[Ric Schultz]

This has never happened in the history of recorded music......until NOW!

Have you ever wished you could hear 30 inch per second first generation master tapes in your home.....not likely eh.....wishful thinking?....yup!.....The only people privy to such things are the original recording engineer and a few of his buddies......well....you are now ALL my buddies.

In about one month we are going to start recording live concerts onto a battery powered hard drive recorder at double speed DSD......What is double speed DSD? you ask.   SACD is single speed....2.8 meg frequency at one bit.....double speed is 5.6 meg.  The difference is that there is way less out of band noise with double speed DSD (52 db less at 50Khz)....so less analog filtering is needed and the sound is quite amazing.  The music will be recorded with two modified omni mics hardwired directly (yup, no XLR connectors) into a custom mic preamp and then hardwired directly to the A to D chip in the battery powered hard drive recorder.  The simplest and purest signal path possible.  There will be no limiting, editing (except for deleting some unwanted cuts) or processing of any kind.  The double speed DSD info will be sent to customers on a portable hard drive or on compact flash cards.  There will never be a laser touching the info.  The info is loaded into your computer and then transferred to your very own battery powered player (same exact player/recorder that I used to record the concert) via USB and you hit play and then.....off you go.....into the wild blue yonder.....he he.  You have never heard anything like this unless you have heard some of Ray Kimbers single speed DSD demos.  The dynamics are going to be startling....I imagine there will be some of you buying new woofers after they land across the room....he he.  Imagine a drum set actually in your room......transparency that makes a super expensive turntable sound tame and veiled......we are talking some seriously fun sound here.

The modified battery powered player/recorder will be around $1500 with options for super large battery/cap bank systems and other mods.  The recorder/player can also record and play 16/44 up to 24/192 so you could load the hard drive on this player with up to 60 hours of CD material for super CD sound.  The player comes with cool software that lets you convert the double speed DSD info into 16/44 or whatever so you can make your own CDs, DVDs, etc. and play it on IPods, CD players, in your car, whatever.

We will also be selling one off CDs, DVDs (24/96) and DVD-As (24/192) of these concerts as well ($15-20 each).  They will not sound quite as good as the double speed DSD info but as good as anything else you have ever heard (maybe better).

Music recorded will be varied....I like all music (well, most all) so there will be Rock, Blues, Jazz, New Age, Classical, World Music, Folk, Pop, Reggae, Choirs, Gospel, you name it.  Most recordings will be done in a controlled environment so we can assemble the musicians in a way to give you the depth and imaging you crave.  We will also do some recordings in very ambient places to give you the "transported to another world" feel.  The mics will be about 6 to 10 feet in front of the musicians to allow that "closer than live" feel audiophiles like.  Almost all recordings will be live concerts.....sometimes just friends of the musicians.....and sometimes maybe you (if you live in the Bay Area we will have times you can attend one of these live recording concerts....email us, if interested).  I expect to be recording at least twice a week after this gets going with the goal being at least 100 concerts a year.  We are going to encourage others around the world to join in the fun....so if you want to do recordings we will help you get started with modified mics, preamps, knowledge....you could distribute your recordings directly or through me.

We will be getting reviews from all the onlne mags and paper mags throughout the world over the next year.  We will have a couple of modified players at CES in Jan.

There will be very inexpensive CDR and DVDR samplers of the music available and eventually there will be downloads avialable online of at least CD quality.

Stay tuned.....more to come.

[MaxCast]

Sounds cool, can't wait to hear some.

[ted_b]

KEWL idea! 

Question:  is there any way to reduce the proprietary player costs by making it a player only (i.e no recording function)?  $1500 seems to be high for a product that will likely only have unique value as a player for your specific double speed DSD recordings of local professionals.  Please don't take offense to this, but unless the recordings are from artists and orchestras we hold as valuable, the recordings and  hardware have much less saleability.  Additionally, few of us will have the need for in-field DSD recording capabilities.  However, combine the incredible niche recordings with a full-function 24/192+ portable media server and now we're talking something a little more special.  Maybe I'm missing a point here, though.

Net/net, it's great to hear about something that pushes hi-rez even further....and I've love to invest, assuming it has broader applications.

[Ric Schultz]

Ted,
The machine can be loaded with CD quality (60 hours worth) and higher (even 24/192) and played back, as well.  What if you loaded your CDs and DVD-As, DADs, etc. into your computer and then into this modified battery powered player and it sounded better than your current CD player?   This would certainly be a nice bonus....now, you don't get the convenience of streaming or remote controls, etc....but what are you after?...I want living breathing musicians in my room....

