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Let's take a look at where we are
2016 Munich High End, joy and pain
A Unique Vinyl
OreloB - Play Backwards!
Maurice Ravel
Bolero
La Valse
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Carlo Rizzi
Tacet
This review will be different and therefore will be put in the editorial section. It is intended to highlight the mastering technique and will not deal with the artistic impressions or the recording techniques as we usually do.
This record is made in such a way that the stylus reads the groove from the inside outwards. It’s not a matter of reading the groove in the wrong direction to discover hidden satanic meanings or things like this. This record was born this way, to be played backwards.
Is it an exaggeration if we define it brilliant? We do not know if there are other examples of this, because we in Audio-Activity were not aware of such a recording technique and all the people we have questioned about the issue did not know either. Let’s take a look at the reasons behind it and let’s find out its importance for classical music. Which is the main dynamic feature of of the recording of a symphony? Very simple, the fortissimo in the final part that undergoes to some distortions due to the low speed of the stylus in the groove and to the reduced space available to modulate it. And here comes the brilliant idea of Andreas Spreer - deus ex machina of Tacet - an inversion of the groove. The part of the composition that needs room and speed is recorded where there is room and speed while the pianissimo in this Bolero is in a position where there are no hurdles for it.
Does it work? Yes it does! Timpani, bass drums and winds can explode all together in the external part of the record where there is no problem with the tracking and finding thus a solution to one of the crucial issues of the recordings on vinyl.
In the picture that follows, Andreas Spreer explains the technique used.
As for the recording technique, well, with Tacet there’s not much to say! Timbre and dynamics are of a great level and the final outcome is extremely enjoyable.
The technical execution is very good even if, being a drummer, I think that classical music many times is not precise in the speed and in the measure. There are few Directors that can direct an orchestra with the precision of a metronome, Von Karajan is surely one of them. Moreover the Bolero, with its constant and regular gait for more than 15 minutes is an extremely hard test for the percussionist that has to start slowly and delicately to increase the pace constantly without losing the rhythm or accelerate. There is an extreme need of concentration to be aware every second of the exact score position of the pattern played to avoid to perform as a solo player, separate from the rest of the orchestra. Or even worst to follow the orchestra instead of leading it. This is something that sometimes happen with a poor result indeed.
Well, apart from some vagueness from this point of view, it is a record that one must have both for the execution and for the peculiar technique used for the vinyl.
On the website catalogue we have discovered another Tacet vinyl recorded backwards. There are more pieces of music by Ravel performed by the same orchestra directed by Rizzi. We must buy this one too before it goes sold out.
In the meantime watch the video that we have recorded to let you see how it works!
Angelo Jasparro
www.tacet.de
Translation: Francesca Rubino
The technical execution is very good even if, being a drummer, I think that classical music many times is not precise in the speed and in the measure. There are few Directors that can direct an orchestra with the precision of a metronome, Von Karajan is surely one of them. Moreover the Bolero, with its constant and regular gait for more than 15 minutes is an extremely hard test for the percussionist that has to start slowly and delicately to increase the pace constantly without losing the rhythm or accelerate. There is an extreme need of concentration to be aware every second of the exact score position of the pattern played to avoid to perform as a solo player, separate from the rest of the orchestra. Or even worst to follow the orchestra instead of leading it. This is something that sometimes happen with a poor result indeed.
Well, apart from some vagueness from this point of view, it is a record that one must have both for the execution and for the peculiar technique used for the vinyl.
On the website catalogue we have discovered another Tacet vinyl recorded backwards. There are more pieces of music by Ravel performed by the same orchestra directed by Rizzi. We must buy this one too before it goes sold out.
In the meantime watch the video that we have recorded to let you see how it works!
Angelo Jasparro
www.tacet.de
Translation: Francesca Rubino
Munich High End 2014: come with us!
Dear readers,
also this year we will offer you a very complete and swift report from the most important High-Fidelity trade fair of Europe - and maybe of the world.
Like we did in 2013, also this year we will publish the pictures of the show in real time from the very opening of the fair on Thursday May 15th, until the conclusion of the report.
We are working on something really unique, something never attempted before but before we share our "secret" with you, we have to verify the exhibitor's will to let us have what we asked them.
Anyway, the report will be even more complete and large this time thanks to all technical devices that will help us.
But we have time to talk about it later on. In the meantime we hope you will follow us like you did last year so to reward us for our hard work.
Hope to see you soon then and please find here all the previews that the exhibitors are sending us day by day.
Angelo Jasparro
also this year we will offer you a very complete and swift report from the most important High-Fidelity trade fair of Europe - and maybe of the world.
Like we did in 2013, also this year we will publish the pictures of the show in real time from the very opening of the fair on Thursday May 15th, until the conclusion of the report.
We are working on something really unique, something never attempted before but before we share our "secret" with you, we have to verify the exhibitor's will to let us have what we asked them.
Anyway, the report will be even more complete and large this time thanks to all technical devices that will help us.
But we have time to talk about it later on. In the meantime we hope you will follow us like you did last year so to reward us for our hard work.
Hope to see you soon then and please find here all the previews that the exhibitors are sending us day by day.
Angelo Jasparro
Audio-activity doubles!
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Audio-activity.com was founded one year ago and it keeps on growing and improving every day. The Italian - English format was not at its best and the site resulted not very easily readable.
We have been thinking for a long time to split the editions of the two languages but the software we were using did not allow the changes we desired to make. Finally we have come up with a completely new edition avoiding all the limitations that the software had imposed us. Now reading Audio-activity is more easy, more immediate, everything is available at once for the reader. Believe me, a big improvement for you regular readers.
Soon more changes will come. We are trying to take advantage of the characteristics of the web to give the readers a nice and enjoyable product. Give us time to set free from the old templates of the paper and you’ll have a completely new and modern magazine.
We are trying to make Audio-activity.com more and more attractive. Thank you all for the enthousiasm you have in reading us, we will not let you down!
