Headphone users MUST read

[Soundproof]

He-he. Well, yes - it is specially cured. By that, they mean that the raw templates, after a first round of polishing, are left to cure for six months, in order to ascertain whether they'll warp or crack. The templates that don't warp are then tuned - the way you would blocks for a wooden xylophone.
Afterwards, you mount the driver and its support against the wood, and achieve the particular resonation and precise bass the Grado's are capable of. This is quite different from the plastic mounts used in most headphones. Though the Sennheiser HD650s use metal mounts.

[Soundproof]

Which recording did you use as test material?

The '89 WP Guilini. There was also one on a reference CD they had, but which didn't identify the orchestra. Typical. However, it sounded a bit like your Masur.

BTW - do you have the BRO Schuricht version? Have never heard that.

===

ADDING: And to clarify, Mr. M - not saying the Guilini is the best ever, but that the sound of the orchestra came out with a precision, detailing and true tone that was impressive. (But then the whole system also costs USD 350.000).

[M forever]

templates that don't warp are then tuned

Tuned to what?

The '89 WP Guilini.

BTW - do you have the BRO Schuricht version? Have never heard that.

You mean the DG recording with Giulini? Just asking because there is also a pirate floating around on "Memories".

What does BRO stand for?

[Soundproof]

Yes, the DG.

Bavarian Radio Orchestra. Carl Shuricht did a Bruckner's 9th for them in the early 60s.

[MishaK]

BTW - do you have the BRO Schuricht version? Have never heard that.

You'd fare better with Schuricht's EMI VPO recording from around the same time. The interpretation is far more urgent and compelling and the orchestral execution is a notch better as well. Sound is better, too. The EMI VPO recording should be widely available in Japan from the likes of cdjapan or hmv.co.jp.

[Soundproof]

Don't know the quality of the recording, and it is a live performance. I've been told it's worth listening to. Here's some info:

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor

Carl Schuricht conducts Bavarian Radio Orchestra

Orfeo D'Or C 548 001 B 56:57 (Distrib. Qualiton)

Still more Bruckner! Taken from a Munich concert given March 8, 1963, this disc captures the singular power of Carl Schuricht (1880-1967) in his last creative period. It was in memory of Schuricht and his association with the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra that Celibidache gave his own Bruckner cycle with that ensemble in 1971. Danzig-born Schuricht belonged to a family of organ-builders, so the massive, layered sound of Bruckner came naturally to Schuricht's essentially Prussian temperament. Though Schuricht inherited no great ensemble to make his name, he remains a respected member of the German tradition, pursuing Brahms and Schumann, Beethoven and Reger, and having recorded with Backhaus; he appeared often in Vienna and Salzburg, where Orfeo has unearthed a fine Mozart B-flat Concerto, K. 595, with Robert Casadesus.

This rendition of Bruckner's last, incomplete symphony comes as a refreshing tonic to those heavy, 'profound' interpretations with which we are glutted by Wand and Boulez. Relatively streamlined, this version sparkles at key moments, as in the pizzicati of the Scherzo with its F-sharp Major trio, and it sings wistfully of 'Himmel hoch' in the opening and third movements. The chastity of means, the rather cool, detached, sonic patina is a far cry from Celibidache or Furtwaengler's ethos in this music. Highly architectural, Schuricht blends the interrupted periods in this music into an over-riding arch, moving inexorably towards the E Major declaration of spiritual renewal. Lean, sweet, seamless executed, this self-effacing Bruckner Ninth is right up there among the more self-serving interpretatons by often less genial spirits.[/b]

[M forever]

Yes, the DG.

Good choice. Great performance, outstanding playing (the apocalyptic trombone playing in the middle and near the end of the scherzo has spoilt all other recordings I have since then heard for me). Very good sound, too, reasonably "natural". I was waiting for you to say you used the Wand recording I posted so that I could ridicule you (since you said it had such good sound, but while the sound is indeed fairly good, it's not that great, and certainly not the most "natural out there) - but you didged that bullet.

Bavarian Radio Orchestra. Carl Shuricht did a Bruckner's 9th for them in the early 60s.

There is no orchestra called the Bavarian Radio Orchester. It's called "Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks" and abbreviated SOBR. It's the *name* of the ensemble. When people in Germany discuss the "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra", they refer to it as "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra", not "Königliches Philharmonisches Orchester". That would look ignorant and provincial.

And BTW, neither any of Wand's nor Boulez' recordings of the 9th (there is no "official" commercial recording, but there are live recordings floating around with the WP - that means "Wiener Philharmoniker" - and the CSO - that means "Chikagoer Sinfonie Orchester" - looks weird, doesn't it?) are heavy, "profound". What idiot wrote that article?

[Soundproof]

Good choice. Great performance, outstanding playing (the apocalyptic trombone playing in the middle and near the end of the scherzo has spoilt all other recordings I have since then heard for me). Very good sound, too, reasonably "natural". I was waiting for you to say you used the Wand recording I posted so that I could ridicule you (since you said it had such good sound, but while the sound is indeed fairly good, it's not that great, and certainly not the most "natural out there) - but you didged that bullet.

There is no orchestra called the Bavarian Radio Orchester. It's called "Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks" and abbreviated SOBR. It's the *name* of the ensemble. When people in Germany discuss the "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra", they refer to it as "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra", not "Königliches Philharmonisches Orchester". That would look ignorant and provincial.

