California Audio Show 2017

I wrote on this blog the last 2 times I attended the show (2011, 2015) It was on hiatus last year. The 2017 show was at Oakland Airport Hilton (instead of SFO) with fewer rooms (I guess it helped to manage the cost) Still, the manufacturer line up was impressive and I spent a solid 3 hours listening to various systems. The show was "divided" into 4 areas and roughly equal to 4 different classes of equipments:
1) the "sky is the limit" class has 2 rooms: the ultra-expensive Von Schweikert speakers + VAC tube monoblock amp is no doubt the best system of the whole show (well, for that price tag it gotta be)

2) the "still too expensive" class has 1 floor of bigger rooms: the Margules group is the winner here. The system was able to generate a huge soundstage with its own turntable, tube amps and (a very conventional dynamic) speakers. For electrostatic speakers, Sound Lab and Martin Logan were both there. The latter had a pair of huge ones named Neolith (for some reason I just don't appreciate it as much as the smaller systems I listened to before. Maybe the music they played turned me off :P) I would give the edge to Sound Lab. The Acapella spherical horns (speakers) sounded great with vocals too. You can't really go wrong with anything on that floor.

3) the "not too expensive" class is on the 2nd floor with smaller rooms: Audio Note UK has complete tube amp/speakers/turntable system that sounded great as usual (and doesn't require a ton of space behind the speakers) but my top pick went to Volti Audio. The design of having a horn in the middle used by the Rival speakers seem to be the way to go. And it costs less than eight grand! They were also placement-friendly like the Audio Note speakers.

4) the "affordable" class features, finally, equipments that I may buy, i.e. headphone/DAC/amp that I could listen to often. For some reason I am less "in love" with the Audeze planer magnetic headphone this time. I did find some very interesting product by SCHIIT (yeah, weird name) First, I AB-compared the headphone out on a M$ Surface tablet vs Fulla 2 DAC/AMP using a song I'm very familiar with, No Doubt's "Don't Speak" The latter sounded more detailed and fuller with an entry-level Sennheiser headphone. One step up was SCHIIT Modi 2 (DAC) and Vali 2 (AMP) combo (using a pair of Beyerdynamics DT-880. All three combined costs <$500! You can't have a better deal than this)

After checking out hardware, of course it's time for software!  I found THE deal of the show: 5 for $15 vinyl from the "guitar music"  bin of the Audio Nerd. I joked with the guy if he had something against guitar :p He said they just happened to have extra inventory. 

I  hope the show will be back in 2018!

E-MU 0404 USB on Windows 8

I bought a E-MU 0404 USB for its DAC (decoding digital music from PC for playback) and headphone amp capability years ago. (Also briefly tried using it as an audio interface of my guitar from the input for recording and guitar amp simulation) Since I had to move it around when using it which was not very convenient, it went out of favor for years until I dug it out last week. My current PC runs Windows 8. And E-MU doesn't officially support it. In fact, the product has already been end-of-life-ed. Well, it's still worthy to give it a try. So I downloaded its "latest" beta driver for Windows 7 64 bit. I "Run as Administrator" on the downloaded executable and clicked through the errors. Voila! The driver is up and running! The output was fed to my Qinpu A3 amp which drives a pair of Paradigm monitor as my bedroom system.

I am curious about the current status of the E-MU line of products and found some discussions that are not very favorable to it, for example, the reliability, which actually matches my experience: my 0404's input 1 started to introduce some noises not too long after I used with my guitars and I gave up on that purpose (When used with Audacity, input 2 is mono, which is still technically usable.) I had a better USB audio interface in my Korg Pandora anyway. From Creative's official pages, it seems that all development has stopped after 2011. So my next DAC will not be a E-MU. 

