PNW Section’s May 2026 meeting was Zoom only, featuring veteran Nashville engineer Jamie Tate. 47 persons attended, 35 being AES members. Originally envisioned as a discussion on the evolution of music mastering and the audiophile market, Jamie spent over 4 hours with us on a wide variety of topics, with nearly 4 dozen music examples.

After opening remarks by PNW Chair Jess Berg and self-introductions by attendees, meeting coordinator/PNW Committeeperson Luke Pacholski brought on Jamie, who was in his home studio.

He started with a detailed autobiography, complete with audio examples. He was obsessed with audio from an early age, and like his dad, attended MTSU. He went on with getting his first jobs in Nashville as well as how the business worked and how he managed to get work even before MTSU. There was lots of discussion about the evolution of recording techniques and technology, getting his reputation and lots of work, and his first Grammy.

He likes to listen to various recordings and experiment on remastering almost anything, often just for his own enlightenment, and he played many examples. He may hear a sound he likes, and looks for ways to use that himself. Vintage recordings made at the Columbia Records 30th street studio in NY are an example. Comparisons were made of different mixes and mastering for LPs, 45s, stereo and mono, through the years including CDs.

He spoke about tools available, like tape, compressors, filters, tube gear, etc. and liking the 30th street style, but needing to keep some modern aspects in his recordings. He even said he learned a lot by hearing his mixes over SiriusXM radio.

Moving to audiophile releases, he disagreed with many of the mixes, such as ones done with a “flat transfer” so the audiophile can hear that – but which may not be what was intended originally or even sound very good. Many other modern rereleases are remixed or remastered and don’t sound at all like the originals, leading to the philosophy of what to do.

Audiophile myths were also discussed, and he has some YouTube videos dispelling some.

After some 3 hours, Jamie thought he had covered what he wanted planned to, but he spent another hour answering questions and discussing things like old archival tapes, Plangent Processes, his favorite analog gear, AI Slop, plug-ins, and the fact he believes he’s about the last generation of audio engineers to have started in analog studios.