Copper


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...

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...