Recordings, mastering and the production chain

Formats, recordings and ADCs

Answers on this topic

Has Rob published his own recordings, and how were they made?
How do microphones, studio conversion and mastering limit what a DAC can reproduce?
How does Rob run listening tests, which tracks does he use, and how should I run my own?
Why are half-band decimation filters and studio sample-rate conversion a problem, and how much aliasing rejection is enough?

Everything he said on this topic (174)

One-line summaries in our words, oldest first. Each link opens the original.

2014-04-28Watts suggests the hiss may be master tape noise on older recordings, and says AAC streams sound surprisingly good on Hugo, which he calls a format leveler. Head-Fi, Apr 2014
2014-06-01Watts says the original recording rate is best, upsampled hi-res sounds awful, perfectly reconstructed 44.1 may beat hi-res due to ADC noise, and red-book can be stunning. Head-Fi, Jun 2014
2014-06-19Watts says it is best to buy the master tape's format; Floyd was analog so either is legitimate, but a Norah Jones DSD sounded dreadful, likely converted from CD. Head-Fi, Jun 2014
2014-06-19Watts says the CD used in his comparison is an old regular disc, a 1992 remaster. needs context Head-Fi, Jun 2014
2015-03-23Watts says mastering engineers are taking up Hugo because it reveals what is wrong with a recording while conveying what is musically right, his first design to gain both. Audiophile Style, Mar 2015
2015-04-09Watts says comparing 192 with 44.1 also involves SRC, and his 96k Chandos Lark Ascending master sounded only slightly smoother than 44.1/16; the recording matters more than the format. Head-Fi, Apr 2015
2015-12-01Watts says recordings either have depth or not, studio depth comes from reverb, classical usually has good depth, and film and TV soundtracks have great spatial layering. Head-Fi, Dec 2015
2016-01-09Watts says he made Hugo while designing silicon chips in Phoenix, and was surprised studios use it for mixdown: seventy percent of the UK's top one hundred is heard through Hugo. What Hi-Fi? 7:25
2016-01-09Watts says studios are very excited about an A to D converter with the same level of transparency as Hugo and Mojo. What Hi-Fi? 8:07
2016-05-17Watts says hi-res generally beats Red Book but recording quality matters more than format, since many Red Book recordings outshine DXD ones; Davina will show what Red Book loses. Head-Fi, May 2016
2016-09-17Watts recalls Doug Sax's Mastering Lab, and says a Moscow recording engineer's request will add vari-speed to the pro Davina, noting engineers' complaints about pitch effects and DC filters. Head-Fi, Sep 2016
2016-09-19Watts outlines Davina test recordings: two prototypes on one mic feed to compare configurations for depth, home and village sounds, then pro engineers, with 768 kHz originals for decimation testing. Head-Fi, Sep 2016
2016-09-19Watts plans Davina test recordings of guitar, fireworks and wood blocks, says current ADCs decimate crudely with moving averages, and plans Earthworks QT50 omni mics with a Schneider disc. Head-Fi, Sep 2016
2016-09-21Watts says DPA and Sanken microphones have significant lift at 20 kHz, whereas he prefers flat to 20 kHz with 50 kHz bandwidth; Earthworks has served classical well. Head-Fi, Sep 2016
2016-09-21Watts explains the brain uses high-frequency air absorption as a depth cue, so a bright microphone foreshortens depth, and praises the QT50's polar, frequency and impulse response. Head-Fi, Sep 2016
2017-01-09Watts says 384/24 is distinguishable from 48/24 but recording method matters more, praises 1960s Decca recordings, calls the M scaler 'a great equalizer', and says Davina will measure losses. Head-Fi, Jan 2017
2017-01-09Watts suggests Mercury's 35mm film and Decca's tape machine modifications, perhaps bias choices affecting timing, explain great 1960s recordings, and laments that modern pro ADCs are not designed by listening. Head-Fi, Jan 2017
2017-01-13Watts describes a CES visit by Jake comparing a ukulele recording to the system, noting a Stereophile comparison flaw: the microphone and ADC are part of the chain. Head-Fi, Jan 2017
