John McLaughlin: Liberation Time (Abstract Logix, July 16, 2021)

Not to sure about the handling and playing of the record in this video but it's always nice to learn of new music from John McLaughlin. I saw him a couple of years back on his farewell tour of the US, he still mesmerizes on the guitar. I'm in.  

 

More info: https://linktr.ee/abstractlogix

Covid strikes Peter Lederman of Soundsmith

 I just learned that Peter Lederman, the man behind Soundsmith cartridges and mainstay of analog excellence, has been stricken with Covid-19 for the second time in year. This has had a devastating effect on his health but he is apparently making a solid recovery. Amazingly, he's been updating folks by posting on Audiogon where there's an active thread -- find it here

I've been an interest admirer of the Soundsmith line for years, at least since calling them once about a repair on a very expensive Clearaudio that I accidentally wrecked (the memory is still painful), and having the phone answered by the man himself who talked me down from the ledge and explained my options. In the end Clearaudio (or rather their importer, Musical Surroundings) stepped in to help but I decided then that a Soundsmith cartridge was in my future. Well, it has not happened yet and I realized when reading the news that if we wait too long, we risk losing the chance if talent like this disappears. Peter seems on the mend, thankfully, but it's made me prioritize my next analog purchase come cartridge-replacement time. In the meantime, spin an album, and send the man a note via A'gon. We're all in this together.  

Gauntlet thrown....Synergistic invites Audioholics to walk the talk

 Or is it that Synergistic is offering to show Audioholics that it will walk the talk...either way, this could be interesting

Unfortunately Audioholics seem to have taken issue with this video and it's been pulled, though I wonder if their case might be stronger if it stayed up. Essentially it was Ted from Synergistic expressing his view of Audioholics and inviting them to come visit for some cordial and constructive listening sessions.   And then there's the other side: Audioholics account of the Synergistic situation

This stuff is nuts of course. But that's the audiophile world. 

Vinyl sales revenue up but streaming remains king

Lots of buzz on various forums with the release of the RIAA sales and revenue figures for 2020. You can explore the details yourself at their site, including some interactive graphing options to explore further. The big story for some audiophiles is the news that vinyl sales revenue has overtaken CD for the first time in decades. That is news. But before you get too excited, recognize that in terms of total revenue, all material formats combined account for around 10% of sales, the rest are digital streams or downloads. The various tables and summaries on offer make for interesting reading, but the news that music sales are continuing their upward trajectory might be taken as encouraging news.

While vinyl sold 22.9m units compared to 31.6m CDs, the price difference between the two formats, which vinyl lovers know all about, means that LP revenues are higher, and that is the angle some folks are getting worked up over.  The vinyl market is worth north of $600m according to the latest data, up 28.7% last year.  It was not so long ago that CD sales in unit terms was so much greater than vinyl that many had predicted the LP was dead. Let's not forget, in 2000, only 2.2m LPs were sold. As a proportion of all music sales, LPs might be only around 6% now but they are selling millions more than at any time in most people's memory, year on year. And don't forget, this is while manufacturing capacity is maxed out after fire damage and the pandemic has hampered routine operations.

The full picture might make you wonder about the future of CDs more than vinyl, sales dropping for those silver discs some 23% in the last year,  but in a world where material preferences are elevated to cult-like loyalty and the industry is happy to get any sales they can, I suspect we'll be living with material discs, in both forms (overpriced and repackaged endlessly no doubt) for some time yet. 

New Oberon 9 from DALI hits a sweet spot

Lenbrook Americas press release today announced the launch of their DALI OBERON 9. Here's some details:

"The OBERON 9 (US MSRP $2,499/pr) is offered in Black Ash and Dark Walnut finishes and will be available in late March. With a dedicated 7” midrange and two long-throw 9” woofers it offers outstanding dynamic capabilities most speakers can only dream of. The OBERON 9 is a true three-way design that combines ultimate refinement and startling detail with effortless power handling to bring genuine concert and cinema experiences right into your home. DALI’s patented SMC (Soft Magnetic Compound) is used in the OBERON 9’s midrange/woofer magnet systems to provide improved flux linearity, reduced magnetic hysteresis and a significant reduction in harmonic distortion. These SMC benefits result in longer listening pleasure, and excellent low-level detail."

