Hi-rez multi-channel demo at The Show Newport

Russtafarian · « **on:** 6 May 2014, 07:18 pm »

Hey Folks,

I suckered Sean Casey of Zu Audio into letting me setup a hi-rez multi-channel music demo in his room at The Show Newport. I'll be providing an Oppo BDP-105 and music files and he's providing amps and speakers. I'll be hosting a few in-room showcases throughout the show where I'll play a selection of DSD and 24 bit PCM multi-channel tracks. The rest of the time the multi-channel setup will be available for demo along with Zu's usual vinyl setup. I plan on prominently posting lists of multi-channel demo tracks that visitors can quickly scan and make requests from.

What ideas do you have for promoting and demoing multi-channel music in the room?

Russ

ted_b · « **Reply #1 on:** 6 May 2014, 07:34 pm »

Damn, wish I was attending. Axpona, CES and RMAF are about all I can justify to family.

Russ, lemme know if you need some addtl mch content.

Ted

Russtafarian · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 May 2014, 11:27 pm »

Thanks Ted. I may take you up on that.

Russ

fridays · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 May 2014, 12:32 am »

Good Luck
I hope it's better than the Logan room at Axpona

Russtafarian · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 May 2014, 04:34 pm »

Quote

Good Luck
I hope it's better than the Logan room at Axpona

What was it about that room that didn't work for you? Was it setup/sound quality issues or that you didn't like the surround mixes you heard?

thestewman · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 May 2014, 04:05 pm »

On the other hand.
George's Klissarov, the designer of Exasound had a room playing surround sound with the e28 Exasound DAC and the JanZen speakers that
sounded great.
One of the 3 best rooms at Axpona 2014.

bmoura · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 May 2014, 10:40 am »

Quote from: thestewman on 8 May 2014, 04:05 pm

On the other hand.
George's Klissarov, the designer of Exasound had a room playing surround sound with the e28 Exasound DAC and the JanZen speakers that sounded great.
One of the 3 best rooms at Axpona 2014.

George is a big Multichannel fan. He had demos of the exaSound e28 Multichannel DSD DAC with the JanZen speakers at RMAF. Well done - convinced me to buy an e28 at the show!

bmoura · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 May 2014, 10:44 am »

Quote from: Russtafarian on 6 May 2014, 07:18 pm

Hey Folks,

I suckered Sean Casey of Zu Audio into letting me setup a hi-rez multi-channel music demo in his room at The Show Newport. I'll be providing an Oppo BDP-105 and music files and he's providing amps and speakers. I'll be hosting a few in-room showcases throughout the show where I'll play a selection of DSD and 24 bit PCM multi-channel tracks. The rest of the time the multi-channel setup will be available for demo along with Zu's usual vinyl setup. I plan on prominently posting lists of multi-channel demo tracks that visitors can quickly scan and make requests from.

What ideas do you have for promoting and demoing multi-channel music in the room?

Russ

Nice. I'm planning to be at The Show Newport. I'll definitely swing by for a listen!

Speaking of Oppo, have you downloaded their free DSD samples by David Elias? One of those (Morning Light, Western Town) is a free Multichannel DSD download!
http://oppodigital.com/hra/dsd-by-davidelias.aspx

ltr317 · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 May 2014, 05:08 pm »

Quote from: Russtafarian on 6 May 2014, 07:18 pm

Hey Folks,

I suckered Sean Casey of Zu Audio into letting me setup a hi-rez multi-channel music demo in his room at The Show Newport. I'll be providing an Oppo BDP-105 and music files and he's providing amps and speakers. I'll be hosting a few in-room showcases throughout the show where I'll play a selection of DSD and 24 bit PCM multi-channel tracks. The rest of the time the multi-channel setup will be available for demo along with Zu's usual vinyl setup. I plan on prominently posting lists of multi-channel demo tracks that visitors can quickly scan and make requests from.

What ideas do you have for promoting and demoing multi-channel music in the room?

Russ

Hi Russ,

Did you work out the demo times with Sean? I would like to drop by and give a listen if you know the times. Thanks.

Cheers,
Paul Mah

Russtafarian · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 May 2014, 07:01 pm »

Quote

Hi Russ,

Did you work out the demo times with Sean? I would like to drop by and give a listen if you know the times. Thanks.

Cheers,
Paul Mah

Thanks Paul. I don't think either of us have thought that far ahead yet. Probably won't know until late Thursday/early Friday. The Zu guys play vinyl by default. It will be interesting to see if they take to the multi-channel stuff and demo it on their own. My plan is to put up signage and demo track lists to let visitors know multi-channel is available. You should be able to ask for it and hear it whether I'm there or not.

