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1: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Accessing music library in Catalina (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2020-06-16, 12:30:40 (76.214.232.248)
And you didn't do regular backups? I hope you now appreciate the importance of that! In any event, since you don't have the iTunes Library.itl file, your situation is straightforward. You must import .......
2: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Accessing music library in Catalina (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2020-06-16, 01:08:24 (76.214.232.248)
• In the Mac Mini, select the icon of the external drive with the music files, do Get Info, and tick the checkbox "Ignore ownership on this volume". That makes permissions on that volume irrelevant. • .......
3: Computer Audio Asylum, Not less, just different (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2020-05-25, 18:17:50 (76.214.232.248)
Version 4 adds: Realtime audio input to permit input from a streaming service or CD transport. I use it with the Idagio and Qobuz apps. Control app (client) that can run on a different computer from t .......
4: Computer Audio Asylum, Version 4 of HQ Player dropped support for Mac exaSound ASIO driver (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2020-05-24, 17:29:29 (76.214.232.248)
Now it only supports Core Audio. (Version 4 was released April 2019.) .......
5: Classical Court, RE: Ms. CfL and I watched it earlier this evening (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2020-05-17, 01:28:01 (76.214.232.248)
That's because I hadn't watched it yet when I posted the link. Apparently, you finished it before I did :) I just watched it and found it enjoyable and illuminating. (Although de La Grange turned out .......
6: Classical Court, Mahler 2 documentary with Henry-Louis de La Grange (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2020-05-16, 16:23:42 (76.214.232.248)
Showing only for the next 21 hours: https://mahlerfest.org/mahlerfest-online/of-love-death-and-beyond/ .......
7: Computer Audio Asylum, Startup drive reformatted as APFS (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2020-02-10, 22:37:15 (76.214.232.248)
If you upgrade to Mojave (10.14) or Catalina (10.15), the installer will convert your startup drive from HFS+ to APFS. That should improve performance if the startup drive is an SSD or Fusion drive, b .......
8: Computer Audio Asylum, Why not ditch HQPlayer? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2019-12-23, 14:11:05 (76.214.232.248)
If you don't use HQP's upsampling, I can't think of any reason to use HQP at all. (Well, you could use its NAA to stream to a lightweight client, but it doesn't sound like you're doing that.) If you .......
9: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Qobuz SQ - my experience (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2019-12-22, 23:37:21 (76.214.232.248)
Chris, if you are using HQPlayer because you consider its upsampling algorithms to sound better than playing the original files without software upsampling, then you'd expect Qobuz to sound inferior i .......
10: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Apple Music app will not load my iTunes Library file (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2019-11-25, 23:58:09 (76.214.232.248)
Kirk McElhearn used to be the iTunes expert at Macworld magazine. Now he has a forum on the audiophilestyle site. You might try posting your question there: https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/forum/87 .......
11: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: OK, this is WEIRD!!! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2018-05-30, 16:52:21 (73.158.219.213)
In Audio MIDI, you should set your system output device to be something other than your DAC, such as "internal audio". .......
12: Speaker Asylum, RE: Nice price, and good savings, but? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-07-11, 13:59:01 (24.5.0.105)
FYI, the dealer you found who's $100 cheaper is unauthorized and states on his FAQ page that products they sell will NOT be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. .......
13: Speaker Asylum, KEF LS-50 20% off from Amazon today (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-07-11, 13:21:05 (24.5.0.105)
https://www.amazon.com/KEF-LS50-Mini-Monitor-Gloss/dp/B00EPDMDZ8 I'm one of the minority who doesn't like these speakers, but I'm posting this as a public service :) .......
14: Music Lane, Cymbals inaudible in Sanctus (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-05-08, 18:43:38 (24.5.0.105)
fwiw, one disappointment was that one of Berlioz' most inspired, other-woridly effects was completely lost. In the soft parts of the Sanctus, there are occasional soft taps on the bass drum and cymbal .......
15: Music Lane, Dutoit's Berlioz Requiem in San Francisco (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-05-08, 14:05:10 (24.5.0.105)
I'm flabbergasted by Joshua Kosman's negative review in the SF Chronicle. I felt the performance was perfectly paced and never dragged. The chorus under Dutoit employed superb gradations of dynamics a .......
16: Computer Audio Asylum, My late 2012 and 2010 Mini's boot without keyboard or mouse (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-04-05, 19:48:44 (71.202.136.156)
.......
17: Computer Audio Asylum, $10 dongle + optional SwitchRes software (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-04-05, 19:08:19 (71.202.136.156)
$10 "fit-Headless" dongle should do it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLZXGJ6 http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/fit-headless/ When using screen sharing to control my headless Mac Mini, I find .......
18: Hi-Rez Highway, Qobuz classical & jazz streaming service (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-01-24, 15:12:45 (71.202.136.156)
Qobuz has most of the major and minor labels and streams in uncompressed Redbook format. You must be in Europe to subscribe, but you can overcome that by subscribing via a proxy server such as Tunnel .......
19: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Mac Mini? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2017-01-04, 00:11:35 (71.202.136.156)
2012 was the last generation of the Mini that had a quad-core i7 configuration option. Perhaps you can find a used one on CraigsList. .......
20: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: iTunes and classical (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2016-12-16, 21:40:01 (71.202.136.156)
Unfortunately you still cannot display Work as a column in the column browser. Interestingly, the field called Grouping in English is Werk in the German localization of iTunes. .......
21: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Qobuz wont let me check out/won't calculate final price. US addy a problem? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2016-11-09, 17:33:56 (71.202.136.156)
Works fine for me. Try a different web browser. .......
22: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: 3Q 2016 players for MAC? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2016-10-24, 09:34:18 (71.202.136.156)
The new Macbook Pro, both 13" and 15", is expected to be announced in 3 days. .......
23: Speaker Asylum, Owner's Manual (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2015-08-24, 18:31:14 (71.202.136.156)
.......
24: Music Lane, Ligeti horn trio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2015-03-16, 15:55:36 (71.202.136.156)
Excellent performance, with Brahms horn trio: http://www.eclassical.com/neunecker-marie-luise/brahms-ligeti-horn-trios.html .......
25: Computer Audio Asylum, LG GE24NU40 is slow on initial tracks (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2015-03-02, 01:43:36 (71.202.136.156)
I bought the LG GE24NU40 a few months ago. (OWC's external optical drive also uses an LG mechanism.) Ripping CDs using XLD for Mac, I find the LG GE24NU40 reads the first 1 or 2 tracks of a CD extreme .......
26: Music Lane, RE: Clark Terry passes away at 94 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2015-03-01, 22:54:03 (71.202.136.156)
An excellent documentary film about him is "Keep On Keeping On". It mostly depicts his socializing with colleagues and mentoring a favorite current student during 1999-2013, when he already was too il .......
27: Computer Audio Asylum, iTunes metadata (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-09-09, 14:51:49 (71.202.136.156)
Audirvana Plus 2.0 (A2) was released today. Almost all the iTunes metadata is stored in standard tags within the music files themselves. Therefore, A2 reads and displays those tags, and any edits to t .......
28: Music Lane, RE: Sibelius non-orchestral music - recommendations? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-07-16, 12:24:38 (71.202.136.156)
As stated above, the string quartet op 56 "Intimate Voices" is his chamber music masterpiece. I have the Emerson, Guarneri and Tempera (BIS 1466) quartets. They are markedly different performances wit .......
29: Hi-Rez Highway, DG 24/96 on Pro Studio Masters (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-06-22, 23:02:07 (71.202.136.156)
Universal (DG, Philips, Decca) now has a small number of 24/96 downloads being sold at Pro Studio Masters. http://www.prostudiomasters.com/featured/genre/classical The albums appear to be listed in ra .......
30: Music Lane, Download cheaper; cf Mikko Franck (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-06-16, 01:14:12 (98.248.230.220)
http://www.eclassical.com/labels/bis/sibelius-lemminkainen-suite-the-wood-nymph.html However, I would not assume Vanska is better than Mikko Franck's widely acclaimed recording for Ondine: http://www. .......
31: Music Lane, Leontyne Price (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-05-20, 18:11:17 (98.248.230.220)
She was past her prime in 1984. I haven't heard that 1984 performance, but I heard her in recital about that time, and her voice was inconsistent. You might try her 1976 RCA recording of Forza with Do .......
32: Music Lane, Barber, Ballo (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-05-20, 18:00:25 (98.248.230.220)
1. Superb: Rossini's Barber of Seville with Lopardo, Domingo, Raimondi; Abbado conducting. 2. Oscar (relatively small role) in Verdi's Ballo en Maschera with M. Price, Pavarotti, Bruson; Solti conduct .......
33: Music Lane, Bjorling, Warren & De Los Angeles all superb (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-03-29, 23:57:28 (98.248.230.220)
De Los Angeles and Warren are equally superb in that recording. I especially like De Los Angeles' acting (with her voice) in the final scene when she's trying to prevent Pagliaccio from transitioning .......
34: Computer Audio Asylum, Definitely USB 2, not 3 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2014-03-25, 01:42:49 (98.248.230.220)
The GearSlutz thread quotes a 3/20/14 post by BJ on the MIO list serv. Here is the portion about USB 2: "why we choose USB2 as the baseline: 1) Every single device you would want to use these with sup .......
35: Music Lane, BIS and Harmonia Mundi: daily 1/2 price selection (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-12-25, 21:24:19 (24.5.11.169)
Today's 1/2 price specials (probably ending 3 hours from now) are both superb performances: From BIS: Bach Brandenburg Concertos and Orchestral Suites, performed by Suzuki's Bach Collegium Japan From .......
36: Music Lane, +1 for Bowyer (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-11-01, 00:52:16 (24.5.11.169)
One of the most exciting. (Fagius is relatively nondescript.) .......
37: Music Lane, Klemperer v. Bernstein (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-09-22, 14:42:25 (24.5.11.169)
I have the 24/96 download. I think it sounds as good as you can expect from that vintage. Klemperer is unusually lively for a mass that is supposed to be "solemn", but I really like that. (I can't thi .......
38: Music Lane, RE: Faure Recommendations (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-08-23, 23:55:44 (24.5.11.169)
Piano Quartet 1. My favorite is Rubinstein & Guarneri Quartet members. For orchestral music, I'm surprised no one mentioned the Pelléas & Mélisande suite. Violin Sonatas: I haven't heard the Shlomo Mi .......
39: Computer Audio Asylum, What version of OS X are you using? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-08-04, 02:55:30 (24.5.11.169)
OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was the last version that supported integer mode. OS X 10.7 and 10.8 (Mt Lion) do not, so the integer mode option in Pure Music will be grayed out. Audirvana developed a work- .......
40: Computer Audio Asylum, Sound prefs (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-07-12, 00:07:49 (24.5.11.169)
With Audirvana, the DAC is selected in Audirvana, not in Sound Prefs or Audio MIDI. However, it is useful to set system alerts to internal audio. This can be done either in Audio MIDI Setup or in OS .......
41: Music Lane, John Ogden (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-07-06, 16:53:22 (24.5.11.169)
The July issues of Fanfare magazine and American Record Guide both reviewed a recording of piano works composed and performed by John Ogden. The ARG reviewer described Ogden's music as similar to Sora .......
42: Music Lane, Carlos Kleiber (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-06-22, 16:04:50 (24.5.11.169)
I think Carlos Kleiber developed a cult reputation partly because he recorded so seldom. I find his much praised Beethoven 5th & 7th more aggressive than I'm usually in the mood for, although they cer .......
43: Music Lane, Chandos slow downloads (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-03-15, 03:29:50 (24.5.11.169)
Although downloads from TheClassicalShop are excruciatingly slow, I've found their downloader completely reliable in Mac OS X Snow Leopard. (Haven't tried it in Mountain Lion.) .......
