Rob Robinson of Channel D (Pure Music and Pure Vinyl, left) and Paul Erlandson of Lynx Studio Technologies (right), along with Jeff Joseph of Joseph Audio (in absentia), had plenty of reason to smile. In addition to announcing that Channel D’s Pure Music 1.9 ($129, updated without charge for current owners) is due October 30, and Pure Vinyl 3.1 ($279) is coming out a week earlier, on October 23, the system they had assembled was producing wonderful sound despite its far less than stellar set-up.

“We're combining the best parts of the analog and digital worlds,” Rob told me at a speed that demanded either shorthand or a digital recorder to insure accuracy. “We’re using analog as a front end source, and digital for signal processing via Pure Vinyl." I think the rest of what he said is that Pure Vinyl 3.1 calculates the RIAA compensation with 64-bit precision.

Doing the Channel D honors, besides the “Pure” software, were Channel D’s Seta Model L Plus phono preamplifier ($5399), Seta Model L phono preamplifier ($3799), and new Seta DAC buffer ($2799). The latter lowers system gain when ultra-sensitive loudspeakers are employed. Also at work were the Lynx Hilo 192kHz ADC/DAC ($2495), Joseph Audio Pulsar loudspeakers ($7000/pair), Artemis SA-1 turntable ($8000) with Kuzma 4Point tonearm ($6000), Ortofon Credenza Bronze cartridge ($2200), Hegel H20 power amplifier ($6000), Mac mini 2.7GHz ($800), and Synology DS1511 NAS 12 TB RAID 6 array ($2000).