Angelo Jasparro
We have been thinking for a long time to split the editions of the two languages but the software we were using did not allow the changes we desired to make. Finally we have come up with a completely new edition avoiding all the limitations that the software had imposed us. Now reading Audio-activity is more easy, more immediate, everything is available at once for the reader. Believe me, a big improvement for you regular readers.
Soon more changes will come. We are trying to take advantage of the characteristics of the web to give the readers a nice and enjoyable product. Give us time to set free from the old templates of the paper and you’ll have a completely new and modern magazine.
We are trying to make Audio-activity.com more and more attractive. Thank you all for the enthousiasm you have in reading us, we will not let you down!
Angelo Jasparro
Happy Birthday, Audio-activity!
Our/your Audio-Activity turned one on September 5th. It’s weaned but it can’t walk on its own yet. It took a lot of hard work and more will be needed and I can assure you that it’s not easy, especially in these days. It takes resolution, effort and a lot of faith. It’s important to believe that our “hobby” has a future, bright or gloomy we do not know, and that younger generations will still find in music their peaceful and happy spot. We do believe in it, that’s why we are here and for being here we have to thank all our readers. Your appreciation arrives to us in many ways, through Facebook and e-mails, and your words and are a real spur to us.
600 readers every day; more than 200.000 in a year; a total of 250.000 pages read. The main High Fidelity websites have linked us, acknowledging us with seriousness and authority. The same thing happens with the websites of the producers and distributors of the products we have reviewed, also when their products did not come out with flying colours from our reviews. We also want to thank all the manufacturers/distributors that have supported us by buying AD spaces; they helped us to make ends meet. Thanks also to all those that will become our advertiser in the near future, encouraged by the number of readers reached, that is in continuous and constant growth.
At first when we decided our goals we knew that we needed more than a year to meet them. We think that we are on the right path but we still have a long way to go.
Even if there’s crisis we want to be positive and see the end of the tunnel. There are small but positive signs. Many music shops in Italy have closed, it’s true, but we must also say that few are opening, so the future seems a bit brighter. In these days there used to take place the Milan Top Audio and Video Show, the biggest audio show in Italy and the second in Europe. Many already know that this year it will not take place, APAF (Association for High Fidelity Promotion) decided not to organize it this year, after 25 years of continuous shows. We do not want to comment this decision but we feel orphans of this show that used to start the new business year. We believe that this is a mistake due to this widespread pessimism caused by the longest economic downturn ever. We hope to hear from our friends, and APAF associates, good news for the next year with another Show, may be renewed in its content and venue.
In the meantime, we will keep you informed on all the Hi-Fi shows that will take place all around Italy, and I can assure you that there is a lot going on. High Fidelity is alive and kicking, no matter what the different Cassandras say, we are here to prove it.
Thanks again to all those that believed in us and will read and support us also in the future.
Angelo Jasparro
Translation: Francesca Rubino
Music, Shows and ... Monsters
Let’s talk about figures, the figures of the only Hi fi show, dedicated to high end, that gives certified figures on attendance. Here they are: 363 exhibitors that come from 36 Countries. 16.159 visitors and 5.211 traders from 71 Countries. This is not bad at all, if you think that in the Munich High End show there are no multichannel audio or video sections. The German show turned 32 this year and is in very good health. You have this sensation reading facts and figures of the show but also talking to the exhibitors that this year were even more satisfied than the last year.
On the other hand Milano’s Top Audio and Video this year won’t take place, it’s an official news.
Here below there is the announce APAF released to explain the reasons behind this decision that you can find on their website:
“The difficult economic and market situation that has been occurred in the last years, he suggested to the APAF Executive Council to consider a shift to 2014, maybe during spring, the usual September appointment with Top Audio Video Show. APAF has been organizing and promoting the exhibition for 25 years and holds the trademark ownership. APAF hopes that the general economic situation and - consequently - the sector of its interest, will find in the medium term, ideas and incentives, in order to promote a new edition of the Milanese event that, with renewed enthusiasm, can offer the vanguard of audio, home entertainment and hi-end products, returning to involve all the operators and the large crowd of fans.”
The contrast is evident! The European economy is not in good health but despite this, Germany is thriving while Italy is crying. We may not be able to organize a show such as the Munich High End and we have to make do with the local audience. Maybe those that think that Top Audio and Video show is too expensive are right and local shows are a good alternative. Smaller but easier to reach. To go to Milan from Palermo you have to be really well-motivated but if you have to travel in your own region instead, things are easier.
The USA, that are a huge market in themselves, have the Las Vegas C.E.S.
C.E.S. is well known worldwide but it deals more with consumer electronics than High-End. There is also the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest that is growing bigger year after year. And then there are small local shows. As for Italy we'll see what APAF will do in the future.
But there’s one thing we want to deal with, something we really care about. Something that is strictly related to these shows and to all the shows in the world. It’s the music that operators use for their systems. Wherever you go you find this same issue, this is not something that is typically Italian, sadly I’d say.
We have always said that acoustic instruments are the only thing that is useful to make a comparison with the reproduced sound, but there are so many music composed in these last 700 years, that we can diversify a bit. Let’s do something different and new!! The only music we hear in these shows are duets with violin and double bass or, if you have a lucky shot, a string quartet; all the rest is strictly banned and can be compared to a bad word. The reason is unknown since not all the systems that are shown have problems in reproducing a big orchestra.
In most of the rooms there is the cold and boring jazz performed by Diana Krall - I apologize with all her fans, I too have a DVD of her concert and I enjoy the art of the musicians that play with her! - another very used item is music with voice and double bass, voice and violin, voice and whatever-you-want. All this is boring and deceiving because this music is just perfect to play with every system: the system that has 300 kg loudspeakers and thousand watts amps, those with mono loudspeakers and mono triodes. And what about all those percussions? Maracas, tubular bells, drums with added echoes that are fake but very spectacular. I am authorized to say it because I’m a drummer myself: how boring!
Those that are bravest, play The Pink Floyd or the Dire Straits but here, once again, we have the same songs taken from The Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall. Very odd if you think of the vastness of the music production of these groups. The exhibitors should realize that people that have been hanging around at music shows for years are now fed up with these songs that are played over and over again.
