Thread from AV Showrooms Review of Sampler by Greg Beron

Ed Pong of UltraAnalogue Recordings sent me a new sampler tape he came up with last week. Many thanks Ed!
The UltraAnalogue label is devoted (so far) to classical music, typically piano, cello, and violin music.
It’s all recorded in one pass direct to 2 ch, 15ips, 2 track, NAB eq’d tape and my copy was taken from the master tape but recorded with the IEC or CCIR eq.

MUSIC:
Have to admit it was an exciting listen, the performance by the musicians is first rate and quite impressive since they have only one pass start to finish to get it right, no editing and no digital manipulations here!
What a stellar performance from these musicians, as I listened I was forced to consider the expertise to accomplish this, I became… excited!
In a world where anyone with a computer is a musician this old school stand and deliver effort was inspiring, maybe we still have some musicians in the world and not a bunch of digital sampling dummies?
What subtle emotion was conveyed by that violin, just a feat of technique and complete understanding of the composer’s original message.

RECORDING:
Ed records in a very lively room, some would question that.
He also records the tapes +4 db above 250 nW/m = 396 nW/m, that is on the high side.
That is not a problem for the UHA decks however you may want to determine if that is workable on your particular deck, Ed can accommodate the REC level to your specific needs.
This recording level is just a personal issue, I typically I don’t care for recordings done at higher levels, It’s just to my ear they typically sound over done.
I have been sent some tapes from other companies that were recorded so hot that it forces all the breath of life from the recording.

However on the tape I heard last evening there was an immediacy to the music that seems kinda fun.
It sounds different than the conventional approach you typically hear on these small scale classical performances, possibly because of the lively room??
It could be that this lively approach has it’s merits and idiosyncrasies that separate it from the crowd?
Actually I found myself concentrating on the wonderful music and not picking at, or otherwise worrying about the recording.
I was loving the shear immersion into the 3-D heart of the performance.
It was enveloping, dynamic and had all the tiniest most minute subtle cues popping from black 3-D, who can, or should, ask more from reproduced music.

Greg Beron, United Home Audio