I said

Have you ever compared his work to the work of others on the same
recordings?
Do you know whether or not you like recordings mastered on such a system or
not? or do you think listening simply isn't the proper way to judge
mastering
skills?

Stewart said


As ever, you are trying to deflect attention away from the key point.

No I am asking you if you are familiar with Steve Hoffmans work and if so I am
asking you your opinion of it.

Stewart said

Hoffman has certainly produced some good-sounding recordings.

I wouldn't know that. I have never heard any of his recordings. I am very
familiar with his work as a mastering engineer though.

Stewart said


This has
*nothing* to do with his preference for SET amplification,

It has everything to do with it. The quality of his work is dependent on his
preferences. His choice of amplifier is also dependent on those same
preferences. You said " If you
like recordings mastered on such a system, then that's your choice." So I
simply asked what you thought of his work. I'm trying to find out if perhaps
you also like recordings mastered on such a system.

Stewart said

indeed, his
self-contradictory comments regarding 'resolution' seem to indicate
that he is a pretty non-technical guy. It's rather like taking a car
mechanic's opinion about how to design a Formula 1 engine.

But do you or don't you like his work? If you do you like his work you like
preferences. If you don't like his work you don't like his preferences. At
least compared to the other engineers who have mastered the same recordings.

Stewart said


Frankly, when you look at his comments about why he uses tubes, I'd
expect his recordings to be pretty thin and bright to compensate for
that 'yummy' tube sound. Interesting that they're not. You don't
suppose that he actually masters on a completely different monitoring
system, do you? :-)

He does. But he takes his work home and evaluates it there as well. I disagree
with your opinion on the quality of some of the original recordings Steve
remasters. Some of the stuff Steve has remastered did sound rather thin and
bright in every other incarnation. Just listen to his remaster of the Jim Croce
collection compared to any other release of the same material. I guess I need
to remind you that we are not talking about "his" recordings.