Copper


How to Post Comments on Copper

issue 212Posting Comments on Copper

We get queries on how to post comments at the end of Copper articles. Admittedly, the process could be easier, and it might be streamlined in the future. For now,...

Table of Contents – Issue 212

issue 212Table of Contents

RIP Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead bassist and vocalist and one of the greatest musical titans who ever walked the Earth. Grateful Dead fans and millions of us offer boundless tribute...

Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes: Making Rec...

Issue 212Frankly Speaking

Plangent Processes offers a unique playback system that corrects for the wow and flutter present in the master tape of a recording, to provide speed stabilization. It’s a combination hardware...

AES 2024 Show Report: The Future of Audio, Today

Issue 212Show Report

The 2024 AES (Audio Engineering Society) convention took place in the Javits Center in New York this past October, in conjunction with the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) convention, which...

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: Woodland

Issue 212Wayne's Words

That Old-Time, New Style Roll and Rock You're sitting on a porch in the Shenandoah Valley, or maybe the hills of West Virginia, where freight trains are as common as...

Octave Records’ Jeremy Mohney Puts a Modern Twi...

Issue 212Octave Pitch

Octave Records’ latest release is Pennies from Heaven by vocalist and alto saxophonist Jeremy Mohney. The recording features 10 selections from the Great American Songbook in a swinging style that takes...

Dandelion Therapy

Issue 212Featured

The kids in the area called our neighbor’s boy “40 watt” because he wasn’t very bright. Like the rest of us, Danny lived in poverty, but he didn’t realize it because...

Thurston Moore: From Sonic Youth to Flow Critic...

Issue 212Disciples of Sound

Today, having a sense of daring is something anyone who chooses a life in rock and roll must possess in large quantities. There are few fast tracks to the top,...

McIntosh SESSIONS, Volume 1: The Peter Erskine ...

FeaturedIssue 212

There is a captivating quality to music recorded on analog tape and released on vinyl during the 1970s, in particular, that has been seared into the memories of countless music...

The Vinyl Beat: the Doobies, Rhinos, Secret Ide...

Issue 212The Vinyl Beat

Welcome to the November Vinyl Beat! This month might be all about elections and (for those of us in the United States) tryptophan from too much Thanksgiving food, but at...

Playing in a Rock Band, Part 5: What Kind of Mu...

Issue 212Frankly Speaking

So, you want to play in a rock band. An obvious question is, what kind of music do you want to play? Maybe you don’t want to play rock at...

Lou Reed, Joey Ramone, and Growing Up Jewish

Issue 212Featured

Recently, Copper contributor Larry Jaffee, the co-founder of record industry conference Making Vinyl, gave a talk at Long Island University called “The Ambivalent Jewish Lives of Two Rock Gods.” Jaffee...

In the Audience with frontRow Reserve Cables

Issue 212From The Listening Chair With Howard Kneller

Audience, located in San Marcos, California, mostly designs and manufacturers home audiophile products. These include cables, power conditioner products, a few system accessories, a loudspeaker, and other items. Though the...

For J: Songs of Love

Issue 212Sitting In

"I hope these songs bring back happy memories. You will know why I picked them. Every day we were together was the best day of my life. I will love you...

50 Years of PS Audio: 1997 and New Beginnings

Issue 212Paul's Place

When I asked folks to tell me what bit of PS Audio history they'd like to have me tell the story of, one of the most popular was that of how...

Back to My Reel-to Reel-Roots, Part 11

Issue 212Copper Classics / Natural Bork Kessler

High Crimes and Misdemeanors Nobody ever accused the record labels of unnecessary largesse. While the audiophile companies like Impex, Analogue Productions, Mobile Fidelity, Speakers Corner, Intervention and others show care...

PS Audio in the News

Issue 212PS Audio in the News

The Tracking Angle called the Stellar Strata MK2 “a no-nonsense utility integrated amp with exceptional sound.” Review Evan Toth liked its resolution, soundstage capabilities, and “a detailed and accurate view...

Blanket Statement

Issue 212Audio Static

    This cartoon originally appeared in Issue 164.

A RadioShack Extravaganza!

Issue 212Audio Anthropology

    We rocket into November with an all-RadioShack edition of "Audio Anthropology." The Shack was a retail store familiar to audio, electronics, musician, DIY and computer hobbyists from 1921...

Cactus Cornucopia

Issue 212Parting Shot

Speakers aren't the only things that can have spikes. Here are barrel cacti in a garden in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson, Arizona. 

James Lee Stanley Reflects on Life, Love and Li...

I’ve been listening to singer/songwriter/guitarist/actor/all-around great guy James Lee Stanley since 1998, when his Freelance Human Being album knocked me out. I believe he’s one of the most talented songwriters...

Table of Contents – Issue 211

category_issue 211Opening Salvo

It’s safe to say that every Copper reader grew up with Radio Shack, especially if you’ve ever burned your fingers on a soldering iron. Now, every Radio Shack catalog ever...

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The Art of Hi-Fi, Volume 6: Guitars from Octave...

Issue 211Octave Pitch

What’s not to love about guitar music? Especially when it’s as well-recorded and soulfully played as the selections on The Art of Hi-Fi Volume 06: Guitars, the latest release from...

Perla Batalla's Letter to Leonard Cohen

Issue 211Wayne's Words

  Happy 90th Birthday, Leonard! The ease and comfort which Perla Batalla brings to Leonard Cohen songs on A Letter to Leonard Cohen: To a Friend sounds so intimate and personal that...

Titanic’s Musicians Knew

Issue 211Featured

Imagine your ship is sinking, your fate is sealed, your life is doomed, and yet you remain calm and of service to others – not over the course of seconds like...

