Tidal > FiiO Q7 > ZMF Atrium LTD
2 Likes
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 - V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat (Larghetto - Allegro -... - YouTube A little Dies Irae anyone? https://music.amazon.com/albums/B096VC7LT2?trackAsin=B096VCNX7Z&ref=dm_sh_1833-6081-3836-ae69-9b97d
or whatever service. Dudamel live is always emotional and exciting. And that
L. A. bass drum is always special!
Sometimes I stumble upon an artist whose music is transformative, drawing me in ⊠forgetting anything but the music. A purely mindful experience. Seeing Tommy Emmanuel live was an experience like that. Today I was introduced to the music of Esther Abrami and felt that same joy. I hope you do too!
1 Like
@NiteRiter Nice, creative, thanks. Like the Swan Lake with the setting and dancer, though Iâve never heard it in Cminor before. 
Decided to have a classical day today. In a stroke of great timing, This just got released. Apparently itâs a limited run. I swear, this lady has captivating talent. Plus we have the Berliner Philharmoniker and the great Herbert von Karajan. I am glad to have found it!
I donât know how they did it, but the sound quality is remarkable, even though these pieces were originally released in the late 70âs and 80âs. I just know itâs been a great afternoon taking them in. Always excellent on speakers, too.
AMHD > Douk U2 Pro > Schiit BF2 > Singxer SA-1 Pre > SMSL DA-9 > BR02 w/REL Tzero mkiii sub
1 Like
As I play with my new headphones, the matter of âwill it do classical wellâ has approached. And I can say without dubiety that yes, yes they can! Better than I ever could have imagined. Beethoven has never sounded better. I am Currently reveling in this masterpiece.
AMHD > Douk U2 Pro > Schiit Bifrost 2 > Cavalli Liquid Platinum > HiFIMAN HE1000 V2 Stealth
2 Likes
AMHD says a June, 2023 release. NiceâŠbig Yuja fan here, lol.
This is awesome. Wish it were better recorded, but still.
1 Like
Newest Yuja video. Donât see her breâak a sweat very oftenâŠmustâve been
the hot lighting, lol. She is always amazing. 
1 Like
A little something I find to be really enjoyable!
Live today at 1pm. CDT.
I am working from home today, so I get to spend some quality time with the desktop system. On the speaker setup! I donât get to do this a whole lot, so Iâm diggin it. And everyone else is away, so I get to enjoy it a little bit more today!
I had some nice Indie Folk going while I worked, but now I have a craving, so Iâm gonna take a nice break and enjoy this wonderful performance by Hilary Hahn. Just beautiful.
I always enjoy watching her work. I love how she engages with the players behind her. This a great piece of music, too.
3 Likes
OK, Iâm excited! Just released apparently! All 4 concertos and the Paganini Variations in One album! Canât wait to get into this one!
Also a review (and an announcement I was not aware of.)
Dudamel and Yuja Wang lead an exceptional Rachmaninoff fest - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
PS Some YT video excerpts available as well.
2 Likes
Can I share a story with yâall about this disc and the music?
An uncle gave me this CD and a couple of others on Christmas when I was maybe 15 or 16 - before I even had a CD player! I managed to hang onto the discs until I got a player, listened to them often, and they are still in my collection today.
By coincidence, a few years later I was a member of my university orchestra (not the elite philharmonia group, but the âlower levelâ orchestra - only three flutes in an orchestra, and competition was fierce) and we played both of these pieces. I mean, maybe not that much of a coincidence, given the ubiquity of these symphonies, but still. The conductor was a condescending, intimidating tyrant (I know, shocker, right?) who likely killed much of my interest in orchestral playing, but it was still a magical experience to take part in creating this music.
After another few years I was in graduate school at a university with no string program. They shipped in string players from a nearby city orchestra once a year so the wind and percussion students could have the opportunity to play in an orchestra. The flute player a year ahead of me got to play Dvorakâs 7th, and I was stuck playing⊠wait for it⊠Beethovenâs 5th again.
