Getting to the Details

As it happens, I’m thinking of late of my two listening “areas” in the house and how I might upgrade the experience (of listening).

Downstairs, in one of the larger rooms of the home, I have a 2-channel system set up with a Mac Mini, a DAC, monoblock amplifiers, and of course, speakers. I have no headphone capability there. Upstairs, I use my computer and I have a set of bookshelf speakers, although more and more, I find myself listening via headphones.

This holiday, I received a new pair of headphones which immediately, with 0 hours on them, sounded more open and telling. They had a far more focused detail. They are very similar to my last pair, same manufacturer, just another step up in the line.

But the connections in my upstairs setup are far from ideal: I am taking the music from an analog headphone jack (mini jack), to an integrated amplifier, to the headphones. What I need is another digital to analog converter (DAC) to get more sparkle and detail about of the music.

So, I began looking to replace the downstairs DAC. My desire there is to eliminate the preamp altogether, and drive the amplifiers with a DAC that includes a digital preamp function. While I search for the perfect solution, I’ve moved the downstairs DAC upstairs, and am still breaking-in the new headphones.

All I can say is—I am once again re-discovering my music collection. The amount of detail I am getting out of this setup is incredible. You can hear details you never knew existed. At the same time, I’m discovering my iTunes library was slowly becoming corrupted. I rebuilt the library (by eliminating the iTunes Library file, and then re-importing the iTunes Library.xml file), and as I listen, I’m amazed.

I am also finding some CDs that were never “upgraded” to re-encodes at lossless or 320kbits (remnants of my original ripping project in 2001 at 160kbits). Maintaining a library of music on the computer is efficient and fun, but it also requires some maintenance from time to time.

Evolution of HiFi

While I’ve seemingly been quiet here, at least in talking about music, I’ve been busy trying to determine where to take the hi-fi system as of late. I discovered a problem and I’ve recently come up with an intermediate solution.

For those that don’t know me well, I enjoy listening to music in two primary locations: in my office and in our Salon de musique family room. Each of the two rooms contains important assets.

1. The office has my workstation where the media files are stored.
2. The family room uses the better loudspeakers and a more sophisticated hi-fi system.

A computer-based hi-fi system isn’t atypical today. I’m currently taking analog audio from my computer and passing that into an integrated amplifier. That, in turn, drives two bookshelf speakers on either side of my head here in the office. I use iTunes to drive the music, available in varying qualities, from 256kbit MP3s to lossless files ripped at 750-800 kbits.

I used to stream music downstairs to an Aiport Express using a Toslink cable plugged into a rather clear-sounding digital to analog converter. This little box is magic, and in a future upgrade, it will find its way upstairs with the computer.

Needless to say, since upgrading to iTunes 8.1 (and unchanged in iTunes 8.2), I noticed some sound quality issues downstairs. The music, especially with certain types (say, solo violin) became strident and ugly. Extensive testing revealed the “bad” link was the Airport Express. That’s not to say another cable might not have helped, but using the same cable, going directly from computer to DAC revealed correct-sounding music.

Some reading indicated it may be a problem with clock jitter.

I therefore upgraded the system from an Airport Express to a Mac mini computer. Because i fancied running the mini headless (without a monitor), and I want to keep the media on my main workstation in the office, I set up an auto-mounting function in Mac OS X Leopard called autofs. This auto-mounts the media volume from the workstation on the mini. I made a copy of the iTunes library on the mini. Now, when it plays music, it’s “streaming” it over the network. The machine also goes to sleep and wakes up on a schedule. The jittery-problems have not surfaced.

The issue then becomes, “What’s next?” Obviously, this solution needs maintenance (upgrading the library to the auxiliary mini). However some point to USB as a superior communications medium between the computer and the DAC. Wavelength Audio’s products especially look enticing.

The iPhone works as a great remote control, operating volume, track selection, and start/stop.

The Visuals

I like the (new) view in iTunes that lets you see all your albums, akin to photos in iPhoto.

