Monthly Archive: March 2005
Weekly Audio News for March 30, 2005
Pioneer Closing Plants – Major consumer electronics maker Pioneer Corp. ays it will cut 5% of its group workforce and close one quarter of its factories to help it recover from an earnings slump. Steep price declines in plasma displays, DVD recorders and audio equipment were partly to blame. Considered a winner in digital electronics until a year or so ago, this shows how quickly fortunes can change due to sliding prices and growing competition from low-cost rivals. New Digital Home Music Player With HD & PDA Control – Digital Techniques has announced their Blackbird player which installs at one’s audio system and receives signals wirelessly from computers or PDAs in the home. It can hold an entire MP3 music collection, thus freeing up the hard drives in PCs, and allows feeding Internet broadcast sources thru the audio system. A choice of two high-performance sound cards are offered. Frustration With Classical Downloads – Classical collectors comfortable with the data reduction of online sources have been left in the digital lurch by the explosion of paid music downloading. Most popular sites offer little classical among the pop, rock, rap, jazz, ambient etc. options. When classical downloads are finally searched out online […]
26 Soundtrack CDs Reviewed!
Scores of recent features, compendiums of work from a single film composer, and some CDs more into the genre of B’day shows
Weekly Audio News for March 23, 2005
Top Directors Serious About 3D – You know that famous photo of an entire movie audience all wearing those cardboard 3D glasses? Well, we may be seeing that blast from the past again soon if Hollywood directors the likes of George Lucas and James Cameron have their way. They are promoting new advances in digital cinematography, postproduction and digital projection which may make 3D a mainstream moviegoing experience. Hi-res digital projectors must be used, but they can be inexpensively modified to handle 3D. For one thing, separate synchronized reels of film for the left and right eyes are no longer required. For another, not only new productions but already-existing films can be successfully converted into the two slightly offset images required for 3D. The disappointing aspect of the new process is that moviegoers will have to wear the retro red & blue Anaglyph cardboard glasses which play havoc with the color spectrum on the screen. However, backers of the new 3D claim the glasses don’t cause the headaches associated with former Anaglyph 3D efforts. (Polarized or liquid crystal glasses – such as used in IMAX 3D presentations – is a more advanced but more expensive alternative.) Digital Electronics Sales Sagging […]
Weekly Audio News for March 16, 2005
CEA Supports Hard Deadline for Analog TV – The Consumer Electronics Association testified to a House subcommittee that adoption of a fixed date for returning the analog spectrum to the government would provide regulatory certainty to all industries involved in the NTSC to HDTV transition. (But no specific date was given.) CEA President Gary Shapiro called on everyone involved in the transition to continue educating consumers about the analog shutoff and working together to get there as fast as possible. (Whenever the cutoff does occur, those viewers without either a DTV or a set-top translator box will suddenly find they can no longer receive any over-the-air TV at all.) The CEA also announced that more than a million Digital Cable Ready sets were sold last year and three million will be sold this year. They urged the cable industry to promote Digital Cable Ready sets and the requisite CableCARD. Video Phone Redux – Texas Instruments has partnered with Wintech Digital Systems to release the Videophone Development Platform for designing workable and reasonably-priced point-to-point videophone systems for business and personal use. The new technology uses video codecs requiring only half the former bandwidth, and the continuing expansion of broadband connectivity augers […]
Weekly Audio News for March 9, 2005
