Stereotype Hifi Blog

Today I’ve been having a play with Apple’s Remote app on my iphone and I thought I’d share the experience as it’s pretty cool. One of the downsides of computer audio vs a network player type solution has always been the remote control. Today in 5 minutes flat I was simultaneasly controlling my wifes mac book pro running iTunes and my pc running Mediamonkey from the same application on my iPhone. Lost? let me explain.

Step 1: Get a computer – It doesn’t really matter what sort of computer

Step 2: Install some software – Most people using macs will be using iTunes, but I’m more of a PC guy myself so I use Mediamonkey which I find fantastic for managing my digital library of music.

Step 2b (for the PC users): Download the Monkeytunes plugin for Mediamonkey – 30 seconds and you’ll be done.

Step 3: Get an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad – Go to the app store and get Apple’s Remote App – (On the Monkeytunes website there is info for Android users)

Step 4: Fire up the app and select your computer

Step 5: Enter the passcode on your computer

Step 6: Find a song you love and listen, pause, skip tracks, browse artists etc…

It really is that easy, now head on over to a place like HDtracks.com and start listening to high quality digital music.

While I’m here, I’ll give a little plug for the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic, what this little beast does is connects directly to your computer via USB, then does the digital to analog conversion external from your computer providing you with a high end audiophile sound ready for your amplifier’s inputs.

If you have ditched CD’s then I can’t recommend investing in a decent DAC enough, even compressed MP3′s sound miles better through a proper DAC.

That’s all for today, hope that helps someone out there who wants to control their computer from their pocket with minimum fuss.

If you want more info on computer based systems, check out Computeraudiophile.com there’s a ton of info there too.

Brendan

Free in most cases… So we use to have a $10 flat rate shipping right across the site… now we have introduced Free shipping except on some of our lower margin items (this is mainly items on clearance and things like speaker stands) where we charge a fee from $5-$100 depending on the item. To find out how much shipping will be, just add the item to your cart and select ‘Get Quote’. The shipping cost is for anywhere in NZ for web orders.

For example, now you pay $0 shipping on the wonderful Solstice Interconnect, but the Paradigm J 23 Speaker stands will cost $25 to ship.

So go ahead, order something with free shipping today!

Hope this makes shopping with us even better. Oh, and you can always pickup, we are in Torbay on Auckland’s North Shore, just select that option when you check out online.

We are very excited to announce we now stock Audioengine products! Audioengine has really impressed us with their future lead designs embracing digital music. The A2 ($395) and A5 ($695) speakers are the perfect complement for your iPod, laptop, PC, CD player, well just about anything really that has an output! With built in amplifiers there is no need for a separate amp, just plugin your iPod and you’re away, away to high fidelity sound from a compact system. The S8 subwoofer ($795) is 8″ downfiring design that really complements the A2 well as these are a little light on bass – as you would expect from such a small wooden cabinet.  Take a look at the range, and continue reading about what Mike Mercer had to say about the A2′s.

Sonic Satori: i-Fi is The Future, Bring Your Computer Closer to High Fidelity… by Michael Mercer

It’s a great time to be a music and sound addict. As stated before in this column; we now have unprecedented access to music in this age of instant media delivery. The audio purists may pooh-pooh MP3 and the like, but their complaints are irrelevant. Not every music file or stream on the web is poor quality. Like everything else in life; you can choose what level of quality you get. You just have to spend a little time investigating what’s out there. Forget the haters, the doubters, the pocket-protector audiophiles who deny that a computer can be just as legitimate a source as their favorite CD/SACD deck. Now, is there still a place for vinyl/analog? Of course there is (hell I only DJ with vinyl, no CDs), but this isn’t about excluding anything. It’s about accepting the present, and forging ahead with the same enthusiasm that analog-driven music systems once inspired in some of the great audio designers.

Fortunately there are many companies in the Hifi business not only accepting this digital, downloadable revolution, but actually embracing it; and we – the end users, get to bask in their audible efforts. Here I’ll tackle two components that can work beautifully together or individually, in case you already own either one (speakers, or an external DAC for your computer).

AUDIOENGINE A2 Powered Speakers – $395.00

These little gems have taken both the desktop audio and high end communities by storm with their unbelievable dynamics, packed into tiny boxes, not to mention the price! Measuring in at only 6”(H) x 4”(W) x 5.25”(D) you’d think the sound of these speakers would be limited by their physical size. This is far from true. As a matter of fact, they are so impressive I put them atop my list of seriously high valued audio products (the Wadia iTransport being another, along with the HRT Streamer II USB DAC, both covered here previously). Their ability to create depth and width is simply astounding, and many of my own clients have said so without any solicitation from me.