The Oberon series has apparently been a big success for the company.  These are nice looking, designed apparently for wide dispersion, hopefully making them easy to place in normal rooms. The DALIs I've heard at shows have always sounded decent to me, caveats assumed in those conditions. With companies mostly announcing price rises (Harbeth up another 10% shortly thanks to Brexit)  it's good to see a nicely finished Danish floorstander for this price. Of course, the proof is in the hearing...more info here:

 

 

Bryston: meet the new boss....same as the old boss

Got a note from James Tanner about his new role as CEO of Bryston. Seems he and a partner now own the company, which I have to say is good news. James is a talented audio designer and a really pleasant fellow. I reviewed their Mini T speakers a few years back which I thought were great but I was really impressed by the (sadly shortlived) turntable he developed, a spectacularly good sounding and well-engineered product that just could not continue to be produced at the pricepoint. If you got one, lucky you. Anyway, James tells more in a good interview now available in Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity.

Herb Reichert gives tour of his rig

Herb is currently my favorite audio writer. His turn of phrase, humor and general love of music and its emotional power make me enjoy his reviews more than anyone since the late Art Dudley. Not only does this come through here but I love his room as it is so real (though I'm guessing he's single!) Too many listening spaces look like advertisements in mags (where are the speaker cables and why is everything so neat?). When you read a reviewer talk about his or her space, you form a mental picture and while mine might have deviated a little, I sort of expected Herb's space to be like this. Here's a place and a person you know would make for a great listening session or two. Enjoy.

Paul McGowan releases new book and test CD for set up.

I own, and have owned over the years, a lot of PS Audio equipment. Even now, my out of date PWT/PWDII combo still sounds great to my ears and their BHK monos are the best sounding amps I've ever had in my home. The company has always been easy to deal with, and any service issues I've required, I can confirm that they looked after me fairly and quickly. Good people. I've met CEO Paul McGowan once or twice at RMAF and he's always been pleasant and patient with my questions, so I am happy to plug his new work, The Stereo- An Audiophile's Guide, and its accompanying recording of test tracks, a package designed to help you set up your system in your home. You can sample the test tracks at the company site and order there. If I ever get a copy I'll happily review it here but the post-holiday crunch has put my credit card into the danger zone and I'm trying not to spend $58 unless I have to....but now that I mention it, this does not seem an extraordinary cost if it helps you get the best out of your system. Let me know if you try it.

Steve McCormack is back (did he ever go away?)

The SMcAudio site had a few changes recently, losing the .com and now back as .net. Glad to hear all is well with them. Check out the new site, including a video interview with Steve himself talking history, design and audio. Have owned various pieces of McCormack gear over the years, including the DNA.5 (sorry I ever sold it), the TLC-1, and currently run the superb VRE-1C preamp in my rig. In fact, that component might be the longest-lived pre-amp I've ever had and I have zero desire to replace ever it, it's really special. Good people, good gear.

Small batch Lush Life from Craft announced

And no, we're not talking bourbon, but Coltrane. Here's another boutique run, limited to 1000, and it's $100. Get them while you can to avoid those folks who somehow 'ended up with two' and then try to flog you a copy for $150 (good news: each order limited by Craft to one but I suspect greedy people will find a workaround) Check out the video, more info on their site

Update on this -- it was pointed out to me that someone has actually listed a copy for bids on E-bay at considerably more than the $150 I joked about....seems there's now a futures market in reissues!

The new headphone amps keep on coming

 Moving into slightly more expensive territory than the small USB headphone amp/dac market, but adding significantly more capability. Underwood Audio is at it again. For $799 you get headphone amp, DAC and choice of solid state or tube output. First part of a series of matching products that will add a phono stage, streamer, and power amp designs.  Here's the official PR, edited only slightly to take the breathless edge off:

Walter Liederman and Underwood Hifi announces an Incredible Full-Featured High Res DAC with remote controlled Preamp and Headphone Amp that has both Vacuum Tube Outputs as well as Solid State - you choose Your Voice and Musical Style.