A Report from The Hong Kong High-End Audio Visu...

Issue 211Show Report

The Hong Kong High-End Audio Visual show has been held every summer since the inaugural edition in 2003, except in 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic. This year, the...

How to Play in a Rock Band, 4: Mental Preparation

Issue 211Frankly Speaking

If you’re about to go on stage, whether a 1,000-seat theater or the corner of the restaurant that you can barely fit into, you need to be mentally prepared. While...

50 Years of PS Audio, Part Three: Getting the D...

Issue 211Featured

In our continuing story of the creation of the Digital Lens we're finally at the point where we have a roadmap of what we want to build. Now it is...

Test Records and Demo Discs, Part Six

Issue 211Audio Anthropology

In the days before digital music, the primary medium for sound reproduction was vinyl records. Sure, there were some who preferred reel-to-reel tapes, but they were in the minority. The...

The Vinyl Beat: Black Sabbath, John Lee Hooker,...

Issue 211The Vinyl Beat

Autumn is upon us, and it’s time for this season’s first Vinyl Beat. This month I’m featuring a comparison, some winners, a major disappointment, and a handful of other notable...

James Lee Stanley Reflects on Life, Love and Li...

Issue 211The Copper Interview

I’ve been listening to singer/songwriter/guitarist/actor/all-around great guy James Lee Stanley since 1988, when his Freelance Human Being album knocked me out. I believe he’s one of the most talented songwriters...

The Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra Releases a Stun...

Issue 211Frankly Speaking

  Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra: Things Will Pass (Pacific Coast Jazz) This is one of the best records I’ve heard in a very long time. The music is wonderful, and...

Thoughts on Quality, Style, and Class, in Audio...

Issue 211Featured

Seeing all the brand-new, but distressed-looking Relic instruments at Fender and on the show floor at NAMM 2024 (see my articles in Issues 210, 209 and 208) reminded me of the perhaps touchy...

Playlist Priorities

Issue 211Audio Static

  This cartoon originally appeared in Issue 155.

Seated in Sonic Perfection: the Ultimate Hi-Fi ...

Issue 211Featured

Copper has an exchange program with PMA magazine of Canada (and other publications), where we share articles, including this one.   Let’s get one thing straight: audio quality starts with the chair. Sure,...

In Memory of Singer/Songwriter JD Souther

Issue 211In Memoriam

JD Souther was as gifted a songwriter as he was a singer. I had the opportunity to speak with him at the end of July about the re-release of his...

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Lands a Blues-Rock Punch W...

Issue 211Disciples of Sound

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, along with artists like Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark, Jr., Walter Trout, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and others, has been a driving force in keeping blues-based rock guitar alive...

PS Audio in the News

Issue 211PS Audio in the News

The Aspen FR5 stand-mount loudspeaker received high marks from Hi-Fi News. The publication called the FR5 (above) “seriously entertaining” and said, “the FR5 delivers grip, clarity, balance and bass punch...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 10

Issue 211Copper Classics / Natural Born Kessler

In which Ken Kessler makes a discovery linked to his dad. Only the churlish would deny that there’s an element of nostalgia in the Reel-to-Reel Revival, however much the inescapably...

Potent Portables

Issue 211Audio Anthropology

  "When a man loves a tape deck...can't keep his mind on nothin' else..." Well, maybe we got those lyrics a little wrong. Uher ad, date unknown.     Here's...

Calavera

Issue 211Parting Shot

Halloween is just around the corner, so here's an appropriate shot from James Schrimpf, from an old storefront window in Bisbee, Arizona.

Table of Contents – Issue 210

Issue 210Table of Contents

We are greatly saddened by the passing of Rondi D’Agostino (78) of Krell Industries. She was one of the most-loved and warm-hearted people in high-end audio. It was always a...

PS Audio Celebrates 50 Years, Part Two: The Beg...

Issue 210Paul's Place

I will share some stories with you of our history over the last 50 years – half a century of making audio equipment. There are a lot of stories, some of...

Sing and Dance With Frank Sinatra on Impex Reco...

Issue 210Frankly Speaking

I have been extremely impressed with the reissues I’ve heard from Impex Records, including Patricia Barber’s Nightclub and more recently, Companion; the absolutely astonishing 1STEP Getz/Gilberto 45 RPM 2-LP release, and...

Subduing Satan

Issue 210Featured

Imagine, if you will, a person living alone in a claustrophobic flat with an audio system which never stops playing, a volume control which doesn’t attenuate sound, and a “pause”...

Octave Records’ Audiophile Masters, Volume XI: ...

Issue 210Octave Pitch

Octave Records has released Audiophile Masters, Volume XI: Covers Collection 2, featuring more cover versions of popular favorites and standards by some of Octave’s favorite artists. This companion to the...

The Evolving Jamtronica of Lotus in How to Drea...

Issue 210Disciples of Sound

The rock/electronic/jam/multi-genre band Lotus has effectively created the musical term, “jamtronica.” Across a 25-year career they have mixed synthesizers and other instruments with elements of house music in ways that...

FIDELITY Visits Eavesdrop, the Brooklyn Jazz Kissa

Issue 210Featured

Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine of Germany (and other publications), where we share articles, including this one.   The Kissa craze has reached New York – even though in the Big...

Jack White: No Name, Got Game

Issue 210Wayne's Words

 Former White Stripes Guitarist Earns Four Umlauts The White Stripes were either the last great rock band of the 20th century or the first great band of the 21st. Perhaps...

Sweet Caress, by Franco Ambrosetti and Strings:...

Issue 210Frankly Speaking

I’ll get right to the heart of it: this is one of the most gorgeous records I’ve ever heard, musically and sonically. It’s aptly titled: the music of Sweet Caress by...