They also look fantastic; available in high gloss white and black. AUDIOENGINE also offers a desktop stand for the speakers (a sort of wedge, which helps to raise their firing angle; aiding in image specificity when seated between them at your desk). They offer two inputs, one via stereo-mini (1/8”) and the other standard RCA jacks. The power block is about the size of a PC laptops power supply, and this is one of the reasons they sound far better than anything in their league. Another is the fact that unlike most powered monitor speakers that have the on-board amplifier in both cabinets, AUDIOENGINE puts a stereo amplifier in one box (the left channel) and then you feed the right channel through standard speaker wire. This keeps the noise level induced by the amplifier down, allowing for the music to shine through.

You simply have to hear these speakers to believe how good they are, and if you’re skeptical, be my guest and do some online research. I bet you’d have trouble finding a mediocre review. That’s a rarity, especially in an audio product that carries a price tag of $395. I’m not saying you’re going to shake the windows with their bass response, as the small size has obvious drawbacks when it comes to bottom end, but they also make a subwoofer (review to come soon), which can take care of everything below. I’ve listened to everything from Future Sound of London to Martin Sexton on these mini-monitors, and they surprise me every time. For the end-user who’s not interested in floorstanders taking over their room, or even stand-mounted bookshelf speakers (AUDIOENGINE offers their A5 for this application) the A2 provides unmatched musical performance in both this size and price range. Check them out ASAP. You won’t be disappointed.

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You can continue reading Mike’s article on his Sonic Satori blog over at the Daily Swarm

View the Audioengine range and more images

York St recording studio in Auckland’s parnell opened their doors to the public yesterday. Tiens and I went along to see what goes into making a record and were keen to see this impressive facility. The thing that stood out for me the most was how friendly and genuine the crew are, these guys obviously love what they’re doing. The work that goes into the acoustics of each space was impressive, different spaces to achieve different sounds, room shape and diffusing the sound rather than killing it seemed to be the key to perfect acoustic reverberation.

It was interesting talking to Hook – one of the studio engineers – about compression in recordings. They don’t like it as just as much as us Hifi guys, but they have to please their customer. A band who is trying to ‘make it’ wants their recording to stand out, and some bands want compression so their track sounds louder, not just on the radio but also when those record company bosses are flicking through tracks of new artists looking for a group to sign, they want to stand out. It was good though, to hear that bands tend to cater for their audience, so for bands who target younger people who the majority of which are only going to listen in mp3 on their iPod headphones, the compression is cranked. Other bands who’s audience is a little more refined shall we say, use less compression because they know people will be listening at home or want the record to sound good on their own higher quality systems.

What is also nice about York St is the history behind it and the history behind the mighty Neve desk. Here’s a little description from wikipedia:

The heart of the control room is the vintage 1974 EMI Neve. There were 7 of these consoles made by the legends at Neve specifically for EMI studios around the world, one of which was in Wellington, New Zealand. One is at U2′s studio in Dublin, one is at ICP studios in Brussels, Belgium, two have been put together as one large console and is in Steakhouse studios in Hollywood CA, two are currently being put together at the Great Linford Manor in England and number 7 is here at York Street in New Zealand, which is the only one left in original condition and retains the same warmth and clarity as the day it was built…… Kept in immaculate condition, the console is a lovely sounding beast.

There’s some nice photos on both the York St site and Wikipedia so take a look if you want more, but here’s my shots from the day taken on my phone.

Mesa or Marshall? Whatever your preference, they've got plenty of options

One very nice Gretsch drum kit mic'd up ready to go

A Yamaha NS10 driver, used to record sub bass off a kick drum

The Vocal booth, with coloured mood lighting to boot!

Note the zig-zag wall behind the Grand Piano

View of the main room from the mezzanine

Wooden ceiling panels to diffuse the sound

The famous Yamaha NS10 Monitors in the mixing booth

The mighty Neve mixer, analog magic

They still record a tape master, then feed off to the computer

Hook showing Tiens the power of Pro Tools

The nostalgia wall of past recordings

Also, here’s the latest Nathan King song filmed at York St:

Thanks again to the York St crew, especially Hook who spent a lot of time showing us around, we had a great time!

