Walter Sear, however, is trying to make it better.


From a recent interview:

Q. Over the years Sear Sound has been in three different locations-16
or 17 years each in two of the cases. What's motivated you to survive
these and more recent changes in the industry, such as the rise of
digital recording and home studios?

A: The idea that we can make it better, but that the rest of the word
is fighting me and trying to make it worse. And it is. The music
delivery system for the last 19 years has been far worse than the old
vinyl discs. I ran a seminar at AES a few years ago, I found an LP and
a CD-same material, same master tape, same mastering engineer. I put
them on simultaneously ad we cross faded back and forth. At the end, I
said, how many like this? 150 engineers' hands went up. How many like
this? And zero hands went up. It's shooting fish in a barrel. Anytime
you A/B even the worst recorded, worst pressed LP and compare it to any
CD, there is instantly (a difference), just like with vacuum tube mic
pre's.



Is Walter Sear a nut or is he essentially correct? While I doubt that
the "worst recorded, worst pressed" LP is really better than a good
CD-or even a cassette tape, there were some incredibly bad albums out
there in the late 70's-I believe he is much more right than wrong.

And his work proves it, in my opinion. When the anti-analog, antitube
zealots can produce the quality of work Mr.Sear, 73, a former tuba
player, does, I will be more motivated to listen.