44: Hi-Rez Highway, SACDs from 44.1 masters? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-03-15, 03:25:34 (24.5.11.169)
Which classical labels release SACDs based on recordings originally captured at 44.1 KHz sample rate? (I'm merely asking if a list exists somewhere. I'm not making a value judgment, and I hope this qu .......
45: Music Lane, Guarneri Quartet documentary (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-03-11, 03:45:52 (24.5.11.169)
"High Fidelity" is an enjoyable 1989 documentary of the daily routine of the Guarneri Quartet. With its interesting displays of their contrasting personalities, you wonder how they could spend so much .......
46: Music Lane, 24/96 download (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-03-08, 00:03:52 (24.5.11.169)
I like it too. It was recorded in 24/96 format, which you can download from eClassical. http://www.eclassical.com/performers/poltera-christian/christian-poltera-plays-samuel-barber.html .......
47: Music Lane, Western harmony is not innate (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-02-26, 23:11:24 (24.5.11.169)
Here's some research that refutes the thesis of Leonard Bernstein's Norton Lectures, among others, that our sense of what chords are harmonious versus unpleasant is innate .......
48: Music Lane, Lutoslawski on Chandos (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-02-15, 00:42:33 (24.5.11.169)
My favorite music tends to be 19th C, so I won't mention any of that, but one 20th C album on Chandos that I like very much is devoted to Lutoslawski: 4th Symphony, Piano Concerto, Paganini Variations .......
49: Music Lane, Fournier/Kempff (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-01-21, 19:15:04 (24.5.11.169)
although I haven't heard Fournier/Gulda. I find Muller-Schott & Hewitt much too fussy, with numerous sudden shifts in tempo and dynamics. .......
50: Computer Audio Asylum, Why use 3rd party VNC server? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-01-21, 19:01:22 (24.5.11.169)
Simply enable Screen Sharing (OS X Prefs > Sharing) to turn on the VNC server built into OS X. .......
51: Computer Audio Asylum, iZotope SRC settings (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-01-20, 19:22:18 (24.5.11.169)
Tony, don't you mean Steepness=32, not 0.32? FWIW, for upsampling Redbook to 176 using iZotope SRC in Audirvana, I use: Cutoff frequency (offset) = 0.83 (18.3 KHz) Steepness = 8 Of course, lower steep .......
52: Computer Audio Asylum, Cedille records is great (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-01-20, 11:47:06 (24.5.11.169)
They are a non-profit that supports Chicago area composers and performers. I particularly like Jennifer Koh's Schumann sonatas. I also like the Pacifica Quartet's Mendelssohn, Carter 5 and Miaskowsky. .......
53: Music Lane, Peter Serkin (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2013-01-15, 21:41:21 (24.5.11.169)
Alexander Schneider, Michael Tree, David Soyer, Julius Levine, 1965, originally on Vanguard label. Very charming perf. Peter Serkin was only 18 years old! .......
54: Computer Audio Asylum, Buffering (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-12-20, 13:09:12 (24.5.11.169)
FYI, Pure Music decompresses tracks before loading them into memory, but I don't know whether upsampling is performed before loading or during realtime playback. Audirvana Plus (Mac-only) buffers two .......
55: Computer Audio Asylum, Steve, did you (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-12-20, 12:27:25 (24.5.11.169)
test it with music that plays continuously between tracks, so that any interruption would be obvious? .......
56: Computer Audio Asylum, Gapless problem: Feedback requested on proposed solution (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-12-20, 01:43:08 (24.5.11.169)
Like JackC, I experience a 1/3 second break between tracks, even with Gapless and Hybrid memory play turned on in 1.89d4. One possible solution would be for Rob to modify the behavior of Hybrid mode s .......
57: Music Lane, Scott Ross is superb (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-12-19, 22:48:38 (24.5.11.169)
. .......
58: Computer Audio Asylum, Documentation w/o installing Xcode (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-12-13, 19:46:43 (24.5.11.169)
You can view the documentation as HTML or download PDFs of the Guides and References. (A PDF link is in the upper right corner of the main page for each Guides or Reference.) .......
59: Music Lane, BIS & Pentatone: 1/2 price daily selection (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-11-30, 17:14:52 (24.5.11.169)
Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 24, eClassical will be offering two different albums at half price, one each from BIS and Pentatone. .......
60: Computer Audio Asylum, iTunes *does* store tags in the files (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-11-28, 02:09:44 (24.5.11.169)
Title, album, artist, album artist, group, recording date, track number & disc number are all stored in the music files. This data is preserved even if you trash the iTunes database file. Metadata tha .......
61: Music Lane, Elizabeth Soderstrom (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-11-28, 02:02:23 (24.5.11.169)
A rendition by Soderstrom and Kirsten Meyer is only $0.56 on eClassical. (You can buy this track alone.) .......
62: Music Lane, RE: Gaspard de la Nuit...? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-10-28, 12:18:20 (24.5.11.169)
Cecile Licad for an unusually romantic interpretation. .......
63: Music Lane, RE: Vienna State Opera, Musikverein advice wanted (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-10-22, 23:51:01 (24.5.11.169)
If you eat before going to the Staatsoper, leave room for dessert at intermission. They have incredible pastries! Opera tickets are much easier to come by than tickets at the Musikverein, so you might .......
64: Music Lane, Levine Mahler (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-30, 00:19:05 (24.5.11.169)
I think the Levine Mahler sounds quite good, but I don't have an earlier version to compare. Performance-wise, Levine's 10th (Cooke 2) is my favorite of any recording I've heard. (Admittedly, I haven' .......
65: Music Lane, Bruckner by Gunter Wand (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-30, 00:15:16 (24.5.11.169)
I expect you're better off with the 1990's digital recordings on RCA with Wand conducting the Berlin Phil. .......
66: Music Lane, Parametric EQ (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-30, 00:11:29 (24.5.11.169)
My Metric Halo DAC has parametric EQ. I find that a dip of 2 dB centered at 3.5 to 4 KHz tames screechy violins but does not rob the music of air like the high frequency shelf of a typical treble cont .......
67: Computer Audio Asylum, Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-15, 17:45:56 (24.5.11.169)
... can copy (i.e., backup) an OS X startup volume to a 2nd volume so that the 2nd volume is bootable. You can backup the old SSD OS X volume to a hard drive volume, replace the SSD, boot from the har .......
68: Computer Audio Asylum, DSD playback in OS X (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-12, 23:21:03 (24.5.11.169)
Audirvana Plus and Pure Music are two music player programs for OS X that will play DSD files. Since your DAC lacks DSD capability, both programs can convert the DSD to PCM in real time. Alternatively .......
69: Computer Audio Asylum, Miska (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-12, 23:12:18 (24.5.11.169)
Tony, I believe these are the two threads Ted recommended: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/native-dsd-files-hqplayer-and-mytek-stereo192-dsd-10294/ http://www.computeraudiophile.com .......
70: Computer Audio Asylum, Not actually bypassing Core Audio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-08, 17:43:07 (24.5.11.169)
Apple defines Core Audio as having three software layers: (1) Applications-level Services, (2) Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), and (3) Drivers (kernel extensions) that interface directly with hardwa .......
71: Computer Audio Asylum, Hyperion classical 25% off, including 24/96 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-07, 17:29:37 (24.5.11.169)
Hyperion began offering 24/96 "studio master" downloads of some albums 3 months ago, as "Russell" pointed out. If you pre-pay for £59 of purchases, you get a 25% discount, i.e., they charge you £44 fo .......
72: Computer Audio Asylum, Composer v. Artist (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-05, 00:38:53 (24.5.11.169)
Bill, I agree with you regarding the iOS Remote app, but not regarding the iTunes program on a Mac or PC. In the latter case, if you turn on the "column browser", you can select Genre, Composer, Artis .......
73: Computer Audio Asylum, Composer, Artist, Album & Date (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-06-04, 16:36:11 (24.5.11.169)
The iTunes main browser can display the composer tag in a column, so I do not include the composer in the artist tag. I agree with the approach of using the album tag to represent a complete work rath .......
74: Music Lane, Schumann (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-05-18, 14:54:08 (24.5.11.169)
The DG CD recommended by Brian also includes a fantastic 1967 Dichterliebe with Demus. The CD is widely available in Europe, but in the US the only reasonably priced ($10 + $3 shipping) source is Aria .......
75: Computer Audio Asylum, Mendelssohn too (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-05-03, 20:59:59 (24.5.11.169)
I also recommend Brautigam's recording on BIS of the youthful Mendelssohn concerto for piano, violin & string orchestra. (The other 3 pieces on the album are inferior, IMHO, even though composed later .......
76: Music Lane, Serkin/Szell: 2005 remaster (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-05-02, 02:30:20 (24.5.11.169)
There's a hard-to-find 2005 CD remaster of the Serkin/Szell that sounds much better than previous incarnations: http://www.amazon.com/Brahms-Piano-Concerto-Pieces-Op-119/dp/B0007N1A40 http://www.arkiv .......
77: Music Lane, Cookie Marenco 2007 album for pennies, today only (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-03-31, 17:23:48 (24.5.11.169)
24/96 and DSD downloads are 10 cents each for the entire album, today only: http://bluecoastrecords.downloadsnow.net/discount (I'm not offering any opinion on the music, since I'm a classical fan.) :: .......
78: Computer Audio Asylum, Mytek/Rigisystems USB driver is Async? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-03-09, 23:04:12 (24.5.11.169)
Ted: Any confirmation from Mytek re whether the USB driver actually is "async", i.e., whether the word clock in the DAC performs flow control of data sent from the computer to the DAC? Mytek's manual .......
79: Computer Audio Asylum, What do you mean by memory cache? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-02-26, 10:59:08 (24.5.11.169)
If you mean the memory reported in Activity Monitor as Inactive (green), there is no point in freeing this. It is available for instant use by any application that needs it, so it effectively is the s .......
80: Tape Trail, Thanks Tony & soundnut! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-01-23, 01:14:15 (24.5.11.169)
nt .......
81: Tape Trail, 15 to 25 year old cassettes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-01-20, 21:12:24 (24.5.11.169)
I would appreciate advice on whether playing old cassette tapes in my car's tape player is likely to cause oxide or other material to flake off and damage the tape player. I originally recorded the ta .......
82: Computer Audio Asylum, Credit Card v. PayPal (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2012-01-10, 21:43:28 (24.5.11.169)
Tony, do you use any payment methods other than PayPal to avoid disclosing your credit card number to merchants? If buyer and seller are both in the US, credit cards provide the buyer much better prot .......
83: Music Lane, 10th is superb (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-09-29, 23:23:37 (24.5.11.169)
My overall favorite recording of the 10th (Cooke 2). The other symphonies strike me as solid but unexceptional. I agree the sound is excellent. .......
84: Computer Audio Asylum, Pure Music stops between tracks? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-09-24, 13:52:31 (24.5.11.169)
@panelhead (George): You said "when I went to play another album". Were you perusing your iTunes Library when PM stopped? If so, the problem is mostly iTunes rather than PM. If you perform certain ac .......
85: Music Lane, MP3 only (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-08-28, 02:01:23 (24.5.11.169)
Unless I'm missing something, the Naxos download store only has 25 lossless albums. The other thousands of albums are MP3 only, including EMI. To see the lossless albums, go to the ClassicsOnline home .......
86: Music Lane, Serkin & Fleisher (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-08-23, 18:43:47 (24.5.11.169)
#2 is one of my absolute favorite pieces, and definitely the best piano concerto ever written. Serkin/Szell moves me far more than any recording I know. The best remastering is from 2004 called "The A .......
87: Music Lane, Kind of Blue remastered by Pristine Classical (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-08-18, 01:58:42 (24.5.11.169)
Under the title "Notes on the recordings", halfway down this web page, is a description of this remastering engineer's methodology: .......
88: General Asylum, Fios modem (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-08-11, 02:10:20 (24.5.11.169)
I don't see how a software or internet connectivity problem could cause your screen to intermittently go black. I suspect it's an electrical problem caused by a defect in the Fios modem. In fact, I'd .......
