Table of contents for March 2021 in Stereophile

I’m an audiophile and live in North America—seems like a perfect fit for the Facebook group Audiophiles-North America, right? Wrong! On my first visit, I noticed that a group member had asked for speaker cable suggestions. Another member posted a picture of a 100' spool of 16-gauge lamp cord costing $14, accompanied by the suggestion “This is all you need.” The implication: That’s all anyone needs, because cables are “snake oil.” I responded, “Do you think the people marketing this product considered inductance, capacitance, and resistance?” “You don’t even know what those are” came the reply. Soon after that came this from another group member: “You’re old, you’re deaf, and you have a shitty room.” This was my welcome to this Facebook group, composed, apparently—and here I’m talking about the…

For logistical reasons, I measured a different sample (serial number 0384) from those auditioned by Brian Damkroger. Except when stated otherwise, the measurements were performed with the grille removed. Also, to avoid the possibility of damaging the cabinet’s finish, I did not remove its protective film. I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Wilson SabrinaX’s frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses of the individual drive-units.1 When I measure a loudspeaker, I usually raise it so that its tweeter is midway between the floor and ceiling, which maximizes the anechoic time window for the farfield measurements. However, because the SabrinaX’s enclosure is constructed from Wilson’s proprietary and very dense X material, the 112lb loudspeaker was too…

I measured the Pass Laboratories XP-32’s performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 “As We See It”1), repeating some tests with the magazine’s more-recent APx555 system. The maximum gain was a little higher than the specified 9.6dB for the balanced and unbalanced inputs to the balanced outputs, at 10.2dB. The gain from the unbalanced input to the unbalanced output was 6.5dB. The preamplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) with both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs. (Its XLR jacks are wired with pin 2 hot, the AES convention.) The XP-32’s unbalanced input impedance was close to specification at 20Hz and 1kHz, at 20.3k ohms, but slightly lower at 20kHz, at 17.6k ohms. The balanced input impedance was to specification and twice the unbalanced, as expected.…

I examined the amount of timing uncertainty—jitter—in the Grimm Audio MU1’s AES/EBU output using my Audio Precision SYS27221 system’s digital oscilloscope function. I overlaid successive snapshots of the MU1’s AES/EBU output, taken over a 60-second time window, to show what’s called an “eye pattern.” To make things as difficult as possible for the MU1, the AES/EBU link was a 45' length of Canare 110 ohm balanced interconnect and the data represented the 24-bit Miller-Dunn J-Test signal sampled at 44.1kHz. With an ideal transmission system, all the pulse transitions in the datastream will overlay one another to produce an image of a wide-open “eye,” with just one trace visible. Fig.1 was taken with the original 44.1kHz data (no upsampling) plotted over one “unit cycle.” The eye is wide open, with no…

On top of a desk, an audio system must be able to deliver satisfying sound in a nonoptimal environment: a flat, reflective plane (the desktop) cluttered with keyboard (or maybe a laptop computer); a mouse; assorted papers, books, and trash; and, perpendicular to that, another flat, reflective plane (the computer display), which, if it’s not a tiny laptop screen, will block some of the soundwaves emanating from the speakers. Such sonically inhospitable spaces can consign 3D stereo imaging (and other desirable sonic traits) to the realm of the imagination. My workspace is especially challenging. My two-tier triangular desk is wedged into a corner and bisected by a diagonal roof line that cuts across the listening space at a 142° angle. You’d think that would boost the bass, but somehow, instead,…

Culture Factory USA (LP CFU01198). 2020. Jorma Kaukonen, prod.; Justin Guip, Dave McNair, engs. PERFORMANCE SONICS Guitar maestro Kaukonen shares top billing with guitarist/singer John Hurlbut in a downhome session of remarkable six-string storytelling, recorded as an offshoot of Kaukonen’s Quarantine Concerts from his Fur Peace Ranch guitar camp in southeast Ohio. The pair embark on an eight-song acoustic guitar journey featuring top-tier Americana from modern-day troubadours from Byrds’ founding members Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark to the Impressions’ Curtis Mayfield. Hurlbut, Fur Peace Ranch’s manager and Kaukonen’s longtime friend, delivers steady rhythms and all the vocals, a cross of early Dylan and primetime Prine. Kaukonen improvises as a lyrical guitar voice, blues string-bender, and emotional-motif painter. On the opening track, “Ballad of Easy Rider” (composed by McGuinn for the…

Greilsammer, piano Naïve V7084 (CD, auditioned in 24/96). 2020. Philipp Nedel, prod. and eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS If you have not yet encountered the astounding imagination of David Greilsammer, this recording could put him on your map. Raised in Israel, the Juilliard-trained pianist/conductor bases this recital on a dream that has haunted him since age 15. As he recounts, Greilsammer discovered himself trapped in an infinite labyrinth. After an unquantifiable period of confusion and terror, he allowed “fragments of numerous sonorities that were staring at each other, like stars in a galaxy,” to accompany him to the center of the maze. Greilsammer has managed to find his way out via this eclectic 19-selection journey that begins with Janáček’s solitude-filled “The Owl Has Not Flown Away!” from On an Overgrown Path and…

