Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.7, Audirvana Plus, iTunes v.11.1.5, Sonic Studio Amarra v.2.5, Songbird v.1.9.3, XLD; Western Digital 2TB NAS drive; Oppo BDP-103 universal Blu-ray player; Meridian (formerly Sooloos) Digital Media System (Control 15, QNAP TS-669 Pro NAS); Apple iPad Air, mini, iPod Touch 1G, iPhone 4S; AudioQuest DragonFly, Benchmark DAC1 USB & DAC2 HGC, Cambridge Audio Azur 851D, MSB Analog DACs.
Preamplifier-Processor: Marantz AV7005 in Pure Direct Mode.…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Audiophiles who need something to do before RMAF begins on Friday October 10 should check out Soundings Fine Audio and Video. Situated just two blocks from the Marriott DTC, the Denver retailer is having a party Friday night, and all showgoers are invited. They are also invited to come take a listen throughout the week!
Kevin Wolff of VANALTD will be conducting demos with Vienna Acoustics, Primare, and Isotek after 6pm. There will be adult beverages and food, provided by Great Northern Tavern, the official food provider of Soundings Friday-night extravaganza! (Please visit them while at…
A reader recently asked if I preferred listening to loudspeakers or to headphones. There is no easy answer: Although I do most of my music listening through speakers, about 10% of that listening, for various reasons, takes place in the privacy of my headphones. I have also found that, since I purchased the Audeze LCD-X headphones following my review of them last March, I now tend to watch movies on my MacBook Pro, with the soundtrack reproduced by these headphones plugged into an AudioQuest DragonFly or whatever D/A headphone amplifier has been passing through my test lab. So when Meridian's…
Listening to Digital
All of my listening up to now had been performed with the Auralic Vega decoding digital data via USB and driving the Meridian Prime's analog inputs. The Vega costs $3499, which is not too far removed from the $3295 the Prime costs with its optional power supply.
All of my listening up to now had been performed with the Auralic Vega decoding digital data via USB and driving the Meridian Prime's analog inputs. The Vega costs $3499, which is not too far removed from the $3295 the Prime costs with its optional power supply.
With the Prime powered by its wall wart, I connected one of the Mac mini's Type A USB ports to the Prime's mini USB port using an adapter cable and listened again to the same recordings. The Prime's D/A section had a lighter, clearer balance than with the same track decoded by the Vega and with the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Digital-to-analog headphone amplifier with optional Prime Power Supply. Sample rates supported: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kHz. Digital inputs: asynchronous USB mini (Prime), USB Type B (Prime Power Supply). Analog inputs: one pair single-ended (RCA), one stereo 3.5mm jack. Analog outputs: single-ended (RCA), two headphone (¼" jack), one headphone (3.5mm jack). Maximum output voltage: 3.1V (RCA), 3V (headphones). Output impedance: not specified (RCA), <0.1 ohm (¼"), 2.2 ohms (3.5mm). Frequency response: DC–70kHz, +0/–1dB. DC–200kHz, +0/–3dB.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources: Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS10.7, iTunes 11, Pure Music 1.89, Audirvana Plus 1.5.10; Auralic Vega D/A converter; Antelope Audio Zodiac Platinum and Meridian Explorer D/A headphone amplifiers.
Preamplification: Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, Sennheiser HD650, Bowers & Wilkins P7.
Cables: USB: AudioQuest Coffee. Interconnect (unbalanced): AudioQuest Cheetah. AC:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I examined the Meridian Prime's electrical performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). The Prime was powered by its optional Prime Power Supply for all measurements, and I tested its USB input with my MacBook Pro running on battery power. Apple's USB Prober utility reported the Product String as "Meridian Prime Headphone Amp" and confirmed that the Prime operated in the preferred isochronous asynchronous mode. The Prime correctly handled data with sample rates ranging from 44.1 to 192kHz, including 88.2…
Could it only be the 11th time the annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest has welcomed thousands of audiophiles to Denver? The three-day gathering, which takes place Friday, October 10–Sunday, October 12 at its comfortable location, the Marriott Denver Tech Center, has become such an essential part of the international audio scene that it feels like it's been here forever.
That's not to say that RMAF is in any way passé. T.H.E. Show Newport Beach may now claim to be larger, but RMAF 2014's 151 exhibit rooms, combined with a dedicated CanJam that is undoubtedly the largest high-performance…
Joe Ferla is the preeminent jazz recording engineer of our time—or, I should say, was, as he recently decided to retire from the profession, after more than 42 years and nearly 400 albums, to run his attention to playing guitar. (I haven't heard him do that, but I hope he's good.) His last-released album, The New Standard, is out on CD and double-LP on the Rare Noise Records label, and it stands not only as another specimen of superlative sonics but also Ferla's return to analog.
For many years after most of his colleagues turned to digital, Ferla remained committed to analog tape because…
Fifty-four years after it was recorded, Hank Mobley's immortal Soul Station has become a tale of two LPs.
One, the original pressing (mono or stereo), is an artifact, an insanely valuable antique, the object of fevered jazz collectors the world over.
The other is a fresh vinyl reissue, cut from a high-resolution digital remastering of the original master tapes, that's meant to bring in younger listeners, or those interested enough in the music that they'll pay $19.95 for a new LP.
The creation of Alfred Lion, Max Margulis, and later, Francis Wolff, Blue Note Records was…