BAASnotes.com – Bay Area Audiophile Society

Reference Recordings HRx Stunning Recordings

Yesterday saw over 30 BAAS members auditioning the stunning new library of high resolution (24/176) recordings based on the Reference Recordings (RR) master tapes.

The ‘BAAS Sessions’ represent the first public demonstration of the recordings and the recommended hardware to play them (based on a PC Sound card). As such, they went beyond the various previews at CES.

A clear highlight of the day was the opportunity to do back-to-back comparisons of ‘CD quality’ (16/44) to HRx. To my ear, the difference was rather obvious, akin to the difference between 192 bps MP3 and CD. And that says a lot.

In fact, I would say that the difference would be apparent on merely competent systems – the last word in system resolution not required. Of course, on a truly high-bandwidth, high-resolution system, HRx purity is like a sonic lightning bolt.

However, as educational and rewarding as the listening was, so too was the opportunity to talk with Keith O. Johnson (recording genius) and Marcia Martin from RR.

Here are some of the gems paraphrased from “Professor” Johnson’s remarks:

• When we hear ‘bad digital,’ our brains work overtime trying to process the anomalies and missing pieces. This distraction can – and often does – cause actual headaches! HRx eliminates most of this effect, allowing us to concentrate on the art in the recorded performance. But we have found that it takes a few minutes to recover from ‘bad digital’ – the brain needs to rest and reset its gains!
• When I record a musical event, I do not view my job as capturing “what it was like at a given location” in the venue. Rather, my job is to capture the ‘essence’ of the event, and illuminate the performance. This invariably necessitates multi-miking. On a small ensemble, I may supplement the primary mike with a mike on each performer. At a symphony, the soloists may be miked. The true art is how you mix the mikes, while maintaining a solid, stable image.
• My recording schedule is very full. Look for a lot of new stuff from RR.
• One of the easiest ways to spot high resolution is to listen to brass. A brass crescendo unleashes a series of sonic pulses that are very tough to reproduce using 16/44. In 24/176, the brass should practically knock you out!
• Tubes are no longer needed in my work, as solid state technology (and craft) has finally caught up. Some may mourn the loss of the ‘second harmonic,’ but I don’t. It’s distortion after all.
• Let me give you an example of an amateurish mistake in recording. Let’s say someone places the main mike such that it captures not only first-arrival information, but also a prominent first-bounce at 40-60 millisecond delay. The result is that a lively piece of music can be turned into a dirge or a series of echoes. (For an explanation, look up “precedence effect.”)
• The auditory nerve has an extremely short path length to the brain. The circuitry is complex, having steering, filtering, and feedback elements. And auditory memory is just as complex. The net result is that poorly-design A-B tests can be very misleading. But given some time and some repetition, the ear can pick up remarkably small differences.

I separately asked Keith about the bass tilt – elevation of bass frequencies – that we’d experienced in the preceding two BAAS events. He confirmed my suspicion that loading the room with 30 BAAS members could very well “soak up” treble. Then, when we turn up the volume to hear the highs, guess what? BASS!

My thanks to Keith and Marcia at RR, and especially to Jason – our most gracious host!

I also asked Keith how close the HRx recordings are to the sound of the masters. He just chuckled and said “very.” Given what I’ve heard, I’m not surprised….