search
In fact, I found the differences among the three filters greater in degree than with other DACs that offer a choice of filters. The Min filter gave the best balance between presentation of detail and listenability with "Whaling Stories," from Procol Harum's Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (16/44.1 ALAC rip from CD, Mobile Fidelity/A&M). I always felt that drummer B.J. Wilson overplayed—I saw this lineup of the band in concert in England not long after this album was recorded—but the MBL DAC with Min filter prevented him from overpowering both the rest of the band and…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CD player and D/A processor with remote control. Digital inputs: 1 AES/EBU (XLR), 1 coaxial S/PDIF (RCA), 1 TosLink, 1 USB Class 1 (Type B), 1 USB Class 2 (Type B), 1 SDcard slot for firmware updates, 1 MBL SmartLink (RJ45). Digital outputs: 1 TosLink, 1 coaxial S/PDIF (RCA), 1 AES/EBU (XLR), 1 MBL SmartLink (RJ45). Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair unbalanced (RCA). Digital formats supported: 16–24 bit/44.1–192kHz PCM; DSD64 (DoP). Frequency response: not specified. Maximum output level: 4V RMS balanced, 2V unbalanced. Output impedance…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: NAD M50.2 music server; iPad mini & iPhone 6S with Apple Camera Connection Kit; AVM Ovation MP 8.2, Ayre Acoustics QX5 Twenty, PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream DACs; Mac mini running Roon 1.3.
Preamplifier: Ayre Acoustics KX-5 Twenty, NHT Balanced Passive Volume Control.
Power Amplifiers: MBL Corona C15, Pass Labs XA60.8 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: GoldenEar Technology Triton Reference.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (DACs), Belkin Gold (iDevices), USB; DH Labs, AES/EBU; Esperanto, S/PDIF. Interconnect (balanced):…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the MBL N31 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 N31 as "MBL USB Audio Class 2" from "MBL Akustikgerate, Berlin," and its serial number as "Streamlength(tm)." The MBL's USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that, via USB…
One musical mystery that audiophiles and serious music fans of all stripes can relate to is why singer Holly Cole did not/has not become a bigger star. Her voice is expressive in the extreme. She has taste in material that is both adventurous and impeccable. Her records have always been very well-recorded. And she's a charismatic live performer.
One clue was unwittingly provided by Universal Music when I asked for a SoundCloud link to a track from Don't Smoke In Bed, her 1993 album that has just been re-released in gorgeously rich sounding 200-gram vinyl, housed, of course, in an au…
We experimented with binaurally recording the sound of some of the exhibit rooms at last November's New York Audio Show using a pair of Sony lavalier electret mikes suspected in front of Herb Reichert's ears. The results were positive but the binaural "you-are-there" effect was not as great as we had hoped, due to the fact that mikes were a little too far away from the the ears' pinnae.
So, for our coverage of the 2018 Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, we purchased Sennheiser's "Ambeo" binaural system, which mounts microphones on the outer surfaces of a pair of earbuds, thus…
Given that David Chesky has just followed the digital release of his Second and Third Piano Concertos with a January 13 performance of his Violin Concerto No.3 by Rachel Barton Pine and the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, some might say he's on a roll. Others, listening to the pace of two new piano concertos inspired what liner notes writer Harold Lester calls "the chaos of [Chesky's] adopted New York City," might instead think "roller coaster."
Using the same Chesky-assembled Orchestra of the 21st Century as on The Spanish Poems recording that he released six months earlier, but this time…
Back in 1994 the release of the compilation CD Space Age Bachelor Pad Music on the Weehawken, NJ-based Bar None label put the name of Esquivel on everyone's lips again. The Mexican composer's lush exotica, which featured wordless vocals, dramatic brass arrangements, Latin flavors, full exploitation of the potential of stereo recording and mixing, and his own piano solos, will always be a very singular music. It sounds like nothing else. One little-known fact is that he actually began recording his first two records in mono prior to becoming one of the leading proponents of the possibilities…
Hope springs eternal, or at least repeatedly in the high-quality, analog LP reissue game. In recent years longtime industry leaders Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and Analogue Productions have been joined by new players ORG, Intervention, and now Analog Spark.
This new label caught my eye and ears when I saw and then heard their excellent, RTI-pressed, 180-gram LP reissue of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk. Mastered and cut from the original stereo analog tapes by Kevin Gray at his Cohearent Audio facility in California and housed in the excellent, and suddenly very trendy…
As I wrote in our first video report from the 2018 CES, held January 9-12 in Las Vegas, NV, for our video coverage we purchased Sennheiser's "Ambeo" binaural system, which mounts microphones on the outer surfaces of a pair of earbuds. In this report, John Atkinson listens to some of his recordings in the DeVore Fidelity and dCS/D'Agostino rooms and offers his thoughts on what he had just heard. He also talks to exhibitors about their thoughts on the show and offers some final comments before heading to a bar for a well-earned beer. But first, John Quick of dCS and Rob Darling of Roon Labs…