2017-03-15Watts says white engages WTA2 at 256FS; the second-order HF filter (-3 dB at 40 kHz) removes ADC noise-shaper noise in 96/192 files, preventing noise floor modulation, sounding warmer. Head-Fi, Mar 2017
2017-03-25Watts suggests an Audacity FFT to check hi-res files: true 96/192 shows rising ADC noise-shaper noise, which he filters out to reduce noise floor modulation; upsampled files differ. Head-Fi, Mar 2017
2017-05-07Watts notes a phone recording's poor mic, simple ADC and AAC compression, and is amazed the 164,000 versus 1,000,000 tap difference is audible through it. Head-Fi, May 2017
2017-06-10Watts says a native 768 kHz test recording from Chord's Japanese distributor sounded like M-scaled playback, unlike DXD so far, though its high ADC noise made DAVE's HF filter matter. Head-Fi, Jun 2017
2017-08-10Watts notes Benchmark's website omits galvanic isolation, disputes that Hugo 1 sounds different, praises its musicality with archive recordings, and says 1960s Decca sounds real via Blu 2 and DAVE. Head-Fi, Aug 2017
2017-08-11Watts praises un-remastered 1960 to 1967 Decca recordings, says modern ADCs' half-band filters allow aliasing that degrades transient timing, and says Davina will have no aliasing. Head-Fi, Aug 2017
2017-10-11Watts says aliasing from modern ADCs' half-band filters (-6 dB at FS/2) is irreparable, yet every track in his 5 TB library sounds better on BluDave with longer taps. Head-Fi, Oct 2017
2017-10-20Watts agrees microphone choice and positioning are crucial but says current ADCs have vast problems that Davina will solve, with a post on them to follow. Head-Fi, Oct 2017
2018-02-13Watts says he will probably use Reaper, though he does not intend to edit anything. needs context Head-Fi, Feb 2018
2018-02-23Watts recalls early digital recordings on vinyl in the early 1980s, such as the Telarc 1812, sounding glassy and flat, preferring Decca pressings while learning Whittaker-Shannon sampling theory. MajorHiFi 13:00
2018-07-04Watts says current ADCs have aliasing, NFM and small-signal nonlinearity, so Davina recordings may show big changes even on Mojo; he benchmarks Dave with headphones and TT2 on 803 D3s. Head-Fi, Jul 2018
2018-09-24Watts notes Dolby B was released in 1968, when Decca was also using Dolby. Head-Fi, Sep 2018
2018-12-09Watts says vinyl sounds soft and distorted to him; M scaler with DAVE beats vinyl on his objective criteria and emotional involvement, citing Pink Floyd Relics and Yes albums. Head-Fi, Dec 2018
2019-01-24Watts says the M scaler preserves ADC noise on hi-res recordings, so the HF filter still helps, and WTA2 is even more attractive with the M scaler. Head-Fi, Jan 2019
2019-01-26Watts says 192k recordings show only ADC noise above 30kHz, harmonics above 20k are inaudible, and hi-res helps by reducing timing uncertainty; Davina's noise starts above 500kHz. Head-Fi, Jan 2019
2019-06-21Watts says most recordings, even most DSD ones edited as DXD, use n-bit delta-sigma ADCs, and a 5-bit 128FS fifth-order ADC still has significant amplitude-related timing errors. Head-Fi, Jun 2019
2019-12-04Watts describes a show where Blu 2 Dave outperformed a costlier vinyl setup in spaciousness, separation and engagement, and says he does not get vinyl. Head-Fi, Dec 2019
2020-01-29Watts advises PCM unless an SACD's master was DSD, says he is making mains-powered USB match optical and battery, and warns modifying his optimized designs more likely harms than helps. Head-Fi, Jan 2020
2020-04-11Watts says the out-of-band noise comes from the data itself, especially in 96k and higher recordings where ADC noise-shaper noise increases. Head-Fi, Apr 2020
2020-05-29Watts explains choosing an AEA R88mk2 stereo ribbon mic for Blumlein recording over Earthworks QTC50 capsules, and says another ADC prototype should allow recording late this year or next. Head-Fi, May 2020
2020-05-31Watts plans to angle the ribbon mic stand for equal source distance, says amplitude encoding matters more than phase for stereo, and says RF effects depend on isolation and filtering. Head-Fi, May 2020
2020-06-01Watts says ear-spaced mics would need ear-like polar response, notes separation is normally wider, and plans to buy condenser mics to compare which gives more realistic depth. Head-Fi, Jun 2020
