Johnny Cash Original Sun Singles - Vinyl
discman -- Sat, 04/19/2008 - 16:27
Wow! This is an exceptional two-disc set. Transparent and alive. How is it that in 1955 they made these recordings that sound so much better than many modern (and a lot of '70s and some '80s) recordings. Sure, you can hear the clipping of something when JC cranks it up, but it doesn't disturb the 'see-through' sense of these recordings.
Mono presented no problems to my ear either. Weird.
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Some mono recordings made in 1955 are some of the best ever in many musical genres.
I think a couple factors are at play:
1. They were not "over-engineered." Put an engineer at a typically sonically problematic mixing board and you add more distortions and aberations in the chain.
I think some of those earlier recordings were more like direct feeds.
2. The recording electronics were oftentimes tube-based, yielding more realistic, reach-out-and-touch you vocals. Dunno if this was true at Sun.
3. The number and quality of the microphones. Typically fewer, but better.
Do the liner notes give you any clue about what equipment was used in the recording chain?
Happy Listening,
Jim