BAASnotes.com – Bay Area Audiophile Society

San Mateo Record Sale – May 16th and 17th!

Attend our Steve Hoffman show, and then buy some music:

Bob

Steve Hoffman on May 16th!

On Saturday, May 16th, we will have a very special guest speaker:  Steve Hoffman.

Steve is one of the best mastering engineers in the business, and his re-mastering work gives him access to some incredible material. (He is also a huge audiophile.)

At his presentation at CES, he played some “raw” Beatles and Sinatra stuff that was breathtaking.

To learn more about Steve and his skills:

• Check out his work;
• Listen to his many excellent disks – one of my favorites is Donovan’s Storyteller (CD is now $40 and climbing)
• Read some of his interviews or check out his quite-active forums

To make things more interesting, we’ll have a world-class system set up at Audio High in Mountain View, one of the Bay Area’s leading audiophile boutiques. Just look at the product lines that they carry – we’ll have terrific sound!

You must be a member of BAAS to attend. More details will follow….

by Bob Walters

Empirical Audio Event – Digital Audio at its Finest

Yesterday, about 30 BAAS members were treated to a fine demonstration of state-of-the-art digital audio.

On center stage were the pioneering products of Steve Nugent’s Empirical Audio. The key product highlight was the introduction to the new Overdrive DAC. Also on hand was a Pace Car tr-clocking/jitter reduction device and Steve’s personal Parasound JC-1 monoblocs.

The sound that they produced  through the Ficion F-300 speakers (supplemented by 15″ Rythmic Signature subs) was driving, extended and accurate. Great stuff!

But the true highlight of the day was Steve himself, and the wisdom and common sense that he shared with us about the past/present/future of digital sudio. Steve is a natural educator, and he helped many guests sort through the obstacles that they had encountered. In particular, he demonstrated jitter and the sonic contamination that it causes.

We ended each of the demos with a quick comparison with my highly-modified Berkeley Audio Alpha DAC (I call it my “Beta DAC” <g>). My opinions are biased by ownership, but I’ll say that the Empirical stack sounded great – at half the price.  

So many thanks to Steve (and Janet and Lucy), and we wish them all the best.

by Bob Walters

Click for more photos…

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Empirical Audio to present on Saturday (4/18/09)

Empirical Audio will be showcasing all of ots products and demonstrating its new Overdrive DAC at our April BAAS meeting this weekend in Santa Clara, CA.

Locus-Design has also provided some USB cables, and we will have a Revelation Audio Labs I2S cable as well.

But, most importantly, Steve Nugent – designer, CEO, and audiophile – will be on hand to explain what really matters in digital. Steve is very active on internet forums, and quite giving of his expertise.

Finally, we’ll have a modified Berkeley Audio Alpha DAC, modded Parasound JC-1′s, Ficion F-300 floorstanders, Rythmik 15″ subs, AKG K-10000 earspeakers and a vintage EL-84 amp to drive them, and more….

It should be great fun!

by Bob Walters

Hot news – Remastered Beatles CD’s Coming!

The news is out – the Fab Four discography has been remastered for CD release in September.

Changes are aplenty, supposedly all for the good of the audiophile cause.

And what better release date than “number nine” times three – 9/9/09?

by Bob Walters

[Special thanks to Aaron.]

Awesome Computer Music “Toys”

If you are into audio, toys, and experimentation, check out this fantastic web site.

Notes:

• Requires the latest Flash Software
• Better if your computer is hooked up to your sound system (yet another reason to do so!)
• Can be addicting

Quite enjoyable whilst facilitating learning!

Enjoy!

by Bob Walters

More Free Music Downloads – 100 Years Old!

This archive site by Syracuse University hosts some of the most unusual recordings for download on the internet. You see, the original recordings are almost 100 years old!

A wide variety of music genres is represented. Indeed, there’s something for everybody here.

The site streams MP3, but also offers WAV downloads. Most of the originals are on wax cylinders, with digital transfers typically made via a Benchmark ADC.

I really enjoy the stuff – you might too!

(A similar site is run by UCSB.)

by Bob Walters

Tags: Audiophile, baas, computer audio, digital audio, Music