Live Audiophile Roundtable: Steve Hoffman’s Top Picks + The Future of Audiophile Remastering!

[@FleagleSangria]

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

[@Bootradr]

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 🎶

[@Digital-Swami]

OG pressings always do it to my ears.

[@zaoria123]

Thanks for the talk. On the next one could you guys please focus on SACDs and CDs?

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Good topic those I have

[@festersuncle6298]

SH has been involved with this stuff for so long he almost sounds like an elder Tolkien wizard.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Gandalf of Mastering Engineers

[@false_binary]

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.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Great album thanks Steve for great interview and guest!

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Both Steve’s!

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

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.)

[@Fatdogrecords]

I have the Hoff 45 version of Monk - Brilliant corners and it is outstanding.

[@cahabatunes380]

Chad needs to reissue the SH/KG mastered CCR albums this year!!

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Agree great albums

[@hi-fidelityrecords]

Great Interview! Steve and Steve 🤝

[@stevewestman7774]

🙏🙏

[@Jamko1970]

I really enjoyed this! Nice job fellas

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated!

[@festersuncle6298]

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.

[@scottwheeler2679]

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

[@stewartyboy]

I love this guy Hoffman. It's like watching a slightly crotchety professor trying to teach algebra to a potato.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

I wouldn’t call Westman a potato More like a sweet potato w butter and brown sugar ! Lol

[@stewartyboy]

@@doodahdavesrecords4319 haha Oh it wasn't personal to Westman - I suspect that's just the Hoffman's shtick!

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

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.

[@manowire2112]

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.

[@thomosburn8740]

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).

[@LifelongMusicJunkie]

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

[@R3TR0R4V3]

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! 🍻

[@robertkeene7909]

I’m a little perplexed - several labels have made OneStep a part of their high quality vinyl catalog. And many KZbin 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!

[@bigsweetc6]

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.

[@robertkeene7909]

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 ❤

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Steve I love the white album please remaster that ! My fav Beatles album

[@91pastor]

Stan Ricker cut from tapes, Miles Showell cuts from hi-res digital files which he prefers. Does that make a difference?

[@jonthurston8275]

What is going on at 33 mins where half-speed gets conflated with DMM?

[@stevewestman7774]

I brought it back around.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

What is smiley EQ?

[@hi-fidelityrecords]

No midrange.

[@PMC7027]

Steve, the next time you have Steve Hoffman on would you please ask him what he is doing now and if he is retired?

[@stevewestman7774]

In my very first interview with him Dec 2023 we dive into that. Check it out.

[@PMC7027]

@@stevewestman7774 Thanks.

[@bbfoto7248]

@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. ;)

[@scottwheeler2679]

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.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Katy Lied had that great Phil Woods solo

[@Raypirri]

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

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the show.

[@RixVSpinner62]

30:53 Steve Hoffman's response about One Steps. So between Kevin and Steve H, now we know.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

I have none almost 2K that I know of!

[@TheGlawton]

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.

[@stevewestman7774]

That's a great bit of music history.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

The Yes Album 1971 great album

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

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

[@stevewestman7774]

It’s a new Mastering that only Kevin was part of.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

I have Doug sax 2003 SACD Floyd DSOTM

[@HellbarClub]

Interesting.

[@granturismo6774]

I LOVE my CD collection (PCM channel offset corrected of course) xx

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Me too but listen to more vinyl now

[@robbiedetroitstigermanviny8883]

Coltrane died of a liver tumor. Cancer got him.

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

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

[@michaeledwards7668]

Anyone else annoyed by Steve's whisper talking into the mic...like dude just talk normal like your normal live stream with Mazzy etc🤔🤣

[@stevewestman7774]

Just having a good time man. 👍

[@ignatzmuskrat3000]

Total cringe. 😬

[@stevewestman7774]

?