Has Rob published his own recordings, and how were they made?

Short version. Yes. In March and April 2022 Watts posted amateur orchestra recordings on his Head-Fi thread Watts Up...?, made with a commercial Focusrite interface, not his own converter Head-Fi, Mar 2022Head-Fi, Mar 2022Head-Fi, Apr 2022. His 2026 test recordings with the pulse array converter in Quartet have not been released as far as the archive shows The Source AV 18:23.

The 2022 orchestra recordings (published)

The first session was a practice for a concert, recorded on Saturday 5 March 2022 in a church in Gorseinon, South Wales; he wrote that "it was not done with my ADC, but a low cost pro unit" Head-Fi, Mar 2022Head-Fi, Mar 2022. The setup was an AEA R88 stereo ribbon microphone in a Blumlein pair, going straight into a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 and a laptop, all battery powered, with monitoring on a Hugo 2 and DCA Stealth headphones Head-Fi, Mar 2022. He said the ADC is 192k 24 bit and "192k 24 bit is the final OP too" Head-Fi, Mar 2022. In his 16 March 2022 post the archived text reads "I decided to publish" followed by a dropped link, and he advised headphone listeners to "use cross-feed set to max", with no cross-feed needed on loudspeakers Head-Fi, Mar 2022. On 27 March he replied to a poster who liked "the first stab at recording" Head-Fi, Mar 2022.

He did not record the 19 March concert himself: Daniel, his son, did it while Watts was in Thailand Head-Fi, Apr 2022Head-Fi, Apr 2022. Posting it on 19 April 2022, he said it was made with the same microphone and interface "with no EQ or processing of any kind", that the only editing was start and stop points with a fade at the end of each track, and that the microphone was "about 2m behind and above the conductor" at St Catherine's Church, Gorseinon Head-Fi, Apr 2022. The post says the concert "can be downloaded in full", but the link is not in the archived text, so check the original thread Head-Fi, Apr 2022.

Listening tip. In January 2023 he said that to get the same image width as listening under the microphone "you need cross-feed set to the max (blue on Hugo 2/Mojo 2)", adding that this does not mean other recordings need the same setting Head-Fi, Jan 2023.

Later recordings that were not published, or not shown

In December 2022 he described another concert recording with a soprano, a male voice choir and the orchestra Head-Fi, Dec 2022. The next day he said Daniel would be editing it and "The recordings will eventually be on Watts Up?... thread, before Christmas" Head-Fi, Dec 2022; the archive does not show whether they were posted. In February 2023 he said the first recording had clipping issues, mostly when the audience clapped, and that a later one set up to avoid clipping went unpublished, partly because "it was impossibly quiet" Head-Fi, Feb 2023. In July 2023 he said he would post more, including test tracks of repeatable sounds and wood-block percussion, "assuming I get the ADC to work" Head-Fi, Jul 2023.

Why he records, and what he heard

He gave two reasons: to test his pulse array ADC, and to compare reproduced sound with what he heard live so he can locate losses in the whole chain Head-Fi, Jan 2023Eric's Hi-Fi 41:36. From the Focusrite recordings he reported accurate left-to-right placement, but reduced depth, a warmer sound and softer transients, and he attributed those deficiencies to the ADC Head-Fi, Mar 2022. In a podcast published October 2026 he repeated that "The depth is truncated by about 50 percent" Part-Time Audiophile 14:32. That figure comes, so check the recording before quoting it.

The Quartet ADC recordings (2026)

In a podcast published October 2026 (recorded at the Quartet launch event; recording date not stated) he said "We've done two test recordings using Quartet as the heart of the recording process" Distorsiuni Interioare 11:57. In a published interview he gave the formats: "One is 768 kHz, 24-bit, and one is 192 kHz, 24-bit" article, Oct 2026. The 192 kHz one was made from an analog tape Daniel recorded with an analog mixing desk and no Dolby, used as a repeatable source for setting up the ADC article, Oct 2026. The 768 kHz one was a vocalist and piano at Glenwood Place Studio in Burbank during CanJam LA; he said there was not enough time to mic it correctly, and that the signal went through a 1970s Neve mixing desk article, Oct 2026article, Oct 2026. He said a bank of test recordings is being built "now and into 2027" article, Oct 2026. On release, the only statement is in a talk published August 2026 (recording date not stated), and its wording about who may release the recordings is unclear The Source AV 18:23.

Gaps. He planned published test recordings as early as 2016 Head-Fi, Apr 2016Head-Fi, Sep 2016, but the March 2022 takes are the first the archive shows Head-Fi, Mar 2022. The archive has no download links, no confirmed release of the 2026 recordings, and its exactly dated Head-Fi posts end in March 2025 (four later posts are dated only to before the March 2026 scrape, and none is about his recordings), so a later forum release may not appear here Head-Fi, Apr 2022Head-Fi, Mar 2025The Source AV 18:23.

Quotes

“it is a Blumlein recording with a single AEA R88 ribbon stereo mic, fed directly into a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 with no EQ or processing of any kind”2022-04-19 Head-Fi, Apr 2022

“To get exactly the same image width as per listening directly under the microphone you need cross-feed set to the max (blue on Hugo 2/Mojo 2).”2023-01-26 Head-Fi, Jan 2023

“But for various reasons we didn't publish it - and one was that it was impossibly quiet.”2023-02-25 Head-Fi, Feb 2023

“One is 768 kHz, 24-bit, and one is 192 kHz, 24-bit.”2026-10-17 article, Oct 2026

Dated positions

Caveats and open points

• Download links for the 2022 practice takes and concert are missing from the archived post text.
• In January 2023 he wrote "Correct the Scarlett 8i6" in reply to a question the archive does not preserve Head-Fi, Jan 2023; his 2022 posts name the Scarlett 18i8.
• Whether the December 2022 concert recordings or the 2026 Quartet recordings were released is not shown; the archive's exactly dated Head-Fi posts end in March 2025, and four later posts are dated only to between then and the March 2026 scrape Head-Fi, Mar 2025.

Topics: Recordings, mastering and the production chain, Forum conduct, community and shared material