Rearing himself to his full and not inconsiderable height, he fixated the youth with a withering stare and said "There will be no recording."
The recordist said "But I always record these concerts. I do it for the players. They like to evaluate their performances…
The French record company Lirynx (which also releases Sirynx, unless I have that backwards) has come up with an ingenious solution to the problem. First they record…
When introduced, in 1993 or '94, the Grado SR60 was cheap by hi-fi standards—just $69. The early '90s were a great era for personal sound—ie, headphones. It was a time when, for the first time in my memory, it became possible to buy really good headphones for under $1000, let alone for less than $100.
Corey Greenberg, in his June 1994 review of the Grado SR60s (…
Description: Dynamic open-air headphones. Driver matching: within ±0.1dB. Frequency range: 20Hz–20kHz. Sensitivity: 98dB SPL for 1mW input. Nominal impedance: 32 ohms.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: None found.
Price: $79/pair. Large Grado earpads: $15–$20. Approximate number of dealers: Not disclosed.
Manufacturer: Grado Laboratories, 4612 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11220. Tel: (718) 435-5340. Fax: (718) 633-6941. Web: www.gradolabs.com.
Headphones are just little loudspeakers—and everyone knows that a loudspeaker with a higher impedance means an easier load for the amplifier. Why, then, do people always assume that lower-impedance headphones are easier for portable players to drive? Because they're wrong, that's why.
With headphones as with speakers, a lower impedance means a greater demand for current from and thus more stress on the amplifier. In combination with high output impedance, a low headphone impedance can lead to alterations in the 'phones' frequency…
Analog Source: Thorens TD-124 turntable, Ortofon RS-212 tonearm, EMT XSD-15 cartridge.
Digital Sources: Apple iPhone 3G & iPod Nano (fourth generation), Marantz SA-7S1 SACD/CD player, Benchmark DAC1 D/A converter.
Preamplifier: EAR 834P phono preamplifier.
Integrated Amplifier: Leben CS600 (headphone-amplification mode).
Headphones: Sennheiser HD-650, Westone ES3x custom in-ear phones.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Gibbon The Nines.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox HDVX. Interconnect: Q-Audio Tao (unbalanced), Chord. Speaker: Auditorium 23…
As Jim Austin explains, electrical impedance of headphones is a matter much misunderstood—even among reviewers, who, you would think, should know better. (The Internet has brought forth an entire community of reviewers who seem ignorant of the basics of audio engineering.) I examined the Grado SR60i's electrical impedance (fig.1) with my Audio Precision System One and the headphones sitting against my ears. The SR60i has a minimum impedance of 32 ohms, as specified. A broad rise evident in the midbass and centered at 75Hz is presumably due to the drive-unit's free…
Why is it that the most US-sounding rock/folk musicians almost always turn out to be Canadian? Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Band—even Dylan was born and raised only a few miles south of the border. Perhaps there's something about those long grey winters that cramps the ego and keeps you woodshedding just to stay warm.
And now there's Daniel Lanois. Of course, "now" is misleading—he's recorded with Brian Eno, and masterfully produced albums…
1877: A Frenchman named…
Then I got to thinking about Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner. What would they think of present-day playback systems? Laser pickups, digital decoders and all. Wow! We've come a long way, baby.
Of course, some of you think otherwise (footnote 1). Digital is viewed, in the high end, as the plague that hit…