Stereophile -- Northern California Audio Show and Blue Coast World

The Second (Northern) California Audio Show Starts Friday

By Jason Victor Serinus • Posted: Jul 11, 2011

The pendulum has swung back to the West Coast. Just one week after the Capital AudioFest, three weeks after AXPONA NYC, and six weeks after T.H.E. Show Newport Beach, the second California Audio Show is set to begin. Scheduled for July 15–17 in the Crowne Plaza SFO in Burlingame, the show is located just minutes from San Francisco Airport, a few giant steps from a major freeway, a free shuttle ride away from the airport's BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) stop, and an eight-minute walk from CalTrain's Broadway Station. Show organizer Constantine Soo, founder and editor of Dagogo.com, reports that the show currently promises 42 rooms of various sizes, all with active exhibits playing music. The list of exhibitors and brands, complete with a generous helping of California retailers, service providers, and distributors, includes a host of companies whose equipment resides in the homes and dreams of Stereophile readers.
Especially enticing are the seminars from Acoustic Science Corporation, Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Cookie Marenco's Blue Coast World, and MIT Cables (aka Music Interface Technologies). The latter two will attempt to look into the audiophile crystal ball, with MIT's "The Past, Present, and Future of High-Resolution Audio" coming directly after Marenco's "DSD—Then, Now, and Tomorrow."
Marenco's DSD seminar dovetails with the launch of Channel D's DSD-equipped Pure Music v1.8 computer playback software and the expected California Audio Show preview of Sonic Studio's forthcoming Amarra 2.3 with its own set of DSD features. Chris Connaker of ComputerAudiophile.com will join Marenco to co-moderate a panel that includes original members of the Sony DSD design team, Gus Skinas of the Super Audio Center, Leslie Ann Jones of Skywalker Sound, and legendary Telarc engineer Michael Bishop of Five/Four Productions.
On an extraordinary system assembled by Tim Marutani Consulting for Blue Coast World in the Plaza Ballroom 1, Bishop will play many of his live-to-stereo DSD masters, including previews of new Five/Four direct-to-DSD masters and new FIM re-releases of great Telarc titles. State-of-the-art equipment from Magico, TAD, Constellation Audio, Continuum Audio Labs, and Bottlehead will unite with a cutting edge computer and reel-to-reel playback set-up. Expect a first hearing of Merging Technologies' new Emotion high-end media server. The Swiss company, known for its award-winning Pyramix Digital Audio Workstation, has for the first time managed to embed its DAW Audio Engine in a stereo, multi-channel, and multi-zone Media Server that handles PCM, DXD, and DSD.
Marutani also promises to showcase Bill Schnee's Bravura Records live-to-two-channel, 192/24 recordings and Reference Recordings' HRx 176.4/24 masters. He will even offer sneak previews of RR's forthcoming Reference Mastercuts LPs. Marenco, in turn, will also offer the show's only live performances, which she will record direct-to-DSD twice daily and upload for immediate free DSD downloading. These performances were packed at the 2010 California Audio Show.
Bay Area and California retailers are also making a strong showing. AudioVision San Francisco, which sat out last year's show, is sponsoring four different rooms, with gear from Devialet, KEF, Naim, Nola, Clearaudio Simaudio Moon, Dynaudio, Bel Canto, and Anthony Gallo sending a lot of music through Crystal Cable, Nordost, Shunyata, and Cardas.
"This is actually low key for us," AudioVision co-owner Randy Johnson explains. "We first opened the shop when Stereophile held its show in San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel. We had nine rooms, which put us on the map. We're never going to attempt something like that again!"
Hardly on the sidelines, the two rooms from Music Lovers Audio Video of San Francisco and Berkeley promise Wilson, Ayre, and a whole lot more. Audio Image Ltd. of Oakland, Soundscape of Santa Rosa, Loggie Audio of Redwood City, Angel City Audio of Rancho Cucamonga, Audible Arts of Campbell, High Value AV of Santa Cruz, and Bob Hodas Acoustic Analysis of Berkeley (pairing Focal with VTL) are some of the other California Dealers who will tout premium value equipment. In addition, from the Northwest, Puget Sound Studios will play some of its fine masterings of classic and new recordings. Apologies to anyone I've missed.
Soo may not be bringing a wine show, cigar show, classic car show, and pornography convention to Burlingame, but he is enticing people with great sound and astoundingly low admission rates. Online pre-registrants can attend all three days for $10; those who buy tickets at the door will shell out a hardly gargantuan $20 for a three-day pass.
Bay Area jazz station KCSM-FM will have a live booth at the show. Every hour, they'll interview attendees, and invite audio reviewers to answer questions from their listening audience.
"We're trying to bring fresh blood to the hotel," says Soo. "Our goal is to reach a music-loving public. I want to give people an opportunity to experience this hobby and passion of ours."
To ensure that your window on the show is just as fresh, Stephen Mejias will be blogging for Stereophile. Stay tuned.

