" "Spleeny Crank": Oi! There's no need for that, Rod Alaska! "

You are right, and as you might have noticed I already apologized for my error.

Rod Alaska - sounds like a porn name!! :)


"But the home recordist now has relatively cheap access to equipment they couldn't even dream of in the 20s and 30s when the stuff on the Smith anthology was recorded."

That is a bit misleading. Musicians were not dreaming of making independent records either. The recording industry was still in its infancy and not every home had a phonograph.

Technology certainly gives us tools to do things for ourselves, but that does not mean it will be the best. As WYSIWYG (a fitting name for this discussion!), you do not always get quality.   I've heard home recordings that overuse compression just as frequently as professional.