The Ugly Digital
I suggest you learn to hear the ugly quality added to winds, brasses, and strings solo or concerted in all audio signal passed through the A/D D/A process. Don't be beguiled by the lack of noise and the lower wow/flutter. Music is made ugly by the process, in my hearing experience.—Don Siveserid
We find it truly fascinating that digital sound has no middle ground. Those who like it believe, on the basis of their hearing experience, that it is the most accurate recording…
Run Right Out
I have never before done this, but I am going to recommend a product to all of our readers who can afford it. I am referring to the Compact Disc player.
One of the few things that our entire staff has ever agreed about is that the sound obtainable from digital audio can be better than the best that available from analog sources, particularly home analog sources. (Larry…
What about that wiry digital sound from massed violins? Now that's definitely a problem with most CDs. I have had several months now to live with a Sony CDP-101, and have run through it an estimated 50 CDs ranging from standard DG/London/CBS commercial fare to audiophile-type discs from…
Stereophile's attendance at the 1984 winter CES was greeted by many questions with regard to our perceived unqualified support of both Compact Disc and digital recording. We had hoped it would be clear by now that our support for Compact Disc is not unqualified but it apparently is not clear.
For the record: Stereophile has tested two digital recorders, the Sony PCM-1 and PCM-F1, and found (as have many others) that both did an extraordinary job of copying analog originals and an excellent job at live…
Two of those missing links have now been released to…
Listening
I began my own musical relaxation with the stock P5, and found it did a fine job of sorting out notes and beats and presenting…
Description: Two-speed belt-drive turntables with AC synchronous motor, pivoted tonearm with one-piece, cast-aluminum armtube, and glass (Planar 5) or ceramic (Planar 7) record platter. Wow and flutter: unspecified. Speed accuracy: unspecified. Rumble: unspecified, but probably pretty low (Planar 5) and really low (Planar 7). RB700 tonearm: 222.8mm spindle-to-pivot distance, 240mm effective length, spring-actuated downforce, sliding-magnet antiskating system.
Dimensions: 17.5" W by 4.5" H by 15" D, including dustcover.
Finish: Black or silver alloy (…
Analog sources: Rega Planar 3, Planar 9 turntables; Linn LP12 turntable, Naim Armageddon power supply, Naim Aro tonearm; Rega Exact, Linn Akiva, Supex 900 Super, Dynavector DV-10X5 cartridges; Audio Note AN-S2 step-up transformer.
Preamplifier: Fi.
Power amplifiers: EAR 890, Lamm ML2.1s.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Valhalla, homemades. Speaker: Audio Note AN-SPx, Nordost Valhalla, homemades.
Accessories: Mana stands (Linn turntable, preamp); Mana stand, Rega wall mount (Rega turntables); Base…
In his February 2003 "Analog Corner" column (Vol.26 No.2), Michael Fremer had some interesting things to say about speed accuracy in contemporary turntables. In particular, he observed that a goodly number of them run at least 1% fast, and he wondered if that sprang from a deliberate effort on the part of some manufacturers to create a more appealing sound. "Things sound snappy and lively" when a record is played back on a fast-running turntable, he wrote, with stereo images seeming to shift forward. "I don't know if this represents a…