Cheaptubeaudio has had a long history of advocating reasonably priced but excellent tube gears, particularly Singled-Ended Triodes. This Blog however covers a lot more than SET, and is not exclusively tube-related. Cheaptubeaudio prioritizes coverage of unusual and rare gears, particularly vintage ones, on which little info can be found on the internet.
New York Diary (20-32): Lang Lang is an audiophile?
Note (10-2-20): Thanks to comments by readers, the audio setup is confirmed to be in photographer Hartwig Klappert's studio in Berlin, but he is not the photographer for this album.
I was streaming Lang Lang's new recordings (one studio and one live) of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which has garnered mixed reviews so far. It is the slowest and most romantic on record. Myself? I find it refreshing. Too many recordings are too alike - not this one. I have actually listened to both several times and grow increasingly fond of them.
As usual for DG's marketing, inside the booklet are many superfluous and gratuitous photos of him in various poses. One caught my eyes. Hey, some serious gear there!
Can we name the gears? They seem to be all vintage. The R2R is a Studer/Revox (A77?); the turntable is an iconic Micro Seiki but I am not sure which one. Can someone name the amp?
Basic RepertoireBach's Goldberg Variations on the piano was made famous by Glenn Gould's fast and exciting (and iconic) performance, which for many is still the reference (he later made a digital remake that is a little slower). Lang Lang's is the slowest and strangest, but undeniably beautiful.
Doctorjohn: It is with the greatest sadness that I announce the passing of audiopro. Vivek informed me a few days ago by email. I literally immediately broke into goosebumps and felt uncomfortable for hours after. Why, he emailed me just four days prior to this news. It is still not clear how he died, but he was way too young.
audiopro's first article for us, A walk down memory lane, certainly found resonance with many people, including myself. He wrote and listened with exactitude, with a touch of philosophical musing; it is too bad he did not get to contribute more. We shall miss him.
Although I have never met him and his presence in this blog is brief, I have felt from the first day that he is a kindred spirit. As I am in communication with Vivek and sometimes Prem, I have always felt that I'd get to meet them all one day. After all, India is one country that I have always wanted to visit.
As remembrance, this blog would not post anything new for three days.
mrgoodsound: This is sad news. I did not have the chance to get to know audiopro but I would consider anyone with the sensitivity to music (something many in this hobby do not have, despite their pretenses) at least somewhat connected in spirit. I wish the best for his family and friends.
Dexler Poppe: Terrible news about audiopro! Actually his first article greatly inspired me to accept your invitation to your blog. I found it fascinating that even though we live so far apart, our experiences and background are more similar than different. In fact, I did hope that readers will eventually come to the same conclusion when they read our respective articles. At this junction in history, I think it’s a message worth delivering. Or would have been. I’m deeply saddened. This year has been just too intense already.
Eric L: When I heard that audiopro had passed away, I felt sorry for the loss of a seasoned veteran who has in depth knowledge of music and equipment. Even I never knew him, I could feel strongly from his post his passion for music.May he rest in peace in hifi heaven.
Editor: I append a viol composition by Marin Marais, Tombeau pour Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, written to commemorate his teacher's death (their story popularized by the film Touts Les Matins du Monde). The playlist is very good. I have always loved viol music - that melancholic tint.
Letter from Hungary (20-1): Dexler Poppegot into Music Early
Editor: I am glad to introduce Dexler Poppe. Regular readers may have already read many of his comments. He introduces himself here, and will follow up with more articles. He is Hungarian, but writes perfect English! Without further ado:
When John asked me to write something for the blog, I was surprised. And
hesitated a little. But I found the idea had an appealing overtone of
adventurousness, so I couldn't resist to say yes.
I believe it is just fitting to start with introduction, so here it is. This is the story of audiophile-me.
When I was a kid, there really wasn't that much music in our house. My
parents just weren't into it. We had a small Siemens cassette
player/recorder and maybe a dozen tapes plus those with the children
stories and songs. But it soon turned out, that I was wired differently.
I loved music form a very early age on and was quite sensitive to
sounds. This went to the extreme of me practically banning a weekly
scientific tv program in our household at the tender age of 3, because I
hated the voice of the presenter. To complicate things, the intro of
the same tv show impressed me quite a bit in great part due to the
music (as shown in this youtube.)
But then of course my parents had to
switch channel quickly, before the dreaded presenter came on screen.
I was also fascinated by the mechanics of music playback. I just loved
the click-clack of the buttons of our little Siemens player, the ability
to detune radio stations with a simple turn of a knob and that most
fascinating of all features: recording. I don't consider recording magic
anymore, but other then that, my feelings towards equipment hasn't
changed much during the years. So yes, I admit it openly, that I love
the gear - a lot. In fact, I asked for some sort of new playback
equipment every time when I could justify it.