Liederman went on to explain –  The Discovery Series is all about introducing audiophiles to quality at down to earth prices. This DAC/Control Center is now shipping and will be followed up shortly with a Peter Madnick Designed MM/MC Phono Stage and a then a Volumio-Powered Music Streamer. These products will tip the scales in Budget Reference for these product groups. Please do not think for a moment that we forgot a Power Amp to complete the Discovery Series. In the same package you will soon see a NEW Class D, Wide-Bandwidth 150 watt per channel Stereo Power Amp (350 watts in mono)

We are really excited about these products. It is these lower priced items that require a special discipline that our teams have. These are many of the Designers and Product Planners from the original Audio Alchemy from the early 90’s. These guys knew how to set the market on fire with Budget Reference products that have stood the test of time. 

A bit more about the DPH-1

The DPH-1 has an array of four Digital Inputs using the Dream Team Chip Set of the AKM AK4118 Digital Input Receiver and the AK 4495 DAC. It decodes PCM to 24/192k as well as DSD. This  Preamp Control Center is complete with a Rotary Encoder Volume Control and has both tube and solid state single ended outputs. The tube buffer stage is based on a GE NOS tube. Both outputs can even be run simultaneously into an amplifier or line-in enabled integrated amp to give you both solid state and tube sonics. 

With Internet Direct Pricing we were able to include an R-core based Power Supply, audiophile grade caps from WIMA of Germany and Solen from France as well as Dale resistors from the USA.  In addition to USB, coax and optical inputs we even included a BNC input.

Another USB DAC/Headhpone amp - this time from Clarus

Just received this from Clarus -- might be of interest to headphone aficionados and those sold on MQA (which would not include me).  $300, not cheap but the specs look impressive,  it has vol control and choice of filters. Better still, it promises software upgradability into the (unspecified) future. Coming in December. 

November 12th, 2020 — Clarus^® announces the CODA, a new USB DAC with Headphone Amplifier that includes an MQA renderer. The CODA features the latest in USB-DAC technology that provides ultra-low distortion, more detail, greater dynamics, and a bigger sound stage. Designed to be used with a smartphone, tablet or computer, the CODA has a 2-button volume control and a choice of three roll-off filters.

The heart of the Clarus CODA is a New Legendary ESS Professional Series SABRE^® DAC audio converter with Hyperstream^® II modulation that provides previously unheard-of improved sound stage and clarity. QUAD DAC^TM Technology delivers superb 124dB DNR and -112dB THD+N for the ultimate in sound quality with a stable sound field. The low-power USB controller supports USB 1.1 and 2.0 and can natively handle 32-bit 384 kHz PCM and DSD up to 5.6MHz. The CODA’s class G headphone amplifier provides class AB performance with ultra-low power consumption optimized for mobile use. The 2.0Vrms output voltage will provide plenty of power for the most demanding headphones and class G ensures it won’t drain your battery.

Jay Victor designed the CODA with the new SABRE^® DAC and these Audiophile features;

• A High Precision Audio Grade Clock to reduce jitter
• Audio Grade film capacitors 
• 1% tolerance metal film resistors and Tight Power Supply Regulation using Multi-Stage, Low Noise, High Ripple Rejection CMOS Based Regulators 

Jay commented… “With any DAC, the printed circuit board layout is critical for low noise and best performance. Because of the small enclosed space, we used a high grade, high temperature PCB material to eliminate any overheating problems. It’s that level of attention to detail that enables CODA to provide a very enjoyable listening experience.”

New vinyl catch up

As I've not been writing too often these recent months, I have not stopped listening. In fact, I've been steadily accumulating batches of new LPs as the releases of interest are coming thick and fast. Consider this a flying mention of the most notables - more to come.

New Monk, who can resist? I confess, I had my doubts when news surfaced of a recently sourced old tape from a late Monk performance at a school in California, not helped by reports that it was recorded by the janitor. Well, all that might, and indeed likely is, true but this is no barrel scraping excuse to shake a few more shillings from jazz lovers' pockets. Nope, this is a fine production, replete with inner liner notes and copy of the original poster and program revealing the story of a schoolboy producer and a road hardened group who came together to play music one afternoon. The sound is really quite good, better than I expected, but the music is superb. The whole band is on form and it's hard to listen to this and not get swept up in the pleasure. The total production quality of this on LP is high and great value in an age of mega-buck reissues.  Monk, Palo Alto. Just get it. 