Surround Sound – The Future? – An item at CNET News is titled Is Surround Sound the Future, or Another Betamax? Stimulated by a visit to the studio where the original Talking Heads albums are being remixed for 5.1 by the band’s keyboardist Jerry Harrison, he is quoted as saying the new acoustic effects can help revitalize the listening experience. And that there are a lot of other people’s records he would love to remix for surround. Jeff Dean, President of Silverline Records, also states: “I think it’s rapidly on the road to mass appeal and mass market.” Yet the article goes on to observe that with surround “it is even harder than with stereo to find the perfect place to listen.” And that “The average consumer doesn’t have the acoustical knowledge to set up a perfect 5.1 system…” Hogwash, we say. True, some unfortunates still just stack all six speakers on top of one another next to the TV (I’ve seen it). But then some people stack their stereo speakers on top of one another too. Both are a minority, as purchasers of home theater surround systems find it hard to escape the diagrams of exactly how to locate […]
Weekly Audio News for March 2, 2005
iPod Über Alles – Apple is currently selling about one million iPods a month worldwide. Several new models have been introduced, including a 4GB mini for $199, a 6GB mini and two photo models with hi-res color screens – a 30GB and a 60GB. Both will hold up to 25,000 digital photos. Battery life of the mini iPods has been increased to as high as 18 hours and they’re available in four colors. The stylish mini hard drives work with both Macs and PCs. Onkyo has just introduced a remote interactive dock that interfaces the iPod with any Onkyo receiver or AV system having both an external input and RI remote control. Distinguished Rings – Speaking of things small and electronic, both Boosey & Hawkes Publishers and The London Symphony Orchestra now offer their classical libraries for use as ring tones on cell phones. (The composition for string orchestra and cell phone rings on the Kremerland CD reviewed in this issue is a kick and half.) And on the small front, a speaker at the last CEDIA suggested if cell phones get any smaller the government might require a sticker warning: Do Not Swallow. Universal Disc Players Abound – In […]
DVD Reviews Part 1 of 3
March 2005 Part 1 of 3 [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] ***All Music Videos*** BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica” Herbert von Karajan conducts Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Studio: Sony DVD SVD 48434 Video: 4:3 color Audio: PCM Stereo, Dolby Stereo Extras: Illus. booklet in English/German/French Length: 55:07 Rating: ****: Originally recorded at the Philharmonie Berlin on April 30, 1982, the performance of the Beethoven Eroica under Karajan was part of the Orchestra’s Jubilee 100 Years, 1882-1982 celebration, featuring the very work Hans von Bulow programmed for his first concert with the ensemble 21 October 1887. Sony has bought the rights (from Karajan’s own Telemondial S.A.M.) to The Karajan Legacy for Home Video, lavishly mounted video concerts that Karajan himself choreographed and supervised with director of photography Ernst Wild, paying strict attention to the dramatics of the score, along with the bravura communication between conductor and orchestra, like the effective crosscutting from just the tip of the tympani drumsticks to the resplendent trumpets&Mac226; announcing the triumph of the E-flat theme at the end of the first movement. Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) inherited the mantle of the BPO from Wilhelm Furtwaengler, replacing that conductor’s humanistic tradition with a more […]
THE SYSTEM IS THE HERO
THE SYSTEM IS THE HERO a reply to Martin DeWulf [Bound For Sound] and an open letter to readers Dodson: quibbles and qualifications My time with the Dodson DA converter was essentially the same as Marty’s, down to the loose solder joint that rendered the unit silent. I found the sound to be lively, with a good delineation of space but slightly limited top frequencies. It was a more brilliant presentation than my Forsell unit, and similar to the Resolution CD player I reviewed a couple of years ago. My conclusion would be similar to Marty’s as well: if you’ve got about three grand for a DAC, this would be a reasonable choice – especially if your unit doesn’t need service in the field. (Marty’s tolerance of the solder problem, and his reaction to the manufacturer’s poor support, are superior to mine.) It occurred to me, as resin-laden smoke curled up my nose, that the Dodson was an interesting unit, but it was not the key to the improvement I heard in my system. The Monarchy Audio 24/96 ($295) with my old Forsell sounded equally good, if different. I started thinking about how systems work or fail, and that’s what […]
