SI 95 USA FEBRUARY 1986 1986 TAPE SPECIAL! 52 25 CANADA

AU D I O • VID E O • TES T REP O R T S • MUS I C

EXCLUSIVE TESTS! First "Super VHS" VCR

• "HI-FI" VIDEOTAPES • How Much Better Are They?

EXPERT TELLS YOU 4 Super Cassette Decks Tested! How to Pick the Best Audio Tape

REVIEWED: 19 New Compact Discs

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1486 5 181111 II ca c Computers and Communications

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• NEC's digital. experience here... • Tea

brings you a better digital experience here.

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• When you put a satellite in orbit, you want every possible assurance that it will perform. That's why corporations and governments all over the world ask NEC to build their satelliles. Even if you don't launch objects into outer space, it's comforting to know that NEC puts much of our satellite PCM digital technology into our Compact Disc players for the home. While most high fidelity companies have only two or three years of experience w th PCM digital audio, NEC has been at it since 1965. So it comes as no surprise that other manufacturers are row imitating the digital filtration and high-sp2ed switching our CD players have had from the beginning. And its no surprise that independent critics in America, Europe and Japan have awarded NEC's players top ratings. You see, building satel ites is not enough for NEC. We feel obligated to take the world's most advanced technology one step further Into your home. ,,r E,

NEC Home Electronics (U.S.A ). in 1401 Estes Avenue, Elk Grove Village. IL 60007 We bring hich techr ology home. HIGH Volume F36 NumberIDELITY 2 February 1986

A U D I O & V I D E O

8 Currents

A host of new pr ii H

45 The Pre miu m Videotapes by Robert Angus A sharp look at what defines high-grade videocassettes

49 The Co mpulsive's Guide to Cassette Choice by David Ranada Which tapes are best for your audio deck?

T E S T R E P O R T S

23 JVC HR-D566U HQ VHS Hi-Fi videocassette recorder 31 Akai GX-9 cassette deck 33 Revox B-215 cassette deck 39 Ya maha K-1020 cassette deck 41 Tandberg TCD-3014A cassette deck

M U S I C

Classical

53 M ontreal's Magnificent Maestro by David Patrick Steari Charles Dutoit: working on Berlioz, dreaming of Mozart

55 Personal Listening Enters a Golden Age by R. D. Darrell Our tape authority gives his annual recommendations for portable fare.

62 The CD Spread by Robert E. Benson, Irving Kolodin, and Bill Zakariasen Reviews of 14 new Compact Discs

Popular/Backbeat

64 S wing Shift by Francis Davis Scott Hamilton and Warren Vache are loyalists—to the swing era.

DEPART MENTS

2 Publisher's Page Are the days of cheap hi-fi gone? NVIMES111AL! 4 Letters 1.-JJGH.F1.DELITY 15 Crosstalk (leaning VCR heads; sorting out VCR speeds 16 Basically Speaking Audio frontiers "V.P.111IPTI 111/T1114//TAP12: 18 Bits & Pieces All about DSP: digital signal processing

,1122)22..LAP' 20 The Autophile Turbocharged amps for your car CD deck

52 M edley 'H c\\ 'alders of Alexis Weissenberg; the Motown 25 Special video 57 Classical Revie ws 59 Critics' Choice 66 Popular Revie ws 74 Jazz Revie ws

'Cover Design: Michael De 'Nor, 80 Advertising Index and Robert V Delevante 80 Reader-Action Page Cover Photos: Peck Ilishor

ON the Comer JVCs HR tor VHS Hf VCR with AO gad. tapes Ihcalast tin (ION 0018-14551npubashed roontNyst1325 7th Aye . New Yoh, N `I 10019. by ABC Lenore Mapannes. Inc. a subselmey of Amencan Broadcastm Companies. Inc CePY - Iron, Sony 'OK. and Mast inset, 9, 1985 by /431 Leosule Mapannes. San The damp and content, we lofty protected by copyright and 'tent not be reOrodoced n anY mane. Seconl cles, Postage Pegd B New Yong. Inaba K 10211 and Tandheto E l) 3011:. NY. and at add/banal meting offices Acrthonred as second-class marl by the Post Othce Deponntegn. Ottawa wed log payment of postage In cash Yearly subscription on the U SA. and Pan- cassette Elects 19', 970 95 s„,tfr Sip. Send subscripteons. wanes and address changes to NIGH Form, P 0 Box 10759. Oes Manes. Irmo 50340. ' Alress label from last nsue end allow Me weeks Ica chenge to become &fauna POSTINIASTEN: Seed drop ol addr [vs lo XV. FinIlITY P 0 Box 10/59 0.s Moines. IA 00340 HI6 ...... FIDELITY Publisher/Editorial Director William Tynan PUBUSHER'S PAGE

Editor Michael Riggs by William Tynan Editor, M USICAL AMERICA Shirley Fleming Art Director Michael 0. Delevante Managing Editor Kathleen Green Associate Editors Mildred Camacho, Ken Richardson Copy Editor nitride Reilly Administrative Assistant Darleen D. Edwards

TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT Are the days of cheap hi-fl gone? Technical Editor David Ranada Consulting Technical Editors Edward J. Foster. Robert Long Sometimes it's difficult to believe how inexpensive audio and video compo- Contributing Editor Jay C. Taylor nents are. Especially in heavily competitive areas, such as New York City, it MUSIC DEPARTMENT has regularly been possible to find turntables, cassette decks, receivers— Classical Music Editor Theodore W. Libbey, Jr. virtually anything—for less than $100. VCRs routinely are advertised in the Popular Music Editor Georgia Christgau Assistant Mark I. Garrison $250-$300 range. True, these prices usually are for the basic models, or for Contributing Editors Vince Aletti, Robert E. Benson. Panicle Bloom, R. D. Darrell, Rev. Thomas L Dixon, particular closeout ones, but even top-line units have been a good buy. Steve Futterman, Edward Greenfield, Thomas Hathaway. Paul Hume, Joyce Millman, Paul Moor, John Morthland. For the first time, a combination of elements may disrupt the funda- Jeff Nesin, Thomas W. Russell Ill, RJ Smith, David Patrick Stearns, Terry Teachout, Noah Andre Trudeau, mental structure that has continually kept home entertainment products It ichani C. Walls, James Wierzbicki, John S. Wilson among the best buys over the past 15 years: the emergence of a new low- ART DEPARTMENT cost labor force in countries such as Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore, which Design Consultant Robert V. Delevante, Jr. Assistant Art Director Katherine Zeppelin challenges the grip the Japanese have had on the market, and the dramatic Technical Art Lindstrom drop in recent months in the value of the U.S. dollar. Effects of the latter PRODUCTION Director of Production Angelo Puleo factor already are being felt. Several Japanese companies have announced Advertising Production Manager Janet Cermak Editorial Production (Annuals) Paula Hellen price increases, ranging from 12 to 20 percent, that take effect about now. Production Assoc iate Jonathan Teaser Atex System Manager Karen Walsh Asher As the warehouses and dealer pipelines empty of lower-valued stock, prices

CIRCULATION should begin to rise at retail. Vice-President. Circulation Steven I. Rosenbaum Vice-President, Newsstand Sales/Consumer The strength of the dollar in the first half of the '80s has created an Magazines I ',tunic MusicIlii National Sales Manager/Newsstand Michael Gerardo atmosphere in which the "gray market" has thrived. The term refers to the Circulation Director/Subscriptions Lillian Gmitruk importing of products—whether audio or video equipment, cameras, or Circulation Subscription Staff Mary Beth Colucci, Barbara Donlon. Timothy Farrell, William Johnson. cars—through nontraditional, low-cost channels, enabling them to be sold Janice Raiford Customer Service Mary Losi at or below retail price. Part of the profit comes from the difference in

ABC LEISURE MAGAZINES, INC. currency values. As the dollar drops closer to parity with other currencies, Janies A. East-lb. Vice-President. Operations the attractiveness of the U.S. as a market for "gray" goods will diminish, Steven Rosenbaum. Vice-President, Circulation Steve Vetter, Vice-President, Finance and with it some of the heavy discounting we've become accustomed to. Are we about to see the last of inexpensive home entertainment equip- ONE OF THE AB C Pt BUSHING GOMPANIES

Robert G. Burton, President ment? Probably not. A growing consideration is the presence of new brands 1330 Avenue of the Aniericas, New York. N.Y. 10019 from Korea and other countries. The reduced labor costs there and the fact

Hos Rea m .rost Hint Fioanr/lAusrAL Mows me ',Wished roonthh by ABC that the Korean currency has been more closely tied to the U.S. dollar than I iiisure Kluwer,. los .1 divhimi ut ABC Publishinq. loi and a subsidury of tuneocas Bromicasbny Companies. Inc 1986 ABC Leisure Magazines. Inc has the Japanese yen will mean a steady flow of moderately priced compo- Member Audit Bureau of Counatiorrs Indexed Reader s Guide to Periodical larvative Covent 01111 back copies 01 H1611 F1011101 awl H11:11 I me 10, MINICA1 nents for the foreseeable future. AMIHICA are avalable on marofilm From llonersty M.ohlros. Ann Arbos Mob 48106 Mictolshe copies (1973 forward) me available horn Bell & Humell Mato Photo Ofy. Old Mansfield Rd Wooster, Ohio 44691 One factor that is not directly quantifiable—quality—will likely as- ADVERRSING OFRCES Ow York ABC lmsure Magazines. Inc . 825 IA Ave , 8th Flom New York. N sume greater importance. Cheap goods that don't work are no bargain. So, 10019 Tel (2171 265 8360 Rithard J h000110, AdV00131119 Ditectoi. Michael H Goldbeig. Eastern Advertrung Marimier. James R McCallum Record Adverbs while the market will remain price-competitive, we can look for an increased rog Manage,. May McCoimick. Network Advenesing Manager Candice Leyden. Classified Advertning Manager. J0/110 Cerroak. Advertrsing Product., Manager Ildwesst Hoe F101 MY. Hochrock Building, Wheaton. IN 60187 lel (3121 emphasis on performance and reliability. The next generation of audio and 653 8020 Stan Lane, %Ames' Advertising Manager La Moist ABC Leisure Magazines. Inc . 7020 Avenue of the Stars. Suite 745 video products may cost more, but they will continue to be among the best Century Cam Calif 90067 Tel (2131557 6482 Ed Michell. Western Adv. using Manager cost/value items around. Saudi conespwainee should be addiessed to The Edam H0011101111', 875 7th Ave . New Sod, NY 10019 Edam's' contributions will be welcomed. and Warren' for modes accepted will be arranged paw to publication Subovssions Oh, yes. The "new face" alluded to last month: Type. • must be au:a waked by return postage and wit be handled wrth reasonable rare. honasver the publishes assumes no sespoombrlity Ion return of 'audit:stet' photo graphs or manuscripts

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C D SA MPLIN G DIST ASTEFUL 814 on a scale of 10 for sound quality and TEL ARC, ATL ANTA SY MPH ON Y I find Robert E. Benson's review of the Uni- praised for the sound of "the ensemble's FOR GE AHE A D versity of Michigan Symphony Band's re- brassiness ... the percussion's impact." Ted Libbey's "Medley" column in your De- cording of Stars and Stripes Forever ("A Tho mas Frost cember issue implies that the Atlanta Sym- CD Sampler," October] at odds with objec- Thomas Frost Productions phony Orchestra is no longer recording with tive fact and unworthy of a serious critic. To New York, N.Y. Telarc. This is not true. say that this recording has "no high frequen- We have enjoyed a long and fruitful col- cies at all" is an irresponsible, hyperbolic, Robert E. Benson replies: I have the great- laboration with the label and look forward to off-the-cuff remark that reflects only Mr. est respect for Mr. Frost's achievements a longer continuing relationship. In 1978, Tel- Benson's subjective taste regarding the bril- over many years. But my review copy of arc and the Atlanta Symphony pioneered liance of recorded sound. Being a conscien- this Pro Arte CD did not have the qualities digital recording in the United States with tious and successful producer (32 years of he claims for his recording. It certainly the release of our Firebird. Since that time, experience, two gold records, four Gram- didn't have the sizzle, the bang, the bright the Telarc/Atlanta relationship has pro- mys), I would not produce a recording with brass that I thought it should have had. duced numerous recordings, four of which "no high frequencies at all," and an estab- The brilliance and impact of Morton have been nominated for Grammy Awards. lished company like Pro Arte would not re- Gould's band recordings on RCA or of While it is true that we are now record- lease such a recording. This digital entry Frederick Fennell's with the Eastman ing with Pro Arte in addition to Telarc, it is falls well within accepted industry standards Wind Ensemble on Mercury are not to be not an exclusive arrangement by any stretch for brightness, although it may not be bright found here. Perhaps the copy I listened to of the imagination. Planning is underway for enough for Mr. Benson's ears. was defective. I hope readers understood projects with Telarc through the 1989-90 It is interesting to note that a major rec- that my reference to "no high frequencies" season.

ord magazine recently reviewed three Com- was meant to be taken in context: The low Tom Bacchotti pact Discs of marches, among them the er frequencies on this recording are overly Executive Vice President and Michigan recording. That release was rated prominent. General Manager Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

THE CH OC OLATE WATC H BAN D

C ONTR OVERSY Nitpickers of the world, unite! Sean Toby (rhythm guitar) of the Chocolate Watch Band has said, "Jerry Miller from Moby Enjoy HIGH FIDELITY Grape played guitar on 'Devil's Motorcycle,' but he had a contract with Columbia, so we for a full year for only couldn't put his name on the cover." And $6.98 -12 issues at since that Jerry Miller was born on July 10, 1943, and Steve Miller on October 5, 1943, 50% off the regular only Billy Altman can make them brothers ["Let's Get Trivial," August, and "Trivia subscription rate. Pursued" in "Medley," November]. Part of the fun of being a professional You'll receive a full nitpicker is being right! Thanks for the op- portunity. year of the latest Clifford Ocholtroo Hatboro, Penn. news and reviews Popular Music Editor Georgia Christgau of digital audio...video replies: Question No. 10 in our trivia con- test asked: "Steve Miller's brother Jerry components... Compact Discs.. car stereo .and more. played guitarfor which California psyche- delic band?" Both the Chocolate Watch But you must act now Send your check or money order to Band and Moby Grape were possible an- swers. In our answer, we asserted that HIGH FIDELITY P.O. Box 10758. Des Moines. Iowa. 50349. there must have been two Jerry Millers, judging from the number of responses we Rates are good in U.S. only and are subject to change. For delivery outside the received citing the same dates of birth. Fi- 50 states. add $7.00 (U.S. currency). nally we called Steve Miller's management and found out that although he does have

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4 „ The finer your audio system, the more you should enjoy it. So why confine your • 4444 listering pleasure to just one room? NOW Kyocerc's Full System Remote `t'f*'it4 ,4 • C D mpor ents let one system drive up to three sets o' speakers in different rooms —and let you izqt, ,441 • ' car trol everything from any room' With up to three Vc. rerro-e sensors and a 141amom mi wireless contrcller, you can S 444b aciust vlume. choose tracks on the Compact Disc 0 player. tune AM 01 FM stations, 444„ ever record casset-es without ever leaving your chair. Just as importort. Kyccera Full System Remote corrpznents are greatly improved vers o-is of the same Receivers, Cossette Decks, and CD Player that earned Kyocera its high-end reputation. So don't settle for an aLdiophile system that only plays in one room when you con oven the one audiopt-ile system that plays in three. KYOCER2

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vocera Internatcnai inc . 7 Powaer Horn Dr. Warrer. NJ 07060-0227 1-81:0-922-t060 other deserving groups, Mannheim Steam- Classical Music Editor Theodore W Lib- roller unfortunately may have fallen be- bey. Jr., replies: We think it may just be tween the cracks of the Classical and Popu- possible that Monteverdi, while portraying The lar Music Departments. We'll listen some in his operas the tendencies you mention, more.—Ed. was not endorsing them. His greatness as a last word composer um in his range and, for the MONTEVERDI ON "DYNASTY"? time in which he lived, in his unique abili- I agree with Michael Fleming that the madri- ty to characterize human emotion. But his in gals of Monteverdi show a brilliant talent vision was primarily moral: The cynical [August]. But as for the cultural content of irony of the finale of L'incoronazione, in phono his life's work, it was all downhill from there. which virtue is defeated in the triumphant Monteverdi's first opera, Orfeo, is a union of Nero and Poppea, should not be cartridges touching and at times highly dramatic set- lost on the modern listener. CORRECTION In last month's review of the Barcus-Berry BBE-2002R signal processor, the sentence The beginning at the very end of page 42 should P alk read: "Such dynamic equalization is said to correct the system's final output with- =maim last word out imparting the shrillness that similar amounts of conventional equalization in might create."—Ed.

record Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Hum 82,5 7th Ave., New York, N.Y. 101119. All

letters are subject to editing for brevity and care clarity. audio-technica a brother, his name isn't Jerry! So I guess we goofed—but hey, give us a break. R. H. Marron just wrote in from Palatka, Flori- da, to say that the answer to Question No. 41j tlif J2—"What do the Clash, Meat Loaf and NBC's Night Court have in common?"—is Saturday Night Live. Sorry, bud; try Ellen Foley.

