It's In The Hunt

As one who is still very new to the active collection and enjoyment of vinyl records (I'm not counting using them as frisbees or surfing the basement carpet on them as a child), I've begun to appreciate the fickle, frustrating nature of the medium. Everything about the collecting, the listening, the tweaking, the maintenance and the hunt can be equal parts maddening and rewarding. I once spotted a pristine, mint-looking early Nat King Cole record at a thrift store. The jacket - shiny. The spine - solid. The inner sleeve - factory crisp. The record inside - "101 Strings, The Glory of Christmas." It's enough for me to cause a scene there amongst the rusty Faberware.

There are good days, however. Here are a few recent finds from a Goodwill. 

James Brown - I Can't Stand Myself (1967, King)

This is a very lively record with The Godfather of Soul in his prime doing what made him famous.

Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart in San Francisco (1963, Columbia)

This is a Canadian pressing (I'll explain my hang-up about this in some future post), but I couldn't pass this up at $1.99 CDN. This album was the first LP, I believe, with the hit title song which had already been released as a single.

Teddi King - All The King's Songs (1959, Coral)

This is valued at $60-$70, but more importantly, it's a great recording and is a very good record with outstanding performances by Ms. King.

Jimmy Rushing - Five Feet of Soul (1963, Colpix)

Jimmy Rushing was a blues singer who sang for Count Basie. His powerful voice and powerful personality is on display here. "Five Feet of Soul" refers to his nickname, "Mr. Five By Five." Five feet tall by five feet wide.

Cecil Payne - Performing Charlie Parker Music (1961, Charlie Parker Records)

Cecil Payne was a saxophonist who played with Dizzy Gillespie. He only had a handful of records as a bandleader, and this one is from 1961. It's also in great shape.

In the film American Splendor, Harvey Pekar, in an interview, commented on his time spent at garage sales looking for old jazz records, in search of that one title which will somehow magically make his collection complete. To paraphrase, just when he feels like giving up, he makes some find that whets the appetite all over again, and the cycle continues. I wouldn't draw too many comparisons between myself and Harvey Pekar. Besides, finding records at garage sales is becoming rarer and rarer. The energy spent (and weekend sleep lost) getting up on Saturday to check out garage sales which might advertise records on Craigslist are usually in vain since eBay and flea market creeps often contact the sellers early to try to get first crack at the bounty. Who wants to compete with that?

Luckily, I've rarely spent more than just a few dollars for a used record. Demand is low for analog, which is sad for the industry, but great for fans. Unless, of course, you're a Michael Jackson fan. After his death, Thriller began selling for over $100 for used copies on eBay. I'm glad I got a replacement copy for my 1984 original a few months ago from the 50-cent rack at a local record store. Of course, eBay is the worst place to buy anything, really, since prices are usually driven up by one singular moron with more money than common sense.

I refuse to be that moron. 

Perfecting Sound

NPR has a wonderful interview with Greg Milner, author of "Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music" which can be downloaded here. In the book Mr. Milner traces the development of recording technology from the Edison wax cylinder to the modern day. Based on the interview the books will probably a very compelling read.

Audio over USB

The arrivals of the iPod, iPhone, Airport Express and Apple TV have raised the bar of consumer expectations of convenience when it comes accessing their music collection. With hard drives being as cheap as they are and so many new DACs coming equipped with USB inputs putting together a DIY music server seems like a better and better idea every days. However, like many things in high end audio it's not as simple as it first seems. At least two major factors stand between the interested audiophiles and good sound.

1. Jitter: In essence all of the "1" and "0" are present and in the correct order but the word clock that tells the DAC when to decode them is wrong. We're talking about fractions of a second here but our ears do pick up on it. Think of it this way. The world's best marching band all taking their time from a drummer with great rhythm vs. that same marching band with someone with no rhythmic sensibility. The musicians haven't changed, their instruments haven't changed, and the sheet music is still the same. But the rhythm won't be the same and things will start to sound sloppy and lax. Many of the new digital to analog converters are built specifically to reject incoming jitter are based on the Burr Brown PCM270x chips. That chip set has two major limitations. First it has a strong jitter component at 1kHz, which as misfortune would have it is smack in the audio band AND the frequency at which the human ear is MOST sensitive. Second, the chip is limited to a maximum sampling frequency of 48kHz which excludes it's use to transfer high resolution 88.2 kHz, 96kHz, and 192 kHz content. A better solution is a DAC capable of exploiting USB's asynchronous mode where the DAC requests the data when it is needed and therefore determining it's own word clock. Curently very few DACs on the market are capable of properly implimenting the asychronous mode because of the coplexity of the computer code necessary to make it work properly. Gordon Raskin, whose first career was in the computer world is one of the few people on the planet with a good understanding of bother sides of the problem. Currently his custom code is available in products from his company, Wavelength Audio and the upcoming QB-9 from Ayre.
2. Re-sampling: CD's are at a sampling rate of 44.1kHz which means that every second is broken up into 44,100 slices with each slice being described by a series of 16 "1" and "0." Microsoft in their infinite wisdom decided that most of their products translate everything to 48kHz or 48,000 by adding essentially garbage in a part of the program called the "K Mixer." According to the Wavelength web page the "K" mixer can be by-passed or mapped through as it's called (proceed at your own risk) by the following steps. "Go Control Panel => Sounds and Audio Device => Select Hardware Tab => Select USB Audio Device.
   
