There have been also low fi, and low cost solutions at Leipzig. In one case it went to an extreme level speaker with a smelling candle solution (brand called Block). Sharp displayed a cheap decent tv at 600 euros with a decent surround system of also around 600 euros.
Sonora - Part 1
Lizz Wright - nice initial impression, bass ?
Jennifer Warnes - not bad but strange sound of the bass drum in the song…
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Sonora - Part 2
Emerie - totally uncontrolled bass, just too much
Ghost Rider - nice soundstage, much better control of bass than before, but still sounding a bit too artificial, a bit the feeling that they like to show balls, but for what purpose if the sound is not in balance ?
Malia - too much focus on the bass, but can imagine some people might be attracted by that ….
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Dynaudio - Part 1
They where in the room which is used by the magazine audio test for there listening test. Displays with fake books and of course the root treatment stuff you would expect.
Dubxanne - was on before the official demo started. Too low volume at that time, so difficult to get an opinion…
The set was made up of Contour 20 speakers of about 7K and a moonaudio streaming all in one of about 6.7K
Benson Boone - VoicePlay comes accross very well, nice build up in the song…
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Dynaudio - Part 2
Will soon run again out of posts - so would appreciate a reply of furumnites so I can continue and finish the report….
Max Richter - sounding decent
Fink - good, but missing the absolute fidelity I am used for with this song….., hence the difference between 12/13K and >200K systems…
Pentatonix - overall nice balanced while lacking the lowest bass
Kurt Nillsen - full emotion doesn’t completely come accross
Noah Gunderson - nice cover of the famous song Yellow
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Thank you, Bert. I really can’t tell you how much your reports are appreciated.
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Nad / Dali - Part 1
Please don’t get fooled by the photo. They only used the small NAD all in one on the top. The rest of the electronics wasn’t used at all, at least not in this demo, and as it wasn’t on, I belief not at all…
So used: NAD v3 about 2,5K and Dali Rubikore 6 speakers of about 5K
Teddy Swims - nice voice.
They use a hybrid high tones speaker combo - the idea is to the best of two worlds and to mask the disadvantages of the used technologies.
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B.B well done on the welcome initiative. I always enjoy reading your impressions from Munich and no less importantly the accompanying musical content.
B.B is there no concern that the software in the streamer gives a “comfortable” musical image to the listener and not the musical image the composer intended?
If I simplify the question - have you made/is it possible to make a comparison in both situations?
Nad / Dali - Part 2
The showed membrane is made of paper which is treated. They also use magnetic powder which is displayed to make the speakers more efficient as they would be without the use of it.
James Bay - interesting artist, good sound…, he I gained his reputation while doing covers of other artist - in the meanwhile only his own songs…
Meute - well known to me as I have their music and would have loved to do what they do when I still was playing trumpet and drums 25 years ago. This is making horns cool again. The effect on your stereo is sometimes also interesting as it looks like you listen to electronic music
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Nad / Dali - Part 3
Wyr Gemi - music is comparable to Ghostrider. Solid control of the music, perhaps a bit too controlled.
Again this system shows that it’s possible to hear better music that standard mass stuff, without having to rob a bank.
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Fyne Audio / Cyrus / Unison - Part 1
The presenter was a journalist of a magazine and wanted to show us the difference between a 3,3k system and a 10 times as expensive system. The 3.3k system the speakers made 1.2 out of that by the way…
First song on the small system…
Yamamoto Trio - sounds decent, of course not perfect but an engaging sound overall.
Then switch to the bigger system. Cyrus System with Unison Black edition. As expected on the same piece…., more engaging, more details …..but could also still be much better, misding on my front a bit the PRAT….
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Fyne Audio / Cyrus / Unison - Part 2
We continued on the big system…
Aretha - crazy voice of course, but could overall be fuller…, while partly also due to how recordings where made at that point in time…
Joan Baez - nice lyrics, putting her old love in the corner….
Unfortunately had to step out as the journalist was a good presenter, but had to meet the time for the cinema demo…
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Thanks for the question. It’s a complex one to answer and let me try to do it as comprehensive as possible.
The impression of sound is dependent on so many factors that there can be only an illusion on how far an audio system would be able to represent what is intended. And I am also of the opinion that in the first place the consumer of the music is the reference point. So to what extent is the consumer satisfied with the sound irrespective of how true it is to what the composer intended.
Good example in stereotypes… a good friend of me is the more analytical musical listener, he is interested in the technical aspects and can be delighted by typical things you can hear at shows (Hifi pyrotechnics), I myself I am more the one which is interested in how the music touches me, the emotional side the musical flow…., and I would even prefer it above hearing all the small details…., again just stereotype as I of course have a very revealing system as such. But comparing us both we will obviously come to different system choices as we are looking at systems with different sound signatures.
The second aspect to consider is how the music get’s distorted between source intention and result in what we hear in our listening room. Was is recorded as the composer/artist intended, did they have the right equipment to evaluate what the consumer would hear, how did they resolve the mixing problem (mixing to make it sounding good an attractive on a simple radio versus a good audio system)…. Then as mentioned sound signature, room acoustics, mood of the consumer, personal preferences etc.
Then to your question as related to the firmware 3.8 and 3.11…. It’s simple for me 3.8 in my minds eye was perfect or almost perfect from my perspective. I could throw any music at and it sounded always good. It had a musical, earthy and natural carachter to me. Can I really compare it in a scientific way - no I can’t but I am just responding how my emotional responses have been to the firmware versions. And of course I am also aware of cognitive failures. If you belief it’s bad or good you might belief yourself that’s true, while it might be different. So I might be wrong, however I am convinced I am not as my emotional response to the music in my listening environment which didn’t change count….. so for me 3.11 while it’s in pockets better (detail retrieval) overall it’s for me not as good as 3.8….. and 3.10 was a pure disaster.
Hope this answers your question, and please keep responding so I can finish the post and be prepared for my next event coming weekend…..
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Stormaudio / JVC, others - cinema setup - Part 1
We now where in a real cinema setup (about 20/30 places so home cinema ?).
The setup was with JVC 8K projector, Stuart projector screen and 20 channel stormaudio av receiver…., don’t remember the speaker brand anymore.
Multiple pieces of films have been shown - amazing what you experience with such an excellent setup visually and audio wise. I have never heard cinema audio as good as I heard it hear in no cinema and no home video setup - really adding a dimension.
Audio wise they had Hans Zimmer - Da Vinci Code and Mylene Farmer…., both highly immersive ….., had the feeling I was at the concert of Mylene…
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Stormaudio / JVC, others- cinema setup - part 2
I went out of this experience with amazement and had again the notion that once I move to a new place I should also ensure that I invest more in an AV setup to even have more enjoyment of that. My current setup is not bad, but also not optimized. HD tv, NAD AV receiver in combination with my Naim system. I guesss it would be interesting to see that we would get a screen, Beamer and more accurate atmos setup …. Let’s see….
Please somebody reply to this post - so I can complete the report for Leipzig.
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Thanks a lot @BertBird as always a pleasure to read.
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Love Meute! They are from Hamburg. Need to see them live!
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AVM - Part 1
Casiopea - agile, but shouldn’t it have some more body, could also be the music from that period which was a bit typical in how it was mixed
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AVM - Part 2
Lady Blackbird - the voice is nice airy, bass is now also much more measured. So must have been an effect of the recording of Casepea before…
Drums of liberation - electronics are more capable than the speakers, missing a bit depth in the drums…, apparently ELAC speakers attached
Fink - too clean, but clearly great control…
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