#highresolutionaudio

Relaxing into my evening with a cold Conehead microbrew from Zero Gravity brewing located an hour away from me in Burlington, Vermont. What makes this beer special is that it cost me nada, zip, bupkis. My wife found four cans left behind by guests at the resort she works at. So I get to enjoy a cold brew with the very first SACD I ever heard/bought - the Ray Brown, Monty Alexander, Russell Malone self titled disc. I can still recall hearing both this disc and SACD for the first time on an aisle end display at the late Circuit City using a Sony 5-disc changer and I forget the speakers. I was floored. I bought the player on the spot and the disc with it. That was many years ago, and the musicianship of these three still brings me immense pleasure. And with my current setup, I’m hearing this recording as if for the first time. What a great way for me to begin this evenings listening. #SACD #jazz #music #highresolutionaudio #digital #audio #stereo #Telarc #albumcover #album #highend #audiophile #microbrew #conehead #beer #zerogravitybrewery #relaxing #beverage #enjoyment https://www.instagram.com/p/BtRqfjZHFx9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i32rss8sxmzw

Starting the winding down of my day with The Modern Jazz Quartet’s album “Lonely Woman” in 24/192 MQA stereo off Tidal via Audirvana Pro 3. All I can say is “WOW!” For digital, this is among the best I’ve heard. No, it doesn’t equal the vinyl LP (which I have), but it comes closer than many analogoplogists would be comfortable with. For those MQA doubters, listen to this through a good MQA DAC and keep an open mind (I know, I know, not easy for an audiophile to do). The snap of the drum, the crystalline clarity of the vibes, and the depth and heft of the bass are outstanding. #MQA #tidal #streaming #highresolutionaudio #24/192 #jazz #music #audio #album #stereo #highend #audiophile #digitalmusic https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq-0Fn0Afg-/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=29amnouqh4e7

Closing out day number one of my weekend with one of my wife’s free Trapping Brewery beers (this time their Dunkel). Not a huge fan of dark beers, but free is free and this isn’t a heavy dark beer. Plus it’s goes well opposite the lighthearted music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his “Gran Partita” on the Tacet label in high resolution Blu-Ray (24/96). I’ve had a soft spot for this work since I first heard it in the movie “Amadeus.” No, good as the performance is, it’s no Marriner, a bit to slow for my tastes, but the Stuttgart Winds do a more than acceptable job. The real treat here is the sound. Tacet and their use of tube mikes and the care they put into each recording guarante an excellent recording, whether you’re listening in stereo (as I am) or multichannel. Great way to close a day. #Blu-Ray #classical #mozart #kv608 #entertainment #highresolutionaudio #audio #album #highend #digital #stereo #24/96 #audiophile https://www.instagram.com/p/Bocp9ayDWhm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ce5zw3s3cm0i

Open my weekend (we’ll, it’s my weekend) evening listening session with this SACD. Not much I can add to just how great this album is. If you don’t know by now, there no hope. Perhaps THE rock classic of all time. And yes, the SACD in stereo sounds great. No, what I really wanted to say tonight was how new this album sounds through my Magneplanar 1.7i’s. I’m hearing detail ( of both the macro and micro variety) through the Maggie’s that is both eye opening and astounding. If anyone try’s to tell you Maggie’s can’t rock, they’ve not heard these new Magneplanar models (I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m guessing the .7, 3.7i, 20.7, and the new 30.7 rock just as hard or harder). No, I’m not being gut blasted by bass - that no real anyway - but I am getting bass that’s deep, tight, and sets the perfect foundation for the music. And the sound effects? Ask me about the sound effects? “Money” just started and the sound of the coins and cash register are crystal clear. I am astounded every day I listen to my new 1.7i’s with the way they reproduce my music (and I’m extremely catholic in my musical tastes so my speakers need to be able to handle pretty much everything). They just disappear leaving only a wall of sound before me - but not a flat wall, one that expands in both width and depth depending on the recording. For two grand, heck, for twice that, I can’t think of a speaker I’d rather own (except a larger Maggie model). They are that good. If you’ve never heard a pair of Magneplanar speakers (of whatever size), you’re missing out. If you haven’t heard their updated lineup, you haven’t heard what Magneplanar’s are now capable of. You owe it to yourselves to at least hear a pair. You might be surprised at what follows you home....lol. Dark Side Of The Moon through my Magneplanar 1.7i’s is nearly the perfect way to open my evenings listening time. #SACD #rock #music #digital #highresolution #highresolutionaudio #stereo #album #pinkfloyd #audio #highend #magneplanar #magneplanarloudspeaker #1.7i #audiophile

The AK HC4 Portable DAC is a high-end portable Digital-to-Analog Converter and headphone amplifier. It’s the first in its series to offer both a balanced and unbalanced headphone jack on a single device. Equipped with the AK4493S DAC, the HC4 delivers exceptionally clear sound quality, with plenty of detail and resolution. It also features a detachable cable, allowing you to switch connector types as needed. The HC4 supports UAC1.0 for gaming use cases and is praised for its great sound and miniature size. It uses an AKM AK4493S DAC chip known for its improved noise control, lower power design, and ultra-precise amp design technology. It also supports native playback of high-resolution audio up to DSD256 and 32bit/384kHz PCM.

Time to ease into my Sunday morning. And what better way to gently wake up than with Jacintha singing James Taylor from her 2018 album “Fire & Rain” on the Groove Note label. Recorded by Michael C Ross, and mastered by Bernie Grundman, so you know the sonics are going to be superb (and they do not disappoint), but it’s Jacintha’s vocals that carry this album. Of course it doesn’t hurt that Groove Note lined up musicians who have actually played these songs with Taylor such as Lee Sklar, Dean Parks, Tim Pearce, Jim Cox, Russ Kunkel, and Charlie Bisharat, so the level of musicianship is top-o-the-line. While the melodies will be familiar, Jacintha’s presentation is her own, making this her album. Tribute yes, but not a copycat. I can’t recommend this hybrid stereo SACD highly enough (also available on vinyl). A perfect starting point for a lazy Sunday. After listening to this album, all I can say is, Jacintha, what’s next? #sacd #Jacintha #music #stereo #highresolutionaudio #highendaudio #digitalmusic #album #record #audiophilerecording #audiophile https://www.instagram.com/p/CB-sdXzJoWS/?igshid=1v7yrmwxmmzfa

One of the unsung gems of my SACD collection is this 1975 date on the old CTI label originally recorded by Rudy Van Gelder as remastered by Mobile Fidelity in 2003 feature guitarist Jim Hall with help from alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, trumpeter Chet Baker, pianist Roland Hanna, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Steve Gadd. The original album contained just four numbers, a Cole Porter number, two Hall originals, and a rearranging of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concerto De Aranjuez. This disc is filled out by two numbers from that session not used plus three alternate takes, so a full portion of this wonderfully simpatico group. Sound is upfront, tonally accurate, and with a good sense of width (not much depth though). Still, Mo-Fi’s Shawn Britton did the best he could, and the results are quite pleasing. The sound never gets in the way of the music, and the music doesn’t obscure the sound - pretty much how it should be. An excellent album that I highly recommend. #sacd #jazz #digitalmusic #highresolutionaudio #album #music #audio #highendaudio #stereo #audiophilerecording #audiophile https://www.instagram.com/p/CBvnnS-pQft/?igshid=g5k2s3xn7v3j