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Rob Ickes on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine!

Coming soon!  The whole article.
We're proud of Blue Coast Artist, Rob Ickes, for making the cover of Guitar Player magazine, August 2011!  Congratulations!

Jean-Claude Reynaud poursuit l'aventure du son

12 juillet 2011 | 04h00
Mis à jour | 09h34

Sud

Barbezieux: Jean-Claude Reynaud poursuit l'aventure du son

Jean-Claude Reynaud est désormais seul à la tête de la fabrique d'enceintes de Barbezieux. Son objectif: conjuguer fidélité de la marque et modernité.

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Jean-Claude Reynaud, venu au son par son propre chemin, a la même obsession de la fidélité que son père. C'est à lui désormais de trouver de nouvelles voies.Photo CL

Jean-Marie Reynaud est mort le 31 mars dernier. Le «sorcier de Barbezieux» était reconnu comme le créateur génial des enceintes qui portent son nom. Aujourd'hui, Jean-Claude, son fils de 42 ans, reprend le flambeau. Il est PDG de l'entreprise depuis février dernier, deux mois avant la mort de son père. «C'est une très grande charge» reconnaît-il, incapable après le décès de son père «d'écouter de la musique pendant plus d'un mois». Jean-Claude est le fils naturel et spirituel de Jean-Marie. Enfant, il a joué dans l'atelier de son père. Plus grand, il a découvert son laboratoire, qui l'émerveillait, avec des boutons partout. Sa première chaîne hi-fi à onze ans, impressionnait ses copains. Il est aussi le fils spirituel en devenant un passionné de la qualité du son. Un obsédé de la fidélité restituée.
Deux parcours, le même objectif

Mais il a tracé son propre sillon. Il a plaqué l'école en terminale. Il a forcé les portes des studios d'enregistrement pour devenir ingénieur du son à Bordeaux et Paris. Il a poursuivi l'aventure dans les studios de San Francisco où il a créé un label. Il a imaginé des méthodes pour spatialiser le son, tout en collaborant avec l'Institut de recherche et coordination accoustique-musique (Ircam) de Boulez. De loin en loin, le père et le fils travaillaient, chacun à sa manière, sur la même matière. Leurs retrouvailles professionnelles semblaient inscrites. Et c'est parce que son père envisageait de vendre qu'il est revenu pour intégrer l'entreprise en 2005, en tant que simple technico-commercial. «On en a parlé pendant deux ans. Il n'était pas très chaud et pas sûr de l'avenir de l'entreprise. Il voulait me protéger.» Les deux hommes ont travaillé côte à côte pendant cinq ans. «J'apportais mon regard extérieur. Je voulais des produits plus dynamiques, plus vivants» se souvient Jean-Claude Reynaud. Il a fouillé dans les trésors enfouis de son père. «Il n'a jamais cessé d'inventer. Parfois il avait laissé tomber dans l'oubli des concepts très intéressants.»
Comme l'enceinte murale plate imaginée par le père une quinzaine d'années avant. «Mais à l'époque les gens voulaient toujours des enceintes de plus en plus grosses. Ils ne croyaient pas en son concept qui remettait en cause certaines idées.»

