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In the first of the videos we shot at AXPONA 2018, Herb Reichert takes you along with him in a brief exploration of the Expo Hall, featuring Gayle Sanders' Lamborghini, Todd Garfinkle of MA Recordings, a crowd of headphone wearers, and a mysterious abundance of lab coats.
The remarkably relaxed, smiling faces of AXPONA Tradeshow Coordinator Jordan Brereton (left) and VP/Event Director Liz Miller (right) say it all. Photographed after show's close, Jordan and Liz were poised to announce that under the leadership of JD Events Founder and CEO Joel Davis, their team of 8 had sold 8134 tickets—up 21% from 2017—and welcomed 5718 unique visitors to the largest consumer audio show in the United States. The number of tickets sold to students ages 15-25 increased by 27%. This to a show with 165 active exhibit rooms and an over-15,000 square foot exhibit hall that hosted…
Monteverdi: Vespers 1610
Joanne Lunn, Esther Brazil, sopranos; Amy Lyddon, Rory McCleery, altos; Joshua Ellicott, Matthew Long, Nicholas Mulroy, Peter Harris, tenors; Peter Harvey, William Gaunt, bass; Dunedin Consort, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts; John Butt
Linn CKD 569 (2 CDs). 2017. Phil Hobbs, prod.; Robert Cammidge, eng. DDD. TT: 94:00
Performance ****½
Sonics *****
Joanne Lunn, Esther Brazil, sopranos; Amy Lyddon, Rory McCleery, altos; Joshua Ellicott, Matthew Long, Nicholas Mulroy, Peter Harris, tenors; Peter Harvey, William Gaunt, bass; Dunedin Consort, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts; John Butt
Linn CKD 569 (2 CDs). 2017. Phil Hobbs, prod.; Robert Cammidge, eng. DDD. TT: 94:00
Performance ****½
Sonics *****
As the old joke does not go, How do you get to the Papal Chapel? Audition, audition, audition. There you are, gifted and, for the early 1600s, relatively famous. You practically invented opera.…
The Internet of Things, or IOT, is an extremely hackable network that connects everything from household appliances to cars. To me, it's the ultimate example of technology that, once created, just doesn't need us—and I fear that the more tasks that are routinely, magically performed for us puny humans at the touch of a button by "smart" devices, the less capable we become.
There is, admittedly, a logical schism here: those magical devices are designed by humans—the big-brained folk who figured out how to create them. But far more people use those devices than design them. Few have any…
"Why should I bother with yet another recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons?" you may ask. "There are already 226 entries for it at arkivmusic.com!"
Because baroque violinist Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque's new, period instrument Channel Classics SACD of Le Quattro Stagioni and three other violin concertos by Vivaldi is likely the freshest, most joy-filled, and best-recorded of the bunch. Podger, who plays with and directs her superb ensemble of eight, isn't interested in knocking you over the head with pyrotechnic wizardry or some bizarre 21st century take on Vivaldi's Top Hit of…
After visiting the Expo Hall with Herb Reichert, we move on to the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel's upper levels to visit a few rooms, capturing binaural sound so, on headphones, you can hear what Herb heard.
In a room shared by Schiit and Salk, we listen to the Salk Sound Streamplayer Gen III ($1695), a Schiit Gungnir multi-bit DAC ($1249), a Schiit Freya preamplifier (with Tung-Sol 6NS7 tubes; $799), a pair of balanced mono Schiit Vidar power amplifiers ($1398/pair), and Salk Sound Song3-A speakers ($3895/pair).
Next, we visit a room sponsored by Triode Wire Labs, Volti Audio, and…
"Phones are the gateway device," proclaimed Marc Finer, executive producer of the Hi-Res Pavilion, at the start of the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show. When he pointed to LG Electronics' V30 Hi-Res+MQA smartphone, which includes streaming apps for Qobuz, Tidal, and YouTube, I sensed the truth in his words. The latest stats from survey company MusicWatch confirm that at least 87% of smartphone owners use a music-streaming service, including the largest, YouTube. Twenty percent of owners said that they stream music/music-related content daily, and 39% stream five or more days per week. In fact,…
In an oft-viewed clip on YouTube, recorded at the 2009 Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, three world-class guitarists pause during a music workshop to talk about their instruments: Danny Knicely describes his 1939 Martin D-18, Chris Eldridge talks briefly about his own 1937 Martin D-28, and Josh Williams notes that his guitar was made in 2002, by the Kentucky-based luthier Neil Kendrick. Then, with fine comic timing, Knicely remarks, "One of these days, me and Chris will be able to afford a new guitar, too!"
The joke, of course, is that the vintage Martins cost considerably more than the…
Switching gears, I checked out "My Home Is In the Delta," from Muddy Waters's Folk Singer (24/192 FLAC & 24/48 MQA.FLAC, Chess). The results were similar. MQA not only delivered more color saturation of Waters's voice, but Clifton James's drums had greater impact.
MQA Downloads and Streaming
As of mid-February, 4000 MQA albums were available for download from 2L, onkyomusic.com, nugs.net, highresaudio.com, and the Japan-based e-onkyo.com/music. The last site offered the most MQA files, but neither it nor highresaudio.com was licensed to sell to the US.
Up to now, to…
If, under the Audio-Technica's stylus, the Brahms sounded like a different recording, it was surely not a different performance: with its clearer portrayal of playing techniques, of sheer humanness, the A-T assured me that playing encrypted in the groove had evinced no less insight, taste, judgment, and pure physical talent than before. Based on my earlier experience with the Tzar DST, I expected a better sense of touch from the strings, and that I certainly heard. What I hadn't expected was how much better a sense of clarinetist Alfred Boskovsky's breathing and tonguing techniques the A-T…