Having wandered aimlessly on the musical landscape in my first 9 years,
one day after school together with my friends we decided it's time to
consolidate things. Since we liked a number of rock bands, we figured
they will be best served if each of us chooses one as a primary focus.
My band was Guns n' Roses, and so it became my duty to be the expert on
all things GNR. This is how I learnt about all the different factors
that form and influence musicians from idols, peers, through personal
traumas to socio-cultural context.
As I learnt more and more, I got to know more and more bands. In
practice, this meant having copied tapes in record stores (re: audiopro) and having pen-friends who had access to more obscure stuff.
At a certain stage down this road, we got hold of the album ...And the Circus Leaves Town from Kyuss. I can still vividly remember the hot
summer afternoon when we first listened to it. That album has a very
unique sound and as a consequence, an atmosphere that was unlike
anything I heard before. That was when I learnt that there's more to
music than a memorable guitar riff and a catchy refrain. (Even though Kyuss can do catchy very well.)
From this point onwards, things escalated quickly. Music started to
become increasingly important in my life. We've published a fanzine with
my friends. I started listening to electronic music as I became
familiar with - then positively underground - genres like trip-hop and
drum and bass. I felt equally at home in rock pubs and techno clubs. One
night I heard a program on a small community radio station, that played
experimental music. They talked about an upcoming concert by Finnish
noise duo, Pan Sonic. I decided to go. I died and reborn that night.
That was the most disturbing, uplifting and beautiful musical experience
I had up until then. A total assault on the senses, yet joyful and
cathartic. I learnt that night that music has no definition and it was
liberating.
Soon after the promoters of the Pan Sonic concert reached out via their
newsletter in search of volunteers to help organising their first
festival. I volunteered and eventually became a core member of the team
for more than a decade. I also had two music blogs and wrote album and
concert reviews for a now defunct online magazine.
And at some point on this road I found an old Tesla turntable thrown
out. It seemed to be in fine condition, so I took it home. While it was
in my possession, it worked properly for about 23 minutes in total, but
that was sufficient to make me a hifi enthusiast beside being music
enthusiast. This is a story for a following post.
Letter from Hong Kong (20-8): Eric L updates on his system, with Streamer on the Horizon
Since the acquisition of the Auralic Vega DAC, I have been able to do a lot of comparisons of different combinations and see which setting yields the best SQ.
Gotham GAC4 IC, power cord, 10700 Digital cable One of my biggest surprise is the use of Gotham GAC4 I.C. and power cord. In a nutshell, the soundstage has brightened up and feels energized. Great transient, natural and non-fatiguing. For the price, it's a steal and puts many multi-thousand dollar cables to shame and make them sound manipulated. Their digital cable 10070 (75ohm) is still under run-in and being compared with my 47 OTA cable. Initial impression is positive: more energy, enhanced resolution and, again, a brighter presentation and exciting. After a while, I began to miss the 47's more refined and sinewy manner, which gives music more flow and elegance. That said, the 10070 is far from broken in, so I'll give it sometime to prove itself [Editor: see Footnote 1].
Single Power Humpty or Duo on my Gaincard? Decisions , Decisions When I first purchased my 47Lab Gaincard, I bought 2 Power Humpties (which give 50 wpc), as I had presumed that my Dynaudio would be difficult to drive (proven by my tenure with the low power int. amp from Sparkler Audio). I used it for many years with no problem until some months ago, when I decided on a hunch to disconnect the cord from one Humpty and lump the power cord to the other Humpty in order to run solo - the result was more music involvement and foot tapping! Hence, I have been running Single Humpty until a few days ago, when I wanted to see if my current setup still justify the single Humpty configuration or does it benefit from going duo? I then hooked up the other Humpty again. With duo Humpties, soundstage is more relaxed, wider and deeper; instrument separation has improved; more details can be picked up; and the content of music and intention of musicians are better conveyed (30% gain). But that comes at an expense of a slight loss in PRaT and foot tapping, less so on the take no prisoner approach (10-15% loss). With the Duo setup I'm having now, I don't know if I will go solo again or remain in the duo mode. But currently, I rather enjoy the additional volume of information and the less strained and more at ease music presentation that I get from Duo Humpties. [Ed: Footnote 2]
Tidal SQ SQ from Tidal can be extremely good if the recording is good. Hooking up with my Laptop yields some surprisingly pleasing sound. Neither cold nor warm, musical yet not over the top, always well poised. If the passage demands dynamics, it provides (aced) and if the passage is slow and sublime, it will go slow yet with tension and good preservation of the important spaces between notes. Often, with a great recording, it can surpass my CDP's performance!! I cannot, though, pick up significant difference between HiFi mode or Master mode (which Tidal claims uses MQA). My verdict, Tidal is highly recommended given the extremely reasonable fees, range of selection and very respectable recording quality! That said, I have been hearing less Youtube lately... Let me play Hiromi and Chic's Spain tomorrow!