2020-07-10Watts says he solved the DX amp's signal-dependent switching issue, a Dave DX amp is one to five years away, and explains frequency response and phase as depth cues. Head-Fi, Jul 2020
2020-12-19Watts says audible master tape hiss means a recording was not Dolby encoded, and that Dolby makes things sound unnaturally soft with poorer focus. Head-Fi, Dec 2020
2021-02-01Watts says recording engineers press him for Davina, contrasts N-bit 104 MHz modulation with 1-bit DSD64, won't disclose plans, and names depth and attack as audio's key challenges. needs context Head-Fi, Feb 2021
2021-02-04Watts says he would never use analog master tapes as a reference; his future tests will compare reproduced sound with the original live sound across the whole chain. Head-Fi, Feb 2021
2021-04-06Watts recounts how Doug Sax's direct-cut discs and master tapes shaped his work on DACs, says live unamplified sound is his ideal, and doubts tape and vinyl. Head-Fi, Apr 2021
2021-05-22Watts says DXD is fine since it is regular PCM at 352.8kHz, provided the original ADC was n-bit rather than 1-bit. Head-Fi, May 2021
2021-12-24Watts says vinyl sounds soft and distorted next to his system, describes his family's guitars and new piano, and says new pulse array ADC prototypes arrived Christmas Eve. Head-Fi, Dec 2021
2022-01-06Watts says the M scaler is 1M taps at 705/768k so only half the taps are used at 352/384, and that tape bias and amplifiers also degrade transient timing. Head-Fi, Jan 2022
2022-02-15Watts attributes HF errors to ADC noise shapers and decimation, keeps HF filter off on DAVE via M Scaler, prices the Choral M Scaler at DAVE level, and rejects XMOS. Head-Fi, Feb 2022
2022-03-02Watts reports returning from CanJam NYC and says cleaning aliasing from existing recordings offers little; improving scalers, DACs, amps and transducers is the way forward. Head-Fi, Mar 2022
2022-03-08Watts describes his first orchestra recording with a ribbon mic into a Focusrite Scarlett, matching live volume on Hugo 2 and Stealth at blue, and TT2 driving his 803 D3s. Head-Fi, Mar 2022
2022-03-16Watts describes recording an amateur orchestra with a Blumlein ribbon mic into a Focusrite ADC, compares playback with live, and blames lost depth, transients and timbre on the ADC. Head-Fi, Mar 2022
2022-03-27Watts says bi-amping via bi-wire ports with digital filtering makes sense, recalls stacked Quad ESL-57s, praises the DCA Stealth, and says the recording used a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 at 192k/24-bit. Head-Fi, Mar 2022
2022-04-04Watts says WTA1 filters carry 2.76 dB of overload headroom for Gibbs ringing and inter-sample overs (measured worst cases 2.41 dB and 3 dB); a single 0.8dB clip was inaudible. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
2022-04-10Watts describes twisting eight PTFE solid cores per conductor, hopes to finish the xM scaler and ADC later this year, and says the next ADC prototype will take ribbon mics. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
2022-04-19Watts shares the full 19 March ChromaMusic orchestra concert, a Blumlein recording by his son with one AEA R88 ribbon mic into a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8, unprocessed and battery powered. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
2022-04-25Watts says TT2 need only be separated if it thermally shuts down, explains how Blumlein encodes lateral and depth information, and says conventional SRC has severe sound-quality problems. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
2022-05-13Watts agrees conventional ADCs soften sound through limited HF accuracy and aliasing, says minimum-phase, MQA, apodizing and NOS filters soften it far more, and defends sampling theory. Head-Fi, May 2022
2022-06-13Watts says Hugo 2 handles pre-emphasis automatically via the SPDIF emphasis flag, and that very few 1980s CDs used emphasis. Head-Fi, Jun 2022
2022-06-21Watts says recording a small orchestra with ribbon mics, Focusrite ADC, Hugo 2 and Stealth confirmed for him that headphones are more accurate than loudspeakers in frequency response; he cautions that 'neutral' is relative. Head-Fi, Jun 2022