I began listening to the first track of every album (I didn’t get too far), and it was an interesting way to sample them. When you hover over each album, you can click a “Play” button to start that one off. You can also view albums according to genre, composer, and artist… and re-size them accordingly to fit more or fewer in the browser.

When you view things this way, you begin to realize just how much music you have. Seeing that biberfan.org began as biberfan.com and was principally about music (not to mention creative stories), 2008 presents us with more options than ever for music. According to iTunes, I now have 1,101 albums. My favorite statistic? 43.9 days of start-to-finish playback. That’s a silly number, but would work out to be 44 days x 24 hours x 60 minutes to come up with the number of minutes, right? Anyhow, that’s more than a month’s worth of content.

I started collecting music on CD in 1990. 18 years, 63,000 some minutes. That works out to 3,520 minutes a year. In 25 years, at that same rate, I will have collected 88,000 minutes worth of music. That’s roughly 2 months worth there. That’s if, of course, if my musical tastes continue to develop and classical/baroque music continues to be recorded.

What’s interesting, I think, is the question as to whether or not we need to collect all of this data (i.e., “software) for ourselves. At some point it seems to become silly. I mean, some big server out there could hold all the recordings. When I hit “play,” does it need to come from my hard drive? There were advantages to this up until recently.

Subscription models are being tried now with some musical services, of course, but require a monthly rental fee. How much would you pay for access to a collection of every CD? And for how long?

Let’s do some basic math. Let’s round down my CDs to 1000. Lots of folks who collect music have reached and surpassed this number. Let’s also assume I paid $15 for each one (in some cases, this is too low, but let’s just stick to some basic math). $15K for my collection. I don’t own every CD, mind you (or recording), but I have about enough. Add maybe 450, and I’d have everything I’d ever want to listen to. This of course is from around 1950-present day. What about the recordings made next year? And after that?

Let’s say my “useful” collection grows to 2000 CDs by the time I’m done collecting, and let’s say this cost me again, $15 per CD. I’ve spent, then $30K for my music collection. I’m 70 years old now, I’ve got this nice collection.

If a music subscription service cost $15/month (Rhapsody is $13) (basically the cost of a single CD), I’ll have 2000 months to listen for my $30K. That’s roughly 133 years worth. Another way to think of it: for the price I’ll have paid for my music, I could have rented it for 133 years. It seems rental might be more economical, despite not being able to “own” the music in the way I currently do with iTunes.

There are ways to mess with my math and scenario here, of course. A resource like Rhapsody might prove to be more valuable by offering more than the 2000 recordings. They advertise 6 million tracks, as of this writing at Rhapsody, so… while the numbers may be in my favor, practicality may not.

Are all albums equal in value? How much time do I really have to listen to a library of over 6 million tracks? How does the human brain organize and make sense of 1,000,000 or more tracks?

Here’s a thought: what if my collection doesn’t grow any more. I already feel the number of tracks I have is too many to really listen to them all. The iTunes interface is nice because I can “see” what I have, because I’m still stuck (mentally) on this whole CD/album concept.

I have a feeling our capacity to remember/like/listen has real limits. There’s likely a number of “new” stuff we can take-in each month. There’s a holding area for favorites… but there’s likely to be a mechanism for the neglected stuff to fall-out of the system.

Question: what’s the most ideal system to accommodate our needs/tastes/abilities for listening? All the virtues of iTunes are likely to be implemented today on the Web… so as long as you have an Internet connection, you can have your library (any size), organize by search or visual, and maintain stats for keeping track.

I think the future of music is going to get more complex. Today we have iPhones/iPods/computers/CDs to “hold” our music. What happens when our headphones connect directly to the Internet?

I read the other day someone was really enjoying the random tunes via Pandora. Pandora is like your bottomless-jukebox playing tracks at random. Right?

Despite what I know is on the horizon, I kind of like the idea of owning my music. I like having rows and rows of silver-colored platters in plastic holders (CDs) stored in the back room. I like my iTunes. Despite the expense and hassle, I like keeping track of my own music media. How long will it last?