J. Peter Schwalm, pianos, electronics, programming; Arve Henriksen, trumpets, percussion, synthesizer, voices RareNoiseRecords RNR0125 (CD, also available as LP, download). 2020. J. Peter Schwalm, prod.; J. Peter Schwalm, Arve Henriksen, engs. PERFORMANCE SONICS Based in London, RareNoiseRecords is committed to erasing boundaries around jazz. Grab any five RareNoise releases, and you are likely to be alienated by one, thrilled by at least one, and aesthetically realigned by all five. Press notes state, “Neuzeit is not only a sonic commentary on this unstable age but a product of it.” German electroacoustic composer J. Peter Schwalm and Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen intended to go into a studio in the spring of 2020; the pandemic took away that option; they collaborated long-distance. Schwalm crafted compositions in Germany and sent mixes to Henriksen at…

I am not a fan of that amp designer who promoted his products by pointing a condescending finger while scolding audiophiles, like errant children, for preferring their records to sound “pleasant” rather than “accurate.”1 He reminds me of my least favorite teacher, Professor Grausamkeit, who was just like that and said similar things. Every time I smarted back, “Accurate to what?” he’d whack me with a wooden yardstick. Grausamkeit would twist my ear painfully while scolding me but would never explain what “accurate” sounded like or why it didn’t sound pleasant. Best I could figure, he meant gray and stern, like him, or bland and flavorless like our school lunches. Professor G was constantly reminding us, “Pleasure-seeking is a congenital defect that defines the ignorant classes.” Because of G, I…

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the loudspeaker’s frequency response in the farfield and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses, using the Sony SA-Z1’s single-ended analog inputs. I also used the Earthworks microphone to measure the Sony speaker’s farfield responses with the TosLink digital input. Looking first at the digital inputs, the TosLink optical input accepted S/PDIF data sampled at rates up to 96kHz. The USB port operated in the optimal isochronous asynchronous mode, and Apple’s USB Prober identified the system as “SA-Z1” from “Sony Corporation.” The Mac’s AudioMIDI utility revealed that the SA-Z1’s USB input accepts 16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer data sampled at all rates from 44.1kHz to 768kHz. When I investigated the enclosure’s vibrational behavior with a…

FULL DISCLOSURE: All jazz writers fantasize about owning a jazz label. These fantasies persist even in our post-CD, download era, when the record industry as we knew it has been laid to waste. It is reasonable to speculate that, as a reader of this magazine and therefore a music junkie, you may have had an entrepreneurial record label fantasy or two of your own. For us, it should be interesting to hear from Mark Feldman, because he actually did it. In fact, he did it twice. There is always a story behind the creation of a small indie jazz label. Usually, the story centers on one quixotic individual who is brave and foolish enough to take the plunge. In 1981, Feldman was invited by Robert E. Sunenblick to join his…

Parlophone 0190295332747 (LP). 2020. Bowie, Reeves Gabrels, Mark Plati, prods.; Ray Staff, mastering. PERFORMANCE SONICS “Warm” and “intimate” aren’t words usually associated with Bowie, but here they are apt. You’re placed up close as he rehearses for his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997. With him are three musicians: Gail Ann Dorsey (bass), Reeves Gabrels (guitar), and Mark Plati (keyboards). It could be described as acoustic Bowie if it weren’t for Gabrels’ chainsaw solo on the Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat.” It most definitely has an acoustic vibe. It opens with Bowie reclaiming “The Man Who Sold the World” from Nirvana’s unplugged cover. It and “Aladdin Sane” are the big hitters of the set; the latter has Bowie gently duetting with Dorsey in a delicately soulful rendition…

Sarah Brailey, soprano; Dashon Burton, bass-baritone; Experiential Orchestra and Chorus, James Blachly, cond. Chandos CHSA 5279 (CD). 2020. Blanton Alspaugh, prod.; Brandon Johnson, John Newton, engs. PERFORMANCE SONICS Dame Ethel Smyth didn’t call The Prison an oratorio, but it resembles Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Her musical idiom suggests the more advanced side of Vaughan Williams—think of the late cantatas and oratorios—although the opening of Part Two is pure Mendelssohn. Despite the somber subject matter, the piece is appealing. The music is melodious, but Smyth’s gift wasn’t for actual tunes; rather, she adeptly plays off contrasts within the orchestra and between it and the voices, using divided men’s and women’s parts as additional “instruments.” James Blatchly, leading the New York–based Experiential Orchestra and Chorus, has a fine feel for the…

Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Daniel Hope, violin; Kay Stern, Dawn Harms, Sean Mori, violins; Patricia Heller, viola; Emil Miland, cello Pentatone PTC5186879 (CD, auditioned as 24/96WAV). 2021. Steve Barnett, prod.; Preston Smith, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS The world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope headlines this extraordinary concert, performed entirely on instruments owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. The cycle, which tells the stories of instruments revivified by the Violins of Hope Project, begins with “Ashes,” about a violin whose case was filled with the ashes of those burned in the ovens, and ends with “Liberation,” inspired by the Liberation of Auschwitz. One of the most moving songs, “Motele,” recounts the tale of 12-year-old violin prodigy Mordechai “Motele” Schlein. With excerpts…

Hill, piano; Woody Shaw, Dizzy Reece, trumpet; Joe Farrell, saxes, flute, English horn; Robert Northern, French horn; Julian Priester, trombone; Howard Johnson, bass clarinet, tuba; Ron Carter, bass; Lenny White, drums Blue Note (2 LPs). 1969/2020. Michael Cuscuna, prod.; Rudy Van Gelder, eng.; Joe Harley, LP supervisor; Kevin Gray, LP mastering PERFORMANCE SONICS Andrew Hill’s Passing Ships is one of the great lost-tapes albums. Recorded in 1969, it was tossed in the vaults by Blue Note’s new corporate owners and remained unknown for three decades, even to discographers, until Hill, recalling it as one of his best sessions, urged Michael Cuscuna to dig it up. Hill was right: It’s a masterpiece. An astonishingly original pianist and composer, Hill came to Blue Note in the early ’60s and defined its free-jazz…

Ursa Major record brush Many thanks to Michael Fremer for including my record brush in his Analog Corner article in November. I am very pleased to have this chance to respond and would like to address two points. The Ursa Major brush was designed and developed here in Berlin and is entirely our own concept. (We do not distribute other companies’ products.) The main components are made by one of the few carbon fiber brush specialists at their facility in China, and the brushes are completed in house here in Berlin. It is a Registered EU Design and has a German “small patent.” The wood is cut and shaped in a nearby workshop staffed by workers with disabilities. It was the first wide, all–carbon fiber record brush—Ursa, the bear, a…

UK: CAMBRIDGESHIRE, ENGLAND Jonathan Scull, John Atkinson, and Herb Reichert Dammit! Tim de Paravicini, the Baron1 as he was known, passed from this mortal coil on December 17, 2020. I loved the guy. His deep, steeped, sharp-elbowed engineering bona fides in matters of electronics, cars, planes, and life earned him plaudits from all over the world. Tim was as tall as a redwood tree, towering over friends and acquaintances at shows. He was also never short of an opinion. His social graces online, of which there were none, created a good deal of heat and frustration. If he thought you said something foolish, even if not totally up a tree, he’d come at you with multisyllabic, colorful language. I always pulled him up by his shorts when he acted that…

When I studied physics at university too many years ago to admit, I learned about Occam’s razor. Many, many more years ago than that, Franciscan friar William of Occam stated that a hypothesis should provide the simplest possible explanation for a phenomenon. I apply Occam’s criterion to my audio system: It should be no more complicated than it need be. The D/A processors I have written about over the past few years—dCS Rossini and Vivaldi, MBL Noble Line N31, PS Audio Direct-Stream, Weiss DAC502—all have high-precision digital volume controls. I therefore haven’t had a conventional preamplifier in my system for a long time, instead connecting the processors’ balanced outputs directly to the power amplifiers. Even for LP playback—don’t tell Michael Fremer!—I connect the balanced, RIAA-equalized output of my Channel D…

In 1979, I visited Philips Electronics’ renowned Research Center in Eindhoven, Holland, to examine a prototype of what would eventually be called a compact disc player. In 1989, I returned to the Eindhoven lab to witness the birth of the first sigma-delta DACs, which eliminated the problem of large linearity errors at low recorded levels in resistor-ladder DACs. Perhaps the century-long presence of the Philips research center in the Netherlands led to the country being a hotbed of science-based audio engineering. Kees Schouhamer Immink, who was responsible for the optical-disc reading mechanism used by compact disc players, is Dutch, as are class-D amplifier authority Bruno Putzeys and loudspeaker designer Martijn Mensink, whose Dutch & Dutch 8C1 set new standards for carefully controlled dispersion. Respected Dutch engineer Peter van Willenswaard was…