2022-07-19Watts says the amp is in the background, old recordings involve via M Scaler and DAVE, and his Blumlein test recordings showed ADC losses: less depth, softer transients, warmer balance. Head-Fi, Jul 2022
2022-08-19Watts says the story goes back to 1981, when the first digital recordings on vinyl sounded hard, brittle and flat, with poor instrument separation and focus. AVstore 1:09
2022-08-19Watts says recordings have unknown provenance (acoustic, mics, ADC, post processing), so his listening tests evaluate variation: the more variation in a product's sound, the more accurate it is. AVstore 9:06
2022-08-19Watts says he has made his own recordings with Blumlein stereo ribbon mics because he is developing a pulse array ADC for pro audio and must assess its transparency. AVstore 10:41
2022-08-19Watts says his own recordings give an absolute reference, letting him compare a scaler and DAC on headphones with his memory of the event, and calls variability a powerful technique. AVstore 11:20
2022-08-19Watts says DAVE with his prototype scaler and Dan Clark Audio Stealth headphones came close to his live recordings, but depth was one-third or 50 percent less. AVstore 46:35
2022-08-19Watts says material recorded four meters away sounded two meters away, which he thinks is the ADC, and the bright church recording sounded warmer, with softer transients, on headphones and on his speakers (transcribed 'BMWs'). AVstore 47:20
2022-08-19Watts attributes the blurred, soft transients to the ADC's decimation and inadequate anti-aliasing filters plus insufficient noise shaper accuracy, and says microphone siting was easier than expected. AVstore 48:06
2022-08-19Watts says speakers can take weeks to set up while microphones are relatively easy, the result was closer than expected, and the next couple of years will tell. AVstore 48:52
2022-09-16Watts says vinyl's clicks and lack of transparency rule it out, his M scaled Hugo 2 and DAVE are far more involving, and his recording played back warmer than live. Head-Fi, Sep 2022
2022-09-18Watts says he makes his own recordings with the Blumlein technique, using a stereo ribbon microphone that has no off-axis output, feeding straight into the ADC. The Source AV 16:49
2022-09-18Watts says he records orchestras with the microphone about a meter behind the conductor, and positioning it for the best sound is tricky. The Source AV 17:34
2022-09-18Watts says his test recordings, downloadable from his blog, give very good left-right placement accuracy when heard on Stealth headphones. The Source AV 17:50
2022-09-18Watts says with DAVE and a prototype of the new scaler, left-right accuracy of his recordings is identical to perfect, but depth is not. The Source AV 18:19
2022-09-18Watts says you want things to be sharp, he knows what the issues are, and the softening is down to the A to D converter. The Source AV 20:22
2022-09-18Watts says his recordings test the playback chain and his pulse array ADC (begun about 2005); ADCs suffer noise floor modulation, poor small-signal accuracy suppressing depth, and sharpness-dulling aliasing. The Source AV 20:30
2022-09-18Watts says early Pink Floyd, before Dark Side of the Moon, sounds impressive with sharpness and speed, later Floyd is softer, and albums unplayed since the 80s sound much better. The Source AV 31:57
2022-09-18Watts says remastering is sometimes better and sometimes not, so go back to the original. The Source AV 32:45
2022-10-19Watts says the ear/brain images well despite degraded inputs, that headphone leakage misleads live monitoring, and that sealing the ears barely affects placement, depth or height perception. Head-Fi, Oct 2022
2022-12-12Watts says Daniel is editing the concert recording, which will be posted on the Watts Up thread before Christmas, including carols. Head-Fi, Dec 2022
2023-01-21Watts says his Blumlein recordings show lateral imaging is already perfect with crossfeed on Mojo 2 and Stealth; depth, attack and timbre need improving, digital sounding too soft. Head-Fi, Jan 2023