BluRay

I’m not so much into the “home theatre” experience, but it appears that Blu-Ray won.

Amazon MP3 Service

I bit the bullet this past weekend and tried my hand at purchasing music using Amazon.com’s new MP3 download service. Here’s a link to Bach’s Goldberg Variations I was considering buying, from Richard Egarr.

I started with three complete CDs:

• Mozart Violin Concertos (Andrew Manze, English Concert)
• Gluck: Trio Sonatas, Musica Antiqua Köln
• Keith Jarrett: Dark Intervals

I was surprised to find that the Mozart was missing a track. When I went back, I found out that unknown to me, one slow movement was “unavailable.” Like, you could preview it, see it, but you could not buy it. What the hell? I guess I saw it before I bought “the entire” album, but I figured it wasn’t available alone, but only with the full album.

I was damned.

The sound quality of the MP3s is good. It’s not, however “256 kb” as they announce. Instead, all three CDs featured VBR-encoded tracks. This isn’t necessarily bad, but not one track was above 256… I am not sure this is kosher to say one thing (256) and get a track that averages at another (213).

The MAK disk was released on Challenge Classics, not DG Archiv. Same went for their Dowland release I bought on CD (I didn’t much care for it.) This Gluck release is more to my taste, and a review should be forthcoming.

Long ago I enjoyed Jarrett’s CD called Dark Intervals, it was in fact, a favorite. I had bootlegged it onto tape from the public library (thanks, Bay Village Public Library, Ohio). But since the digital days, I had longed to own this. So, thanks to Amazon and ECM I now own this solo concert from Japan, recorded in the late 1980s.

The most disappointing was the Manze CD. Yes, he does a few interesting things, but the tempi he chooses too often are too slow for my taste. EGalante with Biondi did a better job at their recording of concertos 1-3; Manze records 3-5 (thankfully, #3 is a real favorite). Both offer some “personally authentic” touches that the full set by Standage and the AAM lack.

So far, I’m happy with Amazon’s new service. Higher quality files than iTunes, without the silly DRM.

iTunes and Ringtones

As I have said many times before here, I enjoy my music through my computer. My Mac. And yes, I have an iPhone which I also use to enjoy music, in addition to using it to take photos, or surf the Web.

I think a discussion about my experiences are warranted. Especially so now, I feel I have something to say, with regards to this latest “addition” to the phone, the concept of “ringtones” and buying music online through the iPhone itself.

First, the iPhone+iTunes is flawed for a user like me. When I sync the phone, I want iTunes to do some heavy lifting (like it already does with my iPod Shuffle) by re-encoding the tracks I sync on the fly to their lower-resolution cousins. Instead, iTunes does not do this, and I have had to manually create a sub-set of tunes specifically for the phone.

This functionality is not necessary with my larger iPods that store data on hard disk drives.

With this flaw aside, it is a very nice iPod; in fact, I’d say it’s near perfect: it allows me to browse the cover art, change tracks, and sort by composer or by CD. Yes, I cannot use audiophile headphones with an adapter, but… I use it more for casual listening anyhow, waiting for something, at the gym, etc. Small flaw.

The news that you will soon be able to buy songs online through the phone ,and at Starbucks locations, is not necessary, but welcome. Why not be able to buy music while you’re sipping coffee, with a magazine, work, or just hanging out? (And furthermore, why not use the trusted system iPhone is using to purchase other products?) The idea that the actual song that is playing will be identified on my iPhone is pretty darn cool. Kudos to Apple and Starbucks at making a partnership that seems pretty sophisticated, under the counter.

Mind you, I don’t purchase many iTunes tracks (I’m fussy and like to buy CDs), but the power to purchase is convenient, for when I do.

So, yes, to start: the iPhone gets 4.5 stars from me, and these further developments this past week help cement the iPhone as a solid product that I like.

We needn’t mention the price drop. Ouch. But the store credit is better than nothing, and will silence my initial shock and disappointment.

