Computer audio is still in a messy state of glitches, unreliability, and nonstandardization. It's something everyone involved in it faces, and everyone wishing to…
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While I found it mostly smooth sailing, at one point the Ethernet connection between the ASC1 and the JRiver player on my computer broke, making inaccessible hundreds of great files I'd wanted to play from an external drive—all I got was sound from the computer speakers. Nothing I could think of doing solved the problem. I ended up shutting down and restarting the ASC1, but only after half an hour of hair-pulling frustration.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-speed, belt-drive turntable with unipivot tonearm. Motor: AC synchronous. Speeds: 331/3 & 45rpm. Tonearm: length, 10"; spindle to pivot, 222mm; effective length, 239mm; effective mass, 12.50gm.
Dimensions: 19.75" (505mm) W by 6" (155mm) H by 14" (360mm) D. Weight: Not noted.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 10003 US.
Price: $4995, turntable and tonearm when purchased together; Kid Howard turntable alone costs $2995, Cornet 2 tonearm alone costs $2295. Approximate number of dealers: 7.
Manufacturer: Pear Audio Analogue,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
ASC1: Remote-controlled digital Asynchronous Stream Controller. Analog inputs: 1 RCA. Digital inputs: 2 S/PDIF, 2 ST fiber-optic, 1 TosLink, 1 AES/EBU, 1 Ethernet, 1 USB. Digital outputs: 2 ST fiber-optic, 2 AES/EBU balanced XLR. Maximum data input rates: 24-bit/192kHz (AES, XLR, S/PDIF 1 & 2, ST Fiber, TosLink), 24-bit/192kHz and DSD64 (UPnP/DLNA Ethernet). ULN master clock phase noise: <40 femtoseconds RMS, 100Hz–1MHz. Analog input: 2.5V RMS RCA. Input impedance: 12k ohms RCA. THD+N: 0.003%, 2.5V RMS in, 1kHz. Dynamic range: 106dB, A-weighted, 20Hz–20kHz…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301 turntable; EMT 997 tonearm; EMT OFD 15 & TSD 15 pickup heads; Denon DL-103, Miyabi 47, Miyajima Premium BE Mono II cartridges.
Digital Sources: Halide Designs DAC HD USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Audirvana Plus 1.5.12; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Hommage T2 step-up transformer, Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Corton-Charlemagne (monoblocks), Shindo Haut-Brion.
Loudspeakers: Altec Valencia, DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96.
Cables: USB:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, Castellon turntable, tonearm, stand; Kuzma 4Point, SAT tonearms; DS Audio DS-W1 optical, Lyra Atlas & Etna, Miyajima Labs Zero (mono) & Madake, Ortofon Anna cartridges.
Digital Sources: Simaudio Moon Evolution 650D transport-DAC, Lynx Hilo ADC-DAC, Meridian Digital Media System, Pure Vinyl & Vinyl Studio software.
Preamplification: Ypsilon MC-10L & MC-16L step-up transformers; darTZeel NHB-18NS, Luminous Audio Techology Arion, Ypsilon VPS-100 preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
As Bel Canto Design's Black is a complex product—both the ASC1 control unit and MPS1 monoblocks have both digital and analog inputs—I performed most of my measurements with the control unit and amplifiers connected with the ST-optical datalinks, with checks of the analog inputs of the amplifiers. I measured the Black using the digital and analog outputs of my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com, and the January 2008 "As We See It"), and my 2012 MacBook Pro running on battery power to feed the USB input. Because the MPS1 is a class-D design, I used an…
Hard as it is to believe today, the music business, now as economically desiccated as apricot, was once a gushing fountain of cash. When the great LP to CD conversion was in full swing, the money literally poured in. There are those observers who would say that all that cash is why the business got distracted, took their eye off the ball and allowed piracy to sneak in, but that’s a story for another time.
Money in the music business meant parties, and no one could throw parties like those once-awash-in-cash major labels. While the film business went for the splash of red carpets,…
We seem to be going through a big-band renaissance. In recent months, I've hailed the latest albums by Maria Schneider's Orchestra, Steve Coleman's Council of Balance, Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Project, and now—in some ways, the most adventurous—John Hollenbeck's Songs We Like a Lot (on the Sunnyside label).
Like his 2013 forerunner Songs I Like a Lot, it features the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, augmented by keyboardist Gary Versace (as well as, this time out, Uri Caine), with vocals by Theo Bleckmann and Kate McGarry. The tracks are covers of widely varied pop songs—Pete Seeger's "How Can…
Left to right at the "Vinyl Resurrection" seminar: Nina Palmer (Ross Ellis Printing), Steve Sheldon (Rainbo Records), Michael Kurtz (Record Store Day), Bryan Burkert (The Sound Garden), Matthew Johnson (Fat Possum Records), and Mark Piro (Spark/Razor & Tie).
The New Music Seminar 2015 was a three-day (June 21,22, and 23) conference held in New York that invited music industry insiders to dialog on the current state and potential future of the music delivery business.
Right away I knew I wasn't at CES. The people here in the lobby of the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel were mostly…
Established in 1980 by Victor Sima as Sima Electronics, Canadian audio company Moon by Simaudio Ltd. celebrates its 35th year in the audio business in 2015—or, as its ads say, "35 years of passion." To mark the event, Simaudio had a party at Executive Stereo, their Toronto dealer (see photo above). It was a fairly low-key event, with a handful of Toronto-area audio journalists—including yours truly—and representatives of Simaudio attending. (Jon Iverson wrote about Simaudio's 35th anniversary in his 2015 CES coverage.)
Over the years, there have been changes in the ownership of Simaudio…