ROCK AND STEAMROLLER I have been waiting and waiting for a review of Mannheim Steamroller in your magazine. audio-technica I like their entire Fresh Aire series, but I know little about them except that their rec- ords sell fast when they come in. Further- ting of the human condition as total hedo- more, Compact Discs are hard to come by, nism. His last opera, L'incoronazione di and CDs of Fresh Aire III and /Vhave not as Poppea, presents a plot that has degenerat- yet been released. ed from mere hedonism into depravity, fully If the group's music sells so well, why worthy of a segment of Dallas or Dynasty. doesn't it get airplay or receive attention in I do not agree with Mr. Fleming that your magazine? Monteverdi can be compared with Beetho- Inc Booker ven. Monteverdi is better equated with Wag- Address unknown ner and his descent into the idolization of barbaric myths, while Monteverdi's contem- Fresh Aire I through V, as well as numer- porary, Heinrich Schiltz, shows a maturation ous other titles, are available from Ameri- more comparable to that of Beethoven. can Gramophone Records, 9130 Mormon Peter Carleton Bridge Rd., Omaha, Neb. 68152. Like some Oberursel, West Germany

FEBRUARY 1986 7 CURRENTS polk 1 he Speaker Specialists

SOUNDCRAFTSMEN PREAMP ratio is 93 dB. Laser lifetime is rated at Where to buy Polk Speakers For the atypically low price of $29”, the 7,000 hours in normal use. For further de- MITINIMIZEIT DEALER LIST MONTANA goternan . • Gnat Galls tails, contact Shure Brothers, Inc., Cus- ALABAMA Auburn • Orr Soundcraftsmen DX-3000 preamplifier of- tHorneeroodl • Huntsville NEBRASKA Lincoln ., • Omaha • Mobile fers an unusually large number of con- tomer Services Dept., 222 Hartrey Ave., Montgomery • Tuscaloosa NEVADA Las Vegas • Reno ,

ALASKA Anchorage -.1.1,5.,,, NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord trols. Inputs for tuner, phono, CD, and Evanston, Ill. 60202-3696. • Laconia • New London ARIZONA Floosie,' • Mesa • Salem video sound are provided, as are connec- • Tome NEW JERSEY East Brunswick • ARKANSAS Little Rock Franklin Lakes • • Maple Searcy Shade • t • MonlyIntr tions and switching for two tape decks. CALIFORNIA Arcata . • • Raritan • Rrdgewood Bakersfield • Berteley • Shrewsbery V Toms . • Campbell • Chico River • West Caldwell Knobs adjust bass, treble, balance, and • Fairfield NEW MEXICO Carlsbad • Santa Fe • Fresno • volume (at the main and headphone out- Los Angeles . • Mill Vallee W YORK Albany • • May. • Napa • Glenne • Corning • Elmira ' ' • PenrIgn m • • Fredonia • Glens puts), while switches activate the loudness Redding • Redondo Falls • Huttfinglon teach . • Sacramento • • hhaca • contour and select stereo or mono opera- 0 • San Dierso • Jamestown • Manhasset San Francisco • • • Newburgh Santa • Senla Crw Voris City • tion. Finished in charcoal, the DX-3000 • Santa Maria • Rochester • Scarsdale Senta Monica • Thousand Syracuse • • Vestal measures 2% inches high by 10 inches Oaks • Ventura • Wappingers Falls Vital. . • Walnut Creel; NORTH CAROLINA Asheville '.• • . • Woodland Hots . • Chaste 0•11 • Charlotte deep and will fit a 19-inch rack. Write CANADA . • Greensboro • Jackson • Ralston COLORADO Arvada • . • Aurora • Wilmington Soundcraftsmen, 2200 S. Ritchey, Santa • • • Boulder • Winston Salem • Colorado Urines NORTH OAKOTA Bismarck 01 Ana, Calif. 92705. • • Littleton Pueblo OHIO Cleveland • Cincinnati CONNECTICUT Avon • COlurnbuf • DaytOn Brookfield • Fairfield • Fairlawn i • Frndlav • lima • Mayfield MAGNAVOX'S PORTABLE Heights • Toledo • Waviest rwinglon . New London °ALAMO,. Lawton • Stillweter CD PLAYER • Tulsa DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OREGON AAAAAA ton • Eugene "About the size of an average paperback YAMAHA MONITOR/ FLORIDA Atiamonle Sen n, • Klamath Falls Boca Raton • [in nate , . • Port , • Daytona teach • Ft tend book" is how Magnavox describes its first RECEIVER laratlerdale • Ft PENNSYLVANIA Allentown Myers • Ft Pierce • Altoona • Mallet, Yamaha's second video product, the YM- Ft Walton Beach • Gaines • Bryn Mawr . s • Camp Hilt portable Compact Disc player, the CD- • Molly Will • • , laCkienerlle • Lakeworlh • Indiana • Jenkintown 9510, which measures approximately 5 by 950, is a 25-inch color monitor/receiver • • Melbourne • Mervin Island • Warn. , Lancaster • Montgornervvitle • . • Natrona Heights • 12 12 with infrared remote control. The unit can 1/ by 7/ inches. It has many of the stan- • Orange Park • OrtwIelo P11111001001, area • P.Mburgh ' • Pensacola • dard home-model features, including ten- receive MIS (stereo TV) sound and the Tall • Tampa • Reading • Selinsgrove • IV Penn leech Withamsport ' • • Windber GEORGIA Atlanta . • Augusta track programmability and a repeat mode. SAP channel. A 134-channel, cable-ready RHODE ISLAND N Providence SOUTH CAROLINA Anderson • The liquid-crystal display can be switched model, it has extensive video and audio in- Smyrna . . • Tucker Charleston • COluilibia HNNAII Honolulu • Greenwood • Spartansborg MOHO Boise • Po/steno . to show elapsed or remaining time. Includ- puts and outputs, some of which are on the . Sandpoint • Twin Falls SOUTH 000010 Rapid City • • Sioux Falls 0 front panel (behind a door), enabling quick ILLINOIS Bloomingdale . TENNESSEE Chartanooga • Johnson ed in the $300 price are an AC adapter and Suffelo Grove • Chant Oran • • Crystal Lake • a . • Knoxville • A • ' • Memphis a cable enabling you to connect the player hookup to other video or audio compo- • Oellalb • ROMs., • Nashville . • S M AAAAA n Estates • Highland Par, TEXAS Alan, • Bemonont , • to a home component system. An accesso- nents. Two sets of auxiliary composite- Normal • Non/risme,' • College Station . Oallas • El Paso • Galveston ry package is available for $60, containing video inputs are provided, and there are Riverdale • Rocktord • Carlene • ,. • Nouston • • Shaumberg • Longview • Springfield • Sler tont,. • • Odessa • . a plug-on rechargeable battery pack, a three video outputs for feeding VCRs. long u • Vernon Hills • San Angelo 0 • • Temple , • Vilia Pad • W AAAAAA n • Texarkana A newly designed 100-degree-deflec- Wichita Falls . headset, and a carrying case with shoulder INDIANA eloomineton • UTAH Logan store only • • • Salt Bluffton • Greenwood strap. More details can be obtained by tion in-line picture tube with a black-stripe • Indianapolis . 'Lafayette • Muncie . • South tend VERMONT Brining . • • Portend • Tent Haute writing N.A.P. Consumer Electronics matrix and a smoked-glass screen is said IOWA Des Moines . fernier, VIRGINIA Bristol . • Charlet • SIN, City Put. • Falls Church ....• Corp., P.O. Box 6950, Knoxville, Tenn. to provide a bright, sharp image even in a • Frankfin • • AAA AA tg . • KANSAS Emporia '. • Junction City Overland P.ri Roane. . Virginia teach . 37914. well-lit room. A comb filter separates the • *NNW • 'repeal '• NLEOCKH lemington • WASHINGTON Bellevue • chroma and luminance signal components leele011110 . • Ovrenstions letfingnam . • Lyanweee . • All Kenton . • • Cla1 Harbor LOUISIANA Baton Rouge • • floCaland • • SHURE'S FIRST CD DECK to help produce the rated 360-line horizon- Gretna • Lafayette . • Metairie • New Orlenns Spokane • Tommta l• Apparently lia‘ing decided to join 'em tal resolution. Other features include an • . • Opelousas Shreveport • Wes, Monroe WEST VIRGINIA BattmorMalle T • Beck my • • Huntington , • rather than fight 'em, Shure Brothers, automatic flesh-color adjustment and a MAINE (Wpm • Camden Morgantown • Fineman, • Prfiwoon 'WfliIlR91. , MARYLAND Anna. . 4 Bat manufacturer of high-quality phono pick- switchable 3.58-MHz trap for yielding a Iiinore • Frederrek WISCONSIN Appleton • Green BW • Rockville • • • • lecrosse 0 • Marton ups, has introduced a Compact Disc play- crisper picture when the set is used as a MASSACHUSETTS Gloucester • • Marinette • Mil Dartmouth Wal waukee • RMnelander • Pam I loslonl • er, the D-5000. It incorporates a three- computer or video-game monitor. Two Winces., WYOMING Cheyenne • • Riverton MICHIGAN Ann Arbor • Bit beam laser pickup system and provides a built-in 3-by-5-inch speakers are driven by nurigharn . • • Dearborn ' • Ens, Lensing • • Fanning*, • Grand Ragies 15-track program memory. The D-5000's an internal amplifier rated at 3 watts (4% Iron Mountain '. • Lansing MOBILE MONITOR ONLY SPECIALISTS ..• • Petoskey • Portage CALIFORNIA Canoga Park • Costa dBW) per channel. External speakers are • Regal Oak .1' • Sapient Mesa • • Escondido , 16-bit digital filters operate at twice the . • Traverse • Glendale City . , • Hollywood • . • N Hotly normal CD sampling rate. Among other driven by an amplifier rated at 5 watts (7 MINNESOTA Alc mene • wood • . • Santa Monica & wily, Center • • Burnsville ' MASSACHUSETTS Boston • • Detroit Lakes NEW JERSEY Edison . . • Morns convenience features are two-speed audi- dBW) per channel. ' • Edina • • • Mankota town • . • Newton . • Seddle Brook ,' • • ble scanning and three repeat functions Basic finish of the $950 monitor/re- nelonka • • Rahester A • Scotch Plains • • Westwood liaseerlle • MISSISSIPPI Guilder, • Jackson •.• NEW YORK Pay Shore , • Man (disc, memory, and phrase). A wireless re- ceiver is black; dimensions are 25/14 by 23 /14 • Paec•goula basset • • MI Kisco , 0 • MISSOURI Cape Girardeau .. Co • SI James • mote control is included in the player's by 20'/12 inches. Details are available from holm , • St Lows NORTH CAROLINA Reiman .• Winston Salem TEXAS San Antonio $500 price. Frequency response is given as Yamaha Electronics Corp., 6660 Orange- VIRGINIA Nevagort News Virginia Beach 5 Hz to 20 kHz, ±0.3 dB; dynamic range is thorpe Ave., Buena Park, Calif. 90620. 100 dB A-weighted; and the signal-to-noise (Continued on page 10) Matthaw Polk's own drea m speaker can ncw be yours, "the best SDAs tet....impressive and worth l of Matt Polk's sl mature." High Fidelity "The Genius of Matthew Polk Creates the Ultimate Loudspeaker for You"

or the last 4 years Matthew Polk has The SDA Signature Reference System been driven by an all consuming Introducing the New ▪ Exclusive Patented SDA TRUE STEREO passion: to develop the ultimate SDA Phase-Coherent Technology* IFloudspeaker. He has succeeded. O Multiple Driver Lite-Source Topology The Joy of Owning the Ultimate Line-Source 0 Phase-Coherent Time-Compensated The extrwrdinary new SDA Signature Refer- Driver Alignment ence System combines Polk's patented SDA 0 Progressive Point-Source litveeter Array live Stereo Technology* with phase-coherent 0 Bi-WireiBi-Amp Capability vertical line-source topology. The result is a SDA-SRS O 1000 Watt/Channel Power Handling high efficiency, low coloration system of "Spectacular... it is quite an experience" awesome and seemingly limitless dynamic 1 1985 Stereo Review Magazine range and bass capabilities. It reproduces music wih a precisely detailed and life- Audio Video Grand Prix i like 3-dimensional soundstage which is Speaker of the Year polk exceptional and unequalled. The Speaker Specialists 41'

1915 Amap a, Road, Baltimore, Md. 21230

'I r Per Vo 4.49.432 Other plin th peoulim I S ferny. In Conobs 1:notribunx1 by I Yob bon Technology, Toronto For your nearest Polk dealer see opposite page. JVC AUDIO-VIDEO RECEIVER REDEFINITION. THE CARVER RECEIVER: Redefines your expectations of receiver perform- ance with the power you need for Digital Audio Discs plus virtually noise-free Said to be versatile enough to serve as the stereo FM reception. A receiver with astonishing performance incorporating two highly significant technological breakthroughs: Bob Carver's Magnetic Field heart of any existing high-quality audio- Power Amplifer and his Asymmetrical Charge Coupled FM Detector. video system, the JVC R-X370VB receiver ESSENTUIL POWER: Your system needs an abundanceof power to reproduce, offers unusual flexibility in the handling without distortion, the dynamic range of music on Digital Audio Discs and fine of video signals (even though it does not analog recordings. receive them directly). It will connect easi- The Magnetic Field Amplifier in the CARVER Receiver gives you 130 watts per channel* of pure, clean power with superbly defined, high fidelity ly to three other video components: two reproduction. VCRs (one for playback only, the other for The Magnetic Field Amplifier produces large amounts of power (absolutely recording and playback) and a videodisc necessary for the accurate reproduction of music at realistic listening levels) player. A monitor output is provided for di- without the need for heavy heat sinks, massive transformers, and enormous power capacitors required by conventional amplifier design. rect connection to a monitor or a TV re- Unlike conventional amplifiers which produce a constant, high voltage level ceiver. Via a "Sound Selector" switch, you at all times, irrespective of the demands of the ever-changing audio signal (Even can view a video source but listen to an au- when there is no audio signal in the circuit at all!), the Magnetic Field Amplifier's dio source that is not the soundtrack. power supply is signal responsive. Highly efficient, it produces exactly and only the power needed to carry the signal with complete accuracy and fidelity Moreover, this function can be used to re- The 130 watts-per-channel* CARVER Receiver is about the same size and place an old soundtrack with a new one in weight of conventional receivers having merely 30 watts per channel! home productions. The receiver has a NOISE-FREE RECEPTION: The AM-FM CARVER Receiver gives you FM stereo synthesizer for enhancing the stereo performance unmatched by that of any other receiver. sound of mono sources (which still include As it is transmitted from the station, the stereo FM signal is extremely vulnera- ble to distortion, noise, hiss and multipath interference. most television programs). Among other However, when you engage CARVER's Asymmetrical Charge Coupled FM inputs are phono, CD, aux, and audio tape. Detector circuit, the stereo signal arrives at your ears virtually noise-free. You An infrared remote control is included hear fully separated stereo with space, depth and ambience! in the $350 price. It provides source selec-

"This receiver combines the best elements of Carver's separate tuner and tion and volume adjustment, as well as amplifier...The Carver Receiver is, without question, one of the finest products controls for other compatible JVC prod- of its kind I have ever tested and used. Bob Carver is definitely an audio and r.f. genius:' Leonard Feldman, Audio Magazine, June 1984 ucts (such as videocassette recorders and television sets). The power amplifier sec- "I consider the Carver Receiver to be the "most" receiver I have yet tested in terms of the quantitative and qualitative superiority of almost all its basic tion is rated at 50 watts (17 dBW) per chan- functions: Julian D. Hirsch, Stereo Review, April 1984 nel, with no more than 0.15 percent THD. The quartz-locked tuner has presets for The CARVER Receiver has been designed for fidelity accuracy and musi- ten AM and ten FM stations, a rated stereo cality. You will want to visit your CARVER dealer for a personal audition of this separation of 45 dB, and a rated stereo sig- remarkable instrument. nal-to-noise ratio of 73 dB. The receiver is *130 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms. 20 Hz to 20 kHz with no jet black with orange indicator lights. For more than 0.05% total harmonic distortion. more information, write JVC Company of America. 41 Slater Dr., Elmwood Park, N.J. 07407.

