Digital Sources: MacBook Pro laptop computer running Pure Music 2.0 for PCM files, Audirvana 1.5.12 for DSD files; iPad 2 with Apple camera connection kit; Astell&Kern AK100 portable player.
Headphone Amplifiers: Apogee Groove, Aurender Flow.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, AudioQuest NightHawk, Sennheiser HD600, Ultimate Ears 18 Pro.—John Atkinson
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Chord Mojo with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). The Mojo's battery was fully charged at the start of the measurements. The data sources were USB from my 2012 MacBook Pro running on battery power, using Pure Music 2.0 to play the files, and S/PDIF on TosLink from the SYS2722. Macintosh's USB Prober utility reported the Mojo's product string as "Mojo" from "Chord Electronics Ltd," and confirmed that its USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode. Apple's AudioMIDI utility…
I wrote about the new audiophile label Analog Spark a few months ago, on its vinyl reissue of Dave Brubeck's oft-overlooked 1954 Jazz Goes to College. Now its proprietor, Mark Piro, has come out with a few Broadway musical soundtracks, the best of which is West Side Story, with its score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by a young Stephen Sondheim.
This is not the 1961 movie soundtrack, with which Bernstein had little involvement and that featured Marni Nixon and other uncredited singers overdubbing for Hollywood actors. This is the 1957 theatrical soundtrack, in which Bernstein very much…
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters
John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, tenor saxophone; McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, Art Davis, bass; Elvin Jones, drums
Impulse! 80023727-02 (3 CDs). 1965/2015. Bob Thiele, orig. prod.; Rudy Van Gelder, orig. eng.; Harry Weinger, Ashley Kahn, reissue prods.; Kevin Reeves, reissue mastering. ADD? TT: 2:43:31
Performance *****
Sonics *****
John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, tenor saxophone; McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, Art Davis, bass; Elvin Jones, drums
Impulse! 80023727-02 (3 CDs). 1965/2015. Bob Thiele, orig. prod.; Rudy Van Gelder, orig. eng.; Harry Weinger, Ashley Kahn, reissue prods.; Kevin Reeves, reissue mastering. ADD? TT: 2:43:31
Performance *****
Sonics *****
While every jazz fan has his or her favorite period of John Coltrane's career—the promising Prestige years, the "hits" on Atlantic, the single knockout punch of Blue Trane, his lone album…
The stats are impressive: Quebec's Oracle Audio Technologies, formerly Trans Audio (footnote 1), has been in business for 37 years, during which they've sold nearly 11,000 Oracle Delphi turntables. That's not bad for a perfectionist turntable—and especially not bad for a perfectionist turntable whose first and most estimable competitor, the Linn Sondek LP12, was well established by the time of the Delphi's debut, in 1979.
And yet . . . one might also say that the LP12, having created the market for high-end turntables, plowed the road for the Delphi. True though that may be, there's no…
Through the undamped Oracle with Oracle SME tonearm and my own well-worn Denon DL-103 cartridge, both cuts were vibrantly colorful and present, with an absolutely enormous sense of scale; musically, they were good, but the playback lacked the really good sense of momentum and flow that I associate with my favorite record players. To be shallow and crass about it: The sound rated an 8 or a 9, the musicality a 6.
All right. Riendeau then lowered the damping fingers on the bottom of the subchassis ever so slightly, until their tips just barely dimpled the surface of the silicone pools below…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Oracle Delphi Mk.VI Second Generation: Belt-driven, suspended-subchassis turntable. Motor: AC synchronous. Speeds: 331/3, 45rpm.
Dimensions: 18.5" (475mm) W by 5.9" (150mm) H by 14.2" (363mm) D. Weight: 35 lbs (16kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 11087.
Prices: $8950 with wall-wart power supply; add $800 for Turbo power supply ($1150 if purchased separately).
Oracle SME Tonearm: Pivoted, dynamically balanced, nominally 9" tonearm with one-piece, die-cast, magnesium-alloy armtube. Pivot to spindle: 215.35mm. Effective length: 233.15mm.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; Abis SA-1.2, EMT 997 tonearms; EMT OFD 25 & OFD 15 & TSD 15 pickup heads; Denon DL-103, Miyajima Premium BE Mono II cartridges.
Digital Sources: Halide Designs DAC HD USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Audirvana Plus 1.5.12; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Hommage T2 step-up transformer, Shindo Laboratory Aurieges Equalizer Amplifier phono preamplifier & Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Laboratory Corton-Charlemagne (monoblocks)…
An open letter from myself and AudioQuest to the community—to everyone who cherishes the truth, regardless of their opinions about audio and digital cables, regardless of their opinions about AudioQuest.
For good reason, there is growing internet “buzz” about the recently published findings of Mark Waldrep on his Real HD-AUDiO blog.
Mark’s findings are very relevant, and the implied malfeasance is extremely serious.
I was first made aware of Mark’s post this last Friday, January 22. I immediately wrote to everyone at AudioQuest who either is in contact with Home…
Meridian Audio's hotly anticipated firmware update for its MQA-ready electronics has arrived. Starting February 4, owners of Meridian's Explorer2 DAC (above), Prime headphone amplifier, 808v6 Reference CD player, 818v3 Reference Audio Core, Special Edition loudspeakers and 40th Anniversary systems will be able to upgrade their products and hear the full benefits that MQA-encoded files can deliver.
Free firmware updates for the above mentioned personal audio products will be available for download from the "Support" pages at www.meridian-audio.com on February 4. Owners of 800 Reference…