26 SOUNDTRACK CDs
26 SOUNDTRACK CDs We’ll kick off this post-Oscar survey of film music with a number of recent feature films, then into some compendiums of work from single film composers, and end with a couple of discs more into the Broadway show genre. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW – Music composed and conducted by Edward Shearmur – orig. soundtrack – Sony Music Soundtrax SK 92932 {See our DVD review Here}: If you have any interest in film history and sets you really must see this fun film. It is the first in which nearly the entire environment around the actors was entirely created in cgi computer graphics – the performers merely doing their thing against blue screen with a couple of props. The visuals are a pean to art deco, the old Saturday movie serials, and several specific artists’ styles. I mean, how often do you get Zeppelins, rocketships, flying wings, giant robots and dinosaurs all in the same movie, I ask you? The music also honors the fantasy-evoking sounds of the same historical period. It may not be worthy of standalone concert hall status, but it beautifully fills the bill in the theater. Just glance at this list […]
Reissue CD Reviews, Pt. 2 of 2
March 2005, Pt. 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] R. STRAUSS: Don Quixote, Op. 35; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op. 60 Enrico Mainardi, cello/Richard Strauss conducts Berlin State Opera Orchestra Dutton CDBP 9746 72:11 (Distrib. Harmonia Mundi)****: Dutton has quite a coup in this disc, a superlatively quiet transfer of two classic interpretations by a master composer of his own works, with a great cellist, Enrico Mainardi (1897-1976), and a responsive orchestra. Strauss made a fine reputation as a conductor as well as a composer, making his first records in 1917 with excerpts from his Moliere suite, Op. 60. Strauss himself, similar to Fritz Reiner, depended on small gestures and a long baton to indicate his musical decisions, relying on the ensemble’s growing familiarity with his style to respond appropriately. Though Strauss later rerecorded these items in the 1940’s, the inscriptions offered here, the Polydor 1930 Op. 60 and the 1933 Don Quixote, stand among his most celebrated. The 1933 version of Don Quixote is the second performance on record, the first being Beecham’s with Alfred Wallenstein and the New York Philharmonic. Strauss opts for brisk tempos, although Mainardi manages a romantic slide or portamento to capture Quixote’s anachronistic values. The viola […]
Reissue CD Reviews, Pt. 1 of 2
March 2005, Pt. 1 of 2 [Pt. 2] VIVALDI: The Battle Between Harmony and Invention, Op. 8; Concerto in D Major for 2 Violins, KV 513 Louis Kaufman, violin Peter Rybar, violin (KV 513) Henry Swoboda conducts Concert Hall Symphony Orchestra (The Four Seasons) Clemens Dahinden conducts Winterthur Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Naxos 8.110297-98 TT: 126:34****: For those of us who came to the Baroque revival, and especially the Vivaldi revival of the 1960’s, courtesy of DeKoven and a few select others, the complete Op. 8 of Vivaldi – his set of 12 violin concertos whose opening four became world-renowned as The Four Seasons – Op. 8 found expression through Renato Fasano with violinist Roberto Michelucci. But the initial rediscovery of Vivaldi had occurred half a generation earlier, in 1947, when Henry Swoboda and Louis Kaufman (1905-2004) recorded The Four Seasons and then contacted Dario Soria, who put them in touch with musicologist Gian Francesco Malipiero to uncover in Brussels the remaining eight concertos of Op. 8. Naxos now collates the December 1947 inscription of The Four Seasons with the August 1950 Zurich recordings of the other concertos as issued by the Concert Hall label. The artistry of Louis Kaufman […]
Sennheiser’s Wireless RS 65 Headphones, Review 3 of 3