RHOADES STEREO-TV DECODER

Said to be suitable for use with almost any TV set or VCR, the $199 Rhoades TE-800 is a full-fledged MTS decoder providing CARVFR CORPORATION PO. Box 1237. Lynnwood, WA 98036 the discrete left and right channels of the POWERFUL MUSICAL ACCURATE stereo broadcasting standard (but no SAP). It hooks up to mono or stereo audio Distributed in Canada by Evolution Audio, Ltd. outputs or headphone jacks of TVs or

HIGH FIDELITY 4000. 40-1-fr

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TDK HX-S excels in bringing compact disc performance wherever you go. That's because only TDK HX-S audio cassettes are specifically designed to record digitally sourced materials. With four times the magnetic storage capability of other high-bias cassettes, HX-S is better able to cap- ture all the dynamics and purity of digital performance on any cassette deck with a high-bias switch. EXTENDED HIGH END HIGH MOL HIGH OUTPUT Additionally, HX-S is unmatched in retention of high frequency MOL LABORATORY STANDARD CASSETTE MECHANISM (Maximum Output Level). That means 90 your Rock won't turn to rubble and Swan Lake won't swan dive. And to maintain this digitally dynamic performance, TDK HX-S is housed in our specially engineered, trouble-free Laboratory Standard mechanism for unerring reliability and durability, backed by a Lifetime Warranty. Get optimum results reproducing compact disc sound with TDK HX-S, the ideal cassette for digital record- ings. You'll feel more at home with it whenever you step out. W HERE GREAT ENTERTAIN MENT BEGINS

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VCRs and apparently picks up enough Audio from the decoder is meant to be fed PERREAU WS HIGH stray IF signal through that connection to into the auxiliary or spare tape input of a TRADE-IN VALUE enable successful demodulation and de- stereo system. If the TE-800 is connected an interview with Anthony Federici coding of the wrs signal. Using a special to a speaker or headphone output, the con- Marketing Director of isolating adapter (not included), the device trol of volume for the TV is available only Perreaux International can even be hooked up to the speaker leads through the stereo system, because Q. Why does Perreaux have such a high of a monitor/receiver and still obtain the changing the TV's audio output level trade-in value? correct signal necessary for decoding. The would disturb the user-aligned noise-re- A. That can be attributed to several fac- company says that special circuitry was duction tracking levels. Frequency re- tors. First. Perreaux's value, when new, is developed to let the TE-800 decode "from sponse is given as ±3 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz; exceptionally good. Perreaux's Series 2 engineering advancements are still at the almost any audio output containing a TV distortion as 0.02 percent; and separation leading edge of technology, therefore the audio signal." For monaural broadcasts, as greater than 40 dB. engineering is not even close to outdated. the unit has a stereo synthesizer circuit, Finish is black-anodized brushed alu- Quality of construction is very important. and for monitor/receivers already minum, and the dimensions are 8V, by 1% A hand crafted, hand finished piece is equipped with MPX outputs, the TE-800 by V/2 inches. The TE-800 runs off of always more valuable than a mass pro- has an MPX input dedicated to stereo-TV house current. Additional information duced product. Reliability is an important factor. We know Perreaux's reliability — decoding. about this interesting component is avail- that's why we're giving a one year limited able from Rhoades National Corp., P.O. The system determines when an MIS warranty on pre-owned Series 2 thats been transmission is being received and auto- Box 1316, Dept. 603, Columbia, Tenn. traded toward Series 3. Another factor is matically turns on the decoding circuitry. 38402. the simplicity of styling. Flashy, trendy styling with lights and meters rapidly looks out of date. Simple elegance never goes out of style. NM MA1(11111011 DICKS Q. So you believe people will pay as much The CR-7A and the CR-5A cassette decks second, microprocessor-controlled tuning or more for a used Perreaux as for a new from Nakamichi are both three-head mod- procedure to automatically match both product from another manufacturer? els using versions of the company's direct- bias and Dolby calibration to the tape in A. Certainly. That's been the case with drive, asymmetrical, dual-capstan, dif- use. So as not to adjust the recording char- Perreaux for quite some time now. Our major contribution to increasing the trade- fused-resonance transport with acteristics to compensate for azimuth mis- in value even further is backing it by the motorized-cam-driven head-block move- alignments, the 7A aligns its playback- previously mentioned warranty. ment. Also common to the two designs are head azimuth with that of the recording The auto industry has been this way for crystalloy recording and playback heads head before proceeding with the calibra- as long as I can remember. Many people and Dolby B and C noise reduction employ- tion. The deck stores independent tape- pay more for a used Mercedes, Porsche or ing hand-matched integrated circuits for alignment settings for Types 1, 2, and 4. BMW than for a new car from another manufacturer. I was thinking how ironic more accurate tracking. Tape type is auto- You can also adjust the playback azimuth it is that in a vote by audio reviewers and of the 7A manually, either by the front- matically sensed by the cassette notches, retailers Perreaux won the Audio/Video but unlike most other recent decks, these panel knob or by the supplied infrared re- Magazine Hi Fi Grand Prix Award for "its models permit manual override for both mote control. The CR-5A has only a man- Mercedes-like construction". bias and equalization. It is possible, for ex- ual bias-tune control. The tape counter in Now Perreaux's trade-in value seems to ample, to make recordings on Type 2 tape the CR-7A can be switched to show either be at least as high as Mercedes. Looks like the reviewers and retailers called it right! with 120-microsecond equalization (as is elapsed or remaining time. Q. Do you think this leads the way for done for some prerecorded cassettes). The Nakamichi gives the frequency re- audio components other than Perreaux to peak-reading meters have a 50-dB range, sponse of the CR-7A as ±3 dB, 18 Hz to 21 increase their trade-in value? and on the CR-7A a two-second peak hold kHz, and that of the CR-5A as ±3 dB, 20 A. I hope so. I believe we've lead the may be engaged. Each deck has an output Hz to 20 kHz. Weighted peak flutter is way in technology and quality of construc- tion. Nothing would please me more than level control, independent left and right re- said to be 0.048 percent (0.027 percent leading the way in trade-in value. If this cording-level controls in addition to a mas- WRMS), and the A-weighted signal-to- happens industry-wide the entire audio ter level control, and an automatic two- noise ratio with metal tape and Dolby C is industry and the general public come out speed fade function. The multiplex filter is claimed to be better than 72 dB. The 7A ahead because more people will be able to switchable, as is the CR-7A's infrasonic and 5A sell for $1,350 and $850, respective- afford quality audio. filter. ly, and each unit measures 17V, by 5V, by Let me give you an example. We've just introduced a set of Perreaux components Principal among differences between 12 inches. More information is available that retails for about $2,000. If it retains the decks is the versatility of the tape- from Nakamichi U.S.A. Corp., 19701 S. about 75% of its original puchase price matching systems. The CR-7A uses a 15- Vermont Ave., Torrance, Calif. 90502. towards trade-in, as the Series 2 presently does, its trade-in value toward a new Perreaux would be $1,500. Then, it really costs only $500 to own and enjoy the Perreaux set. This means far more people can afford Perreaux. After all, if a Mercedes had no trade- in value far fewer people could afford or NAKAMICHI'S CR-7A (LEFT) AND CR-5A (RIGHT) CASSETTE DECKS want it.

12 "THE 80% TRADE IN VALUE OF MY PERREAUX AMPLIFIERS CAME AS NO SURPRISE. QUALITY IS ALWAYS A WISE INVESTMENT. M . RECAREY JR. CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CENTERS

WHEN MR. RECAREY CONTAC IED US AT INFINITE AUDIO SYSTEMS, HE REQUIRED THE HIGHEST QUALITY AUDIO COMPONENTS FOR HIS CHALLENGING CUSTOM PROJECTS.

WE RESPONDED WITH PERREAUX - BECAUSE AT INFINITE AUDIO SYSTEMS OUR DEMANDING CLIENTEL DEFINES QUALITY AS PERFORMANCE, RELIABILITY AND CRAFTS- MANSHIP.

THAT'S WHY WE CAN OFFER OUR ORIGINAL PERREAUX CLIENTS 80% OF THEIR SERIES 2 PURCHASE PRICE TOWARDS PERREAUX'S NEW SERIES 3 COMPONENTS.* AT INFINITE AUDIO SYSTEMS OUR CLIENTS DON'T BUY STEREOS, THEY INVEST IN AUDIO.

SI.111ES 2 HuME INSIAl I.A III/5

PERREAUX NOW OFFERS THE CHOICE OF THREE DISTINCT AUDIO COMPONENT SERIES. EACH IS A PRECISELY ENGIN- EERED SOLUTION TO A SPECIFIC SET OF REQUIREMENTS AND WANTS.

THE SERIES 3 FURTHER ADVANCES PERREAUX'S POSITION AS INDUSTRY LEADER IN QUALITY, TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN.

THE SERIES 2 HAS RECEIVED SUCH WORLD ACCLAIM THAT IT CAN JUSTLY BE TERMED A CLASSIC.

THE SERIES I INTRODUCES HANDCRAFTED PERREAUX QUALITY AT THE SURPRISINGLY REASONABLE INVEST- MENT PRICE OF UNDER $2,000 FOR TUNER, PREAMPLIFIER, AND POWER AMPLIFIER.

SERIES 2 YACHT INSTALLATION

INFINITE AUDIO SYSTEMS - 305-445-7313 DESIGN AND INSTALLATION FOR SOUTH FLORIDA

*AT PARTICIPATING DEALERS UP TO 80 % OF ORIGINAL AMPLIFIER PURCHASE PRICE AND 70 % OF ORIGINAL PREAMPLIFIER PURCHASE PRICE WILL BE OFFERED FOR TRADE UP OF SERIES 2 TOWARD SERIES 3. FOR FULL DETAILS CONTACT YOUR PERREAUX DEALER OR PERREAUX INTERNATIONAL AT 1 800 TECPORT OR 516 683- 3000. HARMAN KARDON HIGH INSTANTANEOUS CURRENT CAPABILITY

When you listen to your audio system, the power your loudspeakers demand constantly fluctuates with the music*, requiring huge 441111111111W current surges from your amplifier -411 1111111/1111111111

ce most receivers and amplifiers are built to merely meet FTC power rating requirements, they simply don't have the current, and ultimately the power to respond.

Just as the martial arts master is able and prepared to respond instantly with the climactic power needed... so is Harman Kardon. From the least expensive to the most sophisticated, every Harman Kardon receiver and amplifier is equipped with High instantaneous Current Capability (HCC) to provide the power you hear as loud, clear distortion-free music. svimaiiiiminall111111111111101110 In the world of uncompromising quality you can depend on the demanding master of high fidelity.. Harman Kardon. 01111111111111111111 MININ M .1111111111 .11

low frequency transient, such as the beat of a kick drum. can make a nominally rated 8 Ohm speaker instantaneously demand up to 6 times as much current as the 10111111111111 amplifier's FTC power rating would suggest.

Shown on the right is the new hk495I receiver featuring power of 45 Watts per channel with •< 09% THD (RMS, per channel, both channels driven into 8 1 Ohms, 20Hz-20kHz), 95 Watts Dynamic Power into 4

Ohms, 115 Watts Dynamic Power into 2 Ohms The amir— mir7- hk495i has 18 amps of HCC, 25dB of Negative -r r r w r Feedback, Uftrawideband Frequency Response of 4 0.5Hz to 150kHz, Digital Synthesized Quartz -Locked —1 • () c o o w r I P. W E E M S Tuning with 16 memory presets. Alk 411111111111111164_ 1111.1 =11111111•11.1111111111

11111 .11111111111111111111111111111111111111 Grossw Par t. y . New York 11797 Call Toll-Free 1-800-633-2252 Ext. 250 Harman International Company CROSSTALK by Robert Long

TOO CLEAN? deck. At night it looks beauti- ers in their product litera- have to buy a new deck. Is this My VCR head cleaner recom- ful when every detail lights, ture, averages out rapid true? And does the absence of mends use every 20 to 30 but the FM sound often is changes in speed irregular- such a warning in the manual hours. I hear that cleaning this marred by static, distortion, ity in a way that hides some for my Sony SL-5200 Beta Hi- often is not necessary and can and interference. I don't un- clearly audible phenomena. Fi deck mean that the Beta Hi- actually damage the heads. derstand why the stereo pilot The ANSI (American Na- Fi is technically superior?

How often should I do it? And, doesn't even flicker when this tional Standards Institute) Stove Vanderplatt is demagnetization necessary? happens, or why it doesn't rating, which originated as a New York, N.Y. If so, how should it be done? happen at all when I drive my DIN (Deutsche Industrie Ray Chapin son's car on the same day and Norm, or German Industry Beta Hi-Fi is different. A case Milwaukee, Wis. over the same route. I took my Standard) measurement can be made for its technical radio to be fixed, but it's still and is used in our equip- superiority, but the point is I'm a.firm believer in not fix- just as had. ment reports, yields higher arguable. It has some advan- ing "what ain't broke," but J 00000 R. Partin. numbers because it takes tage in using transport this case is different, in that Jersey City, N.J. into account those short- speeds that aren't as radical- keeping the heads clean may term burbles. How much ly different from each other. be viewed as preventive There are several possible higher the numbers go de- Panasonic confirms that maintenance. Nevertheless, I trade-offq in the way a car- pends on the quantity and tracking is critical to Hi-Fi would use the cleaner spar- stereo FM tuner copes with severity of the speed aberra- sound recovery and that it is ingly—not until excessive fading signals and multi- tions—and, to some extent, most likely to be problematic picture "snow" or a sudden path, and a stereo indicator on how the flutter meter is at the LP (medium) speed. loss of half the screen to video seldom tells you how the tun- read. We (and most U.S. or- The SP (high) speed leaves hash suggests dirty heads. er is faring. For example, ganizations concerned with room for a guard band that Most cleaners currently on your son's setup may be setting audio testing stan- eases the problem, even in a the market seem to be quite much quicker to blend chan- dards) are satisfied that deck that (like the PV-1430) nonabrasive, but it is still nels and sacrifice the stereo ANSI is more useful, more has a single pair of video possible to get too much of a in the interest of reducing indicative of actual sound heads, optimized for the good thing. As far as I'm static. Or, his antenna could quality. Just ignore any slowest speed—EP, or SLP, aware, VCRs don't need de- be optimized more for FM WR MS ratings if ANSI or as it may be called on your gaussing, probably because than yours is (and yours DIN readings also are given. deck. Machines with two most of the heads are record/ more for AM than his, per- pairs of video heads some- play devices that get de- ham). There is, of course. the UNHAPPY MEDIU M times optimize one for SP, gaussed by the high-frequen- possibility that Chrysler's With my old, non-Hi-Fi VHS one for EP, and read LP cy video recording signals. best isn't good enough. Write videocassette recorder, I (some can't record it at all) Since there's no equipment Mr. Iacocca. found the medium (LP) speed with the EP pair. Since LP on the market to do the job, to offer the best all-around lacks both the guard band in any event, you're out of C A N OF W R M S compromise, and I want to use and the optimized heads, it luck if you only play back I think your readers need an it with my Panasonic PV-I430 has the poorest shot at read- tapes and never record on the explanation of the difference Hi-Fi deck. But its manual ing the Hi-Fi sound correct- machine. If nothing else, the between WRMS and ANSI says that the deck may auto- ly, though it should work re- edge-track audio heads will wow-and-flutter specifica- matically switch from the Hi- liably for tapes recorded and eventually become magne- tions. What is the formula for Fi sound to the edge track played on the same deck. For tized, though perhaps not to converting one into the other? either during tracking adjust- maximum in a serious (Irg Son Wid mann ment or in playing LP-speed you'd better make all Ashton, Idaho tapes recorded on another ma- your VHS Hi-Fi tapes at R O A D NOISE chine. So it appears that if I either SP or ER I just i.ught a Chrysler New Sorry, but there isn't one. continue to use the LP speed, I

Yorker with an equipment The weighted root-mean- may be unable to play the We regret that the rota me of reader package that includes the com- square (WRMS) rating, used tapes with Hi-Fi sound when mail is too great jilt 145 to answer pany's best AM/FM radio/ by many Asian manufactur- the Panasonic wears out and I all questions individually.

FEBRUARY 1986 15 BASICALLY SPEAKING by Michael Riggs V

&odic, Frostiers _

For much of the last year, I de- to perfect that it no longer af- exists at a live performance. made multichannel recordings voted this column to what you fects the sound quality in any We therefore need to distin- (using, for example, the Ambi- can and (mostly) can't hear, significant way. guish what makes recorded sonic process), properly de- with an eye particularly to de- Why, then, do we continue music sound so different. Dy- signed delay systems, or even flating some of the puffed-up to test amplifiers, CD players, namic range clearly is one ele- specially configured speaker nonsense that too often is phono cartridges, and so ment. This is most obvious to setups can help immensely. It passed off as fact in the audio forth? Because they are not al- me in recordings of drums, is gratifying to see interest in world. But this can be a dan- ways as close to perfection as which almost always sound this issue on the rise among gerous course, because it can they could or should be. For squashed and dead compared manufacturers. Acoustic Re leave the impression that all example, many amplifiers to the real thing. But the most search and Polk Audio both the problems have been solved have phono equalization important difference is in the have introduced speakers that and nothing really matters curves that are off enough to spatial cues we receive. In a attempt to overcome some of anymore—that there no long- cause very slight audible col- concert, the sound is emitted the limitations of conventional er is any frontier. orations, and cartridges and by a number of discrete stereo sound. And the increas- And that's not so. We're tape decks are even more sources, from which it spreads ing number of products de- still a long way from the ulti- prone to this type of error. We out and is reflected off a multi- signed to reproduce Dolby mate goal of high fidelity. If have also encountered prod- tude of surfaces, creating a surround-sound movie sound- you doubt that, try going to a ucts with relatively high noise, complex set of signals arriv- tracks in the home give prom- concert and then coming home improper input or output im- ing from many directions ise of a resurgence in multi- and listening to a recording of pedances, and the like. Some after both long and short de channel audio recording and the same music on your stereo tuners have better reception lays. Most of the sound we playback. system. No matter how good characteristics than others, hear is this reflected energy, The reason more attention your equipment is, it will be a some CD players have better which strongly influences our has not been directed at the sobering experience. Repro- error correction than others, perception of the music and of problem of obtaining natural duced music, even at its mod- and so on. In other words, the the acoustic space in which it spatial reproduction may sim- ern digital best, almost never existence of advanced technol- was performed. ply be that it is a relatively sounds quite like the real ogy does not guarantee that it Unfortunately, the stan- tough nut. It's a lot easier to thing. will be properly taken advan- dard methods of recording add a sonically irrelevant zero The reasons are fairly well tage of. And there often are and reproducing music do not after the decimal point in an understood (in broad outline, matters of degree or ques- mimic this process very well. amplifier's distortion specifi- at least), and they have little to tions of relative value to be Sound is radiated into the lis- cation. And I doubt that there do with the ICs in your ampli- considered. tening room from two sources will be much progress on this fier or the filters in your Com- Still, it is unlikely that the and is then subjected to a se front as long as audio enthusi- pact Disc player. It comes performance of your amplifier ries of reflections that result asts can be distracted by red down to the way music is re or CD player will be a crucial in only short-term delays. And herrings like polystyrene vs. corded and the way it is played determinant of your system's we hear this artificiality. I do Mylar capacitors and tubes vs. back with speakers. What sound quality. In that, your not want to imply that this is transistors. It's up to us to goes on in between mostly speakers and the recordings the only problem: Excessively pressure manufacturers to amounts to providing a signal themselves play by far the big- close miking, poor equaliza- give us the technological im- pipeline from the microphones gest role. And that is why I tion practices, compression, provements that will yield tru- to the loudspeakers. With to- think it is important to put to and other forms of overpro- ly enhanced sonic realism. • day's audio technology, that rest the many myths that dis- duction play a role as well. But pipeline can be made so close tract attention from the work the inability of conventional that really needs to be done. stereo systems to convey a re What we want is a way of alistic sense of acoustic space simulating the sound field that is a more fundamental short- coming. It may not be altogether intractable, however. Well-