Fast forward 20+ years to today, and I listened to the Schubert again: Beyer DT 880 600⊠< Cayin HA-1A Mk II (stock tubes) < Denafrips Ares II < NAD CD transport via optical digital out. I burned out on the Beethoven long ago (I mean, weâve all heard/played it how many times? The closest I get these days is Walter Murphyâs âA Fifth of Beethovenâ), but I still love Schubertâs âUnfinishedâ deeply. Nanutâs tempos are a bit sluggish for me, but still, that second movement touches me in ways that few things can.
Do yâall have struggles with dynamic range in recorded art music? For me itâs been (and continues to be) a search for clearly hearing without straining the softest parts and not being offended by the loudest parts. I shouldnât have to make multiple volume knob adjustments, but I usually end up doing so. I think a lot of what I look for in audio gear is effortlessness. Straining to hear things is the worst - it really pisses me off. I donât know if this makes me a âdetail-head,â but I just want to be fully immersed in the music without 1) struggling to pick things out and 2) being blasted into hearing loss. Look at Schubert - it doesnât take long to go from the faintest murmurs in the low strings (somehow menacing and mournful at the same time) to the horns hitting terrifying sfz dissonances that have me reaching for the volume knob. The price we pay for âthinking peopleâsâ music, I guess. 
2 Likes
@AllegroMaestoso Wonderful story, thank you! We didnât have an orchestra at my HS, but our band
played that SchubertâŠI remember the clarinets struggling to play
the beginning string passageâŠpoor things, lol. I played both these pieces many times, later with orchestras. I played all percussion but was primarily a timpanist.
Coincidentally Iâve been thinking about sharing stories like this as well⊠we can just do it here with emphasis on the classical road we travelled, since this
thread I started is rather niche (sigh) and lightly visited.
That same band director took us to an area college 2 yrs in a row to hear
our first live orchestras. First was (then called) the Minneapolis symphonyâŠ
they did Petrouchka and I was hooked on orchestral percussion bigtime!
Next was the St. Louis Symphony, they did Pictures at an Exhibition and
the die was cast!
I have found that getting the Bifrost/Asgard combination with a Nordost usb
cable removed a lot of harshness and digital glare and made those dynamic
range swings more enjoyable. Then thereâs invividual hearing quirks, lol. I have mineâŠrt ear tends to distort loud strings (old diving accident that I have
had to learn to hear with.)
PS https://youtu.be/Y0Wzi37g2RQ I like this Schubert on AMHDâŠsee what you think.
2 Likes
@AllegroMaestoso Interesting story. Too bad about that conductor though.
A few years ago I picked up a few of those Vienna Master Series CDâs at a rummage sale.
My interest in classical music began when I was maybe 10-12 years old. This was long before we had cable or satellite TV, and all my family could get on the antenna was 4 or 5 stations. One of them was WFUM-TV28, my local PBS station from the University of Michigan.
On Saturday nights, I think, they would play classical concerts and I would always enjoy them, not knowing anything from anything. All I knew was that the music tickled my ears and I liked it.
Then at some point I ended up with a few cassettes of Tchaikovsky and I would play them frequently. I may have had Beethoven too, but I knew that Tchaikovsky was the one I liked better.
I still love classical music today, but it gets intermingled with all my other music playing. Of all my family, friends and co-workers, I am the only one I know who likes classical music.
2 Likes
@AllegroMaestoso Feel like I owe you a more reflective comment. I was glad
to see a story and more than just a shared music picture (which are always
great to discover.) Certainly that conductor didnât help your love of music, as @SandboxGeneral pointed out. I had several myself, as well as those who
really knew how to Encourage their students!
As to your issue with dynamicsâŠthe gear I mentioned definitely helped me as
I went from a Topping E30 and JDS Atom to that upgrade. I also enjoy my DT880/600, especially given more power with the G111 now. (Sundaras too.) Certainly underpowering it is not an issue for you, and I would imagine youâve tried other headphones, which I guess leaves individual hearing factors.?? Perhaps others with wider gear experience can offer an explanation or solution. Let us know if you find some answers.
2 Likes
Upcoming live YT. 9/7/23 Noon CDT