Sensible Sound articles from June 2000

Sensible Sound archives from June 2000

RAMBLINGS.
June 1, 2000... Welcome to Issue #81, an issue with a focus on CD players and DACs. In fact, all our equipment reviews in this issue involve CD players and DACs. Not only do we review several units, and not only do we offer a $ensible Choice listing, but we...

FORUM.
June 1, 2000... The Martians have landed--and they are hearing-impaired! I just renewed my subscription the other day and at this moment I wonder why. Sometimes I am very impressed with the down to earth quality of your publication and other times I shake...

SURVEYING THE SOUNDSCAPE.
June 1, 2000... A Not Quite Lyra-cal Experience: The Lyra MP3 player that RCA loaned me is back where it belongs. I've never been so happy to get a piece of purported audio gear out of my hands and out of earshot. When I say that MP3 recording and playback is...

Surround-Sound Upgrades, Adjustments, and Discounts.
June 1, 2000... Old-timers (well, medium-old-timers) may remember my review of the Yamaha DSP-A3090 surround processor and integrated amplifier in Issue 65. In that review, I lauded the unit and was impressed enough with its assorted music-enhancement and...

AMC CD6b-MD5404as and CD6b Compact Disc Players.
June 1, 2000... Manufacturer: Weltronics Corp., 1414 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 7, South Pasadena, CA 91030; 626/799-6396; www.amchome.com Price: CD6b-MD5404as, $899; CD6b, $699 Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewers: Tom Lyle and Karl W. Nehring ...

Assemblage DAC-2.6.
June 1, 2000... Manufacturer: The Parts Connection, 2790 Brighton Road, Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6H 5T4; 800/769-0747; www.sonicfrontiers.com Price: $699 kit, $799 assembled, $159 extra for Signature parts upgrade Source: Manufacturer loan ...

Assemblage DAC-3.
June 1, 2000... Manufacturer: The Parts Connection, 2790 Brighton Road, Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6H 5T4; 800/769-0747; sonicfrontiers.com Price: Kit, $1,499; assembled, $1,599; optional Signature Parts Upgrade Kit, $299 ($399 installed); optional 24/96...

Mach 1 D/A Converter.
June 1, 2000... Manufacturer: Mach 1 Acoustics, RR2, Box 334A, Wilton, NH 03086; 603/654-9826 Price: $900 Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer: James T. Frane A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is a necessary part of every CD player. As the...

Marantz CD6000OSE CD Player.
June 1, 2000... Manufacturer: Marantz America, Inc., 440 Medinah Rd., Roselle, IL 60172-2330; 630/307-3100 Price: $499.99 Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer: James T. Frane The latest Marantz CD player is the CD6000OSE, not a name that...

Rotel RCD-971 CD Player.
June 1, 2000... Manufacturer: Rotel of America, 54 Concord St., North Reading, MA 01864; 800/370-3741 Price: $699 Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer: Gregory Koster New technologies offer great potential, but the performance of the early...

The $ensible Choice List: CD Players/DACs.
June 1, 2000... Although there are technical differences aplenty amongst the various units available on the market, contemporary CD players and DACs sound largely the same. The most significant differences among them are in matters of cosmetics, control...

Coincident Speaker Technology Super Eclipse.
June 1, 2000... Manufacturer: Coincident Speaker Technology, 51 Miriam Cr., Richmond Hill, Ont., Canada., L4B 2P8; 905/886-6728; coincidentspeaker.com Price: $5,499/pair Source: Manufacturer loan Reviewer: David Milford One thing you learn...

AO: Grow Wild (AO Music AOM0905).
June 1, 2000... AO: Grow Wild (AO Music AOM0905) The core of AO comprises Ric Gannaway (stage name, "Nahoo"), who handles the singing and also plays guitar and banjo, and his partner Jay Oliver (stage name, "Jojo"), who plays keyboards, synthesizers, and...

The Bruce Arnold Trio: A Few Dozen (Muse Eek MSK112).
June 1, 2000... The Bruce Arnold Trio: A Few Dozen (Muse Eek MSK112) Something you just don't encounter every day is a jazz guitarist who composes in 12-tone style, but Bruce Arnold, who is accompanied on this recording by bassist Ratzo B. Harris and...