89: Computer Audio Asylum, Wiebe & Samsung (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-08-09, 20:39:10 (24.5.11.169)
I've been researching this, but haven't decided yet. Hitachi drives don't seem to get good feedback for reliability. (All drive brands are much less reliable than they used to be.) Wiebe's ToughTech .......
90: Music Lane, Cat wins prize for piano composition (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-07-19, 18:17:47 (24.5.11.169)
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/a-musically-inclined-feline-mews-her-last/ .......
91: Music Lane, Giulini, Wand, Barenboim (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-07-12, 22:21:07 (24.5.11.169)
For #9 I like Giulini/Chicago. For #4, 7 & 8 I like Wand/Berlin and Barenboim/Berlin. Beware that in #8 by Wand/Berlin, the engineers used gain-riding to squash the climaxes. I find Abbado more exciti .......
92: Computer Audio Asylum, ChronoSync: yes, it will backup network drives (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-07-02, 00:49:10 (24.5.11.169)
Excellent, versatile program. So far, they have never charged for an upgrade! The program is so versatile that the number of options in the interface can be intimidating. In the popup menu between the .......
93: Computer Audio Asylum, Convert FLAC to Apple Lossless (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-05-11, 21:58:21 (24.5.11.169)
using a free program such as sbooth Max or XLD. .......
94: Computer Audio Asylum, Passionato (DG): tracks truncated (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-05-01, 17:15:51 (24.5.11.169)
I just purchased several lossless FLAC (Redbook, not hi-res) classical DG albums from the Passionato website. So far I have discovered truncated tracks in two of the albums. By "truncated" I mean that .......
95: Computer Audio Asylum, Protect yourself with "virtual" credit card number (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-05-01, 16:49:50 (24.5.11.169)
Some banks, including Chase and Bank of America, offer virtual credit card numbers for online purchases. You use the bank's website to create a new virtual credit card number for each vendor, and opti .......
96: Computer Audio Asylum, Apple Documentation (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-04-22, 22:32:09 (24.5.11.169)
Be sure to download the guide "Apple Airport Networks" (the early 2009 edition is the most recent): http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Apple_AirPort_Networks_Early2009.pdf In particular, see the sect .......
97: Computer Audio Asylum, Pure Music customer service praise (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-04-21, 16:18:55 (24.5.11.169)
I confirm that my last email to Rob merely closed the loop on our discussion and did not require a response. (I had expected a brief confirmation, but in retrospect I see that my email did not require .......
98: Computer Audio Asylum, Re: Email Pure Music (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-04-14, 20:38:14 (24.5.11.169)
Rob Robinson normally is extremely responsive, regardless of whether you are registered or a demo user. I suspect some personal or business exigency is occupying him right now. He and I were exchangin .......
99: Speaker Asylum, Try the VMPS forum on AudioCircle (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-04-02, 00:48:24 (24.5.11.169)
nt .......
100: Music Lane, Wand's Bruckner (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-03-30, 00:51:10 (24.5.11.169)
If the description is accurate, these are Wand's recordings in Köln. At the end of his life he re-recorded for RCA several of the Bruckner symphonies with the Berlin Phil (4, 5, 7, 8, 9). I haven't he .......
101: Computer Audio Asylum, What is "sample offset" or "drive-specific offset"? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-03-26, 03:00:43 (24.5.11.169)
Are these two terms synonymous? Are they merely a number of zero-valued samples preceding the music? .......
102: Computer Audio Asylum, SuperDuper (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-03-11, 01:28:28 (76.102.92.64)
SuperDuper, recommended by Abe Collins, is reliable and easy to use. WD external drives have been troublesome as backup drives because they have a sleep function that cannot be disabled. I don't know .......
103: Computer Audio Asylum, That's a synagogue?? (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-01-10, 20:57:46 (76.102.92.64)
nt .......
104: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: ITunes/Airtunes: Best Way to Significantly Boost WiFi Range? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2011-01-02, 02:29:39 (76.102.92.64)
Use a sniffer program such as iStumbler (donation-ware) to see what WiFi channels your neighbors are using, then configure the Airport Extreme router to use a fixed channel as far away from theirs as .......
105: Computer Audio Asylum, iFixit (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-12-30, 16:48:54 (76.102.92.64)
Another great resource for tear-down instructions and parts for Macs: http://www.ifixit.com/ .......
106: Computer Audio Asylum, File Sharing versus iTunes Sharing (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-11-23, 22:19:04 (76.102.92.64)
My explanation assumed you were not using iTunes sharing, but that you were using file sharing to mount the volume containing the music files on the desktop of each Mac running iTunes. Since I've neve .......
107: Computer Audio Asylum, Each computer has its own library database file (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-11-22, 19:25:18 (76.102.92.64)
To elaborate the responses from J.Mac & hermanesque: Each computer can have a different version of iTunes and can have its own local copy of the library database file (the file named iTunes Library wi .......
108: Computer Audio Asylum, Safari test on innersong download (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-11-13, 16:05:36 (76.102.92.64)
Tony, I hope this test is meaningful to Innersong patrons who use Mac OS X: Using the Safari browser included in OS X, I initiated a download of "Megha Tumi" on the free downloads page. I interrupted .......
109: Computer Audio Asylum, Apple's Safari browser (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-11-12, 19:11:05 (76.102.92.64)
... supports the resume function. The Downloads window (Safari > Window menu > Downloads or keyboard shortcut option-command-L) lists all current and recent downloads. An incomplete download has an or .......
110: Computer Audio Asylum, AyreWave and Ayre? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-10-17, 02:19:07 (76.102.92.64)
Does the name AyreWave signify a connection to Ayre and Wavelength Audio? Charles, did you fund Steve Booth to develop AyreWave? Is it intended to be a commercial product jointly owned by Ayre and Ste .......
111: Computer Audio Asylum, Volume (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-10-17, 01:57:24 (76.102.92.64)
Looks promising. An immediate concern is that there is no display of the volume setting, no preference to set the default volume, and no guidance as to what volume setting is bit-perfect. .......
112: Computer Audio Asylum, Play, VLC & XLD (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-10-14, 22:42:24 (76.102.92.64)
Play and VLC are both free players. VLC may be simpler for manually playing one file at a time. Play has a queue, browser interface, and filters, so it is better for organizing many files. Although no .......
113: Computer Audio Asylum, Excessive Heat (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-10-03, 11:49:52 (76.102.92.64)
The original Time Capsule runs quite hot, which accelerates component failure. I had one replaced under the 3 year Apple Care warranty I had purchased. The replacement Apple gave me of the same model .......
114: Computer Audio Asylum, New features in iPhone/iPod version? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-09-30, 00:19:50 (76.102.92.64)
For iPhone/iPod users, are there any new features besides Ping? None were apparent to me. .......
115: Computer Audio Asylum, Czech Radio FLAC clipping? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-09-29, 19:34:29 (76.102.92.64)
Has anyone noticed that music streamed from internet radio station Czech Radio d-dur in 16/48 FLAC format suffers clipping? In one recording, the audio editor software Amadeus Pro reported an average .......
116: Computer Audio Asylum, Reason for "feature" #1 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-09-03, 19:41:29 (76.102.92.64)
FWIW, Apple's explanation for "feature" #1 is that multiple applications can simultaneously send (or receive) audio to (or from) a given audio hardware device. If applications were empowered to change .......
117: Computer Audio Asylum, Yes, it is a bug (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-09-03, 09:12:17 (76.102.92.64)
Gordon, I think there is confusion here between two issues. You are correct that Apple engineers say they do not want iTunes to automatically change the sample rate setting in Audio MIDI Setup based o .......
118: Computer Audio Asylum, iTunes 10 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-09-01, 14:15:50 (76.102.92.64)
An Apple software engineer responsible for iTunes confirmed today that iTunes 10 still does not fix the well-known sample rate bug. (The bug is that iTunes locks onto the sample rate setting in Audio .......
119: Music Lane, RE: Hotter (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-08-13, 21:29:46 (67.188.100.196)
I have 2 by Hotter: 1942 with Raucheisen, and 1954 with Gerald Moore. Listening to them just now, I enjoyed them much more than I remembered, and there is more variety of expression than I remembered, .......
120: Music Lane, Yes, it's one of Kissin's best recordings (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-08-13, 00:10:28 (67.188.100.196)
I think the entire set is great. If you buy it, beware that the opening of the Emperor concerto has Kissin's typical off-putting eccentricity, but he quickly settles down into a superb, non-eccentric .......
121: Music Lane, Thomas Hampson (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-08-12, 23:59:07 (67.188.100.196)
... rates above some of those you mentions, IMHO. Hampson does a great job of conveying the emotional volatility of a young man rejected by his first serious love. I don't like Hotter in this. His exp .......
122: Computer Audio Asylum, More Wispelwey (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-07-29, 22:57:09 (67.188.100.196)
I enthusiastically recommend his 2003 recording with pianist Dejan Lazic of sonatas by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Britten. Lazic is marvelous as well. His Bach cello suites are often praised, but the .......
123: Computer Audio Asylum, 256 kbs Ogg Vorbis is best available (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-07-28, 21:59:46 (67.188.100.196)
Or so it seems from: http://www.rozhlas.cz/d-dur/english/ If someone discovers a new secret URL for the FLAC transmission, please let us know. The old one does not work: http://amp1.cesnet.cz:8000/cro .......
124: Computer Audio Asylum, Thanks, Marc! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-07-15, 00:00:06 (67.188.100.196)
nt .......
125: Computer Audio Asylum, Mac same, except for Toslink (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-07-14, 12:28:18 (67.188.100.196)
OS X is the same as you describe, except for Toslink. That is, if you have several audio devices connected via USB or Firewire, you can direct the output of different audio applications to different d .......
126: Computer Audio Asylum, Minor annoyance of Mac Toslink output (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-07-13, 21:49:39 (67.188.100.196)
When a Toslink connector is inserted, the Toslink output takes over the role of the Mac's internal speakers. Consequently, alert sounds produced by OS X will be transmitted to your DAC, which may or m .......
127: Computer Audio Asylum, What network? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-07-02, 20:33:59 (67.188.100.196)
Is the DSL modem connected directly to your Mac, or do you have a wireless router (such as an Apple Airport base station) connected between the DSL modem and the Mac? Does the DSL modem have a built-i .......
128: Music Lane, Met Opera summer re-runs in movie theaters (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-06-16, 20:10:30 (67.188.100.196)
Is the audio quality the same during the summer re-runs as during the live HD video broadcasts? I attended Aida tonight, and it seemed more muffled and distorted than I remember the live broadcasts of .......
129: Computer Audio Asylum, Amarra 4 & LIO-8 have same connectors (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-21, 23:22:10 (67.188.100.196)
Mercman, I think you're looking at an obsolete description of Amarra 4 that was based on the Metric Halo 2882 rather than the current Amarra 4 based on the Metric Halo ULN-8/LIO-8. Before Metric Halo .......
130: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: LIO-8 or Amarra Four ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-21, 22:44:08 (67.188.100.196)
The hardware and software interface are identical, so there is no difference in connectivity or setup. If the price is the same, the +DSP in the Amarra 4 might be useful to you in future -- for exampl .......
131: Computer Audio Asylum, Defense of Computer Audiophile forum (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-19, 01:09:43 (67.188.100.196)
This is in response to the criticism of Chris Connaker's Computer Audiophile forum in the Halide Bridge thread a few days ago. My interest in the Computer Audiophile (CA) site is mainly the discussion .......
132: Computer Audio Asylum, Zero Latency Convolver: seems impossible (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-04, 16:12:33 (24.4.238.156)
I agree that it's a mystery how any program can perform a convolution with zero latency. By definition a convolution requires a delay equal to the length of the impulse response. As you say, perhaps .......