Every Country has its habits. In Italy we have tons of De Andrè’s songs and “La Canzone di Marinella” in the version where Mina plays in duet with De Andrè (one more time). For this last song I feel responsible, since I’m the one that used this song for the first time 10 years ago as a test music. The “virus” rapidly spread and after 3 or 4 years this song was played everywhere. After this confession I want to be constructive and remind you that Symphonic music for a big orchestra or a British English baroque choir is classic music too, Madonna’s “Frozen” sounds great with a good quality system, “Made in Japan” by Deep Purple is not an audiophile record but can fill the room with people moving their heads and imitating a Blackmore’s guitar solo.
There is more than just Diana Krall or Desafinado, there are songs sang by Nat King Cole or played superbly by Ahmal Jamal group - and these latter are wonderful recordings.
C’mon my friends, let’s change and break the old habits if we want to renew and refresh the Audio world.
Angelo Jasparro
On the other hand Milano’s Top Audio and Video this year won’t take place, it’s an official news.
Here below there is the announce APAF released to explain the reasons behind this decision that you can find on their website:
“The difficult economic and market situation that has been occurred in the last years, he suggested to the APAF Executive Council to consider a shift to 2014, maybe during spring, the usual September appointment with Top Audio Video Show. APAF has been organizing and promoting the exhibition for 25 years and holds the trademark ownership. APAF hopes that the general economic situation and - consequently - the sector of its interest, will find in the medium term, ideas and incentives, in order to promote a new edition of the Milanese event that, with renewed enthusiasm, can offer the vanguard of audio, home entertainment and hi-end products, returning to involve all the operators and the large crowd of fans.”
The contrast is evident! The European economy is not in good health but despite this, Germany is thriving while Italy is crying. We may not be able to organize a show such as the Munich High End and we have to make do with the local audience. Maybe those that think that Top Audio and Video show is too expensive are right and local shows are a good alternative. Smaller but easier to reach. To go to Milan from Palermo you have to be really well-motivated but if you have to travel in your own region instead, things are easier.
The USA, that are a huge market in themselves, have the Las Vegas C.E.S.
C.E.S. is well known worldwide but it deals more with consumer electronics than High-End. There is also the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest that is growing bigger year after year. And then there are small local shows. As for Italy we'll see what APAF will do in the future.
But there’s one thing we want to deal with, something we really care about. Something that is strictly related to these shows and to all the shows in the world. It’s the music that operators use for their systems. Wherever you go you find this same issue, this is not something that is typically Italian, sadly I’d say.
We have always said that acoustic instruments are the only thing that is useful to make a comparison with the reproduced sound, but there are so many music composed in these last 700 years, that we can diversify a bit. Let’s do something different and new!! The only music we hear in these shows are duets with violin and double bass or, if you have a lucky shot, a string quartet; all the rest is strictly banned and can be compared to a bad word. The reason is unknown since not all the systems that are shown have problems in reproducing a big orchestra.
In most of the rooms there is the cold and boring jazz performed by Diana Krall - I apologize with all her fans, I too have a DVD of her concert and I enjoy the art of the musicians that play with her! - another very used item is music with voice and double bass, voice and violin, voice and whatever-you-want. All this is boring and deceiving because this music is just perfect to play with every system: the system that has 300 kg loudspeakers and thousand watts amps, those with mono loudspeakers and mono triodes. And what about all those percussions? Maracas, tubular bells, drums with added echoes that are fake but very spectacular. I am authorized to say it because I’m a drummer myself: how boring!
Those that are bravest, play The Pink Floyd or the Dire Straits but here, once again, we have the same songs taken from The Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall. Very odd if you think of the vastness of the music production of these groups. The exhibitors should realize that people that have been hanging around at music shows for years are now fed up with these songs that are played over and over again.
Every Country has its habits. In Italy we have tons of De Andrè’s songs and “La Canzone di Marinella” in the version where Mina plays in duet with De Andrè (one more time). For this last song I feel responsible, since I’m the one that used this song for the first time 10 years ago as a test music. The “virus” rapidly spread and after 3 or 4 years this song was played everywhere. After this confession I want to be constructive and remind you that Symphonic music for a big orchestra or a British English baroque choir is classic music too, Madonna’s “Frozen” sounds great with a good quality system, “Made in Japan” by Deep Purple is not an audiophile record but can fill the room with people moving their heads and imitating a Blackmore’s guitar solo.
There is more than just Diana Krall or Desafinado, there are songs sang by Nat King Cole or played superbly by Ahmal Jamal group - and these latter are wonderful recordings.
C’mon my friends, let’s change and break the old habits if we want to renew and refresh the Audio world.
Angelo Jasparro
Munich High End 2013
The Munich Hi Fi show is coming. We are only a few days apart from the most important Hi Fi show in Europe and maybe - as for sheer quality audio reproduction - of the world. Figures are clear: 350 exhibitors and 900 brands that they represent will be present at MOC Congress Center in Munich.
Linked here you will find: all the exhibitors and brands. And from May 9th at 10 am our real time reportage, here.
Audio Activity will be present and will once again cover the event with continuous updates and highlights from the show. We will deal with all the rooms, take pictures and describe shortly what we see.
We will publish after the show a thorough examination of the components we consider more interesting. So, stay tuned and you will not be deceived. For those of you that are thinking about coming to Munich, well, it's a trip worth doing because Munich and the show are great.
See you soon.
Linked here you will find: all the exhibitors and brands. And from May 9th at 10 am our real time reportage, here.
Audio Activity will be present and will once again cover the event with continuous updates and highlights from the show. We will deal with all the rooms, take pictures and describe shortly what we see.
We will publish after the show a thorough examination of the components we consider more interesting. So, stay tuned and you will not be deceived. For those of you that are thinking about coming to Munich, well, it's a trip worth doing because Munich and the show are great.
See you soon.
Audio-Activity is growing up ...