But I will speak-out against the Ringtones scheme. iTunes doesn’t need more bloat by adding a sound editing piece to custom-make your ringtones! And the idea of double-paying for a ringtone? Outrageous, by any stretch of the imagination.

I realize they have to do this because the recording industry has convinced someone at some point that artists deserve cash for their songs used as a signal rather than as music to be enjoyed. I don’t agree with it. A sound recording is a sound recording. If I can legally play it, then I want to legally play it.

So, I was happy to hear of a new “fix” with iTunes that allowed folks to create their own MP4 audio files, and change the extension to “.m4r” to make the audio file a ringtone. iTunes would do the lifting and install it for you. Simple enough, if you have the sophistication of knowing how to edit sound files.

I don’t necessarily want pre-recorded music on my phone as a ringtone. I might want my own voice, or my own music, or my own sound effects. And Apple’s now going to change the software so I can’t do this?

It seems silly that Apple makes software to allow you to make your own music/audio (Logic, GarageBand, SoundtrackPro), but won’t give you the tool to move that audio file to their own phone. We know its technically possible.

But now they won’t let it happen. Yes, I know, I’ve read of ways to “make it work again” but their intent is still there. Copyright law does include a provision of protection for the owner against “public performance” of their works; but why isn’t a 10 or 15 second ring tone “fair use”? Why is a short clip of music on a phone considered “public performance” when many phones have such lousy speakers to make the ring-sound only audible by a small group of people in a crowded room?

Who knows… but I personally find any measures taken my companies to manage how I enjoy my (purchased, legal) media suspect and discouraging.

More on the “Sweet Spot”

After writing earlier this morning on the positioning of speakers, I adjusted mine just a hair more here and there, and saw even more improvement.

I then drew-up this diagram. It’s not scientific at all. But I used the purple wedges to show sound coming out of the speaker. It may in fact not widen as it travels; it may also be wide as soon as it comes out. A course in physio-acoustics would be in store for me.

But the lines show how I aim the speakers. The left speaker is aimed to the right-most part of the sofa, the opposite for the right speaker. What I’ve created is a type of criss-cross of direct lines. I swear to my maker I can hear the cellist right now (happens to be Chrisophe Coin performing Vivaldi sonatas with Christopher Hogwood) right in the center of the two speakers. And he’s in the middle of the room.

My guess is… the closer your speakers are to one another (back, green triangle) the less toe-in that is required. The further apart, the more toe-in.

Speaker Placement

Recently, while contemplating what might be improved in my hi-fi setup, I considered moving some furniture. I had read that having something between speaker can affect performance. That advice is indeed correct.

I’m learning Google Sketchup, and decided to model what I’m talking about. Looking at hi-fi set-ups online from places like Audiogon, where folks are uploading pictures of their setups, makes me gasp. Too many folks are putting speakers too close to walls, and some are not using toe-in. I’ve demonstrated toe-in in the graphic, above. It’s where you angle the speakers inward, towards the listener. You can see what I’m referring to, here:

So, the triangle design defines your listening space. The point of the triangle defines a so-called “sweet spot,” where imaging happens, the channels converge, and your ideal vantage point lies in the room.

I have seen changes in adjusting toe-in levels (angle) before. But a big, comfortable leather chair has been positioned between the two speakers. And this, I feel, has introduced a problem.

The sense of a three-dimensional space that can be achieved with 2-channel stereo was mostly lost. What happened when I moved the chair further back, and the speakers forward? It was like getting a whole new stereo! I am talking a change in mere inches. The whole presentation of sound was richer, more focused, and musically, more satisfying. For the lack of a better word, I’d say there was more synergy. I know that means nothing… but it sounded now like the two speakers were working together to produce music, not mere sound.

I have read folks who say that speaker placement and room treatment changes can be more profound than upgrades in cables and equipment. And now I believe it.

I had fun creating this model. I modeled the speakers after my B&W 703s; it’s not exact, of course, as the 703 has 4 drivers and a bass port, but I never intended to get this close. I should have painted my sofa red, its real color, too.