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CITY STATE ZIP Attention All 20 single recordings above TELEPHONE( Co mpact Disc also available on Compact Area Code Disc. Just check the CD Box Collectors: Please sign here on coupon. Offer good in continental USA only, one membership per family All applications subject to (CD members serviced by the Compact Disc Club Some aspects vary. Full review, and we reserve the right to reiect any applications or request additional information IPS 510 details will follow with same 10-day no obligation, return privilege.) L VBS32 P-NN P-PK BITS & PIECES flos by David Ranada

Designs on the Future

At the last Audio Engineering the iceberg, so to speak. Their its clones use the Intel 8086 tal equivalent of the pin plug Society convention, held in functions and capabilities, family, the Apple II and Com- (a iespicable little connector New York in October 1985, en- though considerable, are not modore 64 computers both use from the beginning). gineers from Sony presented a unique. The military has used the Commodore-originated If not standardization, technical report on a couple of similar devices for several 6502 (though in totally incom- what would I like to see? At integrated circuits they had years, and other, vaguely com- patible ways), and the Apple least one DSP system with developed. While a worthy parable signal processors are McIntosh and Commodore a configuration "open" (non- achievement in themselves, available from Texas Instru- Amiga use the Motorola proprietary) enough to allow the chips point up aspects of ments and NEC. More audio- 68000, also incompatibly. The software development inde- what could soon become a ma- oriented DSP circuits are un- nontransferability of software pendent of the system's origi- jor issue in the growth of doubtedly under development. between these machines pre- nators. This is how IBM has home audio technology: the Marantz of Japan has already vents someone from using a handled personal computers, overall design or "architec- announced an amplifier utiliz- program developed for Com- and it is one of the main rea- ture" of digital signal process- ing five Philips DSP chips (see puter A in Computer B, unless sons for that company's suc- ing (DSP) systems. January's "Currents"). All the software writer provides cess in the field. Contrast this Sony's high-speed proces- these circuits, though they can another version for the second with the difficulty Apple has sor and multiplier chips form be programmed to perform machine or the operator buys had marketing the rather pro- the heart of a computer spe- the same functions, are differ- an expensive circuit that es- prietary McIntosh to the busi- cialized for processing audio ent and incompatible: Soft- sentially turns Computer B ness community. signals while they are in digi- ware designed to run on the TI into a temporary mimic of As I see it, the consumer tal form. Doing so has three chips will not operate on the Computer A. has been and will be best major advantages: The distor- Sony devices, and vice versa. This is not a call for stan- served by the availability of tion and noise inherent in ana- The internal design of dardization, however. Those different and competitive ap- log processing and in repeated such complex integrated cir- aspects of consumer digital proaches to the solution of analog-to-digital (AID) con- cuits can have a profound ef- audio most needing regulation sonic problems. But that com- version are avoided, much fect on their performance in a (the CD and RDAT systems petition must not come only more complex processing is DSP system. Whereas some and the signal format for di- from parties overseas. Once practical than with analog cir- chips may be able to do several rect digital connections be- home DSP gets over the cuits, and alterations of the things at once (equalization tween home digital-audio com- equalizer-on-a-chip stage, and processing are achieved by and compression, plus artifi- ponents) already have been after software for all the stan- changing computer programs cial reverberation, for ex- standardized. Anyway, the dard audio functions has been (software), not hardware. ample), others may have to be home audio industry has nev- written, further developments Sony's chips are very ac- connected in parallel. On the er handled attempts at stan- will depend more on psycho- curate and very fast. At 8 mil- whole, there is now, and will dardization very well. Just re- acoustics and taste. And the lion instructions per second, continue to be for some time, a member the 45- vs. 33-rpm latter, at least, seems to be they perform their operations wide diversity in the abilities controversy, the various quad- quite culture-specific. I fear faster than any personal com- of DSP chips, which may have riphonic systems, the clumsy that many good domestic puter programmed to do the important design and perfor- methods of mounting phono ideas for improving sound same things. The engineers' mance consequences for the cartridges (until P-Mount), quality via DSP may never re- suggested applications for the consumer. and the current multitude of ceive commercial embodi- chips include equalizers, mix- Watchers of and partici- incompatible infrared remote ment, since all the consumer ers, reverberators, compres- pants in the personal-com- controls. What the nascent DSP hardware will originate sors, expanders, spectrum an- puter marketplace have al- digital-audio business does not overseas. As the vivacity of alyzers, and sampling-rate ready seen the effects of such need is an ossification of devel- the domestic personal-com- converters. It is conceivable chip-to-chip differences. At opment around a specific, and puter market has shown, a that the circuits will appear in present, nearly all of the per- not necessarily good, proces- healthy diversity can come consumer products. sonal-computer industry is sor architecture. I certainly only when the necessary de- What's most important clustered around three archi- would not endorse any stan- velopment tools are freely about these chips is that they tecturally distinct micro- dard that would saddle the available to all potential soft- represent the leading edge of processors. The IBM PC and next generation with the digi- ware writers. •

18 HIGH FUMY Precision without complication. At the very pinnacle of Aiwa's technological breakthroughs resides a new standard of per- If you can't tell whether it's a Stradivarius formance. A new level of precision. A new achievement in human engineering. It is or a Guarneri, it isn't an Aiwa. the Aiwa AD-F990B. The AD-F990B's ability to meet the dynamic and textural demands of the best of both digital and analog source materials is unprecedented. The ease with which the AD-F990B makes this out- standing performance avail- able is unbelievable. At the touch of a single button, the AD-F990B's unique DATA. system automatically analyzes the tape you have selected. Reference signals are automatically recorded and then instantly compared to the original. Once the analysis is complete. in just 16 seconds, the Aiwa AD- F990B adjusts bias, equaliza- tion and sensitivity to optimum levels. Through the use of

Dolby HX Pro, the _ AD-F990B then dynamically f.111. adjusts bias levels NINO in response to the music you record. It even • l•t, adjusts the bias levels CIO •61/ ... .] W Y .. M M. separately for each channel. iragfi IS • • • • • • • 1 • • • • ••••0 011,t<1001 el • • AUTO •E‘01•1•00 1(011 To make perfect performances LMIOMMI L .Ii t it ir L•" , 111 ". "1 .10 . 11 11.81 .11 .1 a n

even more effortless the 1 Me m AD-F990B also offers an auto- on. ea.AcAm

noise reduction detector, O UTP UT LEVEL • lin I auto-recording level control, '

auto-demagnetizing system ••• •Pf I u m • and auto-intro-play facility. Ino IT OMB NEC * M ANCE • • . The Aiwa AD-F990B. Perfec- • tion has never been so easy • to achieve. M u m, L. ; •

-----./'(mmwnar—Aitisssmr A The Aiwa AD-F990B. Simply the best cassette deck we make. SIMPLYADVANCED

L'A ford M o,) n a C hi e, New Jersey 07074 In Canada. Shriro (Canada) Ltd THE AUTOPHILE by Jay C. Taylor

Powering Up For Digital Recordings

As car buyers have steered category, Carver gets its Mag- ances, a shielded power sup- circuit to protect against over- away from econoboxes in re- netic Field technology on the ply, and heat-dissipation fins heating and speaker wire cent years, opting instead for road with the Carver Car Am- made of heavy aluminum. shorts. high-performance road ma- plifier M-240 ($350). Rated at Fujitsu Ten's 140-watt Proton's Model 250 power chines, they've also become in- 120 watts (20% dBW) per (21 /12 -dBW) QM-582 ($210) has amp ($300) features a soft-clip- creasingly demanding about channel (into 4 ohms), it can be a thermostat that cuts the ping circuit, which is said to the quality of their car stereo strapped into mono by push- power-supply voltage by half prevent audible distortion systems. Certainly, it was not ing a button. A built-in 115-Hz whenever the unit's interior when the amp is momentarily a moment of whimsy that led crossover allows biamping temperature exceeds 85 de- overdriven. Rated at 50 watts the Motown giants General with another M-240. Other fea- grees. A large aluminum heat (17 dBW) per channel (12-volt Motors and Ford to ally them- tures include an automatic sink is provided. power, into 4 ohms), it is selves with audiophile compa- protection/reset circuit, vari- The new top-of-the-line bridgeable to 150 watts (21% nies in producing factory-in- able input sensitivity, and de- power amp for Alpine is the dBW) in mono. The unit also stalled car stereos. layed power-on to prevent 3533 ($330), spec'd at 110 watts incorporates a shielded power Most recently, with the in- fuses from blowing because of (20/12 dBW) per channel into 4 supply, high- and low-level troduction of the first Com- unregulated turn-on electrical ohms and 140 watts (21 /12 inputs, thermal protection cir- pact Disc players for cars, surges. dBW) mono in the bridged con- cuits, and a pulse-width-modu- audio-conscious drivers have Another member of the figuration. It comes with both lation power supply to sta- started asking the same ques- turbocharged club is Ken- DIN and RCA input connec- bilize varying battery power. tions home-system owners wood's KAC-9020 amp (less tors and is only two inches Mention should also be often ask about the additional than $450), which incorporates high, to facilitate installation made of Infinity, which has power required to handle digi- the Direct Linear Drive Cir- in tight spaces, such as under complemented its 75-watt tal program sources. And the cuit used in the company's a seat. (18%-dBW) amp with a "half- answer is pretty much the home amps. The DLD design A new name to car stereo power" version, the MRA-90 same as it is for home sys- employs two amps: an 8-watt is Hifonics, a Ridgefield, NJ., ($199), rated at 45 watts (16/12 tems: more. In fact, undoubt- (9-dBW) unit for routine play- company, which recently ac- dBW) per channel. edly more than is offered by a back and an 80-watt (19-dBW) quired distribution rights for Among those offering standard head end, which typi- one for peak power. Side bene- Visonik products in the U.S. combination power-amp/ cally tops out at about 12 fits are said to be lower power Its own line of five power equalizers is Metrosound, watts. Cranking up your car consumption and cooler opera- amps—all named after Greek whose EQ-345 ($200) is said to CD player without turbo- tion than with conventional gods—is headed up by the deliver a total of about 90 charging your amplifier would high-power amps. Switchable ZEUS II ($650), rated at 250 watts (19 /12 dBW) to four be about as satisfying as driv- input sensitivity is provided. watts (24 dBW) per channel. speakers and includes sepa- ing a Porsche with a Chevette Recognizing that flexibili- Features include bridging ca- rate ±10-dB equalization over engine. ty is an asset in car stereo pability, variable input sensi- nine frequency bands for No need to worry. The car components, Crown's CMA-1 tivity, delayed power-on, full- front and rear speaker pairs. stereo after-market is rolling Mobile Amplifier ($995) is a power rating with battery Panasonic's combination out a luscious smorgasbord of switchable design that can be voltages of 11.5 and up, and unit, the CY-SG60 ($120), is high-end, high-power car am- configured in three ways: protection circuitry. only an inch thick. Rated at 12 plifiers, amplifier/crossovers, three channels at 100 watts (20 Offering the only Class A watts (10% dBW) per channel, and similar products. And, to dBW); four channels, with two car amp that I've heard of is it also has a 20-dB volume-at- no one's real surprise, you'll at 100 watts and two at 50 (17 Alphasonik, whose A-2075 tenuation button. find some "home audio" com- dBW); and five channels, with ($375) is rated at 75 watts (18% panies offering car models for one at 100 watts (for use with dBW) per channel into 2 to 4 Jay C. Taylor is Car Stereo Prod- the first time. a subwoofer) and four at 50. ohms and at 150 watts (21% ucts Manager for Crutchfield. In the monster amplifier Among its other features are dBW) bridged mono into 4 to 8 current-limiting for safe oper- ohms. It boasts delayed pow- ation at very low load imped- er-on, a special power supply for immunity to battery volt- age changes, and a Permatect

20 HIGH FIDELITY JVC Just Did Something About the Great Image of VHS They Made It Extraordinary

HR-D566U HQ Hi-Fi STEREO VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDER WITH MIS DECODER

High Quality VHS How? Introducing HQ (High Quality) System The HR-D566 and HR-D565, JVC's latest Hi- technologies. A new way of processing VHS Fi VHS VCRs, are the first to incorporate the signals with two noise reduction circuits and a HQ System. Proof that HQ pictures are a visual higher white clip level. equivalent to Hi-Fi VHS sound is now available The result of the HQ System is immediately at a JVC dealer near you. clear. The picture is sharper. Colors are more HQ System pictures make the VHS advantage natural. Video noise is virtually eliminated. clearer than ever before — its quality you'll And, if you record with a new HQ VHS recognize on sight. recorder, your recording can be viewed on any existing VHS recorder. THE GOAL IS PERFECTION JVC ensures that complete compatibility is maintained. NR-D51313U HO STEREO VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDEH #§11-Fll VIDST A ivusi JVC

JVC COMPANY OF AMERICA. Consumer Video Divislon. 41 Slater Drive, Elmwood Park. NJ 07407 JVC CANADA INC Scarborough Oft One ofthe most advanced cassette decks in recorded history

With its advanced technology and fea- tape formulations, but each individual tape, the tures, Yamaha's new K-1020 cassette deck makes K-1020 has an Optimum Record Bias Tuning most others seem like ancient history system. Just press the TEST button and adjust To begin with, the K-1020 has a specially the bias control until the ORBiT tuning indicator designed closed-loop dual-capstan transport shows you the bias is precisely set. Then to pre- system. There's one capstan on either side of the vent saturation, use the variable 0-VU recording record and playback heads. This insures that the level indicators to set the level for each tape tape is always in optimum contact for exceptional formulation/noise reduction combination. frequency response and low wow and flutter. Of course, a deck as advanced as the K-1020 And separate reel and capstan motors insure gives you a choice of Dolby* B and C as well as that the tape drive stays isolated from the reel dbx** noise reduction. Plus full-time Dolby HX operation for increased reliability and reduced Pro* to increase headroom by as much as 8db modulation distortion. at 20 kHz. Along with a full complement of con- Each of the three heads in the K-1020 is venience features including a four-digit real-time specifically designed to maximize its perform- counter with auto memory ance. The pure Sendust record head has a 2- And the K-1020 is just one in a complete micron gap for precise signal recording. The line of new Yamaha cassette decks. Because his- pure Sendust playback head has a 0.7-micron tory has a way of repeating itself. K-1020 shown with Yamaha YHD-1 Orthodynamic Headphones gap for accurate reproduction as high as 23 kHz. *Dolby and Dolby HX Pro are trademarks of Dolby Laporatones And the double-gap erase head has an ion-plated "dbx is a trademark of dbx, Inc. 0.3-micron glass coating to insure that it erases Yamaha Electronics Corporation, I • SA , P.O. B4A 6660. Buena Park, CA 90622 even difficult metal tape formulations completely. To set the correct bias for not only different *YAMAHA TES T RE P O R TS

NOT TO BE LEFT BEHIND BY

the improvements in VCR

picture quality afforded by

the Super Beta format, JVC,

the inventor of VHS, has

launched the VHS HQ

(High Quality) system of

video recording. Unlike Su-

per Beta, which places the

luminance carrier at a fre-

quency higher than that JVC HR-D566U used in standard Beta (and which may therefore not al-

HQ VHS Hi-Fl VCR ways be compatible with the

Report preparation older system), VHS HQ is supervised by claimed to be completely Michael Riggs, David Ranada, compatible with the VHS Robert Long, and standard: Tapes made on an Edward J. Foster. Laboratory data HQ machine should play

(unless otherwise back on all other VHS ma- indicated) is supplied by chines and vice versa. In

Diversified Science fact, given the way the pro- Laboratories. cess works, an HQ deck

may provide some improve-

ment in picture quality to

tapes recorded without it.

F E BRUARY 1986 23 TRANSPORT CONTROLS

AC POWER

EJECT

INSIDE DOOR OUTPUT SELECT CONTROLS FOR TV VIDEO: TV TUNING. PROGRAMMING. AUDIO MODE. HI Fl RECORDING LEVEL ADJUST PANEL DIMMER.

MINE INPUT SHARPNESS, HEADPHONE LEVEL. HI Fl AUDIO LIMITING, RECORDING HEADPHONE SPEED (SP/EP), MEMORY REWIND. CHANNEL SELECT (UP DOWN) SOURCE SELECT., CABLE MODE

DIMENSIONS: 17' , BY 3' , INCHES (FRONT PANEL), Just what does HQ do? For a technical main soundtrack on the Hi-Fi channels

14' , INCHES DEEP PLUS CLEARANCE FOR CONNEC- explanation, see "What VHS HQ Does" in stereo and on the edge track in mono.