This 2013 begins under good auspices. Very soon our team will enlarge a little bit, with the usual prudence. The problem is not to find new people that want to write about music and high fidelity, the difficulty is finding people that are experts and that are really reliable. Our recruitment is opened and we accept applications also from strangers. I'm sure that soon you'll see the results of our search. The more attentive readersr have already noticed the novelties of the site that we implement as soon as we think it's time to do it or when our software provider gives us an upgrade of its version. Recently we have activated a search engine in the site that is very effective. You can find it in the upper right side of the page, in the header of our magazine. We have also reshaped the brand in the header and the home page now shows all the main news. In this way you don't have to go through all the pages to find them. Last but not least we have activated a couple of days ago the RSS Feed in the two main pages: "Latest additions" and "News". Your time is precious, we know it, and with this service you will be able to read Audio-Activity only when new articles or news will be released. Let's explain this feature to those that are not familiar with it. If you click on the symbol RSS Feed in the different pages - and I suggest you to do it in all the pages - you will find the option "Feed" in your browser in the favorite tool bar. By simply opening it you will find the notice when there is something new published, i.e new articles or news published. There are also free programs called Feed Readers that gather all the news from the websites to which you subscribed. The nice thing is that you don't have to subscribe once again or give your e-mail address all to the good of your privacy.
Dear readers, you are increasing every day and this is a great pleasure for us and also a stimulus to do more and do it better. We are often mentioned in the web even if some web sites are boycotting our activity and erase our name as soon as it appears on their pages. We are convinced that there is enough space for everyone in this world and we are also convinced that a cooperation instead of a brutal censorship would be better and more interesting especially for you, dear readers. We are not all alike so we have to make do.
Audio-Activity wishes you a wonderful and serene 2013 gladden by all the things you desire most despite the blackish forecasts of the economists. Have you ever stopped to think if there is a difference between their forecasts and those of a fortune teller? The answer is up to you ...
Angelo Jasparro
Dear readers, you are increasing every day and this is a great pleasure for us and also a stimulus to do more and do it better. We are often mentioned in the web even if some web sites are boycotting our activity and erase our name as soon as it appears on their pages. We are convinced that there is enough space for everyone in this world and we are also convinced that a cooperation instead of a brutal censorship would be better and more interesting especially for you, dear readers. We are not all alike so we have to make do.
Audio-Activity wishes you a wonderful and serene 2013 gladden by all the things you desire most despite the blackish forecasts of the economists. Have you ever stopped to think if there is a difference between their forecasts and those of a fortune teller? The answer is up to you ...
Angelo Jasparro
The crisis of the Hi-Fi market: just because of the prices?
This is what we often hear or read in forums. Hi-Fi does not sell anymore because of its prices. Hi fi components are too expensive. Hi-Fi magazines are closing down because they talk about the wrong components, those that are too expensive. But let's argue about it! And let me start from the second statement. Hi-Fi magazines that are closing down are those that had the biggest market share, no doubt about it. Their crisis - one has stopped its publications all of a sudden and the other one is trying hard to resist and may succeed in doing it - has different reasons than those stated above but since it's not our business we won't deal with it. Let's talk instead about the products market and the reasons behind the crisis. These reasons are only partly linked to the tough economic situation of the last 4 years. Hi-Fi crisis are more numerous than the cyclic economic downturns. We can notice it looking at the old magazines. The cover of this Stereoplay that dates back in 1976, talking about Hi-Fi crisis, should suggest us something. But, in the present situation we may be tempted to say that those were the golden years of the Hi-Fi market.
In those years there was a real consumer boom in the Italian Hi-Fi market -unfortunately we don't have the tools to say what happened outside our borders- a boom that never repeated itself again and at which we can only look with nostalgia and regret for a lost opportunity. If there was, or there is, a way to mend to it no one seems to know. This time we can say that the crisis of High Fidelity is a universal phenomenon. There are exceptions only in those fast developing Countries where the middle class wants to elevate its status also by buying Hi-Fi equipments. And we are not talking about the Japanese components that were present everywhere, we are talking about big and gaudy products that are so expensive to be a welfare status symbol or a symbol of real richness. And this is the point. Why would a family decide to put in its already overcrowded living room a music reproduction system? First of all as we said it's a status symbol. In the 70's every single house in Italy had a rack full of components, equalizer included, that were rarely used. The stereo had to be there because our neighbors had it and we could be no less than them. Those that were a bit more experts asked for the brands and stated with pride the brand they possessed - “my amplifier is a Marantz!” - and made the other one feel ashamed because he possessed a less prestigious brand. Few lucky ones had McIntosh, Altec, JBL or other, only wealthy people and classic and jazz music lovers. All the others did not know what these brands were and did not visit Hi-Fi shops. They used to go to the electronics shop close to their houses and buy the components, then played two or three times a 45 rpm just to test it and then kept it clean not to show it was unused. Cellars and lofts must be still full of these old devices well kept in their glass closed cabinet. No one remembers them and no one is interested in them. Nowadays the “developed” Countries status symbols are flat screen 3D Tv's, smart phones of any kind- but if there's an "apple" on it it's better - video games, tablets and so forth ... And then there are computers that take all our free time with the appeal of their internet connection. Cars, clothes and designers accessories are not a new entry as a desirable thing. Economic assets are limited so we have to choose and buy only certain things and not others. We never have enough time to sit quietly in front of the stereo to listen to a record like we used to do in the 70s when there was no satellite TV and the Public Tv had only two channels that were boring and not interesting. To sit on the couch and relax with the eyes closed and listen to some music is something really unthinkable for most of the people today. Music is a consumer good and we are constantly accompanied by it in our day but few really appreciate it. Paradoxically too much diffusion brought a decay in the role of music in our everyday's life.
Now that we can take music along with us we use it and we don't enjoy it. But this is what happens when we have too much of something. When we used to go to a record shop to buy a record there was a certain satisfaction in taking it home with us. The record had been chosen with care and many times a review on a music magazine had helped us to decide. But now things are different ... We (they) download Terabytes of files - I have to make a big effort to call it music - and we hardly know what is contained in our USB pen drives in the "i-something" or in hard disks that might contain whole libraries. We have lost all pleasure and romanticism. We download every possible bullshit - forgive for being so coarse but it's the only word I can think of - just to listen to it while jogging, shopping or while doing anything else but really listening to music.
