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"It is important to realize that ABX tests and psychoacoustical studies and FFT measurements and subjective listening tests are each one-dimensional attempts to describe or analyze our experience of music listening. But music listening is a holistic, multidimensional experience that includes emotions, reactions, and involvement in the music. As scientists, it is important for us to remain cognizant of the fact that we are always looking through a small window on a very complex experience and to remain forever skeptical of our own conclusions and methods and as well as remain open-minded…
Dugan also showed an optical illusion he had drawn, explaining its relevance to hearing differences between components: "It doesn't matter how hard I'm trying to be objective, I still see those lines as different. This is something built into the human perceptual system, whether I'm honest or a crook, whether I'm smart or dumb, this dumb [thing] is built into our system, okay."
A funny incident occurred when Dugan returned the borrowed system to Casey McKee at Innovative Audio. Dugan made a remark to Casey about how he really showed up audiophiles at the workshop and conclusively…
Back in the Spring of 1990, Stereophile introduced its first Test CD. Featuring a mixture of test signals and musical tracks recorded by the magazine's editors and writers, it sold in large numbers—around 50,000 had been produced at last count. Even as we were working on that first disc, however, we had plans to produce a second disc that would expand on the usefulness of the first and feature a more varied selection of music. The result is our Test CD 2, introduced this month for just $7.95 plus postage and handling. With a playing time of over 74 minutes, the new disc should prove an…
Track Information, Tracks 3-4
[3] Acoustic Drum Solo (DDD) 3:37
Russ Henry (Yamaha drums)
[4] Acoustic guitar solo (DDD) 3:07
Gavin Lurssen (steel-strung Martin D-28 guitar)
Recording Venue: David Manley Recording Studio, Chino, CA
Recording Date: November 9, 1991
Recording Engineers: Robert Harley, David Manley
Microphones: Manley Gold Reference Stereo in crossed, coincident figure-8 configuration
Recorder: Manley Analogue to Digital Converter, Panasonic 3700 DAT
Robert Harley writes that when the idea of making a second Stereophile Test CD was…
Track Information, Track 5
[5] Igor Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat (excerpt) (ADD) 0:56
Performers unknown
Recording Venue: Wilmington Music School, Wilmington, DE
Recording Date: 1968
Recording Engineer: J. Gordon Holt
Microphones: two Sony C37 cardioids in ORTF configuration
Recorder: Ampex 601/2 ¼" open-reel recorder at 7.5ips (NAB EQ)
Transfer to digital: Nakamichi 1000 R-DAT, ReVox A77 Mk.IV open-reel recorder
Digital Transfer Engineer: Robert Harley
"ORTF" refers to a technique devised by the French broadcasting organization (Office de…
Track Information, Track 6
[6] Sergei Prokofiev: Flute Sonata in D, Op.94, Allegro con brio (AAD) 7:00
Gary Woodward (flute), Brooks Smith (New York Steinway piano)
Recording Venue: Allan Hancock Foundation Auditorium, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Recording Date: June 12, 1989
Recording Engineer: Kavichandran Alexander (Water Lily Acoustics)
Producers: John Atkinson, Richard Lehnert
Analog tape editor: Hugh Davies
Microphones: two EAR The Mics (prototypes), set to figure-8 pattern, coincident at 90 degrees
Microphone preamplifier: EAR 824M…
Track Information, Tracks 7-8
[7] Franz Schubert: Ave Maria (DDD) 4:35
Takaoki Sugitani (violin), William "Pat" Partridge (Aeolian-Skinner organ)
Recording Venue: Christchurch Cathedral, St. Louis, MO
Recording Date: October 1990
Recording Engineer: John M. Blaine
Microphones: Three B&K 4006s (black grilles) in spaced-omni configuration, with a Schoeps MK4 cardioid on violin
Microphone preamplifier: Schoeps CMC 5
Recorder: Sony PCM-601ES A/D converter, Sony Beta VCR, transferred in the digital domain to Panasonic 3700 DAT recorder
[8] Traditional (arr.…
Track Information, Track 9
[9] J.S. Bach: Trio Sonata BWV 525, Adagio (ADD) 5:13
James Johnson (Flentrop organ)
Recording Venue: Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Recording Date: 1979
Recording Engineers: Peter W. Mitchell, E. Brad Meyer
Microphones: four Nakamichi CM-700s, two cardioid capsules in ORTF configuration, two widely spaced omnidirectional capsules
Microphone preamplifier: Mystic Valley Audio custom mixer
Recorder: ReVox A77 ¼" open-reel recorder at 15ips, with dbx noise reduction
Transfer to digital: Sony PCM-F1 (modified)…
Track Information, Track 10
[10] Mapping the Soundstage (ADD) 1:04
Larry Archibald (acoustic voice, footsteps, handclaps), John Atkinson (Cambridge Soundworks Ambiance loudspeaker)
Recording Venue: Universalist Unitarian Church, Santa Barbara, CA
Recording Date: January 29, 1990
Recording Engineer: Kavichandran Alexander (Water Lily Acoustics)
Microphones: two EAR The Mics set to figure-8 pattern, coincident at 90 degrees and spaced vertically by 2"
Microphone preamplifier: EAR 824M, Cardas microphone cables
Recorder: Ampex MR70 ½" open-reel recorder at 15ips
…
Track Information, Tracks 11-12
[11] Brahms: Intermezzo Op.117 No.1 in E-flat (AAD) 5:24
Robert Silverman, New York Steinway D
[12] Beethoven: "Mozart's Minuet in G" (ADD) 0:44
Robert Silverman, New York Steinway D
Recording Venue: Universalist Unitarian Church, Santa Barbara, CA
Recording Date: January 30, 1990
Recording Engineer: Kavichandran Alexander (Water Lily Acoustics)
Producer: John Atkinson
Analog tape editor: Hugh Davies (Brahms)
Microphones: two EAR The Mics set to figure-8 pattern, coincident at 90 degrees and spaced vertically by 2"
…