Jim Alfredson

Yes, but solid-state recording was all the rage and some people missed the sound of tube preamps, tube mics, tube EQs, etc. I think the original Aural Exciter was a reaction to the increasingly solid-state studio and recording techniques. And most solid-state devices don't sound good when they add harmonic distortion because it's usually odd harmonics. Digital is only as good as what you put in it. If you want it to sound lo-fi, you can do that. If you want it to be pristine, you can do that, too. Good digital has no sound.

I have one and I've used it for many gigs. My only issues with it are that it takes some time to set up properly in terms of the EQ and it is a bit under-powered. But for smaller venues or venues with a good PA, it's fine. I used it on tour with organissimo back in May in a variety of settings with a Yamaha DXS10 sub to fill out the bottom and it sounded great. You can hear that very rig in this video: So yes, for the purposes you're detailing, I think it would work great.

Like anything, too much of it can be a bad thing. It can also be used in place of good EQ'ing by lazy engineers.

Well, yes and no. Our ears find 2nd harmonic distortion to be rather pleasing for some reason. Adding a bit of that into the signal can create a sense of 'excitement'. It's why we still like vacuum tubes. But vinyl is an extremely limited medium, especially in the low-end. As my wife said about painting, a painting is never finished, it's just abandoned. I think the same is true for a mix.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exciter_(effect) Essentially the technique revolves around adding harmonic distortion into the signal. This may sound like a bad thing (and in many circumstances, depending on the amount and the kind of distortion, it is) but remember that older recording technologies such as analog tape are inherently noisy and add distortion artifacts anyway. So 'exciters' are used to dirty up the ultra-clean, some would say 'boring', digital sound. One of my favorites is the Sonnox Inflator plug-in.

We're good through the rest of the year. Thanks guys!

I am not happy with the search feature either. I will open a ticket with Invision about the issues.

I recently went around every screw on the SK2 and tightened them. The same thing used to happen to my XK3. The screws would get loose over time. I actually lost almost all the bottom screws on one of my XK3's and didn't know it until I was setting up for a live radio broadcast and the XK3 was so flimsy from the lack of screws holding it together that it was wobbling around something awful. I would suggest carrying a small Philips head screwdriver and tightening the screws on the SK every four months or so.

My wife finally has time to paint again after raising our three daughters to the ages of semi-responsibility (ie, they are all in school now!) One of the reasons I fell in love with her is due to her wonderful work and I'm really proud that she's not only painting again but selling a lot of her pieces. Our own Larry Kart has purchased a piece. www.alisonartisan.com

I never really announced it but I left after our touring season ended in Oct 2014. You may want to check with me if I'll be with her as the date approaches, though, as I've done some gigs with her this year as a fill-in, including an upcoming show in DC at the end of this month.

Completed.

Closing the forum in about 10 minutes. Should only take a few hours.

I will be shutting down the forum today. I'm not sure what time but hopefully within the next few hours. I'm waiting on a reply from my hosting company. They are going to back-up and then convert the database to a new format that will supposedly run faster and stop the server from hanging. I've been getting status emails of processes that are getting stuck and must be restarted (most automatically) every night. This will hopefully solve that and everything will run a lot smoother. Just waiting to hear back from them regarding when they want to perform the conversion.

Red's a great player and a super nice cat. I was with her for four years but bowed out at the end of last year. Glad you got to see the show!

Yep. It's that time again. The last funddrive ended in January and we raised just under $800. That's gotten us through to this month at $150 a month for the server. I'm looking into upgrading the storage of the server since we're almost maxed out (90% capacity). I'd love to get a faster server, too but my friend who was vice president of the hosting company retired last month and he's the one that got me the super buddy deal. The server we have right now should really be twice what we're paying. Anyway... Paypal to b3groover@hotmail.com If you want to send a check, please PM me for the address. Thanks! ----Jim

Obviously there is much more to this story. Why was the upstairs neighbor intent on making the other person miserable? Did something happen between the two of them?

It's interesting how the tone changes as the needle gets closer to the center. This happens with regular vinyl, too which is why band members used to fight for who got their songs at the beginning of the sides vs the end.

It was refinished by my father and I about 20 years ago. When I got the organ it was in pretty rough shape but it's my favorite sounding Hammond of the ones I've own(ed).

The mighty 1954 Hammond C2 sounded great yesterday. Another day in the studio today.

The Audio Technica ATH-M30x are indeed great phones for the money. They are far superior to the model they replaced, the ATH-M30 (no 'X'). I have both. I gave the older models to my kids for laptop / iPod gaming. I use the newer model in the studio. But I also own three pair of ATH-M50 phones and they are great. I'd love to try the new AT open back headphones. http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/996daf096c12ea16/

We're heading back into the studio to begin recording our sixth album. I hope to have it released by mid to late fall (Oct/Nov). It will be released in multiple formats including direct mp3 / hi-res FLAC download, CD, and surround sound (Blu-Ray or DVD-Audio, haven't decided yet, but also 5.1 FLAC surround files). Yes, I'm tracking the Leslie in surround. It sounds great! You can help support the cause by ordering an organissimo T-shirt if you don't already have one.

Very sorry to hear this. I always enjoyed interacting with him here. My condolences to his family and friends.

Post counts were re-counted. If you've ever deleted posts, that's probably why your count changed.

I'll be closing the forum at midnight tonight (EST) and will re-open after another attempt to update it to the latest software is successful (or I have to restore from a back-up again) which should be by early afternoon tomorrow. Thanks!