Please stop saying that the Hi-Fi market is collapsing because products are too expensive and people are broke 'cause it is not true. There is a lack of interest and not a crisis. Remember when we were young? We had to choose between a motorbike or a stereo, between the car or the stereo. Some guys worked the whole summer long just to have enough money to buy a stereo. But now, who pines to have a stereo? Who can say to have it in his wish list? And if we think about it we find out that it's easier to buy a stereo today than it was years ago.
Are there solutions? May be yes, may be we can try all together. We'll talk about it soon.
Angelo Jasparro
Now that we can take music along with us we use it and we don't enjoy it. But this is what happens when we have too much of something. When we used to go to a record shop to buy a record there was a certain satisfaction in taking it home with us. The record had been chosen with care and many times a review on a music magazine had helped us to decide. But now things are different ... We (they) download Terabytes of files - I have to make a big effort to call it music - and we hardly know what is contained in our USB pen drives in the "i-something" or in hard disks that might contain whole libraries. We have lost all pleasure and romanticism. We download every possible bullshit - forgive for being so coarse but it's the only word I can think of - just to listen to it while jogging, shopping or while doing anything else but really listening to music.
Please stop saying that the Hi-Fi market is collapsing because products are too expensive and people are broke 'cause it is not true. There is a lack of interest and not a crisis. Remember when we were young? We had to choose between a motorbike or a stereo, between the car or the stereo. Some guys worked the whole summer long just to have enough money to buy a stereo. But now, who pines to have a stereo? Who can say to have it in his wish list? And if we think about it we find out that it's easier to buy a stereo today than it was years ago.
Are there solutions? May be yes, may be we can try all together. We'll talk about it soon.
Angelo Jasparro
High Fidelity ... to what?
I must confess that I recycled this title from a post on my blog since I want to delve into this issue. This is the typical question that sometimes we read or hear in the clubs of audiophiles and that raises a whole array of answers. There are the most basic answers like: "fidelity to live music" and other answers - more philosophical and complicated - like: "the original live event exists only in the exact moment in which it happens and cannot be repeated. But sometimes it doesn’t exist and depending on the tiredness of the listener, different sounds can be heard ..." Things get so complicated that, in the end, there's always someone affirming that there's no absolute truth and each one should listen to what he likes and the way he likes it. In addition, I add maybe using an equalizer to enhance bass and high notes so to let a dancing feeling take you over.
I too don't have the answer of course but I have an opinion at least. Let's reason on it together for a second. If we listen to a violin we recognize it even if the sound comes from a mobile phone loudspeaker. We can even consider music those terrible ring tunes of the mobile phone. These are reproduced with compressions that are barely decent and pass through a transducer that has the diameter of a pencil and is of very poor quality.
This tells us that our brain, together with many other abilities, has that of completing what's incomplete and can recreate music from unpleasing and lacking sounds. We already know that an instrument can be recognized by the harmonics that produces and not thanks to the pure note it emits. The note A is an A if it's a piano or a tuning fork to produce it. The harmonics are simple frequencies of multiple value against the initial value and give us clues to recognize the font. We said that the loudspeaker of a cell phone can reproduce only a limited number of harmonics but still, we can recognize a violin from a piano with rare exceptions. Well, if this is the situation why should we spend a lot of money to buy equipments that sound good? One thing is to recognize a violin from a piano and a different thing is to distinguish it from a viola, for example. It’s different to recognize the melody and to feel with the body the basses and the drums, perceive the arrangements of the percussions and of everything else contained in the piece. Hence, the need to have components that can reproduce at best what is recorded in the disc - we call it disc even if we know it might be a tape, a CD, a Vinyl, a music file...
Someone may ask: "How do we know what's in the recording? What the sound-engineer had in mind?" We can't, of course! And we don't want or need to. Many people that argue on this issue don't even know how a music hall is and keep on preaching from behind a monitor. Would you get on an Airbus knowing that the pilot has no experience on the field but many hours of experience with a PC Flight Simulator? There are people that made countless interventions in the music forums and are considered experts on the matter. You'd be surprised to know that they don't know how real instruments play live, and have no clue of the hundreds different shades that a hit on the drum can assume. Sometimes hearing the city band playing in the street one of these experts has an epiphany. Well, thank God this happens! This way the poor forum readers are safe and won't read any more casual comments and advice given by alleged experts. Many people think that they can build their experience on the listenings made at Hi-Fi shows, without having the least idea of reality. This is not the case.
If you know the real thing you can distinguish a good recording from a bad one. There's no need to be a musician to hear that in the recordings where there are violins, the sound of the strings is much higher than that of the body, the soundboard. If you listen to an orchestra, even a small one with only six violins, you'll hear a sound from those violins playing together that you rarely get from a recording. However there are exceptions and it's between these latter that we have to choose to have a tool to judge the sound of a Hi-Fi equipment. Here I rest my case on the issue of the impossibility of recording credible sounds. Credible, not identical obviously!
Many times, reading which recordings are employed to test components, we realize that not everybody have an attention to the small but very important details that we have just described. These details allow us to judge the undertones of music reproduction. In music there are undertones, hues, we all know it. This is valid for strings as I mentioned before and for all the other instruments. There are recordings that are famous among music lovers that reproduce a drum set that sounds as spectacular as ... fake.
Sometimes people say that Hi-Fi components sound well if the orchestra or the singer seem to be in our room. Personally, I don't think this is enough. The sound is really good if what we are hearing takes us to the place and time of the event. This happens rarely of course. There are many factors that have to be displayed but essential factors are: a perfect recording and a very good reproduction. Our equipment hits the target in the moment in which we can feel the atmosphere and the emotion of musicians. This is all we need.
