my band is about to get our record mastered.

i want the record to have the full rich sound it deserves, and only with the level of compression necessary (or if necessary at all.

what can yall tell me about mastering? tell me anything and everything. trends. techniques. gear. your favorite masterers. why? any references for a guy who can master a fantastic rock record? what makes a good master. a bad master.

i just got back a mastered sample of one of our songs, and it sounded horrible compared to the original pre-master, but i know it doesn't have to be this way.

Okay -- I know what a "record player" is. I know what a "turntable" is. And, thanks to Art last month, I even know what a "platenspeler" is.

But an "LP player"?

I assume despite being an "LP player" that it would play a 7-inch single record? Or an EP record?

Just askin'

JA your fan REG is at it again:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/regsaudioforum/message/32589

OK, I lost my Denon AVR in the flood. I need a replacement, obviously, and wonder what I should listen to in addition to the Denons. Price is an issue!

Trey

I generally agree with and like and enjoy your writing JA (apologies in advance for addressing you directly). But besides being a bit self congratulatory and rambling and unfocused, your commment that "90% of music is crap" doesn't sit well with me at all. Let me tell you a couple of short stories. A few weeks back a buddy of mine and I drove from my hometown of Columbus OH to Newport KY to see Alejandro Escovedo.

Has anyone noticed an alarming lack of hostility at the open bar ?

Was it Mother's Day ?
Or, as I suspect, has StereoPhile finally found a way to medicate our water supply ?

I was playing a Phile CD in reverse (hard to do when streaming) and heard the message "renew, renew, renew"

Most alarming is that Lamont hasn't called anyone a dumbass in far too long.

Having an older Denon 2930CI and an inexpensive Pana Blue Ray player, I am looking to consolidate to one universal player that provides audio quality better than my 4 year old Denon and provides me an excellent Blu image on my Sony Bravia HDTV.

Read fairly good reviews regarding the Oppo 83SE and have also spoke to a salesman regarding the upcoming Denon 2011.

The basic question I have is whether the universal player is a good audio/video solution or a compromise over discrete components when used with my existing Rotel 1560 AVR and Paradigm Studio 60/CC590 v5 speakers.

In my "Recording of the Month" review of the new Jeff Beck album, I wrote that the aria "Nessun Dorma" was from Puccini's opera Tosca. It is, of course, from another Puccini opera, Turandot. Which I knew, both operas being favorites and both of which I have seen live several times.

Rats! No-one sleeps? We were _all_ sleeping!

But Beck plays the heck out of it!

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile