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Recording of February 2018: <I>Chopin's Last Waltz</I>

Chopin's Last Waltz
Chopin: Ballade 4 in f, Op.52; Fantasie in f, Op.49; Mazurka in c-sharp, Op.63 No.3; Mazurka in f, Op.68 No.4; Nocturne in E-flat, Op.62 No.2; Prelude in c-sharp, Op.45; Valse in A-flat, Op.64 No.3
Robert Silverman, piano
IsoMike 5606 (LP). 2017. Available from Acoustic Sounds and other on-line retailers; DSD files available from NativeDSD, www.nativedsd.com. Ellen Silverman, prod.; Ray Kimber, Aaron Hubbard, engs. DDA TT: 50:05
Performance *****
Sonics *****

At the 2017 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, Ray Kimber was beginning to feel a little antsy. He…

MBL Noble Line N31 CD player-DAC

MBL's Corona C15 monoblock has been one of my amplification references since I reviewed it in 2014, and as I've been reviewing DACs the past year or so, it was high time I spent time with one of the German company's digital products.

"Black shiny products are tough to photograph at shows, so trust me when I say the new N31 is dripping with gorgeousness not reflected in this photo," wrote Jon Iverson in his report from the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show. And when I unpacked my review sample of the Noble Line N31 ($15,400), I was indeed taken with its looks. The N31's front panel is…

MBL Noble Line N31 CD player-DAC Page 2

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…

MBL Noble Line N31 CD player-DAC Specifications

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…

MBL Noble Line N31 CD player-DAC Associated Equipment

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):…

MBL Noble Line N31 CD player-DAC Measurements

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…

Holly Cole

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…

CES: The First of 2 Binaural Video Reports

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…

Two Piano Concertos from David Chesky

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…

The King of Space-Age Pop

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…