And BTW, neither any of Wand's nor Boulez' recordings of the 9th (there is no "official" commercial recording, but there are live recordings floating around with the WP - that means "Wiener Philharmoniker" - and the CSO - that means "Chikagoer Sinfonie Orchester" - looks weird, doesn't it?) are heavy, "profound". What idiot wrote that article?

It was Jochen (E) I found to my liking, not the Wand. But I do think that from a technical point of view, the version you called F reproduced with the most detailed soundstage on my system. However, as you know, I didn't like that one ... 

Giulini's I have always liked.

===

Thanks for the SOBR. Just found that description on the net now, google the text and you'll find the idiot.

[M forever]

It was Jochen (E) I found to my liking, not the Wand. But I do think that from a technical point of view, the version you called F reproduced with the most detailed soundstage on my system. However, as you know, I didn't like that one ... 

I remember you didn't get that one. Just like "Gary Lemco" in "Audiophile Audition" (what's "audiophile about a decades old Schuricht recording, apart from the obvious musical interest?).

Giulini's I have always liked.

Good, good, good.

Thanks for the SOBR.

Glad I could help. You English people are so insularly ignorant when it comes to these things, you use a completely wrong name for my home country and language and gave the right one to a different people, that is something which is to late to undo, I guess, but at least we can work a little on small details like this.

[tjguitar]

Why don't you purchase huge speakers and Walküren-Ritt your neighbours?

[M forever]

Why don't you purchase huge speakers and Walküren-Ritt your neighbours?

Or maybe even better, use this.

[Bonehelm]

Glad I could help. You English people are so insularly ignorant when it comes to these things, you use a completely wrong name for my home country and language and gave the right one to a different people, that is something which is to late to undo, I guess, but at least we can work a little on small details like this.

Yo M, remember the speech "Ich bin ein Berliner" from JFK? "I AM A DONUT!!" 

[M forever]

Yo Bonehelm, can you imagine how often I have heard that? Too often.

But actually *not once* before I came to the US, and I *never* had thought of it like that. Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not what people think of in Germany when they hear that phrase. "Berliner" is simply something or somebody from Berlin (like me), and it can be *many* things. It depends on the context. For instance, "Berliner Philharmoniker" or "Berliner Luft" (which means "Berlin air", a synonym for the unique cultural and social climate of the city) or "Berliner Schnauze" (which means "Berlin snout", a common term for the unique rough dialect/accent true "Berliner" (like me) have). None of them awaken any association with pastry. Sorry. But it wouldn't be that funny anyway.

BTW, a "Berliner Pfannkuchen" is not a donut either, it's a soft bun filled with jelly and sugar icing on the top. It's very sticky and fatty and so sweet you can feel your teeth rot when you sink them in:

[Soundproof]

BTW, a "Berliner Pfannkuchen" is not a donut either, it's a soft bun filled with jelly and sugar icing on the top. It's very sticky and fatty and so sweet you can feel your teeth rot when you sink them in:

I can attest to that. Making these is part of my mother's bag of tricks, and she turns them out as picture perfect copies of the one shown in the photo. She also "creates" home made jam for the interior. These are morally and ethically indefensible as food.

[m_gigena]

Or maybe even better, use this.

Jazz'em.



For some reason this sketch from The Simpsons came to my mind.

[Steve]

I work on a university campus and I fear for the ears of today's youth as most of them zip here and there with their iPods on and the standard buds cranked to the highest level to drown out external ambient noise. Apple is really doing a disservice to its customers by including buds that do not provide sufficient sound isolation. They should, at the very least, offer an option of IEMs.

I can imagine, in a few decades, we will have a population of individuals with greater levels of hearing loss than any before them.

I use an iPod myself, but I have been buying DAPs since the first Rio product hit the market, so I have had a long affair with improving the sound quality of my personal devices through better headphones and I try to never listen at levels higher than 20% of maximum volume.

As a college student, I'm aware of the widespread problem that you speak of. Chiding Apple for not including an option of IEMs, does not however, make much sense. They carry many third-party IEMs in their stores near the Ipod headphones. Young people simply aren't aware of the problem, and I'm not sure that responsibility should fall to Apple.

[PerfectWagnerite]

BTW, a "Berliner Pfannkuchen" is not a donut either, it's a soft bun filled with jelly and sugar icing on the top. It's very sticky and fatty and so sweet you can feel your teeth rot when you sink them in:

So a Berliner Pfannkuchen is not deep-fried like a donut? It sure looks like a donut with extra sugar of the Dunkin variety.

[M forever]

Take a good look at the middle. There is no hole there. Plus it tastes different from a donut. I don't know why, I am not good at baking stuff. So it's not a donut.

[George]

So a Berliner Pfannkuchen is not deep-fried like a donut? It sure looks like a donut with extra sugar of the Dunkin variety.

Indeed.

Perhaps that isn't a table it's sitting on, perhaps we aren't really here at all.

Perhaps we are just characters in some dalmation's dream?

If so, I hope that puppy keeps on sleepin' 

[PSmith08]

So a Berliner Pfannkuchen is not deep-fried like a donut? It sure looks like a donut with extra sugar of the Dunkin variety.

It wouldn't technically be a donut, but a jelly donut - a discrete entity. It might be called either a Bismarck or Pączki, as the number of the noun is usually disregarded by most Americans. Though, they've always been Bismarcks at my local bakery. Get up toward Chicago, which has a large and active Polish community, and you'll likely see more of the latter. Especially toward Lent.

"Jelly donut" is a pretty safe general term. I use that at my bakery, despite their difference in nomenclature. And, if "Berlin pancakes" are deep-fried (or fried at all), then, yeah, they would be members of the jelly donut family.