Sparkler 503 CDP standalone vs CD through Vega DAC Running the same setup with 47 as dig cable, I sometimes cannot distinguish clearly if I'm running the CDP through the Vega or not. Yes there are minor differences, but not to a point that I have a clear preference: the standalone CDP has slightly more PRat and Vega has more ease and better interpretation of slow passages. Changing from 47 to Gotham dig cable brings two different styles as I have mentioned above. So I will review it again once the latter is broken-in.
Preview: Search for my first Streamer
I haven't stopped searching for a streamer. After weighing many options for SQ/size/price/versatility, I have narrowed it down to a few: Innous Zen Mini Mk2 or 3, Lumin U1 Mini and Aurender N100H. Each one has its pros and cons and they all come with a price tag less than 1500 USD. Meanwhile, my friend has promised to loan me the Zenmini Mk2 but it has not arrived yet. Last night, I chanced upon a second-hand Auralic Aries Mini (less than $400USD) that came with a Jay's Audio LPS. I took a plunge; it should be a decent little box which I can easily sell if I upgrade. Apart from not having a CD Ripper, it ticked all the boxes for me , it can stream Tidal, has 500GB internal storage plus a slot for SSD to use as server. Most importantly, it's really compact in size! But one needs an iPad or iPhone to work with it. I dug out my ancient first gen iPad, which has not been used in ages, but the charging cord is missing...damn! When things all work out, I'll report back in detail!
Editor's Footnotes: [1] I have used both of these as digital cable and my impressions are similar. The 47 Lab is smooth and not so detailed. The Gotham 10070 is indeed very detailed and one of my references, though it can be sharp in some systems. Both are good but I prefer Belden 1694 for overall performance; [2] both Herb Reichert in Listener and Steve Rochlin in enjoythemusic preferred just one Dumpty.
Classical Recommendations: Women Conductors, Sibelius and Santa Claus; Music in Time of Covid
Engagement and Fulfillment that I am talking about are the Spiritual kind. During our lifetime, unusual opportunities sometimes come knocking at the door, and sadly we don't often recognize them as what they can be until after the fact. They could be in any realm, be them career, capital gain or whatever, but they are more serious if they are in the realm of the higher emotions, like love. Personally, although I, like most, have made my share of wrong decisions, I never overdo the regret thing - it doesn't help and we have to look forward and make the best of our state. And we should grow and acknowledge our past deficiencies.
What I am really talking about is music - how it comes to shake music lovers to their cores. This is different for everyone. For me, I don't even remember what germinated in me to cause me to buy a humble setup so long ago; all I know is the joy it brought me. I still remember when I first heard the Sibelius Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, on radio - the emotional upheaval that I felt. I knew it spoke to me, and I have never stopped exploring since then - Full Engagement. And the Music Fulfilled me in Return. What we put in rewards us in multiples - I believe that, in any genre (and in audio). Yes, to fully engage oneself is hard work and takes commitment, but the rewards are huge.
It didn't happen when I was younger. But, for the past decade at least, on the rare occasions that the music making moved me beyond description, tears would stream down down my face. This happened more in live performances but also at home, particularly during the pandemic. I am sure music is not the only medium through which this could happen. Holistic endeavors, like Yoga, probably can do this too. In particular, I know for a fact that many who have attended stringent Buddhist Retreats can sometimes attain an alter state, and not a few cry out loud after the experience, and say they don't know why.
Physiologically, as a medically trained person, I'd say the yoga, or meditation, or retreat, or whatever, alter the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Then, there are the brain hormones, like Serotonin, which can infuse us with positive emotions. It is likely a valley and trough. But, does it matter? Going through these emotions I believe is healthy for us. It s better that we can cry rather than not.
Crying in such a situation is not asking for help, but attaining a higher importance. It shares our spirits, and we acknowledge there are higher sentiments that we cannot control as mortals, sentiments that are effusive and, I believe, beneficial to mankind. For the youtubes I am sharing, read also the comments, some incredibly eloquent. I firmly believe being appreciative of spiritual beauty makes us better and kinder people, and contribute to a better world.
Women Conductors are getting more common. I heard quite a few in Hong Kong. Yip Wing Sze, a past winner of the Besancon competition, has been head of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta for a long time. While she is OK, many who came after her offered much more excitement. With the Hong Kong Philharmonic, I heard the exciting Zhang Xian, Carolyn Kuan and Elim Chan, from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, who hold posts with the New Jersey Symphony, Hartford Symphony and Antwerp Symphony, respectively. In New York, I have heard bigger names, like Marin Alsop and the incomparable Simone Young. There are many others in the pipeline that I'd like to hear.
