Britten: Noye's Fludde
Owen Brannigan, Sheila Rex, Trevor Anthony, Children's Chorus, and East Suffolk Children's Orchestra, Members of the English Chamber Orchestra, Norman Del Mar, conductor
London OS-25331 (LP). Colin Graham, prod. Recording date, 1961-07-03. Recording venue, Orford Church, Suffolk. TT: 48:00
This musical setting of the Chester miracle play about Noah, his ark, and the problems attendant thereof, if one of the most movingly beautiful recorded works I have ever heard. Its simplicity and sincerity are a stinging rebuke to those contemporary composers who have…
Among the many bits of audio lore that never have and probably never will be aired in public is the story of the amp that ignited the reviewer's curtains. (I assume that at least some of you hoped I was going to say "pants.") I can't tell it in any great detail, partly because the reviewer in question is a friend (though not a Stereophile colleague), and I'm not sure how much of the story he wants out there. In any event, my object here is to offer a long-overdue apology, to all concerned, for having laughed at that story over the years, because it has now happened to me—not the part about…
Both cables, but especially SuperFlatline, sounded clarion-clear and pleasingly upfront in my system of the day, which included Spendor SP-100 loudspeakers and a variety of amplifiers of low to moderate power. I praised both Flatlines for their ability to conduct music with superior flow, dynamic ease, and "vibrant" tonal colors, and confessed that I preferred these entry-level Nordost speaker cables to a more expensive Nordost model that had also been submitted for review. In the years since, other models of Nordost speaker cables and interconnects, including some far more expensive ones,…
Saturday,January 5, 1:30–4:30pm, the Pacific Northwest Audio Society (Congregational Church, 4545 Island Crest Way, Mercer Island, WA 98040) is holding a J-Corder Technics event. The free analog source workshop will showcase the Reference Series 2018 products from Technics, including the SL-1000R Reference Class turntable and modified RS-1500 legacy open-reel tape recorder.
J-Corder's Jeff Jacobs says that attendees can bring their own quality vinyl for a spin on the SL-1000R mounted with an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze moving-coil cartridge and LH-9000 carbon-fiber headshell, or enjoy the…
On the first page of the owner's manual for iFi Audio's Pro iDSD tubed/solid-state multibit DAC and headphone amplifier, the British company unabashedly describes it as "a 'state of the art' reference digital to analog converter" and "a wireless hi-res network player or the central DAC in an expensive high-end home system." As if in an afterthought, it continues: "The on-board balanced headphone section means high-end headphones can also be directly connected to it." The manual doesn't describe the headphone "section" as "state of the art," so I'm deducing that the Pro iDSD is really more a…
Bruckner: String Quintet (arr. for Large Orchestra), Overture in g
Gerd Schaller, arr., cond.; Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
Profil PH16036 (CD). 2018. Milan Puklický, prod.; Jan Lzicar, eng. DDD. TT: 57:12
Performance ***
Sonics ****
Bruckner & Mahler: String Quintet (arr. for Chamber Orchestra) & Symphony 10: Adagio
Peter Stangel, arr., cond.; Pocket Philharmonic Orchestra
Edition Taschenphilharmonie/Sony ETP008 (CD). 2017. Sebastian Riederer von Paar, prod., eng., ed. DDD. TT: 59:12
Performance ****
Sonics ****
Bruckner's only mature…
Also, except when otherwise noted, I did most of my listening to the Pro iDSD in Bit-Perfect mode, with no filtering or oversampling—because it seemed the most natural, and I liked it that way.
Bit Packets in Space
In my realm, Sun Ra (1914–1993) is forever the boss of all hip cats. He is my art mentor from another planet. I think a lot of audiophile jazz fans overlook Sun Ra because he was a messy mash-up-making postmodernist. (Ra was doing postmodernism before it had a name.) Many jazz lovers dismiss Sun Ra because he chants and sings artful nonsense like, "They plan to put the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed/solid-state DAC/headphone amplifier. Tube complement: two GE5670. Inputs: USB, AES3 (XLR, single link), S/PDIF (coaxial/optical combo), BNC multifunction (S/PDIF in or sync input). Outputs (line-level): balanced (XLR), single-ended (RCA). Outputs (headphone): single-ended (3.5mm, 6.3mm), balanced (2.5mm). Output into 600 ohms, balanced/single-ended: >11.2V/>5.6V.
Dimensions: 8.7" (220mm) W by 2.5" (63mm) H by 8.4" (213mm) D. Weight: 4.4 lb (2kg).
Finish: Silver.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 3002000475 (listening),…
Sidebar 2: Associated Components
Analog Sources: Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Jelco KT-850L tonearm, AMG Giro G9 turntable & 9W Turbo tonearm, Linn Sondek LP12 Hercules turntable with SME M2-9 tonearm; AMG Teatro, EMT TSD 75, Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue, Hana SL, Koetsu Rosewood Standard & Signature Platinum, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex cartridges.
Digital Sources: Mac mini computer running Audirvana+ 3.2; HoloAudio Spring "Kitsuné Tuned Edition" Level 3, Mytek Brooklyn, Mytek Manhattan II, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil with Analog 2 & Gen 5 USB upgrades, Aqua…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured iFi Audio's Pro iDSD (serial no. 3002000468, a different sample from the one auditioned by HR) with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 As We See It"). I used both the Audio Precision's S/PDIF outputs and USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro running on battery power and playing WAV and AIFF test-tone files. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the iDSD as "iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio" from "iFi (by AMR)," and confirmed that its USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that, via…
