Fooled around and fell in love (instrumental)

The Definitive Technology Mythos STs are driven by a VAC PA 100 100 tube amp with a ARC LS15 tube pre amp Source is the Oppo BD105 Blu-ray player My streamer is the Audiolab 6000N
I run my sources via XRL through my Exogal Comet Plus DAC I have two SVS Ultra 13 subs with the upgraded plate amps Typically l have the speakers three feet from the wall, nine feet apart with very slight toe in . The Mythos ST's are eleven feet from my listening position. listening level is mid-70s db with peaks in the low 80s

[@skip1835]

Hi Jack - great hearing from you - man, I've always loved this tune - the first moment I thought, hmmm, seems a bit bright, then I realized it was a live recording - I don't know if it's "studio" live, but it sure sounds like a straight through recording - fantastic, great find - - your system, revels the dynamics and a real key to "hearing" that it's live, the sound of the drum kit, the cymbals especially - - - back in my own drumming career we were gigging 5 to 6 nights a week, I used to record every night - actually - I may have already mentioned that to you and I don't at all mean it in a bragging way, but those days were very different - they were plenty of night clubs and most all of them would host live entertainment which provided that core income we all needed in addition to whatever additional work one could book - sometimes, if we were in the same club for a week or two I'd set up a mixer and after a night or two I get a decent mix with an array of mics and a vocal feed from the PA - in those days we didn't run "everything" through the PA like is common now - but anyway, most of the time I'd just hang a stereo mic out front, it was for the purpose of analyzing, not for sonics, like tempos, playing steady, harmonies, signing in tune, that kind of stuff - the thing is and what's sort of driving my comment (and it's apparent in this recording and over your system), I learned to play "to the mic" - especially hi-hat in terms of volume or loudness - because even good mics tend to highlight those upper frequencies, but all of my kit for that matter, like I would adjust my volume to the various parts of the kit through my playing - that is, I would mix via my playing - we worked so much that over time that subtle skill was very useful when I did mercenary studio work, it helped even in multi mic studio settings - like I could "cream" my hi-hat or barley hit it, I even developed dynamics on my kick drum, I could play it softly or drive a tune with it without compromising the actual kicks themselves - anyway, imo, your system is displaying that trait, which was the key to me realizing that although there's of course and undoubtedly some basic mixing going on, there's very little doubt that this cut is straight through, if there is over dubbing on the guitar solos and such, it's not at all apparent and yeah, sure sound's like the drum track is straight though - you can easily hear that the hi-hat (for an obvious example) is not being "brought down" as if mixed in a studio - I'm not messing with you, so cool to hear music recorded like this, kind of rare these days - that is, sans all the layering and outtakes used in most any recording - your system is putting it right out there, full display - f'ing great! And hey, I could be full of sh_t, but that's how the recording and your system struck me - dynamic and real sounding in the sense of "live" instruments and live playing.

[@Jack96993]

@skip1835 Hey Skip hope all is well with you! I always look forward to your very insightful comments with your wealth of musical knowledge Hope you heard the song on a decent playback system As you know a CZcams vid is nothing like being in front of your stereo rig In my early 20's I was a bouncer at our local bar in my home town in Oakville Ontario Canada I saw some really awsome local bands most nights Lead singer, guitar player, organ player, bass and of course drummer I went to work one night and could hardly get in the door as the bar was packed!! I got the attention of one of the waitress and asked what the heck is going on!!! Her reply was, some band called RUSH is playing tonight! Back to the song, I found that on Qobuz and that's why I like streaming so much as you get to discover gems like this song I really like my Sandy Gross designed Mythos ST's speakers as they have built-in powered subs with gain control But I'm thinking after 12 years (still have my Maggie's) I might upgrade to the Goldenear T66 Pretty much the same design philosophy but with a much better folded ribbon tweeter My old ears would appreciate that 😆 But have to say there is something about having 2 subs plus towers with built in powered subs in my rig I guess it like having a bass array So hopefully I find another well recorded gem and post it Stay healthy, 🙏 Did I mention the bluegrass performer Billy Strings? I think I did, anyway I'm going to send you a link of him and his band doing a recent live version of the song he wrote called " Away in the Mire" His flattop guitar picking is outstanding

[@Jack96993]

If you watch the whole performance you'll see just how good Billy Strings is on the guitar
czcams.com/video/LPF9DjSasVk/video.htmlsi=rp6a9ggjg_vWs6HD

[@skip1835]

@@Jack96993 omg Jack!! How cool that "Rush" story is!! That's unreal - - - I do have a reasonably decent playback set up for my desktop starting with a "Claro Halo" card, although these days, for all I know a "Cobalt" might sound even better, especially with a jitter bug in front of it (I've tried that exact set up off a laptop in my main system, sounded amazing considering the money) - and yeah, of course my desktop is a nearfield deal which actually I kinda sorta think works better for you tube stuff as opposed to a full system - like of course headphones should be the best but nearfield does help eliminate some of that "phaseyness" that comes from playing back a stream recorded live though another stereo set up - but hell yeah, never mind all that, you definitely put a seed in my head - it's easy enough for me to stream through my main system including you tube stuff - so I'm going to check out your vid - I bet it'll sound great - - and Jack, the Rush thing? Wholly crap, what a story that is! And for sure you get what I mean about the club circuits back in the day - - thanks and catch ya later!

