The AM44 is a Neumann-based lathe, built on original Neumann castings, manufactured around 1944, during the second world war.
The project was founded by Flo Kaufmann, in Switzerland, when he managed to find a pile of these rare beds in the unexplored depth of a warehouse. The plan is to build them up into fully functional disk mastering systems, using newly designed and manufactured parts.
In 2016, Sabine and J. I. Agnew acquired one of these beds, built up and further developed it, into an exceptional quality disk mastering system, which was put to professional service at Magnetic Fidelity.
On January 17, 2016, a very interesting experiment in sound recording technology was conducted at Magnetic Fidelity. Around that time, Naxatras were occupying the studio for a direct-to-master-tape recording, which crystallized beautifully shortly thereafter in their released EP.
John Delias, the guitar wizard of the popular rock group "Naxatras", filmed J. I. Agnew while cutting the master lacquer disks, from which the vinyl records of their debut LP were manufactured, at Magnetic Fidelity, and edited the footage to produce this short informative video, offering an insight into this seldom seen, mysterious process.
One might think that the whole issue of absolute polarity for a medium essentially invented around 130 years ago, would have been adequately discussed and standardised by now, leaving no room for further debates. Indeed, it has been, so why bother writing anything further on this topic?
Following the publication of my recent article, titled "Absolute Polarity for Disk Records" [1], I received encouraging feedback and requests for further information. Record enthusiasts often wonder about the dark secrets of the record production and manufacturing process, while professional mastering engineers are (or at least should be) striving to keep all their equipment in perfect working order, according to international standards. Their common goal is the best possible transfer of the sound from the performance space to the listening room. Magnetic tape is experiencing an impressive rise in popularity as a consumer medium in audiophile circles, with more albums becoming available in reels of 1/4" tape.
