a few stops back. Between the natural decline in hearing with age and a loud case of tinnitus I have, I’m just happy I can still still hear what I do. While I do still enjoy my 1970s system that I bought when I was in the army and few pieces added after that, I do listen quite a bit with my AirPod Pros. I also listen to music while riding my motorcycle with JBL speakers inside my helmet which sound surprising good.

But can you still hear the road sounds with the speakers. The volume of the speakers could kill you missing information that could have helped you avoid an accident.

 

[Pieter12]

I also listen to music while riding my motorcycle

No wonder your hearing is deteriorating. Earplugs are your friend. Custom ones even better.

 

[Agulliver]

I tried archiving my audio and video tapes/cassettes to CD-R and DVD-R but gave up when I realised that the original media last longer than the discs. Though perhaps these days it is viable to back everything up to a very large hard drive, keep two copies and periodically replace them with new units? Except....where does one find the time to back up so much material? I'd never listen to or watch it because I'd be constantly backing up!

Excellent article on that Nine inch Nails track, short and concise. I've had the recent good fortune to be permitted to record some live concerts 96/24 digitally uncompressed. I set the levels to peak at around -18dB because there's really no need to go higher and it gives me a lot of room to play around with the EQ and limiting later on. For example, these are recorded close to a live band with an audience behind me. Band sounds great, dynamic range is out of this world in the recording, probably too high. If one turns up the volume enough to catch a quiet acoustic guitar intro the bass and snare drum are in danger of blowing out your loudspeaker....and you can't really hear the audience applause because it's so much quieter. I also need to "tamper" with the EQ because the vocals aren't that clear compared to the guitar and drums especially. I'm not going from the sound board, this is recorded with a portable digital recorder set up in front of the band. Ultimately I end up with a digital file that's gone through some editing and which I'll choose to peak around -6dB while playing with the EQ and applying some other tweaks. Sounds almost like being there on the night. Now....I could produce a waveform that looks exactly like that Nine inch Nails track and it would sound bloody dreadful.

What has this to do with photography? Actually I am unsure! Perhaps there is a parallel with film making something of a comeback and people who really care about their music demanding something better than the "loudness wars" era masters. Does one really want every photograph taken on film to look like it was taken on a modern device (DSLR, phone?). Because you can tweak in photoshop or your other chosen software to achieve that look. Or you can print in the darkroom or even scan with minimal tweaks and your photo will unmistakably have been shot on film. There are even differences depending on whether you use a leaf or focal plane curtain shutter.

Sadly I have not yet been asked to bring my reel to reel tape recorder to record a gig.

What are CDs? Coasters, my friend....coasters....