Marlow Hardy and his Alabamians

[beaumonde]

Here's a pretty scarce one which I've borrowed from a friend to transfer, their only recorded document, it seems. I gather this is a territory band which found its way to NYC in 1929, and made this one-off for Columbia. Fortunately for us! The arrangements are interesting and jazzy, with a sonorous brass bass. The vocals are credited to The Alabama Magpie Trio. And forgive me for avoiding YouTube for this...

Georgia Pines Columbia 2034-D (149197-3)

Song of the Bayou Columbia 2034-D (149198-1) both sides: NYC, 29-Oct-1929*

*corrected recording date, pace phonojim and Rust.

[barnettrp21122]

Thanks, Adam, for the superior transfers! Youtube's fine if you need to watch the record spin around and are willing to settle for poorer quarlity sound! I always appreciate your posts!
Bob

[phonojim]

Thanks. Great sides and excellent transfers. BTW: this was recorded October 29, 1929; Marlow Hardy plays clarinet and alto sax.

From my point of view, the worst problem with transfers on Youtube is too much file compression, even from people who produce otherwise excellent transfers. I don't know if they are concerned with operational speed within their equipment or upload speed. Either way they need to relax and produce a better product.
The other issue with transfers, one which has been common for decades is too much noise reduction. When using analog methods for transfers, the result of excessive noise reduction is loss of highs. However when working digitally, not only can high end be lost but nasty artifacts can introduced as well. Adam, you have done an excellent job of showing the high quality of sound available from a well recorded 78. What equipment/programs are you using?

Jim

[beaumonde]

Jim, thanks for the correction of my typo (I miscopied from my Rust), and I'm glad you've enjoyed these.

I use a relatively simple (mid-fi) set-up, but the heart of it is my KAB Souvenir vintage signal processor (chronologic equalizer). I have a Cambridge Audio integrated amp, variable speed Numark turntable, Stanton 500 cartridge and various Expert styli (for this I used 78.26 rpm and a 2.8 mil TE stylus). I burn to a CD-RW with a Tascam CD recorder, then rip the audio files to my computer and use ClickRepair and DeNoise relatively conservatively. Also Audacity for editing and (mostly in classical pieces) side-joins. ClickRepair in general has been a godsend for me over the past 5-6 years, not least for restoring LPs in my collection (mostly classical).

[Wolfe]

Good sides and pro transfers!

You're edging in on that John R.T. Davies kind of sound when it comes to this type of music. Good stuff.

[transformingArt]

Thanks for posting this, Adam - this surely sounds absolutely fantastic, as always.

By the way, (and of course, I'm certainly some kind of layman in electronics and all that), but I wonder how does KAB Souvenir vintage signal processor (chronologic equalizer) work on the original signals from the turntable - When I try to copy my 78s, I usually hook up the turntable directly into computer and make adjustments of equalizing on computer afterwards. Would it be much better if I use the Signal processor for the whole process rather than using computer programs?

[beaumonde]

I think that, in general, "up front" equalization is the better option. One doesn't really need a chronologic equalizer -- that's merely a convenience. A good 10 (or preferably 20)-band equalizer would work just as well, but there's a lot more thinking involved!

[bart1927]

Thanks for posting this, Adam - this surely sounds absolutely fantastic, as always.

By the way, (and of course, I'm certainly some kind of layman in electronics and all that), but I wonder how does KAB Souvenir vintage signal processor (chronologic equalizer) work on the original signals from the turntable - When I try to copy my 78s, I usually hook up the turntable directly into computer and make adjustments of equalizing on computer afterwards. Would it be much better if I use the Signal processor for the whole process rather than using computer programs?

The VSP is an absolute wonderful piece of equipment. I have one myself. It's not just a chronological equalizer, it also combines the two stereo channels into one. It has a mono mix knob so you can decide how much signal of each channel you want in the mix. It's especially useful when one side of the groove has more wear than the other. It also has a vertical/lateral switch, for playing Edison and Pathé records.

It has a fully analogue click-pop suppressor, that works real time and real good. And there are a couple of continuous noise filters for reducing hiss (don't turn them all the way, though).

I was getting fed up with trying to restore my records using just software (DC-Art, in my case). I spent hours on each track, and the results were not satisfying. Then I read on http://www.dismuke.org about Dismuke (not his real name!) who had the exact same experience as I did, and who recommended the VSP. He was totally right, so now I grab every chance I get to promote this wonderful piece of analogue equipment.

The KAB has a built-in phono preamp, so you don't need a separate preamp (it's a preamp and equalizer in one). You plug your record player directly into the VSP, and the VSP goes directly to your main amplifier (or your computer).

I have almost the same setup as Beaumonde, except I don't use DeNoise on records with lots of hiss. Instead I use the HI filter on the VSP.

But I can also totally recommend ClickRepair. It's cheap, easy to use, and very effective. Works much better than the impulse noise function on DC-Art.

Here's a link to the site that sells the KAB Souvenir VSP: http://www.kabusa.com. Click on "phono-peamps", and then scroll down to archival "phono preamps"

[beaumonde]

True, Bart, I've benefited from all the other functions of the VSP (which is very good in suppressing many of the random pops, and clicks from a hairline crack). I tend not to use its HF filter at all anymore, however. I've had better results in the past couple of years using ClickRepair and DeNoise in preserving the "open-ness" of the sound of a particular recording (I used to overuse the HF filter). The model which I bought in 2002 (VSP MK2) is no longer available. The successor is much more expensive it seems (with many more EQ settings).

[bart1927]

True, Bart, I've benefited from all the other functions of the VSP (which is very good in suppressing many of the random pops, and clicks from a hairline crack). I tend not to use its HF filter at all anymore, however. I've had better results in the past couple of years using ClickRepair and DeNoise in preserving the "open-ness" of the sound of a particular recording (I used to overuse the HF filter). The model which I bought in 2002 (VSP MK2) is no longer available. The successor is much more expensive it seems (with many more EQ settings).

Funny you should say that. I thought that the analogue high filter did less "damage" to the music than the DeNoise filter. On some transfers I made with the DeNoise filter I noticed that the remaining hiss sounded a little unnatural. I think the HI-filter on the VSP works rather well, but you have to use it conservatively. Most of the times it's between 3 and five o' clock, and only on records with lots of background noise I use a higher setting of 2 o' clock. The only filter that I never use is the DNL (Dynamic Noise Limiter).

Actually, the VSP that Kevin sells now is the exact same you have. A couple of years ago, just when I decided I wanted one, he pulled it off the market. He planned to replace it with a MK3, but that idea never materialized. After a few years he decided to put the MK2 back in production, and I'm really glad he did.