133: Computer Audio Asylum, Thanks, Alan! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-04, 15:40:53 (24.4.238.156)
Your feedback will ease the way for the rest of us! .......
134: Computer Audio Asylum, Jack and Fink for OS X (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-03, 18:31:04 (24.4.238.156)
Jack: Sorry, but I cannot be of help. I was confused by Jack's user interface for routing inputs and outputs, so I quickly gave up on it in favor of Audio Hijack Pro. Fink: http://www.finkproject.org/ .......
135: Computer Audio Asylum, Audio Hijack Pro (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-02, 16:38:33 (24.4.238.156)
If you don't want to be limited to using Pure Music, Audio Hijack Pro is a $32 shareware program similar to Jack but with a much friendlier interface that can host AU plugins. You can easily cascade m .......
136: Computer Audio Asylum, Convolver Plugins for OS X (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-05-02, 16:32:09 (24.4.238.156)
I superficially investigated convolver plugins but haven't actually tried them yet. Here are two that look promising: Gleetchlab, free: www.gleetchplug.com/Gleetchplug/Software SIR, $200: www.knufinke .......
137: Computer Audio Asylum, I agree! (but Mac software is not censored) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-04-10, 02:11:56 (24.4.238.156)
Thanks, Tony! As the iPad evolves toward replacing more and more of the functions of a laptop, it's scary that Apple controls what apps you can install. I would not want Apple to censor what apps I ca .......
138: Computer Audio Asylum, Antelope Clock Dither (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-04-10, 00:58:55 (24.4.238.156)
The external master clock products from Antelope and dCS dither the clock frequency, but apparently for different reasons. According to dCS, if an external master clock is connected to a DAC that uses .......
139: Computer Audio Asylum, Wireless Controller (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-04-08, 01:51:54 (24.4.238.156)
The Squeezebox Touch user guide refers to a wireless Controller, but I cannot find any info on the Controller on the Logitech website. Has the Controller been released yet? If I installed a SB Touch i .......
140: Computer Audio Asylum, Czech translation (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-03-25, 02:09:57 (24.4.238.156)
I find Google Translations extremely helpful when I cannot figure out some of the Czech text from context. It is almost instantaneous. .......
141: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: M2 Tech Hi Face (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-03-13, 21:12:32 (24.4.238.156)
The manufacturer is aware of the bug in the Mac driver and is working on an update. Scroll down to the penultimate post on this page: .......
142: Music Lane, Q re MET Opera "Simon Boccanegra" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-02-23, 15:03:42 (24.4.238.156)
Question for anyone who saw it in person or in the live broadcast to movie theaters: This opera has 4 acts (Prologue + Acts 1-3), but the Met is having only 2 intermissions. Does anyone know which act .......
143: Computer Audio Asylum, Unimpressive Demo (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-01-27, 00:51:58 (24.4.238.156)
Paul McGowan, in conjunction with a dealer, demo'd the PWT and PWD (without Bridge) to our local audio society a few months ago. The loudspeakers were the top model of the KEF range. Don't recall what .......
144: Computer Audio Asylum, Disable iTunes Store (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2010-01-02, 21:24:17 (24.4.238.156)
Go to iTunes Preferences > Parental Control. There are a few checkboxes next to Disable, the relevant one being "iTunes Store". .......
145: Computer Audio Asylum, Too Late (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-12-31, 21:12:12 (24.4.238.156)
It's 9 PM Pacific Time, but they apparently based the cutoff on GMT rather than local time. Bummer. .......
146: Music Lane, Another vote for Mahler 10th (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-12-31, 20:57:57 (24.4.238.156)
The CD remastering is surprisingly clean, and the orchestral execution is outstanding. I like it better than the other two I own (Litton and Rattle), but I wish Bernstein had recorded the entire Mahle .......
147: Music Lane, Amazon classical search: Performer field useless (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-12-28, 14:35:16 (24.4.238.156)
Here's a vital tip for anyone attempting to use Amazon's "advanced search" page for classical music: You must enter performer names in the Keyword field, NOT the Performer field. If you enter anything .......
148: Computer Audio Asylum, GUI scripting program: Startly "QuicKeys" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-12-23, 01:23:57 (24.4.238.156)
http://www.startly.com/ .......
149: Hi-Rez Highway, Why not rename this the SACD asylum? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-12-15, 00:43:57 (24.5.8.162)
Chris, I agree with you that it's logical to post discussion of Hi-Res downloads in the PC Asylum. In that case, it would reduce confusion to rename this the SACD asylum since SACD is the only Hi-Res .......
150: Hi-Rez Highway, I concur: SACD & hi-rez downloads are unrelated (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-12-14, 15:06:59 (24.5.8.162)
...because it is rare that a recording is available in both SACD and high-rez download formats. In fact, I'd be grateful to learn of any classical label that does routinely offer both formats. Of cour .......
151: Computer Audio Asylum, No one completely bypasses Core Audio (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-12-12, 15:22:50 (24.5.8.162)
Core Audio is a multi-layer architecture. The top layer is called Application-Level Services. The next-highest layer is called Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). There are two layers below HAL: I/O Kit .......
152: Computer Audio Asylum, Carbon Copy Cloner is Mac only (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-11-25, 09:55:31 (24.5.8.162)
. .......
153: Computer Audio Asylum, Carbon Copy Cloner will work (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-11-24, 22:58:44 (24.5.8.162)
In the "Cloning options" popup menu, select "incremental backup". Then un-check the checkbos "Delete items that don't exist on the source". .......
154: Computer Audio Asylum, XLD detects FLAC corruption ignored by Max (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-11-24, 12:30:13 (24.5.8.162)
I just discovered some notes I made stating that XLD is more reliable than Max for FLAC conversion. XLD is an open source program that can covert FLAC files and can rip CD's using the CD Paranoia algo .......
155: Computer Audio Asylum, FLAC conversion to M4A or AIFF (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-11-24, 11:12:01 (24.5.8.162)
If I understand the original question, the problem is not high versus low quality playback, it is that the music files are not playing at all. I expect this is because he is downloading FLAC files. iT .......
156: Computer Audio Asylum, OS X SRC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-11-02, 03:28:12 (24.5.8.162)
The quality of the SRC in OS X Core Audio is determined by 2 parameters, Quality and Complexity, each of which has a few possible values that represent different quality levels. I cannot find any docu .......
157: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Sampling Rate to Choose in Audio Midi Settings in Mac. (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-11-01, 11:26:17 (24.5.8.162)
In a 9/12/09 post on Apple's "Core Audio API" discussion list, an Apple programmer on the iTunes team confirmed that the need to quit and relaunch iTunes when you change the sample rate is a bug in iT .......
158: Music Lane, Oue is unemotional (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-10-09, 23:57:54 (24.5.8.162)
Clean and precise, but not at all romantic, which is antithetical to Rachmaninoff. Ashkenazy is much better IMO. .......
159: Computer Audio Asylum, Symbolic Link ?? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-10-02, 19:35:23 (24.5.8.162)
This is just a wild guess, since I don't have Amarra installed, but you might try creating a symbolic link with a much shorter name that points to a problematic music file. Try it on one file and see .......
160: Music Lane, Re: Opera having become a rich-person's art (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-09-29, 15:46:21 (24.5.4.86)
Yes, opera tickets cost twice as much as symphony tickets because of the sets, costumes & support personnel. Years ago I read that the New York City Opera spent much more on those elements than on the .......
161: Music Lane, In defense of opera (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-09-29, 12:18:06 (24.5.4.86)
Here are my perspectives in response to the valid points made by Jim: Jim: The performance style, it seems to me--the typically loud volume of the singing, with relatively little dynamic contrast, and .......
162: Speaker Asylum, Official statement & Remembrances (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-09-18, 17:29:25 (24.5.4.86)
Official statement & tribute: http://www.cepro.com/article/jim_thiel_passes_away/ .......
163: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Firewire (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-09-18, 17:06:31 (24.5.4.86)
It's true that Firewire's isosynchronous mode is designed to stream data at high speed without interruption and with minimal CPU overhead. However, that's not the same as low jitter. Firewire is capab .......
164: Computer Audio Asylum, Metric Halo: Firewire v. Toslink (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-09-18, 16:58:25 (24.5.4.86)
Clay, have you seriously compared Firewire versus Toslink between the Mac Mini and the Metric Halo DAC? .......
165: Computer Audio Asylum, Mac iTunes 9: no improvement re SRC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-09-13, 02:30:14 (24.5.4.86)
In response to my question posted on Apple's CoreAudio API discussion list, one of the iTunes programmers confirmed that iTunes 9 behaves exactly like previous versions of iTunes with respect to outpu .......
166: Computer Audio Asylum, Software to detect pre-emphasis? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-09-12, 15:33:19 (24.5.4.86)
Is EAC the only program that reliably detects the pre-emphasis flag? Is there any Mac program that detects the pre-emphasis flag? Max purports to, but I find that it does not. (EAC does work in Leopar .......
167: Computer Audio Asylum, Leopard actually not required (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-27, 20:11:37 (24.5.4.86)
(according to one website which I cannot recall) .......
168: Computer Audio Asylum, Patent "Best Mode" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-22, 21:51:45 (24.5.4.86)
The requirement to describe the "best mode" of implementing the invention contemplated by the inventor at the time the patent application was filed is stricter than the requirement that the patent des .......
169: Computer Audio Asylum, Hardware, not software (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-21, 23:15:33 (24.5.4.86)
It's extremely unlikely the software has anything to do with it. More likely factors are: 1. Burn speed: Try burning at the lowest possible speed. This reduces vibration of the motor, thereby improvin .......
170: Hi-Rez Highway, Ayre QB-9 upgrade to 176/192? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-19, 17:00:00 (24.5.4.86)
Will upgrading the QB-9 to 176/192 require hardware changes, or just firmware? Is the QB-9 designed so that the user can install firmware updates without returning it to the factory? (It would be nice .......
171: Computer Audio Asylum, Minimum Phase Filter in Software (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-15, 12:23:36 (24.5.4.86)
Quoting Tony Lauck: "I generally play back CDs with a minimum phase filter with steep roll off by 22050 Hz" Tony, am I correct in assuming that you upsample the 44.1 KHz data to 88.2 or 96 KHz at some .......
172: Computer Audio Asylum, Archival Recordings (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-15, 12:17:14 (24.5.4.86)
I looked at a 1996 DG CD booklet that includes an entire page bragging about their new "4D" recording technology. The only improvement is an A/D with 21-bit resolution. There is no mention of higher s .......
173: Computer Audio Asylum, Minimum Phase Filter (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-15, 01:49:58 (24.5.4.86)
Quoting Tony Lauck: "don't believe anyone who tells you that you need a minimum phase upsampling filter to eliminate objectionable pre-ringing... If the original file was bandlimited (and if not there .......
174: Computer Audio Asylum, Turn off Spotlight Indexing (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-08-07, 01:37:32 (24.5.4.86)
As recommended by Sonic Studio, it seems reasonable to turn off Spotlight indexing of your iTunes music folder by dragging it to the Privacy pane of Spotlight preferences. Spotlight indexing usually i .......
175: Computer Audio Asylum, Program Details (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-07-18, 22:46:52 (24.5.4.86)
Thanks, Steve! That's a great discovery! I found 3 URL's that provide details of the pieces being played: http://www.rozhlas.cz/d-dur/english/ See the blue "Now Broadcasting" header in the left column .......
176: Computer Audio Asylum, Java (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-07-10, 18:51:19 (24.5.4.86)
I think the HD Tracks downloader is a Java program. Be sure to install any updates to OS X and Java that appear in Software Updates. .......
177: Music Lane, Rigoletto & Lucia di Lammermoor (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-29, 00:11:01 (24.5.4.86)
Tosca is her most famous recording, but two other superb operas in that set are Verdi's Rigoletto and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Both include two stupendous singers whom Callas often recorded wi .......
