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Article: Sound Liaison - One Mic Recordings


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3 hours ago, miguelito said:

Given the mic is stereo (actually three capsule device) I would expect this to be close to a binaural recording, and indeed the videos sound just like that.

 

My thought exactly. And the recordings sounded close... but slightly different. But not obviously different. I didn't have time to listen several different times to try and figure out the source of the difference. There are definitely commonalities. Binaural is so sensitive to the recording space, so Chesky's got his list of venues.

 

I'm so in love with the Chesky binaural recordings, to a great extent because they're of artists and music I love. (And full disclosure, a few of the artists are friends or kids of friends.) I didn't hear it on these... but I've got a few binaural albums that were recorded live, and they're freaky... someone sneezes behind, and if you're wearing headphones you head whips around and causes a serious chiropractic problem.  Some binaural recordings aren't impressive on stereo, and Chesky claims to do some kind of voodoo to make them work. Another reason I wanted to listen and A/B.

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12 hours ago, firedog said:

The recordings are very good, the problem is I don't like the music they record that much.

 

Glad we got that out of way from the get go. 

 

Four voices doesn't have to include drums or vocals.  Something to get a bit fired up over material wise would make a world of difference though. 

 

Quite openly that is never going to be Jazz in my case.  Still this article and the recordings are only developing further interest.

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Enjoying the music is what matters most so I don't buy everything in the SL catalogue but I do try to support them by buying good recordings that are less than a perfect match to my taste. Why post comments on an audiophile site and complain when excellent material is published ;p Support them and hopefully they'll be able to record more popular big draw artists! Check out Witmer Trio "Free" - another excellent recording although not OneMic.

🎸🎶🏔️🐺

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41 minutes ago, ted_b said:

Agree on whole.  There are some real nuggets, though, that can be mined from the boutique labels like Barry's (Soundkeeper), Todd's (MA Recordings) and the Mapleshade label started by Pierre Sprey.  Back on topic, I find a few of Sound Liaison's recordings to resonate with me, but as with anything, need to be in the mood.

 

Net/net, great article.  I'd love for Joe to do this with other boutique labels.

I do not have any of Barry’s recordings. I have a couple of the Mapleshade CDs and 4 of Todd’s recordings, one jazz trio, both Será Una Noche  releases and one solo classical piano recording. I will put it on the list of things to think about. 

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2 hours ago, ted_b said:

Agree on whole.  There are some real nuggets, though, that can be mined from the boutique labels like Barry's (Soundkeeper), Todd's (MA Recordings) and the Mapleshade label started by Pierre Sprey.  Back on topic, I find a few of Sound Liaison's recordings to resonate with me, but as with anything, need to be in the mood.

Yes, there are exceptions and I do have a couple of Tod's MA recordings.

Kal Rubinson

Senior Contributing Editor, Stereophile

 

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On 6/24/2019 at 9:16 PM, miguelito said:

Given the mic is stereo (actually three capsule device) I would expect this to be close to a binaural recording, and indeed the videos sound just like that.

 

But to my ear these sounds very different, much better on speakers, compared to the Chesky, that´s for sure.

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12 hours ago, esldude said:

I think an issue with the Carmen Gnomes recording is the vocalist and drummer wearing headphones.  

Don't want to be b*tchy but seriously these are not the most accomplished musicians around... I am very much in the camp of music first, audiophilia second...

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3 hours ago, Kal Rubinson said:

Yes, there are exceptions and I do have a couple of Tod's MA recordings.

Yes. MA Recordings are amazing. For example, "Sera Una Noche" is actually an ensemble of very well known and accomplished Argentinian musicians (I am Argentinian, btw). However, lets be clear: MA Recordings has, say 50 albums at most? Hardly a label.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

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1 hour ago, oso said:

 

But to my ear these sounds very different, much better on speakers, compared to the Chesky, that´s for sure.

I agree.  I don't like that Chesky has gone binaural.  His recordings were better prior to that over speakers, and I much prefer speakers.  These recordings are generally good recordings.  The music as always is a matter of taste and preference. 

