The Blue Note Thread

Jbraswell said:
The Soul Samba landed.
I think the 45RPM did this one justice and unveils the sound on a BN more than most of my other TPs.

It's sounds more wide open comparatively to other BN releases I own.

The jacket is just a normal slip cover. No gatefold surprisingly.
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I’m playing mine at work now. My setup here isn’t nearly as nice as at home, and this thing still sounds amazing.
 
Kevin & Joe probably bought the Lathe (Neumann ?) when no one wanted them, Kevin probbaly refurbished it himself, as he's pretty ingenious. Both have been in the game for a while so likely picked up tape machines when no one wanted them as well. I remember Studer two track tape machines from CBC Canada going for $350 ea a few years back (@Mather please confirm ?) when they went all digital. The new electronics, cables, etc. Kevin recently installed for his new system are likely paid for with his intense mastering schedule and stipends he receives from Blue Note and many other labels he works on.

As far as RTI, labor is a big problem right now everywhere. I will not get into the politics of this here. I did recently hear Kevin and Joe both say leaving vinyl sitting around in pressing plants without sleeving them is a bad idea for dust and dirt. But having a vinyl record sit in a hot summer usps or Amz truck isn't either. My BN/TP luck as been fine of late, no major issues recently (knock on wood) and since Hank Mobley Soul Station.
 
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JohnnyCashFan said:
Kevin & Joe probably bought the Lathe (Neumann ?) when no one wanted them, Kevin probbaly refurbished it himself, as he's pretty ingenious. Both have been in the game for a while so likely picked up tape machines when no one wanted them as well. I remember Studer two track tape machines from CBC Canada going for $350 ea a few years back (@Mather please confirm ?) when they went all digital. The new electronics, cables, etc. Kevin recently installed for his new system are likely paid for with his intense mastering schedule and stipends he receives from Blue Note and many other labels he works on.

As far as RTI, labor is a big problem right now everywhere. I will not get into the politics of this here. I did recently hear Kevin and Joe both say leaving vinyl sitting around in pressing plants without sleeving them is a bad idea for dust and dirt. But having a vinyl record sit in a hot summer usps or Amz truck isn't either. My BN/TP luck as been fine of late, no major issues recently (knock on wood) and since Hank Mobley Soul Station.
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Joe is a producer, he isn't a part of Cohearant, he didn't buy the lathe. As Joe's main job is promotion for Audioquest, Kevin's studio has been done with high end AQ cabling, paid for by AQ.

Kevin gets paid by the hour for his work, his standard rate card for mastering is out there. Mastering is a purely 'hourly rate for hire' job, no commissions or anything else. Every job pays the same hourly rate.

He is busy, but do the math. Most mastering jobs are two hours max. The TP's probably book in a 7 hour day and do 3 or 4 in a day. He's not full up, but steady, as most are.

Kevin was the in-house guy at RTI, he brought over most of the equipment from there, but has upgraded/refurbished a lot since.
 
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RHANDMJ said:
Joe is a producer, he isn't a part of Cohearant, he didn't buy the lathe. As jpoe's main job is promotion for Audioquest, Kevin's studio has been done with high end AQ cabloing, paid for by AQ.

Kevin gets paid by the hour for his work, his standard rate card for mastering is out there. masterig is a purely 'hourly rate for hire' job, no commissions or anything else. Every job pays the same hourly rate.

He is busy, but do the math. Most mastering jobs are two hours max. The TP's probably book in a 7 hour day and do 3 or 4 in a day.

Kevin was the in-house guy at RTI, he brought over most of the equipment from there, but has upgraded/refurbished a lot since.
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Spinning Curtain Call and Tippin The Scales.
Both have Sonny Clark. TTS is a clear leader (buy this release)

I laugh at what KG can do in 2 hours and these engineers at Mofi need weeks or months.
The story is doesn't add up....
 
Jbraswell said:
Spinning Curtain Call and Tippin The Scales.
Both have Sonny Clark. TTS is a clear leader (buy this release)

I laugh at what KG can do in 2 hours and these engineers at Mofi need weeks or months.
The story is doesn't add up....
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Yeah, I get that. Thing is, I don't know the MOFI model, i.e. what their staff's arrangement is and what they get paid. For sure it is different from everyone else, who basically comes on staff at a mastering studio and is either on salary or gets paid by the project. For many, even some with a 'name' in the audio world, the arrangement is like taking a chair at the hair salon - you get a % of what you bring in. No work, no pay.

