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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the STAX SR-4070 - Page 3

post #31 of 35
3/25/10 at 3:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephas View Post
Listening to the better-mastered tracks with the 4070 is a glorious experience. [...] Tonality is spot on. Air and ambiance is excellent. All this makes the overall sense of realism is very high.

When I'm listening to the 4070, I think I know how a microphone feels like.
Haha - wow... I was thinking exactly the same thing this morning. Glorious was the exact word I thought of to describe the sound of Britten's War Requiem (from the Britten Conducts Britten box set, not sure if it's remastered) - and I felt like I was in the concert hall in the position of the microphone... once my brain had adjusted to filter out the hiss on the recording, that is

I had a similar experience with old Ludwig Van's Coriolan Overture (Herbert von Karajan, from the 111 Years of DG box set) the other night, when it felt like I was floating over the front of the orchestra looking down on them.

I can only assume the phones have calmed down now, as there is obviously a greatly increased sense of realism There is still a glare though (another good word, thanks), perhaps from the Benchmark and I may still look to swap that out at some point. I was checking the Neko out online the other day, looks good... so many DACs to choose from these days and recommendations are much appreciated!
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post #32 of 35
3/25/10 at 4:10pm
Thread Starter 
... and yeah, they do reveal the nature of the recording - a handy benchmark of fidelity IMO.

It's not just for great recordings either... listening to the best named group in the world, the decidedly lo-fi New Zealand indie band "Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos", it's fun to hear exactly how lo fi they are - the way it should be
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post #33 of 35
3/28/10 at 8:56am
Gah, Britten's War Requiem and Ludwig Van's Coriolan Overture... I wish I had this kind of sophisticated taste in music.

Instead, I find myself more likely to be listening to something like Natalie Imbruglia - Glorious.

I have a 320 MP3 version of the song, and it is unlistenable with the 4070.

I remember when I first joined Head-Fi and read some people using this word, unlistenable. I thought, that's a strong word, I don't think anything is unlistenable, after all I can listen to music through a clock radio or a rental car's stereo, or iPod earbuds.

Well, I'm here to say that many modern recordings are really unlistenable on the 4070. The contrast with good recordings is shocking. These bad recordings sound comparatively thin, flat, loud, noisy, harsh and lack refinement and dynamics.

Think of a loud and unbearably noisy environment, such as a crowded wet market with screaming and crying children/babies, screaming hawkers, really loud haggling and arguing, squawking, blaring truck horns, squealing, and there you are, stuck with wide open ears because you forgot to bring your Etymotic ER20. That's what it feels like.
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post #34 of 35
3/28/10 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephas View Post
Gah, Britten's War Requiem and Ludwig Van's Coriolan Overture... I wish I had this kind of sophisticated taste in music.

Instead, I find myself more likely to be listening to something like Natalie Imbruglia - Glorious.
Dont feel . I am already impressed that you know what Britten's War Requiem is! I can't say too much, my two "most listened to" artists recently are Shostakovich and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, so there you are.

One of my friends at work is a big classical music fan and we had just had a conversation about Mahler Symphony 2 (he had just heard it live at Carnegie Hall) when another co-worker came in and we had a long conversation about great rock concerts we had been to (my Mahler friend was quite confused).

It started with him seeing Jethro Tull at Town Hall and morphed through YES at Jones Beach, Emerson Lake and Palmer at Madison Square Garden and (my favorite) Iggy and the Stooges in Cannes, France. I don't see Classical or Rock or Jazz as being "better" one than another...

People are VERY amused by my music collection...

Kevin
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post #35 of 35
3/29/10 at 11:20am
Thread Starter 
Heh... I didn't mean to sound like a snob Remember the violent thug Alex in A Clockwork Orange was obsessed with "old Ludwig Van's glorious Ninth" I'd like to think it's all just music, and all you gotta do is listen - but, maybe it is a bit more complex than that as to what you get kicks out of listening to. I can recommend that War Requiem recording though, on any level!

Anyway I just wanted to relate some experiences with orchestral music as it's notoriously complex to reproduce and the 4070 really resolved all the sounds in the space and took me "there" - which is in marked contrast to a week or two ago, when the sounds were artificially bright and harsh.

Damn, that's crazy about the 320kpbs MP3 - I'll have to do some tests! I do agree that if the production is bad, like some thin 80s "early digital" or something, then you are pretty much screwed with the 4070 as they reveal it in all its "glory" :} However, I'd still rather have it that way. Give me the truth or give me... cake!
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