   Click Properties Button => Select Properties Tab => Click the “+” to the left of [+] Audio Devices that will pop down USB Audio Devices.
   Select USB Audio Devices and click Properties.
   
   Check both Use audio features of this device and Do not map through this device.
   ==> [ Apply ] <=="

Passion

Many times it is a struggle to explain to those not interested in high-end audio what drives the audiophile to sacrifice time, money, aesthetics, and domestic tranquility to achieve their goal of sonic bliss. Trying to describe any emotional experience to another individual is always difficult but the euphoria that is brought on by experiencing a phenomenal musical reproduction in one's own home of a favorite artist, many times long since dead is particularly difficult.

For the most part when trying to explain the quest to those who are interested in understanding I've repeated the same anecdote. When I was in college most of my friends were training as classical musicians which gave me the chance to hear live orchestral and string quartet music on a very regular basis. Though I 'm no expert. One night we were all sitting around and shooting the breeze while my stereo was playing a piece by Debussy in the background and one of my good friends asked, "Isn't this all a bit excessive?" while motioning to my system of the time. He was a huge Johnny Cash fan so I asked him, "When you pop in a CD of early Johnny Cash recordings into your boom box what is your goal?" He smugly replied, "I want to listen to a Johnny Cash CD of course" thinking that he had won the argument. My response was to say, "Then a boom box is an acceptable tool to reach your goal. My goal is different. I want to be transported back in time and space to 1955 Memphis, Tennessee at Sun Studios with Mr. Cash and his band 10 feet in front of me and Sam Philips a couple of feet behind me in the control room. To me a really great audio system is almost a time and space machine which should create a virtual reality experience." Instantly everyone in the room sort of got what all of the madness was about and from that day forward they respected what I was trying to accomplish.

Of course if this 20 minute documentary involving the Audiophile Club of Athens by Ken Barns had existed then I would have shown them this as well. It's a great peak into the passion, humor, and diversity that is the hobby. It's also wonderful viewing for audiophiles that have somehow lost their way and forgotten that it really is all about the music. Even though these gentlemen and I have had very different life experiences there is no doubt that the passion that we share for music and audio would be enough common ground to enjoy each others company for an afternoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs1aUws0Lrs

Jay Bennett

Click on the photo to see a Wilco studio outtake featuring Jay.

Sadly, last weekend saw the passing of former Wilco member, Jay Bennett. Bennett's tenure with the band saw a profound period of Wilco's evolution, and many fans largely attribute Wilco's rapid growth during this period, both musically and sonically, to his talents as an arranger, songwriter and engineer. His sound is most evident on Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot where his songwriting partnership with Wilco's frontman Jeff Tweedy was in full bloom, and his arrangements and presence behind the mixing console gave the songs a richly textured, yet incredibly sparse (and never overproduced) sonic splendor.

Apart from Wilco, Jay has released solo records and has also played as a studio musician for Sheryl Crow and produced Blues Traveler's 2005 album, ¡Bastardos!.

Why Cost-No-Object Speakers Are Good for Everyone

Without a doubt the audio component furthest away from perfection in our systems is the lowly loudspeaker. With distortion ratings left of the decimal place for nearly every transducer on the market (many in the double digits) there is a lot of work to be done. So cutting edge, no-holds barred, statement products not only improve the state of the art but also hold the promise of providing technology that can trickle down to improve performance for nearly everyone. Below is a picture of Kef's newest all out effort, "The Blade." Click on the picture to watch a short video outlining the basics of these beautifully, sculpted speakers.

http://www2.kef.com/resources/video/gb/blade/video.html

Objectivist Rant

To All Subjectivists-

[sarcasm begins]
Cast off your subjectivist sins and all will be forgiven. Become an objectivist, it's cheaper and there's no need to pursue "happiness." Because so-called "happiness" can't be scientifically quantified surely it's just an illusion created by chemicals in the human brain.

When are you going to stop "listening" to music and realize the truest and purest way to "appreciate" it is via oscilloscope? It has the added benefit of being cheaper and the SAF* is much higher too.

You should also be enjoying your wine by testing it's chemical composition instead of wasting it by dumping it down your unscientific throats. This method has the added benefit of getting rid of the wines unfortunate side effect that many refer to as intoxication.

A painting should be evaluated by the number of colors per square inch and the size of the work rather than how it makes you FEEL.