Sibelius Like Bruckner, Sibelius is a one-off; there are no others like him. Writers have struggled to describe the alternately sparse and rousing nature of his music, making allusions like: paean to the great Finnish landscape, or, glimpse into eternity, etc. While his first two symphonies have its Tchaikovsky influences, I think they already show him as his own man. In the Second Symphony, an audience favorite, there are many amazing passages. In the following video, from the excellent Frankfurt Symphony series (few ads, all HD), Rising star Susanna Malkki conducted brilliantly. As a matter of fact, I have not heard better (including the benchmark, Barbirolli's Royal Philharmonic recording). I was so captivated that, at 14:52, when the strings floated the melody, tears streamed down my face. You ought to listen from the start, to catch how a master conductor builds it up; at least start 2-3 minutes before.
While we are on Sibelius, I recently heard the valedictory Ondine cycle, where Leif Segerstam conducts the Helsink Orchestra. In this video, Segerstam conducted the Sinfonica de Galicia, a susrpsingly accomplished orchestra that played with great color, in Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherazade. Note that this was in June, during the pandemic!!! You can see one player in the last row wearing a mask. Salut for their courage. The comments are fun. One says: "...I finally know what Santa does for the rest of the year..." :-)
New York Diary (20-30): RFI and the Power Cord (C7)
One day, while streaming I heard a faint but discordant strand of music in the mix. I paused the music and found the RFI picking up radio. I stepped closer to the loudspeakers and could hear the DJ talking. Highly irritating. It was not a constant but would happen randomly.
I was pretty sure it had something to do with the Micromega MyDAC, which has a SM type supply. I swapped out the Kimber KCAG (braided 3-strand silver) for a shielded cable - no use. And so it went on for a couple of days.
Yesterday, not being able to find my spare ferrite ring clamp, I decided to swap the power cable. The small Micromega uses the figure-of-eight (C7) connector. The cable I had in has a thin flat sleeve (bottom one in pic). I exchanged it for one double its thickness, with the 2 conductors running side by side in separate sleeves (like a lamp cord). Voila! RFI elminated! So the replacement has better shielding!
Just a vignette...
Basic Repertoire Brahms wrote 2 beautiful Piano Concertos, which are among his most passionate works. Concerto No. 2 unusually has 4 movements. The Andante (starting 27:38) is most lovely for its dialogue between the orchestra (especially the solo cello) and the piano. Yuja Wang plays with the Munich Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev, during their Japanese tour.
Brief Reviews: Belden 8412 and 8422 as Interconnects, Part I
New York Diary (20-29): Audio Lores, Influencers and Over-Influence
Note (9/11/20): I went back to using my other cables and what a relief!
The Conductors (and braided shield) of Belden 8412 and 8422 are made of the exact same Tin-plated Copper (as in the 9497 loudspeaker cable) as the better known and discontinued (though available at a premium) 8402. Among audiophiles that is; in professional circles 8412 is the new classic. They are much more similar than different, but the 8412 and 8422 are a lot cheaper and, hopefully after you read this, worthy of your consideration. The price of 8402 is inflated because what is selling are remnants but, as you know, many audiophiles gravitate to vintage or classics and think older is better!
8402 This cable needs no introduction. Like the Belden 9497 Loudspeaker Cable, it was first advocated by the Japanese. This is a classic Microphone Cable with 2 conductors and 2 shields. Belden and Tin-plated copper began their emergence in the DIY community, especially influenced by Jon Risch (whose time-consuming projects I'd never attempt). The 8402 was popularized by the underground and then Influencer Jeff Day set it into the orbit. Spec8402 2 x 20 AWG (26x34) Conductors have EPDM Insulation. There are 2 Shields: Rayon (fiber) and Tinned Copper. (same as conductor) Outer jacket is CSPE. Impedance is 52 ohm and Capacitance 55 pF/ft. Connection This is pure lore. Lore has it that the Japanese connect the metal shield at both ends for an ostensibly more emotive sound. In the US we usually use floating ground - connect only one end (usually proximal, unless you have different star-grounding plan) and cut off the other (usually distal), which has superiority in shielding (connecting at both ends loses shielding advantage) and noise rejection. There is/was a so-called third way; someone connects both conductors to +ve, and uses the shielding as ground/return. Mind you, this is no earth-shattering stuff. Back in the early days of Gotham, people tried all sorts of things: say, for GAC-4/1 (or Mogami 2549), 4 conductors, some would make 1 x +ve and 3 x -ve , and vice versa. Also, some Gotham have very sophisticated double metal shielding (the Belden's in question are only single metal + another fiber), and one can separate the 2 and choose to connect either or both to ground or not. Many ways; also many ways that are at odds with manufacturer's recommendations. But are not audiophiles a crazy bunch? Cite the spec's when necessary and insist on a non-redbook way when it is suitable for them. Look, I deliberately do not provide a link to any of these, because I think it is totally empirical, system dependent. One guy connected it the Japanese way and waxed lyrics, then sometime later converted it to floating ground and admitted it was better. My experienceI thought I wrote about it briefly, but I could not find it in my blog! Anyway, here. Some years ago my yumcha friend Dave gave me a pair of old-stock 8402, finished with classic Switchcraft connectors (I think connected the Japanese way). It sounded reasonably good, full and weighty, but a little dark. Compared with Gotham, it also lacked rhythmic finesse. I did not linger too long on it. Note I don't have this cable with me here in NYC.