Many established audio manufacturers owe their success, at least partly, to their components’ signature sound. Consider the laidback “pipe and slippers” mien of my 1978 Spendor BC-1 loudspeakers, the rich tonal palette of my Shindo Laboratory amplifiers, or the celebrated drive and timing of late-’50s era Thorens TD-124 and Garrard 301 turntables. Schiit Audio, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2020, is a relative upstart, but I think it belongs in that company. Schiit’s trademark sonic signature is defined by force, what Art Dudley used to call drive. That trait translates as momentum, energy, forward motion, boogie factor, and that other audiophile cliché, “PRaT” (pace, rhythm, and timing). Whatever you call that quality, it is, to me, an essential ingredient of great sound, however new or established the company that…

I shall always recall fondly the hours I spent shopping for used vinyl at my “local,” my favorite Portland, Maine, used record store. If you wanted great-sounding records of great music in very good condition, for just a few bucks, this was the place. My local did not carry much collectible vinyl, but that was okay: I was never really interested in the high-dollar stuff. It wasn’t until I moved to New York City that I started to wonder where it had all gone. The proprietor, I knew, traveled the country buying up collections. It was the ’00s; he would have encountered many valuable records—so where did they go? He was a total luddite—not the type to sell on eBay, I knew. One summer, I read What I Talk About…

Terrible Records (16/44.1, Qobuz). 2020. Reid, A.G. Cook, Rodaidh McDonald, prods. and engs. PERFORMANCE SONICS 24-year-old Alaska Reid split her childhood between Los Angeles and a small town in Montana. She started a band called Alyeska, which in 2017 put out an Americana-based album called Crush. She left that band and struck out on her own. Her courage is paying dividends. As a child, Reid adored the storytelling aspect of classic country stars like Patsy Cline and Merle Haggard and the more modern sounds of Lyle Lovett. Her early indie influences were The Breeders and Dinosaur Jr., whose producer, John Agnello, worked on Crush. A.G. Cook assisted in production on Big Bunny, along with Rodaidh McDonald, who has worked with Adele and Vampire Weekend. On the title track, recalling childhood…

New Amsterdam/Nonesuch NWAM146 (CD, download). 2020. Douglas Perkins, Tristan Perich, prods.; Han De Jonge, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS Tristan Perich might have a bit of a gimmick, but it’s a good one. More importantly, he’s good at executing it. Over the course of seven albums and many more performances, Perich has devised taut and intricate interminglings of acoustic instruments and 1-bit electronics. Cutting the digital sound to the single-bit quick—considerably more limited than the eight bits employed by Gameboy glitchers and their ilk—Perich is left with only tone, which can be switched on or off but with no color or dynamic control. He builds tightly metered patterns around electronic pulses and sculpts instrumental accompaniment around those. This could easily be considered mere novelty; if Perich weren’t such a good composer, that’s…

Feinberg, bass; Dave Liebman, soprano saxophone; Noah Preminger, tenor saxophone; Gary Versace, piano; Ian Froman, drums SteepleChase SCCD 31902 (CD, available as download). 2020. Nils Winther, prod.; Chris Sulit, eng. PERFORMANCE SONICS One of the deepest, richest repositories of modern mainstream American jazz is not in America but in Denmark, where Nils Winther has operated his SteepleChase label for almost half a century. From Where We Came is representative of Winther’s work. He finds creative, emerging musicians and records them in the best studios, including Chris Sulit’s Trading 8s in Paramus, New Jersey. It is common for young leaders to bring in heavy hitters, for credibility. Dave Liebman, Noah Preminger, and Gary Versace play brilliantly, but they never are out for themselves. Rather, they sound dedicated to elaborating Feinberg’s album…

Rollins, tenor sax; Ruud Jacobs, bass; Han Bennink, drums Resonance Records (2 CDs / 3 LPs). 1967/2020. Zev Feldman, Frank Johensen, David Weiss, prods.; George Klabin, Fran Gala, Bernie Grundman, engs. PERFORMANCE SONICS Stereophile’s music section exists to tout albums that offer good music and good sound, so I hesitated to review this album. A quarter sounds okay; the rest ranges from pretty bad to bad. The music, though, is so stunning—some of the greatest performances by Rollins, one of the great improvisers on tenor sax—that I’d feel remiss not alerting music lovers to its existence. The album captures Rollins at three sessions in the Netherlands in May 1967—at a recording studio (pretty good sound), a nightclub (pretty bad sound), and the Arnhem Academy of Visual Arts (bad sound, though…

I wrote an article for the March 2017 issue of Stereophile called “The Permanent Jazz Festival: The Rise of Europe and the Future of Jazz.” It presented two theses: that much of the energy in jazz now comes out of Europe, and that the best place to feel that energy is in the crowd at a European jazz festival. There are hundreds of them throughout the year. I had planned to write a sequel. I had three trips to Europe booked for 2020—all canceled of course. The loss of live music is not the worst casualty of the pandemic, but it matters. For now, the only sequel possible must be drawn from the past. This is not a sequel. This is a few memories to which I cling. Jazz in…