[@Jack96993]

@skip1835 Wish you could hear my rig in person What do you use for headphones? I've had Grado's for years
Two quick concert notes that stick in my mind to this day 1 I saw Pink Floyd do their Dark Side of the Moon kick of tour back in 1972 Everyone at the concert was Godsmacked The other was when I saw David Bowie on his China Girl tour At the time I had no idea, but SRV was his guitar player So I saw SRV and had no idea 😅 Yes something about the driving drumming in the Fooled around and Fell in Love song makes me listen to it all the time Do you use Qobuz for streaming? I'll try and find another interesting song There is a remake of Take Five with a very famous drummer ( can't think of his name but you will know for sure) and post that sometime

[@skip1835]

@@Jack96993 yeah, I'd love to listen to your system Jack - no question I'd get caught up in the music after a bit of that "initial" - oh man, this is great thing - - um, I've been so caught up with maggies, actually for decades, so I'm sure I'd be "smoked" with the dynamics you're getting - but I'd bet that after those things settled in a bit I'd be like, just keep bringing it on - keep rollin' those tunes! I'm not a head phone guy, at least compared to listeners that are really into them - I have a ARC SP20, that's a full pre-amp, phono section and headphone out - back when I had it in my system I'd occasionally listen with phones - my current main system is not set up at all for head phones - I don't own a dedicated head phone amp either so that really curtailed using them - but really, most of the time, I crave the scaled up sound stage the maggies bring, it's like dope to me, I never tire of that type of imagining - - but anyway, when I bought my last pair of phones I went though that sort of thing where I knew I didn't have the craving to want to get into the 5K range which I kinda think is where one has to be to be in solid reference territory, so I kept buying pairs, the next more expensive than the last until I hit on a pair that I felt I could live with - they're Audio-Technica "Airs" AD700's. Open back, not bad, sort of reference like, but definitely not great. If I remember correctly I think there only in the 400 dollar range (they probably don't sell them anymore) and that's pretty much my story with phones. Jack, I may never get totally on board with the streaming party - I was late in getting into digital which put me behind the 8 ball to begin with - - back in the day I bought a "Mod Squad" CD player - records were drying up - - I didn't understand or fully get why my interest was declining - for a CD player back in those days it sounded decent to me - like I didn't get the thing of being "pulled in" via analogue - so my hobby wained a bit even though I had a really decent beer budget reference system. I started to have the issue of "delamination" with the MGIIIa's I was running which I chased and kept up with but ultimately became pissed off enough to begin to ignore it - and between the CD thing and that maggie issue I really wasn't listening much - I mean this was a balls to the walls system given the money - the maggies were very highly modified and the entire system, sans the pre-amp was hardwired, including the power to the power amp, no connections anywhere except the preamp - back in those days that was all on instinct, we only had the two major magazines for reviews, info and such - so, I went a long time without daily listening on my main rig - when magnepan came out with the 3.7i's it really drew my interest, I was interested in the 3.6's, that is to say, I figured at some point I'd begin building a new system. When the 3.7i's came along I took the plunge (I had been messing with an inexpensive set of Polks which were wonderful toe tappers, but lacking in everything else I like) anyway, that got me going again - records were back in full bloom, I bought a second reference table, spent a ton of money and it was off to the races all over again. That SP20 is and was a wonderful pre-amp but that, as it turned out, was the pinnacle for me, at least up to now, with phones. So, I was really building my current system to play records, so even as far back as 2017 I wasn't doing much with digital - ultimately and because I was getting the idea that even PCM had made great strides I got back into a CD player, ATC MKII, so at least my collection of CD's was finally back in my listening rotation - all the while streaming has been all the rage - - naturally the digital side of my system has grown and I've always figured I become a streamer too - the ATC really opened my eyes and ears as to what really has happened with digital and it inspired me to rip a huge library while running the DAC section of the player as my reference - Jack, it's pretty good - yep, records are still better but I can sync up vinyl and an actual CD, AB, and it's eye opening - yes - it's close, keep in mind the vinyl section of my system is nuts, and yep, it's better, but I don't go crazy thinking I'm missing something when I'm running digital - of course, since, I've been messing with stand alone DAC's - somewhere I'll get into something reference - the 10K range (I hope not to spend 20K or more) has (evidently) gotten better and better so sooner or later I take that plunge - in the meantime, I've got a blues thing set up in a laptop that I stream all the time - it's not reference but it's so enjoyable, just sit there and let someone else cue up the tunes - taking the laptop out of the equation, from there on it's basically reference including cables except for the DAC itself, right now I'm playing with the most recent top of the line Geshelli with their best op amps along with a linear power supply - definitely good enough for the stream thing which I'm sure is only some form of MP3 but with juiced up algorithms, and, it's good enough to run all the PCM stuff I've ripped from my CD collection - the ATC still has an edge in overall smoothness, but the Geshelli is a touch more revealing - - - the analogue side is still the best but I tend to play records when I'm not pressed for time and I'm craving the best that my system can give me. I just realized I'm writing you a book, sorry, like who gives a rats ass Skip!!?? Specifically to the drum track on the "Fell in Love" thing - I still prefer the exact fills that's on the Bishop version, but yes, I very definitely like what the drummer in your version is bringing to the table, I agree, just the right amount of "drive" - - imo, that's an excellent recording, no sense of over production - I love that. It's interesting to play the Bishop version, which is definitely layered and studio"ized" vs the straight playback of your version. The Hi Hat thing I mentioned is, thankfully, so I'm not full of it, is what I initially mentioned, it's there, but it's "lowered" in the mix compared to your guy. Like there's not doubt both drummers are playing it with hard authority but one is mixed, one isn't. Jack, thanks for mentioning some of your concerts - naturally you got me into remembering some of mine - a few are some very fond memories - - Catch ya later - and happy listening.