fuwen

Shown here is the Bruckner Symphony No. 9 (unfinished)

The famous Zubin Mehta conducting Wiener Philharmoniker

Bruckner wrote a total of 9 symphonies. The no. 9 is the last one with only 3 movements. He did not managed to complete the finale.

Posting this not really to introduce Bruckner but to share that this series of DECCA Legends CDs the recordings are very good.

Not that easy to find but worth considering as both the performance and the recording are top class in a way.

Wow! Looks like a PCDP remote control.

Just ot clarify my previous post that I am NOT sure if V3 can drive HD600 at 30% volumn. But if it can then it should be able to drive the K1000 at about 80% volumn.

If the volumn of X-Can V3 when driving Senn HD600 is set around 30% then it may be able to drive the K1000 at 80%.

Quality of sound I cannot comment but think it should be at worst acceptable.

Most modern PCDPs do not indicate the type of DAC they used nowadays. The older ones from what I know used 1 bit DAC and 8 times oversampling filter (frankly I have no idea what they means), that 1 bit DAC technology probably is still being used in today PCDPs. Some older PCDPs used 2 DACs (2 in number, not 2 bit) and I guess each DAC is to handle signal for 1 channel. From what I have read the single DAC design manages the signals from each channel (left and right) alternately very quickly.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

If u do not mind old players, which the sound is very good, u can consider old used models from Sony, Technics and Philips. These units probably are no good for portable use but u are using in the office anyway.

Why not bring your D-E805 to your office if it is still working fine? You will be surprise how good these old players are compared to the new generation PCDP where portability, battery life are considered in priority to sonic performance. I do not have any experience with your model though.

I recently bought a PCDP and a laser pointer from them, at Beach Road.

I used to buy calculators there when I was a A-level student, about 20 years back. Never really catch up with them since then until recently.

Fuwen, check out the Mozart Piano concerto #23 and #4. I have the complete Piano concertos by Ashkenazy. Last time we talked about #21. 23 is especially good.

Hi! cmk, did try out the #23. Do not find it fantastic listening the first time but after listening for few times quite like it. However I still prefer the #21.

For classical music both HD600 and AKG501 are OK. IMHO HD600 is more relax to listen to, and definitely fast enough to reproduce the sonic characteristics of guitar.

I mentioned before Dvorak String Quartet no.12 'Ãmerican'. Here I posted the CD which I think is very well worth collecting.

In this CD there are a total of 3 nice string quartets:

Dvorak String Quartet No. 12 in F major

Tchaikovsky String Quaret No. 1 in D major

Borodin String Quartet No. 2 in D major

Played by my favourite Emerson String Quartet.

DG 445 551-2 Masters series

Emerson String Quartet is based in USA. I have most of their recordings with DG. They are fast, energetic, and technically perfect.

American string quartet is very well written with full of nice and touching melodies and can easily be accepted by non-classical fans. Classical fans if have not tried American quartet you are unlikely to go wrong with this.

Actually for female jazz vocals I felt that HD600 should be ideal. Do not think AKG K501 is best for this.

I mentioned that Towerrecords USA went bankkrupt but it seems they are still running business like normal. The US website still updates and improves and I am wondering did I read my info wrongly somewhere. If anyone awares what is happening please enlighten!

I have briefly mentioned this in my Pentatone SACD thread.

Paavo Jarvi conducting Stravinsky

Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie

I quite like this collection of Stravinsky works for small ensemble. I like to use track1 for A/B equipment because u get to hear a fair bit of instrumentation solos and the duration of track1 is only 2 minutes.

In fact most of the music in this CD are light hearted and cheerful, and short and sharp. Not very difficult to listen.

Anyway, Pentatone Classics is definitely a good choice for those who like classical music and looking for more SACD material.

Brahms Symphony No. 4

Wiener Philharmoniker

Carlos Kleiber

I mentioned this before. This morning I listened to the performance again and felt that Brahms lover/supporter should seriouly consider collecting this version. Fantastic performance. Recording to me is OK although there are comments that the recording is average.

My version is DG 400 037-2. There is a DG 'The Originals' version in the market and I guess it should be the latest available version.

Yes, but I think should keep it simple and straightforward.

Another question. Has any people here withdraw funds from paypal before? How to go about it?

bump

I do not think that you need a special headamp for SACD listening, at least for the time being. The limit of human hearing is 20Hz to 20kHz so anything beyond u probably cannot hear (for normal people). I owned a SACD player and have seen a filter switch behind and apparently manufacturer recommended to use the filter when used with conventional equipment. Apparently with the filter off may damage some equipment (maybe speakers, I am not sure).

