Category: Tech

Gear Spotting

Did I ever point out the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) LA120 dot-matrix keyboard printers in Superman: The Movie? No? Well, they’re in there. If it was a sponsored product placement, the target market was quite narrow.

I don’t have Apple TV+, so I’m not watching Severance. On Thursday, Colbert had praise for the series.

Colbert thinks so highly of Severance that he has made this parody video. I may not be familiar with the series, but I recognize the non-Apple hardware in it.

That sure looks like John Turturro is sitting at a Data General (DG) Dasher D2 terminal. It’s same vintage as the DEC LA-120.

The headphones are Sennheiser HD 414’s from 50 years ago. They were very light and had clear sound, but you had to hold them tightly against your ears to hear any bass.

The turntable that Colbert plays in the video is a recent model. The Pro-Ject Classic EVO.

Speaking of DEC and DG, they were given something of a nod in the December, 1983 issue of Playboy. I was classmates with the Playmate of the Month’s big sister Susan, who was exquisitely beautiful.

Also making an appearance in that issue were Massachusetts-made Allison Three and Nine loudspeakers. By the end of ’83 I had owned my Three’s for four years. The Pioneer LD-1100 LaserDisc player was the model up from my LD-660.

Better Call Dell

Watching Monday’s penultimate episode of Better Call Saul, I thought, “Hey… is that a Dell Ultrasharp 1708FP?”

“It doesn’t look big enough to be a 1908FP…”

“… well, maybe it does. Either way.”

I have two Ultrasharp 1708FP monitors.

The timeline of the TV series places that scene circa 2010, so the attention to period detail is spot-on. A noteworthy point is that back then not all computer monitors were suitable for medical imaging use. The 1708FP was, and my dentist’s office has one in every exam room.

When the Ultrasharp 1708FP was being discontinued, I bought mine in a 2-for-1 deal from Dell Direct. As long as these things continue to be reliable and they stay bright enough, I’ll keep using them.

Sorry for the spoiler, but I have to say that Rhea Seehorn outdid herself yet again. Kim Wexler leaving her old life behind was exactly the point, and her portrayal in the “Waterworks” episode is a completely different person than the character everybody knows. If Rhea doesn’t win the Emmy this year, then it will truly be a case of voter fraud.

Euphonic Inaccuracy

Thorens TD-166 Mk II turntable (Germany, 1983) with Ortofon Super OM20 cartridge (Denmark)

MoFi Records claimed its expensive reissues were purely analog reproductions. It had been deceiving its customer base for years.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/05/mofi-records-analog-digital-scandal

All of my purchases from Music Direct, the parent company of MoFi, have been excellent. The one time I required customer service it was also excellent. But false advertising is bad, and I assume there will be repercussions.

The deception regarding MoFi’s “all analog” releases aside, this is a non-issue for me. I have assumed for years that new vinyl releases are cut from digital masters. Why wouldn’t they be?

MoFi has been using DSD source material, which is as good as it gets digitally. Assuming it isn’t something that was simply scaled up to meet the specifications of the format, because the original analog master tape was lost in the infamous Universal Studios fire. If there’s a scandal to be found in music mastering, that’s where to look.

Record Swap

The “problem” with lossless digital audio sources is also their strength — there is precious little difference between players in the way they sound. You press or click Play and that’s it. Playing records is, well, more fun!

Pioneer PL-112D turntable (Japan, 1976) with Audio-Technica AT-92E cartridge (Japan)

One of the things that makes records so attractive, beyond their physical appeal, is that changes in the turntable, tonearm, cartridge, and pre-amp can have significant audible differences. As with speakers and headphones, finding the sonic characteristics of a turntable setup that best suit your taste is a big part of the enjoyment.

