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The recording that highlighted all of the above was a Philips CD of the Misa Criola with José Carreras. Right from the beginning I could hear the panning of the console gain as the soundspace slowly swelled with ambient residuals. The music commences with introductory drum impacts alternating with stick hits. In the next moment, the whole stage turns into one huge breath intake and the choir starts in with a soft droning hum. At that point the whole stage sprang to life and sang out gloriously. Right in the middle of this setting the voice of José Carreras appeared, anointed with delicacy.…
I was in for more treats when the music started. The organ projected with more power and purity now. The low-frequency growls were just that much more mighty and dynamic; the reedy quality of the upper registers came across with great coherence and freedom.
Let's not forget the space. Now that music was exciting the hall, it was even more obvious we were in a large space, very wide and very deep. My guess at the time pegged it as something larger than a church. Well, lo and behold, Craig Dory confirmed this. The organ happens to be located in a concert hall.
Another direct…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Stereo digital processor intended to take a standard SPDIF multiplexed L/R, serial digital datastream. Sampling frequencies: 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz. DigiLink 30 unit converts coaxial digital signal to optical format for feeding the decoding computer. Maximum analog output level: 5V RMS (balanced), 2.5V RMS (unbalanced). Analog output impedance: 3.5 ohms.
Dimensions: 17" W by 2.5" H by 12" D (main unit), 8" by 4.5" by 13.75" (main unit power supply), 8.5" W by 2.5" H by 10" D including psu connector (DigiLink 30), 5" W by 2.75" H by 11" D including…
Sidebar 2: Test System
The following equipment was used to evaluate the Wadia 2000 Decoding Computer. Preamps: Audio Research SP11 Mk.II, Krell KSP-7B. Power amps: two Classé DR-9s, four Krell KMA-160s, each set used in conjunction with the Apogee DAX to power the Apogee Divas. CD transports: Sony CDP-X7ESD, Onkyo Integra DX7500, Teac P-1 CD Drive Unit. For comparison purposes, Stereophile arranged for me to borrow a Theta DSPro processor. All single-ended interconnects and speaker wire were Monster Cable Sigma series, or, in the balanced configuration, Kajelco interconnects, with Krell…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The first sample of the Wadia 2000 Digital Decoding Computer was bench-tested before shipment to Arnis Balgalvis for review. I measured extraordinarily poor low-level linearity, clearly indicating a malfunctioning unit. When the DAC board was returned to Wadia, they discovered that the linearity adjustments (a small hex-bolt on each DAC) had apparently worked themselves loose in transit. Wadia realigned the DACs and returned the board.
One can verify that the alignment screws are in their factory-set positions by looking at the drop of red sealant on the…
Sidebar 4: JA Measures (& Listens)
Robert Harley describes his experiences with the Wadia 2000 above, during which I was an interested bystander. But when he asked if I could bring my digital-storage oscilloscope to the lab to look at the Wadia's low-level waveforms, I thought of a better plan. "No problem, Bob, send the Wadia 'round to my place and I'll look at it there."
And maybe—heh-heh-heh—do a little listening!
Of course, I didn't have the Teac transport so highly praised by Arnie in his review. But I have to say that when driven by the digital output of the…
There was a time, very recently in terms of human history, when high fidelity promised to free the music lover from the constraints of the concert hall and the local repertoire, allowing him to choose at his whim any orchestra in the world playing any work he desired under the baton of any conductor he preferred. "All the pleasure of concert-hall listening, in the comfort of your home," was the way one display advertisement painted this musical utopia which, only 20 years ago, seemed right around the corner.
Three years previously, the stereo LP disc had broken through what appeared to be…
I had an experience at last summer's CES in Chicago that bordered on the religious. I heard the legendary $42,000 Wilson WAMM system.
Apart from the fact that designer Dave Wilson chose not to play any symphonic or operatic music, explaining that "there aren't any really good recordings of that sort"—note that, Keith Johnson!—the reproduction was by far the most realistic I have ever heard. Wilson was playing copies of some of his analog master tapes, the most sonically impressive of which was a short segment of his wife Sheryl-Lee's soprano voice with pipe-organ accompaniment, done in a…
Now that audio technology seems to be on the verge of being able to do anything asked of it, it seems only fitting to wonder about what we should be asking it to do. We probably all agree that high fidelity should yield a felicitous reproduction of music, but felicitous to what? Should a system give an accurate replica of what is on the disc, or of the original musical sounds?
Most perfectionists feel that accurate reproduction of the recorded sound, whether this be good, bad or indifferent, is the ultimate goal of high fidelity. (Call it audio if you wish, but fidelity is still the name…
The American computer industry was a little shaken up to learn recently that the Japanese micro manufacturers had gotten together and standardized their component interconnections so that any Japanese computer will (supposedly) plug into any Japanese printer, modem, or competing computer, and work right off the bat. Anybody who has tried to fire up an Apple computer with a Diablo (Xerox) printer will appreciate what the Japanese move means in terms of compatibility. It means "For no-hassle interconnections, buy Japanese."
This isn't the first time others have fait accompli'd a standard…