Archive for 'June,2012'
Getting a piece of it
I’ve written before that in the long run I find that we are very far away from reproducing live sound in our homes. We stress over cleaning and polishing the fine details of our systems when, [...]
Clever engineering
A few posts ago we covered the topic of dynamics in loudspeakers and how a small pair of speakers really isn’t capable of moving large volumes of air. Unfortunate but true for those of us that [...]
Battery power
For a long while there was a trend towards battery powered source gear. Advantages were many: lower noise, no cords to deal with, better isolation. But in general they did not succeed because they sounded worse. [...]
Yeah, but ….
Yesterday’s post Under the microscope certainly sparked some comments. Good. I think the greatest number of emails I got seemed to be in defense of people who really require affirmation and verification that what they feel [...]
Under the microscope
Not that long ago in the scope of our evolution did we question if there were life forms smaller than could be seen by the human eye. Our collective answer was “no”. Yet enough people asked [...]
Five essential tools for your music library
Simply playing music on their computer is most people’s first venture into computer audio. That’s unsurprising, after all, it’s all about the music. The software we use to play music, computer music players such as iTunes, [...]
Dapp Theory
Remaining in the realm of fusion, this month’s entry-or entre-features a group that serves up some very tasty tunes for your musical palette-Dapp Theory. Most likely, very few-if any-of the readers have even heard of this [...]
Large volumes of air
In yesterday’s post I talked about dynamics and how many smaller speakers simply cannot reproduce those dynamics accurately. One of my readers pointed out something obvious – the amount of air a big speaker can move [...]
Overkill
When a trumpet or trombone plays loudly – or a bass drum or gong is hit hard – the sound that is produced by the instrument is dynamically linear with the softer sounds that instrument can [...]
Brahms: The Remix
Once again, someone has "reconsidered" the Brahms Symphonies, but this time the results are more consistently gratifying. [...]
The rewards of difficulties
Most mornings I get up and after my coffee I run or head to the gym and workout for 45 minutes. It’s always a struggle and I battle with myself to hang in there and get [...]
On the lower end of things
My son wants a simple setup to go from one of the little $99 Apple Airport Express devices to a good sounding power amp to play music on a pair of bookshelf speakers he owns. I [...]
Getting just enough
In the late 1970′s I began experimenting with planar loudspeakers: first with Magnepans and later with electrostatic loudspeakers – specifically the Acoustat 2+2 which happened to be tall enough to qualify as a line source. If [...]
Good reading
In the July issue of the Absolute Sound Magazine, editor Robert Harley writes a very informative article entitled What exactly are CD-quality and high resolution audio? It’s an article worth reading and one that I learned [...]
When bigger is better
I remember well my first encounter with the Infinity IRS speaker system – it was an experience filled with awe both at the size and presence of this massive system as well as the magnificence of [...]
Healing the Recording Industry
The Music Industry may be on the verge of some big changes. What can we do to make sure everyone’s happy this time around? We could start by returning the album to prominence, changing distribution methods, [...]
The choice is yours
Yesterday I posted about the controlled demo and several of you seemed upset that I would even think about suggesting my musical choices might show off our equipment better than yours. I understand the sentiment but I [...]
Controlling the demo
I was showing Carl, one of our sales reps, our sound room and talking about the prospect of increasing the availability of the in-home demo. I suggested I have always loved the idea of people taking [...]
Is your music system hypo allergenic?
Just heading out the door, went to fire up the dishwasher and the marketing pitch on the soap caught my eye. “Now, Hypo Allergenic!” What the hell does that mean? It was the main selling feature [...]
I only read the last few paragraphs
Magazine reviewers work hard at writing a review – many thousands of words written to make sure you understand a product and really get what the reviewer feels about that product. It’s a long time tradition [...]
Why a dedicated computer isn’t a dedicated server
A lot of folks out there are taking an older unused computer or even a new MAC Mini and dedicating it to serving their music. This is a good idea relative to using a shared computer [...]
It’s only the music I am interested in
Really? I hear that a lot and I am sure it’s true for some of us. But my sense is most of us like the gear, the kit, just as much as we like the music. [...]
Dynamics
Not to be on a nostalgia kick here but yesterday’s post about Direct to Disc recordings got a few of you to ask me why a Direct to Disc was so much more dynamic than a [...]
Direct to disc
In yesterday’s post we mentioned a Sheffield Direct To Disc recording and several readers asked me just what that was. It was the most direct method of recording possible before the advent of digital and interestingly [...]
Fewer choices
Back in the 1970′s when high-end audio was just blossoming into a real force there were many more dramatic choices of tailoring your system the way you wanted it to sound. For example, I remember the [...]
Here we go again
I finished reading yet another article by a self proclaimed expert about why 192kHz 24 bit doesn’t make any difference over standard CD’s and the folks who are promoting these standards are simply “hoodwinking” you into [...]
You should worry about your chair
Just when you thought it was safe to relax in your listening room and enjoy the music let me make you aware of the damage your chair might be inflicting on the music. Yes, the chair. [...]
