Kevin Gray: Mono vs. Stereo

Mastering engineer Kevin Gray returns to Caropop to break down mono vs. stereo and other issues of sound. Gray has been remastering Blue Note’s acclaimed Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl series, including separate mono and stereo releases of John Coltrane’s Blue Train. Which does Gray prefer and why? Are there time periods when mono is likely to be superior to stereo and vice versa? How are the rules different for jazz and rock? What accounts for a recording’s soundstage—how spread out the instruments sound?

Gray also discusses whether the Beatles revamps are revisionist history, whether electronically reprocessed stereo is ever any good, the differences between the Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl releases and his work at Cohearent Audio on funky ’70s recordings for Craft Records’ Jazz Dispensary label and Intervention’s stunning reissue of Joe Jackson’s Night and Day. Then there's his own label's upcoming first release: a jazz album recorded at his home studio modeled after legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack set-up.