Playback quality of Malayalam78 rpm and 45 rpm records

kuruvilajacob

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Dear friends,
I have been wanting to post some observations I noticed during the last few months regarding the breathtaking reproduction of many Malayalam 78 rpm records over English 78rpm records.At first I thought it may be because of the quality of the English 78 rpm records. But then I checked with some mint English 78 rpm records. I was surprised and clueless why the Malayalam 78 rpm records were sounding far superior. So I checked some Malayalam 45 rpm records and English 45 rpm Even there I found a clear superiority in the reproduction. For both 78 rpm and 45 rpm I tried a few Hindi records also. They also did not come to the quality of Malayalam with a few exceptions. I asked my brother also to listen and he also is of the same opinion . Now, I know that Malayalam LPs, EPs and 78s are in great demand because the market was small compared to other regional languages and limited quantities were pressed and that could be the reason for this. Please remember, I have a very dedicated system for playing my 78s and 45 rpm . I use a Dual 1019 TT with Shure mono magnetic cartridge with Top of the line Sony pre amplifier and Quad 2 Mono blocks driving 12" Philips full range speakers. The reproduction is so natural many visitors, have confessed they have never heard 78s like this. So anyone needs to be convinced about my observations, you are welcome for an audition.
 
I think original studio recording, mixing and mastering process of Malayalam Movies was/is always superior. To me they had given equal importance for sound as visuals. Once you have good master the reproduction also will be superior in any format (physical medium). Even today Malayalam songs sounds fantastic even in CD format.
 
I think original studio recording, mixing and mastering process of Malayalam Movies was/is always superior. To me they had given equal importance for sound as visuals. Once you have good master the reproduction also will be superior in any format (physical medium). Even today Malayalam songs sounds fantastic even in CD format.
As far as records are concerned, the old records were all recorded at studios in Chennai.. But more significant was that all pressings were first pressings
 
Music on 78s (I have enjoyed it too. Indian classical etc.) is very much band limited. I guess (not sure) about 100 hz to 10Khz. But just about enough for vocals and basic instruments. The less information the clear it sounds. I read somewhere why we like black and white pictures. One reason was the brain has to process less details of black and white compared to color pictures.
regards.
 
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