Greetings friends, I hope you are well. 🙂Â
First allow me to wish you a Happy Winter Solstice, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Kwanzaa, a Happy Hanukkah, a Grumbly Bah Humbug, a Happy New Years, or a Happy Whatever Floats Your Boat, this Holiday Season. It's all good!Â
We've survived another tumultuous year here on Planet Earth, and if nothing else, it doesn't hurt to celebrate survival.
Transformation
One of my most memorable transformative events goes back to 2019 when Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)) introduced me to the joys of listening to 78 era records that had been transferred to digital.
Sitting in Peter's listening room, listening to his superb audio system, and him cueing up some 78 era transfers to digital initiated a change to my listening that has been burning with ever greater intensity over time. Â
That simple act of sharing the joy of 78 era recordings started what would become a major transformation in my understanding of what high-fidelity audio really means to me, the equipment that is the most capable of broad-spectrum high-fidelity performance, the audio kit I desire to write about for you in the future, and the music I explore and listen to on a daily basis. Â
First, I learned the value of having a good CD player. For those interested in the albums of musicians issued during the period of 78 rpm records - the acoustic & electrical eras - a CD player is a must-have device.
In the 78 era, and even up until 1954 when RIAA equalization became standardized, there were over 100 different equalization curves in use. If you have the appropriate turntable, cartridges, an adjustable phono stage that can accommodate those 100 historic equalization curves, and an immense library of all the albums issued on 78 records, you are all set.Â
If you don't have that sort of exotic equipment setup and extensive audio library, then a good CD player becomes your best friend.
Marston Records, Nimbus Records "Prima Voce" label, and others, have done all the hard work for you. They have access to huge libraries of mint condition 78 records, they get those 78 records transferred to digital with the correct equalization curves, and then issue them on CDs, so that you too can enjoy the great artists & recordings of the past that you would not otherwise be able to hear.Â
What could be better? Well, I suppose if they transferred those ancient 78 records to modern day vinyl - like Chad Kassem does with magnetic era recordings - that would be ideal, as vinyl potentially has a higher performance threshold than CDs if you're using the best equipment.
But hey, digital transfers can be so good these days, that listening to those 78 transfers on CDs through a good CD player can provide rather otherworldly listening experiences as well. Â
Whenever I mention 78 era records, people always ask me about their fidelity. The common perception is that 78 records are dramatically inferior in fidelity to the recordings of the magnetic and digital eras of recording. Except in a limited sound quality sense, that's actually not the case.
Here's a definition of high-fidelity audio that I like from an artificial intelligence (AI) search engine:Â
 "High-fidelity, often shortened to hi-fi, refers to the high-quality reproduction of sound that closely resembles the original recording with minimal distortion and a full range of audible frequencies. It is popular among audiophiles and contrasts with lower-quality sound systems."
Note in the above definition that high-fidelity is mostly referring to audio playback sound quality, rather than recording quality, but fidelity applies just as much to recording quality.Â
In terms of fidelity, 78 records tend to have less extension into the high-frequencies and low-frequencies. Also, due to the nature of vintage 78 direct-to-disc recordings, they tend to have a higher noise floor than do recordings from the later magnetic & digital eras, although with many of them, the noise floor is much lower than one might think.Â
So in those terms, recording fidelity progresses from lower to higher across the recording eras of acoustic (1877 to 1925), electrical (1925 to 1945), magnetic (1945 to 1975), and digital (1975 to the present).
Well, except that digital recording is not yet at the apogee of fidelity achieved during the stereo period of the magnetic era of recording, which is what most of us think of as the highest of high-fidelity recordings in our audiophile pursuits.Â
It's not that the stereo period of the magnetic era of recording provides perfect recordings of musical performances, as it does not. Magnetic recording media has its own fidelity issues, master tapes degrade over time, and what you're hearing now from the tapes isn't what they once were in terms of fidelity. But still, magnetic tape is still the best fidelity-wise in terms of recorded sound quality, until something comes along that is better (we can hope).
Yet, I've found that there is another kind of "high-fidelity" in play that is rarely addressed - which I'll call "broad spectrum fidelity" for the moment - and that is the fidelity of how well an audio system can reproduce recordings across a broad spectrum of fidelity - low to high - in terms of the emotional, physiological, and intellectual engagement with the musical performances, as well as sound quality. Â Â
Interestingly, those "low-fi" 78 records are often capable of delivering a higher level of emotional, physiological, and intellectual "fidelity" from musical performances than many "hi-fi" recordings of the magnetic and digital eras of recording, where "sound quality" was their calling card.