Cap sur le numérique

Jean-Claude Reynaud a remis au goût du jour le principe de mise en tension des haut-parleurs pour éviter les transmissions vibratoires à l'ébénisterie, et donc limiter la distorsion tout en améliorant la dynamique. «En fait une enceinte contrairement à ce que l'on croit, c'est tout sauf une caisse de résonance» précise Jean-Claude. Dans la famille Reynaud, l'enceinte est d'abord un objet au service de la fidélité. «Au-delà de la bande passante, il faut rester attentif au battement de l'air entre les instruments, être toujours au plus près de la vérité des timbres. Les ingénieurs sont capables de faire des enceintes parfaites techniquement. Ce sont toutes les mêmes, trop neutres, sans couleur, sans émotion, ni personnalité» explique le fils. La perfection d'un objet, en apparence si simple, se glisse d'abord dans les détails. Ainsi on utilise une même planche de médium pour la réalisation de toute l'ébénisterie. Chaque haut-parleur, construit en sous-traitance selon un cahier des charges précis, est rodé sur place avant d'être monté. Jean-Claude Reynaud a introduit l'utilisation d'éléments viscoélastiques qui ont la propriété de transformer l'énergie vibratoire en chaleur et donc de la neutraliser. On n'utilise pas n'importe quelle peinture pour les haut-parleurs, «elle peut changer de matière drastique la qualité restituée», raconte-t-il. Une obsession de la perfection qui n'est pas si loin de celle du père.
A lire en intégralité dans votre CL d'aujourd'hui

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Tim Marutani Consulting / Blue Coast World Plaza 1 Ballroom from Tim Marutani Consulting

For Immediate Release

Tim Marutani Consulting / Blue Coast World

Plaza 1 Ballroom

California Audio Show by Dagogo, July 15-17, 2011

Crowne Plaza SFO, 1177 Airport Boulevard. Burlingame, CA

Emeryville, CA  •  6/27/11 • Tim Marutani Consulting, in association with Blue Coast Records founder and engineer, Cookie Marenco, has assembled a state-of-the-art sound system for the Crowne Plaza SFO Hotel’s Plaza 1 Ballroom. The three-day display will include live performances, which Marenco will record direct-to-DSD twice daily and upload immediately for free DSD downloading. Question and answer periods will follow each recording session.

Marutani Consulting has also arranged a host of panel presentations. Thanks to Concord Music Group, First Impression Music, and Five/Four Productions, Michael Bishop, co-founder of Five/Four Productions, will play many of his live-to-stereo DSD masters. Selections will include new FIM re-releases of great Telarc Records DSD titles as well as previews of previously unheard Five/Four direct-to-DSD masters.  

Bishop, former chief engineer at Telarc Records, has been privileged to record icons of the music industry for over thirty years. His releases have helped define the sound of popular, jazz, blues, and classical music for the record-buying public. For his efforts, he has received nine Grammy Awards, Japan’s Grand Prix Award, Gramophone Magazine’s Record of the Year; and multiple Surround Music Magazine and RIAA Platinum Album awards.  

On Friday and Saturday, another industry leader, Grammy and Emmy award-winning producer and engineering veteran, Bill Schnee, will present live-to-two-channel, 24-192k recordings of several artists featured on his new audiophile label, Bravura Records. Schnee produced and engineered many of the legendary Sheffield Lab direct-to-disc recordings, including those of Thelma Houston, James Newton Howard and Friends, The Drum Record, The Track Record, etc. Grammy nominated eleven times for Best Engineered Album, he has over 135 Gold and Platinum albums to his credit. Bravura Records’ new breathtakingly live, high-resolution studio recordings must be heard to be believed!

