New audio player by Mark Levinson's "Daniel Hertz"- Master Class

[Afveep]

Mono and Stereo High-End Audio Magazine: Daniel Hertz Master Class

[DigiPete]

Is it hype or brilliance?

 

CES special: CHF 600

 

Any reports from CES sessions?

 

 

Seems limited to stereo :-(

[Afveep]

Information supplied is more focused on EQ and "A+" than describing why this might be a sonically better player (other than by EQing, if one agrees with that), and what other features there may be. The downloadable pdf on the Daniel Hertz website is long on "why EQ" and short on anything else. But maybe just worth watching.

[sbgk]

controversial, says players sound different, where are the measurements to support this, lol

[jhwalker]

Will be interested to learn more about this, but a music player ain't Photoshop - $700 is out of the question for me.

[Fitz Music]

Will be interested to learn more about this, but a music player ain't Photoshop - $700 is out of the question for me.

 

Hmm. Seems to be a "fine" Swiss music player, thus commanding an extravagant price, as do most electronics from Switzerland. The slick magazines are full of ads for outrageously costly Swiss watches. Think of it this way: Audirvana=Timex, Master Class player=Pathek Philippe.

 

The Timex is as accurate as the Pathek Philippe. Is the Master Class more bit perfect than Audirvana? I am more than skeptical.

 

Mr. Levinson keeps trying to regain a footing in the audio world. I auditioned some of his Rose Music stuff in New York some years ago. Not impressive, but costly.

[One and a half]

There are few negatives before it's out of the starting block......

 

No trial

No description of management of metadata

For the price there's no DRC as a sweetener

No DSD

OSX only

The purchase price is at least 10 licences for Jriver, nearly two Amarra Symphony

 

For the price at close to USD800, going to buy some cable instead or quite a few, close to 30 Acoustic Sounds downloads.

 

Someone will buy Master Class with emphasis on the 'one', but have an open mind.

[Paul R]

Wow - I have no idea how it sounds, but no demo and, assuming those are Swiss Francs, about $715 to purchase it with shipping. The description of operating it sounds downright primitive, no mention of remote control, library management, metadata, or any thing else interesting save or the equalization engine.

 

My ears are twitching telling me that is selling mostly on name recognition. If it doesn't sell well, there will be a lot of complaining about how software doesn't make a difference anyway or some other foolishness.

 

-Paul

[Axiom05]

There are few negatives before it's out of the starting block......

 

No trial

No description of management of metadata

For the price there's no DRC as a sweetener

No DSD

OSX only

The purchase price is at least 10 licences for Jriver, nearly two Amarra Symphony

 

For the price at close to USD800, going to buy some cable instead or quite a few, close to 30 Acoustic Sounds downloads.

 

Someone will buy Master Class with emphasis on the 'one', but have an open mind.

 

Looks like ALAC isn't supported either!

[wgscott]

I'm sure someone will start raving about the tight (b)ass and holographic yet liquid soundstage, and then a bunch of people will buy it and discover how much better it can sound when installed on a case-sensitive HFS+-formatted disk.

[One and a half]

I'm sure someone will start raving about the tight (b)ass and holographic yet liquid soundstage, and then a bunch of people will buy it and discover how much better it can sound when installed on a case-sensitive HFS+-formatted disk.

 

hfs?

[One and a half]

Wow - I have no idea how it sounds, but no demo and, assuming those are Swiss Francs, about $715 to purchase it with shipping. The description of operating it sounds downright primitive, no mention of remote control, library management, metadata, or any thing else interesting save or the equalization engine.

 

My ears are twitching telling me that is selling mostly on name recognition. If it doesn't sell well, there will be a lot of complaining about how software doesn't make a difference anyway or some other foolishness.

 

-Paul

 

Software firmly does sound different Here's why

[Paul R]

I quite agree, both with you and for the most part, with Swenson in the linked articles.

-Paul

 

Software firmly does sound different Here's why

[VandyMan]

A few years ago, at a NYC audio show, Levinson has a room and was calling it his return to high-end audio. He was showing a mini-system that had software by Daniel Hertz. He claimed it improved the sound of MP3s. It did sound pretty good, though it was impossible to really judge without my own content and known speakers. However, it seemed pretty ridiculous to focus on MP3s in an audiophile product. The other show goers I spoke to could not understand what market need he thought he was addressing. Levinson was not forthcoming on exactly what his special process was, but it seemed to be EQ. He had the usual ground-breaking-magical-proprietary-I'd-have-to-kill-you-if-I- told-you kinda spiel.