I also advocate the testing of cars by seeing how fast they can make a piece of toast out of a slice of bread placed on the engine. There's no need to actually waste ones time test driving the damn thing. My 2001 Hyundai Accent does it just as fast as the top of the line BMW 5 series, therefore they must be just as good.
[sarcasm ends]

One of the things that I don't get about most objectivists when it comes to audio they deny anything that can't be measured as if it can't exist. Don't they realize that the first step to scientific understanding is many times anecdotal observation which is then followed to a new scientific understanding? The most eloquent word for this is serendipity. Penicillin was discovered because Sir Alexander Fleming had a runny nose that dripped onto some slides containing bacteria. Louis Pasteur once said, "In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind." Just because we can't measure something doesn't mean it is non-existent, it just means we don't yet have a method to quantify it. Newton didn't discover gravity he only found a way to quantify and describe it. Gravity existed long before him.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sREBSuJDnYg&feature=player_embedded

Ken Ishiwata makes an excellent point in passing. Why are specs seen as so important when they are obtained using CONTINUOUS (or static) test tones and yet a piece of audio gear's purpose is to reproduce a constantly VARIABLE set of tones? The measurements are obtained in an entirely different manner than the product's intended use.

*SAF, or Spouse Acceptance Factor is the more politically correct
version of WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor.)

The Furutech Furor

The Furutech deMag device has been causing controversy in high-end circles for some time now, Stephen Mejias' excellent blog entry reignited debate on the Stereophile forum. It's main purpose is to de-magnetize vinyl records although there are reports of people using it on interconnects, speaker cables, power cords, even CD's; all with positive results. According to the manufacturer while vinyl is not magnetic carbon black, the material used to make records black does exhibit some magnetic properties.

I'd like to thank Michael Fremer for posting the files for comparison sake. Not only does it let us look at (although in a flawed manner) what the Furtech demag device does or does not do, it also lets us all get a glimpse at how special Mickey's turntable is. The digital recordings were made using a Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable, Cobra tonearm, Castellon stand and "probably Manley Steelhead, Lyra Titan i cartridge" as the analog front end according to Michael Fremer.

Right after the downloads were complete I listened to the two samples using the computer as the source through my Tivoli Model One table radio, just for fun. Even on the Model One after the first listen I thought I heard a difference. It was so small as to be indescribable, but "Step Right Up 2" was just a little more alive. From there I burned it to a CD-R and put it on my system.

There are two things that are important to mention. First, this is a digital conversion of an analog medium so some of the differences are bound to have gotten lost in that conversion. That seems obvious, but it's still worth mentioning none the less. Second, while my system is very, very good most likely it's not nearly as resolving as Michael Fremer's system.

Alright, on to my conclusions.

All comparisons were done over the course of a number of days. "Step Right Up 2" consistently bested "Step Right Up 1" in the following ways:

1. The bass is more articulate and has a more complex tonal structure.
2. The Scatting and the finger snaps at the beginning of the song are much more prominent.
3. There is greater soundstaging depth and space in general.
4. The sax sounds at once further back in the soundstage AND less veiled.
5. The performance is more involving with a greater sense of micro dynamics, especially in the nuances of Tom Waits vocal delivery.
   

Were the differences HUGE? Not on my system but as previously mentioned the scale of those changes were probably reduced by the conversion process itself and the system that I'm using is several steps below the one that Michael is blessed with. However, I'm confident those differences are real. For someone with a ultra high end vinyl set up looking to add those last few drops of resolution the Furutech DeMag might just be the ticket.

Old Vinyl, New Life

I often tend to approach my hobbies with a collector's mentality. Unfortunately, this means I always have shelves overflowing with media, not to mention the never ending search for storage solutions. Still, the hook always comes in the form of those random, unexpected finds.


Once a week or so, I'll stop into a Goodwill which is situated between my house and where I work to check out their CDs and vinyl. Any vinyl collector knows the usual thrift store fare rarely consists of more than collections of religious hymns from the 1970s, Herb Alpert and records by the 101 Strings. However, I recently stumbled upon stacks of old Capitol and RCA Victor discs. This means a lot of Perry Como, recorded using RCA Victor's much-derided Dynagroove technology, Jackie Gleason Presents Music for Lovers Only, Harry Belafonte, and several records by Vera Lynn (one of which I almost bought just to hear the song referenced by Pink Floyd in their song, "Vera Lynn"). I might not have been interested in any of the records at all, but the $0.99 price tag encourages me be a little more adventurous. Besides, at that price, it isn't like I can't just roll the dice and donate them back if I don't like it.

I brought home two discs; Harry Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean (1957), a simple collection of gentrified calypso songs in mono, and Henry Mancini - Our Man in Hollywood (1963).