Amplifier Burn-In

This Friday I took ownership of some new audio equipment. On the very same day I put to use three new pieces of equipment in my “main” listening room downstairs.

• RCA Interconnects (from DAC to preamplifier)
• Monoblock amplifiers
• preamplifier unit

Comparing the “old” stereo to “new” is therefore difficult. Where do the changes in sound belong? So many things are “new.” And when can I honestly begin listening to discern the differences? With so many folks talking about burn-in of components, from the cables to the amplifier, what’s a proper burn-in time?

I frequently come across two figures when I am reading about burn-in. Take a typical review. To wit:

Before listening, I let the equipment burn-in for xx *hours, and then I wanted to see what these guys could do…”

Well, I hooked everything up. The two new components for me were the cables. I’ve read that cables can take 100 hours to burn-in. In that case, we’re not there yet. And to burn-in, per se, it means that electricity is going through them. I don’t recommend routing current, but instead, pushing audio through them. Follow the arrows, too, there’s a one-way path. I have no idea why. In fact, I suspect when getting cables, the direction doesn’t matter. It’s just over continued use, you should follow one direction. I could be completely wrong. But I’m a good boy, and follow the direction of the arrows on the cables.

Amplifiers? 30 minimum. 40 hours seems to be a better consensus, but then again, I’ve also seens 60 and 80 hours. And for tubes, well, that’s another ball game.

Since plugging in stuff Friday afternoon, and now listening Monday morning before work, there are definitely some changes in what I’ve been hearing.

First-impressions, no burn-in.

• When things are powered up, with no music, I hear dead silence. Turn up the volume in the past, and you could hear “noise” in the background. Nice.
• More bass. Bloomy, too loud bass.
• Laid-back. Middle-section seemed “pushed in,” if we were listening to a graph.
• Much darker sound.
• A softer, smoother sound… but so much so it wasn’t desirable. Where had the “crisp” digital sound of my Rotel Integrated Amp gone?

Next, what kind of data do you send the system for burn in? I know they make special CDs for this purpose, invariably the question should be asked: variety? Loud symphonic stuff? Will one type of music throughout only “tune” the system for that?

I read that someone elsewhere in an audio forum asked whether you needed the whole system on? In other words, did you need to hear the stereo for burn-in to take place. Yes. But then another question of mine was unanswered: Does it matter at what volume we do the burn-in?

If I’m running this all day and night, and I want to sleep, it cannot be too loud. I raised the volume in the day, then, and turned it down at night. First night, it got a dose of Baroque orchestral and chamber music. Second night, it got symphonic music by Tan Dun. Third night, it got the night off.

And so here we are today. Impressions with some burn-in, approaching 35 hours (around or about, maybe 40):

• Still quiet when turned-on
• Z-axis depth of sound. I had always heard what I term “x axis” in the so-called sound-stage. Now I hear z-axis (front/back).
• much more bass. It’s now a bit more controlled. After more burn-in, I may tame it with the port plugs for my speakers.
• Warmer sound (in a very pleasant way), more “liquid” sound… musical? mellow… that’s the right word. If the sound before on my old equipment was digital, this is a little smoother and far easier on the ears. Now, I’m getting more music. Never would have imagined this quality change before.
• More power. Going from 60 to 100 watts… more power.

After some more burn-in, testing, and adjustment, I’ll publish more details on the new system.

Following a Score

I realize some readers are musicians, others are not. You don’t have to read music, or play an instrument, or even sing well, to enjoy music.

Although, I do believe some of your best musical experiences do come from performance.

With that said, How do you listen to music? The answer is of (research) interest to me, but I know I’ve asked the question before. Some I suspect fall somewhere in one of these camps:

• Listen with eyes closed, no distractions
• Listen reading: book, web, magazine, CD liner notes
• Listen following a score
• Listen to music as background music

I personally have done all four; I find my favorites are the “no distractions” mode and the “with a score” mode.

Funny thing is, CDs do not come with the conductor’s score, do they?

