Copper


Table of Contents – Issue 186

Issue 186Opening Salvo

As noted in the last issue, Copper’s gone to a new web platform. Though there’s still a bit of a learning curve, we’ve worked out a lot of the kinks...

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Singin' in the Studio

Issue 186Audio Anthropology

Portable listening fun: an RCA VZP11B record player. Admit it: how many of you owned turntables or record players where the LP was bigger than the platter?   You could...

Classic and Post-Modern Jazz Meet: Octave Recor...

Issue 186Octave Pitch

Octave Records offers a richly-varied musical and sonic jazz excursion with its latest Pure DSD release, Bishop’s Lair by the Tom Amend Octet. Keyboardist and composer Tom Amend and his...

An Audio Crime Scene Investigation

Issue 186Revolutions Per Minute

Some years ago, I purchased some rather expensive pieces of professional studio equipment from a well-known shop in Europe. One of them was handcrafted and the top of the line,...

A Visit to Wilson Audio: Tour of an American Hi...

Issue 186Deep Dive

Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine (and others), where we share articles between publications. Here we are honored to present an article from FIDELITY about a tour of...

Parallel Lineup

Issue 186Parting Shot

Sometimes, things just line up. Taken at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in Mimbres, New Mexico.

Beyond Face Value: The True Cost of Ticket Pricing

Issue 186Featured

Not so long ago, businesses lived and died by the price tag, that sticker affixed to an item served as a contract between the customer and purveyor. But what if...

xDuoo's Versatile TA-30 Headphone Amp/DAC

Issue 186From the Listening Chair

You might have seen the term “Chi-Fi” lately. It’s a mashup of "Chinese" and "high-fidelity,” and I suggest that the term can refer to bargain-priced, often tube-based electronics from China...

Atomic Transmutation: Australian Guitar Alchemi...

Issue 186Idle Chatter

Australian guitarist Luke Stamenkovich has been hard at work lately. If the in-demand axe-wielder isn’t in the studio contributing sessions to other artists’ recordings, he can be found on stage...

Stereo Buying for Audio Idiots: Three Quick Tips

Issue 186FROM THE SWEET SPOT

I once bought two hefty speakers at a yard sale and stuffed them into the backseat of my four-door Mazda. It was like loading R2D2 into an X-wing fighter –...

The Musical Instrument Museum: Another Trip Aro...

Issue 186New Vistas

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), located in Phoenix, Arizona, features 350 exhibits with instruments from around the globe. It is considered to be the foremost musical instrument museum in the...

A One, and a Two...(Part Two)

Issue 186The Mindful Melophile

“A One, and a Two (Part Two)” continues the exploration started in Issue 184 of pieces that are often overlooked because the usual suspects (large orchestral works, string orchestras, vocal...

CTI Records, Part Six: The Keys to CTI

Issue 186Featured

Keys – keyboards, and their players – play a big part in CTI’s many recordings, both as sidemen and as musicians featured on their own CTI or Kudu albums. Here,...

An Exciting and Inexpensive Device to Improve S...

Issue 186To Be Determined

Early February I was sitting around, surfing the net, and happened to come across a Facebook post from a group I belong to, SACD, DVD-A, & Blu-ray Audio Audiophiles. This...

Confessions of a Tube Collector, Part Two

Issue 186Featured

In Part One of this series (Issue 183), I discussed the history of the of the vacuum tube. Since it all started with the development of the diode, we might...

Christian McBride: A Master of Jazz Bass and Be...

Issue 186Off the Charts

At the age of 50, bassist Christian McBride already has eight Grammy Awards and over 300 album credits. It helps that he got an early start. He was playing in...

Exploring Rossini’s Works for Small Ensembles

Issue 186Something Old / Something New

Gioachino Rossini (1792 – 1868) is universally and rightly celebrated for his dozens of operas. But not everything Rossini wrote required massive forces; several recent recordings act as a guide...