Our Man in Hollywood was part of RCA Victor's popular "Our Man in..." series, in which they "place" their recording artists in various locations and genres (e.g. Chet Atkins - Our Man in Nashville and Sonny Rollins - Our Man in Jazz ).


Our Man in Hollywood is a collection of movie and television themes arranged by the brilliant Henry Mancini, and was offered in mono and "LIVING STEREO." I was lucky enough to find the stereo version since it gives the already quirky arrangements an also quirky sense of stereo separation, which was very common in the 1960s, but doesn't detract from the arrangements at all. Instead, thanks to plenty of natural reverb and the skill of the recording engineer (see below), it gives the recordings an extraordinarily wide soundstage and tons of space and clarity. Not all of the tracks are exactly stellar, but the majority of them sound quite amazing. Especially "The Theme from The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm," "Too Little Time ('Love Theme from the Glenn Miller Story')," and an absolutely 'swingin' 60s' version of "Seventy Six Trombones" from 'The Music Man.'


Side 1:
Days of Wine and Roses
Walk On The Wild Side
The Theme From The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
Love Song From Mutiny on the Bounty
Mr. Hobbs Theme
Seventy Six Trombones


Side 2:
Love Theme From Phaedra
Bachelor in Paradise
Too LIttle Time
Drink More Milk
The Wishing Star
Dreamsville!



It should be noted that the album was recorded by Al Schmitt, one of the all-time great recording engineers who has also recently worked with Diana Krall and Shelby Lynne on her wonderful sounding 2008 tribute to Dusty Springfield, Just a Little Lovin' (which was produced by Bacharach's old collaborator and the 1967 Casino Royale soundtrack engineer Phil Ramone).



All in all, I consider it 99 cents well-spent.

Simon Yorke

Below is a brief interview with Simon Yorke, designer and manufacturer of some of the worlds most highly regarded turntables. While I don't agree that digitally reproduced music is incapable of moving the soul I do share his concern that music is being treated more like a commodity than art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQrXvYZv1zQ&feature=player_embedded

Beginnings

Hello, folks.

Audio Explorer has graciously invited me to contribute to this site, so I thought I'd provide a little background about myself. Basically, I love music. I love listening to it, I love collecting it and I even love (trying) to make my own. Listening to music can, at once, be one of the most therapeutic, relaxing and invigorating experiences we humans can have.

That is why, several years ago, I decided to set about building a stereo and entertainment system to finally do justice to the hundreds of CDs I had collected over the years. Being out of college, engaged to be married and (more or less) out of the red, financially, I began consulting Audio Explorer, or rather this blog's administrator, a very old and dear friend, and one who knows his shit when it comes to hi-fi, about which speakers I should listen to and which A/V receivers offered the most "bang for the buck." It had long been a goal to slowly begin putting together a system, but, as with a lot of "noobs," I was always kept away by astronomical price tags. Still, I knew enough not to just head out to Best Buy, bring home the Bose and call it a day.

I waited.

Eventually, after a lot of calls to Audio Explorer, I had a great system for music, movies, games and television. The Rotel RSX-1057 and Paradigm Studio 100s v.4 anchored a 5.1 system that really breathed new life into our living room entertainment. Along with a nice Sony XBR LCD, it all culminated to a substantial improvement over our hand-me-down mid-90's Pioneer stereo and CRT TV.

Now that my wife and I have moved, temporarily, to work in Canada, we've rented a house that has a small space in the basement for TV/movies/gaming and an empty living room upstairs in need of music. Again, I began researching some amps and associated gear to use my beloved Paradigms for a music-only system.

Here's what developed:

Here are the speakers and the Arcam FMJ A38 integrated amp and the matching CD17. I also added a Panamax power conditioner. Like many others, I have also been getting back into vinyl, so awhile back, I went with Pro-Ject's entry level Debut III turntable and Phono Box phono stage preamp. I intend to eventually order Arcam's on-board phono stage.

Nothing re-energizes collecting music as a hobby than a new stereo to listen to it on (or "on which to listen to it," for you English nerds). That's my intention with The Audio Explorer - to chronicle record hunting, discuss music and stereo-related topics and continue to discuss new ways to enjoy music.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.

Sometimes I find it remarkable how much disrespect people can treat objects that are art. I was saddened to read earlier today that the pressing plant responsible for the pre-2006 albums of mainstay indie label, Matador had not only went bankrupt but had carelessly thrown away the vinyl master plates for those albums. If you want more of the gory details check out The Guardian article

Only Belle & Sebastian

Here is a good teaser video concerning Belle & Sebastian's next project. Which is an album and soon to be a film. What other band in the world would let a fan sing lead on a song?

Previews of three songs are available here.

With the way that crew operates one of the fans might end up as a permanent member. Eventually there's going to be like 20 of them. It's going to be less of a band and more of a gang. Then it will sub-divide into two bands of 10 people each one called Belle which will be all of the girls and some of the more twee boys and the other will of course be called Sebastian and will be made up of boys obsessed with classic rock. Mark my words!

