Re: Cables again. For Arny, et al.

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:15:35 -0800, dpierce.cartchunk.org@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote
(in article <fpg2g7021ju@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>):

> On Feb 17, 5:41 pm, Sonnova <sonn...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> I still don't think so. As I just outlined for Bob in another post, the
>> things over which the mastering engineer has direct control are on the
>> mechanical end of the process, not on the signal side. And those things
are
>> unlikely to affect the sound in any way from disc to disc or day to
day.
> 
> Well, you might want to, then argue the meaning of "mastering"
> with Bob Katz. See, the second edition of his book "Mastering
> Audio: The Art and Science" was just published and maybe 99%
> of the book deals with stuff that has nothing to do with the
> "mechanical end of the process." Indeed, most of what he deals
> with have DIRECT effect on the way the final disk sounds.

I don't doubt it. But all of those things are done because of the
mechanical 
limitations of the process, not of the source material.
> 
> Though you might dispute the point with Mr. Katz, had I the
> op****tunity to wager on the outcome of said dispute, you,
> hopefully, won't take offense on who I might choose to
> place my bet on.

Place your bet on who you like. There is little that one can do in the
chain 
between the master tape and the record master that would alter the sound
of 
similar master tapes from master disc to master disc.  I have mastered
more 
than my share of records in my time, I know what would affect the sound of

the finished disc and what wouldn't. Almost all of the things that would 
affect the sound of a record have to do with the limitations of disc
cutting 
and transferring sound from a medium with a greater dynamic range than the

final disc, and these are pretty much the same from disc to disc. Now the 
tapes may be wildly different, but that's another story. I suspect that
Rudy 
Van Gelders master tapes sounded very similar from artist to artist. 

-- 
Do you know the difference between students like you, amateurs and 
professional jazz musicians? Student bands and amateurs "almost" swing! 

Fred Berry
Professor of Music
Stanford University