Russ

Russtafarian · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 May 2014, 07:03 pm »

Quote

Speaking of Oppo, have you downloaded their free DSD samples by David Elias? One of those (Morning Light, Western Town) is a free Multichannel DSD download!
http://oppodigital.com/hra/dsd-by-davidelias.aspx

Thanks Brian. I'll check it out. I hope to meet you there. I've enjoyed your recent contributions at PF.

Russ

bmoura · « **Reply #11 on:** 14 May 2014, 03:42 am »

Quote from: Russtafarian on 13 May 2014, 07:03 pm

Thanks Brian. I'll check it out. I hope to meet you there. I've enjoyed your recent contributions at PF.

Russ

Thanks Russ, the PF articles have turned out very well.

I'll be sure to stop by at The Show for your Multichannel demos. I bet there are many people who have an Oppo 103 or 105 player and don't realize it can play Multichannel DSD and PCM files!
This demo may help remedy that.

I gave your demo a mention over on the QuadraphonicQuad forum at http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?19087-Multichannel-Music-at-The-Show-in-Newport-Beach in case some of the Surround Music fans want to drop by and check out your Multichannel demo!

ltr317 · « **Reply #12 on:** 14 May 2014, 04:16 am »

Quote from: Russtafarian on 13 May 2014, 07:01 pm

Thanks Paul. I don't think either of us have thought that far ahead yet. Probably won't know until late Thursday/early Friday. The Zu guys play vinyl by default. It will be interesting to see if they take to the multi-channel stuff and demo it on their own. My plan is to put up signage and demo track lists to let visitors know multi-channel is available. You should be able to ask for it and hear it whether I'm there or not.

Russ

Thanks. I'll check it out since I visit every room anyway, but thought it would be more interesting if you were there to give a quick talk before the demo.

Alphonse · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 May 2014, 12:04 am »

Excellent! Multichannel for music is exactly what I am most interested in. Will you be hooking the Oppo 105 directly to an amplifier, or use a pre pro?
I may bring a couple of DVD-Audio discs since some make more significant use of the rear speakers.

What hotel and room will this be in?

Thanks, Al

Russtafarian · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 May 2014, 07:12 pm »

Quote

What hotel and room will this be in?

Come on by Al. Zu Audio room, Atrium 322.

I'll use my Sony TA-P9000ES multi-channel preamp. The Oppo can work without it, but under show conditions I'd rather have a big knob analog volume control.

Russ

ponger · « **Reply #15 on:** 17 May 2014, 09:59 pm »

You might speak with the guys at AIX. They have a bunch of well recorded multi channel stuff that they showed at Rocky Mountain around 3 or 4 years ago. Their office is in Santa Monica, CA, not too far from you.

bmoura · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 May 2014, 09:53 am »

Quote from: ponger on 17 May 2014, 09:59 pm

You might speak with the guys at AIX. They have a bunch of well recorded multi channel stuff that they showed at Rocky Mountain around 3 or 4 years ago. Their office is in Santa Monica, CA, not too far from you.

AIX is scheduled to be at The Show Newport Beach in the headphone area. But they may offer some discs to demo.

bmoura · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 May 2014, 06:53 am »

Quote from: thestewman on 8 May 2014, 04:05 pm

On the other hand.
George's Klissarov, the designer of Exasound had a room playing surround sound with the e28 Exasound DAC and the JanZen speakers that
sounded great.
One of the 3 best rooms at Axpona 2014.

exaSound is teaming up with JanZen speakers in Room 821 (Hilton) at The Show in Newport Beach as well.
I suspect there will be Multichannel audio in that room as well.

Alphonse · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 Jun 2014, 01:58 am »

Stopped by the Zu Audio room on saturday, but they said they had some problems with the surround demo on friday and decided not to do it saturday. Oh well, got a free T-shirt. Didn"t expect to see many surround demos, there were a couple at the hilton including the big MBL Datasat demo on the first floor. That was fun!

Russtafarian · « **Reply #19 on:** 2 Jun 2014, 07:57 pm »

We had the multi-channel setup rolling in the Zu room for most of Friday afternoon. I had a blast playing DJ, giving folks a chance to peruse the playlist and call out requests. My friend Pete Davey from Positive Feedback walked in and I gave him the playlist. I told him to pick something quick or I'd play Linda Ronstadt. His eyes got big and he started to hyper-ventilate as he frantically scanned the list until he called out "Lonesome Tears" by Beck. I love doing that to him.

Front and rear speakers were the Soul Supreme. That is a sweet sounding speaker and IMO the best bang for buck model in the lineup. For center we used the speakers in the new Zu Modern console and it worked surprisingly well. The multi-channel was fun while it lasted, though I have to say that Zu's vinyl rig using the new Rupert Neve Designs preamp and Melody tube amps sounded pretty darn spectacular.

Russ