Hell Freezes Over
Hotel California
Yeah I know… it’s hackneyed.
But wow - when the melody segues into the familiar opening notes of Hotel California, and the crowd recognises it and they go wild - with the BHK 300s, you realise its not a single “crowd” noise but individual claps and shouts, the separation of detail and layers. It’s intoxicating.
You have got to be kidding me!!
i am watching last week’s episode of Family Guy and the opening credit song comes on and I’m hearing this trumpet that’s distinct from the rest of the trumpet fanfare. Wow
DoggieHowser saidYou have got to be kidding me!!
i am watching last week’s episode of Family Guy and the opening credit song comes on and I’m hearing this trumpet that’s distinct from the rest of the trumpet fanfare. Wow
I just upgraded to the DS DAC about a week ago; and two nights ago I installed the Torrey’s software update. I have been up much too late, for several evenings in a row, enjoying similar revelations. I can really relate to your posts. (I just experienced that Hotel California audience thing you described the night before last.)
Isn’t this fun?!
Scott
After TV and just before bedtime
A quick spin of my all time favorite - FourPlay’s self titled album. I have 4 versions of this - the US press, a SHM version, the DVD Audio and also the HDTracks version.
The HD Tracks is the best one by far.
Also one of the best recorded albums.
101 Eastbound. The guitars. You can hear that brief instant when the strings are strummed/plucked. That transient.
Damn
DoggieHowser said The HD Tracks is the best one by far.Which makes sense; it has the greatest dynamic range by far of the various versions. This matters much more than the resolution.
The wife is memorizing notes for when she is tutoring next week so I got a yelling for playing too loud.
Which led me to discover another neat trick of the BHK monos.
They play so well at low levels. Normally I need to crank out the volume to get dynamics and energy that I crave from my music.
But now at an easy listening level, it’s surprisingly engaging.
This just keeps getting better.
Couldn’t wait so I ended up hooking both the memory transport and the BHK preamp in at the same time.
The first thing I did was to test that the HT bypass was switching back correctly without a blip in the volume. Check.
My first impression with the preamp is that nothing much has changed.
That’s not a bad thing. The Audio Research Reference 5SE is about 2 times as expensive in Australia.
On closer listening right now it does seem the soundstage is slightly closed in compared to the Audio Research. But this is from zero hours on the tube clock.
it also appears that the BHK preamp trades off some of the midrange lushness of the Audio Research for that little bit improvement in imaging precision, clarity and transparency
Will keep monitoring the progress of the running in. Can’t wait to hit the magic hours.
Listening to Bocelli’s rendition of Autumn Leaves in French from the HD Tracks’ compilation of his albums now. There were instances when Bocelli’s voice obscured the strings accompanying him when I was using the Ref5SE but the BHK still reproduces the strings so clearly alongside his voice.
If I had to be honest, at this stage, I still prefer the Audio Research’s presentation. It feels a bit more engaging and conveys the emotion a little more.
But I’ve clocked over 1000 hours on the Audio Research.
I have collated all my notes and impressions of the DirectStream and then the BHK components over the years into a single article/post if anyone is interested.
Wow! What a great journey. Thank you for sharing that with us - all the way from down under.
So, do you think of us as up over?
Another night. Another few more hours on the clock.
On a hunch, I decided to put on Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’ Endless Love from HD Tracks.
The hunch paid off. In dividends.
Not only was the PS Audio combination able to resolve the voices of Richie and Ross, I was hearing this guitar pluck in the opening few seconds i didn’t notice before. The piano I had heard. But the soft guitar part surprised me because it’s normally masked by the voices.
All the way to the end, there were more instruments that came out from the background that seemed new to me.
My reaction? Many four letter expletives.
It was just so good.
Paul McGowan saidWow! What a great journey. Thank you for sharing that with us - all the way from down under.
So, do you think of us as up over?
I used to visit Colorado when I was with HP. Loved the view. Who needed a computer screensaver when you could just look out the window for a perfect view? Must be inspiring to work there
I guess my next question is - when can I get the BHK Signature Phono preamp?
Work’s begun on this phono stage, but I am guessing we won’t enjoy its wonders until end of this year at the earliest.
Cant wait 
On a hunch, I decided to put on Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’ Endless Love from HD Tracks.
The hunch paid off. In dividends.
Not only was the PS Audio combination able to resolve the voices of Richie and Ross, I was hearing this guitar pluck in the opening few seconds i didn’t notice before. The piano I had heard. But the soft guitar part surprised me because it’s normally masked by the voices.
All the way to the end, there were more instruments that came out from the background that seemed new to me.
My reaction? Many four letter expletives.
It was just so good.
Ok. Weird fault tonight on the Pre.
I powered up the preamp. The countdown started then clicked and I checked it - the display said Fault.
Powered off from the rear switch. Then on again.
Same fault.
Then i I pressed and held the front logo switch which powered off the unit. Then pressed it to power on.
Fault disappeared.
Any idea what happened?
The BHK Pre fault seems intermittent
Seems to work ok if I leave the power on the back on and just have it on Standby.
Anyway, there’s an authority directive to stay home today so I’ve got the BHK combo up and running now.
Listening to Eagles - Hell Freezes Over - Simply Vinyl pressing and the BHK combo just shines and shines.
The ability to reproduce Frey’s voice alongside some of the more delicate strings in a complex arrangement is just a joy to behold.
I cant wait to hear Bascom’s phono preamp and go full balanced on the BHK Pre.
Which reminds me - my DirectStream Memory Transport has been pretty much unused since I hooked it up two weeks ago.
Hunted around my CDs and found my XRCD2 copy of Hell Freezes Over and the SHM XRCD2 version of the same title. I have a US pressing of that too but couldn’t find it.
I did find my DVD Audio of Fourplay’s Fourplay.
Remember when I said the HDTracks version sounded best when I played the three versions (CD, DVDA and HDTracks) off Roon? I was wrong. The DVDA physical copy playing through the DS Memory Transport has overtaken it
Nope. Vinyl still has it over the XRCD2 version of Hell Freezes Over, even with the occasional pops.
That said the Memory Transport definitely has it over the Bridge.
Damn. I thought I had given up discs. Hence the disc library in a disarray after I ripped them.
Time to re-catalogue the library.
I thought the XRCD2 version of Hell Freezes Over was pretty enjoyable too so ended up listening to the entire album.
Then I decided to open the shrink wrap of the SHM XRCD2 version. I must have bought it when I was moving and must have overlooked it.
I remember getting the SHM XRCD2 version of Brothers in Arms and thinking it sounded better than the SACD.
Put the disc in and pressed play. No audio.
Nothing was muted and the DirectStream said it was getting a 44.1kHz signal.
Ejected the disc and reloaded the disc. Now magic.
Weird.
But wow if the SHM XRCD2 didn’t have more of the presence of the vinyl, that same sense of live energy. I never understood why disc material would make a difference. The XRCD2 was remastered but from what I understand, the SHM mastering should be identical to the regular XRCD2