And always keep in mind: Cognitive biases, like seeing optical illusions are a sign of a normally functioning brain. We all have them, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it is something that affects our objective evaluation of reality. 

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1 hour ago, oso said:

But to my ear these sounds very different, much better on speakers, compared to the Chesky, that´s for sure.

I've listened to a sample track from Sound Liaison: Carmen Gomes's "A Fool For You". Comparing this to Amber Rubarth's Chesky release "Songs From The 17th Ward" is a no-brainer: Chesky is much better in my system (and the music itself is great). To be specific, try "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" in this album...

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

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46 minutes ago, miguelito said:

I've listened to a sample track from Sound Liaison: Carmen Gomes's "A Fool For You". Comparing this to Amber Rubarth's Chesky release "Songs From The 17th Ward" is a no-brainer: Chesky is much better in my system (and the music itself is great). To be specific, try "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" in this album...

I just listened to both, and it is not much of a contest. 

 

Chesky is better over headphones.  Sound Liaison is better over speakers.  

 

The music is one part, and you'll get various opinions.  The recording quality differences are fairly clear to me. 

 

Over speakers the Chesky sounds relative to the SL a bit veiled, a bit distant, a bit soft.  SL is clear, present and intimate. 

 

Over phones the Chesky has something of an image, and sounds about right.  The SL is strung thru the middle of my head from ear to ear and puddles too much around each ear.  This matches my experience with MS recordings like the One Mic SL.  I've added a little from each channel to the other to make headphone listeners happy.  It inflates the middle some and keeps it from sounding too much just around the ears though it doesn't equal binaural for phone listeners.  

 

Of course compared to Grammy winning recordings of recent times, the recording quality of either is like comparing Picasso to coloring of kindergartners.   So note I'm not dissing on either of these folks here.  

And always keep in mind: Cognitive biases, like seeing optical illusions are a sign of a normally functioning brain. We all have them, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it is something that affects our objective evaluation of reality. 

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1 hour ago, esldude said:

I just listened to both, and it is not much of a contest. 

 

Chesky is better over headphones.  Sound Liaison is better over speakers.  

In My System, To My Ears the Chesky recording has a tonality, decay, space around instruments, and presence of the singer's voice that the Sound Liaison does not (to that degree). I am not talking headphones.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

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1 hour ago, miguelito said:

In My System, To My Ears the Chesky recording has a tonality, decay, space around instruments, and presence of the singer's voice that the Sound Liaison does not (to that degree). I am not talking headphones.

Which speakers were you using just out of curiosity? I was using some Revel's of the lower end of their product line. 

 

I can see how depending upon particulars of a system it could go either way.  I hear plenty of space that sounds real enough for the close in style of the recording.  There isn't an abundance of space.  The Chesky seems like a little too much for my taste over speakers.  Which is why I described it as slightly distant.   Back when they used crossed figure 8's I thought you had space, and more 3D depth in a more real way than these recent recordings when they are played back over speakers.  

 

I wouldn't complain about either if I like the music.  And like you I think Chesky has the better music in these particular examples.  

 

I'd like to see Sound Liaisons do some of these recordings using crossed figure 8's instead of Mid_side which best I understand is what they used for these recordings.  The Josephson's can put out either version.  Even after the fact if SL recorded all the outputs.  But they may not have had the position of the microphone optimum for crossed 8's.  Or just prefer Mid_side themselves. 

And always keep in mind: Cognitive biases, like seeing optical illusions are a sign of a normally functioning brain. We all have them, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it is something that affects our objective evaluation of reality. 

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I enjoy Chesky recordings also but they traditionally have more of a distant sound. Also, Chesky tends to record in churchs and larger spaces, much different that the large studio environment used in the SL recordings. Different strokes for different folks. I can and do enjoy both techniques. 

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1 hour ago, esldude said:

Which speakers were you using just out of curiosity? 

See my signature.

 

Or go to http://goo.gl/66fjxw

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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