$1500 may seem like a lot to some but to those that have Meitner stacks, DCS stacks, modified $25,000 Esoterics, etc. to play the inferior single speed SACDs on optical discs (with all their problems) will certainly see the value in something that costs one tenth and sounds way superior.  There are audiophiles all over the world that have seriously expensive systems....I am sure you have seen some of these set-ups....Some of them spend $1500 on a power cord.  How about turntables.....heck $1500 just gets you a good tonearm or cartridge.  Have you checked out tapeproject.com?  They are going to give you 10 reel to reel tapes per year at a mere $200 each.....and of course, you will want to buy their $7500 modified reel to reel deck to play those 10 titles a year on.....now there is something expensive!  I salute their tenacity and love the basic concept.....but you could copy master tapes onto this double speed DSD machine and basically get the same results.  Down the road, I will be looking to release old masters, but really my passion is for live music in the NOW.  Yes, the double speed DSD concerts material will be limited to what I can record.  But for every Clapton there are hundreds of equally good musicians who you have never heard of.  All musicians (famous or not)....started out not famous.  Have you ever heard some music by someone you have never heard of that simply blew your mind?  There is so much music and so many musicians....so even someone famous may be unheard by many.  I think what counts is how great the music is that gets recorded....not so much whether they are famous or not.  If you hear a new recording that blows your mind and you cannot keep from playing it over and over.....well....that is what I want.  What I don't want to produce is boring music.....yes, some music that is slower will always be boring to some people. How about Mapleshade....they are doing exactly what I am doing except just making CDs......I have about 10 of them in a bag by the door ready to find a donor for them....as I find them boring.   Since I have heard that sentiment from others who have bought Mapleshade....this is something I want to avoid (I do love the recording quality of Mapleshade and some of the recordings knock my socks off...but most that I purchased don't).......I want to be moved by the performance.....no matter how good the recording is.  I want aliveness....even if it is soft music.

For those that do not want to buy into the master recorder then the one off CDs, DVDs and DVD-As will be amazing. I will be getting reviews not only on the player/DSD material but also on the CDs and DVDs.  When the first sampler is produced, I will be sending out hundreds for free to people all over the world including some of you here in Audiocircle land.  The recordings will need to stand on their own...no matter which format is being played.....CDs can sound quite amazing if produced correctly.....remember these CDs and DVDs will be made one at a time...no mass producing here....

I will, no doubt, discover some musicians....thrusting them into stardom.   

Maybe someone will make a cheap DAC that can play double speed DSD via USB.....that would be cool.....then you could just hook it up to your computer and play away.  But right now, there is not much hardware that can play double speed DSD.  My sense is, that after you pick your jaw up from the floor you will understand just how alive music can be in your own home.....at that point the price will seem extremely inexpensive (especially given the fact that this kind of playback quality has never been available for home playback.....at all....or ever...for any price....till now).

This is going to be fun!  One of the first things I want to record is a drum solo.....you know, the Sheffield Drum record of the digital age.  Can you imagine a drum set right in your room?  A blues band in your room?  A string quartet in your room?  Beautiful voices, saxophones, pan pipes, Sitars, ancient instruments, grand Pianos.....oh man....I am salivating.

I had this epiphany years ago with a friend.  He had created some boxes that got rid of some of the back emf from the speakers.....we were testing it and put on, I believe the record was La Folia....of something like it.  We listened to a couple of cuts together in silence.....then we looked at each other with jaws open and one of us said "did you hear that harpsichord"......and the other said....."no! did you hear that viola".....and the other said..."no".   We both laughed.  Yes, we had become those instruments.....we had lost ourselves in the instruments so much that we could not even hear the other instruments.....now this is cool.  The instrument sounded so real and palpable that we just took a ride on it......lost our self in its beauty and energy.......................This is what I want to convey with these recordings.....time will tell, if I succeed.
Ric

[smargo]

sounds wonderful - do you have a general idea of when it will become available to the public?

regards,
smargo

[jhm731]

Are you using the Korg MR1000?

[Rocket_Ronny]

Hi Rick:

Great Idea.

I was wondering what omni's you are running and what recording configuration you plan to use?

I did not know you did recordings. How long have you been doing that?

Oh, and do you have a picture of your recording space for us to google at?

By the way, I am a happy customer of your passive attenuators. Glad to see you making those again.

Rocket_Ronny

[Ric Schultz]

Yes, Korg MR1000.

Mics will be modified DPA, Schoeps or Oktava.

Spaced Omnis.

There is no one recording space......I will be using large living rooms, meeting halls, Masonic Lodges, Yoga studios, Rehearsal halls, clubs, auditoriums. barns, church halls, churches, etc......whatever works and is available......I am setting up various locations now.  Actually, I really like the idea of different environments....will make the sound slightly different.....and keep the game "fresh".  I am sure I will find certain "favorite spots"...that I will use more often for their particular sound. 

I am hoping to have the first sampler ready in about 10 weeks (early October)......and the machines should be available with mods at that time too.

[jhm731]

Yes, Korg MR1000.

Mics will be modified DPA, Schoeps or Oktava.

Spaced Omnis.

There is no one recording space......I will be using large living rooms, meeting halls, Masonic Lodges, Yoga studios, Rehearsal halls, clubs, auditoriums. barns, church halls, churches, etc......whatever works and is available......I am setting up various locations now.  Actually, I really like the idea of different environments....will make the sound slightly different.....and keep the game "fresh".  I am sure I will find certain "favorite spots"...that I will use more often for their particular sound. 

