We humans are known to hoard things just like squirrels and in the process create the constant need for larger storage space and clutter our surroundings. It is environmental-unfriendly and not a cool act to me who have all along been espousing my intrinsic love for minimalism and carrying lesser personal belongings which include amongst others my ever-growing collection of books, LPs and CDs. I shall leave the subject of books out as it is unrelated to music playback and concentrate on the latter two music formats.
I like exploring new music, filling up gaps of my collection with music missed out earlier and actually embarked upon a hunt for old albums (mint/NOS LPs and reissued CDs) to replace those cassettes I grew up with, especially during era when I was a young teenager full of ideals and dreams but foolish at heart. The end result is my collection of LPs and CDs grew so rapidly that there were actually 293 and 95 titles during a recent count. In August last year, I only had 250 and 65 titles respectively. I would still be oblivious to this revelation had my other half not commented that of late I am so engrossed in picking up music software whenever opportunity avails itself!
It is a known fact to many that the first-pressing albums are usually the best sounding of the lot and reissued ones are only a compromise, the consolation being their music contents are only available in such reissued formats and we have no other choice unless we search the used market. At the rate I am going, it is inevitable that I do end up with some albums which do not tickle me at all. These are not bad music or their recording lacking per se but just do not seem to strike a single chord with me. There are also others which I have subsequently picked up their different variants with better sonics. How do I deal with these music software? I sell them off at a discount of roughly 25% from their original purchase prices but usually in excellent mint condition and on top of that a significant portion are the first pressings. This time around, I have identified 53 CDs and 14 LPs. Anyone who is keen, kindly contact me via e-mail to which I shall revert with the titles of CDs and LPs concerned. I would definitely need to trim down my existing collection and go slow in further acquisitions.
I picked up 2 more CDs during the last weekend (and thus getting the comment from my wife); the first being a jazz album in Carol Kidd's A Place In My Heart CD and the second a mandarin pop album in Tanya Chua 蔡健雅's 若你碰到他. Carol Kidd's album was first released in year 2001 subsequent to her much acclaimed "When I Dream" and is backed by Robert Farnon Orchestra. Further details here: http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-a-place-in-my-heart-hdcd.aspx. I paid RM44.00 (US$12.22) for it and have been enjoying it a lot from day one itself. As for Tanya's album, I actually picked up her first batch imported CD with a complimentary coupon from Starbucks Coffee Taiwan at RM41.50 and am still discovering and getting myself accustomed to her style of music.
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Most of us (the so-called audiophiles) suffer from varying degree of 'audiophilia nervosa' and constantly upgrade our music playback systems either by adding accessories or changing gears, cables included. I am no exception and truth is some upgrades do not bring about real improvement to sonics but merely differences which I could go without. There are also audiophiles who only listen to CDs/SACDs with their high-end systems tweaked to approximate the analogue sound. This is interesting for I wonder wouldn't it wiser to add into their systems, a decent turntable and phono stage. I have done likewise with no regrets!
It was on a late Sunday morning when I penned down this short posting, fresh from shower after clearing my weekly house chores, with a cup of coffee in hand. I powered up my main system and gave the newly acquired reissued copy of Teresa Teng's 15th Anniversary 180 gram single (817143-1) LP a quick spin on my Rega P5. I am not exactly a big fan of her but found this album to be a good sampler of her work over the years. I began to enjoy her songs instantly. The same, however, could not be said when I playback the same album through an early 24K gold CD (since sold off to a friend) nor even the JVC K2 XRCD2 with 19 songs in total (don't mind parting with it now).
The album was first released in 1983 by Polydor (now Universal Music) marking Teresa Teng's 15 years anniversary with the recording label and a compilation of her hit songs throughout the period but not those from her earlier stints with Yew Jou (宇宙) Records and Life (丽风) Records. During her heydays, Teresa Teng's voice was such a hit throughout Asia especially in places with large Asian populace that it was often claimed, "有华人的地方, 就有邓丽君的歌声" or wherever there are Chinese people, Teresa Teng's voice could be heard.
The single 180g LP contains only 14 songs and has 1 song less than ordinary CDs, ie. her rendition of 月亮代表我的心 (the moon represents my heart) is missing. I could easily live with that as I strongly feel that the best artiste who sang this song best is Chyi Ching (齊秦).
Have fun listening and enjoy the music. Do check out this cool webpage: http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/stereo
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