2023-01-22Watts confirms the Scarlett 8i6 was used and hopes the May recording session will use his prototype pulse array ADC. Head-Fi, Jan 2023
2023-01-23Watts explains his recording program to test his pulse array ADC and compare live with reproduced sound, says pro ADCs limit performance, and notes listeners differ in sensitivity. Head-Fi, Jan 2023
2023-02-04Watts says after Hugo he enjoyed piano music, hearing timbre, attack and flow, and could appreciate 1930s mono recordings despite their distortion and noise. Dusty Audio 17:08
2023-02-04Watts says he will test his ADC within weeks, and makes his own recordings with ribbon microphones and one pro ADC, unedited, to compare against the live sound. Dusty Audio 46:13
2023-02-05Watts says the Stealths are special and much better than the Aeons, which he only fully appreciated after using them to play back his own recording sessions of acoustic instruments. Soundnews 2:23
2023-02-05Watts says playback through M Scaler and Hugo 2 was surprisingly close to the original sound; the recording used a Blumlein pair of ribbon microphones. Soundnews 3:08
2023-02-05Watts says the unprocessed recording went straight into the ADC; playback matched in frequency response but sounded warmer and softer than live, though he considered the Stealths slightly bright. Soundnews 3:27
2023-02-05Watts says the ADC has a softening sound and his ribbon microphones can sound a little warm depending on placement, yet he was amazed how accurate the reproduction was. Soundnews 4:25
2023-02-11Watts says improvements are easiest to hear on poor recordings, first noticed with Hugo, and pre-1968 master tapes lose their realism through ADCs and conventional DACs' transient timing errors. Head-Fi, Feb 2023
2023-02-25Watts describes clipping and level problems recording an amateur orchestra with his son, refuses compression, and suggests tape bias and out-of-band distortion degrade transient timing in analog. Head-Fi, Feb 2023
2023-03-01Watts says direct-cut discs are rare and vinyl reproduces tape or digital, and DAVE's greater resolution over TT2 is not due to its 3dB gain difference. Head-Fi, Mar 2023
2023-03-26Watts says he is doing his own recording sessions while developing a pulse array A to D converter, aiming to control the whole chain from microphone to headphones or loudspeakers. Eric's Hi-Fi 41:36
2023-03-26Watts says hearing original and reproduced sound shows deficiencies along the chain, and his recording sessions use the same church each time to learn its acoustics. Eric's Hi-Fi 42:16
2023-03-28Watts says he wishes studios would not record in DSD; he is testing his own pulse array ADC and making recordings to compare reproduction with the live sound. The Headphone Show 53:51
2023-07-24Watts says if the ADC works he will share recordings, including test tracks of sounds at different depths and percussion for speed and impact, plus amateur orchestra recordings. Head-Fi, Jul 2023
2023-08-24Watts says Arrival at 48k 24b on Qobuz sounded far better than his 16b 44.1k copy, blaming non-integer sample rate conversion common on soundtracks. Head-Fi, Aug 2023
2023-08-25Watts says early Decca recordings have speed he attributes to aliasing and timing, suspects modern half-band ADC decimation, and says early PGGB sounded poorer than the Hugo M Scaler. Head-Fi, Aug 2023
2023-08-25Watts clarifies he means pre-1968 analog Decca tape, likely mastered via the Sony PCM1630 with passive anti-aliasing, versus today's half-band decimation at -6dB at 22.05kHz. Head-Fi, Aug 2023
2023-10-01Watts says direct-cut recordings were pretty good, and he was listening to them at 16. The Source AV 14:58
2023-10-01Watts says poor depth in reproduced audio always bugged him, and that if a track with encoded depth sounds flat within seconds, it will be a poor recording. The Source AV 15:13
2023-10-01Watts says Mobile Fidelity could always add reverb. The Source AV 16:11
2023-10-01Watts says the trouble with adding reverb is that close-miked sounds no longer sound close. The Source AV 16:15
2023-10-01Watts says the listener does not know what they are listening to or how the recording was put together. needs context The Source AV 16:40