8412 and 8422The 8412 can be thought of as 8402 Mk II, very popular with professionals. I bought these in the US, very cheaply, and terminated them with Switchcraft look-alike, nickle-plated Rean connectors. These use the same Tin-Plated Copper for Conductor and Braid. and If you look at the spec's of8412, it is very similar to the 8402, differing just in outer jacket material (EPDM) and spec (higher 58 ohm and 67 pF/ft). The 8422is similarly constructed. Its conductors are smaller, 22 AWG (16x34), which is what interests me. Cotton is used in lieu of Rayon. Insulation is different (PE for conductors and PVC for outer jacket) and so are the spec's (90 ohm; 32 pF/ft). Ergonomics As one removes the rayon or cotton fibers, they disintegrate into tiny flecks; make sure you don't have a fan on and keep a wet cloth to wipe up. Kind of messy.
Sound
Part I "Show Some Respect"... I made a pair of each using the "preferred (Japanese)" way, connecting the shield at both ends. I tested them in my streaming system. First, 8412 went into the Micromega MyDAC in lieu of the Kimber KCAG. Pretty good; a richer sound but enough treble and air for me, even if a moment ago I was listening to my favorite silver cable. Then, the 8422 replaced the Gotham GAC-2111 (EMT replica) between the Yamamoto CA-04 preamp and Akitika GT-102 amp. Pretty good too. Now, I was streaming classical music and I liked the deep soundstage (The LS3/5A is a champ in this respect; now I am using 15 ohm Rogers instead of the Audiomaster) and solid sound. But, after a (long) while, the "solidity" nagged at me a little and I remembered my encounter with the 8402. What if the audio lore is just that, unsuitable for me?
Part II Better be Inquisitive...Next day, I made a pair of each with the shield floated (cut-off) at the distal end. I first exchanged the 8412. Surely, a little more air and openness, which I preferred. Next, I exchanged the 8422 - same feeling. Now that I had 2 pairs of each, I tested various combo's. After some fiddling I found: 1) the 8422 and the 8412 share the same basic sonic imprint, but the 8422 sounds lighter on its feet and has somewhat smaller images than the 8412; 2) Using 2 pairs of 8422 the sound may need a little more weight, just as using 2 pairs of 8412 the sound needs some more litheness.; 4) the better balance was obtained by using the 8412 at the front and the 8422 from preamp to amp. That's what I maintained from this point on.
Part III Janus Faced? Now what of the audio lore? This was emphatically answered in this round. Up till then I have been streaming classical music and I was OK with it. To round out the test, I played some of my favorite vocal material. First up was Nick Cave's The Boatman's Call. Now, this is not an up-tempo album, far from it. The first track is a little heavy and murky in the bass, but now especially so. A few more tracks, and I was missing some of the subtle colors from the backing instruments. Next up was Van Morrison's Moondance and my jaws dropped: where has all the mystery and ecstasy gone? It was just plain slow, even lugubrious. I pulled out more; all suffered the same ailment. Readers know I listen to these albums frequently and, just before the Belden residency, with all Gotham cables, the rhythmically savvy Micromega Stage 2 made these albums shine through the LS3/5A. I then stepped up my comparison. Mind you, since I was not streaming, the signal went through The Gotham DRG-1 instead of the 8412, and then the 8422. When I made the shocking discovery, I was using the 8422 pair with the "classic Japanese" termination. I swapped in my pair with the floated ground and immediately the sound, though similar, opened up a little and gained some pace, but still not enough to raise the dead. Now, why had I not been as disturbed when I was streaming classical music? Simple. Listening to classical is just very different as one is listening as much to what's going on vertically (harmonically) than linearly. Although I had a nagging suspicion that the proceedings were too "weighty" for their own good, I was discovering all the things that the Belden were doing right: weighty brass, good instrumental colors, an unfazed nature, all pluses in my book, and it was fascinating to fathom the subtle difference in sound of the big chords and moments (from my usual Gotham). On the other hand, listening to pop music the rhythm is extremely important. Without a sense of drive, all is lost.
Part IV A New Lifeline As usual, there is a twist, and this is most unexpected. Just yesterday, I took delivery of a pair of Harbeth P3ESR SE. I swapped out the 15 ohm Rogers LS3/5A and was immediately stunned. The pop music instantly became more pacey. The footsteps were still a little heavy, but now the pop music marched in formation, not stumbling. This is not a loudspeaker review, but you will have one soon. I also took the time to swap in the 8412 for the 8422 and my previous impressions stood. Yes, the venerable LS3/5A is a little "slow" (slower transients) in comparison, but one would not notice if one were using rhythmically alert Gotham cables. The combination of LS3/5A and Belden 84x2 was emphatically not a match made in heaven.
