[RipTorn]

It will be interesting to see how the new "Revox" affects the Reel to Reel tape market.  The team building it is probably going to do a good job, at a price far lower than the current audiophile tape aficionados have to pay for decks.  It will cost about the same as a fine cartridge for our turntables. 

Of course the new Revox is solid state, which will temper enthusiasm by some.  Personally, I look forward to hearing the deck at some point. 

I'm glad you're enjoying Schwarz' Mahler Symphony No. 5
Here is Jim Svejda's review:  http://www.yarlungrecords.com/news/mahler-no-5/

Bob I'm in awe over the 5th , Love the performance and love your teams work . I saw an artical regarding Revox going to launch back into reel to reel . Looking forward to accually listening to one .
Keep up the great work !

[Bob Attiyeh]

RipTorn, I'm delighted you are enjoying our recordings.  Your enthusiasm keeps us going.  We have some juicy albums coming out at the end of September, in October and November.  We'll hope to keep you just as satisfied!

Anyone who wishes to be notified, please subscribe to our very occasional newsletters using the bright blue button at the top right of our website: www.yarlungrecords.com

Best wishes and thanks so much for your support,

Bob

[S Clark]

I've been listening to Yarlung Records "Orion" cd.  Once again, this label just knows how to mic a piano and get the recording real.  At first I was comparing to the "Evening Conversations' cd, which is the best sounding piano recording I own.... and the "Orion" was different.  At first I thought the bass wasn't quite as visceral.  But then I realized it simply sounded a bit further from the listener, but just as accurate. The "Evening Conversations" cd sounds just like you are sitting at the keyboard.  All the rest of "Orion" was also just spot on, stunningly good.  Orion Weiss does a top flight job on the Bach French Overture, keeping to precision of the composer, but making it a reflection of his own interpretation.  He is a young pianist, and sounds like a young pianist in all the good ways.   Controlled, yet with enthusiasm and empathy for the piece.
 
And I've got to mention, that when there was a shipping issue, Bob Attiyeh, member here at AC and recording engineer for Yarlung,  jumped in personally to help resolve the problem.  This is especially noteworthy since he had other things on his mind... like the fires in CA that came close to burning down his studio just recently. 

In a nutshell, this is a small label that deserves our patronage.  They make great recordings and have a passion for music.  I highly recommend their recordings. 

[Folsom]

Interesting. It would be nice if they provided a sample file.

[ACHiPo]

Interesting. It would be nice if they provided a sample file.

They do...
http://www.yarlungrecords.com/cd2-OrionWeiss.html

[Folsom]

Oh, I was looking under the file format links

[ACHiPo]

Oh, I was looking under the file format links

NP, but for the grace of God go I 

[Folsom]

Samples are annoyingly short. They should just give out a few full files DSD/HiRes/CD. It would be so much better for business, to impress people. I can't get, nor would I burn a CD of a clip, to get to my stereo from Soundcloud.

[Bob Attiyeh]

S Clark, I'm so happy you are enjoying Orion.  Orion's CD was our first album created through our nonprofit, Yarlung Artists (www.yarlungartists.org)

Thanks for your comments, Folsom.  Just FYI, samples are restricted to 30 seconds for music not in the public domain so as not to run afoul of the publishers' mechanical royalties agreements.  The iTunes and Amazon juggernaut make this restriction reach into music in the public domain as well.  Many of our albums are also available on Spotify and YouTube, however, so people can hear more there.

Glad our Audio Circle friends are enjoying these recordings.  We certainly do!

[RipTorn]

I apologize for deviating off the topic, I wonder if anyone could really discern differences between so labled Hi Res down load and a burnt cd of the same recording let alone a DSD file which I'm very sceptical of ,.

[Bob Attiyeh]

Hi RipTorn, thanks for asking people's opinions of the various formats.  This is a serious topic in today's audiophile world, of course, and people take positions that are sometimes reminiscent of religious fervor.  My friend David Robinson thinks DSD comes from heaven and PCM comes from Hell, and my friend Arian Jansen (who has designed both PCM and DSD circuits in many applications) leans more into the PCM-is-better camp.  And for different reasons.

Yarlung is officially agnostic, because I like both PCM and DSD formats.  They do sound different, and this flavoring can sometimes be helpful as we make choices in recordings, just as we make choices in cables, microphones and the like. 

What I can tell you unequivocally, is that the choice of a cable can make a larger difference in the character of the sound than the best PCM vs the best DSD. 

Making this conversation more interesting (and difficult) is that no DAC converts PCM and DSD to analog equally well, or I should rather say "may not convert DSD and PCM equally well."  I have certainly not heard them all.  In my experience, DACs tend to have a "sweet spot," so to speak, depending on the designer's ear and the designer's ability. 

