Special AVS Deal From AIX Records - Page 3

Originally Posted by PaulT_BC

And that is what is wrong with the music and audio industry these days.

Originally Posted by GrahamMc

Well, a few nights ago, I had the pleasure of meeting the band and was able to speak with Bela for a few minutes. I was pushing AIX pretty hard. He said they're rather frustrated with the major recording labels right now, so it could be great timing! I really hope you'll contact them. I think you'd be a great fit for each other. Here's hoping!! Either way, keep the good stuff coming!!

Originally Posted by Dr. AIX

It sounds like a good idea to me...I'll try to reach out to Bela. Right now, I'm talking to Dave Mason, Colin Hay [Men At Work], Raul Malo ]The MAvericks] and Al Stewart. I'm working on John Gorka and Albert Lee right now.

Thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by Dr. AIX

Raul Malo has one of the most incredible voices on the planet...absolutely amazing.

Originally Posted by Dr. AIX

That's why I'm so energized by the possibilities that media servers and digital distribution represent. The audio community won't depend on the success of a particular optical disc format to receive HD Audio content...or at least they will have the potential to get it.

The other side of the coin is that the recording companies, engineers and marketing departments are all very much entrenched in producing the same old thing...over and over again. There too much compression, auto-tuning, loop generated, non-human music being pumped out. The essential music qualities of dynamics, rubato, articulation, accentuation and ensemble have long since disappeared from most main stream music.

The music "business" has been selling widgets for too long. It's time to embrace the music once again and embrace the fidelity that is possible with new HD audio technology. To see a couple very intelligent presenters claim that there is more dynamic range present when an MP3 file is played using a 500 watt amplifier rather than a 250 watt amp is pretty hard to fathom.

Originally Posted by Dr. AIX

We've done a bunch of projects with the musicians of the McEuen family. Jonathan is an amazingly talented singer/guitarist. He played and sang on the Nitty Gritty Surround album with his dad, John of the NGDB. We did a project with him alone...the one that you refer to. Then along came Hanna-McEuen, The Brand New Opry and BNO 2.

The track "Lowlands" from the Brand New Opry is one of my favorite tracks of all time. MCA Universal dropped these guys because the only sold 150,000 albums. The business isn't what it used to be.

Thanks for the heads up. Have you checked out the sample tracks on John Gorka? His project is coming along and should be ready by August.

Originally Posted by Dr. AIX

It's true that the sample rate can be raised to 192 kHz and some engineers are looking at 384 kHz! However, while there may be a benefit to the finished presentation of the tracks...the essential elements that create great recordings are in the process prior to the encoding and in that case it doesn't really make any difference. Having a "bucket" large enough to hold frequencies up to 96 kHz doesn't do any good if the media that you're pouring into the bucket doesn't contain any information up that high.

I sat with a prominent UK writer in London a couple of months ago discussing an article that he wrote for Stereophile on HF digital filters. As source material, he used only recordings from my catalog because they were the ONLY ones that he could find that had frequencies above 25 kHz. In fact, several had frequencies above 35 kHz....all of which can be contained within the 96 kHz sampling rate of DVD-Audio.

My point is that simply raising the number doesn't impact the final result as much as avoiding excessive frequency and dynamics compression. I'm into natural sounding tracks that can be listened to over and over again.

Originally Posted by Dr. AIX

Thanks Paul for the post. I've been a music guy ever since I sat in front of a monophonic record player in Mrs. Gurie's kindergarden class listening to Burl Ives and refused to go outside for recess. I cried when I heard that recording. The magic in that voice, the songs and the essence of musical expression flowed from that crude machine in a way that really got to me. It may be hard to believe but my parents searched long and hard for that album and I still have it today. In fact, it's sitting right in front of me right now. Capt. Burl Ives' Ark [DL 8587] featuring such notable tunes as Bongo and His Baboon Drum, Old Moby Dick and my personal favorite Old Doctor Wango Tango.

I got the same magic from my Dad's old monoaural records in the late 50's and was really lost when I received a new Garrard Stereo Record Player in the early sixties. I used to lay on the living room floor with one speaker on each side of my head listening repeatedly to the Beatle's Something New and the Sounds of the Strategic Air Command [stereo records were hard to come by]!

I learned to play the guitar and piano during my teenage years, came to California to be a rock star and ultimately found myself in music school studying the string quartets of Elliot Carter and the electronic music of Mort Subotnick...both of whom I worked with! Again, it was music...especially the music of J.S. Bach [he and I share the same birthday although several hundred years apart]... that brought intellectual and emotion satisfaction. I cried again. I've written two symphonies, lots of chamber music and completed the first doctorate from UCLA in electronic music.

I've been an audio engineer for almost 30 years now. I've had a rim-drive 3 1/4" reel to reel recorder/reproducer, a 4-track Dokoder, a 16-track 3M 56 machine, a stereo IV-S Nagra and now a 36 track Euphonix R-1 capable of 96 kHz/24-bits. Maybe I should I feel like the old guy that longs for the "good old days" but I find myself doing things that are all about the future...and it's exciting everyday!

So you're right...AIX Records hasn't yet broken even much to the chagrin of my very supportive wife [she's the accountant for AIX]. The thought of generating a profit [isn't that what being an entrepreneur is all about?] seems like a pipe dream. Luckily, I have lots of other clients and full-time teaching gig to pay the bills. I chose to produce the recordings that I do because there is so much more potential in the reproduction of music than we're currently getting. And I won't complain if we someday sell 10,000 copies of something [John Gorka's The Gypsy Life is on the launch pad for this summer and may be our biggest yet...check out the audio samples on the web site...I've cried listening to his songs too].

And I continue to spend my weekends and evenings editing, mixing and authoring my products because I get emails and phone calls almost evey day from supportive customers:

"My overall impression: These are fantastic quality recordings." and my favorite lately...

"All I can say is "Wow". Even on my fairly modest system, the sound is startlingly lifelike. It's a rare occasion to find products that not only live up to the hype, but exceed expectations as much as these discs."

I take every opportunity to spread the message about HD Surround Music by demoing for one set of ears at a time...and listeners are always amazed. However, the mainstream audiophile mags, the equipment manufacturers and most supporters of "high end" audio are bound up with the commercial needs of advertisers, the available library of CDs, reviewer salaries etc. and have to sustain the status quo to remain in business.

I'm trying to imagine an end to the world of the compact disc [25 years is a long time for a particular playback technology] and know that one piece is the fuel that goes in the tank...AIX Records is an oil company producing a few precious gallons of high octance racing fuel every year. For people that like to go fast and have their systems perform...we pump the right stuff.

I will not settle for MP3 quality, I will not start releasing CDs...I will continue to push the envelope and maybe, just maybe enough people will start listening, talking to their friends, writing to the editors of Stereophile and Absolute Sound letting them know that there is life beyond stereo vinyl and CDs.

I've gone on too long...especially on a day when the work load is too high to spend ranting about audio fidelity and my obsession with it. Thanks for the bandwidth and again thanks to everyone at AVS for the support.