TIONS. PRICE: $899. WARRANTY: " METED," ONE on page 26. In simple terms, the system Indicator lights warn you when you've

YEAR PARTS, 90 DAYS LABOR. MANUFACTURER: is supposed to reduce the apparent chosen the mono mode, while separate VICTOR COMPANY OF JAPAN; U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: video noise and increase the apparent indicators show when an MTS trans-

JVC COMPANY OF AMERICA, 41 SLATER DR., ELM- contrast of a reproduced image. mission is being received and whether it

WOOD PARK, N.J. 07407. In addition to HQ video circuitry, includes an SAP. the HR-D566U includes an MTS (Multi- There also is a choice of what audio channel Television Sound) decoder for signals you hear on playback: the Hi-Fi reception of stereo TV broadcasts and channels only, a blend of the Hi-Fi and VHS Hi-Fi audio recording for getting edge tracks, or the edge tracks only. them down on tape intact. As with oth- Another switch chooses how the Hi-Fi er JVC machines, the unit records only audio signals are recorded and fed out at the two outer VHS speeds (SP and in playback—stereo, left channel to EP), though it will play back tapes both sides, or right channel to both made at the intermediate LP speed. Its sides. Also behind the door are switches tuner covers the standard VHF and for selecting the antenna input and UHF channels and 113 cable channels. tape speed and for turning the tuner's There are two F connectors: one for a automatic frequency control (AFC) and VHF/UHF/CATV input, the other for the recorder's internal audio limiter on an RF output (with mono audio) on and off. (The audio limiter always func- either Channel 3 or Channel 4. JVC pro- tions on the edge track, but can be used vides antenna splitter/mixers to adapt or not, as desired, for Hi-Fi recording.) the single RF input to multiple-lead-in And there is a switch that converts the systems. right channel of the audio recording- Most of the VCR's secondary con- level indicators into a "tracking" indica- trols are easily reached behind a flip- tor to aid in obtaining the best picture down door at the right of the front pan- and sound during playback. el. There are quite a few knobs and Knobs controlling picture sharp- switches, but they add to the model's ness (in playback only) and headphone versatility. For example, you can set level also lie behind the flip-down door, it to record video from the composite- as do switches to activate and calibrate video input jack and audio from the line- the time-remaining counter for T-120 level stereo inputs, video from the inter- and T-160 cassettes. An "instant record- nal TV tuner and audio from the line- ing" button starts taping immediately input jacks (for taping simulcasts), or from any mode, even if the machine is both sound and picture from the inter- turned off, as long as the line cord is nal TV tuner. Another switch affects plugged in. The first press starts a 30- the audio recording mode when the se- minute timer; additional presses in- JVC lected source is either the tuner or a si- crease the recording time in 30-minute mulcast, putting a monophonic blend of increments up to a maximum of four the left and right channels on both the hours (eight hours if you use the nu- edge track and the VHS Hi-Fi tracks, meric keypad and enter button). A tim- the mono SAP (separate audio pro- er switch on the subpanel sets up the gram) on the edge track and the main VCR for unattended recording. JVC HR-D566U REMOTE CONTROL HANDSET program on the Hi-Fi tracks, or the The programming controls are

24 HIGH FIDELITY THE SCHWANN COMPACT DISC CATALOG

PREMIERE ISSUE Order Now While Supplies Last!

LISTINGS: 4,500 complete CD REVIEWS: Timely analysis Compact Disc listings on by the editors of High more than 125 record Fidelity of the most recent labels. Divided into three releases. More than 50 in categories—Classical, the first edition alone. Pop and Jazz—this CD TECHNOLOGY: Where is uniquely designed section this revolution headed? will feature cross-refer- How to use and maintain encing of all classical your hardware and soft- releases by song tile/ ware. Keep pace with the work and by composer/ products that are chang- artist. ing the world of audio.

JUST S295 (plus $1.00 postage and handling)

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$2 95 plus Si 00 for postage and ADDRESS APT handling each I enclose CrY ,STATI ,ZIP

MAKE CHECK OR MONEY ORDER PAYABLE ICI RATES FOREIGN AND CANADA-52 95 PLUS SI 50 FOR POSTAGE AND HANDLING PER COPY CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN U S CUR- ABC Schramm, P.O. Box 11120. HF286 RENCY MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER Church Street Station, New York. N Y 10249 „ORDER CANNOT BE PROCESSED WITHOUT PAYMENT VCR SECTION

I ',pep! v5h0i0 (lhowlse ridicitril the teLul ding data shown rein apply to both speeds SP and EP (Slfb data listed or standard edge track audio recording were taken with the Dolby B noise reduction engaged All measurements were made at the direct audio and video outputs with test AThrrilk signals iniected through the direct audio and video inputs For audio recording. the 0 dB weletence input level is the voltage requited to produce the squares of the signals' instanta- 3 f,i! en, !hod harmonic distortion at 315 H2 The 0 dB reference output VC's version of the VHS HQ (High voltage from a 0 dB input Quality) system concentrates on re- neous amplitudes). Thus, the adding of VHS HI-FI RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE 1-20 dB) ducing luminance (black and white) adjacent scan lines should produce a net and chrominance (color) noise and ex- improvement of 3 dB in luminance sig- panding the "white clip" level, all to pro- nal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. The actual pro- - s fiU1/ 1 duce sharper edges on black-to-white cessing is somewhat more complex than K2 20 50 100 100 500 010 510 10K 2011 transitions and to improve apparent pic- this, yielding, according to JVC, more f 1 • Ii .-'01.0 to 20 kHz ture contrast. Since it doesn't attempt to than 3 dB of effective luminance noise STANDARD RECORD 'PLAY RESPONSE (-20 dB) extend video bandwidth, HQ leaves the reduction. In a similar manner, the VHS luminance carrier frequency un- HQ Chrominance Vertical Processor correlates the color information line by I I changed, and it is said that tapes record- 100 Suu 111 210 bin ed on HQ machines are completely com- line to effect a 3-dB improvement in the SP +0. -3dB. 80 Hz to 11 8 kHr patible with existing VHS recorders. chroma S/N ratio. EP • 30. 78 ,'')•1 To a major extent, the VHS HQ sys- The third benefit claimed for HQ is AUDIO S, N RATIO ire 0 dB output; R/Ft A-weightedl tem capitalizes on the presence of redun- an extension of the "white clip" level by standard VHS Fr 20 percent over that of previous VHS re- SP dant information in a normal video pic- EP 82 dbl ture. A video image on a monitor is corders. In a conventional VCR, video

INDICATOR CALIBRATION (315 Hz, VHS Hi-F) formed by the scanning of an electron signals are pm-emphasized (high fre- for 0 dB input +8 dB beam across the inner, phosphor-coated quencies are boosted) before modulating 10 dB input 3 ilf3 surface of the picture tube's screen. The the luminance carrier, so that compensa- DISTORTION THD at 10 dB input. 50 Hz to 5 kHzI picture is composed of a series of almost tory de-emphasis after playback demod- standard VHS Hi-Fi horizontal scan lines stacked up vertical- ulation will reduce noise introduced by SP EP ly to give the illusion of a continuous im- the recording process. On a sharp full-

CHANNEL SEPARATION 1315 Hz; VHS Hi-Fil age. In the vast majority of scenes, the black-to-full-white transition, the pre- information changes very little from one emphasis causes the signal to overshoot INDICATOR BALLISTICS' the full-white level corresponding to 100- Response time 23 msec scan line to the next, at least when com- Decay time .4.270 mSet pared point by point along adjacent lines. percent video modulation. Overshoot 0 dB For example, if a given point on a given To prevent overmodulation of the FLUTTER (ANSI weighted peak, R/P: average) line is bright, the point directly above it video FM carrier, a clipping circuit trims standard VHS 16-F and below it will probably be bright, too. off the overshoot. After playback de- SP • < 0 0 1% The HQ system uses a CCD modulation and de-emphasis, the signal EP < 0 01% (charge-coupled device) to delay video no longer appears as it originally did. SENSITIVITY (for 0-d8 output. 315 LW mike line playback information by one horizontal The transition from black to white starts VHS lit-F 30 al1/ scan line, which it adds to the next in- off rapidly enough, but before reaching standard !3nV 1 090 mV coming one. To the extent that the two full white, it slows down, slightly smear- AUDIO OUTPUT LEVEL (from 0-dB input 315 Hz) lines are the same (correlated), the video ing the edges of images. Raising the VHS Hi-Fi 097 volt signals add directly and double in level white-clip level reduces the high-fre- standald 041 volt (increase by 6 dB). The noise content of quency loss, sharpening black-to-white AUDIO INPUT IMPEDANCE (VHS Hi-F) transitions and thereby enhancing ap- line input 64 54 ohms the signals is random (uncorrelated). so mike input 10 2k ohms after addition, the noise will increase by parent contrast and detail. VIDEO RECORD PLAY RESPONSE only 3 dB (the square root of the sum of Edward J. FOster SP EP

at 500 kHz + 3,4 dB

at 1 5 MHz 3 1.2 dB -5 1i4 d13

at 2 0 MHz 5 1 dB -9 1/4 dB

at 3 0 MHz -17d8 -16 1,4dB

at 358 MHz -10 1 4d at 4 2 MHz touchpads on the inside surface of the program —a nicety we've encountered SHARPNESS CONTROL RANGE subpanel door. The counter-reset and on few other VCRs. at 500 kHz • 1 3,4 dB

at 15 MHz +3 lip -1 1/4 dB counter-mode (clock, tape counter, or The numerical programming touch- at 20 MHz 4-4 -9 3,4 dB remaining time) controls are here, too, pads also can be used to tune a channel at 3.0 MHz f I 44. 314 dB 3.58 to 4.2 MHz no measurable effect along with a dimmer switch for the dis- directly, even if you're not in the timer LUMINANCE LEVEL play. The HR-D566U's programmer en- mode, or you can scan through the SP 4% low ables you to record as many as eight channels via front-panel up/down but- EP 109v low events over a two-week period with dai- tons. As received, the unit is set to run GRAY-SCALE NONLINEARITY (worst case) 104 ly and weekly repeat functions. Clock through all VHF and 18 UHF channels, CHROMA LEVEL SP I ' dB lovv time and program memory are retained but you can add to or delete from the EP 1 1 4itBlnu for as long as an hour during power memory. The VCR's infrared remote CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL GAIN outages, and the deck loads the tape ten control operates all the normal trans- CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL PHASE seconds before the appointed start time port modes as well as the scan and di- SP EP and commences recording two seconds rect-access tuning functions. You also MEDIAN CHROMA PHASE ERROR early so you don't miss the beginning of can use it to turn the VCR on and off

'Unstable or too low to measure a show. You can even choose the re- and switch between antenna and VCR. cording speed independently for each You can always tell what mode the

26 HIGH FIDELITY What other audio tapes fail to hear.

One audio tape is so sensi- tive it can hear a pin drop. Or the full crash of a cymbal. To no one's surprise, it's made by Sony. Designed with our widest dynamic range ever, :he UCX-S can pick up ti-e soft- est softs you've never heard. Or the loudest buds. Without distortion.' And since we pack smaller, more uniform parti- cles on our tape, you can pack more music in it. And go from one extreme to the other. So pick Sony. And hear what you've been missing.

C 985 Son. Corp of America Sony d a t ered irademark of Sony Corp -The One and S O NIC .nly'is a regisiered izademaik of Sony el Amenca (Third latmonIc distortion at 0 dBo THE ONE AND ONLY THE HR-0566U'S SECONDARY CONTROLS ARE BEHIND

A FLIP-DOWN DOOR ON THE FRONT PANEL, wrru THE

PROGRAMMING KEYS ARRAYED ON THE INSIDE SUR-

FACE OF THE DOOR ITSELF. IMMEDIATELY TO THE LEFT,

ON THE FRONT PANEL PROPER, ARE THE MOST COM-

MONLY USED OPERATING CONTROLS: THE TRANS- cow!. off y TI PORT KEYS, THE RECORDING-LEVEL SLIDERS, AND TAPE TAPE MEMORY REMAIN THE CHANNEL-STEPPER BAR.

CHROMA CIFFEREPTIAL RI ASE AID GAIN OF THE transport is in by the large illuminated nance step, so it is not likely that you'll

VIDEO RKCRDER SICTION AT SP !TOP) AND EP (BOT- symbols that appear on the left in the notice it. This means that neither hue TOM), INDICATED 3Y THE ANGJLAR AND RADIAL display below the tape slot. There are nor color saturation will be affected by SPREADS, ItSFECTITELY, OF THE WPrri BLOBS NEAR separate symbols for playback, pause, changes in scene brightness. Chroma THE LEFT EDGE OF HE VECTORKOPE GRIDS. BOTH recording, fast forward, and rewind. level is low (as usual), but it is almost ARE ENLARGED BY CHROMA NOSE (ESPECIALLY AT Submodes are indicated by a combina- perfectly uniform across the spectrum THE SLOWER SPEED), BUT THE FACT 1HAT THE SPOTS tion of symbols. For example, when in and therefore easily correctable at the ARE ESSENTIALLY C RCULAR, RATHER THAN DRA- recording-pause, the recording symbol monitor. Phase (hue) accuracy is very MATKALLL ELLIPTICAL, AND COMTAIDED IN A SINGLE (a circle) is combined with the pause good, too, with a median error of just AREA INDKAFES TILL THE DIFFERENTIAL PHASE (HUE symbol (two vertical lines). Shuttle 314 degrees and an equivalent uncor- VARIATION WITH (RANG(S IN BRIGHTNESS) AND search (at seven times playing speed in rectable spread. GAIN (VARIITI)N OF COLOR SITURATION WITH either direction) is indicated by the play The tuner's audio frequency re- CHANGES IN 'RIGHTNESS) ARE *EEL CONTROLLED. symbol and the fast-forward or reverse sponse is about average. Apparently symbol. Audio-only dubbing (available JVC uses a sharp filter to remove the for the edge track only) is represented horizontal-scan component, for it is ex- by a split circle. All in all, it's a very ceptionally well suppressed in this mod- clever display. el. Signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio also is Diversified Science Laboratories re- substantially better than average. The ports that the HR-D566U's tuner is one audio limiter affects output level when of the finest it has tested—especially used, but on or off, there's sufficient with regard to video frequency re- signal to fully drive a stereo amplifier, sponse, which is virtually flat to the and the output impedance is well suited color-burst frequency (3.58 MHz) and to interconnection with your system. less than 9 dB down at the top of the Video response through the unit's NTSC (broadcast video) band (4.2 recorder section is significantly better MHz). With a superior monitor, hori- at SP than at EP. With the sharpness zontal resolution should be just about control at its center detent, we'd esti- as good as the NTSC system is capable mate SP resolution to be somewhat bet- of providing. The tuner's luminance lev- ter than 160 lines (typical of good el is very close to the mark, and gray- VCRs). In extended-play mode, it would scale linearity is virtually perfect. Chro- be about 120 to 130 lines based on the ma differential phase is admirably low, same — 6-dB criterion. Advancing the and the reported chroma differential sharpness knob produces almost per- gain occurs only at the brightest lumi- fect video response to 2 MHz in the SP

28 HIGH FIDELITY ADD SANSUI'S DS-77 TO YOUR STEREO AN SYSTEM.

AND YOUR LIVING ROOM WILL SOUND A BIT BIGGER.

Hold on to your popcorn' Sansui introduces CinemaSurround . the sensory experience of 360° theatre sound brought right into your home. With our DS-77 Sound Processor, you'll see. hear and feel the difference as CinemaSurround

, • it totally envelops you

. • 440;••••"! •• • We admit this could cause sensory overload „ • • So try it without the movie. CinemaSurround ••••.- enhances everything from radio to records. From cassettes to compact discs. You can also produce CinemaSurround with our SX-V1000 and AV-C10 Control Centers. It's further proof that when it - -•••6 ../M. ANS comes to A/V components and systems. nobody's got _ %• . . it together like Sansui. . : CinemaSurround The f • experience is so incredible • N. you could sell tickets. Sansui :// : // / /1 4f-te Pleagibtere Se;tata'.

01, ••••. '

Sansin Electrorncs Corp Lyndhurst NJ 07071 Carson CA 90746 TV TUNER SECTION mode and increases EP resolution to we've measured, but it is more than ad- An measoiements were taken at the direct audio and video outputs about 160 lines, although this results in equate for excellent stereo imaging. AUDIO FREQUENCY RESPONSE (meal) a perceptible increase in video noise. In The level indicator is calibrated some

DO mit ON. ill practice, the picture seems somewhat what lower than we've measured on

—5 clearer than these numbers would im- other Hi-Fl VCRs, which is preferable, 142 20 SO 100 200 SOO IK 20 5K 10K 200 ply, because of the slight accentuation in our view; as long as you keep the , 2 -3 dB 41 Hz to 12 B kHz the HQ system gives to sharp edges. peaks to about 0 dB on the meters, all AUDIO S/N RATIO ( mono, A-we ghtedl Nonetheless, images recorded at the should be well. best case (me color or luminance) 66 3/4 dB watt case (crosshatch pattern) 45 1 4 dB standard speed are noticeably better Edge-track recording is in mono, RESIDUAL HORIZONTAL SCAN COMPONENT (15.7 kHz) defined and less grainy than those re- with levels controlled by the audio limit- -96 dB corded at EP. er regardless of the setting of the audio AUDIO OUTPUT LEVEL 1100% modulation) limiter switch. Since third-harmonic dis- ALC oft 1 67 volts On the back panel is a video noise ALC on 049 volt reduction switch, which JVC recom- tortion reached 3 percent before the AUDIO OUTPUT IMPEDANCE 930 ohms mends be left on for normal playback limiter became fully effective, DSL VIDEO FREQUENCY RESPONSE and defeated when making copies. used that level as its reference. The lim- - 114 48 at MS kHz (DSL measured the VCR's video per- iter comes in 2 dB higher and prevents at 1.5 MHz + 3te dB at MHz + 7nt dB formance with the switch turned on any further increase in distortion. Ten 3.1IMHz 1.4 dB and rechecked playback with it off.) De decibels below the reference, distortion 3.51I MHz I 112 dB