2023-10-01Watts adds that reproduction equipment has also gotten better. needs context The Source AV 16:50
2023-10-01Watts says that when first hearing the M Scaler open up the soundstage, he thought engineers recording at 48 kHz never heard this at all. The Source AV 16:56
2023-10-01Watts says Tom interviewed Atlantic Studios' four recording engineers, who bought DAVEs and Mojo 2s about a year ago, and he joined after arriving early for jet lag. The Source AV 17:19
2023-10-01Watts says he expected the usual studio verdict of 'very transparent', but the engineers turned out to be real fans. The Source AV 17:51
2023-10-01Watts says the engineers are young, while older Grammy winners want the studio sound of 30 years ago; Chord aims to reproduce the real sound. The Source AV 18:18
2023-10-01Watts says the Atlantic interviews will be published online and he will post about them; the engineers had done a mobile off-site recording with Ed Sheeran. The Source AV 20:15
2023-10-01Watts says the Atlantic engineers used Mojo 2 on that session and always use Mojo 2 for portability. The Source AV 20:37
2023-10-01Watts says they also use Mojo 2 in the main studios when they do not have access to DAVE. The Source AV 20:43
2023-10-01Watts says the engineers prefer Mojo 2 to any other DAC for its soundstage depth and refined transparency, hearing faults and subtle adjustments immediately, which improved their efficiency. The Source AV 20:48
2023-10-01Watts says he is a big Stealth fan and makes his own recordings partly to test the pulse array ADC he is developing for pro audio and domestic markets. The Source AV 24:59
2023-10-01Watts says knowing the microphones, cables and ADC of his own recordings lets him evaluate DAC performance. The Source AV 25:26
2023-10-01Watts says driver matching makes a big difference to lateral accuracy, and on his recordings left-to-right placement on playback matched what he heard under the microphones. The Source AV 27:01
2024-05-16Watts says a few recording engineers have listened to it and were blown away. needs context The Speaker Shack 5:50
2024-05-16Watts says one recording engineer, hearing a track he mixed some time ago, heard faulty edits he had never heard before. needs context The Speaker Shack 6:00
2024-06-26Watts says DSD256 has -20dB noise at 400kHz, all DSD rates show large modulator noise floor modulation, the brain perceives any timing change, and recordings stay limited to 192k. Head-Fi, Jun 2024
2024-06-27Watts says the tools most studios actually use are limited to 192kHz and points to the bottom of a slide (image not preserved). Head-Fi, Jun 2024
2024-07-12Watts says in the 1980s digital recordings on vinyl sounded terrible next to pre-1970s Decca recordings, which made him wonder why digital was so bad. HIFICLUB 7:24
2024-09-29Watts says they make their own recordings, so with his aural memory he can compare playback at home on DAVEs and M Scalers with the live event. The Source AV 25:34
2025-02-17Watts says streams can be different recordings (two Norah Jones versions differ greatly), and he designs no source because a perfect DAC fed bit-perfect data would make the source irrelevant. audio-2G 12:43
2025-02-17Watts says his son, a Tonmeister student, and his lecturers prefer mixing on analog desks, going through a DAC and back via an ADC, which Watts first thought crazy. audio-2G 16:29
2025-02-17Watts says his son finds compression and EQ on analog gear sounds more natural, and attributes this to digital processing using 64-bit floating point. audio-2G 17:15
2026-03-17Watts says much of his work is now pro audio: he is developing a pro ADC and will compare its recordings, played on his DACs, with the live event. ecoustics 18:59
2026-03-17Watts estimates about 80 percent of sound quality losses are on the DAC side and 20 to 25 percent on the ADC side, based on his recordings using commercial ADCs. ecoustics 20:11
2026-03-17Watts says pro engineers dislike 768 kHz 32-bit file sizes, but a very big company with archive recordings wants to archive at 768/32 so tape degradation stops mattering. ecoustics 26:46