Randomly throughout the show, Marutani will play Reference Recordings 2-channel DSD and high-resolution PCM masters (in HRx 176.4 kHz/24 bit format). In addition, attendees will hear sneak previews of vinyl test pressings of upcoming Reference Mastercuts LPs. Since 1976, Reference Recordings has produced outstanding audiophile-class classical and jazz releases engineered by the legendary “Prof.” Keith Johnson. Johnson has received the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album as well as 8 Grammy nominations for Best Engineering.

Tim Marutani Consulting’s state-of-the-art main system in the Plaza 1 Ballroom will include Magico Model Q5 Loudspeakers ($59,500/pair); Constellation Audio Altair linestage preamplifier ($65,000); Constellation Audio Hercules power amplifiers ($140,000/pair); Continuum Audio Labs turntable system ($100,000); and a computer source consisting of a Zalman TNN300 with no moving parts and external supply, Win XP,  Pyramix 6, and  Mykerinos card ($10,000). Also featured are a Mike Spitz ATR102 ½”, ½ track with Mike Spitz hybrid repro using copies from running masters (n/a); Pacific Microsonics Model Two converter for 1x, 2x, and 4x LPCM files (n/a); and Merging Technology DSD DAC (n/a).

The room’s second reference system will include Technical Audio Devices (TAD) Model CR1 Compact Reference loudspeakers ($37,000); Constellation Audio’s not-yet-released or priced Performance Series linestage preamplifier ($TBD) and stereo 250 watt power amp ($TBD); and other outstanding equipment.

Separately, Blue Coast World will host a panel entitled DSD -- Then, Now and Tomorrow. Scheduled for Saturday July 16, 1-3pm in the Peninsula Ballroom, it will be moderated by Marenco and Chris Connaker of Computer Audiophile.

The panel will include original members of the Sony DSD design team. Speakers will provide a history of the DSD recording format, and explain how it led to the development of SACD discs and high-resolution data files. Guest speakers include Gus Skinas of the Super Audio Center, Leslie Ann Jones of Skywalker Sound, and Michael Bishop, with others to be announced.

For further information, please contact Tim Marutani Consulting at tim@marutaniconsulting.com or (510) 652-1911.

Blue Coast Collection 2 debuts to Fans only and gets First Review!

Before we could get a link up on the Blue Coast Records website, Our Music Lover friend, Morten Teinum posted this wonderful photo and review of the recording.  Thanks Morten!
http://mortenteinum.blogspot.com/2011/07/blue-coast-collection-2.html
He has a beautiful blog, Check it out!

Blue Coast Collection 2

Finally!



It was supposed to be released last spring, but now it's here, and it's good. There will be multiple releases of this record. First out is download editions including 44kHz /16 bit, 96kHz / 24 bit, and the most exciting, DSDIFF files. You can also buy a promo CD, but that is a gift if you get one of the download editions (valid if you purchase a download edition in July). In september a Hybrid SACD is released.

DSDIFF or Direct Stream Digital Interchange File Format, is a file container for the format used on the SACD layer, and most likely will the SACD edition and DSDIFF be the same, except you can't rip the SACD. You can play DSDIFF files using Korg AudioGate (mac/win). There is also a DSDIFF plugin for foobar2000 (win) that will play these files without a problem.

Pure Music from Channel D (mac) is also an option.

AudioGate can convert DSDIFF files to multiple formats including flac and Apple Lossless up to 192kHz / 24bit.

On the picture above I have made a 96 kHz / 24bit copy that I can play through a SqueezeBox / Benchmark DAC.

Sonics

As expected, this is the top of the line. The music is recorded live without overdubs, digital effects and so on, and is wonderfully captured by Cookie Marenco.

This is a no-brainer - get this one:

bluecoastrecords.downloadsnow.net/

Lagt inn av Morten Teinum kl. 7:43 PM