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As We See It
The Importance of the Small Difference
John Atkinson  |  Sep 24, 1994  |  0 comments
During a recent visit to Canada's National Research Council, I noticed stuck to the wall of the prototype IEC listening room a page of results from one of Floyd Toole's seminal papers on the blind testing of loudspeakers. The scoring system was the one that Floyd developed, and that we adopted for Stereophile's continuing series of blind tests. "0" represents the worst sound that could possibly exist, "10" the perfection of live sound—a telephone, for example, rates a "2." The speakers in Floyd's test pretty much covered the range of possible performance, yet their normalized scoring spread, from the worst to the best, was just 1.9 points.
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Recording of the Month
Recording of September 1994: Mahler: Symphony 1
Kevin Conklin  |  Sep 06, 1994  |  0 comments
MAHLER: Symphony 1, "Blumine"
James Judd, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra
Harmonia Mundi USA 907118 (CD only). Peter McGrath, eng.; Paul F. Witt, prod.; Robina Young, exec. prod. DDD. TT: 64:15
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Recording of the Month
Recording of August 1994: Blues for Thought
Richard Lehnert  |  Aug 20, 1994  |  0 comments
TERRY EVANS: Blues for Thought
PointBlank/Charisma/Virgin 39064 2 (CD only). Ry Cooder, prod.; Mark Ettel, eng. AAD? TT: 49:18
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Recording of the Month
Recordings of July 1994: The Eyes Have It, Lady Be Good...for EllaMichael Ullman
Michael Ullman  |  Jul 27, 1994  |  0 comments
LYNN ARRIALE: The Eyes Have It
Lynn Arriale, piano; Jay Anderson, bass; Steve Davis, drums
DMP CD-502 (CD only). Lynn Arriale, Tom Jung, prods.; Tom Jung, eng. DDD. TT: 62:22
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As We See It
Squeezing the Music 'til the Bits Squeak
John Atkinson  |  Jul 07, 1994  |  0 comments
In this space last January, I enthused about the sound of linear 20-bit digital recordings which, I felt, preserve the quality of a live microphone feed. "I have heard the future of audio—and it's digital!" I proclaimed, which led at least a couple of readers to assume I had gone deaf. Putting to one side the question of my hearing acuity, 20-bit technology has been rapidly adopted in the professional world as the standard for mastering. The remaining debate concerns how to best preserve what those 20 bits offer once they've been squeezed down to the 16 that CD can store. Sony's Super Bit Mapping algorithm and Harmonia Mundi Acustica's redithering device have been joined by new black boxes from Apogee Electronics, Lexicon, and Meridian; it appears likely that, in next to no time at all, all CD releases will be offering close to 20-bit resolution—at least in the upper midrange, where the ear is most sensitive.
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Interviews
John Tchilinguirian: Energetic Speakers
Robert Deutsch  |  Jun 07, 1994  |  0 comments
Canadian speakers from such companies as Mirage, PSB, and Paradigm have acquired international reputations for offering good sound at more-than-competitive prices. The latest Canadian speaker manufacturer to hit the big time might well be Energy, which has actually been around for about 15 years, but has only recently introduced a flagship speaker. Energy's $6000/pair Veritas v2.8 earned Tom Norton's commendation for having produced one of the best sounds at the 1993 Las Vegas WCES. [TJN's review appears in this issue.—Ed.]
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Recording of the Month
Recording of June 1994: Mirror Blue
Allen St. John  |  Jun 03, 1994  |  0 comments
RICHARD THOMPSON: Mirror Blue
Capitol CDP 7 81492 2 (CD). Tchad Blake, eng.; Mitchell Froom, prod. AAD. TT: 55:13
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Recording of the Month
Recording of May 1994: Gershwin: Original Works and Transcriptions for Solo Piano
Igor Kipnis  |  May 10, 1994  |  0 comments
GERSHWIN: Piano Music
Rhapsody in Blue (solo piano version by Gershwin); 3 Preludes; "Sleepless Night"; Impromptu in 2 Keys; Song Transcriptions: "Sweet and Low-Down," "Maybe," "Clap Yo' hands," "So am I," "Looking for a Boy," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "That Certain Feeling"; Second Rhapsody (solo piano version by David Buechner)
David Buechner, piano
Connoisseur Society CD 4191 (CD only). Patricia A. Duciaume, eng.; E. Alan Silver, prod. D?D. TT: 59:26
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Recording of the Month
Recording of April 1994: Under the Pink
Michael Ross  |  Apr 24, 1994  |  0 comments
TORI AMOS: Under the Pink
Atlantic 82567-2 (CD). John Beverly Jones, Paul McKenna, Eric Rosse, engs.; Eric Rosse, Tori Amos, prods. AAD? TT: 56:52
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Recording of the Month
Recording of March 1994: Pärt: Te Deum, etc.
Les Berkley  |  Mar 31, 1994  |  0 comments
PÄRT: Te Deum, Silouans Song, Magnificat, Berliner Messe
Tõnu Kaljuste, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Talinn Chamber Orchestra
ECM 1505 (CD only). Manfred Eicher, prod.; Peter Laenger, Andreas Neubronner, engs. DDD. TT: 66:01
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