Toronto-area audio dealer Audio Excellence decided to tackle the problem last year by setting up a booth at the annual National Home Show in Toronto, reportedly with great…
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How do you convince people that there's more to good sound than MP3s played on an iPod speaker dock? Events like the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and the Montreal Salon Son & Image allow attendees to experience high-performance audio in a no-sales-pressure setting, but they're mostly preaching to the converted. The people who attend these events are already interested in good sound. But what about the general public?
I was immediately impressed by the provocative photography, at once gorgeous and painful. I could not resist it. The cover image first appeared in the New York Times and was taken by Damon Winter, on assignment in Haiti. Three of Winter’s photos are included in Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang’s latest release—a 10-inch single, “Island Brothers” b/w “New Wonder”—and they complement the music perfectly.
Those familiar with the music of Bonnie “Prince” Billy will have an idea of how this record sounds—as if from some simpler time and heavy with poetry and…
The first digital wave hit our audiophile island in the mid-1980s. The big splash of the Compact Disc created hundreds of new companies, many of which thrive today. After that, a few minor high-resolution swells, for SACD and DVD-Audio, receded rather quickly, scattering a few shells here and there.
But the second big wave—really a tsunami now—to wash ashore was triggered by the earthquake of computer and Internet audio, which has also shaken apart the music-industry conglomerates as we knew them. Several well-established audiophile brands, and dozens of newcomers, have jumped up on this…
. . . then finding balance
Next I had to contend with setting up the hardware. The Pro has balanced outputs that can also run unbalanced, so I had plenty of options. My plan was to compare the Pro to my reference Benchmark DAC1 USB, which can also run balanced or unbalanced, and send them both through an Integra DTC-9.8 preamplifier-processor (which also sports both balanced and unbalanced inputs/outputs), and via the direct balanced inputs of a Mackie mixing board in my recording studio.
Next I had to contend with setting up the hardware. The Pro has balanced outputs that can also run unbalanced, so I had plenty of options. My plan was to compare the Pro to my reference Benchmark DAC1 USB, which can also run balanced or unbalanced, and send them both through an Integra DTC-9.8 preamplifier-processor (which also sports both balanced and unbalanced inputs/outputs), and via the direct balanced inputs of a Mackie mixing board in my recording studio.
I first noticed that there are no left or right markings on the Pro's outputs. So, facing the…
Sidebar 1: Ripped
Here is an example of the error data for a single track, included as a separate log file with an XLD FLAC rip of "Mort d'Eurydice" from Pierre Favre's Fleuve (ECM 1977):
Track 01
Filename: /Users/jiverson/Desktop/01 Pierre Favre Ensemble—Mort d'Eurydice.flac
Pre-gap length: 00:02:00
CRC32 hash: F1FAB02B
CRC32 hash (skip zero): 2B53BAA0
AccurateRip signature: 101378F8
–>Accurately ripped! (confidence 9)
Statistics:
Read error 0
Skipped (treated as error) 0
Edge jitter error (maybe fixed) 0
Atom jitter error…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Single-box, bus-powered digital-to-analog converter. Formats supported: all PCM-output audio codecs (AIFF, WAV, FLAC, MP3, etc.). Digital input jack: USB 1.1 (type B plug). Analog output jacks: left and right TiniQ, balanced. Output impedance: 200+200 ohms (balanced). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.6dB. Maximum output voltage: 4.5V RMS. Signal/noise ratio: 115dB, A-weighted (no reference level specified). Power requirement (via USB bus): 350mA.
Dimensions: 5.6" (144mm) L by 2.1" (54mm) W by 1.2" (31mm) H. Weight: 2 chocolate bars of…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.4, iTunes 10.0.1, Sonic Studio Amarra Computer Music Player 2.0, Songbird 1.8.0, or XLD; Oppo BDP-83 universal player; Sooloos Music Server (Control Ten, TwinStore x3); Benchmark DAC1 USB D/A converter.
Preamplification: Integra DTC-9.8, Lexicon MC-12 preamplifier-processors.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CAM 350 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: MartinLogan Prodigy & Descent subwoofers (2).
Cables: USB: Cardas Clear. Digital: Cardas Neutral…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system to perform the measurements on the HRT Music Streamer Pro (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It,"); for some tests, I also used my Audio Precision System One Dual Domain and the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer. As source, I used my Apple MacBook computer running OS10.6 and Bias Peak Pro 6 to play WAV files of the various test signals I use.
The Music Streamer Pro uses the Texas Instruments TAS1020B USB receiver chip, 390which is hi-rez capable, mounted…
It's an early Sunday morning in Jersey City, and I'm sitting on the old orange couch, keeping myself warm with a cup of coffee, wondering which record to play next. The mellow fall sun is peeking through my white cotton curtains, casting happy shadows throughout my listening room.
It's been a couple of hours since I dismantled my hi-fi. The Rega P3-24 turntable now rests quietly on my bedroom dresser. Beside it are the DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3 loudspeakers. The Exposure 2010S integrated amplifier is vacationing in my Uncle Omar's system. The Furutech Evolution cables and interconnects…
Like other lower-priced models in Rega's line, the RP-1 is basically a plug-and-play design: Setup couldn't be simpler. I placed it atop my Polycrystal equipment rack, making sure the turntable was level. The RP-1's bias slider is preset to accommodate the 1.5–2gm tracking weight of the factory-fitted Ortofon OM5e cartridge. The turntable is designed so that all the user need do is install the included balance weight at the end of the RB101 tonearm, then rotate the weight until it's as close as possible to the stop point. This is extremely simple to achieve—there's no guessing or measuring…