Copper


Talking Heads:77 and 2024

Wayne's Words

An Interview, a Remastered Album, and a Memory   Part One: Talking to Talking Heads, Oct. 1977. IT IS only three years since three friends from the Rhode Island School...

Listening to Miles Davis and Birth of the Bluea...

On December 4, 2024 I attended an extraordinary audio and musical event. Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions has reissued a set of long-neglected tracks by the Miles Davis Quintet in a new...

Sacred Sabbaths

Issue 214Featured

When I was seven, the girl next door talked me into attending her Catholic church. That’s where I first heard Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. I sat through the whole mesmerizing performance feeling...

Capital Audiofest, Part Two: More Thoughts and ...

Issue 214Show Report

In Part One of Copper’s Capital Audiofest show report (issue 213), I noted that overall, I thought the quality and consistency of the sound in the rooms was better than...

Table of Contents – Issue 214

Issue 214Opening Salvo

Happy New Year from all of us at Copper! In this issue: Octave Records latest release, Louisa Amend Live at the Muse Performance Space, features jazz singer Louisa Amend and band...

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Listening to Miles Davis and Birth of the Blue ...

Issue 214Frankly Speaking

On December 4, 2024 I attended an extraordinary audio and musical event. Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions has reissued a set of long-neglected tracks by the Miles Davis Quintet in a new...

The Great Yacht Rock Scare of 2024

Issue 214Wayne's Words

Steely Dan Is/Is Not/Is Yacht Rock Yacht rock! OMG. LMAO. The time I wasted on Twitter arguing about "yacht rock." I don't really wish I had that time back, because...

From The Listening Chair: An Audiophile on the ...

Issue 214From The Listening Chair

The term “personal audio” has several meanings. However, I most often use it to refer to earbuds, headphones, and the components such as digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and amplifiers that are...

Another Look at AES Show New York 2024

Issue 214Show Report

As Copper readers may know, the annual Audio Engineering Society (AES) national conference is one my favorite audio events. The last AES convention, held in late 2024 at the Jacob...

50 Years of PS Audio,Part Six: The PowerPlant C...

Issue 214Paul's Place

Previous installments in this series appeared in Issues 209, 210, 211, 212 and 213.   After having gotten the perfect idea of how to build my own power generating station...

Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes: Making Rec...

Issue 214The Copper Interview

In Part One of this interview (Issue 212), Jamie Howarth, President of Plangent Processes and I discussed the fundamentals of the company’s audio speed-correction and stabilization technology, how the idea...

How to Play in a Rock Band, Part Seven: Playing...

Issue 214Frankly Speaking

In our last installment (Issue 213) I talked about the challenges of playing on small stages, where you might not even have room to move more than a few inches...

The Vinyl Beat, Special Edition: Miles Davis an...

Issue 214The Vinyl Beat

Much of the audiophile world has been abuzz with this “new” Miles Davis release on Analogue Productions. This package, Birth of the Blue, is a compilation of the four studio...

The Vinyl Beat

Issue 214The Vinyl Beat

Happy New Year everyone! On deck are some recent releases, peppered with a couple of disappointments. After all, not all of our music purchases (vinyl or otherwise) are perfect!  ...

The Roots of Rock and Roll (Sort Of), Part One

Issue 214Featured

Introduction A much-debated topic in popular music is the origin of rock and roll music. Some people credit its beginnings to Bill Haley and the Comets for “Rock Around the...

PS Audio in the News

Issue 214PS Audio in the News

PS Audio components received Gear of the Year 2024 mentions from Future Audiophile magazine. The products listed include the AirLens (Best Music Streamer), StellarGold preamplifier (best stereo preamplifier), and the...

Vintage Voltage

Issue 214Audio Anthropology

    This month we're featuring some very cool gear from Vintage Chief.com, an online seller of restored older audio components, with worldwide shipping from The Netherlands. Here's a Musical...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 13: Re-Educ...

Issue 214Copper Classics/Natural Born Kessler

After the last two issues’ litanies of sins, by both the tape manufacturers and the end users (but not the vendors), I tried to place myself back in the 1950s...

The Roots of Rock and Roll (Sort Of), Part One

Introduction   A much-debated topic in popular music is the origin of rock and roll music. Some people credit its beginnings to Bill Haley and the Comets for “Rock Around...

Octave Records Presents an Evening of Live Jazz...

Issue 214Octave Pitch

Octave Records’ latest, Louisa Amend Quartet Live at the Muse Performance Space is sure to delight jazz fans and audiophiles alike with its beautifully-recorded songs, captured live in an intimate...

How to Post Comments on Copper

Issue 214How to Post Comments on Copper

We get queries on how to post comments at the end of Copper articles. Here's how to get set up to leave comments: To comment at the end of an article, you...

Colors in the Sun

Issue 214Parting Shot

This photograph was taken in Ettore "Ted" DeGrazia’s studio at his Gallery in the Sun in Tucson, Arizona. It’s a detail of his palette and some of his paints. DeGrazia...

