Rocky Montain Audio Fest 2009

[Rainer Weber]

Dear all,

first I would like to introduce myself:

My Name is Rainer Weber and I am the technical director of Kaiser Acoustics. (www.kaiser-acoustics.com)
Kaiser Acoustics manufactures the Kawero! speakers which some of you may have noted already.
This year we will exhibit at RMAF in Denver.
Our system will consist of
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Notebook (1TB harddisk), Vista 32 bit
xxhighend 0.9y-2
Weiss Minerva (as Firewire Interface) (www.weiss.ch)
GTE Trinity DAC (the best DAC I have ever heard) (www.gte-audio.com)
Absolare Pure Preamp
Mastersound 845 Monoblock signature edition (with a lot of Black Gate NOS caps, Kondo Tantalum resistors and many more tweaks)
All cables are Echole Obsession (www.echole.com)
If anyone of the xxhighend community would like to stop by and say hello, I would be glad to welcome him.

Best regards

Rainer Weber

[SeVeReD]

Very cool.  I'm thinking about making it out there; I've got some time off in early October.  If I go I'll be sure to drop by and say hi and listen.  Have you tried the latest versions of XXHE 9Y-3/9Y-3a?  I prefer Y-3a, but ....
If you're staying with 9Y-2 for a reason I'd love to know why and will go back and give it a listen.  Best of luck.
dave

[Rainer Weber]

Hi Dave,

that is very good news that you come to Denver.
The devices are already on their way (by air) to Denver, so testing and evaluating is a bit hard.

Regarding the versions we use:
With our setup and (0.9-y2) there was not so harsh highs as some claimed; I prefered Q1 set in the range of 7-9.
Of course the RAAL sandwich ribbon and Duelund CAST caps help a lot against harsh highs.
Otherwise I can state that I have never heard any digital better than with this amazing software.
But for shure we will test y-3a in Denver before the show as well and then decide.
We are thinking also of a shoot out between foobar and xxhighend. Maybe this will be an interesting thing for the guests at RMAF.
For my opinion it was very convincing to use xxhighend. xxhighend vs foobar is like 24/96 against mp3.


Best regards

Rainer

[SeVeReD]

Hi Dave,

that is very good news that you come to Denver.
The devices are already on their way (by air) to Denver, so testing and evaluating is a bit hard.

Regarding the versions we use:
With our setup and (0.9-y2) there was not so harsh highs as some claimed; I prefered Q1 set in the range of 7-9.
Of course the RAAL sandwich ribbon and Duelund CAST caps help a lot against harsh highs.
Otherwise I can state that I have never heard any digital better than with this amazing software.
But for shure we will test y-3a in Denver before the show as well and then decide.
We are thinking also of a shoot out between foobar and xxhighend. Maybe this will be an interesting thing for the guests at RMAF.
For my opinion it was very convincing to use xxhighend. xxhighend vs foobar is like 24/96 against mp3.

Best regards

Rainer

I don't really want to make you second guess yourself right before a show.  If it's working sound quality wise before sending it off, I'm sure it will sound wonderful at the show.  Nobody has explored all the Q options and settings, I know I haven't.  About the only thing I'm sure about is using XXHE in unattended mode and shutting off services.

[PeterSt]

Hi Rainer,

I want to congratulate you and your company with this "step" and the huge efforts going along with it. I think I know a bit what comes to it for preparation and everything (hey, do guys ever think about the mains voltage being different overthere ?). I sure hope it will be worth while.

As Dave said, be careful with changes at the very last moment, because very often any "change" is perceived as better at first, but may show wrong after a couple of days of listening. For the audioners though this is not relative to any before setup, and to them things will turn out to wrong or right in absolute sense. But, I'd still use 0.9y-3a ... (and note that you will have a day on your own at least).

