Tori...Live At Montreux

So...one of the ways I try to get as much hi-res music as possible, is find concert Blu-Rays...that make for good 2-channel, audio-only listening...and rip the "hi-res" layer to FLAC. I've had mostly good success, although the results aren't always so "hi-res".

Sure, in theory...I suppose anything above Redbook (16/44.1), is technically considered "hi-res". But for me, I tend to need at least 24 bits to feel like I'm getting "true" hi-res. A few of these BD concert titles have tried to "get by" with just 16/48, and the latest one I have tried...Tori Amos' Live At Montreux...is such a title.

I have to admit...if you were to ask me what I think contributes most to the improved sound of hi-res...the number of bits, or the sampling frequency; I would have gone with 24 over 48, 88.1, 96, etc. However...the 2 BD titles I have ripped that were 16/48, did sound better than standard def to me, so...

This Tori release was a surprise. I dug her in my 20s; so intense, angry, and anti-establishment. Like Alanis Morissette with a Piano...lol. But then the whole "angry waif with a microphone" (yes, I'm looking right at you Fiona Apple...lol) wore a bit thin. But this release is like re-finding an old friend. It's a combination of 2 shows, one from 1991 and the other from the following year. It probably helps...immensely...that Tori was just breaking, so it's just her and the Piano, and she keeps things moving and short. I think one of the things that started to turn me off about Tori (and a LOT of these angry-women types), is the pretension that too often accompanied their success. I also think Tori tried to incorporate a band later on, and like I said...I prefer just her and the Bosendorfer.

FWIW, I like the 1991 set just a bit more than the '92 performance. A tad better recorded, and that frames Tori's playing and phrasing a bit more. And of course, she forgets the words during Happy Phantom; a really intimate moment, captured on tape.

Together We're Heavy

I love jingle-jangle, bubble-gum, power pop...with big hooks and great melodies. Some of my favorite records come from the collective known as The Elephant Six. Fun Trick Noisemaker from The Apples in Stereo, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, from Neutral Milk Hotel; almost anything from Of Montreal (but especially Cherry Peel).

But this review is about Together We're Heavy, from The Polyphonic Spree; who are not in The E6, but feel like they should be. Songs like Hold Me Now (Section 12), Two Thousand Places (Section 14), and Everything Starts At The Seams (Section 18) get you tapping your toes, and are yet still somehow majestic. Must be that Trombone...lol.

Love Is Hell

Ain't that the truth; but I'm talking about the release from Ryan Adams. I'm really digging this; especially Part II. This CD was initially released in two parts, I and II...then put together on one CD. Part II starts at My Blue Manhattan, and IMO this is when the CD starts to shine...especially the sound. It's got that closed-mic, forward-mix in the vocals that I really like.

Try it on your system; see how it makes your DAC sound.

EE

The EE burning in...readying for its showdown with the Decco2!



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DACs

OK, now that we've talked a little about FLACs, let's move on to some DAC talk. I really wanted to get away from the "welcome, here's why I love digital music so much" post...although, hard as it may be to believe, it's still not finished...lol...because I am getting ready to audition a new DAC, and I wanted to use it as an opportunity to start talking about gear.

Here is a list of DACs I have previously owned:

-MSB Technology Link DAC III
-Music Hall DAC 25.2
-PS Audio DL III
-Cambridge Audio DacMagic

I currently use a Peachtree Audio Decco2, as DAC and Pre into my power amp...and I am about to audition the Eastern Electric (MiniMax) Tube DAC. I plan to post the notes that I get from the comparison, and would love others to weigh in. I can also comment of any of the other units I've owned, though memory fades.

And 2 other DACs are still on my radar; I have a reserve in (although, sadly, I am in the second group...and Emotiva has said these orders won't get fulfilled until "first quarter" of 2011) for the Emotiva XDA-1. I'm not sure what to expect from such a unit, at $299, but the idea of DAC and Pre, all-in-one, is one that needs to embraced by more manufactures...so I'm willing to try it. Who knows? I also, perhaps ultimately, have my eye on the Wyred4Sound (W4S) DAC-2.

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FLACs

OK; since it's supposed to be about the music first...I am currently listening to Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone. Don't get me wrong; since this is the first post about music, I don't want you to get the impression it's going to be a stuffy discussion, about Classical music. While I can appreciate, and listen to all types of music...even occasionally Classical...it is not usually my thing. Hell, if I had been posting what I was primarily listening to (because there's almost always more than just one thing getting play at my place) just yesterday...it would have been Megadeth's Rust In Peace...lol

So why the Ma? I've seen this title mentioned in far too many "audiophile"-type circles, not to be curious what all the fuss is about.

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Welcome 2 FLAC>2>DAC

So...what the hell is FLAC>2>DAC anyway? Well, I love digital music so much, I wanted a forum where others like myself can just chat and geek-out about it.

How did I come to love digital music so much? Well, I think it has to start with loving music so much. Even though I was only 14, I was already a "hi-fi" and music nut, in 1982...when for all intents and purposes, the Compact Disc was introduced. I fell hard...lol. At 14, my "turntable" was far from "hi-end"...and the experience I had listening to records, is exactly the kind of thing the record industry was trying to counter with the introduction of the CD. Just imagine...as I did to myself...perfect, digital sound; indestructible, plastic discs...that never get dirty, scratched, or warped. It was too good to be true. It was actually, as we now know; the CD was never to live up to the promise of "perfect sound forever"...but that hardly mattered a 14 year-old, budding audiophile.

I read with wide eyes, about the fantastic machines...but 14 year-old, budding audiophile or not...the price tags were no where near within my reach. That is, until 1984 (or maybe '85). What happened in ’84-’85? The Technics SL-P2 was released! IIRC, this was the first CD player to break the 4-figure barrier. Still no easy purchase for a then 16 year-old, but I worked 2 jobs that summer, to save up and buy the machine. I even bought a few CDs…from one of the two places I worked…BEFORE I had the player.

So…that’s how it all STARTED. After a while…after that initial “great” sound started to become more and more routine…something started to feel as though it were missing. You see, even back in the day of the crappy, Vinyl albums, I was an avid recorder. Oh man; I had it down to a fine science. You remember; you wanted to search for your peaks (something the SL-P2 did very nicely), and make sure they pushed the VU as high as comfortable…without saturating and causing distortion. The technique, and mixing of tapes; it was a true labor of love. And then, it hit me; the yearning. Wouldn’t it just be the ULTIMATE if you could record to CDs! Perfect sound to perfect sound…not perfect sound, down to “lesser” cassette tape (Chrome Metal or not…lol).

Well…you can see where this is headed. Once they found a way to make CDs recordable, the floodgates opened and all hell broke loose. Skip ahead to about 6 years ago, or so…and I had accumulated somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-5,000 discs (probably 2,000 Silver, the rest otherwise).

However, about 6 years ago, I found I just wasn’t sitting and listening to my stereo and several thousands of discs as much. Why; like many, I had discovered online streaming services, like Rhapsody. For someone who loved so much, and so many kinds of music…to the point where they have accumulated a whole houseful of CDs…a service like Rhapsody was a godsend. If I wanted to check out this new album, or the latest offering from that artist; no need to go spend $12 on the disc…I could just listen while I was working at the computer.

But we all know the story; it’s like straight out of the marketing campaigns for the digital streamers like Squeezebox and Sonos. “Want to stream the music you listen to on your computer, to the good speakers in your house”? You bet I did; and my love-affair with digital music continued, and took the huge leap from my crappy-sounding PC to 2-channel audio system.