Mike and I have been talking via Twitter for a few weeks now,  thanks to Gary Morrision (of Plinius fame) and we have mainly been talking about how we can, as Mike puts it, “spread
our audible disease to the masses”.

For a while now I’ve been wanting to write something on the topic of getting the most from your digital music collection (and specifically talk about the Wadia range of iPod products) so when I came across an article Mike wrote I thought, well, I’ll be honest, it’s better than what I would have written! So anyway I asked Mike if I could re post it here and he not only agreed, but sent me the unedited version of the Wadia bit… Mike you rock, keep up the great work and you’re welcome here anytime!

- Brendan

Mike in his happy place

As a music addict I constantly download and stream tunes I cannot get in physical formats. As a HiFi enthusiast I also make every effort to ensure the music I am listening to sounds the best it possibly can—though it can be frustrating trying to coax quality sound from digital music devices. But if you know what you’re doing, it is possible to enhance the sonic integrity of your iTunes, iPhone, and iPod-based music systems at a reasonable price.

So how to do it? One of the answers lies in an essential part of any digital playback system, a component the high end audio community has been focused on improving for many years: the DAC (the digital-to-analog converter). Every digital player, whether it be a simple CD deck or a Blu Ray unit, has an internal DAC. We are analog beings and process auditory information in analog. No matter how many bits your digital system offers, the resolution, the sample rate, the bit rate; all the information needs to be converted back to analog in order to hear it. This is where some systems shine and others falter.

The biggest sonic obstacle lying in your digital path to better sound is your computer’s internal DAC. If you’re using the headphone jack/output (as most people are) to drive your desktop speakers or your stereo system you are relying on the computer’s internal DAC for the digital to analog processing which more often than not compromises sound quality.

Here I’ll discuss two different devices to improve your computer’s sonic performance, available at both your local HiFi dealer (yes, they do still exist) and various HiFi websites. Some will even allow you to demo the unit before making a final decision.

The Wadia 170i Transport

The Wadia 170i Transport is an iPod dock (not a DAC actually), but it is no ordinary dock.  Most consumer units may allow for the physical docking of your iPod and even give you access to the screen’s menus via your flat panel and other neat features, but they do nothing with regard to the digital processing of musical information.  Most of the docks offered simply pull the analog signal from the iPod (thus relying, again, on an inferior DAC, this time in the iPod itself).  Wadia was the first to build a component that not only accesses the digital datastream of the iPod, but actually pulls that datastream out through its COAX output (this cable looks just like the standard RCA interconnects you typically use, but this one needs to be a dedicated digital cable for best results).

The Wadia is larger than other docks, but stylish.  At 8″ wide x 2.7″ high x 8.0″ deep, and weighing in at 4.6 lbs, this thing is hefty and just about half the size of your average component.  It supports most iPods, and comes with multiple plastic inserts to accommodate different models.  It does not support the iPhone, but Wadia is about a month away (last I checked) (It’s available now in NZ – Brendan) from introducing their new 171i Transport which will provide iPhone support.  Needless to say they are on their game (which is also why the company has a stellar reputation for performance in audiophile circles).

The main sonic advantage of this component is it allows the user to incorporate a better external DAC.   If you happen to own a surround sound receiver for example (that does Dolby Digital EX and DTS for movies) then you probably have a digital COAX input (how you would normally get your multi-channel sound) then you can use it in conjunction with the Wadia.  This input leads to your receivers internal DAC, which, if it’s of decent quality, will sound far better than using the headphone output of the iPod.  Even if you don’t have a surround sound receiver, many new stereo receivers have digital inputs as well, though most of the receivers sold today are fully surround sound equipped (so, you’re covered).

The back end of the 170i transport

When we first got the Wadia iTransport I was a little skeptical as to how much better the sound could be through my iPod.  The iPod wasn’t, after all, for me, something that I relied on for good sound.  It was merely the digital carrying case for all the music I wanted to listen to on the go.  Does this sound familiar?  I was stunned to hear just how much better some of my compressed files sounded actually!  Mostly live DJ mixes, usually around 192k mp3s, sounded more dynamic and had far more bottom end than I even thought possible for an mp3 file (some music seems to lend itself better to certain forms of compression – I find anyway).  The uncompressed files offered another level of musical reference entirely.  The atmospheric sounds of Radiohead’s Kid A sounded just as lush and textural as they did when I played the production CD (and my CD playback system is no slouch).  However, as the old adage goes; crap in, crap out.  If the files you are playing sound like shite to begin with, they’re not going to get any better with the Wadia, but if the file is decent you will be able to hear far deeper into the music than ever before.  Do uncompressed (or even less compressed, such as AAC files) take up more space in your hard-drive?  Of course they do, but everything is about compromise; everything.  Me; I’d rather spend a little more money on more hard drive space – and they are far less expensive now than they were even two years ago.