Conclusions
8402/8412 As one long schooled in professional interconnect cables (for me, mostly Gotham and sometimes Mogami), Belden confounds, especially since I am a great devotee of their similarly tin-plated 9497. My impressions of the 8412 is no different from my memory of the 8402. My opinion is: there is no reason to stake out 8402 as 8412 can be had much cheaper. For:innate steadiness, superb texture and good balance (except for bass); Against:lackadaisical timing (especially in the bass). This, for me, is a significant caveat, or fly in the ointment. Not everyone loves the 8402; some netizens complain of darkness and dullness - that is a direct result of the slow-moving bass. This Cable should not have received blanket recommendation. My advice: 1) the Belden 84x2 would likely not work well if your loudspeakers (and system) are of the more relaxed kind, or vintage; it'd work better if your system is on the fast and brash side and you need to add some texture; 2) under any circumstance I'd think it not ideal to use more than one of these; better mix and match with other cables like Gotham. 8422 imho this cable, being a little quicker on its feet, is more balanced than 8402/12, but I suspect 8402 advocates are texture freaks, so be it.
The Japanese Connection As the 84x2 already has good texture and smoothness, connecting the shield at both ends confers little further advantage but extracts the penalty of smearing the low midrange and bass. Take Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, his dubbed voice overs are significantly less easy to separate from the background vocals and instrumentals when using the Japanese Connection. I prefer by far floating the shield.
Audio Lore, Careless Whispers and Over-Influence
Reverence or Reverie? Audiophiles are an odd bunch. Many in our hobby treat it like a religion. Some look for a master to subjugate themselves to. Guru says it's best to connect the shield at both ends; yes, master. Of course, the disciple tries floating the shield too, and is only too eager to confirm that his master (and hence his own belief) is right. You see what I mean? When one has a preconceived notion, a follow up action is unlikely to receive unbiased attention. It is good to have some reverence for others' opinions, but don't let that turn into reverie, to become Superstition.
Wide-Eyed Journalism I'd like to call it shoddy journalism, but I shall try to be kind. After all, this is less serious, a hobby, where truth is harder to arrive at than, say, journalism on politics (or is it?) Again, it's good to be receptive to something new, but try not to be too eager to join the party. I say this not because the journalist held a different opinion than mine. I say this because he devoted very little time to find out the nature of his subject. Look hard and you will find no more than a line or two on wherein the difference lies. There certainly was no mention of the timing penalty imposed by the Japanese connection. If a journalist does not try to approach his subject from different angles, to not fact check as much as possible, he is prone to producing fake news. Even in my case, if the Harbeth had not materialized, I'd have given the 84x2 even lower marks. When the Harbeth made things better, I worked hard to find the merits of these cables. This is after all a professional cable which, in my book, deserve closer scrutiny than commercial ones. I also would like to say that on the net audio writing is getting shorter and shorter. From blog to microblog to facebook etc, increasingly piecemeal and unworthy. One reason is that some journalists get saddled by too many toys. When one spends so perilously little time on something before moving on to something else, how can you trust his opinion(s)? Now you know why I could not generate any interest at all in Duelund. And, believe me, I was playing with Western Electric cables more than 20 years ago, and mine were better than what they are selling now or what's passing as the genuine thing.
Over-Influence The journalist is an influencer; in this case highly so. It is unfortunate. Those of us who can use a solder make it ourselves, but there are many more others who don't and buy it assembled. As the 8402 got popularized, all kinds of operations sprang up to sell ready made ones. If you peruse Ebay, all say "terminated the Japanese way, with shield connected at both ends". Well, one voice. When it comes to cables, do you believe in one voice?
From SOS article below. L, a 1980 CD; R, much more recent CD. If you read the article you'd know what shocking things that represents.
New York Diary (20-28): The Loudness Wars, Compression, Dynamic Headroom and The Inconveniences of Life
Over? Everyone knows about the Loudness War and how audio has been negatively impacted by young people who grew up on highly compressed and low-res music. The Loudness War peaked around a decade ago (this 2011 Atlantic article is fun), and later recording professionals even declared it over. This excellent 2014 Sound on Sound (SOS) article gave a detailed report on why that was. To make a long story short, the powerful Streaming and Media Services now do loudness equalization for whatever they play so there is little competitive advantage to maxing things out. But is it truly all over? Not quite, as one can see from this article (which is a rare one that seriously considered classical playback) and an even more recent one.
Difference between Streaming/Media Services Even I know different services do things a little differently. NML is basically classical, so can serve as a marker. Spotify, which I use quite a bit also, is definitely louder than NML. Every ten minutes or so, they ram loud ads into my ears. They don't normalize the loudness of the ads, but as I don't listen very loud, it is within tolerance. :-( Occasionally I toggle between NML and Spotify, and I always have to get up from my chair to adjust the volume. More on Spotify below.