California Audio Show 2015

 我是一個樂迷,也是半個音響發燒友,雖然(幸好)沒有金耳朵,去音響展聽聽貴價器材播放像真度極高的音樂,實在是賞心樂事,今年在三藩市灣區舉辦的加洲音響展已是第六屆!我則是第二次去.踏進機場Westin酒店地下,即會場第一層,就發現了好幾款值得聽聽的器材:

• UFO DSD DAC Headphone Amp: 便携式的外置USB數碼音響解碼器,近年頗為流行,對慣用電腦板腦手機聽音樂檔的人士十分方便,此產品的賣點是除了PCM更可以為DSD解碼,有數碼音樂店出售以DSD編碼的音樂檔,介紹該產品的Blue Coast Records就有出售自家錄製的作品,包括爵士鋼琴高手Vijay Iyer的鋼琴獨奏,詳細報告請看此文.
• Audeze LCD-XC headphone with ATOLL electronique preamp (HD120) and streamer (MS100): 代理Audio Vision SF展出了HifiMan及Audeze多款headphones,都是雜誌及郵購目錄力推的產品,比較之下我最喜歡的是Audeze LCD-XC, 一同demo來自法國的ATOLL electronique 慳地方亦感扎實.
• Pono portable digital music player:因該公司由Rock友Neil Young主理,Pono在推出時曾被大事報導,賣點是支援高清數碼音樂檔,理論上比一般賣的MP3或AAC(蘋果)質素為高,正如iDevice有iTunes store,Pono也有配合的高清數碼音樂售賣平台,至於player硬件方面亦採用由高檔音響製造商設計的高質素零件.不過也有測試指一般用家未必聽得出分別.
• Comply Foam tip:這是我唯一即場購買的硬件,$20實在很值得花,為甚麼如此吸引?我把原本用的$10廉價JVC in-ear headphone的tip改為Comply Foam tip後,由於更fit耳孔,隔聲度提高,亦提升了音質至接近$100的headphone的水平!

接著是上三樓及二樓逐間代理或廠商房間試聽,講講比較印象深刻的幾個品牌/型號:

• ZU audio的座地揚聲器Omen Mk II
• Burwell & Sons的號角揚聲器,他們房大聲大,實在有優勢
• Serene/audio的Talisman powered speaker,細細粒可直駁電腦無需amp, 已經能發出不俗的聲音,$395一對,加拿大製.
• Audioengine兩款powered揚聲器A3+及A5+可算是(同檔次稍貴的)Talisman的勁敵.
• PureAudioProject的開背揚聲器,賣點當然是開背的設計,以及中置的高音單元,單元可自行配搭
• First Impression Music (FIM)是香港音響雜誌讀者不會感到陌生的唱片公司品牌,由Sony授權製作的好幾張CD十分好聲,即場比較過從高清網購買的音樂檔和FIM製作的CD版ripped出來的WAV檔,後者明顯較有音樂味.
• AudioNote:示範的黑膠前後級揚聲器組合可謂配搭天衣無縫,背靠一幅短牆鄰近走廊這樣不理想的空間也不成問題.
• Advanced Transduction Speakers:展出一套四件大型座地揚聲器,聲音十分好,不過不是賣點,更正的是請來Shanda Lear即場以音響播伴奏演唱爵士名曲,這是她將會推出的限量黑膠.Lear女士是一位多才多藝的奇女子,其父親是發明家Bill Lear(即Lear Jet創辦人)而Lear家著名的8-track音響系統據Shanda說是她的idea.
• Magico揚聲器

不經不覺已行了三小時,最後一小時留給買軟件:The Audio Nerd(店員說舖頭就在Sacramento附近)在最後一天黑膠減至七折,我入了兩張.另外也在Reference Recordings這家專出靚錄音的唱片公司(名作包括Eiji Oue的Mephisto And Co)入了三張CD:對Joel Fan這位年輕鋼琴家的協奏曲錄音很感興趣,另一張雙CD全是Janacek的作品,只售$15,再加一張jazz sampler,打了折扣給我,最後一張免費.見另一位顧客問RR有甚麼爵士樂介紹,但他指明不要很激的音樂,尤其是勁吹的色士風(即Coltrane非Ballad作品免問)我忍不住插咀說there's nothing wrong with jazz saxophone. I play it too! Anyway,店員介紹給他一張比較柔和的Jim Brock Ensemble爵士作品,Jim Brock玩的是敲擊樂器,不過樂團也包括色士風:)其實是fusion派.

