Not Direct

I started this morning with the Glenn Gould Bach English and French Suites again, on the ripped file from the cd that I own, taking up where I left off, with English Suite No. 6 in D-,  BWV 111. I wasn't really looking forward to it, hadn't been enjoying this set nearly as much as him playing the Mozart Sonatas, though I couldn't put my finger on why. I enjoy Bach (maybe not as much as Wolfgang). 

Then I remembered that I had switched the software, Audirvana Plus, to access the DAC using the "direct" method, rather than going through Apple's CoreAudio software library. A couple of weeks ago when I installed this software I played around with this setting and found that using "direct" sounded funny but couldn't put my finger on exactly why. But I turned it back on because the manual said it was best. 

This morning after the first movement I stopped the playback and turned the "direct" setting off. I started the second movement. Wow, what a difference! It sounded like Glenn Gould again! Couldn't believe the difference. It was like it was dead before, and now came alive. I remembered why I liked him playing the Mozart so much -- you could hear the life in the recording. I restarted the piece from the beginning because I wanted to hear what the first movement really sounded like.

Don't know why this setting should make such a difference, but software is a complicated business. I use an optical cable to connect my MacBook Pro to the DAC, rather than the more commonly used USB interface. Maybe that makes a difference (though it shouldn't). Whatever the reason, I will keep using this setting turned off. Makes me wonder how good CoreAudio must be, and what the music coming out of Windows computers sounds like. I know that underlying audio software on Macs is better than Windows, because in Windows you often need to add drivers to use high performance DAC's, whereas in Macs you don't. 

Anyway, after I listened to BWV 111 and 112, I played another Beethoven sonata, actually the same one I played yesterday, the Waldstein, Sonata No. 21 in C, Op. 53. I mentioned yesterday that I have been going through the sonatas and playing mostly Andras Schiff, but that there were over 60 artists listed with recordings. So I tried another, the very first that comes up, Wilhelm Kempff. Good, accurate, but the banging on the repeated high note in the last movement hurt my ears. 

Papa Haydn

Feeling in a kind of out of sorts mood this morning. Wan't going to play anything, but thought, hey, if it can make me feel better, why not try? 

I keep a few tabs opened to different composers or albums I'm going through in ClassicalArchives. I have one for the Haydn Symphonies. It's been a while since I've played those, and his music is simple and almost always positive and light, so I continued my perusal with the next up, Symphony number 19 in D, Hob.I:19. I chose, and have been choosing almost from the beginning, Christopher Hogwood conducting the Academy of Ancient Music. As it started playing it seemed awfully bright and simple (as I told myself it would be), but darned if it didn't start to get me out of my funk. I played two more in sequence, no. 20 and 21, also by Hogwood. These are short pieces, all three played in around 45 minutes. 

After breakfast I sat in the den and played a Beethoven piano sonata. I also have a tab for these. I was up to No. 21 in C, Op. 53 "Waldstein". I've been listening to Andras Schiff. I just counted, ClassicalArchives has over 60 different pianists to choose from! I guess I should try somebody else, but I do like Schiff.

Funny, as I began playing (that is, "clicking on") the Beethoven my wife said she'd just been thinking about that piece. So we were both happy.

Too Much Music

I had too much new music yesterday. I received the set of Glenn Gould playing Bach's English Suites and  French Suites which contains 4 cd's, and I also decided to buy the high definition download of Martin Frost playing Mozart. I didn't previously have any clarinet music, and was enamored of this disc after viewing the promo video on the eClassical web site.

The video is well done, the playing is beautiful and it's Mozart pieces I mostly hadn't heard before. 

I really like high def downloads because they sound so good! This was was not exception; the playing is terrific too.

The Gould Bach takes a little getting used to. You have to be in the mood for Bach, and for me that's usually early in the morning. Late in the day, which is when I installed these discs into iTunes, it's more of a musical stretch. But I labored with it. And I had to labor with iTunes too because it put the 4 discs into a set of two, doubling up the track numbers for each disc. It took me a good 15 minutes to manually straighten everything out so it shows up as 4 discs with the proper tracks in each disc. 

The Gould recordings are also old. The sound is not up to today's standards. I turned down the treble a bit because the piano hurt my ears. Still, I'm sure it will grow on me. I have to admit that one of my most favorite sets I own is Glenn Gould playing the Mozart piano sonatas. I spent a year listening to it on Classical Archives before getting a cd copy. I still listen and it's still a treat. He's so original and precise and outrageous in his playing. It's inspiring, he's fearless.

I watched the documentary "Genius Within" about Glenn Gould on Netflix a few years ago. It really shows you what his life was like. Very well done.

I backed up up my computer yesterday, because I've been adding so much music lately I was getting nervous about losing something. That's the downside of using computers to play music. Still I think the benefits outweigh.