There is just one way to evaluate the sound of Hi-Fi equipments: compare it to live music. After that we can look for other factors such as reproduction in scale, calibrate reproductions, influence of the listening environment and so on ... But this does not change the core thing. Otherwise, it's just “My-Fi” that it's a completely different thing that we don't want to approach here.
I want to finish with a polemic note: when we have invited audiophiles to REAL concerts, we have never had the chance to meet them. We don't know why ...
Angelo Jasparro
I too don't have the answer of course but I have an opinion at least. Let's reason on it together for a second. If we listen to a violin we recognize it even if the sound comes from a mobile phone loudspeaker. We can even consider music those terrible ring tunes of the mobile phone. These are reproduced with compressions that are barely decent and pass through a transducer that has the diameter of a pencil and is of very poor quality.
This tells us that our brain, together with many other abilities, has that of completing what's incomplete and can recreate music from unpleasing and lacking sounds. We already know that an instrument can be recognized by the harmonics that produces and not thanks to the pure note it emits. The note A is an A if it's a piano or a tuning fork to produce it. The harmonics are simple frequencies of multiple value against the initial value and give us clues to recognize the font. We said that the loudspeaker of a cell phone can reproduce only a limited number of harmonics but still, we can recognize a violin from a piano with rare exceptions. Well, if this is the situation why should we spend a lot of money to buy equipments that sound good? One thing is to recognize a violin from a piano and a different thing is to distinguish it from a viola, for example. It’s different to recognize the melody and to feel with the body the basses and the drums, perceive the arrangements of the percussions and of everything else contained in the piece. Hence, the need to have components that can reproduce at best what is recorded in the disc - we call it disc even if we know it might be a tape, a CD, a Vinyl, a music file...
Someone may ask: "How do we know what's in the recording? What the sound-engineer had in mind?" We can't, of course! And we don't want or need to. Many people that argue on this issue don't even know how a music hall is and keep on preaching from behind a monitor. Would you get on an Airbus knowing that the pilot has no experience on the field but many hours of experience with a PC Flight Simulator? There are people that made countless interventions in the music forums and are considered experts on the matter. You'd be surprised to know that they don't know how real instruments play live, and have no clue of the hundreds different shades that a hit on the drum can assume. Sometimes hearing the city band playing in the street one of these experts has an epiphany. Well, thank God this happens! This way the poor forum readers are safe and won't read any more casual comments and advice given by alleged experts. Many people think that they can build their experience on the listenings made at Hi-Fi shows, without having the least idea of reality. This is not the case.
If you know the real thing you can distinguish a good recording from a bad one. There's no need to be a musician to hear that in the recordings where there are violins, the sound of the strings is much higher than that of the body, the soundboard. If you listen to an orchestra, even a small one with only six violins, you'll hear a sound from those violins playing together that you rarely get from a recording. However there are exceptions and it's between these latter that we have to choose to have a tool to judge the sound of a Hi-Fi equipment. Here I rest my case on the issue of the impossibility of recording credible sounds. Credible, not identical obviously!
Many times, reading which recordings are employed to test components, we realize that not everybody have an attention to the small but very important details that we have just described. These details allow us to judge the undertones of music reproduction. In music there are undertones, hues, we all know it. This is valid for strings as I mentioned before and for all the other instruments. There are recordings that are famous among music lovers that reproduce a drum set that sounds as spectacular as ... fake.
Sometimes people say that Hi-Fi components sound well if the orchestra or the singer seem to be in our room. Personally, I don't think this is enough. The sound is really good if what we are hearing takes us to the place and time of the event. This happens rarely of course. There are many factors that have to be displayed but essential factors are: a perfect recording and a very good reproduction. Our equipment hits the target in the moment in which we can feel the atmosphere and the emotion of musicians. This is all we need.
There is just one way to evaluate the sound of Hi-Fi equipments: compare it to live music. After that we can look for other factors such as reproduction in scale, calibrate reproductions, influence of the listening environment and so on ... But this does not change the core thing. Otherwise, it's just “My-Fi” that it's a completely different thing that we don't want to approach here.
I want to finish with a polemic note: when we have invited audiophiles to REAL concerts, we have never had the chance to meet them. We don't know why ...
Angelo Jasparro
Once upon a time there was ... the forum
And today? It’s hard to answer. What I'd like to do is chronicle the history of the forum in our field, from early days to this day. Newsgroups were another reality but since the functioning of these was of a different kind I'd leave them alone. In Italy, the dawn of everything dates back to TNT Audio mailing list which still exists in parallel with the homonym magazine. The golden age of this mailing list covers the year 2000 to 2005. In those early years all the important names of Italian High Fidelity were in this group and shared their knowledge for free. Some people tried to imitate it but the attempt failed. During the summer of 2003, Bebo Moroni decided to launch the magazine Videohifi and a related forum. I joined the group immediately after the founding and, being part of the project, I remember perfectly well the feeling and the ideas that it unleashed. Things were hectic, Bebo Moroni’s name was strictly linked to the forum and whoever typed his name in a search engine was readdressed to the forum.
What’s the legacy of those days 10 years after? have forums advanced? If yes, how? First of all we should define the aim of a discussion forum. I deem that it should be an exchange of news and pieces of information on the virtual community’s main topic. But are today's forums like this or are they something very different? Well, let me digress and give you a general outline. In these last 10 years we have seen the birth of innumerable Hi-Fi communities. I think that in Italy alone we can count at least 20 of them. The number of those that enjoy it is very narrow and not proportioned to the efforts necessary to keep these communities alive. It’s impossible to control this phenomenon due to the fact that the platforms to create forums are free of charge. The birth of each new forum is officially justified by a quest for FREEDOM . Well, the thing is that in all the forums there is freedom until we disagree with one of the administrators for one reason or another and we don't feel free anymore. At this point we are entitled to create a new community with other people and since this time the virtual space is ours we can set the rules and enjoy the freedom we want, in the way we want it. And the story goes on like this in a loop … a disagreement leads to another free forum…. ad libitum. I’ve seen forums founded by two people that won’t see the number of their subscribers grow any larger…..and all this is due to a craving for freedom! Then there is the category of those that open a forum just because they have friends that build, sell or design Hi-Fi components. This of course remains unsaid and their virtual meeting place can be defined…..guess how? A free space!