Maybe you have already read it in here somewhere, but once you are used to the sound (there) a bit, don't hesitate to switch between Q2 and Q3 = 0 to both at 30. Use it on piano and perceive the difference. Keep in mind : all remains bit perfect. I don't say (and don't know) which setting is better, but there is a difference at least. If you are up to the Foobar comparison this may be something to keep in mind (to make the difference).




A word about the ribbons : I know the past days there has been a small discussion about ribbons possibly not being the best. I don't think this is true and merely think that ribbons are so much faster that any "distortion" fed to them, will be followed easily. This is not to be solved with "slower" stuff ...

For others : As Rainer will know by experience, but others maybe not ... the RAAL ribbons are the most fast on earth (well, probably), and what Rainer is implying is that any distortion by the speaker driver because everything in the chain up to that can follow, won't do so (distort) with these fast ribbons.
(read this again a couple of times if you can't follow, and sorry for my poor english).
What it always comes down to with digital, is that once a "distortion" of any kind is in the source (or in the DAC) things further down the chain may smear that (grayish sound) or do not smear and leave it up to the speaker drivers. When they can't follow you are better off. But this isn't right of course, and the whole chain must follow. When that happens, including the speaker drivers, the sound will get the most fragile because of it.
This works the other way around too; When the source carries inherent distortion (and for me XRCD comes to mind) this expresses like pure distortion when everything can follow. So, and it is just the example, where many may have the idea that XRCD sounds better, it just can't for theories because the distortion is just in there (this is about first boosting the level and next "smartly" cut the highest levels because they became too loud for digital -> look at such a file and you will know).

All means that you must be very careful with what you judge when things sound harsh. You'd have to know first about the quality of the file (hence digital mastering) which is not for everyone of course. With lots of experience you can just hear it, but this first needs the reference of how things sound when things are allright (and how do you know *that*).

All 'n all, what Rainer expressed by means of one sentence, must be seen in the context of thousands of hours of listening which happens at loudspeaker development, which (also) is a traject of slowly learning which distortion is actually caused by what. This really comes down to not being able to proceed at some stage, learning that the amplifiers are not capable (to mention a random reason).
Now, a stupid (and I don't think recognized) phenomenon which is the best measure out of anything else is : perceiving standing waves or not. Not only at the lowest levels (like 25Hz from Rainer's speakers), but also everywhere else throughout the spectrum (buzzing sound). I *know* that XXHighEnd completely eliminates this (read : no bass traps or curtains against high frequency reflections needed), but I wonder whether Rainer experienced the same. I again *know* that any mismatching amplifier will bring that back, which by means of that becomes a pure and most simple measure once you have the reference. Of course when the room is treated in the first place one wouldn't notice this.

Rainer, on this matter you should have an advantage at ending up in any random "not sounding" room at RMAF.

Regards,
Peter

[Gerner]

Hi Peter old pal...

Very good and honest reply to Rainer who's a close friend of mine.

I recomended him the XX being the best SW palyer available, if he could live with some up-grades from time to time.

But still I mean your player is awsomely good.

The C-player has become more popular around over time, but nehhhh....not IMO.

Dear Rainer and Peter...I hope you will join the pleasures of the XX player as it offers so many goodies as never seen/heard before.

Cheers
Gerner

[PeterSt]

Hahaha  ... uh-ohh ...
In that case, I did not say this all (and I'm sorry for others who will dont's understand a sh*t of this post) :

Now, a stupid (and I don't think recognized) phenomenon which is the best measure out of anything else is : perceiving standing waves or not. Not only at the lowest levels (like 25Hz from Rainer's speakers), but also everywhere else throughout the spectrum (buzzing sound). I *know* that XXHighEnd completely eliminates this (read : no bass traps or curtains against high frequency reflections needed), but I wonder whether Rainer experienced the same. I again *know* that any mismatching amplifier will bring that back, which by means of that becomes a pure and most simple measure once you have the reference. Of course when the room is treated in the first place one wouldn't notice this.

How could I know ...

