Steve Hoffman was really loosened up and talkative tonight. I enjoyed watching the full program even if it was 2 hours after it had occurred. It's always interesting to hear details from an engineer when they look back on their different projects they have worked on. So that's two top mastering engineers that think that One Step recordings are a gimmick. While I don't know a whole lot about them, I tend to think that they probably are right knowing what they do for a living. Thanks for hosting and conducting the interview tonight Steve. Brian in Fort Worth 🎶
Blondie's Parallel Lines was mastered by Steve Hall! Steve Hoffman said the picture disk version was the best sounding version out there. Here is a direct quote from him.... My old PICTURE DISC that I bought in 1978 of Blondie's Parallel Lines is the best sounding version I've ever heard. In fact I used it as a ref for the DCC version. Only problem with it is that it's noisy (like all Fitz.-Hartly Pic Discs).
Nice to see SH up there again Steve🎸😎✌🏻you guys have a good rapport. It is nearly Audiophile ASMR 😁Always a fun time and interesting insights. Look forward to the next time SH is up👍🏻 Russ Gary would be an awesome guest Steve! He is a wealth of knowledge and super nice guy. I vote yes for certain. Thanks again for the great stream! John B
There was a great article written around 1985 in Hi-Fi Answers about all the mastering 'scribes' in the deadwax (runout grooves in Europe). The writer was explaining to readers how to find out about what mastering their LP was cut from. It was back then that I realised that it wasn't my hifi that was at fault. So I got clued into all the mastering engineers and made sure I got the LP with the right mastering. After that I didn't blame my hi-fi as much. One thing for sure the price of vinyl will eventually kill it off.
Always enjoy your content, Steve, and I’m a huge admirer of Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman. I don’t do side by side comparisons and apply scientific experimental methods to my listening sessions. I get how gimmicks can manipulate how we hear things. All of that said, some of the MOFI and Impex One Steps, I own simply sound stunning. Is it the vinyl? The 45 rpm? The “one step” process? I don’t know. I do know that most sound extraordinary imho. Thanks for what you do.
Steve- I just pulled out my Terry Callier Occasional Rain CD, 1st thought was "This would be a wonderful Rhino HiFi release!!!! High dollar LP these days.
I don’t feel like I know. I want to hear from the people who do the plating and pressing what exactly they are doing. I would also like to see some objective testing.
Blue Train was certified gold 24 years ago (500k in us alone to date). I bought two sealed copies from a retailer this week so now its at least 500,002 lol.
2022 Billboard All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes. Of the album’s 11,000 in total sales for the week, essentially all were physical sales - with just over 10,000 on vinyl and a little under 1,000 on CD. (A small number of digital download albums were also sold.)
A very entertaining show! I was interning at KPFK in the late '70's (I ran the audio board after composer Carl Stone's morning show), so I relate to the atmosphere of that far-left-leaning station. I listened again to my copy of "The White White Album" on Apple & was not very impressed with its sound. (FYI: Mission/Cambridge TT circa 1987 with Sumiko Moonstone cart.) I really like Giles Martin's remix on CD.
Love his interviews. I have more of a mastering technique question. How important is the Q control on his EQ when addressing what is needed for a given song? He talks dB and a bit on compression; would like to know a bit more of his mastering EQ approach.
I enjoyed the full show Steves! Lots of insight that I will take away with me. 1) 45 RPM's have extra db and Rumours even more db, 2) Half-Speed is meh, 3) why bother with test pressings, and 4) what I would love to know with regards to One-Steps is this: Here is a question for Grover the next time he's on - Did they test press any of BSM's One-Steps using the 3-step normal way and put that on Neotech vinyl to compare? I believe on that podcast with KG, he said he did that (minus the quiet vinyl) but I'm not sure how many years ago that was, so asking Grover would be a newer perspective if they did a comparison. Cheers
Side 4 of Abbey Road 45rpm could start at "Mean Mr Mustard"! re: White Album - the 1978 "Wally" cut with the purple Capitol label is terrific, very dynamic. If given a set I wouldn't even open the Beatles Mono US Albums 1964 box, that crap would go right back out the door to some other sucker. Even the covers look like crap. Some doofus at Universal doesn't know what a halftone is (referencing MTB).