178: Computer Audio Asylum, Mac tip: disable Spotlight (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-27, 12:41:24 (24.5.4.86)
Here's a general tip for all Mac users (courtesy of Amarra): Whenever you edit music tags, and whenever you play something in iTunes, the corresponding music and iTunes files are modified, prompting S .......
179: Music Lane, Bit Depth & Sample Rate? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-26, 19:49:31 (24.5.4.86)
Is there any way to discover the bit depth and sample rate of a DG FLAC download before purchasing it? Are they all 16/44? .......
180: Computer Audio Asylum, Tascam US-144 as USB to S/PDIF converter (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-24, 23:31:41 (24.5.4.86)
Thanks, Steve! I should have clarified that I am not interested in using the Tascam US-144 as a DAC. I am interested only in using it as a USB > S/PDIF converter connected between the USB output of a .......
181: Computer Audio Asylum, Tascam US-144 looks promising (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-24, 07:21:40 (24.5.4.86)
$150. Anyone have experience with it? .......
182: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Parasound JC-1 monoblocks (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-19, 18:53:05 (24.5.4.86)
Great combination of warmth, clarity, subtlety & dynamics. .......
183: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Creating Aggregate Device in Audio MIDI Setup (Mac OS) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-19, 16:29:08 (24.5.4.86)
You need to login to an Administrator account to create an aggregate device. After you do, you can use a regular, non-Admin account to change all other configuration parameters in Audio MIDI Setup, in .......
184: Music Lane, Zimmerman is fantastic (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-18, 01:46:11 (24.5.4.86)
nt .......
185: Computer Audio Asylum, Backup program (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-17, 22:43:24 (24.5.4.86)
M Turner is correct that you should backup both (1) the iTunes library file on your startup volume and (2) the music folder that contains all the music files on the network volume. If you feel uncomfo .......
186: Computer Audio Asylum, Toslink output from Mac (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-16, 00:09:04 (24.5.4.86)
With Toslink output, you don't see the name of your DAC as you do with USB output. (That's because the Toslink output can only send data to your DAC; it cannot receive data from the DAC such as the na .......
187: Computer Audio Asylum, Ayre's USB is different (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-14, 21:06:15 (24.5.4.86)
Because Ayre (along with Wavelength and dCS) is one of the very few designs using asynchronous USB in which the computer is slaved to the clock in the DAC, instead of vice versa, you cannot apply othe .......
188: Computer Audio Asylum, Thanks, Gordon! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-10, 04:00:28 (24.5.4.86)
Since you recently completed the process of "qualifying" Wavelength DAC's for Amarra, you're one of the few people who knows what the process entails. Thanks for sharing! .......
189: Computer Audio Asylum, Toslink (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-08, 19:13:41 (24.5.4.86)
Thanks, Steve! My Bryston DAC can handle high-res audio only through its digital audio (S/PDIF) inputs, not USB. USB on the Bryston is limited to 16/48. (Bryston plans to upgrade to a better USB recei .......
190: Computer Audio Asylum, Amarra question for Mercman (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-08, 17:41:56 (24.5.4.86)
I'd like to experiment with the Amarra demo, but the instructions for configuring Audio MIDI Setup are unclear. Mercman, am I correct in assuming that, in Audio MIDI Setup, your Wavelength Crimson DAC .......
191: Music Lane, Free Download (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-06-03, 22:22:06 (24.5.4.86)
You can enter any fake email address, such as a@b.com, and it immediately takes you to the download page. Alternatively, you can download it directly from the link below. .......
192: Computer Audio Asylum, Amarra demo setup questions (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-25, 10:34:10 (24.5.4.86)
Mercman's use of Amarra with a Wavelength USB DAC implies that, contrary to the Amarra website, Amarra software is not limited to use with an Amarra-approved DAC. I downloaded and installed the Amarra .......
193: Inmate Central, Hartford cheaper outside AARP (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-20, 02:22:15 (24.5.4.86)
I helped my mom select a homeowner's policy from Hartford. Buying it through AARP was substantially more expensive than buying it from an independent broker. However, the AARP policy has the advantage .......
194: Hi-Rez Highway, SACD political correctness, Sam Tellig, etc (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-19, 20:48:36 (24.5.4.86)
I hope members of this forum are open to a diversity of opinion on the merits of SACD. I'm disappointed that Sam Tellig was attacked for publishing his honest opinion that he usually prefers Redbook a .......
195: Hi-Rez Highway, Good for low power components (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-19, 18:40:50 (24.5.4.86)
In my system it seems beneficial. I have all components but my power amps plugged into it. The latter is plugged into a PS Audio UPC. (I actually have the 3500, not the 2500.) No, I don't have an SACD .......
196: Music Lane, Emerson (w Fleisher in piano quintet) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-19, 00:12:54 (24.5.4.86)
I'll sneak in a recommendation for the Emerson set on DG because it includes a superb piano quintet with Leon Fleisher. I usually find the Emerson too brisk and efficient, but Fleisher somehow gets th .......
197: Computer Audio Asylum, Opto-isolator in Ayre QB-9 (Q for Charles) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-14, 19:42:17 (24.5.4.86)
In Stereophile's review of the Wavelength Cosecant DAC, John Atkinson measured jitter arising from harmonics of 60 Hz on the USB input from an iMac, but the jitter disappeared when he used a laptop on .......
198: Computer Audio Asylum, Freeverse "Sound Studio" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-12, 19:25:13 (24.5.4.86)
It's pricey at $80, but it includes a scripting utility called Stitch. .......
199: Pro Audio Asylum, SST2 & Bryston forum (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-12, 19:09:07 (24.5.4.86)
Bryston recently upgraded all their amps. The new models have an SST2 suffix: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=62600 Bryston's forum on AudioCircle is moderated by Bryston's VP of Ma .......
200: Tech Square, Discontinued RadioShack kit (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-09, 00:17:33 (24.5.4.86)
The snap kits have decent projects, but the explanations in the instruction manual are so abbreviated as to be worthless. MIght work well if you print out your own explanations. Or maybe you can find .......
201: Computer Audio Asylum, My context was OS X, not PC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-08, 23:50:49 (24.5.4.86)
Regardless of his computers being all-Mac, the complication is that he has a Netgear router. I've been 100% Mac for 15 years, but I had trouble configuring an Airport Express when my router was setup .......
202: Computer Audio Asylum, IP subnet (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-05-08, 16:28:46 (24.5.4.86)
Almost all routers by default use a subnet of 192.168.x.x. Apple routers use 10.0.x.x by default. Although you can use Airport Utility to configure the Airport Express to use the same subnet as your e .......
203: PC Place, VMware Fusion (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-04-13, 20:47:53 (24.5.6.183)
A program that runs Windows on your Mac. Requires an Intel Mac; it won't run on a G3, G4 or G5 Mac. .......
204: Music Lane, Need more background to advise (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-04-12, 00:50:19 (24.5.6.183)
Audiophile10000: To get meaningful advice, you should describe a bit about: 1. What you are hoping to find in classical music that you perhaps find lacking in other types of music. 2. What specific ot .......
205: Digital Drive, use Toslink instead of USB (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-04-11, 20:47:23 (24.5.6.183)
The USB jack is only for connection to a printer. The Airport Express cannot output audio via USB. The only digital audio output is the mini-Toslink jack. Many people overlook it because it shares the .......
206: Speaker Asylum, See my Thiel 3.7 review (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-04-09, 22:46:53 (24.5.6.183)
Microdynamics and high resolution are two of the exceptional attributes of the 3.7, which I believe is what you're after to elucidate instrumental textures. This characteristic also reveals subtleties .......
207: Computer Audio Asylum, Waking Mac from Sleep (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-04-03, 18:09:23 (24.5.6.183)
If the Mac Mini (or any other Mac) is connected to the LAN via ethernet cable rather than WiFi (wireless), you can remotely wake it from sleep using a utility that transmits a WakeOnLAN packet. To ena .......
208: Computer Audio Asylum, Floyd Toole found it's irrelevant (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-03-07, 00:18:13 (24.5.6.183)
Floyd Toole's tests found that the hearing attribute that correlates with discerning listening is having a low threshold of hearing in the midband, i.e., the ability to hear very soft sounds. The abi .......
209: Speaker Asylum, VMPS never used top & bottom caps as pictured (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-02-28, 06:18:58 (24.5.6.183)
nt .......
210: Computer Audio Asylum, iTunes Server is pointless (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-02-25, 05:55:13 (24.5.6.183)
I believe running the iTunes server protocol (DAAP) is counterproductive. You are better off simply creating a shared network volume. The iTunes server protocol is a vestige of Apple's defunct DRM res .......
211: Music Lane, Guarneri String Quartet on ArchivMusic (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-02-20, 16:57:00 (24.5.6.183)
In honor of the retirement this year of the Guarneri String Quartet, Sony is releasing through ArchivMusic 14 CD's taken from RCA LP's that never before were released on CD. I highly recommend their t .......
212: Hi-Rez Highway, WMA: is it lossless? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-02-20, 16:04:53 (24.5.6.183)
I can't find a statement on the BSO website that the WMA downloads are lossless. .......
213: Hi-Rez Highway, Converting WMA to Mac (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-02-20, 16:02:10 (24.5.6.183)
The open source Unix utility FFmpeg will convert WMA to AIFF. SourceForge doesn't show a version already compiled for the Mac. However, two shareware programs use FFmpeg: Amadeus Pro $40 is a powerful .......
214: Digital Drive, Ayre USB DAC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-01-29, 01:30:40 (24.5.6.183)
In an email "interview" with Dave Clark of Positive Feedback, Charles Hansen said Ayre has a new USB DAC using Gordon Rankin's USB driver firmware. Charles, can you disclose at this time your expected .......
215: Digital Drive, Jitter cannot be eliminated completely (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2009-01-17, 00:35:33 (24.5.6.183)
The URL below is a mathematical analysis of sample rate conversion. Pages 14-15 discuss jitter reduction. The bottom line is that no DAC or SRC can completely eliminate jitter. The question of the Son .......
216: General Asylum, Ray's understanding is correct (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-12-30, 17:50:01 (24.5.6.183)
As Ray says, Delta Airlines and Delta Faucet are such different product categories that there is no trademark infringement even if they market to the same consumers. .......
217: Computer Audio Asylum, Combo updater is safe (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-12-16, 17:25:42 (24.5.14.110)
The MacInTouch website (a superb source of Mac news) reports that some users have had Software Update attempt to install an incomplete download of the 10.5.6 update. The safest approach is to manually .......
218: Music Lane, Orion Quartet (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-12-15, 00:44:34 (24.5.14.110)
I bought the Orion because of a rave review by Jerry Dubins in Fanfare. I concur that it is superb, my new overall favorite. Icing on the cake is that it's the best sound quality too. My other favorit .......
219: Speaker Asylum, Female IEC Plugs with tight contact (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-12-13, 15:06:10 (24.5.14.110)
1. I really like the female IEC plugs used on PS Audio power cables because they maintain an unusually tight grip on the electrical contacts. I find that many female IEC plugs do not seem to grip the .......
220: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Room Correction Software (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-11-16, 20:34:22 (24.5.14.110)
Besides Audiolens mentioned by SeVeReD, there's Acourate: .......
221: Computer Audio Asylum, SqueezeCenter is in System Preferences (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-11-10, 00:40:57 (24.5.14.110)
I trust you understand that SqueezeCenter in OS X is not an application that you can run by double-clicking. Instead, it installs itself as a "preference pane" which you access by selecting System Pre .......
222: Hi-Rez Highway, Bay Area Audio Society (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-11-04, 18:04:15 (24.5.14.110)
Thank, Robert! I took the liberty of forwarding your notice to the members of the Bay Area Audio Society (BAAS). You might want to join yourself. Info about BAAS is at: .......
223: Music Lane, Corrected URL (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-11-01, 23:23:37 (24.5.14.110)
is: .......