The bottom line here: The Wadia 170 iTransport costs a little less than an iPhone, so doesn’t it seem worth it if you can turn your iPod into a far better sounding piece of hardware?  Again; the source itself is always the most important thing, but if you fill your iPod (or just use a fair portion of its memory) with decent sounding music the Wadia will help you unlock its sonic potential; potential most people don’t even know exists (or even care about).  I can’t live without mine, and that is perhaps the best thing I can say about it.  By the way:  It also has video outputs, so you can download movies off iTunes onto your iPod, and then dock it to the Wadia, giving you access to that movie on a bigger screen.

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You can continue reading the rest of Mike’s article over at The Daily Swarm

For more info on the Wadia range of products checkout:

Wadia 170i Transport $749

Wadia 171i Transport $899 (iPhone Supported model)

Wadia 151 PowerDAC Mini Amplifier $1999 – Matches above Transports, stunning unit.

Follow Mike on Twitter and also check out Positive-Feedback where Mike writes…

Thanks to Mike again for this great post, so are you ready to go digital?

It comes around every year and I for one love it. NZ Music month is a great way for the music industry here in New Zealand to showcase globally what we’ve got going on in our little musical corner of the world. As well as some great NZ new releases we also get spoilt for choice with the amount of gigs going on, so get out there amongst it and enjoy some fine New Zealand music.

Here’s some NZ music that’s worth checking out:

The new Phoenix Foundation album (and their old albums too!) is well worth a listen, here’s the first single off the album

The Phoenix Foundation – Buffalo
(Embedding is disabled so you’ll have to watch it on Youtube, but come back!)

When I hear The Mint Chicks on the radio, I always find myself turning it up and singing along, their latest single Say Goodbye is no different. I can’t find a video of that online so here’s an older track:

The Naked and Famous are an Auckland band that I think will be around a while, I think their style is very timely and they’ve done a stellar job of their video Young Blood, I look forward to more from this band.

The Artisan Guns are another Kiwi band to keep an eye on. Autumn has been out for a little while now and did pretty well on the charts here, I think they have a sound that will be well received offshore, let’s just hope they get the chance.

In June last year Chris Knox one of NZ’s great songwriters suffered a life altering stroke. The album ‘Stroke’ is a celebration of Chris and his music – it’s a bunch of friends and fans playing his songs.  To find out more about the album visit http://www.chrisknox.co.nz/

Here’s one of Jay Reatard’s last recordings, Chris’ song “pull down the shades” off the album Stroke

And one for our International readers – Poi e updated with some shots from the latest NZ movie Boy – You can’t get more Kiwi than this

And of course remember to check out all the local acts playing this month, you’ll find a gig guide on the NZ music month site

One last thing, NZ music isn’t just for one month of the year, you’ll see two NZ albums made my Top 9 of 09 list last year.

Support your local.

We just sent out our April newsletter, in it you’ll see we have some great bargains from Magneplanar, Marantz and some special package deals. We’re also very excited about the launch of Mordaunt Short speakers in New Zealand, offering staggering value for money. Plus, we have some great new products from all the top brands.

Here’s a snippet from the newsletter regarding HDMI 1.4:

It’s a very interesting time in the Hifi market at the moment, on the one hand we have struggling retailers closing their doors, and on the other we have an AV market flooded with out of date TVs and AV receivers being sold at very low prices. With the onslaught of 3D and HDMI 1.4 enabled TVs, Blu ray players and AV Receivers, it makes the world of Home Theatre a daunting place for customers!

HDMI 1.4 adds the capability of sending two high definition (1080p) signals simultaneously – for 3D – as well as enabling and internet connection over the HDMI cable, its easy to see where AV products are heading. If you want the latest and are trying to future proof your purchase, you may want to wait until the HDMI 1.4 spec AV products hit the market here in NZ. If you just want a high quality receiver that has the latest high definition surround formats and aren’t bothered with 3D, then the Cambridge Audio 650R Receiver is for you.

If you missed out, you can view it online, but make sure you get the next one, by subscribing to our mailing list – we promise not to pass your details onto anyone else.

Always keen to hear your thoughts, so make yourself known and post a comment!