Waterlily did several of their records as both three steps and one steps. That was the only difference. Those records would make for the best A/B comparison
Joan Baez played a Martin 0-18 guitar beginning in the late 1950s and she has played it throughout her career. I believe it was given to her by her parents. Fast forward to the early 2000s when Martin guitars decided to issue a Joan Baez commemorative guitar and the obvious choice was her 0-18. She gave the Martin custom shop her old guitar and they proceeded to tear it apart so they could get all the measurements correct for the new issue.. Lo and behold, they found an interesting artifact from a time when Joan had sent her guitar into Martin for work in the 1960s. Apparently the luthier who had worked on it inscribed the backside of the soundboard with, “too bad you’re a communist.” (This is either verbatim or a paraphrase.) No one knew of this until Martin custom shop took the guitar apart. Apparently, Joe Baez got a real laugh out of it and decided she wanted that inscription on the back of the soundboards of the commemorative model. You can see it if you stick a mirror under the ‘hood’. True story.
The wise man‘s words are always welcome. Glad to hear his opinion on one-steps. Gray calls them a scam. Hoffman calls them a gimmick. Grundman & co. will probably keep quiet because his company is engaged a lot in the mastering and cutting for labels which promote the merits of their deluxe one-steps. Anyways, we as consumers and members of the vinyl community are not given the opportunity to find out ourselves by comparing apples to apples. Another xxx gate? At least, it’s becoming a smelly topic. One day someone will find the whole truth. For the moment for me it’s trustworthy enough what 2 reputable mastering and cutting engineers say in public.
The question of One Step vs Three Step really hasn't been properly addressed. Kevin Gray's claim is that because a One Step relies on a layer of Silver plating that is allegedly weak and sheds almost immediately when used to press vinyl that the layer of silver is being scrubbed from the plates. And as such not only defeats the advantage of avoiding two additional generations used in Three Step plating but may actually add more noise and lose more detail than the Thee Step plating. Here's the problem though, Kevin Gray was speculating. What we need is to talk to the actual people doing the plating and find out from the horse's mouth just what is being done. Steve Hoffman acknowledged that he has never done a side by side comparison between a One Step and Three Step LP from two lacquers that were cut exactly the same way. But neither has Kevin Gray.
Question my copy 2023 says cut by Kevin Gray does Steve work with Kevin? Why didn’t Steve get a credit? I will look on album when I get home to see if Hoffman is mentioned
I’m a little perplexed - several labels have made OneStep a part of their high quality vinyl catalog. And many RUclips influencers in the VC have said they sound (largely) very good. I suppose the technical aspect seems one way from the mastering engineers. But when the records are actually played by consumers they do tend to sound revelatory. There’s room for both perspectives!
They may sound good! News flash most one steps are made from “classic” material so keep in mind they’re already starting with tremendous source material and then you add competent mastering and of course it will sound good. But they really wasn’t affected by if it was one or three steps.
I think “closer to the source material” is usually the enticing factor with One Step releases. I’m not technically knowledgeable to know how much 1 to 3 steps affect our listening experience. Fortunately everything’s available as a normal 3-step and some lucky few have their favorites as a One-Step as well. Mine would be Monks Dream ❤
They're saying the one steps don't sound *better* than a traditionally made LP. The big draw would seem to be that a one step, by its nature, guarantees a limited edition.
@@patbarr1351 That's what Kevin Gray is saying Steve Hoffman did not say that. Steve Hoffman was essentially saying it's a waste of a great lacquer to limit the use to a One Step plate. He never really addressed sound quality.
The reason Stan Ricker loved half speed mastering was because he believed that at half speed the analog tape heads would capture and transfer more information off of the tapes. Which does not work if you half speed master from a digital file.
