Robert Baird

The measure of a champion is how he performs under pressure and on Saturday night at HE 2006, Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), despite a nasty running head cold, gave us some vintage Mac.

While the focus of HE2006 was clearly on consumer equipment, two recording engineers stopped me in the halls to show off a hot professional recording device from Sound Devices. Todd Garfinkle from M•A Recordings first alerted me to the two channel version of the portable recorder, which retails for around $2,400. About the size of a small book, it sports pro inputs and the ability to save to a flash card or host computer.

You can buy glass harmonicas?

The Moscode 401HR driving the Joseph Audio RM25si loudspeakers were sounding mighty fine. I actually thought they had more moxy than most really expensive systems I heard at the Show, particularly with acoustic music, such as Alison Krauss and Union Station. The top end really sparkled in a most believable way.

Speaker reviewer Bob Reina is actually a classically trained pianist. He's seen here tickling the ivories in a most satisfying manner during the John Atkinson Trio concert at HE2006.

Of course, <I>we've</I> suspected this for years, but when <I>we</I> say it, it's just anecdotal. When the <I>Journal of Advanced Nursing</I> says it, it's research.