The Second Sense

The Second Sense

Dec 31, 2009 First Published:Oct 31, 1984

When it comes to video, most audiophiles are insufferable snobs. These normally reasonable people, who are among the first to admit that great sound in a motion picture theater makes a great film much more enjoyable, nonetheless. scoff at the very idea of augmenting their own sound with images, or of trying to create the kind of audio-visual experience in their home that they routinely enjoy at the cinema. Doing that involves video, which they equate with TV, which they equate with LCD (footnote 1) dross. This is unfortunate, because visuals can enhance good sound, and good sound can do wonders for non-TV video programs like Hollywood motion pictures.

One Record

Submitted by Stephen Mejias on

I was listening to the Beatles the other day, and I was struck by just how incredibly influential they've been. I could hear in their music the origins of so much, from the Ramones to Queens of the Stone Age to Grizzly Bear to Alicia Keys to Lady Gaga and on and on.

At the same time, I was thinking about how great 2009 was for music. I bought more records this year than in any year of my life. I know there are a few reasons for this, but it wouldn't have happened had there not been so much excellent music released.

Sam Yahel

Forums
The Blue Room
Submitted by satkinsn on

I guess he's mostly an organ guy, but I'm digging into Sam Yahel's new disc 'Hometown' - a piano trio - and am thoroughly enjoying it.

The very first cut, Lennon's "Jealous Guy," is great jazz, which I think is hard to pull off with tunes from the rock era. He does that cool teasing-all-the-possibilities-out-of-the-song thing without losing sight of its virtues.

Anyone else listening to this?

s.

Criticism

Forums
General Rants 'n' Raves
Submitted by Lick-T on

My wife and I spent Christmas watching movies, something we almost never do. One of the films we watched (right before taking in the Kill Bill saga) was Ratatouille from the Pixar folks.

There is a wonderful character in the movie voiced by Peter O'Toole named Anton Ego, a notoriously harsh food critic.

At the end of the film his final review the restaurant run by rats offers one side of how to look at critics and criticism-

Nevermind and Original Recordings Group

Nevermind and Original Recordings Group

Dec 30, 2009

For Christmas, I received the new vinyl reissue of Nirvana’s seminal 1991 album, <i>Nevermind</i>. This beautiful thing, mastered by acclaimed engineer, <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/102207bernie/index.html">Bernie Grundman</a>, and pressed at <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/features/408rti/index.html">RTI</a&gt; on extremely quiet 180gm vinyl, is brought to us by <a href="http://www.originalrecordingsgroup.com/index.htm">Original Recordings Group</a>. Thank god for them.

High End - Decade of Revelation

Forums
General Rants 'n' Raves
Submitted by johnnie225 on

As the 00's come to an end, I was thinking what a *wonderful decade* it was for high-end audio. Many things happened - including a few big surprises. In this piece (the first in a two-part series) I cover the "big four" surprises. The next post will cover the Other Things this decade.

Surprise, surprise.

Power cords / Power filtration devices.

Connecting M-Audio USB Transit to CAL Alpha

Forums
Computer Audio
Submitted by landlsoft on

I'm considering purchasing the M-Audio USB Transit to connect my laptop music bits to my California Audio Labs Alpha DAC (the 24/96 Upgraded Version) via the CALs TOS Link Optical In.

As a Computer Dweeb, I know that just because I can connect two things together with a wire, doesn't mean they talk the same language. The M-Audio Transit's Optical Out is S/PDIF but I don't know what the CAL Alpha's Optical In is expecting.

Can anyone help ?? Thanks.

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