To be fair, KG has been working with RVG tapes for over a decade now. And those are very good tapes, often needing close to no adjustment. He knows BN/RVG like the back of his right hand now, and can crank out BN pretty fast.

On the other hand, not knowing the model the MOFI guys work under, they apparently have the luxury of not being timesheet punchers. Having been in that situation in consulting agencies most of my life, and then having been liberated, I can say that you can do a very good job and learn how to do so with time discipline in the hourly model, but free from that, your time discipline breaks down, and you often find yourself spending a lot of time pondering, tinkering, experimenting and generally working around a project - but have, in the end, the ability to do an even better project.

As Einstein said - if I have 10 hours to solve a problem, I will spend 9 hours thinking about it, and 1 hour solving it. The same can be said about mastering, although I suspect there are diminishing returns involved.

And the flaw in Einstein's argument applied to my business, for example - and likely most mastering people - is that no one pays you for the first 9 hours.
 
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JohnnyCashFan said:
Kevin & Joe probably bought the Lathe (Neumann ?) when no one wanted them, Kevin probbaly refurbished it himself, as he's pretty ingenious. Both have been in the game for a while so likely picked up tape machines when no one wanted them as well. I remember Studer two track tape machines from CBC Canada going for $350 ea a few years back (@Mather please confirm ?) when they went all digital. The new electronics, cables, etc. Kevin recently installed for his new system are likely paid for with his intense mastering schedule and stipends he receives from Blue Note and many other labels he works on.

As far as RTI, labor is a big problem right now everywhere. I will not get into the politics of this here. I did recently hear Kevin and Joe both say leaving vinyl sitting around in pressing plants without sleeving them is a bad idea for dust and dirt. But having a vinyl record sit in a hot summer usps or Amz truck isn't either. My BN/TP luck as been fine of late, no major issues recently (knock on wood) and since Hank Mobley Soul Station.
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I don't know of that specific Studer sale but it's very much something CBC would do. When I was working down there they had a JIP bin where they just threw any gear that they didn't think they could easily sell, you'd find thousands of dollars worth of old camera CCUs and audio gear in there on a daily basis that was free to whomever wanted it.
 
RHANDMJ said:
Yeah, I get that. Thing is, I don't know the MOFI model, i.e. what their staff's arrangement is and what they get paid. For sure it is different from everyone else, who basically comes on staff at a mastering studio and is either on salary or gets paid by the project. For many, even some with a 'name' in the audio world, the arrangement is like taking a chair at the hair salon - you get a % of what you bring in. No work, no pay.

To be fair, KG has been working with RVG tapes for over a decade now. And those are very good tapes, often needing close to no adjustment. He knows BN/RVG like the back of his right hand now, and can crank out BN pretty fast.

On the other hand, not knowing the model the MOFI guys work under, they apparently have the luxury of not being timesheet punchers. Having been in that situation in consulting agencies most of my life, and then having been liberated, I can say that you can do a very good job and learn how to do so with time discipline in the hourly model, but free from that, your time discipline breaks down, and you often find yourself spending a lot of time pondering, tinkering, experimenting and generally working around a project - but have, in the end, the ability to do an even better project.

As Einstein said - if I have 10 hours to solve a problem, I will spend 9 hours thinking about it, and 1 hour solving it. The same can be said about mastering, although I suspect there are diminishing returns involved.

And the flaw in Einstein's argument applied to my business, for example - and likely most mastering people - is that no one pays you for the first 9 hours.
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The 2 hours is not specific to BN. This is for many LPs. Even Hoffman has said the mastering and lacquer is cut before lunch.
 
Lee Newman said:
Did they forget to print the title on the spine of the Classics Adam’s Apple or did I get an ultra rare misprint variant?
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jamieanderson1968 said:
Just checked mine and it is the same. UPC and catalogue numbers only

Edit: just checked Discogs and quite a few people have noted the lack of text.
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Textless spines is one of my least favourite parts of this hobby!
 
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