224: Music Lane, Hiring "music stylist" to tell you what music to listen to (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-11-01, 16:03:47 (24.5.14.110)
This is hilarious. If these people are rich enough to pay someone to choose their music, why don't they have enough brains to choose their own music? .......
225: Hi-Rez Highway, Track list? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-10-30, 16:41:20 (24.5.14.110)
The PDF booklet for IsoMike 2008A does not include a track list. Will you post it here, or add it to the PDF booklet? Thanks! .......
226: Music Lane, 10 free symphonies from Amsterdam Concertgebouw (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-10-29, 22:45:24 (24.5.14.110)
The Amsterdam Concertgebouw is giving away 10 downloads of symphonies recorded in concert. They are in 320 kbs MP3 format, which is the highest quality permitted by MP3, although only half the qualit .......
227: Speaker Asylum, Erse PulseX (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-10-21, 00:06:53 (24.5.14.110)
Erse PulseX polypropylene capacitors are dirt cheap from Meniscus Audio, e.g., $5 for 20 uF. (DIY Cable also sells them at higher prices.) If you need larger sizes, they're worth trying in lieu of th .......
228: Speaker Asylum, Comprehensive Survey (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-10-20, 23:57:02 (24.5.14.110)
The URL below is a comprehensive survey of all but the very most expensive capacitors. He recommends Obbligato and Sonicap as the best medium price value, and Multicap RTX as the best high price value .......
229: Computer Audio Asylum, No, the solution is Universal Access (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-10-04, 15:07:27 (24.5.14.110)
I believe "coot" is mistaken. The display resolution controls magnification but has no effect on whether the desktop extends beyond the borders of the screen. (An exception would be if you have a real .......
230: Speaker Asylum, Used Thiel 3.7 or KEF Reference series (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-09-27, 22:20:35 (24.5.14.110)
Since you like the Thiel 2.4, you'd probably love the 3.7. Compared to the 2.4, the 3.7 is a bit less bright but has greater clarity and tremendous micro and macro dynamics: see my review here on the .......
231: Hi-Rez Highway, Re-rip from Apple Lossless to FLAC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-09-25, 15:46:50 (24.5.14.110)
When you say "re-rip", I trust you don't mean re-rip from CD's. You can convert directly from Apple Lossless to FLAC. If you have a Mac, a "donation-ware" program called "Max" can do the conversion: : .......
232: Digital Drive, Class A Bias (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-08-26, 23:18:10 (24.5.14.110)
Class A bias is one of the most misleading advertising claims for components other than power amplifiers, i.e., components that output a "line level" voltage intended to drive another electronic compo .......
233: Computer Audio Asylum, Wiebe Tech FW800 cable (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-08-24, 17:24:09 (24.5.14.110)
I have high regard for the Firewire enclosures made by Wiebe Tech, so I expect their cables would be very reliable too. .......
234: Computer Audio Asylum, Kensington lock (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-08-14, 23:57:09 (24.5.14.110)
A Kensington lock connector is a de facto standard design for a mechanical connector that can be attached to a cable for locking the apparatus to your desk to prevent theft. The principle is similar t .......
235: Speaker Asylum, Linkwitz' home in Corte Madera (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-08-13, 00:21:34 (24.5.14.110)
At the link posted by Davey, the first listed demo location is "me". This is Siegfried Linkwitz' home in Corte Madera, 10 miles north of San Francisco. .......
236: General Asylum, RE: Acoustical Foam (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-08-01, 20:56:22 (24.5.14.110)
1. Consider the Sonex ValueLine as an alternative to Classic. It's cheaper, and you can buy it in smaller quantities. The shallower pattern of the ValueLine may look a bit better, and it has slightly .......
237: Propeller Head Plaza, Headroom (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-07-28, 00:58:32 (24.5.14.110)
Even if you assume for the sake of argument that 16 bits is enough to capture all the dynamic range we can perceive, an additional problem is the need for headroom when recording music of large dynami .......
238: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Linear taper, not Logarithmic (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-07-28, 00:38:50 (24.5.14.110)
All Placette products use the same attenuator network. The 127 steps provide output voltage levels of 1/128, 2/128, 3/128, 4/128, 5/128 ... 126/128, 127/128, 1. These are equal increments of voltage l .......
239: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Lavry DA-10 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-07-16, 15:46:33 (24.5.14.110)
I don't have a particular recommendation for Toslink. The Lavry has only XLR outputs. You can use it with an XLR-to-RCA adapter if you change the position of an internal switch to disable one leg of t .......
240: Computer Audio Asylum, Lavry DA-10 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-07-16, 12:26:48 (24.5.14.110)
Smoother & more refined than Benchmark. .......
241: Computer Audio Asylum, Toslink; No need for Firewire or USB DAC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-07-15, 00:35:49 (24.5.14.110)
To rip CD's, simply use iTunes. In iTunes Preferences > Advanced > Importing, select Apple Lossless, and be sure to tick the checkbox to "Use error correction when reading audio CD's." For playback, t .......
242: Digital Drive, Lavry DA-10 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-07-11, 23:47:57 (24.5.14.110)
The Lavry DAC is smoother and more refined than the Benchmark. .......
243: Speaker Asylum, Yes, because of wide dispersion, not baffle slope (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-07-03, 16:53:10 (24.5.14.110)
The baffle slope is too small to make a noticeable difference in upward radiation. The big issue with Thiels is their very wide vertical & horizontal dispersion. If your room is live, it can result in .......
244: Computer Audio Asylum, Audio Hijack Pro (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-06-24, 15:58:52 (24.5.14.110)
There's no need to record. Audio Hijack Pro will pass through the audio in real time so long as the Mute button is not pressed. A free, open source alternative is Jack, but its interface is a lot more .......
245: Computer Audio Asylum, Simply reverse the wires on one channel (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-06-24, 15:58:38 (24.5.14.110)
of your amplifier output! No need to do it in software! .......
246: Speaker Asylum, RE: B&W 802D vs Thiel 3.7 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-06-14, 00:32:59 (24.5.14.110)
I really wanted to like the 802D because of its rave magazine reviews and its refined tweeter. However, it sounded colored in each of the 3 places I heard it, as stated here: http://www.AudioAsylum.co .......
247: Hi-Rez Highway, Changing IP Addresses (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-06-04, 01:18:06 (24.5.14.110)
I believe many DSL ISP's have a practice of distributing a pool of IP addresses among a larger number of customers by reassigning your IP address to someone else when your internet connection is inact .......
248: Speaker Asylum, RE: B&W 802D Good for classical music? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-27, 01:07:26 (24.5.14.110)
I listen exclusively to classical music & opera. About 18 months ago I heard the 802D at two dealers and one private home. All three setups sounded to me colored in tonality -- ie, lacking in timbral .......
249: Computer Audio Asylum, AppleScript (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-22, 17:38:13 (24.5.14.110)
Are you using iTunes as the audio player? If so, you can use AppleScript to read the sample rate of the currently playing track. If it is different than the the previously set sample rate, your script .......
250: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Lavry DAC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-21, 11:22:02 (24.5.14.110)
The Benchmark has a brighter treble than the Lavry. Although the Benchmark's brightness enhances the sense of clarity on a small percentage of recordings, on the majority I found the Benchmark's trebl .......
251: Computer Audio Asylum, TacT 2.2 XP (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-20, 22:53:01 (24.5.14.110)
I heard a TacT 2.2 XP in a home environment with an Oppo DVD player as transport, Linkwitz Orion loudspeakers, and the low-cost power amps that Linkwitz recommends. Replacing the TacT with a Benchmark .......
252: Computer Audio Asylum, No (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-19, 10:31:52 (24.5.14.110)
A year ago I thought I might try software EQ / room correction, so I researched the topic and accumulated those references. Then I bought new loudspeakers, which have satisfied me enough that I lost t .......
253: Computer Audio Asylum, HD harder to replace on Macbook Pro than Macbook (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-19, 01:41:57 (24.5.14.110)
It helps to download the disassembly instructions from PowerBook Medic and iFixIt. (Macbook Pro disassembly is same as Aluminum PowerBook G4.) www.ifixit.com/Guide/ http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Take- .......
254: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Software -based Room EQ? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-18, 00:25:04 (24.5.14.110)
Some options to explore: Denis Sbragion's open source DRC: http://drc-fir.sourceforge.net/ A GUI for DRC: pcazeles.perso.cegetel.net/acxo.htm The Mac OS X real-time analyzer program FuzzMeasure includ .......
255: Music Lane, Sorry, but I don't get it (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-05-07, 18:24:07 (24.5.14.110)
I agree that Walter gets much more characterful playing from the VPO in this performance than in 1952 with Kathleen Ferrier. However, I'm completely unimpressed with the singers. The tenor seems want .......
256: Computer Audio Asylum, Remote Control alternatives (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-04-12, 23:28:26 (24.5.14.110)
Here are some remote control solutions I've read about but haven't tried: The $150 Keyspan Tuneview remote control has an LED display and is specifically designed to control iTunes. http://www.keyspan .......
257: Hi-Rez Highway, Paging OldVinyl (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-04-11, 21:00:21 (24.5.14.110)
OldVinyl, I understand you live in RWC. I do too. Being neighbors, I'd be interested in getting together sometime to share favorite recordings. We have intersecting interests in classical music. (eg, .......
258: Inmate Systems, Bob Stern's Main (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-04-05, 20:01:47 (24.5.14.110)
Bob Stern 's Main System
IP Address: 24.5.14.110
Last Update: April 05, 2008 at 20:01:47
Amplifier: Parasound JC-1
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Placette passive preamp
Speak .......
259: Speaker Asylum, I heard the same thing (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-03-02, 00:35:52 (67.188.156.223)
I was disturbed by a lack of richness & body in male voices and cello. I auditioned the Revel Studio in an all Mark Levinson system in a prestigious dealer's large, well-damped listening room. Unfort .......
260: Speaker Asylum, 3.7 vs. 7.2 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-03-02, 00:26:09 (67.188.156.223)
Waman, I encourage you to audition the 3.7 before you decide on the 7.2. I haven't heard the 7.2, but Thiel's literature says all three drivers in the 3.7 are much more advanced than any drivers he's .......
261: Computer Audio Asylum, Stereophile later clarified this (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2008-01-19, 20:19:24 (67.188.156.223)
See Wes Phillips' blog at: http://www.stereophile.com/news/121707lucky/ Also see Gordon Rankin's clarification at: http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=pcaudio&m=27650 .......
262: Hi-Rez Highway, Hexadecimal code (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-20, 18:26:44 (67.188.157.193)
The Toggle Phase code in the Excel spreadsheet is: 20 77 14 These are decimal. The hexadecimal equivalents are: 14 4D 0E The first 2-digit hex value, 14, is the "address" or "system" code, which spec .......
263: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Logitech Harmony remote (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-19, 12:37:47 (67.188.157.193)
Try selecting the SA-7S1 instead. Its remote codes are identical to the SA-11S2. .......
264: Hi-Rez Highway, Logitech Harmony remote (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-18, 10:25:56 (67.188.157.193)
After Harmony sets it up for you, it will be automatically available to all other Harmony owners without any action on their part. .......
265: Music Lane, Sibelius sym #2 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-16, 15:20:55 (67.188.157.193)
My favorite recording of Sibelius symphony #2 is Mehta, New York Phil, 1990. I prefer it to Ashkenazy, Vanska, C. Davis, and even Segerstam. .......
266: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Polarity via Remote (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-16, 12:44:51 (67.188.157.193)
Yes, but not using the original remote. You need to buy a *programmable* remote that is specifically compatible with the RC-5 protocol, such as the Philips Pronto or Marantz RC-2000 that I mentioned. .......
267: Hi-Rez Highway, Polarity via Remote (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-15, 19:43:13 (67.188.157.193)
Thanks for your detailed review! The Marantz website allows you to download an Excel spreadsheet with the remote control codes for all their CD players, including the SA-11S2. There are separate codes .......