March 2005, Part 3 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] Sennheiser’s Wireless RS 65 Headphones SRP: $209.95 SPECS: FM stereo modulation Carrier frequencies: 925 MHz, 926 Mhz, 926.5 Mhz Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz THD: 0.5%; S/N Ratio: 68 dBA Operating Time: 4 hours per charge Weight: 5.6 oz. Maximum SPL: 100 dB Power Supply: BA 151 rechargeable battery Eliminating The Tie That Binds Yet Another Headphone Review Good News/Not So Good News The whole thing about listening through headphones — is — there is the good, and the not-so-good. The good includes our ability to hear more deeply into the music, hear the details, the balance; to hear nearly free from other audio events in the environment, to hear without intruding on others around us. The less than ideal is; we can hear errors in performance, details gone wrong, balance gone out of whack; and not hear other important audio events (our wives, beepers, telephones) we should attend. The cord that connects our headphones to our music brings us personal delight, yet we might accidentally step on it and break the solder joints inside the earphone cup, rendering the headphones in need of costly, labor-intensive repairs. To remedy this […]
Von Schweikert Audio LCR-15 Full Range Dialog Speaker, Review 2 of 3
Von Schweikert Audio LCR-15 Full Range Dialog Speaker SRP: $749 each SPECS: Shielded two-and-one-half-way full range general purpose speaker system with Global Axis Integration Network crossover with 220 Hz and 2.2 kHz crossover points. Response: 35 Hz to 25 kHz, -6dB point, in room Sensitivity: 87.5 dB @one watt/one meter Power Handling: 8 to 200 watts Impedance: 8 ohms nominal (7 – 19 ohms range, SET-friendly) Warranty: 10 years parts and labor Weight: 28 lbs. shipped, 20 lbs. raw Finishes: Black ash, dark red cherry, blonde maple, African Hazelwood The LCR-15 is a diminutive version of the VR-2 Von Schweikert tower speakers which retains the same one-inch silk-resin dome tweeter and two woofers – one handling the midrange and the other the low end. Both are 5.5-inch heavy-duty drivers. But it necessarily has to eliminate the quasi transmission-line design of the VR-2 due to the small space – tho losing only about 10-15 Hz at the low end in the process. The savings amount to about $450 vs. the VR-2s and five of the LCR-15s would make a terrific home theater system for about $3700, although you would probably want to add a powered subwoofer such as the Von Schweikert […]
InFocus ScreenPlay 5700 DLP projector, Review 1 of 3
March 2005, Review 1 of 3 [2] [3] InFocus ScreenPlay 5700 DLP projector $3,999 SRP InFocus Corporate Headquarters 27700B SW Parkway Avenue Wilsonville, OR, USA 97070 800 294-6400 (voice) 503 685-8887 (fax) https://www.infocus.com Basic Description Single chip DLP video projector utilizing TI Matterhorn chip (1024×576 16×9); 6 segment, 5x color wheel; 16.7 billion colors; remote control; 200/250 Watt lamp with 2000/3000 hour lamp life; Faroudja FLI2300 processor with DCDi deinterlacing; 1000 ANSI lumens; 1400:1 contrast ratio; color temperature settings at 6500/7500/9300 K; multi-system compatible (PAL, SECAM, NTSC); accepts 720p, 1035i, 1080i, 1080p, 480p, 576p, 480i, 576i; keystone correction +/- 20 degrees; throw ratio 2.08-2.60:1 (distance/width); Zeiss optics; user adjustable for each source; IR miniplug input; RS-232 (for control); (2x) Component (on RCA); (2x) S-Video (on DIN); Composite video (on RCA); DVI; VGA; D5 input with included SCART adapter; IEC standard power cord; (2x) 12V triggers; manual focus and zoom; set up for front, rear, or ceiling projection; 13.8” W x 12.8” L x 4.3” H; 9.3 pounds; 2-year warranty on projector; 1-year on accessories; 90 days or 500 hours on lamp (whichever comes first). Associated Equipment Arcam DV78 DVD player, HTPC, Dish Network 4900 Satellite Receiver, Stewart 100” 1.78:1 Screen […]
DVD Reviews Pt. 3 of 3
Pt. 3 of 3 – March 2005 [Part 1] [Part 2] Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Starring: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie Studio: Paramount Video: Enhanced for 16:9 widescreen (some black bars) Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, French 2.0 stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish Extras: Commentaries by Producer, Writer and Director plus VFX crew, Short featurettes on Brave New World Chapters 1 & 2, The Art of World of Tomorrow, the director’s original six-minute demo short, Deleted scenes, Gag reel Length: 106 minutes Rating: **** A most unusual feature film which started extremely small – director Kerry Conran had no film experience and created his demo short on his Macintosh with simple graphics programs. It was not a big-budget Paramount production but started as a struggling little effort many thought doomed to failure. It is the first feature ever to employ actors shot only against a blue screen (with a couple props), with the entire set and environment created later in computers using cgi. The story mixes elements of some of the great adventure serials of both network radio and the movies. One (who is old enough) thinks of Smilin’ Jack, Terry and the Pirates, Captain Midnight (I had […]
