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Listening #89 Letters from July 2010

Letters from July 2010 (Vol.33 No.7):

Won't get fooled again!
Editor: I grinned the whole way through Artie's May write-up on restoring Large Advent speakers from the memories it evoked. Back in the day, my audiophile pal had a pair of Advents while I opted for the EPI sound. I foolishly sold my two pairs of circa-1973 EPI 100s in the 1990s during a couple of downsizing periods. It didn't take long for me to track down another set a few years later.

After reading Art's piece, I did the only thing I could do: I dropped 40-year old music on the 'table and let them babies…

Music in the Round #42

An audio/video receiver in Stereophile? Heresy!

Well, my following report on the Sherwood Newcastle R-972 A/V receiver with Trinnov Audio Optimizer ain't the first time, but I recall the outrage of subscribers when, in December 2000, Larry Greenhill reviewed the Denon AVR-4800 and editor John Atkinson put it on the magazine's cover. Since then, however, Stereophile has reviewed everything from iPods to PC soundcards to minisystems, and while AVRs are unlikely to become a common subject of reviews, in some situations there are good reasons to consider using one. I did that in the January…

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Third, while the R-972 handled all HDMI sources well, it was slow in responding to input or channel changes, and a little picky about the order of powering the connected HDMI devices. None of this is insurmountable or unique to Sherwood, and it didn't affect the R-972's performance. But it could be annoying.

Trinnov Optimizer
The basic setup procedure for the Sherwood R-972's included Trinnov Optimizer is a familiar one. A measuring microphone is supplied, and clear onscreen instructions guide the user through the steps. The first unique feature is the Trinnov microphone pod, an…

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Even without the spatial manipulations and corrections, Sherwood Newcastle and Trinnov Audio have done an excellent job of the basics of system setup and room correction, as long as one is careful with mike setup, and willing to repeat the easy task if the results are not subjectively successful.

Out in Space
I won't try your patience and my memory by detailing all the other permutations and combinations of options possible with the Trinnov Optimizer, but will instead summarize my feelings about some of them. Please be aware that all efforts to reshape the frequency response and/or…

Music in the Round #42 CONTACTS

Sidebar: CONTACTS

Sherwood America, 13101 Moore Street, Cerritos, CA 90703. Tel: (800) 962-3203, (562) 741-0960. Fax : (562) 741-0967/0968. Web: www.sherwoodusa.com.
Trinnov Audio, 2 Avenue de l'Europe, 94360 Bry-Sur-Marne, Paris, France. Tel./Fax: (33) (0)1-47-06-61-37. Web: www.trinnov-audio.com. US distributor: Trinnov Audio–Curt Hoyt, Huntington Beach, CA 92649. Tel: (714) 840-1065.

Lindemann & Stello USB-S/PDIF converters

As someone who wrestled endlessly with the nine-pin serial ports and the RS-232 protocol with which early PCs came fitted (footnote 1), I welcomed the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface when I first encountered it a decade ago, on the original Apple iMac. Plug it in. Don't worry. Be happy. The computer peripherals work as they should, which was often not the case with RS-232. It was a given, therefore, that the then-new USB port would be seen as a natural means of exporting audio data from a PC (footnote 2), but the first generation of USB-connected audio devices offered disappointing…

Lindemann & Stello USB-S/PDIF converters Page 2

The DDC-24/96 is powered from the computer's USB bus, with a red LED indicating when it is powered up; it works with both Macs and Windows machines, and no driver program needs to be installed. When you plug the Lindemann converter into the computer, it identifies itself as "USB DDC 24/96," and dual-mono volume sliders and a Mute button appear in the audio control utility's setup window. My Mac's USB Prober indicated that the USB-DDC 24/96 is manufactured by "Lindemann audiotechnik GmbH" and that it will operate at sample rates of from 32 to 96kHz, but, like the Stello U2, not at 88.2kHz.…

Lindemann & Stello USB-S/PDIF converters Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Lindemann USB-DDC 24/96: Bus-powered USB-S/PDIF converter for use with PCs and Macs (no third-party driver software required). Input: USB 1.1–compliant, Type B. Output: S/PDIF electrical on BNC jack, S/PDIF optical on TosLink jack. Sample rates supported: 32, 44.1, 48, 96kHz. Input/output bit depth: 16 or 24.
Dimensions: 2.2" (55mm) W by 2.2" (55mm) D by 1" (25mm) H. Weight: 2.5oz (71gm).
Finish: aluminum.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 119060026.
Price: $650. Approximate number of dealers: 9.
Manufacturer: Lindemann Audiotechnik GmbH, Germany.…

Lindemann & Stello USB-S/PDIF converters Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: dCS Puccini SACD/CD player; Benchmark DAC 1, Musical Fidelity X-24K D/A converters; dCS U-Clock, Bel Canto USB Link 24/96 USB-S/PDIF converters; G4 Mac mini running OS10.4.11, Shuttle PC with dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7.
Preamplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8.
Power Amplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7.
Integrated Amplifier: NAD M2 Direct Digital.
Loudspeakers: Aerial 20T V2, Focal Maestro Utopia.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox XV2 electrical S/PDIF, Belkin Gold USB. Interconnect (balanced): AudioQuest…

Lindemann & Stello USB-S/PDIF converters Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I examined the measured behaviors of the Stello and Lindemann USB converters using the Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and "As We See It" in the January 2008 issue), as well as the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. I played back test tones at various sample rates and bit depths from BIAS Peak Pro 6 on a Mac mini running OS10.4.11, with some tests repeated on a dual-core PC running Windows 7 and Adobe Audition 3.0.

To check whether either USB link was bit-transparent, I fed its S/PDIF output to an RME soundcard fitted to a second PC and…