So while I’m not pleased that MoFi’s customers were deceived, I don’t see the company’s use of digital masters as invalidating their commitment to quality. Perhaps today I’ll play my 1979 all-analog LP of Mobile Fidelity’s Original Master Recording of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

https://www.discogs.com/release/416621-Pink-Floyd-The-Dark-Side-Of-The-Moon

Forces of Nature

This video of the Tonga volcano eruption is best appreciated full-screen. I think it’s more effective without the music.

Now I’m looking at this new image from the JWST. The Cartwheel Galaxy as it appeared 500 million years ago.

What a nearly impossible series of natural events there were — and weren’t — that made it possible for humans to evolve into the position where we are today. The difference between us and the dinosaurs is, we’ll probably know what it is that hits us, to bring about our extinction.

I Hear the Sound

Driving home from getting my teeth cleaned, I played “The Best of the Five Americans” CD. “I See the Light”, released New Year’s Day ’66, hit me as if I was hearing it for the first time. What a perfect Garage Band sound!

The Five Americans are best known for their #5 hit “Western Union”, released more than a year later. It’s likewise very creative in its construction and production. Music Mike has the single cued up.

Western Union ended its telegram service, but how to update the song’s lyrics? E-mail? Not anymore. Texting? Nope. She’d simply ghost him!

Speaking of advancing technology, cassette decks are long gone from cars, and I should be prepared for my next car not having a CD player. I’ve read there’s even been talk among auto makers that Bluetooth may become the only radio receiver they will offer. No AM or FM, no CD, no Aux jack? Just Bluetooth, for use with Android Auto and Apple Car Play.

The SiriusXM app on my phone, played in the car over Bluetooth, is better than the car’s built-in XM receiver. The app can be set to maximum sound quality, and it doesn’t suffer from reception drop-outs when going under bridges or driving along wooded areas. I’m going to assume that SiriusXM has already decided they won’t go to the trouble and expense of replacing their satellites.

This is the complete Five Americans collection, compliments of Bob Irwin at Sundazed Records. Bob and Gina are on Big Planet Noise tonight at 9 ET. See my Links selection section.

Time-Tested Tables and Tonearms

Micro-Trak Corporation, Holyoke, MA

Telling the tale from my radio days about the transmitter fuse made me nostalgic and got me searching for information about the turntables I loved using. Especially for slip-cueing* singles!

The two tables we had in the DJ studio at the station were 3-speed Russco Cue-Masters. They were manufactured in California and available as late as 1981 — with 78 rpm! — only a couple of years before Compact Disc appeared in the U.S.

Russco Cue-Master broadcast turntable

As you can see, no assumption was made regarding the choice of tonearm. I was working just west of Simpsons City, aka Springfield. Micro-Trak, a company located just north of Springfield, manufactured tonearms. The legendary model 303 had a wooden wand. Yes, wood!

Micro-Trak 303 and 306 tonearms

Micro-Trak sourced its turntables from Russco, and offered them as complete packages with their tonearms factory installed. We had the 720 model — a Russco Cue-Master “Drilled for Micro-Trak Model 303.”

Micro-Trak 720 and 740 turntable packages

The Stanton 500 was a broadcast standard phono cartridge. The 500-E with elliptical stylus was well-suited for stereo records played on FM stations. The 500-E was one of the first cartridges I ever owned, while in high school. At the AM station, the 500-AL with conical stylus was installed in the 303 tonearms, and wired for mono use.**

Stanton 500 Series phono cartridge

This setup was an absolute sure-footed — or armed — delight to use! I have indelible memories of exactly how it felt and sounded handling those turntables and cueing up records. The clutch for changing speeds took some effort to move! That little notch seen in the picture above between the 33 and 45 speeds was where you could park the lever to disengage the drive so the platter would spin freely for swapping records.*** For all the love club DJ’s have for the direct-drive Technics SL-1200, they would be amazed by the tank-like build quality and mechanical strength of those old, idler/rim-drive professional turntables.

The radio biz is nothing like it was, of course. I am very glad that I was able to experience radio broadcasting as it was, when I did. Especially considering the opportunity came from an unsolicited offer that was dropped in my lap.

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