TV If you think you have it bad with music in the US, I'll tell you it cannot possibly compare with Chinese TV. Say you are watching your favorite serial in China, and the ads come on almost 20 db louder - really irritating, downright terrorist attacks. The rationale behind that eludes me: the louder it is the more I dislike the ad (I usually mute it).
Birds Do It, Bees Do It Even in HiFi Audio, where you'd think standards would be adhered to, it is not necessarily the case. Chinese Audiophile CDs When I had my EAR 912 Preamp, I'd avoid playing my friend's Chinese "audiophile" CDs (I own few). Many of these, regarded as well recorded, like the female singer 童麗 (妙音,九洲), are totally into the red and made the needles on the meters bang around. The only company that honorably never does that is rhymoi (瑞鳴). Audio Note UK DACs These typically have much higher output (current ones are spec'ed at 3.2V but I suspect my old 2.1 was even more than that), AN said that is because they can play into their amps directly but I think that is totally nonsense. No one is going to use an ultra expensive Level 5 DAC to feed a lower level integrated with volume. I am sure they did it to juice up the "jump factor" of their SE amps (I don't condemn this practice, as many flea-powered amps need all the help they can get). BTW, ANUK is not alone. Take the current R2R hot potato, Holospring May, its RCA output is a highish 2.9V (whereas another R2R hot potato, Denafrips Terminator is 2.3) PreampsAmong audio equipment, the role of the preamp in the chain is the big divide. Some insist on No Gain, some More Gain (particularly Vinyl Addicts). Most Tube Preamps (especially if the maker also markets phono products and amps) hover around 10-13 db Gain (My Artemis LA-1 and Manley Retro 300B both 13 db); some are even higher (the current Shindo Monbrisson, likely also my old one, my Yamamoto CA-04 and ANUK M10 have 16 db gain; the famed Jadis JP80 has 20 db!). But they are very different in design and, hence, how they work that volume control (there is no set value for the volume pot; for tube amp it's usually 50 or 100K). For Shindo and Yamamoto, given that my horns are ultra efficient, I only need to turn it up a little bit; for Artemis, more. Of course, part of that has to do with matching the Input Sensitivities of the maker's own amps, but one can also perhaps view this as a certain manipulation of loudness (different designers prefer different levels) for that "jump factor". Mind you, as an impure one who believes in poly-stylistic endeavors, I am not at all wary of manipulation. For me, in audio, there is no gospel. Which brings me back full circle to the following question.
Loudness War in Classical? Pop music has long been sold on loudness. As for jazz, it is better in general. But, what about Classical Music, which is supposed to be the beacon of recording integrity, the one immune to the war? Is that true? This is little talked about and based on mostly facts, though perhaps not without a little assumption. But my intensive streaming experience had me in doubt and there are more questions than answers.
Streaming on SpotifyLoudness Variations between Genres As I also listen to some Jazz and Pop on Spotify, I am sure as a whole, as always, classical albums are less loud than jazz and certainly less hot than Pop. However,even streaming on NML, many recent classical albums, particularly of lean and mean baroque music (which young people, even me, take to) surprised me by their loudness. On these albums, performed by as few musicians as one to a part, their loudness is unsettling. I know, because I listen to a lot of baroque music, HIP or not. Sometimes I just lower the level on the computer, but that is audibly detrimental to the sound. A string quartet's loudest moment should not sound as loud as or even louder than an orchestra in full cry (this never happens with the LPs I play). The engineers more often than not record up close too. This is highly unsettling and makes me get up often from the chair - dial up for orchestras and down for smaller ensembles (I can understand why mrgoodsound insists on a remote). This naturally raises the question if the engineer had upped the gain (even in conjunction with a little "judicious" compression) to obtain a more "impactful" or 'fuller" sound (in fairness, I actually think all engineers use these when they deem it necessary). But, Is this the Engineer's doing or is it Spotify? I decided to conduct some simple experiments. Using BT, I picked two AIFF tracks on my iTunes on Macbook and compared with the same tracks on Spotify via Chromebook (as the Mac's browser is crippled), both outputs maxed, without changing the preamp volume setting. Compared to Spotify, the Schubert Quartet track (Doric Qr/Chandos) on the Mac was almost inaudible. On the Mac, a cover of Billy Holiday's Strange Fruit by Rokia Traore (a favorite singer of mine; the song is certainly relevant for these times; in the youtube below her live performance is worth hearing even with the heavy African accent) fared better, much louder than the Schubert and certainly clearly audible, but still not as loud as through Spotify. I will grant there may be maximum level differences between the Macbook and Chromebook, but I am pretty certain the results shall stand even if I take that out of the equation (I can burn a couple of tracks on my chromebook to compare but I can't find my external disc drive). What does this mean? I think: 1) despite the "normalization" across the board, classical music is overall definitely not quite as loud as pop, so Spotify uses different criteria across genres; 2) even within just the classical genre, albums, particularly of chamber music or small groups, tend to sound louder than expected (I don't notice this as much from the chamber music CDs I borrow from the library); 3) let us not forget that labels do have room to maneuver in what they send to Spotify and not everything is necessarily Spotify's doing. I am sure I will have more to say about this down the road. Suffice to say, this is kind of a nuisance in my my streaming experience.
