desktopguy

Responses from desktopguy

Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
@frogman thatnks for that link. I never heard of this Haydn oratorio! Listening to it now. I much prefer Haydn's choral/liturgical writing to instrumental (I'm probably alone in feeling that way, but there it is).  
Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
@frogman are you referring to Dorati's version of "The Creation" (Royal Phil, London/Jubilee)? If yes, it's easily the best version of the four or five I own. Just my 2 cents. I'm nuts for oratorios, so many through the centuries. Handel is the ma... 
Do some DACs "handle" sibilance better than others?
OP, the answer is yes. After years of painfully bright digital music from CDs on various delta/sigma DACs, I found NOS & R2R DACs, and everything changed. Some of them manage to be bright, but way fewer than any random assortment of d/s DACs w... 
Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
@audio-b-dog, you are so right about Bach's Mass in B Minor. It's magnificent music. So much of what the man composed is magnificent. Are you hip to Haydn's "The Creation"? I love that oratorio. The man was playing his A game when he wrote that. ... 
Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
Delighted to see people talking about Kiri Te Kanawa. I love her voice. Every voice is totally unique ... the timbre of hers is wonderful. Her interpretation of Richard Strauss' 4 final songs is easily the best of the dozens I've heard (probably ... 
Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
@audio-b-dog, I know all about Oliver Sachs. Actually have a copy of Musicophelia; this is a good reminder to read it. I’ve also heard his lectures. I first became acqainted with him via the neurology connection: he was a well-known researcher in ... 
Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
mindless technicolor rat? besides, I have it on good authority the future will be a dingy, medium grey light.  
Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
I heard music from infancy onward. I actually remember music as a very distinct feeling as far back as 2 yrs old. I have pictures of my twin brother and me sitting in our high chairs at dinner time. My mother was feeding us (food we immediately th... 
Your first concert was to see who and when?
The Jimmy Hendrix Experience at Hunter College in NYC in 1968. I saw him again twice later, but nothing compared to that night in ’68. My mind and ears got completely blown.....  
Old SS amps
I bought a gently used B&K ST-202 power amp in the early '90s. That thing worked perfectly from day-1 to now. Sounds pretty good, too.  
Was anyone else caught out by this?
"I can't get a sound out of this tonearm--but my records have never been this clean!"  
What exactly is critical listening? Who does it?
RE: "So, my question is why is this a superior mode of listening, what makes it inherently superior? And why is consciousness of sound quality or qualities necessarily a critical mode of listening?" I don’t think either kind of listening, critica... 
Chair
This suggestion may not be workable in a living room setup, but here goes anyway. I worked for >30 years in a home office (freelance medical writer, often 10-12 hr days). In the first year my back began to fall apart ... the trash office chair... 
What exactly is critical listening? Who does it?
OP, only you can decide if you want to do critical listening--if so, when and why. I’ve done a lot of it, specifically: When I’m writing a review of a headphone, amp or DAC (to post on an audio board ... not a professional reviewer) When I’m ... 
Electronic cross-over on pre-amp out, to split signal to subwoofer and bookshelf speakers
I, too, can wholeheartedly recommend electronic crossovers made by Marchand Electronics. I use the XM66 2-way crossover: it has variable (user setable) crossover frequency; 24 dB/octable slopes; is single-ended; had a pot for each of the 2 outputs...