21 ,11 2 MHz -8 3/4 dB feating the video noise reduction sys- is less than 1 percent from 100 Hz to 5 LUMINANCE LEVEL 4% low tem produces a slight response im- kHz at SP and a little less than twice GRAY SCALE NONLINEARITY {worst case) 5% provement between 2 and 3 MHz that at EP. S/N ratio is respectable at CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL GAIN 20% (especially in EP), but at the expense of both speeds. Flutter is about par for CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL PHASE = trr increased snow. Luminance and chro- edge-track recording. Overall edge- CHROMA ERROR ma levels also are a bit more accurate track frequency response is quite good level Mose at SP but is 3 dB down at only about 4.5 red dB +r at SP, although the differences be- magenta -3 2 dB +3- tween the speeds are here too small to kHz at EP. blue -3 dB 0• have any significant effect. Gray-scale For a top-of-the-line VCR, the HR- cyan -3 I/2 dB +r green -3 1/2 dB +6* linearity is very good at both speeds, D566U's special video effects are some yellow -3 1/2 dB +r and there's essentially no chroma dif- what limited, but we suspect most us- median error -3 1/2 dB +3 1/r uncorrectable error t I/4 dB ±3 ferential gain at either. Average chro- ers will find them adequate (as we did). ma phase error is the same at both The unit provides search in both direc- speeds, and though the chroma differ- tions at seven times normal speed and a ential phase is slightly worse at EP still frame that advances continuously than at SP, again, the difference is too if you hold the pause control down. small to be seen. There is a slight amount of "tearing" Measured with the audio limiter and some picture shake with still-frame off, VHS Hi-Fi performance is admira- and a few noise bars and evidence of ble. Flutter is below our reporting limit tearing in the high-speed shuttle at both speeds, as you might expect modes. But the picture is quite view- from a Hi-Fi recording system, and dis- able in either case, and we've certainly tortion, which is primarily the unobtru- seen worse. The special effects work sive second harmonic, is acceptably low equally well at both speeds, but not at (less than 1 percent from 50 Hz to 10 all when reproducing an LP tape. kHz at —10 dB referred to the 3-per- Audio performance is excellent on cent distortion point). Dynamic range— the Hi-Fl channels, but noisy and dull also measured with respect to 3-percent with edge-track recording at the EP distortion—is 82 dB at the slow speed speed. Color rendition was noticeably and 83/14 dB at standard speed, both blotchier (especially in large solid ar- very good figures. Frequency response eas) at EP than at SP, and as mentioned is quite flat at both speeds and varies earlier, resolution was notably better at only slightly with changes in recording the faster speed, too. For all these rea- level. These measurements confirm sons, we preferred SP for serious re JVC's claim that the HR-D566U makes cording. At that speed, the JVC HR- an excellent eight-hour audio recorder. D566U is a stellar performer, and it is Input and output voltages and im- only by comparison with that level of pedances are well chosen, although the quality that we're given cause to com- rather low overload margin on the mi- plain about the EP reproduction. It's crophone input suggests that you use definitely a deck that merits serious care in selecting and placing the mike. consideration, particularly in view of its Channel separation is not the best very competitive price. •

HIGH FIDELITY 31 31 I , , I _ _ RESET RESET MUSIC MUSIC . CONTROLS CONTROLS SEEK IIPLSI IIPLSI SEEK TRANSPORT TRANSPORT AUTO FADER FADER AUTO REWIND (CIMSS) (CIMSS) REWIND RECORDING CANCEL CANCEL RECORDING COUNTER MODE SELECT MODE COUNTER MONITOR (SOURCE TAPE) TAPE) (SOURCE MONITOR ______14 , INCHES DEEP PLUS CLEARANCE FOR CONNEC- FOR CLEARANCE PLUS DEEP INCHES , 14 DIMENSIONS: Ti' , BY 3' , INCHES (FRONT PANEL), PANEL), (FRONT INCHES , 3' BY , Ti' DIMENSIONS: TIONS. PRKE: $500; OPTIONAL lk-32 WIRED RE- WIRED lk-32 WIRELESS OPTIONAL RC-92 "LIMITED," $500; OPTIONAL PRKE: WARRANTY: $35; $115. TIONS. CONTROL, MOTE CONTROL, REMOTE FACTURER: AKAI ELECTRK CO., LTD., JAPAN; U.S. U.S. IN-USE MANU- ARTE- JAPAN; 150,000 W. HEADS. 800 LABOR, LTD., AND SUPER-GA ON CO., LTD., PARTS ONLY YEAR ELECTRK ONE AMERICA, PARTS AKAI HOURS AKAI FACTURER: DISTRIBUTOR: SIA BLVD., COMPTON, CALIF. 90220. 90220. CALIF. COMPTON, BLVD., SIA METER MODE (PEAK SPECTRUM) SPECTRUM) (PEAK MODE METER TAPE TUNING CLEAR CLEAR TUNING TAPE L L L L De De Gx_. Gx_. override is also provided. provided. also is override k al SELECT. SELECT. Tape-type selection is on the basis basis the on is selection Tape-type There is a further bias adjustment: adjustment: bias further a is There manual manual first press recording-pause (there is no no is (there recording-pause press first playback-pause function) after loading loading after function) playback-pause of the cassette-shell cutouts. When you you When cutouts. cassette-shell the of a tape, the GX-9 fine-tunes for bias, re- and bias, sen- for tape recording the fine-tunes apparently, GX-9 involves the and, This EQ, tape, a cording sitivity. tional fashion and automatic rewind to conven- to pro- the rewind in the two which tones about at automatic In the test and do tape of to the operation: fashion on the designed evaluation point of tional is the system rapidity The ing. Don't use ferrichromes either—if you you either—if ferrichromes use Don't cess began. What is astonishing is the the own- is the record- that; astonishing begin at is to go What cutouts. it ready let began. are correct you and cess the can seconds it without best shells in insert one anyway, the readout panel panel be- is readout the tape the anyway, when one you warn insert won't er's manual warns against use of tapes tapes of use against warns manual er's lights, meters, or other technical aids aids technical other or meters, lights, a manual slider with a center detent to to range. detent center adjustment special a No with deck's tuning. the slider yond normal manual a represent monitor switch introduces a brief out- brief a introduces switch monitor though the source/tape monitoring will al- will adjustment, monitoring its manual for the source/tape provided the are though Unfortunately, biasing. put hiatus when toggled, making it bright- it in making switch- differences toggled, when instantaneous assess to hiatus with put than harder ness enable you to hear the dulling effect of of effect under- of dulling the peakiness hear the to and you enable overbiasing assette assette MPX FILTER ON, OFF. OFF. ON, FILTER MPX C) SIMIU M110 M110 SIMIU . . BEHIND DOOR RECORDING LEVEL LEVEL REDUCTION RECORDING NOISE DOOR ADJUST BEHIND BALANCE BIAS ADJUST HEADPHONES. OUTPUT OUTPUT MODES B HEADPHONES. DOLBY TIMER ADJUST ADJUST (OFF BIAS LEVEL the tradi- the ______--. --. continues

9 - ._ ._ _ _ __

of the company's former flag- former company's the of

_ _ I .._ AC POWER POWER AC he Akai GX Akai he tion ship, the GX-7 (which impressed impressed (which GX-7 the ship,

The transport door of the GX-9, like like GX-9, the of door transport The -- 1 1 r1 T us when we tested it two years ago and and ago years two it tested we when us Dolby B and C, automatic bias setting, setting, bias playback, and automatic recording C, for and B heads Dolby to which the GX-9 bears a family resem- GX family a separate bears of use GX-9 the the with which to blance), ing, however: Its control scheme has has comple- scheme its has control so Its and however: rethought, ing, been what simpler appearance despite an ex- some- an a has now despite It appearance features. of simpler ment what and so on. The GX-9 isn't just an updat- an just isn't GX-9 The on. so and ing and signal metering. metering. signal and ing capabilities that includes a much more more of much a match- range tape includes to comprehensive that approach ceptionally capabilities sophisticated that of the GX-7, is motorized and will will and motorized is GX-7, the of that hard stricture to honor if you're used to to even used Akai you're manually—a keys. it if control close honor to to not transport you the stricture tells hard close automatically if you press any of of any press you if automatically close conventional hardware. Retained from from fea- first Retained the useful two sample are to hardware. model Scan, Intro earlier conventional the tures: ten seconds of each selection in turn, in turn, in finds, in that selection selection each feature of a next the Play, of seconds Auto ten and beginning the the chosen direction and automatically the is automatically over and held Also direction chosen playback. the begins conjunction with the fast-wind controls, controls, fast-wind the with conjunction during recording or playback, to source source to A mode. playback, or recording-pause recording the in during when automatic monitor switching: to tape tape to switching: monitor automatic FEBRUARY 1986 1986 FEBRUARY WI- A.F4C W PLAYBACK RESPONSE (RASE test tape, -20 dB DIN)

142 20 SO 100 200 SOO IS iK 50 -1-0K TOK Leh channel • dB, 315 Hz to 18 kHz

Right channel • 0. -1 1•7 de. 315 Hz to 18 kHz

RECORD 'PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 2 TAPE (-20 dB( 111111-91 SECONDARY CONTROLS ARE M IND A FUP-DOWN DOO L

0

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 10 20 OK 100 200 ing. The manual bias control's range is ward; decreasing bias has the reverse

Leh channel no NR) +1 I/4, -2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz not extreme (Akai says 15 percent in effect. Right channel either direction, evidently to limit the By using the spectrum mode you - -- no NR + 112. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 19 5 kHz

Dolby B -1- 112 -3 dB 20 Hz to 17 5 kHz problems incurred should you set the can see what sort of demands are made - • Dolby C 4 t• • •-• slider for an oddball tape and then for- by the highs and midrange of the input RECORD PLAY RESPONSE TYPE 4 TAPE 1-20 dB) get to readjust it when you come back signal and adjust the bias accordingly. to a more standard variety). We found However, we found that for gain-riding that if you leave the slider at one ex- during recording, the peak meter mode SOU I K IK 5K 1010 7010 treme and then run the automatic tape- is more useful, besides being obligatory Leh channel no + 0 -1 d8. 20 Hz to 20 kHz matching routine, the circuitry will try for adjusting recording balance. The Right channel no NR +0. -2 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz to compensate for the manual setting. meter scales are most finely divided— Dolby 8 + 0 - dB 20 Hz to 20 kHz The instructions don't mention this into 2-dB increments—in the range be- — • — Dolby C • 3 dB 20 io 17 kHz at all, though they do make a valiant at- tween —6 and +4 dB. For some reason, RECORD PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 1 TAPE (- 20 dB)

DB tempt to satisfy both the neophyte and possibly to dramatize the difference be- 0 the old recording hand in a series of tween the old mechanical VU meters G. H41 u I show-and-tell essays that include tech- and these peak-reading displays, Akai H7 20 SO 100 200 500 1K 2K SK 10K 2015 nical matter along with basics. This has chosen to label the —4 calibration Left channel no NR) + 0. -2 I/2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz Right channel tends to make descriptions rather un- "0 VU" even though there already is a no NE +0. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 18.5 kHz wieldy for both types of users, and 0-dB calibration on the scale at the point Dolby B + I/2. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 16 5 kHt

Dolby C + 3/4. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 155 kHz some important material seems to get where the display changes from blue to MULTIPLEX FILTER (datimheblia) lost in the shuffle. The setting of the red. Despite this point of confusion, 'V e 15 kHz -10 dB at 19 kHz (see text) bias adjustment, for instance, is ex- which the manual ignores, we consider S/N RATIO lie DIN 0 dB; R/P; A-weigked) plained in terms of MML and SOL, de- the metering very good even without Type 2 tape Type 4 tape Type 1 tape ooNR 58 3 dB 56 34 dB 55 dB fined by Akai as "maximum modula- the unusual and possibly useful spec- Dolby B 67 2dB 66 dB 64 dB tion level" and "saturation output tral mode. Dolby C 72 I 4 dB 71 1/2 d8 70 3/4 d8 level," respectively, even though they INDICATOR READINGS FOR DIN DB (315 Itz) Recording level and balance are set Type 2 taps 0 dB (with 1 56% THD) apparently are used here to signify by separate knobs, a sensible and use Type 4 tape 0 dB (with 0 71% 180) midrange headroom and high-frequen- ful approach. Four-second fades in or Type 1 tape 0 dB (with 0 51% THOI cy headroom, respectively. But perhaps INDICATOR READINGS FOR 3% DISTORTION (315 HO out can be created automatically at the Type 2 tape • t • • • 2 dB DIN) the point is moot because of the way press of the auto-fader button; after a Type 4 tape +4 dB Ito, + 5 I/2 dB DIN) Akai uses these terms in explaining the fade-out, the control adds four seconds Type 1 tape I op ;1w ,1R PIN)

DISTORTION (THO at 10 dB DIN. 50 Hz to 5 kHz) GX-9's very unusual metering system, of silence and then enters the record- Type 2 tape • 1 3% which makes their purpose clear even if ing-pause mode. If you don't want the Type 4 tape •5_ I 0% the terms themselves are not. fade, but just the silence, you can use Type 1 tape 1 6% The metering has two button-se- the auto-mute button instead. If you ERASURE (at 100 Hz) 68 li2d8 REC CA NCEL CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 315 Hz) 39 dB lected operating modes: peak (a rela- make a mistake, aborts the

INDICATOR "BALLISTICS" tively conventional display, with sepa- recording that's in progress, rewinds %sponse time 32 msec rate overall-level indication for each the tape to its beginning, creates a four- Decay time 530 msec channel) and spectrum. The latter mode second blank, and enters recording- Gvershoot 0 dB displays signal level in the band around pause. SPEED ACCURACY 1105 to 127 VAC( 02% last

'LOTTER (ANSI weighted peak, II/ Pl ± 0 050% 8 kHz on the upper (normally, left chan- The counter offers three modes: ar-

SENSITIVITY (re DIN 0 dB, 315 Hz) 110 mV nel) display and in the band around 400 bitrary numbers ("turns"), which keep

INPLT OVERLOAD (at 1 kHz( 10 yobs Hz on the lower (right channel) one. track of tape position in all modes (in-

IN 3L.I IMPEDANCE 614k ohms Maximum recommended levels for cluding fast winding) and thus is rec- OU'PtiT IMPEDANCE 65 ohms each band are displayed (after the tape- ommended for indexing purposes; MA7INUM OUTPUT (from DIN 0 dB) 060 volt tuning process is complete) as rows of elapsed time, which counts only the lighted dots next to the appropriate me time spent in playback or recording; ter sectors. The dots are labeled SOL and remaining time, which begins by and MML for the 8-kHz and 400-Hz evaluating the tape automatically for bands, respectively. As you turn up the length (flashing "G90," "C-60," and "C- manual bias control, the SOL indication 46" in succession until it reaches a deci- slides downward, the MML one up- sion) and then shows how many min-

32 HIGH FIDELITY utes and seconds of tape remain on the beyond with the Type 4 metal, for in- usual. Moreover, the low-frequency (50- supply hub. stance, depending on the noise reduc- Hz) distortion, particularly for the Type The tapes DSL used in its tests are tion chosen. 1 tape, contains significant quantities a close match to the manual's recom- Playback response is excellent— of the second harmonic, suggesting mendations, though it lists the now-dis- thanks, in part, to an excellent azimuth that the tape may not be the limiting continued Maze11 UD formulation as match between the deck and our BASF factor in this respect (since tape distor- the Type 1 ferric and specifies C-60s. test tape. When the lab measured the tion is typically of the odd-harmonic va- We use C-90s because buyers show multiplex-filter response, it found (as it riety). On the other hand, these low-fre- such an overwhelming preference for did with the GX-7) that it could be de quency measurements aren't worri- them and presumably will use them in duced only through a comparison of the some: only 0.54 percent for the Type 2 the decks we evaluate. In any case, the playback response with and without tape, 0.33 percent for the other two. record/play response curves measured the filter. With noise reduction on (a ne- We are, if anything, even more im- by the lab all are very good or excellent. cessity if the filter is to be active), re pressed with the GX-9 than we were Those for the Type 1 tape (Maze11 UDS- sponse is rolling off so fast at 19 kHz with its predecessor. The speed and I ferric) are the flattest; those for the that the attenuation figure shown in automation of the tape-matching sys- Type 4 (TDK MA metal) have the most our data column can be only an approxi- tem and the unusual spectral mode of extended highs, particularly in the left mation. the metering are among the standout channel (not shown); those for the Type The remaining data for electrical features, together with the optimiza- 2 (TDK SA ferricobalt) seem very and mechanical performance all are tion of recording parameters that they slightly underbiased, with a tendency good or excellent, with one minor ex- help make possible. Also to the point is to peak a bit (particularly, again, in the ception, which, in light of Akai's use of the closed-loop dual-capstan direct- left channel) at the top. As level is in- such perfectionist touches as direct- drive transport, which surely is respon- creased to — 10 and 0 dB, the curves coupled circuitry and oxygen-free cop- sible for the excellent flutter figure. take on some downward tilt, represent- per wiring, is rather surprising. The dis- The remaining features, though less ing progressive compression toward tortion at high frequencies (the 5-kHz important in a performance sense and the high-frequency end, but hold up measurement is worst-case for each of more a question of taste, also contrib- well nonetheless—to about 10 kHz or the three tapes) is a little higher than ute to the GX-9's unique personality. •

T E S T R E P O R T S

evox equipment is unique. If with unusual logic. The normal trans- DIMENSIONS: 17' , BY 6 INCHES (FRONT), 13 , you've used any of the compa- port functions are handled by the but- INCHES DEEP PLUS CLEARANCE FOR CONNECTIONS. Rny's current electronics—or even tons along the top right, with the level- PRICE: $1,390. WARRANTY: "LIMITED," TWO if you've just read about them in our metering and function readouts on two YEARS PARTS AND LABOR, EXCEPT FUSES AND test reports on the B-285 receiver (April LCD (liquid-crystal display) panels at BULBS. MANUFACTURER: STUDER REVOX GMBH, 1985) and B-252 preamplifier (Decem- the top left. Below the LCDs are the re- WEST GERMANY; U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: STUDER RE- ber 1984)—you'll have some inkling of cording controls; below the transport VOX AMERICA, INC., 1425 ELM HILL PIKE, NASH- how this "computer" cassette deck buttons are those for playback func- VILLE, TENN. 37210. works. If not, you may find it a little tions. The cassette well, in the center, awesome at first. Its collection of sil- has a pop-off plastic cover to protect it ver, gray, and red buttons (or keys, as from dust when the deck's not in use. the manual aptly calls them) makes the You insert and remove cassettes by B-215 do some things that other decks hand, without mechanical intervention, do in other ways or under other names so you can flip a cassette over at the and some that few decks do at all. But end of Side 1 faster than you can with be-of good cheer: The exotic quickly be- most other unidirectional decks. comes the familiar, once you dive in, Immediately above the well are two and the results are more than worth an large metal buttons. SET LEVEL, on the initial moment of perplexity. left, will assess source-signal amplitude The controls actually are deployed for as long as you push it and then will

FEBRUARY 1986 Good Reasons You need the Schwann Catalog

1. You'll get a month-by-month listing of all the 6. You won't have to look for the SCHWANN new LPs, Cassette tapes and compact disc CATALOG every month. It will come right to recordings. (Over 50,000 titles every month. your home or office. You can just sit back and The average issue is well over 270 pages.) enjoy the convenience. All you have to do is fill out the form below... 2. You'll learn which records and tapes are about to be discontinued—before it happens! 3. You'll get listings for spoken word, interna- 7. WE SAVED THE BEST FOR tional, religious, folk music, boxed sets and LAST. HERE'S THE MOST electronic music—as well as a complete clas- EXCITING NEWS OF ALL: sical music listing. We will send you—as a Special 4. You'll get a complete price list of every record, Bonus—a brand-new push- tape and CD—so there will never be any con- button phone. Complete with fusion about costs. standard plug. With auto- redial of your last number and 5. Our December and June issues (which is features you'll find on phones $3.95) is a massive collection of the year's costing as much as $25... record and tape information—over 430 pages: It is probably the most important or more. reference a music lover can have—and utter- ly indispensable for anyone who sells re- cords, tapes and compact discs.

