PS Audio recently launched its record label, Octave Records. (Read about Octave’s first release, Don Grusin’s Out of Thin Air, in Issue 113.) Octave will be releasing records regularly in audiophile-quality DSD and SACD stereo discs. Octave’s business model also ensures that artists retain a greater portion of earnings than standard record label deals.
Copper will give you a head start on upcoming releases (starting with Clandestine Amigo, our next one), the stories behind the artists and the technical details of the recordings – in a column yet to be named.
That’s where you, the readers, come in!
Octave Records is having a contest to name the column. The winner will receive a 16 x 24 photo on canvas of Copper photographer James Schrimpf’s photo of musicians Dale Watson and Chris Crepps, used as Issue 105’s Parting Shot. James’s work has been featured in many galleries, shows and publications and he has worked for more than 30 years as an artist, photojournalist and photographer.
Simply submit your suggestions for the column name to letters@psaudio.com. The contest will run from now through October 31. Then we’ll choose the lucky winner!
In other news: we welcome a new staff member, writer Steven Bryan Bieler. Steven is a novelist living in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, his dogs, and his CD collection. He blogs about music at rundmsteve.com.
Bob Stuart, inventor of Meridian Lossless Packing digital audio technology and MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) digital audio encoding has been awarded the Prince Philip Medal. The medal is given biennially by the Royal Academy of Engineering to an engineer who has made an exceptional contribution to engineering as a whole through practice, management or education. Congratulations Bob!
In this issue: Don Kaplan takes a fresh approach on how to listen. Roy Hall looks back on the Munich HIGH END show. J.I. Agnew concludes his interview with acoustic design consultant Philip Newell. Jay Jay French drinks in British blues singers. Anne E. Johnson considers the music of Thomas Tallis and ZZ Top. Alón Sagee tells a story of two hands clapping. Don Lindich interviews Bill Voss of Technics, and John Seetoo wraps up his series with Quilter Amps/QSC Audio founder Pat Quilter.
Tom Gibbs is thrilled to hear a good-sounding Stones reissue, among other new releases. New contributor Steven Bryan Bieler hears voices. WL Woodward is home for the pandemic. Robert Heiblim concludes his series on bringing products to market. Ray Chelstowski has an explosive look at K-tel Records. Ken Sander offers a Stories story. I find that audio systems are consistently inconsistent. Reader Adrian Wu takes us on an audio journey encompassing continents, and decades of gear. We round out the issue by staying in our room, experiencing changing weather and going to Nepal.