Arnold / Dahlgren / Gunther / Rosen: Spooky Actions (Muse Eek Recordings).
June 1, 2000... Arnold / Dahlgren / Gunther / Rosen: Spooky Actions (Muse Eek Recordings) Here's another Muse Eek release featuring guitarist Bruce Arnold; however, unlike A Few Dozen, this release is not commercially available, and another strike against...

Arthur Blythe Trio: Spirits in the Field (Savant SCD 2024).
June 1, 2000... Arthur Blythe Trio: Spirits in the Field (Savant SCD 2024) How exciting it is to have a new recording from Arthur Blythe, one of the most distinctive and creative alto saxophonists around--and one of the sadly overlooked jazz musicians of...

Elliott Carter: Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei and Clarinet Concerto Michael Collins, clarinet/BBC Symphony Orchestra/ London Sinfonietta/Oliver Knussen.
June 1, 2000... Elliott Carter: Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei and Clarinet Concerto Michael Collins, clarinet/BBC Symphony Orchestra/ London Sinfonietta/Oliver Knussen The music of Elliott Carter (b. 1908) is not for the faint of heart or...

Dave Douglas: Soul on Soul (RCA Victor 09026 63603-2).
June 1, 2000... Dave Douglas: Soul on Soul (RCA Victor 09026 63603-2) Trumpeter Dave Douglas has finally landed a contract with a major label, but the music remains the same. On this outing, which Douglas produced himself, his band (Douglas on trumpet;...

Dukas: Music of Paul Dukas (La Peri; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Symphony in C) Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Lopez-Cobos (Telarc CD-80515).
June 1, 2000... Dukas: Music of Paul Dukas (La Peri; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Symphony in C) Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Lopez-Cobos (Telarc CD-80515) This excellent sounding (recorded using the DSD process and then cut as a standard 16-bit CD) Telarc...

Duke Ellington: Blues in Orbit (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDCD 757).
June 1, 2000... Duke Ellington: Blues in Orbit (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDCD 757) It would have been fitting for this fine release to be MFSL's last; alas, this one was numbered 757, and the mediocre Roy Orbison disc titled Lonely and Blue laid claim to...

Giuliani: Music of Giuliani (Grande Overture; Rossiniana Nos. 1 and 2; Sonata Eroica; Sonata in C major) David Russell, guitar (Telarc CD-80525).
June 1, 2000... Giuliani: Music of Giuliani (Grande Overture; Rossiniana Nos. 1 and 2; Sonata Eroica; Sonata in C major) David Russell, guitar (Telarc CD-80525) No, this is not music by Hillary Clinton's political foe; rather, it is music by Mauro...

Jim Hall: Ballad Essentials (Concord Jazz CCD-4904-2).
June 1, 2000... Jim Hall: Ballad Essentials (Concord Jazz CCD-4904-2) This release brings together some tasty Jim Hall cuts from his work on Concord in the '80s. There are duo, trio, and quartet settings, with Hall's tasteful guitar stylings the focus...

Scott Hamilton: Ballad Essentials (Concord Jazz CCD-4885-2).
June 1, 2000... Scott Hamilton: Ballad Essentials (Concord Jazz CCD-4885-2) Tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton came onto the scene as a very young man playing in an old style. Now, he's not quite so young, but he still plays in an old style, big and breathy...

Harris/Moran/Osby/Shim: New Directions (Blue Note 7243 5 22978 2 5).
June 1, 2000... Harris/Moran/Osby/Shim: New Directions (Blue Note 7243 5 22978 2 5) The driving force behind this recording is alto saxophonist Greg Osby, joined by Stefon Harris on vibes, Jason Moran on keyboards, Mark Shim on tenor, with rhythm support...

D.D. Jackson: Anthem (RCA Victor 090266 63606-2).
June 1, 2000... D.D. Jackson: Anthem (RCA Victor 090266 63606-2) Keyboardist D.D. Jackson has assembled quite a band to make this recording with him: Christian Howes on violin and guitar, Richard Bona on electric bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums form the...

Eddie Marshall and Holy Mischief (Ruddy Duck Records RD 1000-2).
June 1, 2000... Eddie Marshall and Holy Mischief (Ruddy Duck Records RD 1000-2) Reference Recordings, long known to audiophiles for its recordings of (mostly) classical music in audiophile sound quality, has recently launched a project of helping some...

