Still, piles of the awesome tunes that redeem that era beckon from every chapter, and with CD prices in free fall on Amazon.com, I started grabbing dozens of titles. Most could be had used, or even new,…
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YBA Design's new WD202 D/A processor and headphone amplifier showed up while I was turning the pages of Don and Jeff Breithaupt's Precious and Few: Pop Music of the Early '70s, recommended by John Marks in his October 2009 "Fifth Element" column. Each page drips with great examples of why the 1970s often wind up on the wrong end of the culture stick (the Osmonds, anyone? Terry Jacks?).
I'd love to tell you about the digital filter used in the WD202, since I've found that I can easily hear differences among the filter settings of products that let you adjust them. But YBA isn't talking, and there are no settings to mess around with. When I asked Michel Rousseau, of YBA Design, about the filter, he said that designer "Jérôme [Schonfeld] tells me that he can't remember what filter was used (!!??) or he just won't tell me." I didn't like this answer, but thought, Okay, maybe it's better to go into the listening tests with no preconceived ideas.
Listening
Listening…
For a USB source, I turned to a new MacBook Pro (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD). Using Sonic Studio's Amarra Computer Music Player software (highly recommended) with its USB dongle, I created a playlist of several early-'70s tracks ripped from CDs to iTunes as uncompressed AIFF files.
A note about comparing DACs: Using my preamp to switch back and forth between DACs during a single playing of a song never seems to work for me. I've found that it takes at least five or six comparisons using a single track, played all the way through each time, to lock on to what each DAC…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 24-bit/192kHz upsampling D/A processor with headphone outputs and remote control of volume. Digital inputs (4): AES/EBU (XLR), S/PDIF (RCA, TosLink), USB. Sample rates handled: 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, or 192kHz, at 16, 18, 20, or 24 bits (S/PDIF and AES/EBU); 32, 44.1, or 48kHz, at 16 bits (USB). Digital output: S/PDIF (RCA). Analog outputs: 1 pair RCA, 1 pair balanced XLR, 1 ¼" stereo headphone jack. Other inputs: IR, Upgrade Port. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz. Maximum output level: variable up to 2V (unbalanced), variable up to 4V (2V/phase,…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/4GB RAM/320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.2, iTunes 9.0.3, and Sonic Studio's Amarra Computer Music Player 1.2; Oppo BDP-83 universal player; Sooloos Music Server (Control Ten, TwinStore x3).
Digital Processors: Ayre Acoustics QB-9, Benchmark DAC1 USB, Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic, Musical Fidelity V-DAC.
Preamplifiers: Integra DTC-9.8, Lexicon MC-12.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CAM 350 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: MartinLogan Prodigy & Descent subwoofers (2).
Headphones: Grado…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the measured behavior of the YBA Design WD202 using the Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and "As We See It" in the January 2008 issue), as well as, for some tests, my Audio Precision System One Dual Domain and the Miller Jitter Analyzer. I mainly drove the YBA with the SYS2722's AES/EBU output; I also used the USB 2.0 output of my Intel MacBook running OS10.4.11 for the testing, playing back WAV files using Bias Peak 6.2. Examining the WD202's USB properties with the USB Prober program for the Mac identified the device as "USB Audio DAC…
Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company is a very small company in Amagasaki City, Japan, that hand-builds an exquisite line of vacuum-tube audio electronics. I find it intriguing that Taku Hyodo, founder and main man of Leben, once worked for the comparatively huge Luxman firm. Years back, Luxman went through various corporate owners and spent some time wandering in the desert, before returning to its high-end audio heritage. Whether, as I suspect, Leben was founded during Luxman's years of ownership by car-stereo maker Alpine, or if Hyodo simply wanted to be the captain of his own destiny, I don't know…
So one of the first things I did after receiving both the Leben amp and ProAc loudspeakers was to play that Brian Cheney CD-R. I came to the conclusion that the CdF person had perhaps been overcautious—although at the time I felt that the intervention had probably been warranted. So, what gives?
I can think of a few possibilities. The hotel room, though small, could have been much less lively than my listening room. The CS600 used at FSI was apparently set up to use EL34 tubes, while my review sample has 6L6GC tubes—but that difference is only the 4W between 28 and 32Wpc. I also think…
It starts quietly enough, with a simple falling-fifth motif, but the first movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's neglected Piano Sonata 1 develops into a work of epic proportions nearly 40 minutes in length, with haunting melodies, massive dynamic contrasts, and lush, sensual harmonies.
Back in 1990, when Stereophile first recorded Canadian pianist Robert Silverman, the repertoire was Brahms. But during the sessions I told Robert that someday I'd like to record him performing the two Rachmaninoff sonatas. "I've already recorded the first sonata," he said. "It was released as a Marquis LP in…
In June 2007, I again recorded Minnesotan male choir Cantus live on location, this time in the glorious acoustic of Sauder Concert Hall at Goshen College, in Goshen, Indiana. The resultant CD, While You Are Alive (Cantus CTS-1208), is the eighth I have engineered of the group; it is a collection of 20th- and 21st-century works that explores, illuminates, and celebrates all stages of life, from birth to death.
While You Are Alive (Cantus CTS1208) features works by such luminaries as Eric Whitacre, Peteris Vasks, and Veljo Tormis, as well as four world-premiere recordings of works…