DVD Reviews Pt. 2 of 3
Music Videos concl. & Features beginning Sound Stage presents Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2003) Studio: Koch Vision Video: 1.45:1 (See text) Audio: DD 5.1, DD 2.0 Extras: Biography, Photo Gallery, Discography, Backstage Pass, The Band, Interview Length: 109 minutes Rating: **** Tom Petty has been rockin’ since the mid ‘70s and was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. The current group of performers are: Benmont Tench (keyboardist), Steve Ferrone (drummer), Mike Campbell (guitar), Ron Blair (bass), Scott Thurston (keyboards, guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), and of course, Tom Petty (guitar and lead vocals). Soundstage is a live-performance music program that plays on PBS. They have a huge stage (72’x32’) that is two-level and plenty of lights that cover a huge area (over 500’). There are 11 Sony hi-def cameras, some fixed and some moveable to capture the event. In addition, five plasma screens and a 15’ projection screen are utilized to play back live video during the concert. The environment is intimate, the stage is well-lit, and there are pleasant, inoffensive, multicolored lighting effects. It looks to be the venue of a good-sized movie theater. The video is cut well and takes a few […]
Classical CD Reviews Pt. 2 of 2
March 2005 Pt. 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] We’ll begin this part with a variety of music for piano… ERNST VON DOHNANYI: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Minor; Violin Concerto No. 2 in C Minor; Concertino for harp and chamber orchestra – Howard Shelley, piano/James Ehnes, violin/Clifford Lantaff, harp/BBC Philharmonic/Matthias Bamert – Chandos CHAN 10245, 75:47 ****: Dohnanyi was at a disadvantage musically on a couple of counts. He was sort of second-string behind countrymen Bartok and Kodaly, who received all the attention. His style shows little modernistic influence of either composer and thus did not retain major interest of the musical taste-makers later in his life – since he far outlived those composers. Now it can be seen as similar to Richard Strauss and Rachmaninoff in finding plenty of fresh communication possibilities in the late Romantic idiom. (An interesting historical sidelight on Dohnanyi is that he sadly lost two of his sons, who were executed for their involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler. Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi is the son of one of them.) Dohnanyi’s witty Variations on a Nursery Theme is probably his best-known work today. His Second Piano Concerto is an engaging work […]
Classical CD Reviews Part 1 of 2
March 2005 – Part 1 of 2 [Part 2] ALESSIO BAX: Baroque Reflections – Bax, piano – Warner Classics 2564 61695-2 (69 mins.): For something entirely different in a mostly Bachian vein, young and winsome Italian-born Alessio Bax’s debut disc for Warner Classic can’t be beat. Comprising seven instrumental works from the Baroque era transcribed for the piano by 19th or early 20th century masters (the exception being Bach’s keyboard version of Marcello’s D minor oboe concerto), the CD constitutes a survey of one particularly exquisite aspect of conservative 20th century taste. One thing is for sure: The arrangers knew how to seduce their audiences. Not surprisingly, Bach’s own works feature prominently: Busoni’s imposing version of the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor (which seem to overpower the pianist until you crank up the volume), Siloti’s dreamy take on the Prelude in B minor (BWV 855), Myra Hess’s popular arrangement of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” and Rachmaninoff’s three-movement take on the E major violin partita. But wait, there’s more: Liszt’s obscure transcriptions of two dances from Handel’s opera Almira (which must have been really obscure in Liszt’s day), and Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variations, the composer’s final work for […]
SACD & Other Hi-Res, Pop/Rock – Pt. 3 of 3
