Rhythm is a sequential pattern of any kind, and pattern is the building block of musical expression. Rhythm is especially important. I…
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In equipment reports, I use the phrase forward momentum to refer to something a little deeper and more encompassing than what's meant by that well-worn Brit-fi expression pace, rhythm, and timing (PRaT). Pace refers to the speed at which a piece of music is being played, and the accurate reproduction of that speed requires audio sources with good dynamic pitch stability. (Digital folk always lord it over LP clingers for digital's superior pitch stability.)
I want to share with you not what I heard from this CD, but what I noticed while listening to McDowell play "Shake 'Em On Down," a trance-inducing hill-country blues anthem by Bukka White. Unlike Chicago blues, which usually features guitar or harmonica solos, "Shake 'Em On Down" is groove-based. It begins with a hard-strumming boogie groove that carries the quickly mesmerized listener forward on a steam train of louder-harder-faster strumming, never slowing or backing off until it gently drops that listener off at its final destination. In "Shake 'Em On Down," the force and movement of…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Digital-to-analog converter, headphone amplifier, line-level control preamplifier. Conversion: PCM to 32-bit/384kHz; MQA (built-in certified hardware MQA decoder); native DSD to DSD256, DXD. Dynamic range: 130dB. Digital inputs: USB 2 Class 2 (OSX, Linux driverless, all formats), AES/EBU, two S/PDIF (PCM to 24/192), TosLink/ADAT, two S/PDIF SDIF3 DSD to DSD256. Analog inputs: line in (RCA), switchable to phono with optional phono card; line in (RCA); balanced line in (XLR). Analog inputs routed through minimal-path, state-of-the-art analog…
Sidebar 2: Associated Components
Digital Sources: Mytek HiFi Brooklyn, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Halide DAC HD DACs; Hegel Music Systems Mohican CD player; Integra DPS-7.2 DVD-Audio/CD player.
Preamplification: Bob's Devices CineMag 1131, Dynavector SUP-200, Lounge Audio Copla MC phono step-up devices; Dynavector P75, Lounge Audio LCR Mk.III+, Parasound Halo JC 3+, Tavish Design Adagio phono preamplifiers; Pass Labs HPA-1, PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Bel Canto Design e.One REF600M (monoblocks), First Watt J2, PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium.
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Mytek Manhattan II with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 As We See It"), using both the Audio Precision's optical and electrical digital outputs and USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro running on battery power with Pure Music 3.0 playing WAV and AIFF test-tone files. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Mytek as "Manhattan II DAC Control\000" from "Mytek Digital\000," with the serial-number field occupied by "03303-1703-050." The USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode, and Apple's AudioMIDI…
As you can see from the logo above, Stereophile has accepted an invitation to be inducted into the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA), as the exclusive US member of the EISA's Hi-Fi Expert Group. (At the same time, our sister magazine Sound & Vision was inducted as the exclusive US member of the HT Video Expert Group.) The categories of US and European may seem mutually exclusive; but last May, at the EISA Convention in Antwerp, Belgium, the members supported Paul Miller, EISA president and editor of the UK's Hi-Fi News magazine, in an initiative to take the Association…
Forget if you can, the hips, the hair, the pills, and the whole grotesque circus his life eventually became and remember that Elvis Presley, who died 40 years ago today, was in the beginning a hillbilly cat who could genuinely sing.
As is the case with many artists, Elvis Presley's best recordings, particularly when it comes to his vocals, are his first; the ones he made for Sun Records in 1954–55. They have been repackaged yet again in a very attractive box, Elvis Presley, A Boy From Tupelo, The Complete 1953–55 Recordings, The difference here is that this set, according to the press…
DeJohnette, Grenadier, Medeski, Scofield: Hudson
John Scofield, electric guitar; Larry Grenadier, bass; John Medeski, keyboards; Jack DeJohnette, drums.
Motema CD-228 (CD). 2017. Hudson, prods.; Scott Petito, eng.; Beth Reineke, asst. eng. DDD TT: 69:92
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
John Scofield, electric guitar; Larry Grenadier, bass; John Medeski, keyboards; Jack DeJohnette, drums.
Motema CD-228 (CD). 2017. Hudson, prods.; Scott Petito, eng.; Beth Reineke, asst. eng. DDD TT: 69:92
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Sometimes, a successful recording is not about the material, the studio, the producer, or even the players involved. Sometimes, it's about a shared feeling that grows among the players and conjures a groove. Grooves can be hard to find, especially among accomplished players recording together…
At the risk of offending nearly every designer and manufacturer of loudspeakers, I think we have not seen anything really new in a long time. Casting a gimlet eye at Stereophile's "Recommended Components" reveals some electrostatic and planar-magnetic models, a few horns, and lots and lots of cones and domes in boxes. Those cones and domes have voice-coils inductively driven by permanent magnets, and overwhelmingly use passive crossovers. Innovation in speakers mostly takes the form of advancements in materials science and, to a much lesser degree, cabinet shape. All helpful, but not…
The Limit Indicator might be of interest to some. Given the relatively small size of the Three's drivers and enclosure and the potency of its multiple amplifiers, it can be assumed that some users might run them at damaging levels. The designer, Bruno Putzeys, has implemented limiters based on multiple-intelligent-detection algorithms that predict when the incoming signal would be harmful to drivers or amps. He thinks it is "the most unintrusive limiter ever used in a playback device." I agree. In fact, I never turned on the Limit Indicator, because I didn't want that cue to bias my…