Gizmo Speaks

A Short Gizmo Clip

Most audiophiles have heard of Harvey "Gizmo" Rosenberg, who was disciple of OTL legend Julius Futterman and went on to found New York Audio Lab.

Gizmo went to Japan in 1982 to try to sell his very heavy and expensive products but was instead shocked by the Japanese SET amps and stuff. After NYAL went bust, Gizmo went back to his commercial art profession but remained an audiophile.

The material here came from my friend and analog guru Andy, who contributes a lot to analog forums (like Lencoheaven) under various monikers. They came from the early 90's during a trip by the New York Audio Society to Gizmo's Connecticut studio. He was using the Tannoy Westminster, Wavac SET amp (and his own NYAL 400W Moscode). CDP was Rotel.

Posted by doctorjohn

Happy Year of the Ox

Happy Chinese New Year of the Ox

Letter from Shenzhen (21-6): doctorjohn on Post-Quarantine

Time flies. I crossed into China on New Year's Eve, and I started writing this article on the Eve of the Chinese New Year (based on the Lunar Calendar). Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is a time for Family Reunion. The Chinese New Year differs in that it is celebrated over at least 2 weeks (though in modern times most workers would not receive such a long period of leave).

China has a gargantuan number of migrant workers who came from rural areas to the big cities. Shenzhen is probably the most drastic example of an immigrant city - probably more than 90% of the population do not come from the city itself but have roots in other provinces or cities. For these workers, many of whom working 7 days a week, aside from perhaps the National Day the New Year is the only time when things shut down and they get to go home to see their parents and, often, children (they leave their children with their parents so as they could work long hours). Due to the pandemic and now-controlled small clusters of cases in Northwest China, China has been discouraging travel this year, and instituted mandatory covid test for entry into big cities, and hence perhaps population flow this year has been reduced by roughly 40-50%. That means many have opted not to see their loved ones this year. Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, the city basically shuts down for about 2 days.

Here I wish you all a Happy Year of the Ox! Above are the official stamps this year. China is not the only country that issues this kind of stamps. At the bottom is one from mostly Muslim Kyrgyzstan (superior artwork)!

Post-Quarantine
it has been a month since I got out of the hotel. On day 13, a nurse in FMJ came to swap me (again, a thorough 6 swirls orally and 2 jabs in the nostrils) and I was let go the next day.

I actually spent the last week of my hotel stay writing a lengthy article on audiophile psychology. Then, a catastrophe - I improperly "saved" it and lost it. It was not the first time I committed this elementary mistake; strangely, it only happens with lengthy articles. I have tried to reconstruct it but it has been difficult, but you shall see a variant someday.

The first week out was spent under "home observation" . Although I received my green QR Code (a wechat function that makes use of its digital payment feature), I was supposed to not go anywhere unless I had a good reason. Of course I went to the supermarket to gather the necessary beverages. Of course, mask on, as required for everyone inside the mall.

Although Shenzhen has no local cases, virtually everyone is compliant with official rules. All entrances to malls are manned, with temperature checks. QR codes are everywhere at entrances but enforcement is not universal. Some malls require scanning for entry, others don't. In smaller shops, usually everyone wears a mask. There are security breaches here and there (particularly in gateways, as in parking lot elevators). As there are no local cases, people are pretty relaxed and not worried. On the street some people don't wear masks. So it is doubly impressive that people practice mask wearing as an etiquette; they don't need to be told to wear one when entering a shop or mall. Many people in the West who shun masks, particularly those in Office, should be ashamed of themselves for not doing the part of a citizen, not to mention failure to lead.

Government agencies and banks in China are particularly strict. One is required to scan one or even 2 QR codes and fill in a digital form. It is rather inconvenient but people oblige. Cannot imagine this being practiced in the US (the security guard would be shot).

