Analog Planet

1 week ago | analogplanet.com | Mark Smotroff

Candid Records was a short-lived (1961-63) but respected label out of New York City owned by producer, arranger, and musician Archie Bleyer. It was a subsidiary of the somewhat iconic Cadence Records, original home to no less than The Everly Brothers.

1 week ago | analogplanet.com | Julie Mullins

Ortofon introduced a new lineup of four moving-coil cartridges as part of their MC X Series at High End Munich 2025 — the aptly named foursome consisting of the MC X10 (€299), MC X20 (€499), MC X30 (€699), and MC X40 (€999). Presentations and brief demos were given at intervals in Room F131. There, I caught a good portion of Peter Hjordt’s presentation, during which he would occasionally pause to play part of a track or two.

1 week ago | analogplanet.com | Mike Mettler

Elvis Presley Takes Us on a Vinyl Ride Down Sunset Boulevard With New 2LP Set Loaded With ’70s Rarities on August 1 It’s a hunka hunka heap of great burning Elvis tracks a-coming on wax! Or, to be more specific, RCA/Legacy is set to release Elvis Presley’s Sunset Boulevard as a 2LP set on August 1, 2025, a collection that will feature a number of rarities that’s also intended to put a spotlight on Elvis’ oft-overlooked 1970s recorded output.

1 week ago | analogplanet.com | Mike Mettler |Mark Smotroff

Mike Mettler: Last week was indeed a tough one for those of us who listen to a lot of music on vinyl that initially made literal waves in the latter half of the 20th Century. On Friday, June 13, 2025, I tasked my colleague Mark Smotroff to write about the rich recorded legacy of Brian Wilson, the eternal Beach Boy who passed away at age 82 on June 11, 2025. You can read Mark’s wonderful full-bodied surf through Wilson’s formidable vinyl catalog here.

1 week ago | analogplanet.com | Julie Mullins

Chord Electronics introduced their new flagship Ultima Phonostage phono preamp at High End Munich 2025, where it amplified the signal from a Bauer Audio dps 3 turntable (€9,300) fitted with an Ortofon MC Cadenza cartridge that was attached to the table’s unipivot tonearm (as shown below). Made in Bavaria, the Bauer Audio dps 3 table features a multi-later plinth, an inverted ruby ball bearing, a high-torque synchronous motor, and a three-phase power supply.