Myrtle Wood Blocks

Many after market component support tweaks are manufactured from man-made materials and are made to extremely tight tolerances which results in a uniform "tuning" frequency. The uniformity usually adds some distinctly negative coloration in addition to the products sonic benefits. That doesn't occur with the wood blocks. Since the blocks are a natural material every sample is going to differ a bit. That might, in fact be part of why they work so well. Each block works on slightly different set frequencies because of variations in the grain structure and density of the wood.

During my time at an Ayre dealer I sold hundreds of sets of the wood blocks and told everyone the same thing, "If you don't hear a difference please bring them back." I can't speak for Cardas but Ayre is very picky about who their dealers are from a customer service stand point. If someone purchases a set and DOESN'T hear a difference I'm sure any Ayre dealer would let the customer return them for a full refund. I only had one set come back in over three years and that was because the guy owned Halcro gear and the standard feet were too tall to allow their use. I once sold a set to a hard core skeptic non-tweaker because his wife demanded that the system fit into an armoire and the CD player was blocking the top vents of his hot running preamp. When I told him that in addition to allowing the preamp to breath it would make the CD player sound better he gave me a complete "FUCK YOU" look. Three days later he called me back and bought three more sets for the other components because he had heard a difference even though he didn't want to.

The Ayre wood blocks in my system are used in sets of three because three points define a plane, with the logo right side up. Not to name drop but Charlie Hansen and Steve Sliberman of Ayre also feel it to be the best sounding orientation so I'm in good company. When I worked for an Ayre dealer Steve would only reveal his conclusions after I had done the experiments myself, they encourage people to "play" with the blocks. I do not believe that the benefit of the Ayre/Cardas myrtle blocks is in their resonant behavior ADDING a pleasurable element to the sound. I believe that the mechanism is the DRAINING of resonances AWAY from the component and into the equipment rack. I always place one block under the power supply of the component because that's usually the biggest source of vibration in components other than CD players and turntables.

Whenever possible the Myrtle wood blocks are placed against the side of a protruding screw, bolt, etc on the bottom cover because these fasteners are the best mechanically conductive pathways for vibrations. The amount of change in the sound just by making sure that they made contact with a fastener of some type was an ear opener. I found that chestnut of thinking while reading about Symposium products after Stephen Scharf's thread on DIY roller blocks had piqued my interest. The acoustic impedance of the wood blocks is much more similar to the metal (Myrtle wood being extremely hard) of the component bottom AND the wood of the rack shelves than the stock rubber feet offered on most products, thus it drain the vibrations away much more quickly and efficiently. I will admit that according to this theory the ideal situation would be to have metal shelves and metal footer, all made for more or less the same metal. Maybe Cardas should make some of these blocks, with the same dimensions in metal too. Why don't these blocks allow outside vibrations into a component as well as drain internal resonances away? I'm don't have a good answer to that question, but I assure you that I have thought about it.

Another Interesting Video from Paul

A while back PS Audio's Paul McGowan bought some gear to make their "Coal to Coltrane" DVD and has been making interesting smaller videos ever since. The new one discusses what high resolution digital audio is, why it's better, and how we can get it into our systems. It's a good way to spend the next 9 minutes. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu_2EBnM4sI&feature=player_embedded

The Find of a Lifetime?

Being a semi-serious Beatles fan I was aware that Capitol had not released the earliest Beatles album or single in the US, that honor went to a small Chicago label named Vee Jay. While at Second Hand Tunes in Evanston, IL. I came across a copy of The Beatles - "Introducing. . . The Beatles Englands No.1 Vocal Group." on the Vee Jay label. Of course my Southsider skepticism was immediately raised but for $20 and with my best friend whom I still owe a wedding present being a HUGE fan I figured that I'd take the chance. After all if a record this rare would be found anywhere, why not Evanston it's pretty much Chicago after all.

As I often do I called my buddy from the record store in a hushed voice as to not tip the store's staff off to what treasure I might have found and asked for his input. Of course he also knew that the first album had been issued on Vee Jay but didn't know of any distinguishing marks to spot a possible fake. After arriving home I Googled the title hoping to find a website with a little guidance. The first site that I found had an encyclopedic amount of information. Apparently the The Beatles first US album is one of the most faked albums ever. The fact that Vee Jay issued many, many variations of the album in a short period of time can make identifying an original a bit difficult. The copy that I purchased had many of the signs that it was the genuine article but it failed one or two of the crucial tests. In the end it looks like it is one of the better forgeries that was produced, fooling many professionals in fact. I hope that he isn't too disappointed. Below are photos of the label and back cover of the version of the forgery that I ended up purchasing.

