Those used to be just fun things to say. But now I worry they might be true, if only because thinking, reading, and writing about domestic audio have, of late, brought with them the chalky aftertaste of guilt.
Specifically, when I consider the…
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Audio journalism is an unwitting form of pornography, albeit one that debases the soul with materialism instead of carnalism. It encourages—inadvertently, of course—the objectification of its subject matter, and can lead to Chronic Disappointment Syndrome, as well as a lifelong difficulty in forging healthy relationships with technology.
I took them in chronological order—which is how they're arranged in that elegant wooden box—and began with the SPU Classic. The only one of the four that's still available as a regular production model—albeit with Ortofon's modern "grinded wood" headshell (for $899)—this Classic is built into a headshell of aluminum-magnesium alloy, with a gray plastic belly pan. This classically low-impedance, low-output cartridge has a spherical stylus tip and a very low-compliance suspension, with a recommended stylus pressure of 4gm. The 2010 SPU Classic appears identical to its 51-year-old forebear in…
My favorite of the four? The best I can do is to narrow it down to the oldest and newest SPUs in the box (though I did keep returning to the SPU 85 for its warm, richly textured tone): The SPU Classic was consistently the biggest and most forceful sounding, while the SPU 90th Anniversary was surely the all-arounder of the collection. Were I lucky enough to own such a set, I imagine I'd choose according to which record I wished to play—or simply my mood at any given time or day. These Ortofons provide four different views of a very large and complex truth; as with amplifiers—and perhaps other…
A computer is not optimized for the uninterrupted streaming of audio data. It has rapidly become established wisdom, therefore, that the optimal means of extracting audio data from a computer's USB port is to operate that port in what is called "asynchronous isochronous" mode. This lets the receiving device, such as a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), control the flow of data from the PC. In theory, asynchronous USB operation (not to be confused with the asynchronous sample-rate conversion used in some DACs) reduces jitter to unmeasurable levels, depending on the accuracy of the receiver's…
Listening
I had previously been feeding the Mac mini directly to the dCS Debussy's USB input, which also operates in asynchronous mode. The processor was connected directly to the power amplifiers, using its own digital-domain volume control for maximum system transparency. Changing to the V-Link didn't seem to alter the character of the sound at all! I switched back to the Debussy's USB, which is not an instantaneous procedure—as well as changing the physical wiring, the new device must be reselected on the computer—and if there was an improvement, I was hard-pressed to hear it. The…
I had previously been feeding the Mac mini directly to the dCS Debussy's USB input, which also operates in asynchronous mode. The processor was connected directly to the power amplifiers, using its own digital-domain volume control for maximum system transparency. Changing to the V-Link didn't seem to alter the character of the sound at all! I switched back to the Debussy's USB, which is not an instantaneous procedure—as well as changing the physical wiring, the new device must be reselected on the computer—and if there was an improvement, I was hard-pressed to hear it. The…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Bus-powered USB-S/PDIF converter for use with PCs and Macs (no third-party driver software required). Input: USB 1.1–compliant. Operates in asynchronous isochronous mode. Output: S/PDIF electrical on RCA jack, TosLink optical. Sample rates supported: 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz. Input/output bit depth: 16 or 24.
Dimensions: 6.7" (170mm) L by 3.75" (95mm) W by 1.7" (40mm) D. Weight: 12 oz (350gm).
Finish: Black-painted aluminum.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: ZZ228.
Price: $169. Approximate number of dealers: 30.
Manufacturer:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; G4 Mac mini running OS10.5.8, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.74; Shuttle PC with dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; Esoteric D-07, Benchmark DAC1, dCS Debussy D/A converters; Stello U2, Halide S/PDIF Bridge USB-S/PDIF converters.
Preamplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CA-M600 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Harbeth P3ESR, BBC LS3/5a.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox HXDV & 75 ohm electrical S/PDIF, DH Labs Silver Sonic AES…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the measured behavior of the Musical Fidelity V-Link 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 test tones at various sample rates and bit depths from BIAS Peak Pro 6 on an Intel MacBook running OS10.6.4, with some tests repeated on a dual-core PC running Windows 7 and Adobe Audition 3.0.
The V-Link operated at sample rates of 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96kHz, provided the sample rate had been set correctly with Audio MIDI…
The May 2011 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. I’m sorry: I don’t remember anything about the making of this issue. It seems like it happened a million years ago. It must have been traumatic. (I do remember making meatloaf. That was a lot of work, too.) But I can tell you what’s inside this issue.
Let’s take a look:
Features
Attention Screen Takes Flight at Yamaha: This is very cool. Jason Victor Serinus interviews the guys in Attention Screen and John Atkinson discusses the making of the band’s latest album. Musicians, music lovers, recording engineers, and…
The VTL MB-450 series began life in the late 1980s as the Deluxe 300, a pair of which I once owned. Over the years the basic design has been improved and modified, in the forms of the MB-450 (1996) and the MB-450 Series II (which I reviewed in January 2008). The tube complement remains the same: eight 6550s in the push-pull output stage, a 12AT7 input tube, and a 12BH7 driver. Into a 5 ohm load, the MB-450 III is claimed to produce 425W in tetrode mode or 225W in triode, from 20Hz to 20kHz.
The Series II added VTL's Smart Tube technology, also found in the company's flagship Siegfried…