45 SACD & DVD-A Reviews This Month March 2005 – Pt. 3 of 3 (Pop & Rock) [Part 1] [Part 2] Click on any cover to go directly to its review below Zappa – QuAUDIOPHILIAc – DTS Entertainment 69286-01125-9-9 DVD-A ****1/2: From the moment I opened the jewel case and saw the disc art was that of an open reel tape, I knew I was going to like this record. In addition to offering a DVDA mix, there is an option for DTS 96/24 and stereo—but don’t get this disc if you are only planning to listen to it in stereo. This is one of the few records offered by DTS that was originally recorded with multichannel in mind. The record starts with what you may call atonal classical music that slowly turns into a free-form rock and roll extravaganza. Prepare for an audio trip—a mix of musical theater, jazz, progressive rock, and soundtrack scores with excellent fidelity—super spacious with pleasing full bass. Zappa conducts an entire orchestra of musicians and has recorded it with idea of the listener being right in the middle of the action. These recordings range from 1970 to 1978 and were made with the […]
SACD & Other Hi-Res, Classical Part 2 of 3
45 Hi-Res Reviews This Month! March 2005 – Part 2 of 3 – Classical [Part 1] [Part 3] Click on any cover to go directly to its review below Here are three more new classical DualDiscs… Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone – Ma, cello/Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra/Morricone – Sony Classical DualDisc SN 93472, 55:58 audio; 20:00 video ****: As mentioned in the preceding jazz DualDisc review, the audio portion of these two discs really doesn’t qualify for hi-res and they should perhaps be in our DVD-video section instead. But many of the new DualDiscs are DVD-Audio on the audio side and therefore do qualify, so let’s keep them all together here. What we have here is a standard stereo CD program for the audio side of the disc. There are 19 separate tracks but they are assembled into mostly suites of film music cues. They include The Mission, Giuseppe Tornatore Suite (including two cues from Cinema Paradiso), Sergio Leone Suite, Brian de Palma Suite, Moses and Marco Polo Suite, The Lady Caliph. Morricone himself – one of the most prolific composers for film today – arranged them for cello soloist and orchestra, making each into a bit of a min-concerto. The […]
SACD & Other Hi-Res, Jazz, Pt. 1 of 3
45 & Reviews This Month! March 2005, Pt. 1 of 3 – Hi-Res Jazz [Part 2] [Part 3] Click on any cover to go directly to its review below Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (with Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly) Columbia/Legacy DualDisc CN 90887 *****: This album has got to hold the record for having been rereleased more times in more different formats than any other. Wonder if it made 8-track, Elcaset and DCC? – probably. And don’t forget half-speed-mastered, 16 2/3 rpm, 45 rpm or standard cassette. Still the best-selling jazz album in history, Kind of Blue sells about 5000 copies a week in the U.S. alone and just in 2004 sold ten million copies worldwide! Now is that a hit or what? So what’s the reason for yet another reissue? – we reviewed the excellent multichannel SACD release back in 2002 – https://www.audaud.com/audaud/MAR02/HIRES/hires2MAR02.html Well, as the top-selling jazz album it would be a natural to be selected for the first batch of the new DualDiscs regardless. It can be paired up with the one-hour film documentary Made In Heaven, on the making and impact of the Kind […]
Jazz CD Reviews Part 2 of 2
March 2005 Part 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] Spicy Latin/Caribbean sounds in our next pair of discs… Sakésho – We Want You To Say (Andy Narell, steel pans; Mario Canonge, piano/Fender Rhodes/vocals; Michel Alibo, bass/vocals; Jean Philippe Fanfant, drums, vocals) – Heads Up HUCD 3094 ****: This album appears to have grown out of steel drum star Andy Narell going to Paris and meeting the steel band there known as Calpsociation, with whom he is now recording and touring. The quartet is like a chamber version of Narell and the steel band, but with the addition of vocals. His three cohorts in the group hail from Martinique, Guadeloupe and France so the sound of the pans must be well-known to them. They invited in a guest vocalist on one track and a flutist on another. The non-English tracks should be no problem – this is infectious, bouncing music that’s full of life and vigor. Three of the nine tunes are by Narell. The disc’s title is a clever trick to get fans to pronounce their name correctly – it has the ké in a different color, showing the pronunciation to be sah-KAY-sho. Tracks: Bwa Moudong, Ewa Belia, One More Touch, […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
