Tracking Angle Visits Paul Gold's Salt Mastering In Greenpoint, Bklyn, N.Y.

Veteran disc mastering engineer Paul Gold runs Salt Mastering out of a small, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. studio crammed with tape machines-including a few rare and unusual ones you'll have to watch the video to see- and a pair of Neumann lathes.
He contacted me to say he's just completed a "shaker console" he's been working on for fifteen years! And he thought I'd enjoy seeing it. I did. It's not like Shaker furniture.
Gold goes back to the "golden age" of disc cutting and has the documentation and stories to prove it. He calls it "Salt Mastering" he told me off camera, because he feels good mastering is like properly used salt: you shouldn't taste the salt, it just makes everything taste better.
This is a short but fascinating look into a guy dedicated to his craft.
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[@ksteiger]

WOW THIS IS GREAT!!! I worked in a studio with Paul about 33 years ago. He's such a great guy.

[@analogue33]

This makes me excited for the future of analogue and it's progression! I know there's more guy's like him out there with new ideas, another great one Michael!

[@fanbladeinstruments]

It has been a 25 year dream that I might one day own a mastering lathe, unfortunately in New Zealand there are only five lathes that we know of and none of them have ever been for sale. Also, there's nobody down here to teach me how to use one even if I could afford to import one. I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably never realize my dream, but still utterly fascinated with studios like this, I need more of this in my life. Thank you.

[@Soso-km8er]

When old invaluable tape machines act as tables - feels just like home 😍.

[@Fontsman-14]

Absolutely fascinating stuff! The knowledge and engineering in this place is knockout!

[@bryanmorgan758]

Just listened to his cut of Animal Collective "Feels" sounds great!

[@91pastor]

Well done Michael, such an enjoyable video and Paul Gold really opened up to you which is great! I could watch that video all day! Keep up the great work!

[@BronsonOsborne]

it is great to see you back michael allways enjoy listening to what you have to say love what you do friend

[@wallyallgood]

awesome video michael! much thanks to mr. gold for showing us his studio.

[@kirmussaudio7578]

Awesome video! Thanks!

[@lox_5017]

Now this is a video I can relate to versus the last video about phono preamp.

[@trackingangle929]

It was not “overpriced” for what it was

[@markh.9822]

Overpriced doesn't mean "I can't afford it"

[@MrRom92DAW]

I wrote to Paul some time ago in interest of having him cut some lacquers for me but never heard back, would be nice to work with someone local again ever since Sterling moved out of NYC. Great video though, it answered many of the questions I had for him in the first place!

[@Saltmastering]

It was an oversight or email gremlins. Please try again.

[@poofygoof]

I was originally thinking it was an ABX mastering console, so you could have two different settings and hit X to randomly select A or B, and figure out if the changes you're making are having any audible difference. The actual use makes more sense, but incorporating ABX into a console still sounds like a neat idea. I'm also wondering how widespread these types of consoles are / were, or if digital automation with instant recall (even on purely analog signal path consoles) stifled further development.

[@Saltmastering]

It’s a visual joke. The X is a crossfader between the A path and B path. The console is very good for listening tests because I have eight identical channels to compare against.

[@Saltmastering]

Both NTP and Neumann issued digitally controlled analog EQ’s . But not until the 1980’s. They had Store and Recall to cassette tape. I’ve never seen either in person.

[@ajaxlepinski3285]

Sooooo coooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@floydlaza8751]

This is the stuff of dreams I truly love mastering gear and broadcast The ref to the EMT turntable should be further explored I had a chance to buy one several years ago at an absolute bargain and missed the chance - still haunts me Shana Tova A collector from many years back

[@vinylrules4838]

Geat video! I hope all those schematics have been scaned and stored off site should there ever be a fire.

[@mcgjohn22]

very cool. Wonder when Neumann is going to dust off the lathe drawings and start manufacturing new lathes.

[@Saltmastering]

Sennheiser put all the documentation in a dumpster after they bought Neumann. They have no documentation.

[@michaelhorgan9525]

Agnew Analog, Sillitoe Audio Technology and Flo Kaufmann all make pro level lathes these days.

[@rekocastren923]

Magnificient!

[@floydlaza8751]

Awesome thnx

[@LordOfTheThreeWorlds]

More than ever there are awesome engineers that have matured over decades to develop their personal stamp on audio production - whoever thought the audio world was stuck in a stale, compressed MP3 bottle was so wrong. You just gotta look around a little (with more than a little thanks to MF to bring it to light)

[@cecilia_mackie]

That’s sweet! Feel free to reach out.

[@MrGneiss]

Rad, just Rad!!

[@rmx77]

i love this stuff. i love using tape as much as i can be it casseette or even dat. if i go disc i use minidisc. for dolby i prefer sr if at all possible. for vinyl i like direct disc but finding those is not easy. right now i have a few higher end pieces of gear. a sony mz-e12 minidisc a sony 75es dat and even a denon tray load cassette deck and for a turntable a sony linear ps-lx510. then my receiver is a harmon kardon 730 twin powered. speakers not something to bad but some infinity bookshelf ones but they sound great though i think.

[@johnnycashlesscomedy8616]

Really enjoyed the video but I'm a sucker for custom built consoles.

[@SubTroppo]

"old paper" I worked in London UK for Marathon Oil company and somehow there in "vaults" (which were being cleared due to lack of space for useful data) was a piece of recruitment propaganda from the fifties or sixties when the company was Ohio Oil (and based in Findlay Ohio). The booklet touted that working for the company would make young men attractive marriage prospects. To paraphrase: Is that a barrel of oil in your pocket or are you pleased to see me? I wish I'd kept hold of the booklet but it went in the bin. Thanks for this glimpse into the arcane world of LP production!

[@jedi-mic]

Why doesn't he have the lathe on a floating bed that's better

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

On a very revealing system you can hear the breathing of the city .....NYC is alive !

[@Saltmastering]

The lathe is on an inertia base with a cutoff frequency of 2Hz.

[@LordOfTheThreeWorlds]

@@frankgeeraerts6243 Ha! (Not at Salt but) playing back vinyl over the years hearing trucks driving by the studio, weak erase heads on the master but my favorite is the stuff yesteryear mastering engineers probably thought no-one would ever hear - gasping musicians during a hard part, foot tapping, bumping the instrument or mic stand a little - adds life to a track :)

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

@@LordOfTheThreeWorlds I heard even the sparrows outside and the subway below ........haha. ............on analog.............