[Light - Man]

Cecile Chaminade - Concertino for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 107 | Julie Lee

 

[Light - Man]

I have listened to this a few times today. Playing it with a new SMSL D6s DAC that I got about a week ago, feeding a Topping L50 Amp and Hifiman Sundara closed back. It shows you that you do not need to spend a bundle to have really great sounding gear these days. The bluetooth option is also very good and handy. I bought mine at full price of about 180 UK Pounds and with the extra Irish VAT, it works out at 186. I am very tempted to buy another, even though I already have way more than I need. It has one of the latest Saber DAC chips, which is more musical and not a little clinical like the previous version. It sounds very vibrant, fuller and involving and has lost that Sabre glare.

MCNY-2019 Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards Woodwinds/Brass Finals- Julie Nah Kyung Lee, flute

Flute Sonata "Undine", Op. 167 by Carl Reinecke, with Amir Farid, piano



I reckon that our Mr Trev will like this, something a little unusual.

Nick Virzi: "Fragments of Sky" for solo flute and gongs (Julie Yeaeun Lee)

 

[Christer]

I have listened to this a few times today. Playing it with a new SMSL D6s DAC that I got about a week ago, feeding a Topping L50 Amp and Hifiman Sundara closed back. It shows you that you do not need to spend a bundle to have really great sounding gear these days. The bluetooth option is also very good and handy. I bought mine at full price of about 180 UK Pounds and with the extra Irish VAT, it works out at 186. I am very tempted to buy another, even though I already have way more than I need. It has one of the latest Saber DAC chips, which is more musical and not a little clinical like the previous version. It sounds very vibrant, fuller and involving and has lost that Sabre glare.

MCNY-2019 Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards Woodwinds/Brass Finals- Julie Nah Kyung Lee, flute

Flute Sonata "Undine", Op. 167 by Carl Reinecke, with Amir Farid, piano



I reckon that our Mr Trev will like this, something a little unusual.

Nick Virzi: "Fragments of Sky" for solo flute and gongs (Julie Yeaeun Lee)

Thanks,John, since discovering contemporary composers like Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Clara Ianotta and Andrea Tarrodi among others, I listen more to Contemporary Music and Asian World Music than to Popular Western Classic Music. "Fragments of Sky" reminds me of Toru Takemitzu's "How Slow the Wind" and sounds good via my electrostatic speakers.Subtle layers of sounds.I will play it via my headphones tonight.
Fascinating sonorities with gongs and flute interacting. Cheers CC

 

[Luis Mad]

I have listened to this a few times today. Playing it with a new SMSL D6s DAC that I got about a week ago, feeding a Topping L50 Amp and Hifiman Sundara closed back. It shows you that you do not need to spend a bundle to have really great sounding gear these days. The bluetooth option is also very good and handy. I bought mine at full price of about 180 UK Pounds and with the extra Irish VAT, it works out at 186. I am very tempted to buy another, even though I already have way more than I need. It has one of the latest Saber DAC chips, which is more musical and not a little clinical like the previous version. It sounds very vibrant, fuller and involving and has lost that Sabre glare.

MCNY-2019 Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards Woodwinds/Brass Finals- Julie Nah Kyung Lee, flute

Flute Sonata "Undine", Op. 167 by Carl Reinecke, with Amir Farid, piano



I reckon that our Mr Trev will like this, something a little unusual.

Nick Virzi: "Fragments of Sky" for solo flute and gongs (Julie Yeaeun Lee)

Thanks John for your wise advice. Presently I almost never use an independent dac. I generally use an Astell and Kern Sr25 as source, and the Toppin L30II as amp or the portable Topping NX7. I have a pc connected to my stereo with a Yamaha WXC50 as preamp and dac. I rarely seldom use my laptop with a dac. I can do that with the Sr25 as well. Anyway the SMSL DC6S looks perfect for the job. Did you try the Topping equivalents?
Unlike Mr Christer I continue mainly with popular classical music, always learning something new for me: recently Resphigi and Piazzola for example, combined with the hardcore classics. Here some of the latter.

Valery Gergiev conducts Strauss & Bruckner​

Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D minorI. Feierlich, misteriosoII. Scherzo. Bewegt, lebhaft - Trio. SchnellIII. Adagio. Langsam, feierlich
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor

 

[Light - Man]

Did you try the Topping equivalents?

Hi Luis, no I have not tried the new Topping D50iii. It is 50 pounds more expensive and I would have to wait weeks and import one from China and take the risk that it is not faulty. I hope that it is better than the Topping D50 which I had and was not that keen on it. In fact I am not keen on the Toppings that had the last Gen Sabre chips.

 

[Luis Mad]

Von Zemlinsky The Mermaid Andrey Boreyko ORTVE​

 

[Christer]

We usually start off with a bottle of sparkling wine and then move on to still white wine, most often New Zealand Sauv Blanc from the Marlborough region. We also like wines like Albarino and Picpoul from Spain and Portugal.

I bought this 4.4mm balanced cable during the week and it the best I have yet found and at a good price at about 35 Euros.