This morning's breakfast concert included more Bach English Suites by Gould, and Dvorak's String Quartet No. 12 in F Major "American" Op. 96. This is a high def file and sounds it. 

Finishing up

I finished up listening to the Bach Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord which I began yesterday. They're wonderful. I heard the last piece, Violin Sonata No. 6 in G, BWV 1019. The disc comes with extensive notes, written by the harpsichordist Peter Watchorn, who also happens to be a founder of the record company that published it, Musica Omnia. I found it hard to read while listening, so I put it away for later. The music is just too beautiful to ignore. (I was able to eat breakfast while listening. Nothing interferes with eating!)

Hearing music like this makes all the trouble I've taken setting up the HiFi worth it. It does make me feel a bit smug. I can live with that.

I didn't realize until reading the notes for the cd that these sonatas are thought of so highly. Bach wrote a lot of music, and I guess I have some major gaps in my listening.

I also finished the Schumann disc from yesterday, hearing Robert Schumann's Piano Trio No. 3 in G-, Op. 110. It's fine, a bit depressing. I like the Clara Schumann trio I heard yesterday better. Maybe because it's more of a morning piece, more upbeat. The Robert Schumann stuff is more sad, harder to take first thing in the day. This disc also comes with extensive notes, which I have yet to read.

Next I listened to Beethoven's 8th Symphony. I really enjoy this set with Frans Bruggen conducting the Orchestra of the 18th Century. Even over the mp3 stream (I don't own this set yet) the drums and basses sound really full. The first time I played one of these Beethoven Symphonies (I think the 4th) I was stunned by how much drums there were (timpani). I'd never heard it like that before. Changed my idea of the piece altogether. Much more fun. 

I read a review of this cd set that was a bit tepid, but I've been enjoying it a lot. Sometimes the tempos are a bit different from the usual, but the sound is very fine.

I am currently listening to an exploration of all the Beethoven symphonies by Robert Greenberg. They are published by the Teaching Company; I purchased it from Audible.com. This is the second course I've heard from Greenberg. I also listened to How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd edition. I recommend both whole heartedly. Mr. Greenberg knows his stuff and his delivery is light enough and fun enough to keep going through what are quite long sets. The Beethoven is 24 hours, the Great Music set is over 36 hours. I listen while exercising or driving. 

After the Beethoven I tried hearing some Schubert, but I guess I'd had enough and should have stopped there. All in all a good listening morning which left me happy and satisfied. 

A Bach kind of morning

Got two new cds in the mail yesterday. One is J.S.Bach Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014-1019.

J.S.Bach Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord

 The other is Robert and Clara Shumann Piano Trios, Op. 17, 88 and 110.

Schumann Piano Trios

When I purchase cds I rip them using iTunes to the Apple Lossless format before playing them. I almost never play the actual cd on a cd player, because then I wouldn't get to listen using the software on the Mac and the wonderful DAC (see previous post) which makes everything sound so good.

The Bach is a two cd set and lasted way past breakfast. At first I was put off, thinking, oh no I've wasted more money on something I will only listen to once. "It's not interesting enough." But after maybe half an hour, either the music got more interesting or something happened to me because it became more than just a background drone of simple Bach but a subtle interplay between the single violin and harpsichord that my ears enjoyed the more they heard. It's like I got used to the sound and following and anticipating the flow of the musical lines and felt motion in the music and in me.

I finally stopped it after about an hour and a half. There was still some music left to play on the second cd (iTunes just keeps playing all the tracks in the set) but I had enough for one morning.

I had heard the piano trio by Clara Schumann before, on ClassicalArchives.com. I just played the first movement, the 10 minute Allegro Moderato. It sounded great from the uncompressed file from the cd.

I often will order cd's I like after hearing them first on ClassicalArchives. It's a fabulous resource for finding new stuff and listening to things you might not buy but want to hear. They have so much music available and it's sorted by composer and artist and work. You can play a single movement, an entire work or the whole cd. You can choose which artist to choose for any work they have. Some popular pieces have many artists and recordings to choose from. It's really terrific.

Here are the Bach Sonatas on ClassicalArchives.

Of course the stream from ClassicalArchives is in compressed mp3 format so isn't as perfect as listening to a cd or high definition download, but it's still very good.

Recently I installed a new piece of software for interacting between the iTunes library and the DAC. Audirvana Plus takes over completely playing the music, even skipping Apple's CoreAudio software and talking to the DAC directly, if you want it to. iTunes is still used for selecting what to play, but Audirvana plays the music. Sounds great and so far has been foolproof.

Listen to the music

The Blog

This is the first of what I hope will be an ongoing list of what I am listening to, why, and the effects of the music, along with other miscellaneous ramblings. I love music, can't ignore it, have strong likes and dislikes, enjoy listening in depth and at length especially when there's something special about the music or performer.

Why Listen?

