AES Student Blog

Meet Andrzej Lipinski, one of our honorable judges of Category 2: Traditional Studio Recording of the Student Recording Competition at AES138 in Warsaw.

Andrew (Andrzej) Lipinski started playing piano at the age of six, clarinet and saxophone at the age of fourteen and recorded his first LP as a musician, when he was a freshman student at the Sound Engineering Faculty in Warsaw, Poland.  After he graduated with distinction, he established the first and only private recording studio in Eastern Europe called MoReS.  He recorded over 50 LP’s with classical and jazz including albums with Luigi Alva, Buddy Rich, Kenny Drew, and Jimmy Rowles.  In 1981 he immigrated to Los Angeles, then moved to Washington DC, where he was providing freelance recording services as Tonmeister Recordings.  Throughout this period his recordings won two Crown International Competitions, while Andrew was recognized by the United States National Bureau of Standards among the best ears in professional audio, and the only person to achieve a 100% score on tests of critical listening.

From his early days as a student, he was always experimenting and recording in surround with quadraphonic sound, then in 2000 with the help of Sony in New York, he cut his first surround SACD.  Since then he recorded many SACD’s and high resolution surround Blu-rays.

A perfectionist by nature, he always modified recording equipment.  In 2003 he started his own manufacturing company in the U.S. namely, Lipinski Sound.  In only three years he built a solid brand name and worldwide recognition along with excellent reviews.  Currently, his equipment is used in the most demanding audio facilities in the world, such as mastering studios Universal Mastering and Warner Mastering among others, and the world’s most prestigious music schools (Peabody, New York University, McGill, Cleveland Institute of Music, Berkeley and the Moscow Conservatory).  Other prominent institutions such as Dolby Labs in Tokyo and in Stockholm, and Avatar Studios in NYC, are long-time clients and also use Lipinski equipment.

Andrew is still an active recording engineer/producer and his SACD of Penderecki’s Credo was on the list of Stereophile’s 80 best recordings of all times.