Shall we linger on forums that are managed by manufacturers that had no commercial success? That spend their day spying others? That try to destroy the rest sometimes in a brutal impolite way? No, I think we’d better not. This is exactly what led Italian forums to have 30 or 50 active participants, not more than this. If you take a closer look you'll notice that the names of those that write are always the same and if you exclude the OFF TOPICS, it’s all really boring and flat. It’s been easy to picture this situation but the reasons underlying this debacle are not so easy to explain and understand.
What we can affirm with certainty is that the original purpose of these forums is dead and gone. News is a rare item and controversy is the daily bread. Each new day sees the birth of a new master or guru, posts are submerged by insults, outrages and challenges to try and show who’s best and who's stronger. The participants that have something to say withdraw and the standard level of the forum participants lessens day in day out. Information is transformed into disinformation and all goes on in an endless chain of events. We got to the point of
giving vent in the forums to all the basic instincts, to all frustrations caused by unsatisfied desires and there’s no way out from this situation. No one wants to learn any more and sharing an experience becomes a tragedy. The poor writer is pilloried by those that have a different opinion. Few good things can still be found but the atmosphere is irremediably corrupted. There are no referring points today and this is bad especially in our environment where instability and personal opinions rule.
Angelo Jasparro
What’s the legacy of those days 10 years after? have forums advanced? If yes, how? First of all we should define the aim of a discussion forum. I deem that it should be an exchange of news and pieces of information on the virtual community’s main topic. But are today's forums like this or are they something very different? Well, let me digress and give you a general outline. In these last 10 years we have seen the birth of innumerable Hi-Fi communities. I think that in Italy alone we can count at least 20 of them. The number of those that enjoy it is very narrow and not proportioned to the efforts necessary to keep these communities alive. It’s impossible to control this phenomenon due to the fact that the platforms to create forums are free of charge. The birth of each new forum is officially justified by a quest for FREEDOM . Well, the thing is that in all the forums there is freedom until we disagree with one of the administrators for one reason or another and we don't feel free anymore. At this point we are entitled to create a new community with other people and since this time the virtual space is ours we can set the rules and enjoy the freedom we want, in the way we want it. And the story goes on like this in a loop … a disagreement leads to another free forum…. ad libitum. I’ve seen forums founded by two people that won’t see the number of their subscribers grow any larger…..and all this is due to a craving for freedom! Then there is the category of those that open a forum just because they have friends that build, sell or design Hi-Fi components. This of course remains unsaid and their virtual meeting place can be defined…..guess how? A free space!
Shall we linger on forums that are managed by manufacturers that had no commercial success? That spend their day spying others? That try to destroy the rest sometimes in a brutal impolite way? No, I think we’d better not. This is exactly what led Italian forums to have 30 or 50 active participants, not more than this. If you take a closer look you'll notice that the names of those that write are always the same and if you exclude the OFF TOPICS, it’s all really boring and flat. It’s been easy to picture this situation but the reasons underlying this debacle are not so easy to explain and understand.
What we can affirm with certainty is that the original purpose of these forums is dead and gone. News is a rare item and controversy is the daily bread. Each new day sees the birth of a new master or guru, posts are submerged by insults, outrages and challenges to try and show who’s best and who's stronger. The participants that have something to say withdraw and the standard level of the forum participants lessens day in day out. Information is transformed into disinformation and all goes on in an endless chain of events. We got to the point of
giving vent in the forums to all the basic instincts, to all frustrations caused by unsatisfied desires and there’s no way out from this situation. No one wants to learn any more and sharing an experience becomes a tragedy. The poor writer is pilloried by those that have a different opinion. Few good things can still be found but the atmosphere is irremediably corrupted. There are no referring points today and this is bad especially in our environment where instability and personal opinions rule.
Angelo Jasparro
About prices, foxes, grapes, ears...This editorial contains my personal ideas and might not be shared by my collaborators. This is why it'll be written in first person. I knew that the Burmester review was going to hurt some readers due to the high prices of the equipments. On the web site some reactions were recorded. I want to tell therefore what my opinion is on the issue. First of all, 35,000 euros for a CD player is a very high price, I know and I wrote it in the review itself. I am tired of people that raise their shields when a component is very expensive. I want to know what's the line between a high and a right price. I'm sure that for each and every one of you the amount is different. What's the right price for a top CD player? 500, 5.000,10.000, 50.000? And what about loudspeakers? Let's refer to a recent controversy, that on the 150.000 euros of the MagicoQ7. Let's not forget that every object has a tax, in Italy VAT tax is 21% of the entire value. So it'll be 50 euros for an object that costs 300 and 27.000 for an equipment that costs 150.000. This is a lot money for tax that goes straight into the pocket of our government rulers. This does not change things; 150.000 euros is a lot of money and many people take out a loan for many years to pay this same price for a small apartment.