What do you think of the channel AP Mastering saying analogue is digital? If you're not aware of him go check it out, he's made a few videos recently explaining why.
A lot of records cut on the various later Neumann lathes were run through the 12 bit digital preview that came stock with the lathe. Which means there’s a lot of highly coveted original issues that are assumed to be all analog that were actually run through a fairly primitive low res ADC/DAC
Another great interview with the great SH. Well done Steve BUT, man I think you bore him with repeatedly asking details about audiophile copies and which release is better than another…there’s a message in that for all to get over the “gimmicks.” Love your work, fella. Cheers from Oz
@@scottwheeler2679I was referring to cutting a half-speed LP from tape vs digital file! Miles Showell is BIG into half-speed mastering from digital files.
@@91pastor I understand. the reason Stan Ricker gave for using half speed mastering was that at half speed the analog tape deck would retrieve and transfer for information off of the analog tape. That would not be the case for a digital file. The information will be the same at half speed or full speed. So the answer is yes, there is a difference between mastering at half speed from analog tape vs. a digital file according to Stan Ricker
@SteveWestman Great interview. 👍👍 It would be really cool if Steve Hoffman would be willing to share his and his kids' Spotify or other streaming service Playlists. ;)
i'll trade hoffman all my original pressings for his test pressings.. ha, but seriously, i get what he's saying that if you press 100+ as a gimmick, they might not be particularly rare. but that's only been a very recent thing. most tps are pressed in very small quantities, and represent the first press off the stamper. if there's any truth to the metaphor of the shoe tread getting duller with more wear, then test pressings, promos, early number copies might have a slight edge being the closest to a fresh stamper. in the audiophile world, a slight edge could tip the scales. maybe SH is swimming in test pressings and doesn't find them particularly interesting. but, i can see the appeal as a collectable to the non-insider. hot off the press!
I respectfully disagree Mr Hoffman, the German DMM White Album from the mid 80's is _the one_ to get.. Either, the DMM labeled white wax, or unmarked DMM on black wax. Stellar sounding. 👍👍 Tim from University of Vinyl knows what's up! 🍻
Yes reading Bop Apocalypse and it makes it clear his heroin use and continued Alcohol use killed him Miles who got sober before him lived longer of course My 2 cents
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Steve's comments about Doug Sax were wonderful, he holds him in high regard.
Yes. Everyone in the industry did and still does. RIP Mr. Sax ❤️
Steve Hoffman was really loosened up and talkative tonight. I enjoyed watching the full program even if it was 2 hours after it had occurred. It's always interesting to hear details from an engineer when they look back on their different projects they have worked on.
So that's two top mastering engineers that think that One Step recordings are a gimmick. While I don't know a whole lot about them, I tend to think that they probably are right knowing what they do for a living.
Thanks for hosting and conducting the interview tonight Steve.
Brian in Fort Worth 🎶
OG pressings always do it to my ears.
I love this guy Hoffman. It's like watching a slightly crotchety professor trying to teach algebra to a potato.
I wouldn’t call Westman a potato
More like a sweet potato w butter and brown sugar ! Lol
@@doodahdavesrecords4319 haha Oh it wasn't personal to Westman - I suspect that's just the Hoffman's shtick!
Thanks for the talk. On the next one could you guys please focus on SACDs and CDs?
Good topic those I have
Blondie's Parallel Lines was mastered by Steve Hall! Steve Hoffman said the picture disk version was the best sounding version out there. Here is a direct quote from him.... My old PICTURE DISC that I bought in 1978 of Blondie's Parallel Lines is the best sounding version I've ever heard. In fact I used it as a ref for the DCC version. Only problem with it is that it's noisy (like all Fitz.-Hartly Pic Discs).
I have the Hoff 45 version of Monk - Brilliant corners and it is outstanding.
I really enjoyed this! Nice job fellas
Much appreciated!