Many holy warriors tackling this topic tend to think that our wonderful little red-book CD is dead.  I happen to like CDs, both the physical format and the sound if the recording is made nicely. 

Many of you probably know Scot Hurwitz.  He has an educated ear, and he sent me an email I thought I should share with the people on this thread....  I quote below from our Facebook post a few days ago:

Music aficionado and reviewer Scot Hurwitz kindly allowed me to post his email about the new James Matheson CD. Thank you Scot! And thank you Jim, for writing such engaging music.

On Mon, Sep 5, 2016 at 7:11 PM, Scot Hurwitz wrote:

Dear Bob,

I just wanted to send you an email to let you know how happy I am with your new
James Matheson cd. I just got the cd a few days ago and finally found some time
to take a listen and all I can say is WOW! Fantastic. The music is interesting and
just not your average everyday run of the mill classical music that has been recorded
over and over and over a thousand times. The recording quality is stunning, quite easily one
of the best sounding disc’s in my collection (I have several thousand discs). The clarity
is beautiful and the tonality is lush and gorgeous. Please keep doing what you’re doing
because you just keep getting better and better. Thank you for renewing my faith in
recording engineers and cd’s in general. It’s a shame that most of the regular mainstream
red book cd’s one buys nowadays sound like s[****]. If it wasn’t for ECM or ACT music out
of europe or Your label there wouldn’t be any reason to buy a great new cd player like
the one I just bought a few months ago (Esoteric KO1X). Thank you and keep em coming!

Best regards,
Scot Hurwitz

I'm thrilled people who know are appreciating the physical CD so much. Thank you! http://www.yarlungrecords.com/cd33-Matheson.html

[RipTorn]

Hi RipTorn, thanks for asking people's opinions of the various formats.  This is a serious topic in today's audiophile world, of course, and people take positions that are sometimes reminiscent of religious fervor.  My friend David Robinson thinks DSD comes from heaven and PCM comes from Hell, and my friend Arian Jansen (who has designed both PCM and DSD circuits in many applications) leans more into the PCM-is-better camp.  And for different reasons.

Yarlung is officially agnostic, because I like both PCM and DSD formats.  They do sound different, and this flavoring can sometimes be helpful as we make choices in recordings, just as we make choices in cables, microphones and the like. 

What I can tell you unequivocally, is that the choice of a cable can make a larger difference in the character of the sound than the best PCM vs the best DSD. 

Making this conversation more interesting (and difficult) is that no DAC converts PCM and DSD to analog equally well, or I should rather say "may not convert DSD and PCM equally well."  I have certainly not heard them all.  In my experience, DACs tend to have a "sweet spot," so to speak, depending on the designer's ear and the designer's ability. 

Many holy warriors tackling this topic tend to think that our wonderful little red-book CD is dead.  I happen to like CDs, both the physical format and the sound if the recording is made nicely. 

Many of you probably know Scot Hurwitz.  He has an educated ear, and he sent me an email I thought I should share with the people on this thread....  I quote below from our Facebook post a few days ago:

Music aficionado and reviewer Scot Hurwitz kindly allowed me to post his email about the new James Matheson CD. Thank you Scot! And thank you Jim, for writing such engaging music.

On Mon, Sep 5, 2016 at 7:11 PM, Scot Hurwitz wrote:

Dear Bob,

I just wanted to send you an email to let you know how happy I am with your new
James Matheson cd. I just got the cd a few days ago and finally found some time
to take a listen and all I can say is WOW! Fantastic. The music is interesting and
just not your average everyday run of the mill classical music that has been recorded
over and over and over a thousand times. The recording quality is stunning, quite easily one
of the best sounding disc’s in my collection (I have several thousand discs). The clarity
is beautiful and the tonality is lush and gorgeous. Please keep doing what you’re doing
because you just keep getting better and better. Thank you for renewing my faith in
recording engineers and cd’s in general. It’s a shame that most of the regular mainstream
red book cd’s one buys nowadays sound like s[****]. If it wasn’t for ECM or ACT music out
of europe or Your label there wouldn’t be any reason to buy a great new cd player like
the one I just bought a few months ago (Esoteric KO1X). Thank you and keep em coming!

Best regards,
Scot Hurwitz

I'm thrilled people who know are appreciating the physical CD so much. Thank you! http://www.yarlungrecords.com/cd33-Matheson.html

Hi Bob , Well I'm just another consumer that has a real appreciation for great music and great recordings exposing talented musicians that should be heard .I feel good that there are people like yourself working hard at making this happen .
I completely agree with Scot Hurwitz and I might add your recordings capture a real sense of balance and sound staging and of course a sense of , you are there .
 Just a suggestion , as if you don't have enough to do , I would like to read more about venue the recording was done in along with an overview of the musicians on the stage with mic placements ,...