 

I can't see the point of this product since there are already plenty of inexpensive ways to do EQ if one desires including in JRiver, iTunes, Amarra, and A+ (with Audio Units).

[VandyMan]

From their website: "Master Class includes a technology called A+. With A+, the listening experience is much more like analog..."

 

Ten seconds with google would have told them that there is a directly competing product called Audirvana Plus commonly called A+. I find this really sleazy, even for Levinson standards.

[astrotoy]

I can't see the point of this product since there are already plenty of inexpensive ways to do EQ if one desires including in JRiver, iTunes, Amarra, and A+ (with Audio Units).

 

The point is pretty clear. ML the man has never been known for finding "inexpensive ways" to do things. That goes way back when he was a "wunderkind" in his '20's when he founded ML in the early '70's. The only "bargain" piece of ML equipment I ever bought was a ML JC-1 which was a John Curl designed phono preamp that i bought used from Garland Audio in the late '70's. I remember it was $99.

 

Larry

[freddie40]

Have purchased all of the players and the total price (BitPerfect = $10, Decibal = $40, PureMusic = $125, Amarra = $300, Fidelia = $75, JRiver = $50, Audirvana Plus = $50, DVD Audio Extractor = $40) equals approximately $690 for everything. Don't tell me that this one piece of software is worth more than all of the others put together. ROTFLMAO.

 

JRiver is my current choice, Audirvana as a close second and it will be extremely hard to top these.

 

Dave

[vicento]

Maybe Audirvana Plus technology is integrated in this new player.

[VandyMan]

That seems to be what they would like consumers to believe. I don't think it is the case though.

[Esprit]

I'll wait the Korsun version <EG>

[elcorso]

Maybe Audirvana Plus technology is integrated in this new player.

 

I don't think so. But subliminal & fake advertising yes.

 

Roch

[bdiament]

Interesting.

Looks like an equalizer plug-in set to similar (but not the same) turnover frequencies as the Cello Audio Palette (the best hardware EQ I ever heard).

I would guess it uses similar slopes for the filters too but they don't provide this information so that might not be correct.

Neither is there any info on how wide the data paths are.

 

Who knows? (I don't as I haven't tried it.) I could be wonderful.

But right now, I think I'll stick with ChannelStrip.

$130 and far more transparent than any other EQ in my experience. By a good long country mile.

One can even apply the *exact* frequencies and slopes of the Audio Palette if desired.

Use it in real time with a server application that allows for plug-ins. Or insert it as a plug-in in a DAW (digital audio workstation) like Reaper ($60!) and you can "apply the EQ" and save a file at State of the Art sonic quality.

That is (in my experience) as good as it gets, price no object, for under $200.

 

Incidentally, to my knowledge (always subject to modification of course), the Audio Palette was based on a design by Richard Burwen and turned into a product by the great Tom Colangelo (R.I.P.). No one else.

(Tom was one of the few genuine geniuses I've have the very good fortune to meet. I once spent an afternoon talking details about the Audio Palette with him. And he spoke to me as if *he* was the one who was learning. An amazing man. Gentle, humble, incredibly intelligent.)

 

Best regards,

Barry

Soundkeeper Recordings

The Soundkeeper | Audio, Music, Recording, Playback

Barry Diament Audio

[davidbeinct]

Wow - I have no idea how it sounds, but no demo and, assuming those are Swiss Francs, about $715 to purchase it with shipping...

-Paul

 

Shipping? What is this, 1999? Who ships software?

[marklevinson]

A slight correction/explanation on the price. Master Class is CHF 600 (USD 660) plus CHF 50 for shipping (USD 55). Thanks for discussing Daniel Hertz Master Class on this blog. Available at Daniel Hertz . Note that a dongle is necessary for operation, shipped to you when you order. The program is emailed to you, with instructions. Mac OS 10.8 or higher is required.

[DigiPete]

. . . Note that a dongle is necessary for operation . . .

 

 

Mr. Levinson

 

What is a dongle?

Where does it go?

How does it provide value to the costumer?

Is it compatible with all external equipment?

 

Thanks