[dj_mocok]

i'll be getting AD5 and A900 by this sunday, but i personally think that they won't really match with D-CJ01 anyway...
this stupid discman seems to be very weak in terms of output... and doesnt really have excellent cd playback quality (or maybe im asking too much from a portable - again.. hehe...)

anyway, for portable use, im not really particular about it, because basically i just need to listen to something in order to kill boredom, so im happy with mx500 and my portable..

now the question is where the heck should i plug those 2 headphones in to ? since i dont have anything decent... lol....

PS: Anyone listened to Tambourin Chinois before ? i know nothing about classical stuff, but my goodness, i am so impressed with this one... how the hell can a human plays a violin like that ? wow... a standing ovation....

 

[TonyTripleA]

Let us know what you think of those A900 cans. As for a good source, Silencer sent us all down to basement HiFi for a cheap NAD C542 and if you can do grab one... but that Denon mini system you see around for around 800 bucks does have a fair sounding CD and amp at a decent price. Get Silencer to negotiate for you, if they hear he's coming back they'll probably give you one free out of "fear"....

Have fun,

TonyAAA

 

[dj_mocok]

Its funny, what a coincidence... i was just calling Basement Hifi the other day enquiring about Denon M31....

Will a head-fi member get a special discount when buying from Basement Hifi ?
How much is that NAD C542 at Basement Hifi anyway ?

 

[fiddler]

Quote:

Originally posted by Vertigo-1 I do find it pretty sad and disappointing myself that a lot of Headfiers seem pretty snobbish about what's "publically acceptable" as music. This thread being a prime example.

He said he was looking for deep, pierce-your-heart emotion, so we told him to look elsewhere, because that's not what Mae offers in particular. I never criticised anybody's tastes, only made suggestions that would give him more of what he was looking for.

Oh no, look at what we've done! We succeeded in steering him towards what he was looking for!

dj_mocok, Kreisler has the sweetest tone you'll ever hear, I'm glad you like it.

I only wish I was alive back then to hear him in person! One of my personal faves is David Oistrakh, his Brahms Concerto is highly recommended.

 

[dj_mocok]

kreisler is really good... although the one im listening to is the one performed by alfredo campoli... which i think is not bad at all....

 

[Permonic]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman Vanessa and Britney (and I do own albums by both) are very similar. Flamboyant performers, both great entertainers but without technical or pure artistic merit in their respective fields.

Bangra, sorry, but I have to strongly disagree with you. You probably don't own Vanessa Mae's classical albums.

There's a big difference between Vanessa Mae and Britney Spears. Vanessa Mae has solid classical background and she's talented player with very good technique. I don't see (and can hardly imagine) Britney singing soprano or mezzo-soprano of any classical opera.

Just for your info there're two kinds of Vanessa Mae:

Vanessa Mae pure classical albums:

Violin, 1991 (Sarasate, Kabalevsky, Mozart, Wieniawski)
Kid's Classics, 1991 (e.g. Kreisler, Tchaikovski, Bach, Paganini, Heifetz)
Tchaikovsky & Beethoven Violin Concertos, 1991
The Classical Album 1, 1996(Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Bruch)
The Classical Album 2, 1997 (e.g. Puccini)
The Original Four Seasons and The Devil's Trill Sonata, 1998
The Classical Collection Part 1, 2000 (http://www.vanessamae.com/tcc.shtml)

Vanessa Mae pop albums (something between electronica, new age, techno-acoustic, dance, cover versions of classical):

The Violin Player, 1995
Storm, 1997
Subject To Change, 2001

Just buy her classical album and then you can compare her performance to the performance of Menuhin, Heifetz, Hudecek, etc. But you can't do the same with her pop albums, it's a different genre.

For example here in Hong Kong almost every popstars produce 2-4 albums per year!!! Showbusiness, no art, many songs similar to each other, only few genuine female/male vocals. Songs assembly line. That's not a case of Vanessa Mae's albums. Having "only" 3 original pop albums (there're also several "The Best of") within 9 years isn't about quality: these are quite well-balanced, especially "Storm" is composed like a modern opus.

Anyway, I agree with SuperGiraffe that "The Violin Player" and "Storm" aren't well recorded CDs and tend to sound veiled.

 

[Permonic]

Plus I would like to add what she think about her pop albums:

"....Of course, in the minds of some people, the music which I play in this album would hardly categorise me as a traditionalist practising an old art form! I have been asked many if this is a "pop" album or whether it is a statement about what constitutes new style classical music. I don't believe that there is an answer or even the need for such a question. Playing good music on the violin has a very high "feel good" factor. I first felt this when I was 8 and I am lucky never to have lost the feeling...."

From the cover of "The Violin Player"

"....On this album, however, I have choosen to take a different approach. Abandoning the "academic" restraints of how far I can decorate and individualise within the "classical" tradition..."

From the cover of "Storm"

I go with the last statement: many times while practising, I had a feeling that changing a partiture by adding a tone, prolong a pause, etc. would sound better. I couldn't do that, otherwise it would violate the original. She managed to do that.

The only thing, I don't like, is that after her success, the recording companies released various imitators such as girl's quartet Bond who simply don't have the qualities and talent of Mae. Apart of Mae, I would recommend also Maksim Mrvica (aka Maksim) and his album "The Piano Player". It's in the same level as Mae's pop albums and he has also good background in classical:

"After five years at the Music Academy in Zagreb studying with Professor Vladimir Krpan (a pupil of Arturo Benedetto Michelangeli), Maksim spent a year at the Ferenc Liszt Conservatoire in Budapest. During this period (1999) he won first prize in the Nicolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition. In 2000 he moved to Paris to study with Igor Lazko, and in 2001 he gained first prize in the Pontoise Piano Competition held in the French capital.

Source: http://www.maksim.co.uk

Mae and Mrvica aren't just "made stars", they worked hard to achieve their goals.

 

[bangraman]

I have a couple of the Classical CD's and the Violin Player. Might also have Storm somewhere. I think we have to agree to disagree on that point. If we're comparing both Nicholson and Spears again, each could have said to have worked equally hard to get where they are now. I don't begrudge Vanessa-Mae her success, but equally her name comes up way down my list when the words 'violin virtuoso' are mentioned.

 

[sirob]

Quote:

Mae and Mrvica aren't just "made stars", they worked hard to achieve their goals.

Hardworking maybe, Maksim simply lacks the talent. Listening to him playing Chopin's Revolutionary etude and Rach's Variation on a Theme of paganini is like.. listening myself mocking Eric Clapton sing Tears in Heaven.. Man, nevermind the skill, he lacks the passion and touch! Oh perhaps he is right, he is just a "piano player" (the title of his album), not a pianist.

On the other side, I am not familiar with Mae, although two of my friends who plays violin very well bash her a lot, like everytime we saw her CD in record shops