Great Interview! Steve and Steve 🤝
🙏🙏
Nice to see SH up there again Steve🎸😎✌🏻you guys have a good rapport. It is nearly Audiophile ASMR 😁Always a fun time and interesting insights. Look forward to the next time SH is up👍🏻
Russ Gary would be an awesome guest Steve! He is a wealth of knowledge and super nice guy. I vote yes for certain.
Thanks again for the great stream! John B
There was a great article written around 1985 in Hi-Fi Answers about all the mastering 'scribes' in the deadwax (runout grooves in Europe). The writer was explaining to readers how to find out about what mastering their LP was cut from. It was back then that I realised that it wasn't my hifi that was at fault. So I got clued into all the mastering engineers and made sure I got the LP with the right mastering. After that I didn't blame my hi-fi as much. One thing for sure the price of vinyl will eventually kill it off.
Always enjoy your content, Steve, and I’m a huge admirer of Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman. I don’t do side by side comparisons and apply scientific experimental methods to my listening sessions. I get how gimmicks can manipulate how we hear things. All of that said, some of the MOFI and Impex One Steps, I own simply sound stunning. Is it the vinyl? The 45 rpm? The “one step” process? I don’t know. I do know that most sound extraordinary imho. Thanks for what you do.
I appreciate you sharing your listening experience and thank you for your support. 🙏
Steve- I just pulled out my Terry Callier Occasional Rain CD, 1st thought was "This would be a wonderful Rhino HiFi release!!!! High dollar LP these days.
Love Terry. I have The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier cut by Kevin Gray all analog. Sounds amazing.
30:53 Steve Hoffman's response about One Steps. So between Kevin and Steve H, now we know.
I have none almost 2K that I know of!
I don’t feel like I know. I want to hear from the people who do the plating and pressing what exactly they are doing. I would also like to see some objective testing.
Original Abbey Road wasn't cut by Harry Moss though, but by the Apple engineer, Malcolm Davies.
Blue Train was certified gold 24 years ago (500k in us alone to date). I bought two sealed copies from a retailer this week so now its at least 500,002 lol.
Great album thanks Steve for great interview and guest!
Both Steve’s!
2022 Billboard
All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes. Of the album’s 11,000 in total sales for the week, essentially all were physical sales - with just over 10,000 on vinyl and a little under 1,000 on CD. (A small number of digital download albums were also sold.)
A very entertaining show! I was interning at KPFK in the late '70's (I ran the audio board after composer Carl Stone's morning show), so I relate to the atmosphere of that far-left-leaning station. I listened again to my copy of "The White White Album" on Apple & was not very impressed with its sound. (FYI: Mission/Cambridge TT circa 1987 with Sumiko Moonstone cart.) I really like Giles Martin's remix on CD.
Thanks for the insight!
Steve I love the white album please remaster that ! My fav Beatles album
Love his interviews. I have more of a mastering technique question. How important is the Q control on his EQ when addressing what is needed for a given song? He talks dB and a bit on compression; would like to know a bit more of his mastering EQ approach.
I enjoyed the full show Steves! Lots of insight that I will take away with me. 1) 45 RPM's have extra db and Rumours even more db, 2) Half-Speed is meh, 3) why bother with test pressings, and 4) what I would love to know with regards to One-Steps is this: Here is a question for Grover the next time he's on - Did they test press any of BSM's One-Steps using the 3-step normal way and put that on Neotech vinyl to compare? I believe on that podcast with KG, he said he did that (minus the quiet vinyl) but I'm not sure how many years ago that was, so asking Grover would be a newer perspective if they did a comparison. Cheers
Side 4 of Abbey Road 45rpm could start at "Mean Mr Mustard"!
re: White Album - the 1978 "Wally" cut with the purple Capitol label is terrific, very dynamic.
If given a set I wouldn't even open the Beatles Mono US Albums 1964 box, that crap would go right back out the door to some other sucker.
Even the covers look like crap. Some doofus at Universal doesn't know what a halftone is (referencing MTB).
Chad needs to reissue the SH/KG mastered CCR albums this year!!
