Sidebar 1: RCD-955AX Measurements
Beginning with the multi-bit Rotel, the frequency response (fig.1) was virtually flat across the audible range, with only a small amount of ripple in the upper octaves—ripples characteristic of machines using Philips digital filters. The 1kHz squarewave in fig.2 is also typical of players using linear-phase digital filters, and although pre-emphasized CDs are in the distinct minority, the virtually flat de-emphasis response (not shown) guarantees that they will be properly balanced in playback.
Fig.1 Rotel RCD-955AX, frequency…
Sidebar 2: RCD-965BX Measurements
As in the RCD-955AX, the 1-bit Rotel had a rather typical Philips-chipset frequency response, with a trace more HF ripple than in the multi-bit player (fig.9). The ripple in both machines should be audibly insignificant, however, and the relative frequency responses of the two Rotels do not—at least in spectral terms—explain CG's relative reactions to the two players. The squarewave in fig.10 is a near-clone of that from the multi-bit Rotel, including the obvious presence (from the shape of the "ripple" on the horizontal portions of the waveform) of a…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Rotel RCD-955AX: 16-bit CD player. Output voltage: 2V RMS. Output impedance: 200 ohms.
Dimensions: 17.3" (440mm) W by 3.6" (92mm) H by 12.5" (316mm) D. Weight: 5.8kg.
Price: $449 (1992); no longer available (2014).
Rotel RCD-965BX: 1-bit CD player. Output voltage: 2V RMS. Output impedance: 200 ohms.
Dimensions: 17.3" (440mm) W by 3.6" (92mm) H by 12.5" (316mm) D. Weight: 5.8kg.
Price: $549 (1992); no longer available (2014).
Both: Approximate number of dealers: 200 (1992).
US distributor: Rotel of America, 54 Concord Street,…
Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker
by Stanley Crouch (New York: Harper, 2013), 365 pp. Hardcover, $27.99.
A section of this biography, which documents the early life of the dazzling bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker, starts with a four-page meditation on "the truth and myth of railroads" in America: the figurative underground railroad that comprised a web of escape routes for slaves fleeing the South; the "black-smoke-puffing iron horse" that galloped into the West and "would eventually carry the brutal and legendary Apache chief Geronimo and his people . . . to…
A month ago, flying to South By Southwest 2014, the numbers on paper were grim. According to the March 15, 2014 issue of Billboard the overall unit sales of music were down 12.2 percent year–to–date. Looking at weekly unit sales figures, the sale of digital tracks (as opposed to albums) was down 12 percent over a year earlier. There was one bright spot: under the sales by album format category, while CD album sales for 2014 were down 18.5 percent, and digital album sales for the year were down 13 percent, both when compared to 2013, vinyl albums were up 34 percent over 2013, though the…
John Atkinson reviewed the M51 in May 2014 (Vol.37 No.5):
I've been using NAD's Masters Series M51 Direct Digital D/A processor ($1999) as one of my references since summer 2013. Jon Iverson had enthused about the M51 in his July 2012 review, concluding that he preferred DACs "that reveal as much as possible about what was captured on the tape or in the digits, and couldn't care less about adding a rose-colored tint to dodgy digital sound. In this regard, the NAD M51 succeeds with a wonderfully detailed and revealing sound best described as honest, with a friendly smile." My own…
The 2014 AXPONA (Audio Expo North America), scheduled for April 25–27 in Chicago's completely refurbished Westin O'Hare, promises to the biggest and most comprehensive US consumer audio show east of Denver. How about, for starters, at least 56 known product introductions, with many more intentionally unannounced; 75 active exhibits in "standard" hotel rooms, whose dimensions are a far-from-standard 14.9'x19' with 8.5' high ceilings; 35 significantly larger meeting rooms and suites, spread over numerous floors, often filled with more than one active system per room; an Ear Gear Expo with…
Stephen Mejias returned to the VPI Traveler in May 2014 (Vol.37 No.5):
Over the last few months, I've had a great time listening primarily to digital files through headphones and powered loudspeakers, but I still prefer listening to LPs played on a good turntable. My preference has only a little to do with sound. For me, listening to vinyl isn't only fun, it's important. More than any other music format I've enjoyed, vinyl soothes my mind, strengthens my spirit, makes me feel connected to other people, places, and times.
I reviewed the original VPI Traveler turntable in November…
Ambrose Akinmusire: The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint
Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet; Walter Smith III, tenor saxophone; Charles Altura, guitar; Sam Harris, piano; Harish Raghavan, bass; Justin Brown, drums. With: Elena Penderhughes, flute; Osso String Quartet; Theo Bleckmann, Becca Stevens, Cold Specks, vocals; Muna Blake, reading
Blue Note CAPF430152 (CD). 2014. Ambrose Akinmusire, prod.; Andy Taub, eng.; Dave Darlington, mix. DDD. TT: 78:42
WANTED: Jazz Hero. Must be willing and able to bring stunning new creative energies to a musical genre in danger of becoming stale…
Here's what I've learned in my 35 years in the High End, first as a hi-fi salesman and then as a full-time reviewer and blogger: No hi-fi, no matter how expensive or exalted, will ever deliver the holy grail. While there have been considerable advances over the years, I can cite two 50+-year-old loudspeakers—Quad ESL electrostatics and Klipsch's big horns—whose transparency and dynamic range, respectively, blow away those of many contemporary high-end speakers. The very best of today's speakers, electronics, and source components don't zero in on a single perfected sound indistinguishable…