HeadroomGain, whether present or not, has no direct relationship with Headroom; rather, the design, and the Power Supply does (Naim people and most Flat Earthers will agree on this) as we see in the Artemis. In my experience, with most Preamps and Buffers of various designs, for a given piece of music, I usually only have to set the volume initially but, as I have found out, not so with he Artemis LA-1. Sometimes during orchestral climaxes I will find it a little too loud and would have to dial back a little, such is its dynamic capability. Or one could think there is not enough resolution at low level but I doubt this is the case, as it has always been a priority in my systems to be able to listen to microdynamic details even at very low level. In any case, it is clear the Artemis LA-1 (as mentioned in the last article below) has more headroom than most. This is not a factor of its having 13 db gain, as my Manley (of equal gain) does not exhibit this trait as strongly. The More Headroom the Better? This is of course a rare quality, but one that does not always work well in some circumstances, one being the streaming environment, replete with "normalization" and unexpected and not end user controllable dynamic manipulations. The last link I provided on the loudness war at the start of the article describes this situation in depth. In my case, a preamp with less headroom, say the Elekit TU-8500 I used before swapping in the Artemis, is in some ways more suitable for streaming. This is not a casual observation. How Compressed is High Fidelity?We audiophiles sneer at compressed music, but is what we are listening to truly uncompressed? Of course they are not, compared to live music. It is actually quite misleading and even arrogant for an audio journalist to even talk about no compression. Recording, Mastering and Media Limitations The engineer has to work with microphones, playback and mastering equipment and they all have headroom limitations, and the end formats themselves have limitations too (certainly LPs and CDs). Audiophiles who believe in numbers sneer at the LP (this goes on everyday in some threads). Well, yes, of course the LP has less headroom than CD, so why does it sound better? Numbers tell us that the LP has less dynamic range, and therefore more compressed, but how come in a good system it sounds more dynamic? Believe me, this is particularly true of rock and pop. The harder the music goes the better the LP sounds (my AC/DC LPs, which I picked up in HK for next to nothing, sound way better than the CDs, ditto Led Zep). You just look at all the young musicians - most dig LP. Plackback Equipment Limitations And then our equipment, even the most expensive ones, leave much to be desired. What is Happening in an active Preamp? My view of the preamp is completely at odds with the orthodox view, be it a straight wire with or without gain. Large scale symphonic music being my primary diet, I am pretty sure I hear things quite differently from the majority of audiophiles (and so may not be applicable to you). Many audiophiles, particularly the technically minded ones, tend to view the preamp as a nuisance and an obstacle, hence the popularity of passive devices and the proliferation of digital devices, even phonoamps, with volume control (whether digital or analog). Many of these can sound fairly good with simpler audiophile material but they usually fall down with symphonic works. Why? Unlike many audiophiles, I'd say I don't know for sure, and the preamp, which mostly attenuates, is a mystery to me, but I'd say this: there is a lot more we don't know about the preamp than the amp.This article tells you why only horns and huge line source loudspeakers can reproduce the dynamics of live performance (the rest is BS), and I am a firm believer of that. Just look at my inner circle, all horn users and many large Infinity users. But, the amp has an impossible task of swinging enough current for that instantaneous peak. However, audiophiles don't think of the preamp that way, more as a switchboard. I happen to think differently. I think that demand of the instantaneous peak is equally challenging for the preamp. Proof for me is that, although I'd use a passive device in some instances (like Leak, of high input sensitivity), I have seldom heard a passive device (volume pots, buffers and even expensive TVC's with gain) sound better than a good preamp with gain. Big classical devotees, like my friend Andy, always find passive devices lacking. Actually, the problem is likely not gain, but headroom. Buffering Of course, there is also the issue of buffering, which helps for sure, which is why some passive devices like Autoformers and, likely, mrgoodsound's The Truth, would be better than the so-called highest quality megabuck resistor laden volume control (that could be ridiculously costly). A tube preamp naturally buffers so has an advantage. I am a believer of buffering.
This is just some observations and food for thought. As I finish this article, I was listening to Arrau's German Radio Recordings of Brahms Concertos and the levels were among the lowest I have ever streamed; I estimate greater than 15 db lower. But guess what, I cranked my Yamamoto Preamp way up, and the 1969/72 sound just came alive; more than that, it was wholesome and perfectly captured the hall sound (as is typical of German Radio Productions). It managed the not inconsiderable feat of conveying the majesty at hand. Highly satisfying. So, why do today's levels have to be so high?...Again, it casts doubt on audio progress. Sigh...