Round table

Below is video of Stereophile's round table discussion at the Salon Son et Image Audio show, broken into eleven parts. The participants included John Atkinson, Art Dudley, Stephen Mejias, and Robert Deutsch. It looks like it was an enjoyable time, and now the world knows how pronounce Stephen Mejias' last name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCJ4qtPZkQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p4a6Emc01U


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1eS2-R2BY0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VKvkd7WRc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2CVjdRa1t4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWBU2pY9lyk


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ooRPAUKX8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBshmJ1CvA8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-3DnK_3BG4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRp8rtZLj8Y


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmh27IPBlAk

Single-ended vs. Balanced

There never seems to be a shortage of questions about the difference between single ended and balanced connections when it comes to high-end audio. This will be a bit of a simplification but in a single ended connection (normally utilizing an RCA connector) there is a "signal" (the music) and a "ground" (electrical ground.) In a balanced connection (normally carried on and XLR but sometimes on other connectors for PRO applications) there is the "signal" (again music) the "ground" (electrical ground) then the third leg is "the signal 180 degrees out of phase." That is to say AN EXACT OPPOSITE of the original musical signal.

The practical benefit is that if the entire system is balanced, including inside the components at the end of the chain the "signal" and the "inverse of the signal" can be compared. Anything that they have in common must be noise picked up in the journey of the signal, and is therefore discarded. Making for "blacker" backgrounds and wider, deeper sound stages.*

It is important to note that just because a component has XLR connectors on the back DOES NOT mean that the circuit is truly balanced. Many time manufacturers will add XLR connects for comparability with other gear OR as marketing hype. A truly balance circuit close to doubles the price of a component because for every wire, cap, resistor, etc there must now be two. Only the chassis and the power supply don't need to be doubled. If it isn't balanced throughout the entire circuit, it's of negligible value. In fact, a pseudo-balanced design adds one EXTRA part in the signal path that wouldn't be in the signal path for the single-ended connections which is usually phase splitter used to "manufacturer" a balanced signal when only a single-ended one exists.

*Not everyone agrees that balanced connections run over shot distances have an audible effect, including some very good manufacturers. Like many things in high-end audio there are some very knowledgeable honest people on both sides of the fence. For the record my system is balanced, but I've heard many impressive systems that were purely single-ended.

Jeffery Lewis - "12 Crass Songs"

Originally written Big Black Disk.

Jeffery Lewis "12 Crass Songs"
(2007 Rough Trade)

Sound: ***
Performance **

It was once remarked in my presence that if an old painting was put into a new frame it forced the view to re-evaluate the work from another perspective. That's exactly what Jeffery Lewis' "12 Crass Songs" sets out to do. Jeffrey Lewis re-interprets 12 songs by punk band Crass as folk tunes. It's not such a strange idea as it first seems, in some ways punk and folk are closely related. Both genres are democratic musical forms. Anyone can form a punk band or become a folk troubadour. Being able to play an instrument competently, follow a melody, or in anyway sing are strictly speaking optional. All one really needs is a quick fire vocal delivery that's almost fast enough to slip by the standard left wing observations as being profound. A skill perfected by Bob Dylan.

The three best songs are all on the second side, which is a bit hard to find owing to the fact that marking the sides as A and B or 1 and 2 would be far too conformist. Instead one side lists all twelve songs, which is in fact the first side and the other side has a picture on it. "Do they Owe Us a Living?" is a bit catchy as a hint of melody is allowed to intrude on the politics. With the lead singer asking "Do they owe us a living?" and the backing vocals chanting, "Of course they do. Of Course they do." Then the vocalist asks again "Do they owe us a living?" The second answer is a resounding, "Of course they F6&%ing do!" The drumbeat adds a nice sense of urgency to the song. "Demoncrats" (sic) begins with the random tunings of a radio over a mournful organ figure, which is accented by a triangle. Add double tracked vocals and this is by far the most interesting song sonically. Of course the random radio tuning may land him in trouble, just ask Pink Floyd. Ironically the most effective track on the album is "Punk is Dead" which takes the musical form itself to task for it's many hypocrisies. With lines such as, "Punk is dead, yes that's right, punk is dead/It's just another cheap product for the consumer's head." and "CBS promoted The Clash, but not for revolution, just for cash." it's dead on the mark about the genre. The draw of Punk has always been more about the off stage antics and how much parents hate it than musical or lyrical content.

The record is very well pressed with very little surface noise. Included with the LP is a gift card that entitles the owner to download the entire album as MP3s. I didn't bother, it's a nice touch but I'll record the vinyl onto a CD and dump that into iTunes, to get the best sound possible. According to the website, "The downloads are MP3 format at 256kbps. These downloads are virtually indistinguishable from CD-quality audio and we think offer the best audio quality vs. download time." I'm glad that they are not 192kbps, but I take exception to 256kbps being referred to as "high quality" or "virtually indistinguishable from CD-quality." It's odd that they can tell that vinyl sounds better than CD and yet find 256kbps MP3s to be nearly identical to CDs. The booklet reproduces all of the lyrics in addition to a comic book inspired telling of how Mr. Lewis came to be familiar with Crass' music.

