TOM FINE FINDING THE WAY HOME
Rabbits figure frequently in chats with Tom Fine—not the little creatures per se but the holes they burrow into. Because when you question Fine about matters present and past, his encyclopedic memory and fascination with all things great and small take you down what he calls “rabbit holes.”
An audio engineer specializing in mastering and analog-to-digital transfers, Fine is best known for his current work on the Mercury Living Presence catalog of 300 mono and stereo LPs, most created by his father, recording engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine, and his mother, recording producer Wilma Cozart Fine. Tom is also a music reviewer for Stereophile and an occasional equipment reviewer for Tape Op magazine.
About those rabbit holes: Reviewing the 5000+ word transcript of our interview for errors and omissions, the mention of a possible future project to create digital transfers of an orchestra’s quadraphonic broadcast tapes led to a microscopically detailed discussion of quadraphonic pioneers, machines, relationships, and failed business ventures. A reference to dynamic range inspired one of several minutely detailed clarifications.
The information is fascinating, the trait charming. But if you don’t keep your eye on the prize, you could inadvertently follow the white rabbit so far down the hole that you might never find your way back home again.
One such prize is Fine’s current work with Universal Music Group’s Decca and Eloquence labels to create new 24/192 digital remasters of select titles in the fabled Mercury Living Presence (MLP) catalog. Working with tape transfers of the original masters from Jared Hawkes of Abbey Road Studios, Fine has already remastered and produced a 10-CD Eloquence set of the label’s complete recordings of Rafael Kubelik and the Chicago Symphony.
Another project coming quickly to fruition is Decca’s MLP Vinyl Series 1. Fine prepared a 24/192 master file for each LP side then transmitted the files to Abbey Road Studios where Miles Showell cut the master lacquers at halfspeed. (“I do think it’s really cool to be working with Abbey Road; I’m a huge Beatles and Pink Floyd fan!” Fine says.) After some careful listening and some back-and-forth, Showell cuts the final master lacquers and sends them to Optimal, the record plant in Germany, where they are plated, stampers are produced, and test pressings are made and shipped to the US for approval. “We haven’t had to reject anything yet,” Fine said, “but we did find a problem LP: “PLAY IT LOUD,” Fine said.