It sounds good with great ergonomics, very light and does not tangle. The material used are very good and refined with no microphonics whatsoever.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BB7N36F5

Nice organic headphone stand. I use an empty square bottle of Bombay Sapphire Gin as headhone stand and a nice but a bit rough piece of firewood that was just to nice looking to burn.
Finished the Gin years ago. But my headphones sit nice and steady on it.
Wines of the Week ,White Lindeman Riesling that I got from a friend a few days ago and Red, Appassimento Vinistella Organico. Thanks for the Music.
Cheers CC

 

[Christer]

Von Zemlinsky The Mermaid Andrey Boreyko ORTVE​

Nice "Off the Beaten Track" Music.
But correct me if I'm wrong. ?Pero, La Sirenita?= the Little Mermaid.?Verdad? I stayed at the headquarters of Corcovado national park in Costa Rica called La Sirena a few times.
Richly scored not exactly "Standard Repertoire",score, like Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra.
Regarding Zarathustra I can't help thinking of a record review of it once that said. If Zarathustra at all- Then KARAJAN!
And since I am going to audition a possibly even better pair of BIG Electrostatic speakers than mine, "manana", I will bring my old DGG KARAJAN cd of Zarathustra as part of my HIFI testing material just to hear how those speakers cope with the string basses low C entry, and those tympani rolls. Nada mas.
I prefer Strauss' Ein Heldenleben and Tod und Verklärung musically . And on my piano this week I practice not "Manana" ,but "Yesterday".
Cheers CC

 

[Luis Mad]

Nice "Off the Beaten Track" Music.
But correct me if I'm wrong. ?Pero, La Sirenita?= the Little Mermaid.?Verdad? I stayed at the headquarters of Corcovado national park in Costa Rica called La Sirena a few times.
Richly scored not exactly "Standard Repertoire",score, like Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra.
Regarding Zarathustra I can't help thinking of a record review of it once that said. If Zarathustra at all- Then KARAJAN!
And since I am going to audition a possibly even better pair of BIG Electrostatic speakers than mine, "manana", I will bring my old DGG KARAJAN cd of Zarathustra as part of my HIFI testing material just to hear how those speakers cope with the string basses low C entry, and those tympani rolls. Nada mas.
I prefer Strauss' Ein Heldenleben and Tod und Verklärung musically . And on my piano this week I practice not "Manana" ,but "Yesterday".
Cheers CC

Of course you are right it is the little mermaid (die Seejungfrau). Beautiful piece. Zemlinsky 1872-1942, Richard Strauss 1964-1949. I guess very similar influences.
I like Richard Strauss. I am happy I will hopefully attend Ein Heldenleben in the, recently announced, next season of the Spanish national orchestra.
To test speakers and headphone I like for example the start of Mahler 5 symphony, tremendous dynamic range.

 

[monmon2]

 

[Christer]

Of course you are right it is the little mermaid (die Seejungfrau). Beautiful piece. Zemlinsky 1872-1942, Richard Strauss 1964-1949. I guess very similar influences.
I like Richard Strauss. I am happy I will hopefully attend Ein Heldenleben in the, recently announced, next season of the Spanish national orchestra.
To test speakers and headphone I like for example the start of Mahler 5 symphony, tremendous dynamic range.

Gracias Luis, my very rusty Spanish was not too bad ,then.But the orginal German title die Seejungfrau actually translates as the Mermaid just to confuse things a bit. Pero my proof reading spotted a slight error on your part in this post. Are you absolutely sure that Richard Strauss died before he was born? Just joking .But yes of course one of my reference recordings of M5,the BFO /Fisher will also be one of my test pieces to hear if the other electrostatic speakers beat mine or not.
BIS' Tchaikovsky from Gothenburg and Rachmaninov Symphonies from Singapore will also be used.
Nothing else beats having been there when things actually happened as reference points.
Cheers CC

 

[Mr Trev]

Thanks,John, since discovering contemporary composers like Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Clara Ianotta and Andrea Tarrodi among others, I listen more to Contemporary Music and Asian World Music than to Popular Western Classic Music. "Fragments of Sky" reminds me of Toru Takemitzu's "How Slow the Wind" and sounds good via my electrostatic speakers.Subtle layers of sounds.I will play it via my headphones tonight.
Fascinating sonorities with gongs and flute interacting.

Gabriel Olafs will be releasing an album of orchestral works soonly that's been getting some decent press. Until then here's this

 

[Luis Mad]

Yesterday one to remember. One of the best orchestras I know, the Budapest Festival orchestra, but this time it wasn’t Mahler Mr Christer, it was an all Brahms program. As a Brahms fan I could not be happier. The conductor was the great Ivan Fischer. Last year I was fortunate to watch him conducting Mahler’s 5th with the Bayer Radio Symphony and that was unforgettable.
Now with Brahms, the first part was the Double concerto with the two excellent soloists: Veronika Eberle, violin, and Steven Isserlis, cello. Excellent. They also played two of the Hungarian dances.
The second part was, to me, perfect. It was Brahms’ 4th, one of my favorites. It was superbly played and conducted. Beautiful.
They ended up with a very original encore. The musicians sang acapella a choir piece by Brahms.

Here a bit of this great orchestra and conductor

Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G major BWV 10481. Allegro2. Adagio3. Allegro
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 3 in F major op.901. Allegro con brio2. Andante3. Poco allegretto4. Allegro
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Ivan Fischer, conductor

 

[Mr Trev]

and now for something completely different
Dawn by Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin (Mullaert is classically trained so it works for me)

 

[monmon2]