是日收獲

題外話:以前也去過兩次美國音響界頂級盛事--由權威雜誌Stereophile舉辦的全國性超大型展覽The Home Entertainment Show,不過該展不是常來三藩市,最懷念的是同場加演的live music.

尋寶

甚為喜歡亞視版的尋寶，那是一個介紹藝術收藏品的節目，我先看的是國內的版本，每一集都有幾位家庭觀眾帶自己的得意收藏品上來給電視台邀請的專家鑑定真偽及價值；亞視版並非國內版配上廣東話，而是邀請香港的專家（看過的都是在香港工作的內地人，我也視之為香港的專家）為香港的觀眾鑑定。

對於收藏藝術品，我是心有餘而財不足；不過尋寶經驗我也有不少，是來自買二手唱片及書籍。十多年前玩過一陣子黑膠，去過本地多間大大小小有名無名唱片店二手黑膠部搜羅心頭好，記得有一次去到SF Conservatory of Music在19th Avenue的舊址，當時正為搬遷大賣藏品！記得那次買了相當精彩的貝多芬Triple Concerto錄音。後來到自己搬遷，迫於無奈轉贈唱盤予友人，但保留了多數黑膠碟。匆匆十數年，終於重回多姿多彩的黑膠世界！裝好唱盤後，除了重温十多年前的藏品外，下一步當然是擴充！除了Berkeley Telegraph街，SF downtown幾間舊相識，最近又到過幾間二手書店入貨，頗有收穫！介紹下幾張「得意」「新貨」：

Al Di Meola: Scenario
此碟特別之處是有份參與的是一些Art rock界響噹噹的名字，例如Yes鼓手Bill Bruford（原來早於83年玩fusion，我要到九十年代末看他樂隊出show玩jazz才知他也擅長這一瓣），Genesis鼓手Phil Collins（差點忘記他玩Art rock打鼓的歲月，早幾天還在收音機聽他唱In Too Deep，原來早年他也曾為fusion樂隊Brand X打鼓。），King Crimson低音結他手Tony Levin。

Blues for tomorrow
這張碟名毫不起眼，但仔細看看陣容，認真不得了：Sonny Rollins,John Coltrane,Coleman Hawkins,Art Blakey是其中最響噹噹的名字，其餘的也是頂級高手。這是一張jazz blues專輯，收錄的是Riverside沒有在其他碟發表的錄音，可謂滄海遺珠。唱片封套的notes詳盡地介紹了blues在爵士樂的地位：雖然blues在爵士樂之前誕生，前者是後者吸收多種風格的其中一種，有人視後者為前者之進化；其實爵士樂演進數世代(Dixieland->Swing->Bop)，12-bar blues依然是爵士樂其中一個常用的形式，只不過Bop大師如Charlie Parker等等把12-bar blues的progression多加變化，所以jazz blues聽起來一點不老土。主題曲Blues for Tomorrow的陣容對我來說相當特別，因為有Coltrane和Hawk兩個不同年代的Saxophone宗匠接連solo。此碟在1957年錄音，當時的Coltrane出道已超過12年，不過他是在這一年才推出首張由他領導樂團的同名唱片Coltrane，也是在這一年他過檔Bluenote推出其突破性作品Blue Train。

Julian & John (a.k.a Together, from the CD version) 

驟眼看碟名你可能以為是指Julian和John Lennon兩父子，其實是Julian Bream及John Williams兩位古典結他大師才對。繼Andres Segovia之後，這兩位算是最響噹噹的巨星。此碟是他們兩人首度合作的唱片，曲目包括Carulli及Albeniz的作品，彈開古典結他的朋友對他們肯定不會陌生，而兩支結他的編曲亦豐富且有新鮮感。

Mulgrew Miller: Work!