Pat Metheny: Trio 99--00 (Warner Bros. 9 47632-2).
June 1, 2000... Pat Metheny: Trio 99--00 (Warner Bros. 9 47632-2) It is always exciting to audition a new recording from guitar maestro Pat Metheny, and Trio 99--00 is an exciting recording. The rest of the trio includes bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer...

Kenny Neal: What You Got (Telarc Blues CD-83467).
June 1, 2000... Kenny Neal: What You Got (Telarc Blues CD-83467) This is some tasty stuff. Young Louisiana bluesman Kenny Neal sings and plays (guitars and harmonica) like a real veteran, and he and his band really deliver the goods with their blend of...

Roy Orbison: Lonely and Blue (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDCD 758).
June 1, 2000... Roy Orbison: Lonely and Blue (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDCD 758) I suspect that no matter what my opinion is, this disc, one of the final two (and first two SACD) releases from the late MFSL will become a cult collector's item. Oh, well...

Greg Osby: The Invisible Hand (Blue Note 7243 5 20134 2 5).
June 1, 2000... Greg Osby: The Invisible Hand (Blue Note 7243 5 20134 2 5) The New Directions CD reviewed above is a wonderful CD, largely because of alto saxophonist Greg Osby; as good as that CD is, however, The Invisible Hand is even better--musically...

Penderecki: Orchestral Works Vol. 1 (Symphony No. 3; Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima; Flourescences; De natura sonoris II) National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice)/Antoni Wit (Naxos 8.554491).
June 1, 2000... Penderecki: Orchestral Works Vol. 1 (Symphony No. 3; Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima; Flourescences; De natura sonoris II) National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice)/Antoni Wit (Naxos 8.554491) From the budget Naxos label...

John Pizzarelli: Kisses in the Rain (Telarc Jazz CD-83491).
June 1, 2000... John Pizzarelli: Kisses in the Rain (Telarc Jazz CD-83491) The musical approach favored by John Pizzarelli--arrangements of mostly standards sung by Pizzarelli and accompanied by guitar (John Pizzarelli), bass (Martin Pizzarelli), and piano...

Rautavaara: String Quintet ("Unknown Heavens"); String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 Jean Sibelius Quartet and Jan-Erik Gustafsson, cello (Ondine ODE 909-2).
June 1, 2000... Rautavaara: String Quintet ("Unknown Heavens"); String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 Jean Sibelius Quartet and Jan-Erik Gustafsson, cello (Ondine ODE 909-2) The Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928) is looking more and more like the...

Anton Schwartz: The Slow Lane (AntonJazz AJ-1002).
June 1, 2000... Anton Schwartz: The Slow Lane (AntonJazz AJ-1002) The Slow Lane by young tenor saxophonist Anton Schwartz is another of the small-label recordings that Reference Recordings is publicizing, and it should prove popular among audiophiles who...

Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 15; Piano Sonata No. 2 Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy/Emil Gilels, piano (RCA High Performance 09026-63587-2).
June 1, 2000... Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 15; Piano Sonata No. 2 Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy/Emil Gilels, piano (RCA High Performance 09026-63587-2) Back in 1972, Eugene Ormandy conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in the first American...

Steely Dan: Two Against Nature (Giant Records 9 24719-2).
June 1, 2000... Steely Dan: Two Against Nature (Giant Records 9 24719-2) The boys are back. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, those cynical nasty boys you know you really ought to stay away from. Pure trouble, those boys. But their recordings sound so good,...

Mike Stern: Play (Atlantic 83219-2).
June 1, 2000... Mike Stern: Play (Atlantic 83219-2) With no disrespect intended for guitarist Mike Stern, I must point out that for me, and doubtless for many other jazz fans, it was not his name that drew me to this recording, but rather the names of John...

McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster (Telarc Jazz CD-83488).
June 1, 2000... McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster (Telarc Jazz CD-83488) The title of this DSD-recorded (mastered down to standard 16-bit CD format) leaves no doubt that this is a meeting of jazz all-stars, and each of the three leaves his...

Turtle Island String Quartet: Art of the Groove (Turtle Island Records TIR-001).
June 1, 2000... Turtle Island String Quartet: Art of the Groove (Turtle Island Records TIR-001) This almost works. The expressed intent is to combine a classical format (the string quartet) and a contemporary sensibility to make music that is at once...