If I were between 17-20 years old I might find these songs powerful, compelling, and insightful. But I'm not and to these jaded ears they just sound like oversimplifications of all of the political issues they try to address. The singer's voice sounds OK, he might have a future reading news on NPR, his backing vocalist could handle the dreaded pledge drives. Isn't that what punks do when they grow up?

Mind blowing

If you've ever needed proof that some white males can dance. This Ok Go! video is it. I've always wondered what lonely hipsters do on a Saturday night, now I know. The truly impressive thing is that this video is shot in a single take. In case you were wondering they did return the treadmills after they were done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

Defined A Generation

Along with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Pearl Jam's debut album "Ten" helped define a musical generation. According to the band's website March 24th will see the re-release of the album in no fewer than FOUR editions. Anyone who considers themselves a Pearl Jam fan that isn't excited by the Super Deluxe Edition should check their pulse, because there is a good chance they have died and no one has bothered to notice yet:

1. Legacy Edition (2-disc set in mini-LP style slipcase):
   • Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
   • Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat"
   • Re-designed packaging
2. Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD specially designed hardbound package):
   • Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
   • Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat"
   • DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans" with 5.1 surround sound audio remix
3. Vinyl Collection (2-LP set)
   • LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
   • LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien
4. Super Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD, 4 LPs and replica cassette in linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box):
   • Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
   • Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat"
   • DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans" with 5.1 surround sound audio remix
   • LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
   • LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien
   • LP 3 & 4: Drop in the Park – Live at Magnuson Park in Seattle on September 20, 1992 (audio mixed by Brendan O’Brien)
   • Cassette: replica of original "Momma-Son" Pearl Jam demo cassette featuring "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps"
   • Package also includes an Eddie Vedder-style composition notebook filled with replica personal notes, images and mementos from the collections of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament, a vellum envelope with replicated era-specific ephemera from Pearl Jam’s early work and a two-sided print commemorating the Drop in the Park concert.

A Fun Little Project

Would you believe that you could build your own loudspeaker in under five minutes for less than a dollar?
http://www.youtube.com/v/8m8fbnShPcw&hl=en&fs=1


I knew that I should have kept the headphones that came with my iPod for some reason. It might even be a good picnic trick but be careful and follow all of the directions to the letter or this might happen.
http://www.youtube.com/v/wOXUBWl1T5U&hl=en&fs=1

Sad news for NHT

CEPro published the following statement regarding NHT

"February 23, 2009

Dear Friends of NHT,

It's time to turn down the lights: NHT is going quiet.

Over the next 60 days we're going to sell the remaining professional and consumer inventory through our existing dealers and distributors, pay our bills, and then spend time rethinking the future of NHT. However, you should know that we are not bankrupt. Everybody here is fine and no, the car didn't get hit by a train. In a way this difficult economy provided the right opportunity for the change in strategy we felt has been necessary for some time.

One thing that is for sure is that this is not about our love for or commitment to the brand. It isn't about the audio business, either. It's all about the realities of the world and how consumer attitudes are changing, and how we as a brand and an industry can best respond to the need for real invention. We're anxious to get moving. When we do, it will be in the right direction.

NHT has always stood for something more than a great speaker. Our philosophy has to do with a way of thinking – about value, about fair play, about paying attention to what matters, about integrity. For us, it's a way of life.

We have a colorful history that included our share of distractions, but we hope we have made the speaker industry a little more interesting and helped in raising the bar.

We believe March 31, 2009 is to be the last day of "regular" business, at least for now. We intend to offer customer service and repair services for both in and out of warranty, available ongoing. Keep an eye on our website (nhthifi.com) for more details and the occasional update.

Remember, this isn't good-bye, it's just "see you on the other side"

Thanks for everything!

Chris, John and the entire NHT gang"




Stereophile's Jason Victor Serinus was able to get Mr. Byrne to elaborate a bit more in this news item. It's like being "on a break" in a relationship or "seeing other people" it isn't officially the end but in reality it usually is. Think of how the dealers feel. They have supported this brand for years, put in the hard work to build the brand name in their markets, made it a priority ,and then when they need NHT the most it isn't there for them. They will have to sell all of their demos at a huge discount (because many customers will read the statement as NHT is out of business) and pick up a new line to fill the void. How big of a check are their dealers going to have to write to start doing business with a new manufacturer? Can the average Mom and Pop audio store afford it right now? They just torched a lot of bridges. If they do come back everyone in the industry will be wary of doing business with them again for quite some time. Very strange. It's being discussed on Stereophile's Forum right now.

In my system

I know that my system is listed in the side bar but how everything is used and connected together isn't perfectly clear. I recently typed out a detailed description for a thread on Stereophile's forum and thought I'd post it here too.

