> How realistic does a drum kit sound? > Or a choir in full voice? > Or a solo piano?
These questions were serious, I would genuinely be interested to know - particularly how the Transporter does as I cannot afford the other items discussed. It requires one to listen in a slightly different way from the bass/treble, dull/bright, dynamic/compressed, wide/narrow, forward/recessed descriptions. You need to somehow put the "audio" to one side and listen to the instruments. Acoustic (or amplified) instruments are the best guide as one never really knows what a synthesiser is actually supposed to sound like! I listened in this way when picking my current amp in 1992. I tried integrated amps from the likes of Linn, Mission Cyrus, Audiolab and Rotel (all new) some had a superficially attractive "presentation" but the (second hand) Naim 42/110 was the only amp that got anywhere close to reproducing the full drama of a drum kit riff at full pelt or could play all the notes in a tune played on a bass guitar. Solo piano sounded positively weird on the Audiolab despite an appealing and "wide" soundstage. Piano sounded dry, unfocussed, flat - like listening to the instrument with a bad headache and ears blocked with water after a swim. The source was a Mission Cyrus two-box player (cannot remember the model) and the speakers were my own B&W DM110's on ear level stands in an acoustically treated listening room of a dealer. The acoustic was a bit "live" for my taste but it wasn't bad. It is quite handy to hear the real thing in a side-by-side comparison. The family upright piano is in the hall just outside my living room (listening room) and I have listened carefully to my son playing his Grade 2 pieces vs Barenboim playing Chopin on the hi-fi. I have to say my son sounds -much- more realistic ;) The Barenboim recording has more "percussive" sounds emphasising the clack of the keys and the initial strike of hammer on string. The central note and harmonics are much more dominant in the real thing, but then I have no idea how the recording was done. If they close miked under the open lid of a grand piano you definitely would hear more of the percussion element than through the closed lid of the upright. Barenboim's piano is in better tune than our old "joanna" however... I need to listen to a greater range of recordings to see how other pianos sound - but anyway, you get the idea. -- TheLastMan Matt *SqueezeBoxes:* SB Duet (Controller + two receivers) *Server:* Synology Diskstation 107+ NAS (with firmware 2.3-1157) running Squeezebox Server 7.5.0 on Synology Package Manager *Network:* Netgear DG834GT ADSL modem/router, 2 x Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 as access points *Livingroom:* Receiver into Naim 42/110 amp, B&W CM2 speakers *Kitchen:* Receiver into Denon DM37 mini-system, B&W 686 speakers *Study:* Linn LP12, Naim 72/Hi-cap/Headline. LPs ripped usingBehringer UCA202 USB into Windows XP PC ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TheLastMan's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=16021 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82155 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
