Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) running OS 10.11.5, Roon v.1.2 Build 142, JRiver Media Center 19, iTunes 12, Amarra Computer Music Player, VLC, Reaper 5.20.100, XLD; Western Digital NAS device (2TB); Oppo BDP-103 universal BD player; Meridian Sooloos Control 15 & QNAP TS-669 Pro NAS; Apple iPad Air & iPhone 6; Benchmark DAC1 USB & DAC2 HGC DACs, Ayre Acoustics QB-9DSD & Codex digital processors; AudioQuest DragonFly USB DAC.
Preamplifier: Marantz AV7005 in Pure Direct Mode.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the T+A DAC 8 DSD with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). Sources were either digital signals fed via AES/EBU or TosLink from the SYS2722, or WAV and AIFF test-tone files played with Pure Music 3.0 on my MacBook Pro running on battery power and fed via USB. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the processor as the "DAC 8 DSD HD-AUDIO" from "T+A ELEKTROAKUSTIK," and confirmed that the T+A's USB input operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. The AES/EBU and S/PDIF inputs accepted data sampled at up to…
The Swiss-made G-36 recorder had earned an enviable reputation among perfectionists during the few years that it has been available in the US, and our inability to test one (because of a backlog of other components for testing) became increasingly frustrating to us with each glowing report we heard from subscribers who owned them. Now that we have finally obtained one through the courtesy of ELPA (footnote 1), we can see what all the shouting was about, but we also have some reservations about it.
We must admit at this juncture that we have a certain, somewhat irrational tendency to be…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Two-speed, all-tube, solenoid-operated, two-channel open-reel tape recorder with built-in monophonic power amplifier and loudspeaker; three drive motors; DC hold-back braking; tape lifters; automatic safety shutoff. Speeds: 3¾ips and 7½ips, via dual-winding hysteresis-synchronous capstan motor. Wow & flutter: <0.1% at 7½ips; <0.15% at 3¾ips. Speed accuracy: Within ±0.3% of nominal. Reel capacity: Up to 1O½". Frequency response: 40Hz–18kHz, +2, –3dB at 7½ips; 40Hz–12kHz +2, –3dB at 3¾ips. S/N ratio (unweighted): 52dB at 7½ips; 50dB at 3¾ips.…
When you get old and gray and all them shoot-'em-up dudes doe wanna ride wit you no mo, don't fret—you can still have fun. Once you're a geezer, you'll have more time to work in the garden, drink tea, buy LPs, and fiddle with your unipivot.
When I was José Cuervo young, I mocked belt-drive turntables, unipivot tonearms, and teetotalers. "You can't drink, dance, shoot up the bar, and play hot records wit no persnickety belt-drive or wobbly unipivot. You need a masculine, pro-fessional-quality direct-drive or rim-drive turntable with a sturdy a gimbal-bearing tonearm!"
It feels…
Meanwhile, my ancient Thorens TD 124 excels at a kind of slippery forward momentum that favors classic jazz, folk, and rock. When I use the 124, the word that always jumps into my head is straightforward. It imparts to music an understated strength and tangible correctness—as long as the recording isn't too darkly quiet or intricately detailed. (Vintage Garrard 301s are better at darkly quiet and intricately detailed.) My TD 124's weakest point is its inability sort out the small, hidden stuff. The Roksan Radius 7's strongest point is its ability to unearth and display that small, hidden…
Sidebar: Contacts
Roksan Audio, Jubilee Close, Townsend Lane, London NW9 8XD, England, UK. Tel: (44) (0)20-8900-6801 Web: www.roksan.co.uk. US distributor: Rutherford Audio, 12649 E. Caley Avenue #116, Centennial, CO 80111. Tel: (303) 872-6285. Web: www.rutherfordaudio.com
Focal-JMlab, 108 rue de l'avenir, 42353 La Talaudière cedex, France. Tel: (33) 04-77-43-57-00. Web: www.focal.com. US distributor: Focal North America, 9641-82 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6C 0Z9, Canada. Tel: (888) 340-4403, (780) 439-3901. Web: www.focal.com/usa.
Not having listened to Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.6, aka the "Pathétique," in quite some time, I had forgotten how heart-tugging beautiful it is. While there are many recordings of the work, few can possibly sound as good and feel as right as the new hybrid SACD from Channel Classics with Iván Fischer conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Due out October 7, when it will also be available for download in high-resolution format from nativedsd.com, the recording also enlists the fine Brno Czech Philharmonic Choir for its atmospheric pairing, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances.
Tchaikovsky…
I flew to Denver in a tin can. It had no insulation, no tube traps, no RPG diffusers, no noise-cancellation circuits. It was extremely noisy and it had plastic seats—very much like those white stacking lawn chairs they sell at Home Depot. Instead of fold-down trays for hot food, this plane had little iPhone shelves on the backs of all the seats. But the woman piloting the tin can was amazing. If I didn't look out the window I couldn't tell if the plane was in the air or on the ground. Life in the can was loud but cool runnin'.
Just before I left Brooklyn, I discovered that I…
Thursday, October 6th, 2016. Heart revving. Mind blackening. Bones liquid. Chills. Aches. Slight fever. The works.
As soon as we got to the Denver Marriott Tech Center, the anxiety began. I am not normally an anxious mess, but this was a special occasion: I was about to attend my first major audio show, the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival 2016. (I did attend the 2015 New York Audio Show, but that doesn't compare to the size of RMAF—even taking into account this year's construction-induced compaction.)
AudioStream's Michael Lavorgna and I made the 50-minute ride from Boulder to…