Dearest Vinyl Purchasers,  

The Lightning EP & Jupiter EP Double Vinyl sets have been delayed for 3 more weeks.  Here’s why:

It is VERY difficult to cut good vinyl.  In the digital world you can simply drag & drop onto a CD or into MP3 conversion software.  To make vinyl on the other hand, a highly skilled engineer must literally carve the analog sine wave into the lacquer master, which then must be plated and sent to the pressing plant.  It takes DECADES to master that process.  Engineers like our man Paul at saltmastering.com do it for a living and are true artisans.

As some of you already know, the Masters for Lightning & Jupiter exist in the DSD format.  DSD rules, sounds as good if not better than analog, blah blah, but it’s also very difficult to cut lacquer from.  In short, I have to move the largest part of our studio to Paul’s studio in order to accomplish this.  In addition, because DSD is SO LOUD, Paul must build 4 channels of signal reduction padding from scratch.

“Why not take the easy way out & cut from hi-res digital conversions like FLAC?” you ask?  After cutting several acetate test records of the 2 EP’s from 88.2KHz AIFF down sampled versions, Paul & I decided that wasn’t gonna “cut it”…Besides, we didn’t go through all the trouble of recording the record in full res DSD so you could spend extra money on a vinyl that was cut from a digital file…that would be bad. 

BESIDES… Paul has also just received his one-of-a-kind, preview 1 inch tape machine.  It’s the only one in the world designed specifically for cutting lacquers as it has 2 outputs, one that the cutting electronics can be “warned” with and another 800milliseconds later that actually gets cut.  It’s all very complicated and even cooler than it sounds if you’re a nerd like me, but we JUST HAVE TO BE THE 1st to cut on this machine.

So…in summary, The Lightning EP will be the 1st vinyl record ever cut from a 1” Tape Reel & Jupiter will be the 1st vinyl record ever cut directly from DSD.  Two firsts for the price of one.

“Why not both from tape….?” you ask?.   Because Jupiter sounds TOO FUCKING FAT on 1 INCH tape. Yes, it’s true…it actually sounds TOO WARM.  Lightning on the other hand, is just right on 1 INCH tape.

We will have them cut & manufacturing will begin the week of May 18.  I’m sorry for the delay.  It’s entirely fidelity related.  I intend for you to have the very best we can provide and you will have it.

Thanks for your patience,

much love,

bbb

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