The most amazing thing to me is restaurants are functioning normally. All staff wear masks but of course the customers don't when they eat. There is no capacity limit, but it is clear there are less people inside than before, as people curb their activities. I ate out a few times, but I only picked uncrowded eateries and mostly sat outdoors when available.

Meanwhile, the vast armies of delivery workers on motorbikes are working in frenzy. On any street you can spot them and in many places they outnumber pedestrians. They not only deliver cooked food, but everything else, including grocery. China's online shopping and delivery is on a scale that vastly outstrips the west, in no small measure due to the efficiency of digital payment. It has also been credited for both coming to the aid of beseiged cities (like Wuhan initially and Shijiazhuan recently) and helping in the prevention of viral transmission. For environmental reasons, I don't use their services but I appreciate these workers.

I went on the Metro and Buses a few times and I saw no breach of safety protocol, and no homeless people. Not at all like riding the subway in NYC. Last week I made a one and a half hour trip to IKEA and the huge restaurant was packed even at 2 pm. Yes, IKEA serves the usual Western fare, with few concessions to Chinese taste, and it feels exactly the same as elsewhere.

Wattson Audio Emerson Analog Streamer by Engineered SA

Letter from Hong Kong (21-3): Eric L on his New Streamer

Wattson Audio Emerson Analog Streamer by Engineered SA

My pursuit of NAS has not been slowing down. There are some brands and models on my radar, for which I am waiting for a good deal. I'm not in a hurry. 

Somehow, this little box from Wattson Audio really caught my eyes and I was extremely interested. It fits perfectly in my setup, which comprise gears that are compact, and it can be concealed behind my TV nicely. I don't need refrigerator-sized boxes at all to fuel my ego! On the contrary, I like the elusive, and compact size which does not catch attention at all!  David against Goliath. Will the Wattson be a super PQR product that one affords a glimpse of the ultra expensive Swiss laser precision on the cheap, or will it be a bust?

There are two versions, the Analog and Digital: the Analog includes a DAC inside as well as a Streamer; the Digital is claimed to be a better streamer with a more sophisticated design and is for those who own a top-end DAC already. To me, I rather like the one-off solution with the Analog even if I may sacrifice on ultimate SQ, and I'd save major dollars (for a respectable DAC) and, most importantly, space. Mind you, once you purchase either one, you can not revert.

As you know, DJ and some others in this forum are not in favour of the Swiss sound, finding them too sterile and polite, plus lack of drive and energy. I was very curious how this little box would sound ! I also read an interview from Alpha Audio which granted it a lukewarm 3.5 star stating that opined that it sounded no better than a Lumin D2 with an LPS.  That said, the unit should drastically improved with an LPS. To me, on other gears so far I have yet to find improvement with some lower priced LPS; thus I remain skeptical yet still curious to see if a properly designed LPS can help the sound or not. 

Squarewave in HK has this little Aluminium CNC box (weighing less than a pound) bundled with an iFi PSU to replace the stock PSU in a very reasonable offer. Upon auditioning it with some exotic equipment at the store, I decided to bring it home to try, thinking if the sound is not my cup of tea, I can resell it easily!!

In fact, there's actually very little info on this Wattson Emerson Analog  DAC/Streamer on the internet , which is not an issue as I can review it in an unbiased manner. The packing is really compact and the main unit is nicely packed. Since I do not have an iPhone, I downloaded a free MConnect Lite version to control streaming though Tidal. This uPnP is not a very well designed one - I guess they want customer to  pay for their regular version. At least for me, anything that is more convenient than playing CDs and LPs is fine, including regularly restarting the apps after playing a few songs etc.

Hooking up is easy as a blowing out a whiff of air. I bought a Viard ethernet cable at half the listed price and was ready to go! I simply connected the ethernet cable to the Analog and then connect it to my icOn4 using  my Gotham GAC4 . Function of this streamer is singular and you can play NAS and CAS , and it is Tidal , Quobus as well as ROON ready (don't ask me what the latter is), but I don't think it can decode MQA. It is also able to detect music files on my laptop.