Table of Contents – Issue 213

Issue 213Table of Contents

Happy holidays from all of us at Copper! There are countless holiday and end-of-year releases, but topmost on my wish list is Talking Heads: 77 Super Deluxe Edition, which features...

How to Post Comments on Copper

Issue 213How to Post Comments on Copper

We get queries on how to post comments at the end of Copper articles. Here's how to get set up to leave comments: To comment at the end of an article, you...

Capital Audiofest 2024, Part One: The Trend is ...

Issue 213Show Report

If I had to sum up Capital Audiofest in a couple of words, they would be: Clarity. Fun. Normally at shows I find everything from rooms that blow me away...

My Experience With Commercial Four-track Tapes,...

Issue 213Featured

In a previous article (published in Issue 209), I talked about my investigations into commercial four-track tapes. These tapes were released from the late 1950s through to the early 1980s,...

Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes: Making Rec...

Issue 213The Copper Interview

In Part One of this interview (Issue 212), Jamie Howarth, President of Plangent Processes and I discussed the fundamentals of the company’s audio speed-correction and stabilization technology, how the idea...

Vampire Weekend'sMadison Square Garden Matinee

Issue 213Wayne's Words

   With an Electronic Montreal Act and a Billy Joel Tribute Band One Sunday I walked into Madison Square Garden for a concert, as I had done so often during...

A New Normal Was in Sight at Making Vinyl Europ...

Issue 213Special Report

In the midst of their busy season, nearly 300 vinyl record professionals, including manufacturers, record labels, and distributors descended on the quaint town of Haarlem in The Netherlands from September...

Life’s Biggest Problem

Issue 213Featured

A good friend of mine recently lamented the degradation of his hearing. He’d been tested and the results were devastating to him. Theo really loves his music, especially now that...

50 Years of PS Audio: The Quest for Perfect Power

Issue 21350 Years of PS Audio

Old Rube Goldberg would have thought this so nuts as to probably publish it in one of his cartoons – but still, great ideas usually start out as crazy fantasies. At least...

Two Magnificent Holiday Albums From 2L Records:...

Issue 213Frankly Speaking

2L, a Norwegian company headed by Grammy-winning engineer Morten Lindberg, has released two holiday-themed albums, Yule by Trio Mediæval, and Fred over jorden (Peace to the World) by the Uranienborg...

The Vinyl Beat: Holiday Happiness

Issue 213The Vinyl Beat

This month, I’m going to jump ahead a little and review some new releases I’ve downloaded that I haven’t yet received on vinyl (as one of them was released a...

Analogue Productions Reissues Genesis: Nursery ...

Issue 213Frankly Speaking

As part of Atlantic Records’ ongoing 75th anniversary celebration, Analogue Productions has released Nursery Cryme, the latest in its series of Genesis reissues, as a 2-LP 45 RPM set. It’s a...

Test Records and Demo Discs, Part Seven

Issue 213Audio 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 Perfect Gift

Issue 213Audio Static

      Happy holidays from all of us at Copper!   This cartoon has been previously published.

Swinging in Stereo

Issue 213Audio Anthropology

  It really did start a revolution: the Sony CDP-101, the world's first Compact Disc player. Launched in Japan on October 1, 1982, it was one of the most groundbreaking...

Back to My Reel-to Reel-Roots, Part 12: The Sin...

Issue 213Copper Classics / Natural Born Kessler

Following on from last month’s litany of offenses attributed to the manufacturers of pre-recorded tapes, please be aware that not all the misdeeds were committed by the record labels. Once...

Spotlight on Brahms

Issue 213Sitting In

Copper has an exchange program with PMA magazine of Canada (and other publications), where we share articles, including this one.   Here are three discs I recommend for exploring the music of Johannes...

The Experience Hendrix 2025 Tour: Celebrating t...

Issue 213Disciples of Sound

Jimi Hendrix fans have cause for celebration: the Experience Hendrix Tour, the only official multi-artist celebration of Jimi Hendrix’s musical genius, will return in March 2025. Among a crowded field...

How to Play In a Rock Band, Part Six: Playing O...

Issue 213Frankly Speaking

If you’re in most of the bands out there, playing mostly local gigs, most of the time you’ll be playing on a small stage. Or maybe, a tiny stage. Or...

PS Audio in the News

Issue 213PS Audio in the News

Stereophile’s Kalman Rubinson found a lot to like about the Aspen FR5 loudspeaker. He said, “It is hard to criticize the performance of the Aspen FR5s. Placement is not difficult…and...

They've Got Tungs-Tone!

Issue 213Parting Shot

Back in 1921, it was easy to change a stylus on a Victor talking machine, and you could buy 'em by the box. After all, the styli were only semi-permanent!

Honey, I Shrunk the Editor!

Issue 213From the Listening Chair

    This isn't a 3/4-scale model of our editor: he's six feet even and standing next to a Sound Lab G9-7C full-range electrostatic loudspeaker ($65,000/pair), which is approximately nine...

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...