這是一張27年前推出的爵士鋼琴三重奏唱片，三位樂手都是出道不久，才是鋼琴手Mulgrew Miller第二張作品。低音提琴手Charnett Moffett和女鼓手Terri Lyne Carrington至今仍然活躍，今年分別推出新作；可惜Miller已於今年五月底去世。他和另一位今年去世的爵士鋼琴手Cedar Walton都是我早年在Yoshi's欣賞過的大師。他們都給我實而不華的感覺，這張唱片越聽越有味道。

Larry Coryell, John Scofield, Joe Beck: Tributaries

由三位爵士結他高手合作的作品，想必不會差。尤其是Coryell和Scofield都是十分多元化的樂手，第三位其實我看錯以為是Joe Pass，不過Joe Beck和我師父Jimmy Bruno合作的Polarity一碟我也是十分欣賞。言歸正傳，原來有樂評對此唱片評價普通，覺得只有結他友才會喜歡；可能這個說法也沒錯，我一定有點bias。總之這不是一張易找的作品，CD版也要從日本入口！我們有三個彈結他的band友，我常常希望有朝一日搞個爵士三重奏，這張唱片也是一個很好的參考。

My weekend

One of my friend has bought a new road bike. Of course we gotta went for a ride together. Now that I have been riding in the bay area for a few years, I could recommend an interesting route close to most of my friends, in this case, it's the 37-mile Fremont-Sunol-Calaveras loop. We had a good time riding together. Another interesting fact about the ride was that we went through Bradley St and Evans Rd. If you're a fan of the sports, you would notice these are the names of the two most recent Tour De France winners.

And I am finally back to the world of vinyl after my first stint ~15 years ago, during which I collected a whole bunch of classics on LP. I didn't even listen to LP before the digital era began but spinning a record on a turntable simply sounds and feels great. It's a more engaging experience than streaming and more natural sounding than CD. Many are surprised that brand new vinyls are still being manufactured (just bought a copy of jazz organist Larry Young's 1966 album, Unity) I did some research before I made my purchase this time around (my old $1500+ setup consisted of a VPI HW-19 Jr with Audioquest PT-6 tonearm, Benz-Micro MC Silver cartridge and a Creek OBH-8 phono stage) To keep things inexpensive and simple, I opted for a piece of critically-acclaimed "budget" equipment: the USB version of Pro-ject Debut Carbon, which has a "built-in" phono stage that could output both analog and digital signal (via USB) I checked with the distributor for a local dealer and then contacted the local dealer but too bad they don't have any in stock and they are not expecting another shipment soon. So, I have no choice but to buy online. And because of this, I have to partially assemble a turntable for the first time ever! The task sounded intimidating with all those loose parts that I needed to put together, including the counterweight and anti-skating weight for the tonearm/cartridge. After installing the counterweight, I still needed to adjust the tracking force. Well, it's not that complicated after all. Next, I wasn't too sure if the analog output is properly amplified (i.e, to line-level and adjusted with the RIAA curve) because the manual didn't say so (the manual is really for the "regular" instead of the USB version) I tried the USB output first with the recording software I most familiar with, Audacity, but it's not clear to me how to simply playback the audio signal (more on this later) Still uncertain about the level of the signal, I decided to try it with my tube headphone amp, a Qinpu A3 (also capable of powering my speakers but they are shelved, which was another story.) I started with an album by jazz pianist George Shearing. Well, the audio is strong enough and balanced but his playing seemed extremely fast. I'm not too familiar with that album anyway so I put on Sgt Pepper. And Paul McCartney sounded funny. I had a feeling that the speed is wrong: to switch from 45rpm to 33, I needed to manually "pulled" the belt from one pulley to another. Finally it sounded right, actually, fantastic!