Vasks: Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra ("Distant Light"); Symphony for Strings ("Voices") Gidon Kremer, violin/Kremer Baltica (Teldec 3984-22660-2).
June 1, 2000... Vasks: Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra ("Distant Light"); Symphony for Strings ("Voices") Gidon Kremer, violin/Kremer Baltica (Teldec 3984-22660-2) Latvian composer Peteris Vasks (b. 1946) is already beginning to receive the honor...

Celebrating the Music of Weather Report (Telarc Jazz CD-83473).
June 1, 2000... Celebrating the Music of Weather Report (Telarc Jazz CD-83473) The first time I played this new Telarc disc I was ready to toss it aside and not even review it. How dare they defame the memory of Weather Report by making it all sound so...

Double Double.
June 1, 2000... This issue marks a first for Double Double: the first time Tom Lyle and I have set out to compare recordings of a chamber work rather than an orchestral work for this column. In all other respects, however, we have prepared our remarks in our...

Carousel Corner.
June 1, 2000... There is American music, and there is American music. This issue's survey includes American music of diverse influences and diverse practitioners. Oh, and we include a Britisher, a few Jamaicans, and a Pakistani produced by an Indian. Gary...

Reissue Roundup: Recent Remasters.
June 1, 2000... There was a flurry of reissues in several genres to mark the coming of the last Christmas season of the second millennium. Some of these resulted from still more corporate mergers, making MCA, now Uni, one of the two largest publishers in the...

Scoping Software.
June 1, 2000... This installment features recordings from two very differently oriented companies: Delos and Mapleshade. Delos is a full,digital outfit that specializes mainly in classical music (they also offer some jazz), whereas Mapleshade specializes in...

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos; Triple Concerto; Overtures. Helmut Muller-Bruhl, Cologne Chamber Orchestra. Naxos 8.554607, 8.554608, and 8.554609.
June 1, 2000... Bach: Brandenburg Concertos; Triple Concerto; Overtures. Helmut Muller-Bruhl, Cologne Chamber Orchestra. Naxos 8.554607, 8.554608, and 8.554609. I have to admit that I have developed a fondness over the past decade for baroque music played...

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 "Romantic." Gunter Wand, Berliner Philharmoniker. RCA 09026 68839-2.
June 1, 2000... Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 "Romantic." Gunter Wand, Berliner Philharmoniker. RCA 09026 68839-2. Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner. In the years since Gunter Wand first broke onto the recording scene some 20 years ago, already then a man...

Debussy: Snowflakes Are Dancing. Tomita. RCA 09026-63588-2.
June 1, 2000... Debussy: Snowflakes Are Dancing. Tomita. RCA 09026-63588-2. Isao Tomita, one of the pioneers of the musical synthesizer, made quite a splash in 1974 with his album of electronic music, Snowflakes Are Dancing. RCA's rear-cover blurb...

Dun: 2000 Today. The Gypsy Kings; Tan Dun, BBC Concert Orchestra and NChiCa Orchestra. Sony SK 61529.
June 1, 2000... Dun: 2000 Today. The Gypsy Kings; Tan Dun, BBC Concert Orchestra and NChiCa Orchestra. Sony SK 61529. Composed and conducted by Tan Dun, 2000 Today, a World Symphony for the Millennium, was commissioned by PBS for broadcast on December 31,...

Haydn: "Paris" Symphonies, Nos. 82-87. Frans Bruggen, Orchestra of the 18th Century. Philips 462 111-2 (2-disc set).
June 1, 2000... Haydn: "Paris" Symphonies, Nos. 82-87. Frans Bruggen, Orchestra of the 18th Century. Philips 462 111-2 (2-disc set). I doubt that too many readers have collected all 104 of Haydn's symphonies, or are even vaguely interested in doing so, but...

Heppner: My Secret Heart. Songs of the Parlor Stage, And Silver Screen. Ben Heppner, tenor; Jonathan Tunick, London Philharmonic Orchestra. RCA 09026-63508-2.
June 1, 2000... Heppner: My Secret Heart. Songs of the Parlor Stage, And Silver Screen. Ben Heppner, tenor; Jonathan Tunick, London Philharmonic Orchestra. RCA 09026-63508-2. Move over, Lanza! Tenor Ben Heppner provides an old-fashioned, unabashedly...