Deep Purple are still going, despite the pandemic temporarily (it seems) halting their end of the road world tour, and to the surprise of many they have released perhaps their strongest album in twenty years (and this for a band that's been going for over 50 now).  Bob Ezrin might be to blame, age might have mellowed the personalities, but the songwriting chops are maturing and this album makes a case for old guys continuing to rock on far stronger than anything I can think of from their contemporaries. As always, Paice on drums makes Purple swing where others pound, and the results are catchy, joyous, musical, progressive and yep, still identifiably Purple-esque. The vinyl comes in two thick slabs and sounds great. The highlights for me are Nothing at All, with an ear worm of a riff and a wonderful keyboard solo from Airey that marries Bach to Basie once Paice and Glover drive it along, and a version of the first-ever DP track, And the Address, which opened the Shades of Deep Purple album back in 1968.Are they telling us something?   Whoosh it is. 

The Genius of Jazz

Charlie Parker's centennial seemed to pass with precious little mention in mainstream media, which I suppose should surprise neither jazz fans or followers of the current news channels. But here's a little something, not about Bird, but about the musical form as a melting pot that is worth enjoying. Grab a drink, sit down, and enjoy the history:

That USBe Perfect from Core Power Technologies

 

So, after sharing the press release on this little USB add-on, I was sent a sample to try. Thank you Mark and Walter at CorePower, that was a nice touch. The trouble for me at least is I am not a huge USB/computer user in my audio pursuits as I like to spin material objects rather than files.  That said, I do work at a desk with a decent set up for office duties: a MacBook Pro feeding an Audient ID4 that doubles as a guitar input, sending music to my current speakers, a pair of active Audioengine 5+. This rig actually gets more hours of use in these pandemic times than my main rig, so naturally the UBBe got slotted in there. 

So what does this little mysterious block of USB-ness do?  The manufacturers claim  it is designed to "minimize signal degradation effects such as crosstalk and inter-symbol interference (ISI) that limits the interconnect distance between two devices".  You will read there that "the differential outputs provide selectable de-emphasis to compensate for the anticipated distortion USB 3.0 signal experiences" (I have no idea what the selectable aspect refers to, this is a plug and play device).  The website give you graphs of input/output transmissions which mean little to me as presented so I can't offer any real commentary on what is doing at the signal level. So, I just put it in and listened, the most fundamental approach to answering the 'what does this do?' question. 

Let me keep this simple - you put it in, listen, you take it out, listen, you put it in again. It really is that simple. Many people will likely stop there.  Some people may even skip the 'take it out' middle step, being convinced on first listen, but I'm an empiricist. I put the connector between the Mac and Audient and thought, 'hum...that's better sounding'. I gave it a few days and took it out. It did not take me a further few days to put it back in again. I've done this a few times now, just to be sure...and yes, I'm pretty sure. I leave it in a lot more than I take it out. The music with the USBe Perfect in the chain always sounds better.

Ok, so is that a sufficient review? Well, in one sense it is. What more do you really need to know? I'm not shading the nuances, suggesting on some tracks it highlighted the cymbals, allowed me to better hear the breath of a singer, resolved the guitar line cleanly, smoothed the bass a little etc.  Sure -- it did ALL those things if you wanted to listen for them and dissect the changes.  More importantly, what this little add-on does in making the music flow better on everything does not require you to strain your ears to hear it. So if your real concern is 'will I hear a difference?' then the answer is likely 'yes'.   

I've been sampling the new Deep Purple album, Whoosh, that has garnered some unusual positive reviews for the old dinosaurs (21 albums in over 50 years as a band). On Spotify, it sounded a bit thick and compressed but even with this signal, the USBe Perfect cleaned things up.  I could tell within 10 seconds of listening to 'Throw my Bones' that I preferred the sound with the USBe in the chain than out of it. Better resolution, clearer instrumental lines, a greater sense of space and yes, a sense of swing that was otherwise lost, all came through.  

Push me and I'll tell you that I always thought this computer set up tended to smooth everything over a bit much for my ultimate taste. I used to think this is a characteristic of Audioengine speakers, a nice but occasionally overdone warmth in the mid-bass, with a softening of the upper frequencies.  However,  the addition of the USBe Perfect confirmed there's a very good desktop or even small room set up here just waiting to be enjoyed. Space, detail, clarity, and ultimately my enjoyment of the music,  all improved once I added this device to my set up. Overall, it  made me want to crank the music up, which I almost never do at my desktop, but on more than few evenings over the last month, as the working duties faded, I'd listen for pleasure rather than background and in such hours, the volume tended to increase in proportion to my enjoyment.

