Bio

I am an archival disc-transfer engineer specializing in acoustical and early electrical 78 RPM records, especially classic pre-swing c. 1917-1934. While I am a working professional employed in the legal industry as well as a parent of a toddler, I’ve been fortunate enough to accumulate the equipment and skills to produce world-class digital transfers and restorations of some of the world’s greatest and most underappreciated music.

I have collected 78 RPM records for over a decade. Initially, the focus was on hearing artists like Charlie Parker and Django Reinhardt in the original format. Quickly, I met like-minded collectors, especially in the early jazz community. Record-hoarding shifted to focused collecting of early jazz.

My initial system included a silver-face Marantz receiver just like my grandfather had. After a brief flirtation with tubes, I moved to a direct-drive-solid-state configuration and honed in on archival transfer and restoration, largely by immersion and self-teaching but also by corresponding with some of the biggest names in the field. Slowly I upgraded inferior equipment to more transparent and professional-level, including CEDAR Cambridge. Now, several years into practicing the art and science of disc transfer and remastering, I can confidently say that nearly any clean record I touch sounds much better than almost anything out there with next to no effort and on par with the best reissues being produced today with a moderate amount of effort.

Working with 78s at this level is a dream come true. With a highly-resolving system like mine, the simple act of dropping the needle on a newly-acquired record and activating a ‘boilerplate’ series of plugins never fails to amaze me. Many records, especially those recorded by acoustical process, require much more tweaking than boilerplate settings. Most of the most important manipulations can be done in 10-20 minutes. Once those are made, it’s almost always the case that those records are being heard with anything approaching proper frequency response for the first time ever. This is a gift I’m eager to share more widely.

Equipment

Technics SP-10R turntable in Albert Porter panzerholz plinth

SME 3012-R 12” tonearm direct-wired from SME joint to XLR outs

Dynavector DV505 tonearm for lower-mass playback

Yamamoto HS-5 titanium headshells geared toward high-mass, low-compliance playback with minimal resonance and azimuth adjustability

Millennia LOCi preamp, flat stage only. Custom Millennia flat backup preamp currently in production

Numerous Shure and Stanton cartridges

• Shure V15Vx with dozens of custom-sized OEM Shure SS35C stylii, primarily elliptical
• Stanton 500
• Stanton 681
• Stanton 981
• Other higher-end Stanton/Pickerings for high-end LP playback
• Exploring use of moving coils such as Denon DL-103 with Bob’s Devices step-up transformer

CEDAR Cambridge restoration computer with all 78-relevant plugins, including but not limited to 2-channel tools, Declickle, Vintage Decrackle, EQ modules, NR-5, Retouch

iZotope RX

Studio comprised of Genelec monitors and subwoofers with room treatment