The Dave Brubeck Quartet are known for their groundbreaking album “Time Out”, an album that changed the landscape of music in 1959. Odd time signatures, captivating melodies and infectious rhythms riddled the album and it put the entire quartet on the map. In the three years following the iconic release, the group released fifteen projects. One of which that stood out was Brubeck’s “Bossa Nova U.S.A.” . Continue reading Album Of The Week – Bossa Nova U.S.A.
Vinyl is something that we are all huge fans of here at WhatsItTech. We all have our own turntables, and favorites that we love to spin. From Sting to Perturbator and Technics 1200’s to Sansui’s. We’ve spoke about our love of it at great length in the past! One thing we never really thought we’d see are changes to the ‘traditional’ turntable. Enter Kozmophone, a company shaking up a classic design with a modern spin. Continue reading Kozmophone Turntable – Vintage never looked so good!
Album Of The Week is a new segment we will be doing here at WhatsItTech where we discuss an album that we love. This week, we’re gong to focus on the ambient, electronic album Awake from Tycho. Also, if we own the album on vinyl, we’ll be sure to mention the quality of the pressing and how we like the packaging/aesthetics.
Awake came out in 2014, and is the second album in the trilogy that Tycho has released. I was introduced to this album through the video game Hohokum. His song “L” really caught my ear because of the really spacey sound it has. It really threw me for a loop at first, and I decided to check out Awake. Continue reading Album Of The Week- Tycho- Awake
The vinyl record is getting its second wind in this ever-changing musical landscape. With Consequence of Sound stating that 2017 could be the year that vinyl becomes a billion dollar industry, I’d like to inform you about some general vinyl maintenance tips and other nougats of information. These concepts explained through our Vinyl 101 series. First up is the turntable itself and the various types. Continue reading Vinyl 101: The Types Of Tables
Having a turntable, receiver, pre-amp, and speakers are only just the beginning of owning a vinyl setup. There are many vinyl accessories you can buy for your setup or your records to prolong the life of your system. Continue reading Vinyl Accessories that will improve your experience
One of the best things of hunting for vinyl, is finding a steal. Finding an old Beatles record in good condition can make someone’s day. Unfortunately, older record jackets look like they have been thru war. I’ve seen a lot of dealers get rid of good condition records because the jacket seam is torn. I personally love to buy these records up because fixing a torn jacket is super easy! I found Stevie Wonder’s Song In The Key Of Life for 50 cents before because the jacket was in awful condition and the records kept on falling out from the bottom.
Continue reading How to fix a torn record jacket
The 1byone Belt Driven Bluetooth Turntable was sent to me as a review unit from 1byone.
This is the second turntable I have received from 1byone, my review of the first one can be found here. This turntable is a massive upgrade over the first one in many ways and has a more contemporary, while still having a vintage look to it.
With more and more people getting into vinyl records, you should know what you’re getting into sound-wise. The turntable that you get end up getting has to be connected to a speaker system of some sort in order for you to hear the music. Turntable setups can be as simple as 2 speakers, or as grand as 7.1 Surround system; the wallet’s the limit! Before getting into examples and setups, you should that there are two different types of speakers: Passive and active. For the sake of being brief, a passive speaker is one that needs a separate amplifier to push it because it is weak volume-wise. An active speaker is a passive speaker with an amplifier designed within it. Both speakers have their pros and cons that I will go over as I discuss each of the setups. Continue reading Picking A Speaker Setup For Your Turntable
Getting into jazz eight months ago was without a doubt one of the greatest choices I have ever made. It really opened the door to a world of new genres, ideas, and concepts musically that I had not even remotely entertained. After listening to Kind of Blue, Headhunters, and A Love Supreme, I was fortunate to find Coleman Hawkins. Truth be told, I do not really know how I stumbled upon this record. I learned about Hawkins in class alongside Lester Young, and I felt that I should check how some of his work. After listening to this album over ten times, I knew I had to get it on vinyl. I was not disappointed with this repress at all. Continue reading Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster Vinyl Review
Knowing how to align your tone arm is critical when you’re listening to your vinyl records. If you have a modern Crosley or Jensen record player, you will not have to do this because your record player does not allow for you to adjust the arm. This isn’t necessarily a good thing, although will be addressed later in a future post. Turntables made by Audio Technica, Denon and Sony will usually have adjustable tone arms which, if not properly calibrated, may negatively affect your turntables performance. Continue reading How To Align Your Tonearm
I woke up one morning to see that Foo Fighters were trending on Facebook and on Reddit. I decided to check the news to see what was going on, and I was not ready for what I read. Dave Grohl addressed a beautiful letter to his fans (and fans of the Foo Fighters) stating that the band would be going on hiatus. It was so eloquently written that it actually brought me to tears. Continue reading Foo Fighters: Saint Cecelia EP Vinyl Review