Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport & Rossini DAC & Rossini Clock & Network Bridge; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor, Mytek Brooklyn DAC+; Apple 2017 MacBook Pro computer; Roon Nucleus+ music server with HDPlex 200 linear power supply; Uptone Audio EtherRegen, Small Green Computer Sonore optical Module, TP-Link Gigabit Ethernet media converters plus multimode duplex fiberoptic cable (2), Linksys routers (2); Small Green Computer linear power supply & Small Green Computer/HDPlex four-component 200W linear power…
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Gold Note DS-10 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I powered the DS-10 from the PSU-10 EVO supply, which, following the instructions in the latter's manual, I placed to the D/A processor's left, separated by a few inches. I performed a complete set of measurements from the balanced outputs, repeating some tests from the unbalanced and headphone outputs. As well as using the Audio Precision as a source of data, I used Roon and mconnect Control to send data to the DS-10 over my network via Ethernet.
I…
I want to talk about the acoustics of live music and recordings. As I write this I'm back in Boston for a week, re-calibrating my ears with (excuse the expression) the "absolute sound" of live music in various concert halls. On Friday the Boston Symphony played symphonies by Mozart and Shostakovich, producing (as always) magnificent sound with the aid of Symphony Hall's near-legendary acoustics. On Saturday and Sunday the Boston Philharmonic played music of Kodály, Bartók, and Dvorák in two mid-size concert halls, Jordan Hall in Boston and Sanders Theater in Cambridge. (The latter is part of…
Lately, current amplification–based moving-coil phono preamplifiers have gotten a great deal of well-deserved press. For years, Haniwa's Dr. Kubo has been designing and selling super–low-internal-impedance cartridges because such cartridges work best with such devices. He has also been designing and selling his own current-amplification phono preamplifier; I recently reviewed one of each as part of Haniwa's Vinyl Playback System, which consists of The Player—a modified Transrotor supplied turntable—the HTAM01 tonearm, a modified ViV Lab Rigid Float tonearm; the HTCR-CO phono cartridge; and…
Amplifier hum was banished when I banished that amplifier, but the front end of my system sometimes does have ground-related hum issues, probably in part due to the several turntables, cartridges, and phono preamps I typically have in the system at one time. It's way more than most audiophiles have to deal with.
Recently, I've run into a turntable-grounding issue related to the Continuum Caliburn's outboard motor controller, which produces an occasional "pop" through the CH Precision P1/ X1. I was unable to get rid of it, but it was easy to ignore until it got to where it would shut…
On iconic singer-songwriter James Taylor's 20th album, American Standard, the lanky crooner adapts the classic American songbook to his easy-rolling musical ways. The result is an American mixture of timeless songcraft.
Where some popular singers use the songbook canon to increase record and ticket sales, Taylor has no need to change himself or increase his audience. He's as comfortable as any man can be, having sold many millions of records the world over for almost 50 years.
He wasn't always so comfortable. Taylor's breakthrough success of the early '70s, including the albums…
Micallef: Your Warner Brothers and early Columbia records are so comfy and warm, yet also punchy and dynamic. How have you thought about the sound of your albums and capturing that sound?
Taylor: The sound of my records, I leave that up to my engineer. I've worked with so many great soundsmiths; Frank Filipetti, certainly Dave O'Donnell, James Farber—really wonderful technicians with remarkable ears. I don't have any particular love for or feel the need to hold on to a certain classical sound. I'm willing to experiment with echo, with EQ, with signal-processing things, with doing all…
The organizers of the 2021 Florida Audio Expo have announced the show's cancellation. All deposits, the organizers say, have already been refunded.
“We sincerely appreciate the exhibitors, consumers, and media that support us,” says Bart Andeer, co-founder and operations manager of the Florida Audio Expo, quoted in a press release sent out by Sue Toscano of Toscano Communications. “This decision isn’t the outcome we hoped to announce, but in our estimation, is the best option for our event given the information available at this time. We will always put our customers’ well being first. We…
To echo Audio Cheapskate Sam Tellig, who was in turn paraphrasing Thomas R. Marshall, what the world needs is a great $299 CD player. Certainly there's no shortage of expensive units vying for your attention—most of them consisting of separate transports and D/A converters.
Sam, of course, has often advised against spending big for CD playback. That's an easy recommendation to make if you have a bazillion LPs and consider CD to be a secondary (and inferior) program source. There was a time when I would have agreed with Sam's low opinion of digital, but no longer. Neither does Madrigal…
Will HDCD catch on? A lot depends on what happens over the next year in the development of DVD, which promises a new, high-resolution format which might just revolutionize audio software. But it's not available now, and HDCD is, if only in limited supply. All I can say is, when I switch from a cross-section of my best-sounding standard CDs to the small population of HDCDs now in existence—and given that I'm not talking about identical program material, but only general overall impressions—the clouds do not part, and the sun does not emerge to cast life-giving light on the fertile plains.…