268: Digital Drive, RE: Lavry 4496 vs DA10 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-15, 19:26:53 (67.188.157.193)
I believe the Lavry Blue & Black are electrically identical. The only difference is the case. The Blue is modular. The Gold is completely different and much more expensive. Why not give Lavry a call? .......
269: Digital Drive, Marantz v. other non-ASRC DAC's (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-10, 21:07:53 (67.188.157.193)
Thanks, PS! It's good to know that the SA-7 & -11 do not use ASRC for Redbook CD. In your October 28 post, you listed some other DAC's you were considering: 1. Lessloss DAC 2004MK2 (http://www.lesslos .......
270: General Asylum, UPS: pay online & drop off at store (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-10, 20:35:07 (67.188.157.193)
To avoid the inflated prices of a UPS store, go to the UPS website and setup an account. This allows you to print labels online and charge the cost to your credit card. You can simply drop off the par .......
271: Computer Audio Asylum, USB Hard Drive connected to Airport Base Station (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-12-10, 20:28:58 (67.188.157.193)
The ability to connect a USB hard drive to an Airport Base Station is a feature of the newest model of the Airport Base Station, the one with 5 GHz wireless. It pre-dated Leopard and does not require .......
272: Speaker Asylum, localization of lower midrange to woofer position (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-11-30, 00:17:41 (67.188.157.193)
In the two months since I wrote the review, the effect I described has almost disappeared. That is, the woofer has become more open, although still not as amazingly open as the coaxial midrange/tweete .......
273: Speaker Asylum, Re: Dense, complex passages at high level (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-11-27, 20:53:12 (67.188.157.193)
I consider that capability one of the features that most distinguishes the 3.7 from other speakers. However, I am not familiar with the 3.6 or other Thiel models. See my review at: .......
274: General Asylum, RE: New policies from the U S Patent Office (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-10-24, 00:30:46 (67.188.157.193)
It's only a problem if you attempt to file one or more patent applications for the same invention with a collective total of more than 25 claims or 5 independent claims. That's the 5/25 rule the autho .......
275: Computer Audio Asylum, Different generations of Barracuda have markedly different reliabilities (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-10-21, 00:53:00 (67.188.157.193)
Check the reliability database at StorageReview.com and the user feedback at NewEgg.com (which often has great prices). The Barracuda 7200.7 had outstanding reliability. The 7200.8 and .9 were mediocr .......
276: Speaker Asylum, How did you move your review from General to Speaker asylum? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-10-21, 00:32:26 (67.188.157.193)
I posted a Thiel 3.7 review that ended up in General Asylum, and I couldn't figure out how to move it to Speaker Asylum. Curiously, one of the moderators told me to leave it in General Asylum, but som .......
277: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: SB3+DAC1 USB verses Transporter (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-10-17, 21:32:33 (67.188.157.193)
I haven't tried the Transporter, but I recommend the Lavry DA-10. See my posting at: http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/2/24783.html .......
278: Computer Audio Asylum, Squeezebox 3 + Lavry DAC (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-10-17, 21:28:10 (67.188.157.193)
instead of a Transporter, you could try connecting the digital audio output of a Squeezebox 3 to a good DAC, such as the Lavry DA-10. The Lavry has wonderful clarity without the brightness of the Benc .......
279: Computer Audio Asylum, G4 v. Intel Mini: Toslink & Airport (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-10-12, 01:03:26 (67.188.157.193)
The Intel Mini's have Toslink audio input and output. The G4 Mini's have no audio in, and only analog audio out. This is irrelevant if you plan to use a USB audio adapter. Speedwise, G4 should be fine .......
280: Digital Drive, Lavry DA-10 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-20, 21:53:32 (67.188.157.193)
Unusual combination of exceptional resolution and smooth, relaxing treble. Relatively insensitive to transport differences. Includes level control in 1 dB steps and headphone amp, but no remote contro .......
281: Speaker Asylum, Please move to Speakers forum (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-18, 00:16:33 (67.188.157.193)
I tried to post this review to Speakers, but it kept reverting to General. .......
282: General Asylum, REVIEW: Thiel Audio CS 3.7 Speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-18, 00:15:08 (67.188.157.193)
Model: CS 3.7 Category: Speakers Suggested Retail Price: $9900 Description: 3-way floor-standing Manufacturer URL: Thiel Audio Model Picture: View Review by Bob Stern on September 18 .......
283: Speaker Asylum, REVIEW: Thiel Audio CS 3.7 Speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-18, 00:15:08 (67.188.157.193)
Model: CS 3.7 Category: Speakers Suggested Retail Price: $9900 Description: 3-way floor-standing Manufacturer URL: Thiel Audio Model Picture: View Review by Bob Stern on September 18 .......
284: Speaker Asylum, That's impressive (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-14, 10:53:42 (67.188.157.193)
regarding the Manger's low level resolution. The model that impressed me at the friend's house is the stand-mounted Zerobox 109. .......
285: Speaker Asylum, Thiel 3.7 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-14, 01:08:21 (67.188.157.193)
The Thiel 3.7 ($10K) can play extremely loud without any hint of dynamic compression or distortion. It has greater clarity than almost any speaker on the market, certainly much greater than the RM-40. .......
286: Speaker Asylum, Manger should be perfect for your needs (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-14, 00:54:19 (67.188.157.193)
I was extremely impressed with it at a friend's house. It won't reproduce the power of an orchestra or other loud music, and it lacks extreme treble, but it is beautifully smooth all the way from the .......
287: Music Lane, Pavarotti without mannerisms (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-12, 02:12:44 (67.188.157.193)
I think two examples of Pavarotti at his best are his Decca recordings of Rossini's William Tell and Verdi's Ballo. Pavarotti sang these challenging roles with finesse and complete seriousness, withou .......
288: Speaker Asylum, Meridian email address invalid !! (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-05, 17:24:46 (67.188.157.193)
I obtained the following email addresses from the Meridian UK website, but they are rejected by my ISP's outgoing mail server as invalid domains: support@meridian-public.com support@meridian.com Same .......
289: General Asylum, PayPal risks? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-03, 17:04:13 (67.188.157.193)
Some Audiogon sellers seem to think there is some risk in accepting payment via PayPal. Is this true? Is it possible for PayPal to initially approve a payment, then a few days later notify the seller .......
290: Hi-Rez Highway, What's the point of converting 16-bit PCM to SACD? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-01, 15:36:15 (67.188.157.193)
I believe the Bernstein/Vienna recordings are all 16-bit PCM. If so, I can't see any advantage to converting them to SACD. The degradation of 16-bit PCM cannot be undone. It makes more sense to conver .......
291: Digital Drive, Is the HDCD flag in the TOC or in the music tracks? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-09-01, 15:25:24 (67.188.157.193)
If the HDCD flag is in the Table of Contents of the CD, I don't understand how it could be preserved in the conversion to Apple Lossless. However, if the HDCD flag is embedded in each music track, the .......
292: Speaker Asylum, 4 SR (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-07-23, 11:11:04 (67.188.157.193)
When I auditioned the 4 SR at my local dealer, I noticed the same thing, except I recall the treble increased with listening height. I considered this a negative aspect of the speaker. Although it is .......
293: Music Lane, Naxos Historical - best internet vendors? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-06-28, 15:07:02 (67.188.157.193)
For US customers, who are the cheapest and most reliable internet vendors for Naxos Historical? MDT is the cheapest I've found. The next cheapest are Presto Classical and Crotchet. Any comments regard .......
294: Speaker Asylum, Music Asylum is more appropriate forum (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-06-27, 19:54:02 (67.188.157.193)
and will yield more responses. .......
295: Speaker Asylum, Similar choral religious works (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-06-27, 19:52:27 (67.188.157.193)
Schubert's Te Deum and masses Beethoven's Missa Solemnis Haydn's masses Mozart's masses Cherubini's requiems Bach, of course .......
296: Digital Drive, Replacing CDM 12.4 with CD Pro 2 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-06-17, 15:45:55 (67.188.157.193)
From what I've read, the CD Pro 2 is a more reliable replacement for the CDM 12.4. I think the latest version of the Pro 2 is the CD Pro 2LF. There also is a CD Pro 2M. I suspect the newer one is prog .......
297: Digital Drive, Polarity switch (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-06-06, 16:18:10 (67.188.157.193)
I hope future Ayre CD players include a remote-controlled polarity (phase) switch. .......
298: Computer Audio Asylum, Why not use Toslink out instead of USB? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-05-27, 18:53:58 (67.188.157.193)
Toslink provides better noise isolation and less jitter than USB. I don't know anything about the Nokia, but if there is a VNC client that runs on the Nokia OS, the Mac MIni already has a VNC server b .......
299: Critic's Corner, Requires a computer-programmable remote (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-05-26, 18:26:05 (67.188.157.193)
such as any model in the Philips Pronto series or the Logitech Harmony series. Perhaps you can find a used Pronto TSU1000 or 2000. The new ones are $300 discounted. Logitech Harmony is cheaper and eas .......
300: Critic's Corner, Answered my own question (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-05-24, 18:30:43 (67.188.157.193)
The Marantz website has a download page from which you can download and Excel spreadsheet with the remote control codes for all SACD players. The SA-7 has remote control codes for Phase. Therefore, it .......
301: Critic's Corner, PhillyB: Remote polarity on your SA-7S1? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-05-24, 17:41:30 (67.188.157.193)
Although there is no polarity button on the factory remote, did you ask Marantz whether there is a remote control code for polarity that can be programmed into a third-party programmable remote? ::: T .......
302: Speaker Asylum, Has the Thiel 3.7 started shipping to dealers? (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-05-21, 17:42:54 (67.188.157.193)
nt .......
303: Speaker Asylum, Not worth it, IMO (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-04-14, 21:48:45 (67.188.157.193)
I owned the AR-90 for several years. It has a nasty peak in the lower treble that I found quite irritating over time. I think there are better speakers to invest time and money in. .......
304: Speaker Asylum, Acourate: hardware implementation? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2007-01-11, 23:40:44 (67.164.1.254)
When you say it can write correction filters for a late model TacT, you mean it can download the filter parameters to a TacT? Which TacT models? Conversely, if you want to dedicate a computer to the f .......
305: Music Lane, Latest iPods have gapless playback (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-11-30, 18:26:15 (67.164.1.254)
But only the models introduced in the last 2 months. My 60 GB iPod does a surprisingly good job of driving my Sennheiser HD-650 headphones. Copying data isn't quite as easy. You need to import a CD in .......
306: Amp/Preamp Asylum, You need more info (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-10-15, 01:33:35 (67.164.1.254)
You need to know the ampere (A) rating and whether it is slow blow or quick blow. If you bring the fuse with you to a knowledgeable electronic parts store or repair shop, they should be able to determ .......
307: Music Lane, Lead Poisoning (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-10-15, 01:20:16 (67.164.1.254)
The Ira Brilliant Beethoven Center at San Jose State has a sample of Beethoven's hair that they subjected to chemical analysis. They now believe lead poisoning caused his deafness and death. ::: TOPIC .......
308: Speaker Asylum, Usher "Be" drivers are ceramic, not metal (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-09-13, 00:40:48 (67.164.1.254)
I am not expressing an opinion as to the quality of Usher speakers, as I've not heard them. However, I notice audiophiles are referring to Usher's new "BeO" tweeters and midranges as beryllium. Usher' .......
309: Speaker Asylum, Re: rear tweeter (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-09-02, 23:06:14 (67.164.1.254)
A friend has the VR-4jr, and his rear tweeter is quite harsh. I suggest turning it completely off unless the room has overdamped treble and sounds dull. .......
310: Speaker Asylum, Where did you audition them? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-09-02, 23:04:00 (67.164.1.254)
AudioVision San Francisco has bad acoustics with boomy bass and overdamped treble. I believe Audible Arts in San Jose (on Winchester, near 280) has both, and I like the acoustics of their back listeni .......