The sound coming fresh out of the box was everything that DJ has described, very analytical, airy treble, a bit nonchalant and uninvolving and we joked around that I should sell the unit first before posting a less favorable review lol. However, to give the Analog the benefit of the doubt , I would do a very detailed assessment with sufficient listening and run-in before I determine to sell it or not.

A good two weeks has passed and the Analog began to slowly evolve. Without listening for a few days, when I started to play songs through Tidal one morning, I sensed the sound has transformed and I thought it was about time to start to listen to it seriously and critically.

The Verdict

How does it actually sound? Does it justify its price tag at all or punch above its price tag? Is it musical , organic and lively enough to be able to stand on its own?

For comparison, I use my Vega Dac connected to my laptop and my Sparkler CDP. It is very obvious that within a very short period of auditioning, I have decided to stick with the Analog and thereafter my Vega DAC has seen much less playtime. Even with my Sparkler CDP, I still see a clear advantage for the Analog, which to me is a big surprise. The Analog has forced me to revisit all the songs that I used to play on Tidal and it's as if I am hearing a new recording every time. Well, the big question is: is it clean, analytical, with needle sharp focus and lacking in grace and naturalness?

Before I reveal the answer, I consider my system (47 Lab Gaincard , icOn4 AVC preamp and Dynaudio Crafft, with 47 Lab OTA and Gotham GAC4 i.c) as extremely natural and musical with no MSG added . Any coloration and unnatural sound can be picked up quite readily. BTW, I'm using duo power Humpties, which I ultimately prefer, as the soundstage and dynamics are more at ease, at the expense of only a tiny loss of vibrancy which is still acceptable.

I had also substituted my stock 47 Lab power cords for Gotham's 52025 and result is eminently worth every penny.

Overall the sound quality has improved leaps and bounds in almost every category without being over analytical and boring! Most importantly , I can still immerse in the music and enjoy much more depth and more minute information that is usually lost in transition. These qualities help shape the whole picture and makes you understand more about the performance. Yet, all this at no loss of musicality despite my thinking that it is on the slightly cooler side (Swiss Phobic attacks start!! LOL). No, I can still enjoy the music, and my urge to listen to more music has drastically increased !

Highs: Airy and full of moisture; you can feel the air surrounding the instruments and its natural decay, hence note to note continuity.

Mid: grainless, flat and free of nasality. 

Mid-bass: taut, solid, bouncy, sinewy and precise timing that make you tap your feet so easily and vigorously as the timing is dead on to laser precision accuracy. There is also lower bass as well and is not shy given my setup is definitely nott a bass-happy system! 

Imaging: very good indeed without any annoying needling; there are flesh, blood and body without congestion. Very resolving.

Soundstage: width is good, depth is quite good. It seems like my previous setup has a veiled curtain; now it's very transparent indeed.

Timbre: very accurate, portray of performer playing of instrument is amazingly authentic.

The overall sound is natural, musical, involving and with great timing across the spectrum, despite slightly on the cool side. I can communicate with the performance more than before by a big margin . 

Cons: 1) lack of verasility as there's only one configuration - Router to Analog. Analog to preamp or active speakers through RCA I.C.; only official Apps through IOS not Android. 

How do I rate it? To me, this little gem is a very small revelation and I'm definitely enjoying it tremendously and it has become indispensible to me and it has blended perfectly into my system. It's without a doubt a keeper. Price is not cheap, but it is still within reason and not too expensive by the crazy pricing of today's exotic luxury goods. PQR is extremely high IMHO.

Go audition it to see it for yourself. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how it performs.

 

Sophie's Rocket Love is sensual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2YO1DnRQBg

Silje Neagard 's voice on Det Var For Sent is so genuine.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/13982184

Niia's song Last night in Los Feiliz comes with suspense, precise drums and her myterious voice , easily my favorite!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGF4yE1u27s