Ok, so much for a desktop set up. What about its ability in a more serious rig where for digital I play discs in a PS Audio PWT/ PWDII combo through my SMcAudio VRE1 pre feeding PS Audio BHK300 monos and Von Schweikert 5 Anniversary 2 speakers.  This rig sounds excellent. I've not doubt a Directstream DAC would be even better but I also don't have $4k to spare to make that move.  I have dabbled with computer audio on and off in this set up (mostly off, if truth be told), and remember well my disappointment with the sound of computer files playing through the PWD USB input, to the point that I sort of gave up and stuck with CDs.  I tested trial versions of Audiovarna Amarra and the like, and while I wrung slight improvements out of the set up, the results never sounded good enough for me to persist with any enthusiasm. Yes, I know everyone's gone Roon and Tidal but I'm just biding my time for when it all becomes simpler to set up or I can appreciate streams over material for my serious listening. For now, I still worship at the altar of grooves and pits.   Because questioning minds want to know,  I tried the USBe Perfect here,  taking a USB feed from a Mac to the PWD to see if it helps. 

With no special cable, and an external HD of AIFF tracks ripped from my own collection playing through iTunes on a MacAir, I conducted some A/B comparisons over a few evenings. I listened to Alabama by Ronnie Earl again and again, with the USBe and without, as this track is so familiar to me from my constant listening over 20 years.   Throw in some Towner and Peacock, a little Coltrane and even some Shostakovitch. Could I live with this?  Interestingly, while one can do some fairly rapid changes with the USBe Perfect, a Mac, and the PS Audio PWD in order to compare presentations closely,  the real differences are ones requiring a few minutes, preferably longer, to appreciate. In the desktop system I could distinguish faster; with the main rig it was slower, the differences less obvious in the immediate comparison but actually more impressive over a few hours. What changes? The bass. No doubt about it, the USBe Perfect cleaned it up and if you listen mainly to music where the bass is prominent, you will appreciate the improvements quickly.  So yes, the USBe does something. But more importantly, after getting the bass improved, you start to hear that other instruments are less cluttered, there's a little more detail across the range, the sound seems to breath a little more openly, making the reproduction a just a little more enjoyable all round. 

Let's put this in proportion. I am not convinced I could walk into the room, stone cold,  and know in a few seconds if the USBe Perfect was in or out of the main set up. But I am convinced that if I sat down to listen to familiar music, it would not take me very long to wish it were there if it were not. There's just something more relaxed and coherent, of a whole if you like,  about music when the USBe Perfect was connected. Towner's acoustic guitar was more resonant, notes decayed a little more cleanly. The bass line in Alabama offered clearer counterpoint to Earls licks and arpeggios. The small things that matter for musical enjoyment seemed a tad more present, more real, and more available with the USBe Perfect in the rig than not. I would characterize this as less of an  'of course I hear it' and more of  a 'I think this is better sounding' type of reaction.  So consider this a vote for The USBe's positive contribution to enjoyment,  one that you will likely appreciate more over time than perceive immediately it as a major shift in sonic presentation.

So, value for money? Interesting question. $500 is hardly chump change but I'm not sure what you can get for that price which will obviously improve an audio rig that is already enjoyable.Certainly I've heard less improvement from some higher priced add-ons and accessories. Could the USBe show even greater improvements if I had a better cable to connect it to the DAC than the cheap one I used? Am sure many people would say so and the good folks at Underwood have a recommended model for just this purpose, their Conduit series ($199 and up, with special pricing on combined packages).  Is the USBe worth that price for the improvement in my desktop set up? That is not a simple question, I suppose, as one could put that same money toward better speakers or an improved DAC but we're not all starting from scratch, and improving a carefully chosen existing set up is very different challenge than building from a blank slate.  However, if I were to commit to using a laptop in my main rig, where I do my serious listening,  I would not hesitate to add this permanently because I know I'd miss the musical benefits it provided in that system over the long term.  If you envisage USB interfaces forming some part of your system no matter the configuration going forward, then this little device would have value over the long-haul for you, which is something to keep in mind when thinking of cost.  In conclusion, while I don't think of it as perfect, the CorePower USBe is certainly good enough to warrant your attention. Give one a try and let me know.

For pricing and further details see: https://www.underwoodhifi.com/products/conduit 

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