Agree great albums
Waterlily did several of their records as both three steps and one steps. That was the only difference. Those records would make for the best A/B comparison
SH has been involved with this stuff for so long he almost sounds like an elder Tolkien wizard.
Gandalf of Mastering Engineers
@@doodahdavesrecords4319Gandalf the grey or white?
Katy Lied had that great Phil Woods solo
Joan Baez played a Martin 0-18 guitar beginning in the late 1950s and she has played it throughout her career. I believe it was given to her by her parents. Fast forward to the early 2000s when Martin guitars decided to issue a Joan Baez commemorative guitar and the obvious choice was her 0-18. She gave the Martin custom shop her old guitar and they proceeded to tear it apart so they could get all the measurements correct for the new issue.. Lo and behold, they found an interesting artifact from a time when Joan had sent her guitar into Martin for work in the 1960s. Apparently the luthier who had worked on it inscribed the backside of the soundboard with, “too bad you’re a communist.” (This is either verbatim or a paraphrase.) No one knew of this until Martin custom shop took the guitar apart. Apparently, Joe Baez got a real laugh out of it and decided she wanted that inscription on the back of the soundboards of the commemorative model. You can see it if you stick a mirror under the ‘hood’. True story.
That's a great bit of music history.
The wise man‘s words are always welcome. Glad to hear his opinion on one-steps. Gray calls them a scam. Hoffman calls them a gimmick. Grundman & co. will probably keep quiet because his company is engaged a lot in the mastering and cutting for labels which promote the merits of their deluxe one-steps.
Anyways, we as consumers and members of the vinyl community are not given the opportunity to find out ourselves by comparing apples to apples. Another xxx gate? At least, it’s becoming a smelly topic. One day someone will find the whole truth. For the moment for me it’s trustworthy enough what 2 reputable mastering and cutting engineers say in public.
The question of One Step vs Three Step really hasn't been properly addressed. Kevin Gray's claim is that because a One Step relies on a layer of Silver plating that is allegedly weak and sheds almost immediately when used to press vinyl that the layer of silver is being scrubbed from the plates. And as such not only defeats the advantage of avoiding two additional generations used in Three Step plating but may actually add more noise and lose more detail than the Thee Step plating. Here's the problem though, Kevin Gray was speculating. What we need is to talk to the actual people doing the plating and find out from the horse's mouth just what is being done. Steve Hoffman acknowledged that he has never done a side by side comparison between a One Step and Three Step LP from two lacquers that were cut exactly the same way. But neither has Kevin Gray.
I want to get the RTI gents back on the show. Thanks Scott.
@@stevewestman7774 I sent them an email asking about these things
The Yes Album 1971 great album
Question my copy 2023 says cut by Kevin Gray does Steve work with Kevin? Why didn’t Steve get a credit? I will look on album when I get home to see if Hoffman is mentioned
It’s a new Mastering that only Kevin was part of.
Interesting.
Steve, the next time you have Steve Hoffman on would you please ask him what he is doing now and if he is retired?
In my very first interview with him Dec 2023 we dive into that. Check it out.
@@stevewestman7774 Thanks.
I’m a little perplexed - several labels have made OneStep a part of their high quality vinyl catalog. And many RUclips influencers in the VC have said they sound (largely) very good.
I suppose the technical aspect seems one way from the mastering engineers. But when the records are actually played by consumers they do tend to sound revelatory. There’s room for both perspectives!
They may sound good! News flash most one steps are made from “classic” material so keep in mind they’re already starting with tremendous source material and then you add competent mastering and of course it will sound good. But they really wasn’t affected by if it was one or three steps.
I think “closer to the source material” is usually the enticing factor with One Step releases. I’m not technically knowledgeable to know how much 1 to 3 steps affect our listening experience. Fortunately everything’s available as a normal 3-step and some lucky few have their favorites as a One-Step as well. Mine would be Monks Dream ❤
They're saying the one steps don't sound *better* than a traditionally made LP. The big draw would seem to be that a one step, by its nature, guarantees a limited edition.
