To get the best results with StroboSoft, you'll need a good USB microphone (unless your computer already has a soundcard). Audio-…
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For the hard core, StroboSoft offers not only historical tunings (eg, Kellner, Rameau, Werckmeister III), but also proprietary Peterson "sweetened" tunings for guitars and other instruments. These tunings redistribute the error-allocation scheme of a piano's usual equal temperament, in the interest of making fourths and fifths ring more sweetly. I found StroboSoft to be challenging and educational, and it does work! (usually discounted; www.petersontuners.com)
The call I received from Music Hall's Leland Leard surprised me: "Hey, Bob, I think you'd be the perfect guy to review our new Ikura turntable!"
Hmm. It had been four years since I'd reviewed a record player: Pro-Ject's Debut III, in the February 2010 issue. And with the surging popularity of vinyl—hell, Rough Trade NYC's enormous new record store, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, even sells turntables—the thought of a plug-and-play turntable-tonearm-cartridge combination for $1200 intrigued me. Sure, Leland—send it on.
Design
The Ikura features a two-plinth design…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Music Hall Ikura Turntable and Tonearm: Motor: DC synchronous. Speeds: 331/3 & 45rpm (manual change). Speed deviation: ±0.9%. Wow & flutter: ±0.15%. Rumble: below –70dB max. Platter diameter: 11.81" (303mm). Platter weight: 2 lbs (0.91kg). Armtube material: aluminum. Effective tonearm length: 8.92" (228.6mm). Tonearm weight w/o counterweight: 250gm. Effective tonearm mass: 11gm. Overhang: 0.7" (18mm). Mounting distance of arm base: 212mm. Compatible cartridge weights: 2.0–16.0gm. Power supply: 115V/60Hz or 230V/50Hz. Power consumption: 2VA.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Rega Research Planar 3 turntable, Syrinx PU-3 tonearm, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge.
Integrated Amplifier: Creek Destiny.
Loudspeakers: Epos Elan 10.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator, MI-330SG Terminator. Speaker: Accent Speaker Technology Black Orpheus. AC: manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Various by ASC, Bright Star, Celestion, Echo Busters, Salamander Designs, Simply Physics, Sound Anchor, VPI.—Robert J. Reina
For five years in this blog space, I've been urging, begging, audiophile record labels to reissue Masterpieces by Ellington, to my mind Duke Ellington's finest (and finest-sounding) album, on vinyl. Now Chad Kassem of Analogue Sounds has done it, and his QRP pressing is the jaw-dropper of the year—several years, actually.
The album was recorded at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio in Manhattan in December 1950 (that's no typo: 64 years ago), and even the Sony Legacy CD reissue that came out 10 years ago (with DSD mastering by Mark Wilder, but no SACD follow-up) sounded shockingly good…
The world's first download site devoted exclusively to ultra hi-resolution DXD downloads, Promates Music Store, has launched from Copenhagen. The brainchild of Peter Scheelke, who in 2003 helped found Digital Audio Denmark (DAD), creator of the world's first commercial DXD converter, the site currently offers 26 native DXD recordings (352.8kHz sampling rate and 24-bit bit depth) from labels Dacapo and OUR Recordings.
"We have to make people aware of DXD," Scheelke told Stereophile via Skype. "I'm starting off with enough material for people to test. Once people are aware of the format…
Dave Grohl deserves respect if for no other reason that he’s gone from playing drums in Nirvana (i.e. staying with Kurt and Krist) to playing guitar and being the singer and loquacious front man of The Foo Fighters. That last quality however, being a tawker, combined with his burning need to be in the spotlight (is there a musical event he’s not a part of?), also makes Grohl nauseating at times. Clearly, the concept of overexposure never enters his mind.
Between tree trimming, over imbibing and driving my wife to the brink of full blown mental illness with the up down, jet engine-…
Here, once again, are my picks for the year's best jazz albums:
Best New Releases:
1. Sonny Rollins, Road Shows, Vol. 3 (Okeh).
2. Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden, Last Dance (ECM).
3. Kenny Barron & Dave Holland, The Art of Conversation (Impulse!).
4. Ambrose Akinmusire, The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint (Blue Note).
5. Fred Hersch, Floating (Palmetto).
6. Sylvie Courvoisier Trio, Double Windsor (Tzadik).
7. The Bad Plus, The Rite of Spring (Okeh).
8. Matt Wilson Quartet + John Medeski, Gathering Call (Palmetto).
9. Frank Kimbrough…
Art Pepper: Darn That Dream
Art Pepper, alto sax; Joe Farrell, tenor sax; George Cables, piano; John Dentz, drums; Tony Dumas, acoustic bass.
M&K RealTime Digital RT-309 (LP). Ken Kreisel and John Dentz, prods., Ken Kreisel and Scott Simon, engs. Recorded at The Annex Studio, Hollywood, CA, March 23, 1982. 37:36.
Art Pepper, alto sax; Joe Farrell, tenor sax; George Cables, piano; John Dentz, drums; Tony Dumas, acoustic bass.
M&K RealTime Digital RT-309 (LP). Ken Kreisel and John Dentz, prods., Ken Kreisel and Scott Simon, engs. Recorded at The Annex Studio, Hollywood, CA, March 23, 1982. 37:36.
Earl Wild: Works for Piano
Cesar Franck: Prelude, Chorale and Fugue; Gabriel Fauré: Barcarolle No.3 in G Flat, Op.42. Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit.
Earl Wild, piano.
Audiofon Stereo 207 (LP). Julian H. Kreeger, prod., Peter McGrath, eng.
Darn…
1947: General Electric introduces a variable-reluctance phono cartridge with a 0.3mil sapphire stylus and 11mV output.
1948: Brook Electronics Inc. (Elizabeth, New Jersey) introduces the 12A audio amplifier and 12A3 preamplifier, beginning the era of high-fidelity audio separates.
Since hi-fi's postwar beginnings, hundreds of high-quality audio inventions for the home have thrilled and satisfied music lovers worldwide. But inevitably, no more than a few score companies, and maybe a dozen or so engineer-designers, have defined audio's most creative and enduring achievements.…