A few months ago, I received a phone
call from Dr. John Q. Walker, the Chairman and founder of Zenph Sound
Innovations, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, a company that has developed
important, new music technologies and a line of award-winning recordings of
classic performances. I had heard of the work that Zenph was doing in the area
of "re-performances" of famous pianists and their recordings. I had
even heard the Gould recordings and was thrilled at the sonic quality and interpretations
of his 1955 Goldberg Variations. Zenph Sound Innovations has received rave
reviews of their Glenn Gould and Art Tatum releases on Sony Masterworks and I
was well aware of their work.
It was a welcome surprise to find that
John was aware of my audiophile label AIX Records and iTrax.com. He wanted to
know if I would be interested in releasing the latest project from Zenph, the
re-performance of "Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff" in any format
other than standard definition compact disc. Sony Masterworks has limited their
release to the CD version, which had received rave reviews from Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, but were not going to issue a high definition
disc. They had agreed to let Zenph partner with iTrax.com for the HD Surround
tracks. Very good news for those of us that are addicted to high definition
sound and surround mixes.
Of course, I was thrilled at the chance
to partner with Sony Masterworks and Zenph, and become the home of this
important recording…in HD Surround!
So what exactly is a re-performance?
This is the explanation provided on the Zenph website:
"Author Kevin Bazzana refers to
our process as a “live realization of the original interpretation.” Zenph(R)
Studios takes audio recordings and turns them back into live performances,
precisely replicating what was originally recorded. Our software-based process
extracts every musical nuance of a recorded performance, and stores the data in
a high-resolution digital file. These re-performance files contain the details
of how every note in the composition was played, including pedal actions,
volume, and articulations – all with millisecond timings.
These re-performance files can then be
played back on real acoustic pianos fitted with sophisticated computers and
hardware, letting the listener “sit in the room” as if he or she were there
when the original recording was made. Most importantly, the re-performance can
be recorded afresh, using the latest microphones and recording techniques, to
modernize monophonic or poor-quality recordings of beloved performances.
Important to this process is the use of
high-resolution data. Those familiar with the MIDI specification (now more than
25 years old) may know that regular MIDI isn’t really sufficient for capturing
and replicating fine nuance. It’s like the difference between regular TV and
high-definition TV. The high-resolution specs we’re using vary among
instruments, but all offer 10 bits of data to preserve the velocity of each key
(compared to 7 bits in regular MIDI), as well as detailed information about the
key and pedal positioning.
We feel the word “re-performance”
summarizes this technique perfectly."
The ability to convert older recordings
with limited fidelity into high-resolution re-performance data, and then to newly
record them with state-of-the-art audio equipment AND to deliver them in full
HD surround to music consumers is a transformative event in the history of
recordings.
I've been fortunate to be able to compare
the Rachmaninoff tracks played from the standard-resolution CD and from the HD
surround files here in my studio. While the sonic quality of the CD is
absolutely first class and up to the full capabilities of that format, the
clarity and sense of spaciousness offered by HD surround offers a completely
different perspective.
The addition of Zenph Sound
Innovations' "Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff" to iTrax.com is a huge
step forward for those seeking REAL HD recordings and for the future of our
site. I'm extremely happy to be able to feature this album in our iTrax.com
catalog and I look forward to adding new items as they become available. Thanks
John for believing in iTrax.com!
The inaugural AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) was held
last weekend in Jacksonville, Florida and AIX Records was featured with a very
high end, HD Audio/Video demo system in the 3700 square foot Port Ballroom. The
show manager and driving force behind the event is Steve Davis, a longtime
audiophile and equipment vendor. He and I have been friends for many years and
when he got the AXPONA show off the ground he called and invited me to
participate with both a state-of-the-art demonstration of HD Surround Music AND
a couple of seminars on the latest in high definition music servers and
multichannel HD music.
It was a welcome relief to learn that the AXPONA show would
not only include but feature digital equipment and HD surround software.
Traditionalists are comfortable with the usual array of turntables and vinyl
discs, but they rarely get exposed to the future of recorded music…a full
blown, high definition, audio and video system.
The show was held at the Wyndham Riverwalk Hotel and was
easily as large as the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival held each fall in Denver.
Vendors came from all over the country to show off their latest audio gadgets,
software and hardware. Most of the usual audiophile components were on display
to the roughly 2000 attendees that flowed through the hotel on Friday and
Saturday. They heard vinyl played on $100,000 turntables, exotic tube
amplification systems, expensive power conditioners, cryogenically treated
speaker and interconnect cables and all sorts of high end speakers. And they
heard what John Atkinson called the, "Best Experience at AXPONA?" in
his show report. John went on to say, "The AIX recordings I auditioned
ranged from solo guitar and piano to full big band, and all were enveloping in
a manner I have never experienced on even the best two-channel
system."I couldn't agree
more.
The demo system that we set up at AXPONA consisted of
equipment supplied by some of the best manufacturers in the business. There
were three 1012 Boulder Pre Amplifiers (we needed three to handle the 5.1
surround outputs of the BD player), various Boulder Amplifiers (3 monoblocks
and 1 stereo) and 5 Thiel CS3.7 speakers with 2 SSP 2 subwoofers. All this was
connected with custom interconnects and speaker cables made by DH Labs. The HD
Video was projected using a DCX-1000 unit from Wolf Cinema onto a Greyhawk
109" screen made by Stewart Filmscreen.
However, it was the source component that drew the most
attention. I played back my HD Audio/Video recordings using a $900 Oppo BDP-83
SE (the "SE" stands for Special Edition). I would venture to say that
this unit was the least expensive playback unit at the entire show, yet
produced the highest fidelity sound (yes, I did manage to get to just about
every room at the show)! Visitors to the room couldn't believe the degree of
involvement and intimacy produced by our tracks on the Oppo BD player. It begs
the question why anyone would spend upwards of $100K on a turntable, which
can't come close to approaching the dynamic range and frequency response of a HD
Audio BD disc when recorded with care.
I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the incredible
video projector that Jim McGall of Wolf Cinema brought to the show. I hadn't
heard of this company before talking to a friend that used to work at Runco
prior to their sale. He put me in touch with Wolf and they kindly agreed to
make one of their units available for the duration of the show. In fact, Jim
was there to set up and calibrate the machine AND take the controls of the
audio playback when I needed a break.
The DCX-1000 projector produced the brightest, most detailed
HD Video image that I've ever seen…and it did so from a distance of over 50
feet back from the screen! No I just have to figure out how to get one for my
studio…without having to shell our $85,000. Unlike the Oppo BDP-83 SE player,
this unit comes with a price tag that matches its performance.
The first AXPONA show was definitely a hit. Kudos to Steve
and Andrew for taking the bold step of putting on an audio show east of the
Mississippi…and for making it so inclusive. Everyone had a great time, learned
a lot and shared what we all love most…great audio.