Most of the equipement I have seen are spec at 20-20kHz (speakers have a narrower range). Not sure about those very high end equipment like Gryphon or FM Acoustics.

Despite all these u can, at least after a while, clearly hear the difference of the SACD even when compared to XRCD. But unfortunately due to bad recording u are still likely to get a SACD that sounds horrible. So with very much more SACD titles available now u cannot assume all SACD recordings are good recordings.

Another one that I like very much, a chinese vocal by label HUGO, CD title Tasting Loneliness for the first time.

It is China singer Huang Hong-ying singing Teresa Teng songs. Her singing style is very similar to Teresa Teng, but then again no body will ever be singing like Teresa, as she is just very unique. What I like about this CD is the very good performance by Hong-ying, very good recording by HUGO, and very refreshing but traditional musical arrangements for all the songs. The recordings were done real time with all the artists playing together live and not by digital mixing. I only have reservation on track 8 and 14, both is Stories of a small town but 2 different version, and I am not agreeable to the use of gu zheng as the accompaning instrument.

I particularly like track 4, where the song started with a very well perform whistle performed by HUGO boss himself.

If you are born in the 1960s and 1970s (or before 1960s, if there are any forumners born before that) and understand Mandrain, u should not go wrong with this CD. But overall the songs on this CD are slow.

Available in CD, XRCD, SACD and LP versions.

Hi!

This is a very nice live recording by Eva Cassidy recorded in the Blues Alley. Unfortunately also the last she managed to record as soon after she passed away. It is really a waste.

For these live performances at the Blues Alley, she was not the original singer for most (maybe all, but I am not very sure) of the songs. However, I would say she performed so well that you may feel that those songs were written for her. The recordings were also very good.

I like track 3 bridge over troubled water (very well performed, in a style completely different from Simon and Gunfunkel, listen to the details), track 7 tall trees in Georgia, track8 fields of gold. The rest are very nicely performed also.

Available in ordinary CD format. However I was told the US press is much better than the Australia press. Frankly I am not sure how to differentiate but US press should have a sticker stick along the top side of the CD cover.

Hi! cmk

Well, do u notice I have not attended any sgheadphones meet? I am a father of a 3-year old boy and a 2-year old girl. We are looking after the kids ourselves. So u can see I am not able to spend that type of time probably for many years to come, and also that is the main reason why I ended up playing with headphones.

Nevertheless, a half day affair at somewhere maybe still possible but must have something to keep my kids' interest for that long.

Or if organise a party at my house I will be very comfortable but that will mean the gathering cannot be too big a group. But I guess there isn't a very big group of classical fans, right?

Cheers!

Super Double-bass

The Artistry of Gary Karr

Label Lim XRCD24

Was thinking to post this under audiophile CD thread or here.

This is a very nice CD, and for those classical fans who know about double bass u will be very surprise what a double bass can actually do!

I quote from the CD

'Listening to large scale compositions .... can certainly be overwhelming. The power of the symphonies and the grandeur of the concertos are captivating indeed. However, we may not wish to listen to such repertoire all the time. There are moments when we prefer to listen to something light, delicate, exquisite and brief. ..........'

The album is generally slow and relax in nature, but u can be delighted to hear the double bass in quick tempo for example track 2 Menute from Notenbuch, track 10 Joshua fit the battle and track 12 the entertainer.

The last track Adagio in G minor, normally played by small esemble, now play by the double bass, is very nice and touching.

Gary Karr played a 1611 Amati and piano/organ accompany by Harmon Lewis.

Available in XRCD24 version selling about $50

I guess it is just part and parcel for selling things.............. anywhere.

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

One of the most brilliant of Rachmaninov's compositions for piano and orchestra.

Written based on Paganini's famous Violin Caprice in A minor, and for this Rhapsody he composed 24 variations from the Paganini's theme.

A very nice and famous one is the no. 18 variation, where Rachmaninov made use of the same Paganini's theme but played in the revese order, and how nice a tune it became! Who on earth will think of playing a tune in reverse!

Can consider the version played by Vladimir Ashkenazy as soloist, under the label DECCA.

Hi! Red Ryder, some reputable Classical Labels to recommend:

Telarc

Deutsche Grammophon

harmonia mundi

Philips

Decca

Pentatone

U may not always get world class recording from them, but most of the time world class performance, and very unlikely u get rubbish from these labels.