I am hoping to have the first sampler ready in about 10 weeks (early October)......and the machines should be available with mods at that time too.

The Korg MR1000 doesn't have a digital output(SPDIF, AES/EBU).

Will your mods add one?

[Ric Schultz]

Probably no digital out.  The DAC chip inside is the best Crystal DAC and the output stage can be modified for super sound.  You can transfer the info from the hard drive in the Korg directly into your computer via USB and do whatever you want with it.  Why would you need a digital out?  SPDIF will not work for DSD and SPDIF sucks anyway...he he....I doubt any external DAC could sound as good as the internal battery powered modified DAC and output stages......of course some people just have to have tubes to color the sound....he he.....

[jhm731]

Probably no digital out.  The DAC chip inside is the best Crystal DAC and the output stage can be modified for super sound.  You can transfer the info from the hard drive in the Korg directly into your computer via USB and do whatever you want with it.  Why would you need a digital out?  SPDIF will not work for DSD and SPDIF sucks anyway...he he....I doubt any external DAC could sound as good as the internal battery powered modified DAC and output stages......of course some people just have to have tubes to color the sound....he he.....

No Tubes.

I want digital out, so I can use a Korg MR1000 to convert DSD to 24/192 PCM and connect directly (without going through a PC USB connection which sucks, and having to use some type of PC to SPDIF/AES/EBU interface) to my Aberdeen TacT RCS 2.2XP which feeds my Aberdeen TacT 2150 power DACs.

My Aberdeen TacT 2150 power DACs output 150wpc @ 8 ohms, can the internal DAC in the Korg MR1000 do that?

Of course some people still have analog systems without digital room correction/EQ/crossovers, which need DACs before their analog preamps to feed their energy wasting analog power amps....he he.....

[Ric Schultz]

Ah yes, you "pure digital guys"......Sorry, we are still in the stone age here and we will catch up to you someday....he he.

Actually, I wish the "Tact breakthrough" (actually Tocatta tech...now TI) had actually been great at inception and had really caught on with the audiophiles.......it was not that great at first and so is now just a very small niche market......very vocal and very purist....I admit.  I do think that "fully digital systems" will eventually (in 10-20 years)become the norm.....but the window for showing audiophiles "the way"....kind of came and went.  Seriously great sound can still be had by analog amps......but the big advantage of room eq and eq in general.....not to mention digital xovers....is certainly not to be denied.

Trouble with what you are asking is that you want the Korg to convert the double speed DSD to 24/192 and have a digital output....this would require a DSP with software built into it (or chip already programed, I think NPC makes some) and another chip to make SPDIF output......the DSD info on the hard drive probably runs directly to the DAC chip....which cannot do conversion.  The software that comes with the Korg can do that in your computer.....but, as you mentioned....you have to send the info down the USB into the computer and then have a card in the computer that outputs SPDIF. 

In the meantime, you can buy the DVD-As with the 24/192 info, play them on a great transport and go at it.....will sound terrific.  The other options would be to get the DSD info on a flash card/portable hard drive....load it into your computer.....do the conversion and SPDIF there......or you could also get the 24/192 info on a flash card/portable hard drive and do the same.....no conversion needed....I would have done it for you.  Of course, this means using your computer as source.  There is always loss somewhere......so take your pick.....heck you could even get the Korg, and run it into a state of the art separate A to D converter with digital out.....now there is an expensive option!

However, the source here is going to be so good that no matter how you listen to it, it is going to be fantastic....but, I certainly understand trying to get every tiny bit out of it.

[craig223]

Just wondering...

Are you going to have to pay Clear Channel royalties on their "patent" for recording live concerts?

Craig

[Ric Schultz]

I have no idea what you are talking about.  More info please.

[ferenc_k]

Hi Ric,

any news about your plans? Is there any new development?

[Ric Schultz]

I should start recording next week.  I hope to have the sampler ready by the end of Nov or early Dec.  I will have info including pictures of the recording gear on my site soon.  There will be another site started that will be just for the recording format and recordings.....have not chosen a name yet.  How about http://www.most incredible fantastic master tapes for the masses.com  ......maybe just a little long?  he he....any suggestions?

[Russell Dawkins]

Mics will be modified DPA, Schoeps or Oktava.

Spaced Omnis.

If you are using omnis, why wouldn't you be using Earthworks M 50s or the like?

Why are you using spaced omnis, anyway? Don't you want a solid image?

[Ric Schultz]

It is certainly debatable as to which mics are "best" or most accurate.....much disagreement in the field.  I have settled (for now...will be playing with various things down the road....no one has ever said I don't experiment) on modified THEAudio Mics.  The manufacturers have shared their patented circuit with me and I am modifying them for even better sound. 

Spaced omnis have been used for years with great success.  Also will be trying various baffles (Jecklin, Schneider, Iso-Mike, etc.) between the mics (some feel this gives a more "solid image").  You should hold your comments till you hear the recordings. 

[Russell Dawkins]

So, Ric, whatever did come of this breathlessly hyped project? I haven't been following closely, so I might have missed the outcome.
Russell