Hi-Fi: What Does It Sound Like? | The Ivory Tower
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Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?
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Thanks. I guess a combination of "clean" and dynamic is closer to what I meant by "crisp".Hi-Fi: What Does It Sound Like? | The Ivory Tower
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Good article, BTW.
Doesn't this just reflect the subjectiveness of our personal sonic preferences in the hobby?
It reminds me of how one likes his/her steak cooked: one diner's "dry" (as in over-cooked) is another diner's "crisp" (and delicious). The first diner is not going to perceive "crisp" as a "good thing."
When I think of crisp, I don't think of overcooked crisp. I hate overcooked.
With food, it really depends on what you eat? For a chip, "crisp" is a good attribute. For steak, or other types of foods, perhaps not so much.
I don't eat potato chips very often. I agree that crisp potato chips are better than soggy potato chips -- as long as crisp does not also mean dry.
I like french fries to be fried rare, and I like pizza to be baked rare.
I fear I have gotten us down a bad line of discussion. I naïvely thought that food preparation preferences generally would be considered to be at least as subjective as audio.
With sound it's similar, it depends. I once heard a vinyl reissue of John Mclaughlin's Live At Ronnie Scotts, an album that I love. It sounded thicker than the CD version, but also rhythmically relaxed to a point where it was boring. Guitar sound was boring as well. Here the extra "wetness" of the vinyl was a lethal detriment to the music. Just give me the "drier" CD version with exciting, crisp rhythm & timing and crisp guitar sound. Much preferable!
(Not that all vinyl is like this, but I just mention this reissue to make my point.)
On the other hand if you mean with "crisp" exaggerated transients and hardness, or lack of hall ambience, then that's overcooked crisp or "dry" that I don't want.
On a side note, I sometimes find it easier
I clarified what I meant by referring to it as being "clean" and "dynamic". I guess this is what I expect from a good recording. Perhaps the term is too vague, and maybe one could analyze and decompose different sonic attributes that explain it. Funny how most people would agree on what are "good recordings" but disagree on how to describe them
I will check out the example you provided.
I clarified what I meant by referring to it as being "clean" and "dynamic". I guess this is what I expect from a good recording. Perhaps the term is too vague, and maybe one could analyze and decompose different sonic attributes that explain it. Funny how most people would agree on what are "good recordings" but disagree on how to describe them
I will check out the example you provided.
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To continue your food analogy, I would say if you and I plus a few audiophile/foodie friends all ordered the seared scallops at a Michelin starred restaurant, I'm guessing, assuming they were good, we would all be raving about the taste in similar ways. Likewise if after dinner, we attended a concert of unamplified music, we would be raving about the sound in similar ways. Point is, although taste is subjective, connoisseurs tend to agree on what is or isn't high quality.
Yes sometimes when they remaster a original digital recording/ release for vinyl, they go overboard and try to make it sound like vinyl being played back on a all tube system with a slow cartridge from the get go
I have stopped buying Steve Earl albums on vinyl, they are muddy and sluggish, with overemphasized bass, the original digital recordings are decent sounding, except for a few recorded with Protools.
I’m am most certainly not trying to be the mastering police, but in my experience, what you mention is not really a thing.Yes sometimes when they remaster a original digital recording/ release for vinyl, they go overboard and try to make it sound like vinyl being played back on a all tube system with a slow cartridge from the get go
Broadly speaking, it’s almost never the format, but the quality and taste of the engineer that is 99% of the reason that something sounds the way it does. The records you mention were simply not cut very well, or the best it could be, given lathe limitations is my guess.
Earlier in the thread somebody mentioned a project I had worked on. I wrote something about not being happy with the result and did a bit of blaming on the recording and format. What I should have said was my skills back then were not as good as they are today. If I had mixed that project now, the recording, and format would have been irrelevant and I would be able to make the mixes sound better.
that’s his real name. we call him Al for short
Recording Engineer Steve Hoffman recently reviewed the AN UK DAC 5 Special (second or Third from the top of the line).
I like Stev because he masters for SACD and Analog Productions along with CD and he masters for known artists like Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Eva Cassidy, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Wes Montogomery, Paul McCartney, Elvis, Ray Charles, Sinatra, Ella, etc. It's kind of nice to seem him bother to write up a DAC dedicated to CD replay
Hey! Audio Note UK DAC Five Signature and CDT Five transport are up and running. My short review.