That’s why a find like the Icking Music Archive is a real find. Here I can follow Vivaldi’s La Follia trio sonata, a Bach Cantata, or a Biber sonata note by note. Many of these are so-called Urtext editions, meaning they don’t have an editor’s interpretation written over the notes.

What I find valuable is seeing what the performers do in the way of improvisation.

If you don’t normally follow a score, you certainly should try… you’ll gain a lot more respect for the performers and their challenges.

Wireless/HiFi Hell

Of late, I’ve cried over the poor performance of my hi-fit setup.

I lament the fact that fixing a Mac is far easier than diagnosing audio problems.

• The network connection is cutting out
• The right speaker is “shorting out” from time to time, usually around softer passages
• Timing glitches

The network is a problem that doesn’t help anything. I’m using Airport Express + (original) Airport Extreme. I have to put them in B/G mode because I have some “B” only 802.11 machines. I have also been playing with “multicasting” whatever that is, from “1″ to “11.” The higher choice seemed better, then it was dropping out again.

The cordless phones in the house don’t help, and having 5-6 neighbors with wi-fi only makes it all the more difficult.

Might a new Apple “n” series Extreme unit help? Okay, I just switched to “G only” to see if this provides any bonus.

The right speaker issue likely has little to do with the network. Problem is, the issue is difficult to pin-point.

• Speaker Crossover problem?
• Speaker wire?
• Integrated amplifier?
• Source interconnects?

The amplifier and speaker cable are the oldest components. I re-fastened the cables to the right speaker today, I definitely got a better fit. But then the problem came back. I have speaker wires upstairs in my second set-up, but swapping those out to test is a big deal… as they don’t have the proper connections on the ends and getting them back on would be a whole day’s affair.

If it’s the speaker that’s bad; man… I have only had them for one year. I don’t want to have to ship it back to England, or even drive it back to Charlottesville. Could it be the DAC I just got back?

The timing issue has been gone tonight, at least. It was there earlier in the day… when it sounds as if all the streamed bits don’t arrive in order, or something. I figured this might be an issue with the network.

Funny thing, when I was getting the timing issues, I was streaming from upstairs downstairs through iTunes. When I switched, and directly sent the content from upstairs to downstairs (using VNC), the problem manifested as drop-outs, not timing errors.

Any advice out there? Again, when I split the speakers on the amp… and balance-out the left, only hearing the right, it can be okay… then it will drop out. Or sound “scratchy” like a bad electrical connection.

Casual Listening

I’ve been busy of late, with no time for serious, dedicated listening. Then I sent my DAC in for an “upgrade,” and was without my main stereo for several weeks. Now that I’ve submitted the book manuscript, I should have time for some musical reflection once again.

Thanks for your patience.

Speaking of which, I have had some bad experiences since the DAC came back. I have no reason to believe they are intimately associated with it, specifically.

As you may recall, since I’ve discussed it here before, my current hi-fi setup puts 320kbit MP3 and Apple Lossless files on my music server, and is powered via iTunes. Content is streamed to AirPortExpress wirelessly. Issues of late have included:

• crackling from one speaker
• timing skips and “restarts”

The timing issue took place regularly for several tracks. The track starts from a cold start, and the timing is messed up in the first 10-25 seconds of a track. It’s like the speed of the track is out of sync. This never has happened without the DAC, only with.

Connected tracks (sequence from one, to another) did not display the timing glitch.

The crunchy stuff I noticed this evening. I checked cables. I suspect the speaker. Or the DAC?

Seems it might have been the CD rip. In fact, my recording of Biber’s Harmonia Artificiosa with the Rare Fruits Council is all messed up: left-channel dominance, timing glitches, and crackling in the right speaker.

Tests I can try are to go directly digital from a laptop to the DAC to see if the problem persists. Or, play the CD directly, no conversion. What makes me suspect the rip is because I’ve heard some crunchy interpretations before on the music server itself, which drives another hi-fi system. Funny thing, is trying the track multiple times would sometimes fix the scratchy/crunchy stuff. But not so much now over Airport.

I just switched now to another version of the same music, right-channel is fine.