Gerner, good to hear from you again, and if I had known this, I never would have written it. So, especially to Rainer, pardon my ignorance. I know Gerner can take it as we both have been through many of the subjects I talked about before, apart from the super great times we have spent together, with one red line always : audio and loudspeakers (and  ). Allright, I feel tiny and lousy now ...

Rainer, please allow me to apologize sincerely, but please do appreciate my perception of how you deal with audio and all in the first place (previous post). I sure hope that at least that shows how people (like me) can recognize the good from the not-so-good, which was genuine.
This morning at writing it I even was as ignorant to recognize your good stuff from Gerner's exhibits, of which I think I can show dozens of emails from a somewhat more past.

Gerner, to you and as an ever lasting friend : you are a great diplomatic and sport. I dare say this en public, while only you and me know what it means really.

Man in Blue ,
P.

[Gerner]

My dear Pal Peter...

Yes no hear for a long time. Seems we are still going strong both of us.

I think from your above post, you clarified everything.

And people, be aware that the XX player is ruling far above all others. Both re. sound and functionalities. Peter here just underlining a few of the fantastic qualities it has, almost impossible to comprehend for common man.

But buy, and await a great surprice....

Cheers
Gerner

[Rainer Weber]

Dear all,

thanks to the awesome XXHighend player our demonstration at the RMAF turned out to be very stunning.

Many people voted our room the best sound of the show.

Here is a link to the stereophile blog:

http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2009//index2.html

I want to thank all users of XXHighend who have been in our booth. I hope to meet you next year in Denver as well.


All the best


Rainer Weber

[Telstar]

This system has a beautiful, extremely open sound. Not only did it lack even a hint of hardness or grain, it also rendered orchestral cymbals and triangles better than any other system I've heard in the past few years. The presentation was extremely fast and effortless, the sound beautiful to the extreme. I put on the first track from mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's new Rossini recital, and sat transfixed. Brava to the mezzo, and bravo to the components.

Hey Peter, another cymbal lover :D

[PeterSt]

Cymbals always seemed the most difficult instruments to get right, and I must honestly say that they didn't improve much the last year (they even got worse a tad IMO). But now - and mainly because of the metal=metal from 0.9y-4 and Arc Prediction - yes, its in the good direction.

Btw, listen to brushes now, which even are more difficult. Before they always were some background noise. But, if you perceived them at all, which is not so easy on a "normal" system. But now ? they sweep through the room. Almost annoying haha.

[PeterSt]

thanks to the awesome XXHighend player our demonstration at the RMAF turned out to be very stunning.

Many people voted our room the best sound of the show.

Hi Rainer,

I am the most happy it worked out so well.

I must honestly admit that I wanted 0.9y-4 ready for you overthere, but I couldn't get it done in time because of other things;
Maybe you don't have that superb system in your studio, but I would really appreciate it if you had a serious listen to 0.9y-4, try the Arc Upsampling and let know what you perceive from it (in here : 0.9y-4 - w00t).

Don't feel obliged, but the more feedback, the better I will be able to improve (again, hopefully).
Thanks,
Peter

[Rainer Weber]

Dear Peter,

I will for sure test 0.9y-4. The Trinity DAC is on the way back home by air (85 kg weight for the beast), but I will get another one (from Mr. Dietmar Bräuer,one of the owners of GTE Audio) next week.

I keep you informed about the performance, but you have made me very very curious about the sound.

By the way:
In y-3 i wasn´t able to double 96/24 files to 192 kHz. Is this now possible with y-4.

If you are in southern Germany (Bavaria) any time, I would be glad to welcome you to our show room.

Best regards and thanks again!

Rainer

[PeterSt]

Dear Rainer, thank you for your invitation. I will sure keep it in mind !

No, Doubling a "hires" file is not possible yet, but is obviously desired and it will be in, probably the next version.

Thank you very much, and have a great weekend !
Peter