311: Speaker Asylum, Break In (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-08-18, 21:54:45 (67.164.1.254)
This is a great opportunity for you to discover whether B&W speakers really change as much as people say during breakin, or whether the breakin is largely a matter of the user getting used to a differ .......
312: Speaker Asylum, Re: RadioShack 30w all purpose soldering gun (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-08-14, 17:51:32 (67.164.1.254)
The gun you describe certainly will get hot enough. A soldering pencil is safer because it won't transfer as much heat to the workpiece. Radio Shack also sells a new soldering gadget, which I haven't .......
313: Speaker Asylum, Re: Special iron needed to solder new tweeter wires? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-08-14, 16:01:38 (67.164.1.254)
I hope you are using a soldering "pencil", not a soldering gun. A soldering pencil is safer because it holds less heat. If it's only 30 watts, it's probably a pencil. .......
314: Speaker Asylum, Tweeter & Crossover problems (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-07-27, 18:40:22 (67.164.1.254)
This doesn't answer your question, but if you hear treble distortion, two common problems with that speaker were: (1) the cheap capacitor in series with the tweeter, and (2) a susceptibility of the tw .......
315: Music Lane, Pavarotti/Ghiarov/DeFabritis CD (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-07-25, 20:30:42 (67.164.1.254)
If you'll settle for audio only, I highly recommend the Decca CD with Pavarotti and Ghiarov, conducted by DeFabritis. Pavarotti was in glorious form (he often was best in less frequently performed wor .......
316: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Excellent Customer Service (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-07-13, 14:04:06 (67.164.1.254)
My JC-1 had a defective power transformer. The Parasound Service Dept. could not obtain a replacement transformer after one week, so they sent me a brand new amplifier. Although the one week delay was .......
317: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Unacceptable in a low power headphone amp (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-07-13, 13:55:30 (67.164.1.254)
DC offset in your AC power line can cause mechanical hum, but that only should be a problem with high power amplifiers. There's no excuse for a low power headphone amp to have such a cheap transformer .......
318: Speaker Asylum, 4 ohm possibly less distortion (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-04-11, 13:54:35 (67.161.70.159)
The 4 ohm tap will make the speaker present twice the impedance to the amp compared to the 8 ohm tap. Most amps produce less distortion into higher impedance loads, so the 4 ohm tap probably will achi .......
319: Music Lane, Nope. (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-03-24, 09:05:36 (67.161.70.159)
. .......
320: Music Lane, Cenerentola w Federica von Stade (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-03-23, 21:44:43 (67.161.70.159)
La Scala production. Besides the excellent singing, the comic acting is exceptional, especially Cinderella's father. .......
321: Music Lane, Recommendations for string quintets? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-03-23, 17:08:50 (67.161.70.159)
Any recommended recordings that are currently available? My favorites were never released on CD: Budapest & Guarneri. My favorite on CD is the Amadeus. I don’t like the Juilliard or the Leipzig. ::: T .......
322: Music Lane, Christa Ludwig, Lucia Popp, Gwyneth Jones (Bernstein/Vienna) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-03-04, 01:05:15 (67.161.70.159)
I find this more moving than the famous Schwarzkopf/Karajan. Ditto re the "presentation of the rose" scene. .......
323: Speaker Asylum, Contact B&W in England (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-02-22, 01:18:33 (67.161.70.159)
This page on their website indicates that they support owners who want to upgrade the crossover components: .......
324: Speaker Asylum, http://www.allisonacoustics.com (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-02-10, 18:22:29 (67.161.70.159)
http://www.allisonacoustics.com .......
325: Speaker Asylum, Re: Sennheiser Cable Upgrade (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-02-10, 15:56:35 (67.161.70.159)
It happens I just did a bit of internet research on this. The other alternatives I discovered were "Stefan AudioArt Equinox" and "Zu Mobius", but both were reported to be microphonic, meaning that rub .......
326: Speaker Asylum, Aluminum & Plastic both included in D series (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2006-01-07, 01:28:32 (67.161.70.159)
The user manual for the new 800 series (downloadable from B&W) says the 800D, 801D & 802D ship with the plastic phase plugs installed, but they recommend replacing them with the included solid aluminu .......
327: Speaker Asylum, Subwoofer + EQ will grossly aggravate peaks at some positions (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-12-05, 21:39:20 (67.161.70.159)
Since the primary problem is a 40 Hz peak rather than a dip, the only way a subwoofer + digital EQ can ameliorate this is if the EQ drives the subwoofer 180 degrees out of phase with the main speaker .......
328: Music Lane, Previn's remake on Telarc (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-09-15, 17:58:53 (24.23.129.29)
has a marvelous sweep and lushness, but it's early digital. .......
329: Music Lane, Lenny/Salzburg for Part 2 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-09-05, 01:08:23 (24.23.129.29)
Ignoring the text, Part 2 of the 8th is one of my favorite Mahler pieces. I find it beautiful and transcendent. I love Part 2 by Lenny & the VPO live at Salzburg (DG). (Unlike his other recordings for .......
330: Amp/Preamp Asylum, That doesn't solve the problem (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-09-02, 04:12:40 (24.23.129.29)
To prevent high capacitance cables from causing the amp to oscillate at RF, you need to connect the Zobel network (series resistor and capacitor) across the speaker terminals, not the amplifier output .......
331: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Torquing Transformer Bolt (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-04-05, 07:49:49 (24.5.2.72)
You're right; the toroidal transformer is mounted with a single, huge center bolt. Would tightening the center bolt risk damaging the transformer due to over-tightening, or would over-tightening be al .......
332: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Re: Thanks, but amps are in same AC outlet (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-04-05, 07:41:23 (24.5.2.72)
I'm sorry I wasn't clear in my response to Todd A., but I did interchange both the power cords and the outlets to eliminate those variables. Thanks for the thoughts! .......
333: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Hum Buster = 4 Diodes (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-04-05, 06:22:09 (24.5.2.72)
Thanks, Guy; that's a great discovery! Based on the description at PS Audio's website, the Hum Buster is an ingenious solution. I can see a possible downside because the diodes will create switching n .......
334: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Use the same amp that drives your main speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-04-05, 01:02:38 (24.5.2.72)
When Vandersteen says the powered subwoofer should be driven by a "speaker level" amplifier, what they mean is that the voltage supplied to the subwoofer should be identical to the voltage supplied to .......
335: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Thanks, but amps are in same AC outlet (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-04-04, 15:32:41 (24.5.2.72)
I even tried swapping the AC power cords between them. .......
336: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Parasound JC-1 transformer buzz (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-04-04, 14:58:04 (24.5.2.72)
I have read the previous postings on the Asylum regarding this problem. (Buzzing is mechanical vibration of power transformer, not hum in loudspeaker.) I'm interested to know if Parasound ever refused .......
337: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Parasound JC-1 input capacitance? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2005-04-04, 00:10:35 (24.5.2.72)
Does anyone know the input capacitance at the unbalanced input of the Parasound JC-1 amp? (I ask because I'm planning to buy or build a passive attenuator to replace my ARC LS-2 preamp.) Thanks! ::: T .......
338: Music Lane, Link missing from previous message (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2004-12-26, 23:37:19 (67.160.192.34)
CitiDex website with links to all concert venues in NYC, including churches, museums, etc: .......
339: Music Lane, Re: Visiting NY (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2004-12-24, 22:59:15 (67.160.192.34)
Buy the Friday New York Times (available late Thursday night) and check the listings in the back of the Weekend/Arts section. Before you leave, check the websites for Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and .......
340: Music Lane, Brahms violin sonatas (3) w Rubinstein (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2004-10-13, 00:14:10 (24.5.6.45)
Also the Brahms trios w Rubinstein & Fournier. .......
341: Music Lane, Brendel v. Uchida (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2004-02-14, 02:56:27 (24.5.6.45)
I love Brendel's Schubert, and I find his latest Philiips recordings more fluid and expressive than this earlier ones on the same label. His Schubert has none of the rigidity or severity that some peo .......
342: Music Lane, Re: Brian, a question re classical in the Bay Area... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2004-02-14, 02:34:28 (24.5.6.45)
Another excellent sponsor of classical concerts is San Francisco Performances (at Herbst Theater). .......
343: Speaker Asylum, Re: Hearing, aging, and treble.... (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-11-06, 02:02:15 (12.236.72.245)
I'm age 50, and I suffer from this too. I am highly sensitive to treble distortion, and I have a low threshold of discomfort for loud music and other loud sounds. If you are interested in this topic, .......
344: Speaker Asylum, Ribbon panel positioning (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-11-03, 00:01:28 (12.236.72.245)
Have you tried moving the ribbon panel a few inches laterally from the cone driver (lower midrange) array? It looks like the enclosure for the cones will reflect the signal from the ribbons. ::: TOPIC .......
345: General Asylum, Re: Should I buy G4 powerbook for Music? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-10-27, 23:11:56 (12.236.72.245)
Are you mainly planning to rip MP3 files, or are you planning to use MIDI hardware? For ripping MP3's, the G4's Altivec processor is extremely fast. For MIDI hardware, I believe drivers have not yet b .......
346: Music Lane, Rossini's "Cinderella" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-10-21, 01:15:18 (12.236.72.245)
John C. wrote: "We already have 2 versions of Rossini's "Cinderella" in the collection but I weakened and ordered (from HMV UK) the one with Bartoli" There is a stupendous video on DG with Von Stade a .......
347: General Asylum, Tivoli PAL portable (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-10-20, 13:05:35 (12.236.72.245)
I bought the Tivoli PAL, which is a portable version of the Tivoli One. It has boomy bass and hollow midrange. Speech has poor intelligibility. I don't know whether the Tivoli One is any better. The .......
348: General Asylum, Hyperacusis Treatment (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-10-02, 01:00:41 (12.236.72.245)
I found an extremely informative website by J. Hazell, a research partner of Dr. Jastreboff, who developed the most commonly accepted treatment for hyperacusis by exposure to increasing levels of whit .......
349: Music Lane, Berlioz "Les Troyens" (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-09-25, 15:03:14 (12.236.72.245)
Colin Davis has a new recording, sold directly by the London Sym. I'd appreciate comparisons between this and his recording of 30 years ago (which I own). Thanks! .......
350: General Asylum, Original 901 was honest attempt to achieve flat response? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-09-13, 22:19:14 (12.236.72.245)
Bose is an amateur violinist, and I imagine his original 901 was an honest attempt to reproduce orchestral music as accurately as possible. Commendably, Bose may have been the first speaker manufactur .......
351: Speaker Asylum, Re: Experience with RM-40 kit? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-09-10, 16:09:13 (12.236.72.245)
Brian normally wires the drivers with push-on clips to facilitate future driver repairs. If you solder the wires directly to the drivers, perhaps the connection would be better. (I wonder what effect .......
352: Music Lane, No, I'm not a student or senior (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-08-31, 14:33:49 (12.236.72.245)
But thanks anyway for the suggestion! .......
353: Music Lane, Los Angeles Opera Tickets, how to buy at last minute? (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-08-31, 13:22:04 (12.236.72.245)
I would like to get tickets for the Los Angeles Opera next week (Fanciulla with Domingo), but I don't live in L.A. If I just show up 2 hours before the performance, what are the chances of my getting .......
354: Cable Asylum, Biwiring1 URL correction (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-08-18, 22:23:12 (12.236.72.245)
Jon's first page does NOT have a "1" in the url. The correct URL is: .......
355: Speaker Asylum, VMPS FF-3 SRE & RM-40 (0.00)
Posted by Bob Stern on 2002-07-26, 01:21:12 (12.236.72.245)
I heard both at the home of Brian Cheney, the designer/manufacturer. The RM-40 included the $1200 Moncrief capacitor upgrade. As Brian acknowledges, the FF-3 SRE sounds much cleaner, partly because it .......
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