Opinion

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Steve Harris | Aug 07, 2024

The BBC isn’t just a creator of content – since the early days of hi-fi it’s collected and archived commercial music. But has its operation become too big to continue, wonders Steve Harris

When you’ve got a million records, some of them might have to go. In January the BBC began a series of online auctions to dispose of unwanted vinyl from its fabled record library. In a tweet, Omega Auctions said it had spent a productive few days clearing out thousands of LPs from the BBC’s archive. You wonder whether this was just another job to them, or whether they thought they’d died and gone to heaven.

Opinion

Baby-faced maestros

Peter Quantrill | Aug 07, 2024

They’re everywhere, says Peter Quantrill, but let’s dispel dyspeptic indignation and instead see young and gifted conductors as a sign of hope when it comes to the future of classical music. Tarmo Peltokoski is among the most youthful and gifted products of Jorma Panula’s conducting class at the Helsinki Conservatoire in Finland

As a follower of cricket and football, I got used years ago to seeing professionals at the top of their game (sorry), who had been born within the current millennium. But conductors? DG has lately been making a song and dance about their latest signing, Tarmo Peltokoski. Born in April 2000, he is now principal guest conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and DG has recorded and filmed them together in a trio of Mozart’s mature symphonies.

Opinion

For the record

Jim Lesurf | Aug 07, 2024

Our hi-fi history is often passed over by academics and museum curators, believes Jim Lesurf, which is why books such as Stephen Spicer’s celebration of Leak are so worthwhile

I was recently delighted and excited to hear that a new edition of Stephen Spicer’s book on the history of Leak – Firsts In High Fidelity – has been released. The original edition appeared as a large-format paperback in the year 2000, and it’s a fascinating account of the story of the people involved, the company, and its products.

Opinion

Return On Investment

Barry Willis | Jul 30, 2024

Barry Willis has turned some impressive profits reselling vintage audio gear, but these are the exceptions that prove the rule. In fact, much of the time he’s left counting the cost..

An enduring bit of wisdom cautions against extravagant purchases – the must-have new car, for example, that loses 20% of its value the moment it’s driven off the dealer’s lot. Something similar happens with high-end audio, but worse, because were you to try selling your latest cost-be-damned amplifier or ultra-performance DAC two weeks post-purchase, you’d be dismayed to learn that you might recover only 50% or so of what you paid.

Opinion

Conversion therapy

Barry Fox | Jul 30, 2024

What’s the best method for turning your analogue LPs into a digital stream? Barry Fox seeks the solution as he digs into a confusing world of dongles, A/D converters and open source software

Experts will tell you it’s easy to make a digital copy of a music stream, or LP, to play in a car or carry around. You ‘just’ suck analogue music out of your hi-fi, feed it into a computer and then ‘just’ send it to a memory device or burn to a blank CD. Yes, but it’s only easy when you already know exactly how. I’ve recently got my hands dirty finding out the easiest ‘how’ for people who want to listen to music, not burrow down computer rabbit holes. Most computers no longer come with a disc burner. But they do come with USB sockets and for £20 you can buy a portable optical burner that literally just plugs into a USB socket. Software (or an ‘app’ in modern parlance) is needed to copy music to a blank CD or USB memory stick that plays at the press of a button.

Opinion

Opinion: Let the past be the past

Barry Willis | Dec 01, 2018

An electric shock from an antique valve amp finally sends the rose-tinted glasses flying from the face of Barry Willis. Vintage gear? You can keep it, because the golden age of audio is happening now...

Opinion

Opinion: Trouble in store?

Steve Harris | Dec 01, 2018

We have a hundred more record shops than we did in 2009, thanks to the efforts of those who run the stores and events like Record Store Day. But don’t celebrate just yet, warns Steve Harris

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