I write this in a Seattle coffee barmy flight home to New York has been canceled due to a snowstorm. As I try to put down these thoughts, I'm listening to the high-resolution masters of the April issue's "Recording of the Month," Sasha Matson's jazz opera Cooperstown, on my Pono player using Ultimate Ears UE18 in-ear monitors. I was in Seattle for Music Matters 10, held by retailer Definitive Audio, and this was my first road trip with the Pono since I reviewed it for the April issue. (Bruce Botnick and Charles Hansen comment on that review elsewhere in this issue.)
Trip and Jitter: the Electronic World of Dan Deacon
Apr 15, 2015
Violet- and orchid-colored LED banks shimmer across the room. Green and pink spots radiate out and back. A steady stream of beats and keyboards from other electronica luminaries rumbles out of the speakers. Let's dance! Or maybe just listen?
Onstage, Dan Deacon is busy tweaking his gear. Out on the floor, the audience is oddly antsy. To fight the waiting, one woman hangs on her boyfriend. Clumps of hipsters conviviate. Very strong drinks (a sponsorship deal?) flow for seven bucks a pop. Anticipation thickens. Impatience turns to pacing. Young men make solo air grooves.
This performance of Bruckner's greatest, most generous work, his Symphony 8, took place in August 2014 in the basilica of St. Florian, the Austrian monastery where Bruckner was schooled and served as organist. It was taped before an audience, directly above the crypt in which Bruckner is buried. The band was the Upper Austrian Youth Symphony Orchestra: 130 players, average age 17, conducted by Rémy Ballot, a student of the late Sergiù Celibidache.
PS Audio’s affordable Swiss Army Knife of an integrated amplifierit offers digital, Bluetooth, and analog inputs, including phonois featured on the May issue's cover. And five more amps and preamps are reviewed in this amplification-dominated issue...
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com
In late 2011 I reviewed the Monster Beats Solo and found it simply horrible. Knowing there were a bunch of Chinese knock-offs, I set out to find one better than the original. I eventually stumbled onto and reviewed the Noontec Zoro. I found it much better. The subsequent Noontec Zoro HD was better yet. Fast forward to the middle of last year, and Beat releases their next generation headphones including the Solo2, which I loved.
Bay Area high-end audio retailer Audio High (165 Moffett Boulevard, Mountain View, California) has been chosen as the first Meridian partner to introduce its revolutionary MQA audio coding system on Thursday April 16, from 6pm9pm.
A few days ago I received an email from Adrian Low, owner of Audio Excellence, a Toronto-area Wilson dealer, inviting me to a demo of the Sabrina by Wilson Audio Specialties' Peter McGrath (above)