Amanda Mc Boom Boom again?
After reading yesterday’s post about the art of the demo, my friend Jim McCullough of Cello reminded me that the third side of the demo coin was the endless playing of the same Audiophile pap to [...]
Integrateds
In yesterday’s post about the preamp conundrum many of you correctly pointed out that what I was referring to is called an integrated amplifier but perhaps missed my point. The day of the preamp as a separate is [...]
The preamp conundrum
One of our customers was upset because he loved the sound of our phono preamplifier directly into his power amplifier but then not so much when he inserted his preamp between the phono stage and his [...]
The invention of MultiWave
Oops. Sorry. This post got left out and was part 1 of a 3 part series – of which parts 2 and 3 have already run over the last 2 days. To complete the series, this [...]
Striking Gold
In yesterday’s post we covered part 2 of the MultiWave story and how my experiments with higher frequencies feeding power to the connected equipment gave me breathtaking results in the top end and midrange, but lost [...]
The double edged sword
In yesterday’s post we began the story of how MultiWave was invented. We left off at the point where I started questioning what was so sacred about the 60Hz frequency that comes out of the wall socket [...]
The cure can be worse than the disease
In our comments about amplifier damping and how higher damping factors offer better control of the loudspeaker than that of low damping factors, several of you wrote suggesting that some high damping amps sound cold while [...]
Recent Comments
- Microphones like lenses (16)
Dr. AIX: Terry, there isn’t any video on the DVD-Audio side…she’s not a world-class performer...
Terry Franklin: Dr. Aix, From what I just head from the YouTube at 44.1/16 sounded very nice. I am looking forward...
Soundminded: How much Valium did that woman swallow before she sat down at the piano? I’ve heard people say...
Soundminded: The problem of recording “they are here” meaning the sound you’d hear if the...
Terry Franklin: Just followed you link and left a message on your contact form.
- Microphones (8)
Dr. AIX: As a recording engineer and label owner, I’d like to contribute that not every engineer and project...
Soundminded: Ambiosonics (entirely different from Ambiophonics) as I understand it when developed to its maximum...
adam75: Interesting post. The vector/ scalar analysis you refer to is if course at the heart of ambisonics. I have...
Paul McGowan: I don’t think anyone is anything other than appreciative of your comments – I for one...
Soundminded: Paul, thank you for your comment. I want to make it clear I don’t wish to ruin anyone’s fun. Once I...
- Leveraging sound (1)
Bassman23: Can’t get lower mass than an electron – it’s hard to warp electrons too
- Andy Narell and Steelpans (4)
Keith Copeland: Hello, Thank you for your interest in my article and for the information on the Steel Pan. Yes, I...
stimpy2: I believe that Andy Narell’s pans were crafted by Ellie Manette who is I believe the preeminent...
- Pat Metheney (4)
Keith Copeland: Hey Neil, Thank you so much for your interest in my article! I, too, am a huge Al DiMeola fan and...
stimpy2: I enjoyed reading reading this article very much and have been at several of his concerts and up close...
- Tchaikovsky’s Fourth (6)
Soundminded: While I’ve heard this music in the past, it’s been a very long time since the last time...
Lawrence Schenbeck: I had the same impression of the “fate” theme when I came back to the Fourth, to...
Soundminded: First impressions of the first movement, four ideas seem evident. Romeo and Juliet Overture stands...
Soundminded: This two disc set is from analog recordings originally made in 1975-1976. It’s DG 453 088 2....
Lawrence Schenbeck: You have to admit, though, the third movement seems a long ways away, expressively, from the...
- Serving it up (11)
Paul McGowan: Sure. The idea is to build an active differential low pass filter whose rolloff is low enough to not...
Paul McGowan: No worries – but I don’t actually have any control over where these post or when,...
stimpy2: I just joined the group and was under the impression (notice that I am not using the word assumed) that...
Rick Dieterich: I have been searching for a new sub(s) for my system and one brand I’m considering is the...
Soundminded: Does your use of the term “servo” in this context mean frequency dependent negative...
- The best way to organize music files and folders (4)
Dan Gravell: Great comment! It comes down to how your music player works. Personally, I don’t see filenames...
- What’s all the fuss about? (2)
Paul McGowan: Thanks Scott!
sbrinck: Paul The Munich audio show was the bomb !! I am extremely envious ! If you ever decide to quit your day...
- Treat the cause or the symptoms? (13)
Paul McGowan: Yes the apertures are located in the 1/8 space corners so they should be as effective as possible....
Soundminded: I’m quite curious and I must admit somewhat skeptical about how effective these frequency tuned bass...
Microphones like lenses
Terry, there isn't any video on the DVD-Audio side...she's not a world
Microphones like lenses
Dr. Aix, From what I just head from the YouTube at 44.1/16 sounded ve
Microphones like lenses
How much Valium did that woman swallow before she sat down at the pian
Microphones like lenses
The problem of recording "they are here" meaning the sound you'd hear
Microphones like lenses
Just followed you link and left a message on your contact form.