About Deep Groove Mono
Deep Groove Mono is a jazz record collector blog designed, developed, written, and maintained independently by Richard Capeless. Deep Groove Mono aims to provide collectors with unprecedented resources related to their hobby, and to document the author’s collecting experience. Deep Groove Mono primarily focuses on jazz music originally released in the LP and 78 formats.
About the Author
Richard Capeless is a college math instructor located in Albany, New York. Born in 1980, he grew up listening to hip hop and developed his knowledge of the genre during high school, which eventually served as a gateway to jazz. Richard’s approach to the hobby is that of a sound engineer and DJ, and he is passionate about the history of music and audio. In 2019 he presented to the Audio Engineering Society on the life and legacy of recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, and in 2020 he launched RVG Legacy, a website dedicated to preserving Van Gelder’s legacy. (Photo credit: A. Ofiaja)
Equipment
| Turntable | Technics SL-1200MK2 modified for 78 R.P.M. playback |
| Cartridges & Styli | Shure M97xE cartridge (0.7-mil elliptical @ 2 grams with stabilization brush down) Shure M35X cartridge (0.7-mil conical @ 3 grams) Shure SC35C cartridge (0.7-mil conical @ 4.5 grams) Pickering V-15 cartridges Pickering D1507DJ stylus (0.7-mil conical @ 3.5 grams) Pickering D1510 stylus (1-mil conical @ 3.5 grams for vintage mono vinyl) Pickering D1527 stylus (2.7-mil conical @ 6 grams for 78s) |
| Integrated Amplifier | Marantz Model 1090 |
| Phono Preamp | Conductart OWL 1 (for 78s) |
| CD Player | Sony CDP-291 |
| Software | iTunes (reluctantly) for digital library organization Pro Tools subscription with Waves plugins for recording needledrops |
| Audio Interface | Allen & Heath ZEDi-8 |
| Digital Formats | Apple Lossless (ALAC) for CD rips 24/88 needledrops bounced to 320kbps MP3s for web |
| Speakers | Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary on Monoprice Monolith 28″ stands |
| Headphones | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x |