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No prosaic formal classification can begin to describe the universal embrace of life and death that is Schubert's final, posthumously published String Quintet in C major, D.956. Written in his final year, as his health was rapidly deteriorating from syphilis (and, perhaps, the mercury that was likely administered as a "cure"), the quintet melds characteristically Viennese gemütlichkeit with far darker forebodings. Although that darkness is expressed musically rather than through words—Schubert's contemporaneous, bone-chilling song, Der Doppelgänger, is far more explicit in this regard—the…
Spectral Audio President Richard Fryer (above) brought the new SDR-4000SV Studio Reference CD Processor ($20,000) to Innovative Audio Video Showrooms in Manhattan May 13 and 14, as part of the New York City dealer's "Meet the Innovators" series. Fryer debuted Spectral's limited-edition digital player and playback system in one of Innovative's renovated listening rooms, its dark lights, cool temps and flowing white wine aiding the already sumptuous atmosphere.
As well as the SDR-4000SV Studio Reference CD Processor, the Spectral Audio system included Spectral's DMA-400 Monaural…
On the heels of its revelatory release of long-lost sessions by Larry Young in Paris during the mid-1960s, Resonance Records pulls another treasure from the archives—Sarah Vaughan's appearance at Rosy's, a now-defunct New Orleans jazz club, in May 1978.
Vaughan was 54 and in the midst of a merry comeback, recording a slew of albums for producer Norman Granz on the Pablo label and performing in a string of small clubs around the world (I saw her around this time at a very small venue, holding maybe 50 people, in Washington, DC), all with stunning virtuosity leavened with a playful verve…
Boy meets girl.
Boy and girl fall in love.
Boy and girl live happily ever after.
Boy and girl fall in love.
Boy and girl live happily ever after.
This is the traditional fairytale romance we've all been spoon-fed from birth. You know, Disney, unicorns, white picket fences, medieval castles, Ryan Gosling, etc, etc. There are many variations, but each one essentially tells the same story.
Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, reality often falls quite short of fairytale, and very rarely is one story identical to the next. Modern romance is often more like this:
Boy meets girl (one of many) online.
Boy asks girl out on a…
It seems like something amazingly profound should spring to mind on this, the occasion of Bob Dylan’s 75th birthday, however the stark facts are enough. He is, in the rarely used best sense of the word, the most impressive monster the world of popular music has ever produced. It’s hard to even find words big enough to express what he’s accomplished. Still on the road for most of the year at 75, still making important records, still writing songs, the man is a mountain, an ocean, a titanic force unlike any other. His mass of original material is the most influential body of work ever produced…
I first spied the Ayre Codex two Januarys ago, at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, and its scrappy proletarian vibe sure made it look different from any other Ayre creation. On learning that its price would be well under $2000, I was immediately curious what Charley Hansen and his gang—makers of the $3450 QB-9DSD USB digital-to-analog converter, plus a few five-figure amps and preamps—could create when cost is an object.
Indeed, as Hansen says, "The Codex was deliberately built to the lowest price point we've ever done. Doing so imposes specific constraints. No matter how clever one…
The second track on Cruel Sister is a cappella: McShee singing "When I Was in My Prime." In addition to the you-are-there intimacy of the studio space captured in the recording, with the Codex I could clearly hear an odd artificial reverb that sat behind McShee at the center of the stage. I could also hear the compression-pumping artifacts each time she takes a breath. Then there was an obvious edit at 2:23, where they glued a different take on at the end of the song. I realize all this is diving into audio-geek territory (headphone listening can do that), but rarely does a DAC so precisely…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: D/A headphone amplifier. Digital inputs: 1 USB (Type B), 1 optical (TosLink). Input formats/resolutions: PCM (44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384kHz, up to 24 bits), DSD (DSD64, DSD128). Analog outputs: 2 single-ended (RCA and ¼" headphone jack), 2 balanced (XLR and two 3.5mm headphone jacks). Maximum output level: headphone or preamp mode, 7.0V balanced, 3.5V single-ended; DAC mode, 4.0V balanced, 2.0V single-ended.
Dimensions: 5.3" (137mm) H by 2.1" (55mm) W by 9" (230mm) D. Weight: 3.1 lbs (1.4kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed:…
Marten is a small Swedish loudspeaker manufacturer with great aspirations, some of which the company has largely met. Leif Mårten Olofsson founded Marten and designs the speakers, while brother Jörgen Olofsson runs the business as CEO—a division of creative and administrative labors similar to the working relationship between David and Norman Chesky, the founders of Chesky Records and HDtracks.
Marten's ambitious "statement" model, the Coltrane Supreme 2—a 78.8"-tall, 507-lb design that costs half a million bucks—effectively makes the point that this little company can build big.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) running OS 10.10.4, Roon v.1.1 build 102, JRiver Media Center 19, iTunes 12, Amarra Computer Music Player, VLC, Reaper 4.78, XLD; Western Digital 2TB NAS Device; Oppo BDP-103 Universal BD player; Meridian Sooloos Digital Media System (Control 15, QNAP TS-669 Pro NAS); Apple iPad Air & iPhone 6. Benchmark DAC1 USB & DAC2 HGC, Ayre Acoustics QB-9DSD, AudioQuest DragonFly, Chord Hugo TT USB DACs.
Preamplifier: Marantz AV7005 in Pure Direct Mode.
Power…