-Digital Front End-

-Transport: Primare D20 CD player with three Black Diamond Racing cones. Transparent Power Link Plus Power cord. Custom made 75ohm digital coaxial cable with particular attention to proper termination and shielding connects it to the DAC.

-Digital to Analog Converter: Theta DS Pro Basic III "Version A" with three Ayre wood blocks. Audioquest Panther RCA interconnects to preamp. Transparent Power Link Plus Power cord.

-Analog Sources-

-Turntable: Pro-Ject 1.2 Turntable fitted with Audioquest Sorbothane record mat mounted with a Grado Gold Cartridge. Sitting on a maple butcher block with five Racquetball halves between that and the top of the rack. A single Audioquest Sorbothane footer sits on the plinth when playing and on top of the dust cover when not playing. Dust cover is removed during playback.

-Phono Stage: Pro-ject Phono Box sitting on a single Audioquest Sorbothane puck. Wall wart power supply is fitted with Audioquest noise stopper. Audioquest Ruby interconnect to preamp.

-FM Tuner: Tandberg 3011A FM Tuner sitting on three Ayre wood blocks. Standard power cord because of non standard AC inlet. Audioquest Quartz to preamp

-Preamplifier: Adcom GFP-750 (with unused inputs shorted) sitting on three Ayre wood blocks. A single Audioquest Sorbothane footer is on the top cover to reduce resonance. Transparent Power Link Plus power cord. Audioquest Panther XLR to amp.

-Amplifier: Threshold Stasis S550e sitting on three Ayre wood blocks with a single Audioquest Sorbothane footer on the top cover to reduce resonance Transparent Power Link Plus Power cord. Audioquest Gibraltar speaker cables (pre DBS version)to speakers.

-Speakers: Martin Logan CLS with Martin Logan Energy Transfer Coupler spikes. Audioquest AC-15 power cords.

-Power Conditioner: Panamax Max-5510 with Transparent Power Link Plus power cord. Top panel has magazines stacked on top to reduce resonance.

-Eagle Hospital Grade outlet with ceramic outlet cover to power the system.

-Lovan Equipment Rack

-Various DIY acoustic treatment

Sony begins shipping new product

I thought that "The Onion" did parodies; not hard hitting, fact based news stories. ;) Language warning don't watch this with small children around or at work!

Have you heard the buzz?

If there is hum or buzz in your audio system diagnosing the cause is often a frustrating task. Begin by asking yourself some questions. Is the hum at 60Hz? If you have a test CD that has a 60Hz tone use that as a reference for comparison. If yes you are certainly dealing with an electrical issue.

If it's only on your phono input. How close is it to other equipment? One thing to always keep in mind is that the signals that phono preamps are dealing with are absolutely tiny. Much smaller than the line out of a CD player for example, about a tenth the size. The wiring in a tone arm and the interconnects that come from the turntable are likewise vulnerable. I ran out of rack space and instead of stacking my phono pre on top of or behind something I placed it on an adjacent book shelf which did two things. First, it made sure that the unit wasn’t close to the power supplies of other components. Second, it kept the interconnects from the ’table to the phono stage away from all of the other cables in the system. You might also try turning off Digital components when listening to the analog front end because they put out a lot of RFI and EMI.

Hum is normally caused by different grounding potentials. Many times it’s because a video monitor that is connected to cable TV is also connected to an audio system. Is your system connected to a video source? The Cable and satellite Companies are required to ground THEIR system and of course the electrical system has it’s own ground already. This, of course leads to the possibility of two different grounding potentials. Electricity, like water flows to the path of least resistance and that is what causes the hum. Another thing to think of with old wiring is that you might have grounded outlets that aren’t properly grounded because the original wiring job is two wires (hot and neutral) and the conversion wasn’t done properly. This can be tested by a $5 tester that can be purchased at any hardware store. It plugs into the outlet and through a series of lights can diagnose bad grounds, hot/neutral swaps, and a number of other conditions. It’s a small price to pay for piece of mind

Are the audio outputs of TV, Cable box, or the DVD player hooked up to the audio system? If so the audio cable's ground is introducing the second ground. As a diagnostic step try disconnecting the coaxial cable that carries the TV signal that goes from the wall into the cable box. If the hum goes away then we know that the hum was caused by having two grounds with different potential.

If the ground is the problem try:

Xantech 634-00-This one is only about $9 but it tends to knock out higher TV stations in digital cable systems and negatively affect pay-per-view and movie on demand capabilities. It's cheap enough to try and throw away if it doesn't work. But in my experience it usually causes some kind of problem. I only mention it to present all options.

Mondial Magic Box-It's about $100. Which is expensive by comparison but because of it's greater bandwidth tends not to knock out higher TV stations in digital cable systems. Nor does it usually cause problems with pay-per-view and on demand functions.

Tributaries used to make one but it doesn't look like it's available any more. It worked as well as the Mondial.