2026-03-17Watts says a cello recorded four meters away sounds two meters on DAVE and 2.5 to 3 with Quartet; commercial ADCs noise-shape to 140 dB, his ADC about 301 dB. ecoustics 45:04
2026-03-17Watts says the whole chain including recording is about 66% there; his recording in a bright-sounding church reproduced warmer than the live event. ecoustics 1:14:28
2026-03-17Watts says no recording technique, tape or digital, captures sharp sounds such as a live rim shot properly; playback sounds softer and loses the fast edge. ecoustics 1:15:45
2026-03-24Watts says his mother immediately heard the difference between a high-performance ADC and Quartet's ADC on a phone speaker, so recording quality will improve for everyone. Audio Force 30:22
2026-05-03Watts says major studios use Chord DAVE (transcribed 'CordDave'; possibly 'Chord DACs') for its transparency, and recording engineers ask when he will make a pulse array A to D converter. Audio Force 15:17
2026-05-03Watts says Chord aims to create future hi-res standards; recordings with the new pulse array ADC sound much better than high-end pro ADCs, audibly even on phone loudspeakers. Audio Force 17:34
2026-08-30Watts says they spent a studio day recording piano and a singer at 768 kHz with Quartet, and he has never heard piano sound as good. The Source AV 3:00
2026-08-30Watts says the studio gave musicians and studio time and allowed them to release the recordings, which they will publish. The Source AV 18:23
2026-08-30Watts says they will play the host the take, which is unbelievably different. needs context The Source AV 19:09
2026-08-30Watts says the studio manager is excited and talking about other projects and recordings with big-name artists. The Source AV 19:18
2026-08-30Watts says their prototype, with experimental boards added for its unique 768 kHz outputs, worked fine while the studio's normal equipment kept stopping. The Source AV 20:34
2026-10-02Watts says improvements can make recordings he had written off sound good, though earlier improvements had shrunk the number of musically acceptable recordings. HiFi Buys 24:36
2026-10-02Watts says the larger, faster FPGA made previously musically unacceptable recordings acceptable. needs context HiFi Buys 25:50
2026-10-02Watts says noisy, distorted 1930s mono recordings became enjoyable because the brain copes with natural analog distortion, as the ear itself is nonlinear, but not with digital's unnatural errors. HiFi Buys 26:02
2026-10-02Watts says listeners do not know the original recording or their transducers' quality, a recording is an engineered construct, and listening for variation is how to find reality. HiFi Buys 50:15
2026-10-02Watts says a saxophone with its own microphone and amplifier is fine, but once instruments are mixed together through a PA the quality is lost. needs context HiFi Buys 1:06:30
2026-10-02Watts says in a studio a single multitrack instrument has immense clarity, but bringing in the other tracks makes everything fall apart. HiFi Buys 1:06:52
2026-10-02Watts says one instrument on one microphone has immense clarity, transparency and variation, but mixing everything together makes it fall apart. HiFi Buys 1:07:10
2026-10-02Watts says his lifetime ambition is to cover everything from microphone to loudspeaker. HiFi Buys 1:40:59
2026-10-02Watts says having a pulse array ADC working and making recordings with it has been fascinating. HiFi Buys 1:41:11
2026-10-02Watts says with limited time he wants to finish pro audio work: loudspeakers, digital EQ and active drive for loudspeakers, ADCs and pro mixing, since music creation involves large losses. HiFi Buys 2:10:18
2026-10-11Watts says to develop a pulse array ADC he made his own recordings with a stereo ribbon mic and a standard ADC, comparing playback against his memory of the event. Distorsiuni Interioare 10:33
2026-10-11Watts says the digital recording lost soundstage depth and was warmer than the original, partly from the ribbon mic, with much of the difference being speed, impact and power that Quartet brings out. Distorsiuni Interioare 11:17
2026-10-11Watts says Quartet contains a pulse array ADC; two test recordings at 768 kHz were made with it, and he expected better separation, depth and power. Distorsiuni Interioare 11:57