That's my observation, and I don't know why that's possible. Maybe those old direct-to-disc recordings simple signal path puts one more in touch with the 'feel' of the music?Â
So my definition of a "high-fidelity" audio system is one that is capable of revealing the fidelity distinctions in recordings in terms of sound quality, and in terms of the emotional, physiological, and intellectual "fidelity" with the musical performances.Â
Still with me? Simply, I suppose you could say it's the difference between the fidelity you hear, and the fidelity that you feel.
"Broad spectrum fidelity" includes both, but for me lately the fidelity I feel is more important to me than the fidelity I hear, even though I desire both.
Each recording era has its strengths & weaknesses in terms of sound quality, and in terms of emotional, physiological, and intellectual "fidelity".Â
Building A Library
Over the last six years I've been building a library of 78 records that have been transferred to CD. Most of my library is composed of CDs from Marston Records, Nimbus Records "Prima Voce" label, and a few others for good measure.
My modest library spans hundreds of 78 records now. That's actually sort of easy to do as each 78 record only has about 6 to 10 minutes of music on it (one or two songs per side), so to fill up a CD with 78 record transfers there might be ten 78 record albums on it.
If you buy from Marston Records, their offerings are typically thematic box sets, with 2 to 3 CDs each. The albums add up fast that way.
Speaking of Marston Records, I just bought Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of Landmarks of Recorded Pianism (HERE). Â
Ward Marston and Marston Records are to early & rare recordings what Chad Kassem and Analogue Productions are to magnetic era audiophile recordings - some of the best out there.
By the way, I don't have any ties to Marston Records or Analogue Productions, I just happen to think they are top tier offerings that I am really thankful that are available to buy, and I buy them just like you do.Â
Take a look at the amount of music included in the 2 CD set of Landmarks of Recorded Pianism, Volume 1 (above). There's 79 minutes of music on CD 1, and 77 minutes of music on CD 2. That box set is pretty much the equivalent of twenty 78 records - that's value!
One of the things I particularly like about Marston Records offerings is the superb documentation they come with (below).
Ward Marston provides extensive information about the origins of the recordings, the musicians that are featured in the recordings, and often essays about the content of a particular set of releases that provides fascinating information.Â
Landmarks of Recorded Pianism, Volume 1, is fascinating in that it spans selections of music recorded during the acoustic, electric, monaural magnetic, and stereo magnetic eras of recording.
The nice thing about that wide span of recordings is it gives the listener an opportunity to experience recordings from those eras on equal footing. I enjoyed being able to hear and compare the fidelity of those early 78 records to later magnetic era recordings, all from the same hand - Ward Marston.Â
That span of recordings also gives great insights into the fidelity you hear, and the fidelity you feel.  Listening to high-fidelity recordings from the stereo period of magnetic era of recording are a great demonstration of fidelity you hear, whereas the 78 era recordings possess a fidelity you feel in spades.Â
Landmarks of Recorded Pianism, Volume 1, includes greats like Dinu Lipatti, Josef Labor, Iso Ellison, Moritz Rosenthal, Ivan Davis, Stanley Hummel, Leff Poushinoff, Alfred Cortot, Ervin Nyiregyhazi, Abram Chasins, Vladimir Horowitz, and Guiomar Novaes.Â
Some of these recordings were from private recording sessions that were never offered for sale to the public, others were experimental recordings by Bell Laboratories, some were rare recordings that were never reissued on LP or CD, some were "lost recordings", and so forth.
These are all rare recordings that you've likely never heard. Â
A couple of fascinating quotes from the liner notes:
"Alas, many of the greatest artists of the past recorded little and died before the advent of widespread recording of concerts and broadcasts—a good example is Dinu Lipatti (1917–1950)."
"Josef Labor - The rarest piano record in existence, one of the great Beethoven performances,
an important document for musicology."
"How we understand music or choose to analyze it and judge its performance is distorted by our reliance on recording … recordings may deceive us and lure us into thinking … that our experience of music is continuous with the past … A recording may have a powerful impact. But perhaps that impact hides a residual barrier, a subconscious awareness of distance from the real thing … There is little sense that music ... as an experience of listening in real space and time to performers (even oneself) or as a text, for which a recording, no matter how good or famous, is nothing more than an image, one pale version … "
I'm presently working my way through Volume 1, and savoring the fidelity of feelings associated with these recordings, as well as the fidelity of hearing.Â
Landmarks of Recorded Pianism, Volume 1, is a true treat for the senses!Â
Last Call
You might not know that reviews for audio equipment are often scheduled way in advance of when you read them.Â
In fact, for 2025 my review queue is getting close to being booked up for the year, with only a couple of spots on the calendar being open at this point.Â
If you are interested in having your audio equipment reviewed by me in 2025 don't delay in contacting me, or it may be 2026 before I can get you into the review queue!
Ok, that's all for now, as it's time to get back to listening to Landmarks of Recorded Pianism, Volume 1.
Let me wish you all a Happy New Year, which will be upon us in a couple of days. As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!Â