@@patbarr1351 That's what Kevin Gray is saying Steve Hoffman did not say that. Steve Hoffman was essentially saying it's a waste of a great lacquer to limit the use to a One Step plate. He never really addressed sound quality.
The reason Stan Ricker loved half speed mastering was because he believed that at half speed the analog tape heads would capture and transfer more information off of the tapes. Which does not work if you half speed master from a digital file.
What is going on at 33 mins where half-speed gets conflated with DMM?
I brought it back around.
What do you think of the channel AP Mastering saying analogue is digital?
If you're not aware of him go check it out, he's made a few videos recently explaining why.
A lot of records cut on the various later Neumann lathes were run through the 12 bit digital preview that came stock with the lathe. Which means there’s a lot of highly coveted original issues that are assumed to be all analog that were actually run through a fairly primitive low res ADC/DAC
@@scottwheeler2679
I'm surprised nobody is really talking about this.
Especially after how much attention the Mofi scandal got.
@ It's been talked about. The tricky thing is there is pretty much no way to know which records were cut with the digital preview
Another great interview with the great SH. Well done Steve BUT, man I think you bore him with repeatedly asking details about audiophile copies and which release is better than another…there’s a message in that for all to get over the “gimmicks.”
Love your work, fella. Cheers from Oz
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the show.
What is smiley EQ?
No midrange.
Stan Ricker cut from tapes, Miles Showell cuts from hi-res digital files which he prefers. Does that make a difference?
If you believe Stan Ricker yes it makes a difference.
@@scottwheeler2679I was referring to cutting a half-speed LP from tape vs digital file! Miles Showell is BIG into half-speed mastering from digital files.
@@91pastor I understand. the reason Stan Ricker gave for using half speed mastering was that at half speed the analog tape deck would retrieve and transfer for information off of the analog tape. That would not be the case for a digital file. The information will be the same at half speed or full speed. So the answer is yes, there is a difference between mastering at half speed from analog tape vs. a digital file according to Stan Ricker
Thanks for clarifying.
I LOVE my CD collection (PCM channel offset corrected of course) xx
Me too but listen to more vinyl now
@SteveWestman
Great interview. 👍👍 It would be really cool if Steve Hoffman would be willing to share his and his kids' Spotify or other streaming service Playlists. ;)
I thought the German white vinyl white album is the better version vs the UK…and SH said he hasn’t listened to the German
I have Doug sax 2003 SACD Floyd DSOTM
I do too. Sounds great to my ears.
i'll trade hoffman all my original pressings for his test pressings.. ha, but seriously, i get what he's saying that if you press 100+ as a gimmick, they might not be particularly rare. but that's only been a very recent thing. most tps are pressed in very small quantities, and represent the first press off the stamper. if there's any truth to the metaphor of the shoe tread getting duller with more wear, then test pressings, promos, early number copies might have a slight edge being the closest to a fresh stamper. in the audiophile world, a slight edge could tip the scales. maybe SH is swimming in test pressings and doesn't find them particularly interesting. but, i can see the appeal as a collectable to the non-insider. hot off the press!
I love Hoffman's work.
But.. he's high in this interview.
Anyone else annoyed by Steve's whisper talking into the mic...like dude just talk normal like your normal live stream with Mazzy etc🤔🤣
Just having a good time man. 👍
It’s a strange world.
I respectfully disagree Mr Hoffman, the German DMM White Album from the mid 80's is _the one_ to get.. Either, the DMM labeled white wax, or unmarked DMM on black wax. Stellar sounding. 👍👍
Tim from University of Vinyl knows what's up! 🍻
Coltrane died of a liver tumor. Cancer got him.
Yes reading Bop Apocalypse and it makes it clear his heroin use and continued Alcohol use killed him Miles who got sober before him lived longer of course
My 2 cents
Coltrane died of cancer of the liver.
Total cringe. 😬
?