You know that irksome feeling when you really want to hate something but you can’t help loving it? Worse still, have you ever waxed lyrical in the public domain about how terrible something is, and then found yourself being blown away by it? Then you’ll understand how poor Ken Kessler feels, as this self-confessed cassette … More Still reeling: Ken Kessler discovers audiophile cassettes
In 2018, hi-fi journalist Neville Roberts flew to Venice to attend the live recording of audiophile label Chasing the Dragon’s Vivaldi in Venice album. At home in the UK, Dave Denyer listens to the recording on copy master tape. Spoiler alert: “this is one of the most wonderfully captivating examples of the recording art I’ve ever … More Vivaldi in Venice part 2: a post-script from the rambler’s listening room
Making a high-quality audio recording in a recording studio is one thing, but making a similar recording at a live concert has its own particular challenges. Neville Roberts flies out to Venice to investigate. I’ve been fortunate to be able to attend a number of recording sessions in recent years. The aim at each session … More Vivaldi in Venice part 1: Neville Roberts discovers the joys and the challenges of making audiophile recordings of a live concert
Let’s say you launch into the world of tape with a vintage domestic deck. And you’re having a fine time playing old, commercially-released tapes that you’ve been gleefully tracking down on eBay and the like… But then, one day, a couple of master tape copies begin to catch your eye. All of a sudden there seem … More Chasing The Dragon copy master tapes now available on 7-inch reels at 7.5ips
Last year, hi-fi journalist Neville Roberts headed to London’s AIR Studios to witness audiophile label Chasing The Dragon’s recording of a new album, España. The recording was simultaneously captured direct-to-disk and on master tape. Here, Neville shares his impressions of the day and of the resulting vinyl LP and copy master tape. There’s something rather … More Neville Roberts listens to Chasing The Dragon’s ‘España’ – live, on master tape and direct-cut vinyl
As work days go, this one was surely right up there in the top ranks. Earlier this week the rambler had the enormous good fortune to spend a day in the studio with Mike Valentine, owner and producer of the audiophile record label Chasing The Dragon.
In my previous ramble I introduced you to Mike Valentine. Then again, chances are you knew of him already. To some, he’s a renowned underwater film cameraman credited on an enviable list of A-list movies. To others, he’s the owner of the excellent UK audiophile record label, Chasing the Dragon, with quite a reputation for … More “Mike Valentine is to blame”: falling in love again or how I came to be a reel-to-reel rambler
Audiophile record label Chasing the Dragon has been causing quite a stir with its superb quality direct-cut vinyl albums. Earlier this year, the label also began to release master tape versions of those albums, taken from simultaneous recordings of the exact same live studio performances. As a lover of both vinyl and tape, I couldn’t … More Open reel tape versus direct-cut vinyl: two versions of Chasing the Dragon’s superb ‘A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald’ go head to head