So my newest digital playback is the Audio Note UK CDT Five transport and their DAC Five Signature. I received the DAC from them a while back but was...
forums.stevehoffman.tv
The 5.1 One Box player I have heard on a few occasions sounds pretty amazing. But then at those prices, it should be the best. And it is still going to come down to the CD itself, the amplifier, the speakers etc. Still, listening to that CD player I never felt like I was missing Vinyl. I had the 2.1 one-box player for a while (on loan as a stand-in for part of a bigger review)and it makes a strong and sensible case for itself here as well. Although I am more of a fan of the top loaders than the lower priced machines using the Philips L1210 mechanism - this mechanism was fairly robust and used in Bryston and Sim Audio players with their longer warranty, it still is a bit flimsy for the nearly $5k price. The 4.1 is about the limit I would go with CD/digital.
do you know if he paid for this dac or if it was given to him like his other AN gear
thanks. he writes
“
Disclaimer:
I realize this gear is very expensive. For those who can afford it, it's not the flash that you are buying, it is strictly the wonderful playback sound. The gear itself is very understated looking, it is truly all about the music that the equipment spits out.
My long term loan of this gear has no strings attached whatsoever. I'm writing this review because I'm excited about the sound and feel that others might be as well.
No one at Audio Note UK has ever ordered or even requested that I ever write a review.”
Just as an aside - I have always paid the dealer's asking price for all the gear I have purchased and several companies have offered me free gear over the years - I declined those items and declined to review those brands.
In one case, I truly don't think they were trying anything shady - the rep wanted me to review $300 or so speakers. The shipping to me in Hong Kong and having it shipped back to them and then having to sell a "used item" wasn't worth it so they said to review them and keep them. Still, while I believed him - it still didn't look right so I had to decline.
With AN UK working with several folks in the recording industry to try and make better-sounding recordings I can see why Peter is lending out some products to mastering/recording engineers like Steve Hoffman and Damian Quintard as well as fixing and reworking cutting lathes and recording microphones to help out some of the studios to get better sound at the source before we get to the stereo systems we play.
He gets all his Audio Note gear for free.
He uses AN-E speakers. I have not heard these. The other Audio Note speakers I have heard (AN-K and AN-J) are not the most transparent and neutral speakers out there (understatement). But maybe the AN-E are an exception, at 10 times the price of these other models, and maybe they work exceptionally well with Audio Note gear. The "marketing talk" is the same for all models, so it just makes me wonder. I would be curious to listen to these speakers.
Listening to a top of the line full Audio Note system many years ago (in Paris, at a shop that no longer exists - Triode & Compagnie) was what got me into hi-fi. I don't know exactly what they were using (aside for the fact that it was vinyl), but it sounded wonderful to my "virgin" ears at the time.
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Recording Engineer Steve Hoffman recently reviewed the AN UK DAC 5 Special (second or Third from the top of the line).
I like Stev because he masters for SACD and Analog Productions along with CD and he masters for known artists like Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Eva Cassidy, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Wes Montogomery, Paul McCartney, Elvis, Ray Charles, Sinatra, Ella, etc. It's kind of nice to seem him bother to write up a DAC dedicated to CD replay
Hey! Audio Note UK DAC Five Signature and CDT Five transport are up and running. My short review.
So my newest digital playback is the Audio Note UK CDT Five transport and their DAC Five Signature. I received the DAC from them a while back but was...
The 5.1 One Box player I have heard on a few occasions sounds pretty amazing. But then at those prices, it should be the best. And it is still going to come down to the CD itself, the amplifier, the speakers etc. Still, listening to that CD player I never felt like I was missing Vinyl. I had the 2.1 one-box player for a while (on loan as a stand-in for part of a bigger review)and it makes a strong and sensible case for itself here as well. Although I am more of a fan of the top loaders than the lower priced machines using the Philips L1210 mechanism - this mechanism was fairly robust and used in Bryston and Sim Audio players with their longer warranty, it still is a bit flimsy for the nearly $5k price. The 4.1 is about the limit I would go with CD/digital.
I am surprised at the lack of interest/curiosity in the Audio Note DACs/CD players on WBF. They are a completely different approach to almost all other digital gear such as Wadax and MSB.
My friend, Chris Bryant, was one of Colloms listening partners when he reviewed the top of the line combination (2012). My friend thought at the time it was as good as the best vinyl replay.
Strange, since even the owner of Audio Note doesn't think his digital matches his vinyl playback:
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