You mention audio cables ,.well I think I was in the wrong business,. $15,000 plus power cords and the like ,.oh well ,.
I know some make a real difference because my ears and brain tell me so and just last week I took delivery of some reasonably priced and a fraction of the going price of the most expensive USB cables currently pushed however these are from Australia and they accually do what the maker and customers said they do ,.just remarkable,.
Anyway , I look forward to your next release ,
Mark

[mresseguie]

Question for Bob:

If I order a couple CDs tomorrow (for example) that are in stock, and pay with a card or PayPal, how long might it take to be delivered to Corvallis, OR 97339?

Regards,

Michael

[Bob Attiyeh]

Dear Mark and Michael,

Thanks for your wonderful questions and comments.  First for Michael, our warehouse is in Tennessee, and we ship the same day or next day we receive an order.  We don't have any CDs which are currently out of stock, I"m happy to say.  We did another manufacturing run recently and we are in good shape. 

Mark's comment about USB cables is interesting to me.  Of course there should be no difference in the sound from USB cables.  But most of us would agree that the differences can be impressive.  I have felt that the differences must originate in timing of the information.  The trouble is that our DACs ususally reclock all of this information (and most DACs do this fairly well) which should make the cable irrelevant.  One of our engineers, Arian Jansen, explained to me that the difference we hear in various USB cables comes from the grounding schemes in the equipment on either side of the cable, not from the cable itself.  In other words, if the grounding is designed differently, different cables will "sound" different between those two devices.  It is certainly possible. 

But to support your point, Mark, I have USB cables I use and cables I avoid.  Some have deeper soundstages, some have wider soundstages, some represent transients better, others give crisper fuller bass.  Interesting, huh?

Best wishes and thanks,

Bob

[RipTorn]

Dear Mark and Michael,

Thanks for your wonderful questions and comments.  First for Michael, our warehouse is in Tennessee, and we ship the same day or next day we receive an order.  We don't have any CDs which are currently out of stock, I"m happy to say.  We did another manufacturing run recently and we are in good shape. 

Mark's comment about USB cables is interesting to me.  Of course there should be no difference in the sound from USB cables.  But most of us would agree that the differences can be impressive.  I have felt that the differences must originate in timing of the information.  The trouble is that our DACs ususally reclock all of this information (and most DACs do this fairly well) which should make the cable irrelevant.  One of our engineers, Arian Jansen, explained to me that the difference we hear in various USB cables comes from the grounding schemes in the equipment on either side of the cable, not from the cable itself.  In other words, if the grounding is designed differently, different cables will "sound" different between those two devices.  It is certainly possible. 

But to support your point, Mark, I have USB cables I use and cables I avoid.  Some have deeper soundstages, some have wider soundstages, some represent transients better, others give crisper fuller bass.  Interesting, huh?

Best wishes and thanks,

Bob

Hi Bob I have to point out that digital playback is relatively new to me as I could never really warm up to it over the past decades . However in 2009 i finally added a EMM labs player which I found pleasant to my ears all though I recently sold it in favour of burning CDs and perhaps down loads . Now that my IT guy is back in grade school I have to wait for lessons , so I'm bit of a dummy in thart department .

Regarding USB cables I never gave any thought about them until I had a conversation with one of the owners of Tenor Audio which lives not far from me , we met over some components he was selling .
The use of USB cables he was on to it that they certainly do effect the sonics and they just don't deliver packets of information , so the seed was planted in my head to search around , I happen to stumble on Bob Woodwards sight Curious Cables out of Australia.

Bobs back ground with Eichmanns silver bullit plugs and RCA silver chassis inputs I have used over the years with excellant results . After reading through his site and watching Bobs video I placed an order . Money back if not satisfied including free shipping ,...

Well it is truly remarkable what these USB cables do for the whole sonic picture , just incredible and currently my cables need more settling or burn in .
Mark

[mresseguie]

Bob,

Thank you. One more question before I place my order. Will the CDs be shipped USPS, FEDEX, DHL, or UPS to Oregon? I plan to buy just 2 CDs first.

Regards,

Michael

[Bob Attiyeh]

Thanks for asking about shipping, Michael.  CDs generally ship first class mail when within the United States.  Happy upcoming weekend to you!  Bob

[ACHiPo]

Bob,

Thank you. One more question before I place my order. Will the CDs be shipped USPS, FEDEX, DHL, or UPS to Oregon? I plan to buy just 2 CDs first.

Regards,

Michael

Michael,
It took 3 days for me to get my LPs from TN to CA.
AC