DIRECT-TO-DISC RECORDING:
A progressive step backward.
Recording has come a long way since Edison and Berliner. But not all of the changes have meant progress. A case in point is the introduction of tape recording ... a not unmixed blessing.
Granted that tape has advantages of portability, cost savings, ease of editing, and versatility. Its freedom has permitted recordings to be made that would otherwise have been impossible.
But freedom has its price. And the tape medium has serious limits of dynamic range, frequency response, noise and distortion that restrict the potential of the modern stereo phonograph record.
Proof of this audible difference is immediately evident when one listens critically to a well-made direct-to-disc recording where the performance is captured directly on the master disc ... uninterrupted, unimpeded. Without the intervention of tape, a remarkable clarity of sound issues forth.
But you'll also hear something more than just superb sound -- the evident dedication of all concerned for quality at every stage of the record's production, from performance to pressing.
Everyone is "up". An attitude too easily lost in taped performances that "can be fixed in the remix". Direct-to-disc is demanding of everyone. Unforgiving because it is so revealing. And to the listener it can be an experience fully satisfying in its own way as the concert hall.
Don't deny yourself the pleasure.
Audio-Technica U.S., Inc. distributes direct-to-disc recordings from Umbrella Records, Toronto, Canada and Sonic Arts "Direct-to-Disk" of San Francisco. These and other direct-to-disc records are available at most Audio-Technica phono cartridge dealers, or write to us for list of current titles and ordering information.
audio-technica: INNOVATION - PRECISION - INTEGRITY
AUDIO-TECHNICA U.S., INC., Dept. 48A, 33 Shiawassee Avenue, Fairlawn, Ohio 44313, USA.
(Source: Audio magazine, Apr. 1978)
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