Quite often I get asked, so what are you listening to at the moment?

Well here’s an answer to that question, well kind of, the list is much longer in reality…

I hope you enjoy these wonderfully talented artists, some of whom will never be heard by many amongst the masses of commercial pop on the air waves.

So what are you listening to?

There has been plenty of best of lists going around the ‘interweb’ in the past few weeks… this got me thinking, what is my top 9 of 09?

Here it is:

#9 Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

This album definitely took a few listens and for me its not one where I sit down and make it through the whole thing.. but there are great moments and My Girls is epic!

#8 Fanfarlo – Reservoir

I’ve only had this album a week or two and heard many friends raving about it, in fairness I need to give it more time and if I had it could well have made it higher up this list. A great debut, watch out for what these guys do next.

#7 Andrew Bird – Noble Beast

Noble Beast was my first introduction to singer songwriter Andrew Bird, I found myself listening to this album over and over, its a great recording and collection of songs and Bird’s voice is wonderful.

#6 The Veils – Sun Gangs

“A very modern mixture of prayers, love letters and personal record keeping” is how lead singer Finn Andrews described The Veils finest offering to date, outstanding song writing. Check out this nice little short film about the band and the album. Made in NZ. Love it.

#5 Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

The much hyped and anticipated Wilco album, I must admit I didn’t use to be a Wilco fan but after seeing Jeff Tweedy and the boys live at the seven worlds concert I was converted. I still find ‘Sky Blue Sky’ boring but this album is great, some fun catchy tunes and Tweedy’s voice has never sounded better.

#4 Lady of the Sunshine – Smoking Gun

Angus Stone steps out into a side project with fantastic results, a great album that I’ve thrashed. If you’re a fan of Angus & Julia Stone, grab this, if you’re not do it anyway.

#3 Dimmer – Degrees of Existence

Shayne Carter has been working hard and the results have paid off. One of my favourite NZ artists and another solid album. I wasn’t sure on the single ‘Degrees of Existence’ at first so if this is all you’ve heard, listen to the rest of it. ‘Too far gone to care’ is genius.

#2 Dan Auerbach – Keep it Hid

Black Keys front man Auerbach steps out on his own and delivers a great album, making the #1 spot for Amazon’s best of 09. A great raw sound and his musical talent shines through.

#1 Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadues Phoenix

Wow. Ok I’ve always been a Phoenix fan but this album blew me away, especially after their last mediocre effort.  ’1901′ has to be my favourite track of the year. Its not the longest album around but its solid. It works as an album start to finish, you listen to the whole thing each time you put it on. Its fun, its recorded well and my subwoofer loves it

In terms of singles of the year, Moth Wings by Passion Pit and Sweetest Disposition by The Temper Trap are worthy of a mention as is My Girls by Animal Collective… but as mentioned above 1901 by Phoenix gets my vote.

Well there you have it, what are your picks?

Last night was a great night out and everyone including the boys from Pearl Jam was having a great time. It is evident the band has moved on from its angsty days and the performance and set list reflected this. Vs is quite an angst filled (but brilliant) album and there wasn’t too many songs off this album that made it into the set list. There were quite a few songs off backspacer and these live had more energy and were great – it might make me enjoy the album more after seeing them live! Highlights for me were Black, Given to Fly, Yellow Ledbetter and Rocking in the Free World – all of which would be on the set list if I had picked it… No Alive, no Go, and missing some other big hits, some might be disapointed but not this punter, definitely got my moneys worth. ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a small town’ was for “anyone from Te Awamutu” and Vedder’s voice had never sounded better, singing “its been 11 years” (since they last played in NZ) saw a cheer from the crowd.

Ben Harper joined the stage to play slide guitar on Red Mosquito, here’s some of it shot from my phone.. so err excuse the quality:

At the beginning of the second encore, Vedder invite up “Uncle Neil” and son Liam and the played a Not Given Lightly by Chris Knox. This was a special treat for everyone with Neil prefacing the song “He’s still here, we are all blessed for that, lead us off son” referring to Knox’s recent stroke – support Chris by buying Stroke – Songs for Chris Knox.

In terms of the sound of the show, it was pretty good. I was sitting off to the side in the lower stand and quite an angle and there you got a little too much guitar but Eddie’s vocals were powering through and could be heard clearly over the band. My only complaint would be the bass could be a little louder, as could the drums – at least the Kick Drum. Oh and my ears are still ringing the next morning… ear plugs next time.