2026-10-11Watts says it surprised him that it was better going through the digitization process. needs context Distorsiuni Interioare 1:12:51
2026-10-11Watts says the improvement comes from Quartet's 18 kHz HF filter transparently removing out-of-band noise and signal-correlated distortion, improving transient timing; he had expected digitization to sound worse. Distorsiuni Interioare 1:14:52
2026-10-11Watts says the pro ADC will change engineers' work: current ADCs are too bright and tamed with EQ, while accurate timbre from the start changes post-processing. Distorsiuni Interioare 1:31:20
2026-10-14Watts says all audio is poor at the shock of transients, and describes a first recording with his Tonmeister son: conventional ADCs, a ribbon mic, a small church orchestra. Part-Time Audiophile 13:38
2026-10-14Watts says the recording truncated depth by about 50 percent (a cello four metres away sounded two) and softened transient edges, a reason for his pulse array ADC work. Part-Time Audiophile 14:32
2026-10-14Watts says early A to D converters were poor 1980s technology; he hated CD and digital recordings, preferring vinyl, especially 1960s recordings made before Dolby. Part-Time Audiophile 43:16
2026-10-14Watts says CD is good enough to enjoy music, with many 44.1 kHz 16-bit recordings he loves, but can be improved; his 768 kHz recordings get much closer to live. Part-Time Audiophile 48:08
2026-10-14Watts says 768 kHz, 24-bit or 32-bit, and that their mastering standard is 768 kHz, 32 bits. Part-Time Audiophile 49:31
2026-10-14Watts says his ADC's aliasing is vanishingly small; comparing standard, high-end and pulse array ADCs on a female vocal from Daniel's simple analog tape, pitch was the surprise. Part-Time Audiophile 57:48
2026-10-17Watts says he will send copies of the recordings, which he calls extraordinary, and that both produced something really interesting. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says one recording is 768 kHz 24-bit and one 192 kHz 24-bit from an analog tape, made to set up the ADC and compare it with commercial pro ADCs. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says the female vocalist's pitch reproduction differed greatly: she sounded out of tune on the commercial ADC and in tune on the Quartet ADC. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says the vocalist's voice and pitch are wrong on the first playback and right on the second, from exactly the same tape. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says headphones reveal further improvements, and recalls a CanJam LA studio session in Burbank where a piano sounded real and brought tears to his eyes. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says the current test ADC is Mojo standard through a 1970s Neve desk, while the pro ADC will be DAVE standard, with digital mixing, EQ and a single op amp. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says everyone wins because recordings will get better, so you will not need to spend large sums on a Quartet. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says the goal is quality from the start plus a much better transcription of old tapes, with possible access to some master tapes. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says the Pro ADC will have mic inputs, one op amp into the ADC and 108-bit digital mixing, changing how recording is done. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says two test recordings so far show an extraordinary difference, and he wishes he had finished Davina, started in 2016, years earlier. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says panning, EQ and possibly compression and reverb will give engineers tools beyond existing DAWs, and a Pulse Array ADC reduces the need to compensate for ADC losses. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says pro audio people who heard the ADCs are excited, including Warner Music Group, which holds a lot of 1950s tape. article, Oct 2026
2026-10-17Watts says that is why Warner let them into its studios for a day with a pianist and vocalist to test the ADC, and they are keen. article, Oct 2026