BTW, to playback through the computer using Audacity, one simply needed to enable 'software playthrough' under the 'Transport' menu. (Found the instructions here) The sound might be distorted (this is called clipping) before the level of the recording device (i.e., the USB input) is adjusted. This could be checked in Audacity by starting monitoring and making sure the level is not exceeding max. I don't plan to use this often but it comes in handy (e.g., sending the audio from the turntable to the computer then to TV via HDMI)

It has been a rather awful week overall but at least I have something positive to write about.

The iTunes-less way

I prefer not to install iTunes on my PC because Apple is acting more like Real Network these days: it wants you to install Safari, QuickTime and so on. And it has background process unnecessarily running too! My mission is to transfer a few tracks to my daughter's ipod (a hand-me-down) Free ware CopyTrans manager saves the day. Make sure you're downloading and running the right piece of software though because there's another from the same folks simply named CopyTrans (without the word manager) It also needed iPhone/iPad/iPod drivers already installed to work and they kindly provided a CopyTransDriversInstaller for such purpose.

California Audio Show

I took last Friday off to attend this show. Audio equipments always have a special place in my life, all the way back from the days I listened to mono earphone out from a portable cassette player. During my glorious audiophile days in late 90s, I had a turntable, vacuum tube amps setup with a decent pair of speakers. That was the first time I attended a Hifi show, hosted by the biggest name in audio business, the Stereophile magazine, in St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco. That show only comes to SF every few years and I went to another in 2003. This California Audio show is hosted by a lesser known company at a less fancy hotel (Crowne Plaza in Burlingame) but there was no lack of big names. There are a few things I like about hifi show: 1) I get to listen to extremely expensive equipments, 2) the shows usually feature live performances, 3) audiophile-grade CD were being demo-ed and promoted. No exception this time. The usual suspect of outrageously expensive speakers like Wilson Audio and MBL were all there. A pair of Acappala speakers (with horns) went for $80k. On the other hand, I also listened to some very reaonably priced speakers like the small bookshelf Martin Logan ($800 a pair) and Audio Space LS3/5A ($1800/pr) and everything in between, like Anthony Gallo and Sony. The latter was a big surprise. Even though Sony has a good reputation in terms of sound quality for their consumer products, they are only well-known for their CD players among high-end audiophiles. The Sony speakers at the show did its job of making a statement: Sony is capable of playing the high-end game too (just that they don't play it often, especially outside Japan) Another observation I had is that digital file-based media is on the rise. It was non-existent at the 97 show and barely present at the 03 show but it is getting its share (a smaller one) alongside CD and vinyl. Many demo-ed solutions with iPod docks or harddrives for music storage, and iPad as controller. The highlights for me were Blue Coast Record's room and 2 live recording demo sessions. During these sessions, they recorded live musicians playing there and playback the recordings to the audiences right after. It was very educational. And I enjoyed guitarist Greg James' playing a lot.

Tech of the day: My VM has lost its voice

As I previously mentioned, I run Arch Linux in VirtualBox on my Windows machine. I could playback audio after I installed the ALSA tools and made the adjustments (see my old post) However, it stopped working after I moved the VM to a new HP notebook. When I try adjusting the PCM channel through amixer, it was simply not there. Again, I found the solution from the same ALSA entry on ArchWiki (thanks!) The section was about making sure the sound modules were loaded.

Basically I found from lsusb that my sound module is: snd_intel8x0

So I modified the MODULES line in /etc/rc.conf to this:
MODULES=(snd_intel8x0 snd_pcm_oss)

And reboot, unmute and adjust the channel volumes through amixer again. Voila! I got audio back!

To make the Amixer settings permanent, follow these steps.

And I have found a post about getting EMU 0404 USB (my external sound card) to work in Linux. Guess that's something I should try in the future.