Hopkins' System

[hopkins]

Alice was big, fat, and had the blues:

 

[hopkins]

I listened to @PeterA 's nice video below and was curious to see how this track sounded on my system - not in a "competitive" spirit, but just out of curiosity. The systems don't have anything in common (high-end vinyl rig, tube amplifiers, large vintage speakers vs digital source, poweramp, budget speakers). I enjoyed listening to the track.

I don't have this LP - I recorded the track on Qobuz:

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

 

[hopkins]

Here's a recording of a direct to disc LP:

https://www.discogs.com/release/3420774-Eiji-Kitamura-Swing-Sessions

 

[hopkins]

I listened to @PeterA 's nice video below and was curious to see how this track sounded on my system - not in a "competitive" spirit, but just out of curiosity. The systems don't have anything in common (high-end vinyl rig, tube amplifiers, large vintage speakers vs digital source, poweramp, budget speakers). I enjoyed listening to the track.

I don't have this LP - I recorded the track on Qobuz:

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

I compared the two videos listening with my Etymotyc earphones. I am not going to offer any comments on the systems, but I was struck by how different they sound:

- the recording quality is very different, even though both were recorded with a phone. PeterA's video has a pretty high level of background noise, and there seem to be some clipping/saturation on the louder passages

- the level of reverberation from the room seems to be very different, based on what I hear on the recordings.

So phone videos are interesting, but not without challenges when used to compare systems.

 

[hopkins]

Sarah Vaughan - After Hours at the London House - Speak Low.

Mono LP - the digital versions are only available in stereo and her voice is recorded on a single channel, which I find annoying to listen to. The LP is not in mint condition...

https://www.discogs.com/release/14269868-Sarah-Vaughan-After-Hours-At-The-London-House

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

 

[Argonaut]

Great Album , replete with plenty of audience ambiance bringing the venue alive … As well as a lovely companion to enjoy the music together :0}

 

[hopkins]

Here's a nice LP box set of Duke Ellington in the years 1938-1940:

https://www.discogs.com/release/2949550-Duke-Ellington-An-Explosion-Of-Genius-1938-1940

I got a "near-mint" copy on Discogs for a low price.

It was issued by the Smithsonian institution, in 1976. An all star cast of jazz critics of the time contributed to the project: Martin Williams, Gunther Schuller, Dan Morgenstern...





There is a nice booklet with extensive liner notes, pictures, and credits.



The sound is good, better on some tracks, IMO, than some of the well known digital releases like the "Never No Lament" or "Centennial" CD box sets, but there are so many CD versions that you may find one you like. It's also nice to listen to these on vinyl while leafing through the booklet.

Here's a sample (it's simpler to make a video):

The same track on Qobuz in one of those CD version has some heavy distortion during the same solo:

Listen to Conga Brava by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/track/207295

The distortion was fixed in a more recent CD version, I believe, but not available on Qobuz, as far as I know. I have a Ben Webster compilation CD that has that track in pretty good sound, but this LP version is still a little more relaxing to listen to.