THE NEW SCH WANN: HF286 P.O. BOX 41094, NASHVILLE, TN 37204

YES! send me one year of THE NEW SCH WANN (12 issues including the big double issue) for just $35 and my FREE phone.

NAME

ADDRESS APT ie

CITY/STATE/ZIP FOREIGN RATES: CANADA, $40 00, OTHER FOREIGN $45 ($80 AIR MAIL) PAYMENT IN U.S. CURRENCY ONLY—MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER AUTO RECORDING LEVEL ADJUST AUTO FADE ON OFF

111 110111014 011. TRANSPORT 111. I911 j klk CONTROLS

REVO L L A I 1 1 ! 1 ON; STANDBY RECORDING LEVEL, BALANCE ADJUST AUTOMATIC-MODE PROGRAMMING. TAPE MATCH TIME-DISPLAY CONTROLS HEADPHONES

HEADPHONE LEVEL ADJUST - MONITOR TAPE SOURCE

set the recording level accordingly, for tings in most decks that match the tape PLAYBACK RESPONSE (BASF test tape. -20 dB DIN)

a maximum reading of +2 dB on the automatically, you can overcome the OS - meters. The operation of FADE IN/OUT problem manually. The extra Type 2 op- -5 • 2160, I IT i is unusual in that it imposes fades, rath- tion enables you to do what some tape HZ 20 50 100 200 500 IC 211 SK 10K 2010

er than the usual instantaneous action, duplicators do: go for the extra high- — Loll eleonol + 3/4, - 112 de. 315 Hz to 18 kHz on the pause control in the recording frequency headroom of the 120-micro- Riji chiunsi +O. - 1/2 d8. 315 Hz to 18 kHz RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE Z TAPE (-2 a) mode. If you start from the recording- second EQ with chromium dioxide or 08 pause mode, the input will fade up to ferricobalt tapes, so that you can have the preset level in about one second; both maximum midrange level (for the 20 50 100 200 500 IC 211 SK 10K 2011 pressing PAUSE again will fade back widest dynamic range) and clean highs lolt doom& (no NR) + I/O, -3 48. 20 Hz to 20 kHz down and then stop the deck in PAUSE. even with demanding signals that Riolo channel: If you want to halt recording immedi- would require a lower recording level no NR + 12. -2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz Dolby B +0. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 19 5 kHz

ately, without a fade-out, you must with 70-microsecond equalization. Dolby C + 1 4 -3 dB 20 Hz to 19 kHz press sroP rather than PAUSE. Once you (or the deck) have chosen RECORD PLAY RESPONSE, TYPE 4 TAPE (-20 dB)

To eliminate the fade-in, you must the basic bias and EQ settings, the B- DO

press the fade button before starting 215 can fine-tune them and its input -5 • • —

the deck, extinguishing the FADE leg- sensitivity (Dolby recording calibra- 14Z 20 50 100 200 500 1K 211 SK 10K 2011 end above the meters. However, the B- tion) for the specific tape in use and Leh channel (no NR) +0. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz 215 can leave a noticeable "chiff' in the then memorize the results. It has a total Right channel: no NR +1, -2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz recording if the transport is engaged of six memories: three for Type 2 tapes, Dolby B + I. -240,20 Hz to 20 kHz with the signal at full level. You can two for Type 1, and one for Type 4 Dolby C + 1 1/4, - 2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz sidestep this problem by using flying (which are both the scarcest and the RECORD PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 1 TAPE (-29 OBI DO starts (pressing both PLAY and RECORD most consistent brand-to-brand and 0

during playback to record over a por- therefore the least in need of multiple • 2,44, HZ 20 50 ' 500 21k 51, 10K 2011 tion of the music) when you want very memories). The memory is selected by Let doom! (no NR) + 1/4, -3 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz tight edits, but in normal operation, the pushing ALIGN to step the left display Rigid clanool: B-215's brisk fade consistently delivers panel to the desired number; the fine- — NR + 112. -3 de, 20 Hz to 20 kHz Dolby B +0. -2 1/2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz the most pleasing results. tuning itself is achieved by switching — - — Dolby C + 3/4. -3 48. 20 Hz to 19 kHz Recording parameters can be set into the recording-pause mode and then automatically with manual participa- pressing ALIGN once more. The B-215 tion by the recordist. The deck reads records and evaluates a series of test the keyways in the cassette shell and tones, adjusts itself accordingly, stores sets bias and equalization accordingly. the settings in the selected memory, But you can override its choices with and rewinds to the point at which the the tape-type button, which steps process began. through four options: Type 1 (ferric The transport includes an optical bias, with 120-microsecond EQ), Type 2 sensor, so rewinding proceeds only to (bias for chrome or ferricobalt tapes, the end of the recording tape—not to with their usual 70-microsecond EQ), the end of the leader. Actually, the deck Type 2-120 (the same bias, but with 120- rewinds into the leader, then cues up a microsecond EQ), and Type 4 (metal- short distance into the tape itself (un- tape bias, 70-microsecond EQ). This less you hold the rewind button in until means that if you have a nonstandard the tape stops, in which case it remains shell, which would create incorrect set- cued into the leader). This is necessary

FEBRUARY 1986 35 MULTIPLEX FILTER (defeatable) if you're recording over a signal that be expected with the 70-microsecond d8 at 15 kHz -32 d8 at 19 kHz begins at the very start of the tape, the EQ), but also in the midrange, which S/N RATIO (re DIN 0 dli; RIP; 11-weibletod) onset of which otherwise might remain again suggests underbiasing. The lab's Typo 2 tape Type 4 taps Type 1 taps

no NR 55: dB 51 3/4 dB 51 dB unerased. In general, this automatic highest recording level in the response Dolby B 65 dB 62 I/4 dB 61 I/4 dB cueing scheme is an elegant way of tests is at DIN 0 dB (250 nanowebers Dolby C 74 4 dB 70 3 dB 70 I/4 dB avoiding both the wait while the leader per meter), which in this case actually is INDICATOR READINGS FOR DIN 0 de (315 Hz) Type 2 tape + 3 dB (with 4 0% THO) runs through and the rough start that a little above the overload point (repre- TYPa taaa + 2 dB (with 2 0% TN) often results from putting signal on the sented by 3 percent third harmonic dis- Type 1 Hee + 2 dB (with 1 1% THO/ first few inches of tape, though we tortion), and some compression is visi- INDICATOR READINGS FOR 3% DISTORTION (315 Hz) Type 2 tope + 1 dB(tor -1 Ile dB DIN) found its operation rather inconsistent, ble throughout the trace. The metering Type 4 tape + 4 dB +1 3/ I dEl DIN) apparently depending on the transpar- compensates for this, however, by read- Type 1 tape + 5 dI3 dot + 2 1/7 di OIN) ency of the leader. ing 1 dB higher than for the other two DISTORTION (ND at -10 08 DIN: 50 HE to 5 kite) Type 2 tape 13% Diversified Science Laboratories tapes and thus encourages you to re- Type 4 tape SO 70% tested the B-215 with BASF Pro II chro- cord 1 dB lower in normal practice. Type 1 tape 061% mium dioxide for the Type 2 formula- Chrome can stand it: As you can see ERASURE (at 100 Hz)

Type 2 tape 75 1/2 d8 tion, BASF Metal IV for Type 4, and from the data, its noise level is signifi- Type 4 tape 57 117 d8 TDK AD-X superpremium ferric for cantly lower than that of either of the CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 315 Hz) 57 1/2 dB Type 1. DSL followed our standard other tapes, so that its total dynamic

INDICATOR "BALLISTICS - practice in using ALIG N to tune to each range actually is greater, despite the Response time 8 msec Decay tione 1.000 msec tape with the noise reduction turned slightly restricted headroom. Overshoot 0d8 off, then measuring response at all The signal display has excellent SPEED ACCURACY (105 to 127 VAC) 0 5% last noise reduction settings without fur- range and resolution—increments of 1 FLUTTER (ANSI weighted peak. R ,PI 1 0 07% ther fine-tuning. Many decks can be dB (the same as in the recording-level SENSITIVITY (re DIN 0 dB. 315 Hz) 66 mV used only this way because engaging adjustment circuitry) from — 6 to +8, INPUT OVERLOAD/all kHz) 29 volts the tape-matching controls automati- giving you a very clear view of any INPUT IMPEDANCE 100k ohms

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE 1 500 ohms cally defeats the noise reduction until overrecording. The scale extends down

OUTPUT LEVEL (from DIN 0 d13) 082 volt the process is finished. Some that can to —30 dB, and though the element just be tuned either with or without noise below this calibration is always lit (or, reduction give better results if they're in fact, blackened against the reflective tuned without, even for noise-reduced background), there actually are two recordings. However, the Revox man- "meter" elements between it and the ual (which, like the front panel, is a calibration at — 20, giving you an un- model of organization, if not of idiomat- usually clear picture of signal behavior ic English usage) suggests that you at low as well as high levels. should choose your noise reduction The counter (which, except during mode before alignment. the tape-matching procedure, domi- So the record/play results, fine nates the left-hand LCD panel) reads though they are, might have been only in minutes and seconds from the slightly better yet if we had followed head of the tape. The manual says that the manual rather than standard test you will get the most accurate readings practice. It's possible, for example, that if you start out by cueing to the begin- the slight midrange bump in the Dolby ning of the tape and setting the counter C curve with Type 1 tape might have for the appropriate tape length (using been smoothed a bit had the deck been PLAY TIME to step the display through retuned with Dolby C on. But the re- its cycle: C-46, C-60, C-90, C-120). But it sponse curves all are so broad and flat also notes that even if you begin with as is that they are beyond comparison an unrewound tape and misinform the R E P O R T P OLIC Y with those of most other decks. At high- logic about its length, the microproces- Equipment reports are based on laboratory measurements and controlled listening tests. er levels (not shown), some slight peak- sor assigned to this function will be Unless otherwise noted, test data are provided ing intrudes into the range above 10 able to approximate the time figure by Diversified Science Laboratories. The choice of equipment to be tested rests with kHz, suggesting relatively low bias set- within a few seconds after you start the editors of HIGH FIDELITY. Samples normally tings or overreaction by the built-in playback or recording. are supplied on loan from the manufacturer. Manufacturers are not permitted to read re- Dolby HX Pro headroom-extension cir- You can store the time "addresses" ports in advance of publication, and no report or portion thereof may be reproduced for any cuitry. But again, these curves are ex- of two locations on the tape by finding purpose or in any form without written permis- cellent by comparison with those of oth- the spot you want and pressing first sion of the publisher. All reports should be con- strued as applying to the specific samples test- er decks, and the high-level curves STORE and then LOC (location) 1 or 2. ed. HIGH FIDELITY and Diversified Science Laboratories assume no responsibility for remain quite flat to about 8 kHz even You can then go to either of these spots product performance or quality. with Type 1 tape. by pressing Loc once again—which can The Type 2 tape exhibits less head- be handy in returning to the start of room—not only at high frequencies (to whatever you just recorded, in order to

36 HIGH FIDELITY THE 1986 MUSICAL AMERICA INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY OF THE ITIZFORMING NOW

Musical America is pleased to invite you to order AVAILABLE copies of the 1986 Directory of the Performing Arts for $55. The authoritative reference source for interna- tional listings in music and dance presents in one com- prehensive 600-page volume the 1986 listings for: Music. Over 600 orchestras, chamber ensembles, opera com- MUSICAL AMERICA panies and choral groups are listed with important infor- mation on -target decision makers- and concert halls Dance. From Alvin Ailey to Zorongo Flamenco. over 600 dance companies are listed: ballet theatre, comedy, children's dance, folk and mime. Includes regional and national companies throughout the U S and Canada Performing Arts Series and Festivals. A survey of popular and classical music, theatre and dance series sponsored by communities, societies and universities Music Schools. Contests. Foundations and Awards. From small music schools to music departments at maior universities In addition, over 100 international music competitions are accompanied by information on requirements for entry Plus complete international listings for: Music publications Professional services and organiza- tions Artist managers Music publishers. And perfor- mance schedules for North American concert halls. Each listing will also provide you with an address, phone number and the names of key people to contact. To reserve copies of the 1986 International Di- rectory of the Performing Arts at $55 each, please return the form with your check to: Musical America, Circulation Department, 825 Seventh Ave.. New York, NY 10019

MAD2 1986 .11tISK A1-.13/ER/CA D/RE( 'TOR 1 CIRCULATION DEP T —8TH FL 825 SEVENTH AVENUE. NE W YORK. NY 10019

NAME

APT Please send me the 1986 International Directo- ADDRESS ry of the Performing Arts for $55 each. CITY STATE ZIP I enclose $ for (IF FOREIGN) PROVINCE COUNTRY Directory (Directories). (Price includes postage and handling on U.S. CHECK ENCLOSED CHARGE MASTER CARD VISA

orders. Outside the U.S. add $10 for surface EXP mail, $20 for Air Mail.) CARD NO DATE PAYMENT IN U S CURRENCY ONLY (PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER) J DENON PRODUCTS NEVER CHANGE JUST FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE. When your products are already recognized as the finest loop to let you create a fully integrated home entertainment in their categories, you don't need to make drastic changes system. every year. So instead of radical reconstruction, Denon Denon's new DCD-1500 Compact Disc Player provides products undergo thoughtful refinement. not one, but two Direct Digital-to-Analog Convertors (DDACs), Take the new DR-M44HX Cassette Deck. It is the same the only ones hand-tuned for reduced D/A transfer distortion. deck that won acclaim from the U.S. to the U.K. and Australia That shouldn't be surprising. You'd expect no less from the -- now with Dolby''' HX Pro headroom extension. And low-noise Company that invented digital recording. LC-OFC wiring. So the next time you read about components that are The Denon DRA-755 AM/FM Receiver now incorporates "completely new," be skeptical. You don't have to go back to complete audio/video switching and an external processor ground zero when you build something right in the first place.

Denon America, Inc., 27 law Drive, Fairfield, N J 07006 do it over or to double-check its quality. user could understand better every- than 10 volts), but 2.9 volts should be

You can also press LOOP, and the deck thing that is going on. The manual has enough to pass even the most ambi- will repeat the passage between the one brief section on the philosophy be- tious transients from typical source two markers as many times as you like. hind the use of 120-microsecond EQ components. Impedances are well cho- If you know the time address of the with Type 2 tapes, but many users also sen to mate with other gear. The head- passage you want (and this system en- would like to know more about the tape phone output is adjustable in eight level courages keeping all your labeling rec- matching, the automatic leader cueing, increments. ords in those terms), you can zero in on the motion/length sensing, and the It goes almost without saying that it by watching the counter while press- transport's logic priorities—which, the B-215 can be controlled remotely— ing the appropriate fast-wind button among other things, automatically either with the wireless B-201 or as part and, as a brake, groP. Or you can enter switch the monitor from SOURCE to of an interlinked Revox system, for the desired elapsed time (which will ap- TAPE when you begin recording. which there are provisions on the back pear on the display) by tapping or Little is said even about the dual- panel. The options in this respect, which pressing MINUTES and SECONDS, then capstan drive, which is responsible for even extend to multiple rooms, make store it, and, by pressing LOC again, cue the B-215's excellent flutter figures. All the B-215 potentially part of the world's automatically to that address. the measurements are excellent, in most sophisticated one-brand music It all works superbly, though we fact. Input overload does occur at a sur- system. But audiophiles will seek it out wish that Revox had included more ex- prisingly low level (most other decks all by itself for its superb performance planation of how and why, so that the and electronics clip at something more and elegant automation. •

E S T H E P O R

BEHIND DOOR NB MODE (DOLBY B/DOLBY AC POWER C/DBX/OFF), MP% FILTER. BIAS ADJUST. EJECT RECORDING LEVEL ADJUST OUTPUT LEVEL (L. R). TIMER. ADJUST REPEAT MODES

HEADPHONES

MASTER FADER AUTO RECORDING MUTE SKIP TRANSPORT CONTROLS

erformance seems to have been noise reduction from other circuits to DIMENSIONS: 17 BY 4' , INCHES (FRONT PANEL), the top priority of Yamaha's de- minimize interference; and a double- 14 INCHES DEEP PLUS CLEARANCE FOR CONNEC- psigners in shaping the K-1020. gap erase head with a thin ("ion plat- TIONS. PRICE: $599; OPTIONAL RS-20 WIRED RE- While even a casual glance shows that ed") glass coating. MOTE CONTROL, $50; OPTIONAL RMA-K20 EIA its cannily chosen features emphasize More obvious, even commonplace, RACK-MOUNT ADAPTERS, $17. WARRANTY: "LIM- utility rather than glitz, it is the internal but no less important to the overall aim, ITED," ONE YEAR PARTS AND LABOR. MANUFAC- refinements, which a typical user might is the inclusion of all three major noise TURER: NIPPON GAKKI CO., LTD., JAPAN; U.S. DIS- overlook altogether, that more accu- reduction systems—Dolby B, Dolby C, TRIBUTOR: YAMAHA ELECTRONICS CORP., U.S.A., rately characterize the deck's inten- and DBX—plus Dolby HX-Pro head- 6660 ORANGETHORPE AVE., BUENA PARK, CALIF. tions. Among these are a dual-capstan room extension (aptly styled a "dynam- 90620. closed-loop drive; a die-cast head- ic bias servo" here). The separate re- mounting block; high-performance au- cording and playback head elements in dio circuitry that, for example, reduces the central cassette opening, together ground loops through the use of a cop- with the separate noise reduction cir- per bus-bar ground instead of the usual cuits for recording and playback, make printed-circuit ground; isolation of the monitoring possible and (not incidental-

IFBRUARY 1986 PLAYBACK RESPONSE MASI test tape; -20 dB DIN) ly) help in assessing the effectiveness ing a Dolby recording. De of the deck's bias-setting feature Diversified Science Laboratories

—5 (acronymed as "ORBiT," for "optimum found that the results obtained by fol- vo.1 41Z 20 50 100 200 500 111 211 511 1010 2010 record bias tuning"). lowing this procedure tended toward a — deemed +0.- (14 dB. 315 Hz to 8 kH In the realm of convenience func- slight, though broad, rise in the treble, Right alma +0. -1 1/2 dB. 3151ind 18511 tions, the K-1020 provides both timer- with some minor peakiness at the ex- RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE TYPE 2 TAPE (-21 a) start and repeat—of either the whole treme top in the Type 2 curves. The DO , •444 K. cassette side or a portion that you pro- tapes used were TDK SA-X, a premium gram with the reset and memory but- ferricobalt, as the Type 2; TDK MA for HZ 20 50 100 200 500 It 211 SK 1010 2011 tons. Automatic mute and seek are trig- Type 4 (metal); and TDK AD, a middle- Laicism.'(..NR) +2 1/4. -1 II2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz Right dowel: gered by the mute/search button. grade ferric, as the Type 1. You can use — NR +1 3/4, -2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz Tapping it during recording produces a the bias knob to tweak the response up Dolby 11 +1 1/4. -3 de. 20 Hz to 19 5 kHz

— - — Dolby C +2 3/4. -3 dB. 20Hz to 19 5 kHz four-second blank, and holding it in will or down from the Orbit setting, and in DIX +1 1/2. -3 dB. 50 Hz to 17 kHz extend the blank until you release it. the listening room we did marginally RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 4 TAPE (-21 dB) Either way, after creating the blank, prefer the sound of some Type 2 tapes DB the deck stops in pause. Pressing PLAY with a little more bias than the LEDs ...—=':31•••••• -- .

