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The <I>Tight Lines</I> Project The Music

Sidebar 3: The Music

Tight Lines: Music by Sasha Matson (DDD) STPH022-2 (CD); (DAA) STPH022-1 (LP, footnote 1)

[1] Cut to Bar Interior, for string quartet and piano 8:29

Annunciation, for violin and harp with echoes
[2] Presence 4:02
[3] Annunciation 5:07
[4] Reflection 6:27

[5] Berkeley Hills, for mixed septet 4:36

Tight Lines, for string orchestra and keyboards
[6] Headwaters 4:59
[7] Dark Pool 5:20
[8] Jigging the Reel 5:27
[9] Rise to the Fly, Run to the Sea 5:46

Total Playing Time: 50:22

Footnote 1:…

Music for the Lou Harrison Centennial

In honor of the Lou Harrison Centennial, Naxos has just released a CD of three of Harrison's great pieces: the Violin Concerto (aka Concerto for the Violin with Percussion Orchestra), Grand Duo, and Double Music (with John Cage). Every piece on the recording, which is also available as a 24/48 download from multiple sites, is so unique and engaging, and the percussion so resounding, that tracks from the recording are guaranteed to open ears and turn heads in rooms I visit at the forthcoming AXPONA and LAAS audio shows.

Long before the coining of marketing categories such as "genre-bending…

"We Are Stereo, Hear Us Roar!"

"Phase 4 stereo can only be described as a marvel of sound, a radically new and dramatically potent concept in the art of high fidelity reproduction . . . it stands for motion and an uncanny sense of spatial realism unapproached by conventional disc standards."

Uh huh. And we have a miraculous vintage tube amp out in the swamps, spanned by the Brooklyn Bridge, that we want to sell you!!!

Phase 4 Stereo, as described above in the liner notes to a newly released boxed set, was introduced by Decca Records and its American subsidiary London Records in 1962 and may have been a sonic…

John Lewis, <I>The Wonderful World of Jazz</I>

The pianist John Lewis, who died in 2001 at the age of 79, is best known as the leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet, but throughout that group's long life (1952–1992), he also composed, conducted, and played music for many other ensembles, large and small, tinged with influences from swing and the blues to Baroque, Renaissance, and Third Stream avant-garde. The Wonderful World of Jazz, recorded in 1960 on the Atlantic label, is one of his more obscure albums, but it's also one of his freshest.

I'd never heard it, until I received this new 180gm stereo LP, reissued by Pure Pleasure…

Bigger and Bolder, AXPONA Opens Friday in Chicago

The biggest audio show in the United States, AXPONA (Audio Expo North America), takes place April 21–23 at the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, close to Chicago O'Hare International airport. Since planting its roots in America's heartland just a few years back, the show has grown to offer, in 2017, at least 142 active exhibit rooms, 453 unique brands and exhibitors, an Ear Gear Expo so large that it has spilled over into surrounding hallways, and a full schedule of seminars and entertainment.

"We're still adding people!" Steve Davis, Director of Sales and Industry Relations exclaimed by phone…

R.I.P., Audiophilia. It Was Nice Knowing You.

Audiophilia is dead.

Actually, it retired to an exclusive country club in the sky—but as far as the enduring, salt-of-the-earth audio hobbyist is concerned, it may as well be dead. The reason is simple: The old audiophile paradigm used to be mostly about when we were going to get that top-shelf component we had our eye on; it was rarely an if proposition. That's because, if you were an average, determined audiophile, it wasn't prohibitively expensive to buy top-shelf equipment. That's what made our hobby so exciting back then: the idea that you could actually own the best sound around.…

Meridian Audio Ultra DAC D/A processor

As I mentioned in my review eight years ago of Meridian Audio's 808.2 Signature Reference CD player, I have long been impressed by the British company's components—in fact, ever since the early 1980s, when I purchased a Meridian 101 preamplifier, followed by my very positive experiences with Meridian's MCD Pro and 208 CD players, 518 digital audio processor, D600 and DSP8000 digital active loudspeakers, and, most recently, the Prime and Explorer D/A headphone amplifiers.

All of the Meridian products we have reviewed until now have been the work of a design team led by Meridian cofounder…

Meridian Audio Ultra DAC D/A processor Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: D/A processor with volume control. Digital inputs: 2 AES/EBU (XLR), 2 coaxial S/PDIF (75 ohm BNC), 2 coaxial S/PDIF (RCA), 2 S/PDIF TosLink, 1 USB 2.0 (Type B), 1 Ethernet (for connection to Meridian Sooloos system), 1 Meridian Speakerlink input. Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair single-ended (RCA). Digital formats supported: 24-bit/44.1–192kHz data, AES/EBU & S/PDIF; 24/44.1–384k PCM, DXD, MQA, DSD64/128, USB. Power consumption: 40W maximum. No other specifications listed.
Dimensions: 18.9" (480mm) W by 6.9" (175mm) H by 16.2" (…

Meridian Audio Ultra DAC D/A processor Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Aurender N10 music server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter with Bridge II network adapter; AudioQuest JitterBug, UpTone Audio ReGen USB cleaner-uppers; Mac mini running Pure Music 3, Audirvana 1.5, Tidal apps; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Power Amplifiers: MBL Corona C15, Pass Labs XA60.5 (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Aerial Acoustics 5T, Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3, Dynaudio Contour 20, Magico S5 Mk.II.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee. USB: Canare AES/EBU…

Meridian Audio Ultra DAC D/A processor Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I measured the Meridian Ultra DAC with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 As We See It"). As well as the Audio Precision's optical and electrical digital outputs, I used Pure Music 3.0 to play WAV and AIFF test-tone files sourced via USB from my MacBook Pro running on battery power. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Ultra DAC as "Meridian USB input" from "Meridian" and confirmed that its USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple's AudioMIDI utility revealed that, via USB, the Meridian accepted 16- and 24-bit…