So, where's the trick? It's simple. The world does not finish in our houses, cities or national borders. So enlarge your horizons and take a look at this: http://www.nautica.it/superyacht/501/lurssen/capri.htm. This small boat has a tank that must be filled with 150.000 liters of fuel. With just one refueling you buy the Magico Q7, the Burmester CD player and you get some money back. There are boats that are even bigger and you might have seen them moored in the Cote d'Azur, in Sardinia and in other harbors around the world. For the lucky owners of these floating devices the Burmester CD player is just one of the many accessories. If we want to complain about something we can complain about the gasoline price. This price has an impact on all consumer goods and is a limit to the freedom of many people that are forced to keep their cars parked in front of their house. And what about the price of gas, electricity, car insurance and so on? Even bread is now close to 4 euros per kilo. Well, we all have 4 euros but this is not fair anyway! Who cares if a loudspeaker is one million euros worth, we can laugh and decide not to buy it. We can listen to music with earphones and an MP3. If we want to complain let's do it for serious things. Audio-activity will deal again with unattainable components because these are the"dream components" that keep this hobby alive. Some people think that these equipments reject young people from the Hi Fi world. This is not true. Young people go to shopping malls where they find Rotel, Yamaha, Harman Kardon, Denon, Chario and other devices that cost only a few hundred euros. We are the ones that are interested in these high-priced monsters. This is normal and please don't tell me you want to read a review on a device that costs only 200 euros if the one you possess is at least 2000 euros worth used. Do you ever go to visit car shows? Which cars attract you? If you have a city car you are not interested in seeing smaller cars; it's more likely that you want to know more about cars of a higher category or that you are interested in test driving Lamborghini, Ferrari or Bentley models. I visited the last edition of the motorbike showcase in Milan. I have a Guzzi Stelvio 1200 and I didn't bother to try small scooters, I sat on a big Victory. Let's go back to audio lovers. When you visit a Hi-Fi show you immediately notice that the rooms with the bigger crowd are those that display top products. How can you explain that? Angelo Jasparro 
Good perfumes and bad musicGiusy is a perfumer. She has a shop in Liguria. Giusy is not only a woman that sells perfumes, she knows perfumes and treats customers with politeness and elegance. Giusy attended many courses with the world most important perfumers. She even went to Africa in places where fragrances are extracted to make perfumes. When you buy something in her shop she tells you who makes the perfume, why and how it is done. Buying from her is different, it is more charming. At Top Audio, instead, as I already pointed out when I wrote about the Milano Hi-End - http://hifimusica.blogspot.it/2012/03/milano-hi-end-2012-consiglio-agli.html - there were many audiophiles bothered by low quality music, with recording and reproduction problems and following contrasting opinions on the equipment shown. These are all examples that involved myself.
I entered a room where a nice recording of the Third Symphony of Saint-Saens was playing. A friend from Bergamo asked if it was possible to listen to a voice. They put on a record with the shriek voice of a female singer that sang for five seconds followed by two minutes of loud percussions. When we ask for a voice we mean a real voice: Callas, Tebaldi, Streisand, Minnelli, Warnes, Armatrading....there's a wide choice! In another room I listened to a recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition", the closing chapter of "The Great Gate of Kiev ". Violins made an ear splitting noise; thin and strident. I brought it to the operator's attention that candidly said "it was not my choice". Well, one could say, so what? I listened to "Night on Bald Mountain" from a parade of colored horn loudspeaker: unlikely. Medium range in excess, high so soft that were almost non existing and a low-pitched that excited resonances in the room. With another record it was a completely different story, the first recording was evidently colored. I'm not one that groans no matter what. I saw during the last year edition of Top Audio products like Wilson, Magico, Leonardo and many others. I think it's a shame to get a wrong opinion on something just because there's a lack of sound culture. And by sound culture I don't mean the use of a perfect audiophile percussion recording, or listening to a perfect performance that is technically lousy. There are many good recordings both from the technical and the artistic point of view. When you set up an equipment with a very high price, audiophiles want the chance to live a live experience again. It's important to take care of the room set-up - a perfect example is the beautiful bookshelf between the Wilson loudspeakers in the Audio Natali room - but it's important to take care of all the aspects. Music is a very important aspect and it can't be chosen random. Going to concerts you learn how instruments play in the different collocations and then you look for that effect in the recordings. It's just like opening a car dealer, telling everybody how wonderful are the characteristics of that car on the road, describing in details how safe it is to drive it even on a winding road and then admit that we don't have the driver's license. Domenico Pizzamiglio Where’s music going?This is a question that is arousing my curiosity in these August dog days while I’m busy with the start up of Audio-activity. But mind that I’m not wondering where is the Hi-Fi going, a question that might seem more pertinent.
Why am I pondering on this? Because I noticed, touring around my wonderful empty home town - Milan - that an historical music hall and rehearsal room has disappeared, a place where I played many times years ago. The thing is that the room has not been moved, it has closed, that’s it. I have also checked their website, the old address is still mentioned but… And what about the other famous music shop close to the Milan beltway? Its sign has been removed and there is left only its trace, just like the traces on those old buildings of the fascist period that had many writings of the twenty year period and are now bereft of those signs. Fortunately in this second case the shop has simply moved a few blocks away. Despite these two facts it seems that we have never enjoyed music so much like in these last years. Evidently the problem lies not in quantity but in quality, and we, music lovers, should have it clear. The craving of our past days to play music and play in a band seems irremediably gone. Some youngsters still play music but they seem to be rare exceptions. What’s the meaning of all this? Probably that a lesser knowledge of musical techniques goes along with an enjoyment of less sophisticated music. The ability to choose between something worthy and something definitely not worthy has been lost and what remains is the ability to dance frantically to some electronic rhythm sometimes helped by unknown chemical mixes. Music, this is how we should call it, is nowadays the constant companion of young people that live with their earphones on night and day. When I was young and used to go to Disco Club - a music shop in Milan - I knew that it meant to remain penniless. Credit cards and ATM were rare or unknown at that time. Today we can download virtually everything from the net, many times payment is not necessary and no royalties are paid to the authors to help them survive. I think this is dangerous and undesirable for two reasons: these behaviours will lessen the quality more and more and those that want to produce and play music, will have to do it when they have some spare time from the job that gives them a regular pay-check. And then, an excessive exposure makes us forget that music is art and not one of the many consumer goods available today. Music deserves more than just a quick listen. Kids today have their computer’s hard disk full of MP3 music files, files not songs or pieces of music. They download these files in their i pod or favorite electronic device and the day after, going to school they listen to it scanning quickly all the files and at the same time decide which ones deserve to be saved and which ones have to be erased with a simple click of the mouse. Once we had long playing records, there were songs we did not like at a first listen but, after a while we got to like them. Nowadays we are keen on easy listening and often played hits, especially those summer hits that are played on the radio over and over again. I think that we will end up missing those beautiful old days summer songs that were useful when we wanted to conquer the heart of our summer crush. What do boys sing to girls today? Some trashy rapper? Let’s hope in future things will get better! Angelo Jasparro Our blog
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