Re: [ARSCLIST] Can 78s sound better than LPs?

[steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> That said, Art Shifrin, another grooved-disk expert I very much trust and
respect, played for me
> some Noel Coward 78's made in, I believe, the very end of the
acoustic-recording era. They sounded
> like one was in the room. How? Hard to fathom.
(Fairly) simple! Our human ears/mind combination expect the additional
information which is derived from echo/reverberation. Remember, over a
million years or so, the human survivors were those who could figure
out where the bear was, and eat IT...those lacking that skill were
eaten by said bear!

During virtually all of the "78 era," recording studios were designed in
such a way as to virtually eliminate echo and reverberation...which
produced an acoustically "dead" sound (though that few who noticed had
no idea why!). This leaves our minds with the idea "this doesn't sound
right!" since even echo-free stereo is lacking a dimension!

As a comparison...locate and play a copy of "Freshie" by Waring's
Pennsylvanians c.1925-26! For whatever reason, this was recorded
in a studio that was acoustically "live" (echoes were allowed!).
When I first played this record, I was almost convinced it was
stereo...the difference is that striking!

Steven C. Barr