Music may be the most subtle and profound of the arts. A melody lasts a few seconds and then it is gone. Where did it go? Music exists in time and space. The more material arts exist outside of time since they don't need a performer. You hang a painting, install a sculpture. But for music you need a performer. There is a starting and stopping point to the music; it is here and then instantly gone. Music needs time and you could say defines time using rhythms, time signatures and syncopation.

I listen to be affected by music. Each piece has its own ideas and mood and is the composer's attempt to create something beautiful or startling or new. A beautiful melody affects the listener, and in this way the listener takes an active role with the music. The composer creates and the listener is affected. 

Why Write?

There are two main reasons for writing about music I listen to:

1. Writing helps me explore things I feel and think about while listening and helps bring into consciousness what might be below the surface of my mind as the music plays.

2. Readers may be encouraged to do their own listening to these (primarily) "classical" pieces of music (not only musicology's Classical period, but art music that is generally thought of as "classical"). For many reasons this is a good thing. It exposes more people to good music they may not have heard, and encourages others to think about and be moved by music.

In addition, keeping a personal listening log helps me remember what I like and don't like, and tracks my own development as a music listener.

The HiFi

My stereo setup has improved over the last five or so years as I progressed to more serious listening. First I added a MacBook Pro computer to experiment with computer audio. I streamed music from the web as well as ripped cd's to iTunes. 

Next I bought my first DAC (digital to analog converter) to improve the sound coming out of the computer and going into the receiver. I started with a High Resolution Technologies Music Streamer II+. I liked the improved sound. After a few months I wanted more, so I bought HRT's Music Streamer III. The sound was even better.

Around this time I bought a software product for the Mac called Pure Music. It replaces the sound output from iTunes with its own audio system. Pure Music also automatically sets the DAC to the correct frequency for the music file that it is playing. This is necessary when playing multiple file types, some at 44.1 Kz (cd's and mp3's) and some at 88.2k or 96k which my DAC's also supported.

I started buying high definition music from two websites, HDTracks.com and eClassical.com. The music in a quality high def file sounds more like real music, more natural, more beautiful, easier on the ears, especially in orchestral music when there are many instruments playing at once. 

High definition doesn't only mean anything higher than 44.1 Kz (cd). The word size is also increased from 16 bits to 24 bits, giving a much wider range of numbers used to represent audio waves, making music sound better. In fact some files available are 44.1 x 24 bits and are considered (somewhat) high def. In 16 bits you can represent a number up to 65,535 but using 24 bits the number goes as high as 16,777,215, yielding more accuracy.

I began becoming unhappy with the amount of bass I was hearing in my system. My speakers were Definitive Technology's BP10's, which were purchased with an NAD 7240PE receiver. I used Pure Music to set an OSX CoreAudio equalization AudioUnit to increase the bass to a more realistic level. This was better. 

When the NAD 7240 began having problems in one channel, I decided to upgrade the 25 year old receiver. I was listening more and more, and felt I wasn't getting the full sound that was in the music, and it wasn't worth paying to fix the receiver. So I bought another NAD, the NAD C 375BEE integrated amplifier. Big improvement, also more heat. This is a big heavy amp.

That was good, but I still was unhappy with the amount of bass I was hearing. Using software for bass boost was ok, but didn't sound completely natural. So I tried yet another DAC.

Around this time many new DAC's were appearing on the market, many in the price range I wanted to spend. One which peaked my interest was the Schiit Bifrost. The price was right, it was built in the US and the scuttlebutt from reading audio forums was that it sounded good.

When I replace my old HRT with this new DAC I was stunned and thrilled. Now I had bass. I thought maybe it was my old BP10 speakers, maybe they were just weak in the low frequency range. But the Bifrost DAC made the music sound great, lows appeared when before there were few. I was really struck with how much better everything sounded. It was definitely the best bang for the buck since I started playing around with digital audio.

I turned off all the equalization in Pure Music, and also turned off upsampling (calculating mathematically to a higher bit rate) which I was also doing in Pure Music. Everything sounded great in its natural bit rate. 

I've had the Bifrost for a little over a year. There's been an internal upgrade to a better analog circuit (their Uber Analog). It still sounds very good.

Finally a few months ago I gave in (to myself) and bought new speakers. Speakers are probably the most important part of a high fidelity system. I liked my BP10's but thought "there must be more". I looked around (online), read Stereophile magazine, and decided that the KEF Q900 speakers had the right sound vs cost for me. I had previously bought some KEF M500 headphones, primarily for travel, and was very happy with them, so I was inclined to buy KEF again. 

When I first used the Q900 speakers, playing a high def recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, I was stunned. Finally I heard what the basses were playing, and it sounded (and felt) great. It totally changed my impressions of the recording and the symphony. Unless you get enough bass, music is just not music.

This is where I am today. It's a great system, sounds great and fun to use.