Jeff of Arabica
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Ed, I would be more than happy to chime in. Life has been insane on my end these past TWO years, but man... that trip to Toronto to come see Narek at your concert/recording venue was a trip never to be forgotten! I will make it back to your neck of the woods some day. It is a music lover's AND audiophile's Mecca!
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I agree with everything that Ed wrote in his last post because it aligns perfectly with my personal experience witnessing the live concert my wife and I attended in May 2018 performed by Narek Hakhnazaryan and Ben Smith. This was no ordinary experience. Ed invited me to his place a day prior to the concert to tour his recording studio and listening room. I can honestly say that Ed reset my reference for what I consider "no compromise." The extremes that Ed and Tony Ma go to in order to capture the closest thing humanly possible to "LIVE" is beyond compare. Of course it is hard to appreciate what I am saying because so many claim other worldly things these days, but Ed Pong has achieved something that I personally can attest to as being like nothing else.
That "preview" day at Ed's place was eye opening. I saw what was a seemingly endless supply of custom gear that he and Tony designed or modified as part of the recording or playback systems responsible for the UltraAnalogue tape products. I lost count of how many vintage Western Digital 300B tubes Ed had in his system! I could go on and on about the recording chain in place from the mic's to the tape recorder but I could never do it justice.
His pool room (concert venue) was something to marvel. Upon first glance I thought, how can this room sound good? Lots of hard surfaces and glass. The ceiling is really tall at the stage area and it tapers down toward the back of the venue. Once I heard the performance, the venue disappeared. I got to meet Narek and Ben that day and was treated to a sneak preview as they were rehearsing. Ed and I moved around the venue to allow me to pick my seats for the concert the next day. This was amazing because I literally heard how the musicians sounded at every seating area. First off, there was NO bad seat. Like Ed mentioned, there were distinct differences from the front row compared to the last row, but I would have had an equally amazing time in any of the available seats. There were three areas that made my Top list, but it felt like splitting hairs. The acoustics in that room just work.
Long story short, the concert was phenomenal! The venue is small so you can hear absolutely everything human and instrumental. It was intimate and raw with no adulteration. And guess what, Ed sent me the three master tapes that I purchased from that very concert I attended and his methodology and equipment array created the most true-to-life, realistic reproduction of a concert I have ever experienced. This was a unique and rare opportunity I understand. But having been at a concert at Ed's place, and now owning the live recordings of that concert on open reel, the level and volume of information captured and then presented on these UltraAnalogue tapes is astonishing. He pushes the envelope when it comes to recording levels but this is intentional. He wants to elevate the low level details so they can be heard in the recording and the only way to do that is to raise the level of the entire recording. It is in this low level detail that the magic resides and Ed has an uncanny ability to recreate a live experience by revealing this information in his tapes. This is a product of his custom ALL analogue recording equipment and process, mic positioning, venue, and the work of several experienced and talented professionals who help capture that live concert and recreate it on tape.
What you hear in these UltraAnalogue hi-res digital recordings and open reel tapes is what you would hear if you were sitting in any one of the seats at the UltraAnalogue concert venue. My wife and I had an amazing time. Ed and his wife Amy were the most gracious hosts and I look forward to seeing them both again at another UA concert in the future.
Cheers, Jeff
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