Irish Folk Songs.
June 1, 2000... Irish Folk Songs. The Robert Shaw Chorale. RCA 09026 63646-2. Was there ever a more fluent, more refined, more cultured singing ensemble than the Robert Shaw Chorale in their prime? I don't think so. That said, their ultra-smooth style was...

Mahler: Symphony No. 9; Das Lied von der Erde. Janet Baker and James King; Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Philips Duo 289 462-2.
June 1, 2000... Mahler: Symphony No. 9; Das Lied von der Erde. Janet Baker and James King; Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Philips Duo 289 462-2. I recall Bernard Haitink once saying in an interview that he always preferred to do Mahler...

Medieval Music in Denmark.
June 1, 2000... Medieval Music in Denmark. Bo Holten, Musica Ficta. Dacapo 8.224133. One could hardly fault this disc on any count. The Danish songs, dating from the 9th though 15th centuries, seem like much that was being produced all over Europe at the...

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 "Italian"; A Midsummer Night's Dream, suite. Vladimir Golschmann, Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Vanguard Classics SVC-122.
June 1, 2000... Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 "Italian"; A Midsummer Night's Dream, suite. Vladimir Golschmann, Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Vanguard Classics SVC-122. With so many excellent versions of Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony already...

Murder and Mayhem: Great Scores from Hollywood's Golden Age. William T. Stromberg, Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Marco Polo 8.225132.
June 1, 2000... Murder and Mayhem: Great Scores from Hollywood's Golden Age. William T. Stromberg, Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Marco Polo 8.225132. You've got to admire that title. Who can resist "Murder and Mayhem"? The program consists of suites from...

Offenbach: Offenbachiana. Marcel Cariven, Radio Lyrique Orchestra of the R.T.F. Omega Classics OCD 1034.
June 1, 2000... Offenbach: Offenbachiana. Marcel Cariven, Radio Lyrique Orchestra of the R.T.F. Omega Classics OCD 1034. You say you like your Offenbach big, brash, and loud? Here's just the ticket. Conductor Marcel Cariven and his Radio Lyrique Orchestra...

Organ Spectacular.
June 1, 2000... Organ Spectacular. David Briggs, organist. Delos DE 3241. The sell here is that the disc is billed as the "Inaugural recording on the world's largest church organ." Englishman David Briggs plays the organs of the First Congregational Church...

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2; Vocalise; Intermezzo & Dance from "Aleko." Andre Previn, London Symphony Orchestra. EMI Classics 7243 5 66997 2 4.
June 1, 2000... Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2; Vocalise; Intermezzo & Dance from "Aleko." Andre Previn, London Symphony Orchestra. EMI Classics 7243 5 66997 2 4. Long one of my 10 favorite Desert Island recordings, the Rachmaninov Second Symphony under...

Snow Falling on Cedars.
June 1, 2000... Snow Falling on Cedars. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Decor 289 466 818-2. I am not a big fan of motion picture soundtracks, but this one has enough going for it to warrant a brief note. Composed by Games Newton Howard, the music...

Songs of the Classical Age.
June 1, 2000... Songs of the Classical Age. Patrice Michaels Bedi, soprano; David Schrader, fortepiano. Cedille Records CDR 90000 049. What almost always strikes me first about a Cedille recording is the immediacy of the sound. In this case, both the piano...

Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat, complete. Madeleine Milhaud, narrator; Jean Pierre Aumont, the soldier; Martial Singher, the Devil; Leopold Stokowski, Instrumental Ensemble. Vanguard Classics OVC 8004.
June 1, 2000... Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat, complete. Madeleine Milhaud, narrator; Jean Pierre Aumont, the soldier; Martial Singher, the Devil; Leopold Stokowski, Instrumental Ensemble. Vanguard Classics OVC 8004. I'm sure it's only my imagination...

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty. Mikhail Pletnev, Russian National Orchestra. DG 289 457-2 (2-disc set).
June 1, 2000... Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty. Mikhail Pletnev, Russian National Orchestra. DG 289 457-2 (2-disc set). Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet has always lurked in the shadow of his other two great ballets, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. I...