4 10101. during recording produces a blank said was optimum. (Moderate increases HZ 20 SO 100 200 500 It 211 510 1011 2011 without stopping the tape. Pressing in bias yield more midrange headroom thamel(..NR) + 3/4. -2 1 4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz Right alm a M UTE/SEARCH together with one of the but duller highs; moderate decreases me NI1 + 1/2, -1 1/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz fast-wind buttons seeks out the next in- give a little treble zing, particularly at Ds, I +0, -2 1/2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz

— - — Dolby C + 1/4. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 16 5 kHz terselection blank in the indicated direc- high levels, but also result in less dy- — - - — KIX + 3/4, -3 dB. 52 Hz to 13.5 kHz tion. Incidentally, the fast-wind speed namic range in the mid frequencies, RECORD/RAY RESPONSE. TYPE 1 TAPE (-29 dB) increases by half if you hold your fin- where most music needs it more.) The DB ger on the button instead of merely tap- bias knob has a detented center posi-

11 101( 141 ping it. tion, which is calibrated for 20-percent HZ 20 50 100 200 500 111 25 SK 1010 20K Then there is what Yamaha calls increase or decrease at the extremes, Lek drama (me NR) +1, -3dB. 20 Hz to 18 kHz "recording return." When you press relative to this norm. Right asemel: al NR +1, -3dB. 20 Hz to 18 5 kHz RE WIND while the deck is in the record- In general, response is quite flat Darya +I. -3dB. 20 Hz to 17 kHz ing mode, it will automatically return to and reproduction struck us as very — - — Delay C + 1/4. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 17 kHz — - - — DIX +2 3(4. -3 dB. 50Hz to 15 kHz the point where recording began or to good. Curves made at 0 dB are excel- zero on the tape counter, whichever is lent (thanks, no doubt, to the Dolby HX- nearer. This makes it easy to redo a dub Pro) and with metal tape exhibit only you've just botched. The deck's line and minor compression below 10 kHz or so. headphone outputs switch automatical- In fact, at —10 dB the responses from ly to source (when the deck is stopped all three tapes (with no noise reduction) or in recording-pause) or to tape (dur- measure more perfectly flat right up to ing playback or recording), though it the onset of the final high-frequency can also be switched manually. And fi- rolloff (which is at 19 kHz with Type 4) nally there is automatic tape-type selec- than do the respective curves at — 20 tion, based on the cassette-shell indica- dB, shown in our graphs. The playback tor notches. tests also produced excellent high-fre- To adjust the bias, you enter the re- quency results, with first-class azimuth cording mode, switch in an oscillator agreement between the deck and the that puts a 1-kHz tone on the left chan- BASF test tape. nel and a 10-kHz tone on the right (by In making our recordings, we ad- pressing the BIAS TEST), and start the mired the deck's level-setting scheme: tape. As you turn the BIAS ADJUST, the separate level-trimming knobs for each Orbit comparator circuitry reads the channel plus a single slider used as a tones off the tape. Their relative levels master fader. You can preset the knobs are displayed on two LEDs, whose with the fader all the way up, lower it, brightness should be equal for theoreti- start the recording, and then fade in. cally correct bias. Though the owner's The basic concept is excellent (we'd like manual doesn't say so, it's best to turn to see it become more widespread), off Dolby noise reduction for this test though the differentiation of look and because there's no tape-sensitivity ad- feel between the slider and the knobs justment, and a tape that is significant- makes this realization particularly suc- ly nonstandard in this respect is likely cessful, and the calibration of the slider to produce flatter overall response in dB below full-up 0-dB level can be when tuned without the noise reduc- genuinely helpful. We only wish the tion, even if you'll eventually be mak- trimming knobs had been more useful-

4I HIGH FIDELITY ly calibrated; as it is, the dot on each 100-Hz test signal—a frequency that is MULTIPLEX RLTER (deleetable) knob's face is too far from the front- much harder to erase than an ultrason- + 1/4 dB at 15 kHz -35 1/2 dB at 19 kHz panel markings for its position to be ic one because it records deeper into the Sib RATIO Ire DIN 0 dB. R/P: A-weighted, Type 2 taps Type 4 taps Type 1 tope clearly readable, unless the deck is tape's magnetic coating. Since very so NR 56 dB 55 '12 dB 53 1/4 48 viewed straight-on. loud sound that has been reduced by Dolby 11 64 3/4 dB 64 1/4 dB 62 3/4 dB Dolby C 71 ir2dB 71 1/4 dB 69 dB

The metering reads in 2-dB incre- only 50 dB may well be audible during DBX 78 3 4 dB 80 dB 79 dB ments from —16 to +16 dB (relative to pauses in the music, it might be prudent INDICATOR READINGS FOR DIN 0 DB (315 Hz) its own 0-dB calibration), with addition- to bulk-erase metal tapes before reuse. Type 2 thee 4 4 dB (with 2 23% ILO Type 4 tape + 6 dB (Path 0 87% THDI al elements representing +20, — 20, Speed accuracy is excellent. The Typal tape 4 6 dB (with 1 14% The and —30. Though some decks offer wow and flutter figure is good, though INDICATOR READINGS FOR 3% DISTORTION (315 Hz) even finer scale divisions in the critical not as low as might be hoped, given the Type 2 tape + 6 dEl + 1 dB DIN) Typed tape + 10 dB (for + 4 112 dB OIN) range, very few approach the breadth closed-loop drive. The input is very sen- Type 1 tape + 8 dB (for + 2 1/2 dB ERNI of this model's-32 dB in all! The upper sitive (with typical sources, we left the DISTORTION (1110 al -10 111 DIM 50 Hz te 5 kHz) half of this range actually is the impor- recording-level knobs only about one- Type 2 tape .A71% Type 4 tape 50 55% tant part, however, because the mid- quarter open), but the overload level is Type 1 lepe 5 0 48% range overload points for the three test nonetheless generous (more than 10 ERASURE het 100 Hz) tapes are all close to +8 dB, and the sat- volts). For A/ B comparisons, output Type 2 tape 76 112 dB Type 4 tape 49 1/2 dB uration levels for other typical tapes level can be adjusted to match input by CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 315 Hz) 47 3/4 dB can be expected to fall nearby. Down means of the front-panel knob (which INDICATOR BALLISTICS" the center of the display is a strip that also controls output to the headphone Response time 34 msec lights in response to the tape type to jack). However, in cases where input Decay time 740 msec Overshoot suggest the useful recording-level level is unusually high, you must use 0 dB SPEED ACCURACY (105 to 127 VAC) 03% fast range for the tape. It lights to +8 for the K-1020's own monitor switch. FLUTTER (ANSI weighted peak R/P) 0 095% Type 2 and Type 1, to +10 for Type 4— There are many impressive details SENSITIVITY (re DIN 0 dB: 315 Hz) 68 mV almost spot-on the 3-percent midrange to the new Yamaha. Among those we INPUT OVERLOAD (at 1 kHz) 10 volts distortion points measured by DSL. All haven't described is the tape counter, INPUT IMPEDANCE 24 Ok ohms in all, the metering is first-rate. which reads in minutes and seconds OUTPUT IMPEDANCE 1.640 ohms Many decks have difficulty erasing and requires no advance calibration (a MAXIMUM OUTPUT (from DIN 0 dB( 057 volt metal (Type 4) tapes because their coer- task we often forget to do on other civity is higher than that of formula- decks). Such touches help make this tions in the other two groups. Yamaha deck an unabashed pleasure to test, be- claims unusually high performance for yond simple admiration for its demon- the K-1020's erase head (though only at strable technical competency. Given ultrasonic frequencies), so we were a how diverse and elusive these mat- little taken aback by the disparity in ters—essentially of taste—can be, you DSL's data between the excellent era- may not react to the K-1020 as we did. sure figure for the Type 2 tape and that But you'll never know unless you test- for Type 4. The test was made with a drive it. •

T E S T R E P O Ft T S

in* IMM O' _ imp "Re _ -111 ist an erg TCD-3014A: •

siPIL Cassette Dec k: IIIIIM111111181i Mi 11111111111 III

andberg has worked very hard in tape recorders. An obvious example is DIMENSIONS: I 7'/, BY 6V, INCHES (FRONT), I 3' , recent years to shed its image as its only cassette deck, the TCD-3014A, INCHES DEEP PLUS CLEARANCE FOR CONTROLS AND Tstrictly a tape deck manufacturer, which works not only very well, but CONNECTIONS. PRICE: $1,450. WARRANTY: "LIM- and if the acceptance of its line of high- also rather differently from any other FHB," 90 DAYS PARTS AND LABOR, AUTOMATI- performance electronics is any guide, it model on the market. CALLY EXTENDED TO THREE YEARS ON RETURN OF has succeeded handsomely. But this One gleans an inkling of Tand- WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD. MANUFACTUR- should not be permitted to obscure the berg's iconoclasm simply from looking ER: TANDBERG A S, NORWAY; U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: fact that the company does make su- at the machine, whose appearance is TANDBERG OF AMERICA, INC., P.O. BOX 58, AR- perb and remarkably individualistic far removed from the Japanese style MONK, N.Y. 10504.

FEBRUARY 1986 RECORDING PRESET (ON OFF)

MEMORY (STOP OFF REPEAT)

TAPE SELECT TIMER MODES (1 2 4), ADJUST (SENSITIVITY. BIAS) -* TRANSPORT CONTROLS

LEVEL INDEX

AZIMUTH ADJUST RECORDING LEVEL AC POWER ADJUST

HEADPHONES RECORDING BALANCE ADJUST. MONITOR/TEST: NOISE REDUCTION (OFF DOLBY B "C) SOURCE/TAPE/OFF/ 15 KHZ/315 HZ OUTPUT LEVEL ADJUST

PLAYBACK RESPONSE (BASF test tape. 20 d8 DIN) now taken as the norm. The level indica- the knob. Thus, you can set your re

DB tors are analog meters, rather than cording level and then fade in and out 0 --- LED strings, and the cassette well juts from it easily and reliably without los- 41, t HZ 20 SO 100 200 500 1K 2K SK 10K 20K forward from the front panel, protect- ing the ability to push beyond your ini-

Lett channel + - 1/7 dB. 315Hz to 18 kHz ed from dust by a removable plastic tial setting when circumstances war-

+3. - 3/4 dB. 315 Hz to 18 kHz Right channel cover. Everything about the TCD- rant. This very flexible and intuitive RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 2 TAPE (-20 dB) 3014A is unusually solid, from the chas- system is one of the deck's nicest

0 sis itself to the cast and machined touches. - s closed-loop dual-capstan tape-transport The TCD-3014A includes Dolby B 02 20 SO 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K mechanism. Indeed, that one critical and C noise reduction. (There is a multi- Leh channel no NR) +1 1)2. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz Right channel part weighs more than some complete plex-filter switch, by the way, on the no NR +1. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz cassette decks. back panel.) It also provides manual ad- Dolby El + 1 1(2. - 3 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz — - — Dolby C +1 1 2 -3 dB 20 Hi to 20 kHz To the eye, the TCD-3014A is identi- justments for recording azimuth, sensi- RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 4 TAPE (-20 dB) cal to its predecessor, the TCD-3014, tivity, and bias, abetted by 315-Hz and

00 which we reviewed in our August 1984 15-kHz test-tone oscillators and the re 0 -- issue. Internally, however, there are a cording-level meters. These enable you U . 301 .11 112 20 SO 100 200 SOO 1K 2K SK 10K 20K number of refinements, including more to set the deck up for low distortion and Leh channel Inn NR) + 1 li2. -2 dB. 20Hz to 20kHz sophisticated recording and output cir- flat response with just about any good Right channel cuits and better parts (such as polysty- tape. Recording and playback equaliza- no NR + 1 1 -3 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz Dolby It + 2 1/4. -3 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz rene capacitors and close-tolerance re- tion are selected automatically, accord- Dolby C -k 2 I's. -3 dB. 20Hz to 20 kHz sistors) in key sections of the signal ing to the cassette-shell keyways, al- RECORD PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE! TAPE (-29dB) path. And Tandberg has made the wire- though you can force the playback EQ less remote control standard instead of to 70 microseconds (for old chrome or optional, at a savings of about $100 to metal tapes that lack the appropriate bo 100 200 SOO IK 2K SK 10K 20K the buyer. shell notches) with a back-panel switch. Leh channel (no NR) + l/2. -2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz Right channel On the surface, operation of the And like other recent Tandberg tape no NR 3(a. -2 Ilz dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz TCD-3014A is fairly straightforward; decks, the TCD-3014A incorporates the Dolby B 4- 301. -1 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz — - — Dolby C 1 lz2. -2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz the basic recording and playback func- company's proprietary Dyneq dynamic MULTIPLEX FILTER (deteatable) tions will be, for the most part, familiar equalization circuit, which cuts back •111E1 at 19 kHz to anyone who has used any kind of the recording pre-emphasis at high lev- high fidelity cassette deck. The one con- els to forestall tape saturation and its spicuous oddity is the "recording pre- attendant distortion and treble losses. set" switch, which must be on before Below this surface layer of opera- you can start recording. Then all you tion lurks a second, more complex and have to do is press RECORD. You can sophisticated level mediated by an even do flying starts (going directly eight-bit microprocessor. Many of its from playback to recording or from re- most interesting features require you cording to playback). Recording levels to press two of the transport buttons at are set by means of a master fader and once, and since these functions are not a balance control—our favorite marked in any way on the front panel, scheme. The fader has an adjustable de- the potential for confusion and mis- tent, whose position is set by means of takes is relatively high. Fortunately, a plastic tab protruding from behind the manual is much improved over the

42 HIGH FIDELITY Ca C CompuWs and Cormiurications

NEC's recording experience here...

The TV studio: where only the very best equipment is good enough. That's why TV stations throughout the world turn to broadcast products from NEC—with technology so advanced it's won two Emmy Awards. Even if you're not about to broadcast your tapes coast to coast, it's comforting to know that NEC builds much of our pro technology into videocassette recorders for the home. Consider the new N-961U VHS Hi-Fi VCR. NEC's stLdio brings you a heritage is evident in the glitch-free images during still picture and slow motion. The seamless scene-to-scene transitions of better recording Assembly Editing. The amazing sound of stereo TV reception. And the studio-grade stereo recording of VHS Hi-Fi. The wireless experience here. remote control even operates an NEC TV Receiver/Monitor You see, building first-rate professional products is not enough for NEC. We feel obligated to take the world's most advanced technology one step further. Into your home. 4 *AL, SISILM

We bring high technology home.

NEC Home Electronics (U S A ), Inc, 1401 Estes Avenue Elk Grow Villag, IL 50007 S/N RATIO (re DIN II R /Ft A-weighted) one initially supplied with the TCD- with the zero point approximately 4 dB Type 2 tape Type 4 tape Type'tape 3014, making the deck easier to learn. higher than for other formulations, in no DR 55' ' rIE1 54 dB 52 dB

Dolby B 6.: 62 1/4 dB 61 1/4 dB In addition to the usual timer and recognition of the superior high-fre- Dolby C 68 AB 65 1 ' AB repeat functions, the TCD-3014A en- quency headroom of Type 4 tapes. INDICATOR READINGS FOR DIN 0 DB (315 Hz) ables you to set up a repeat between Playback response is unusually ex- Type 2 tape r ' , lb 1 03't 1HD.

Type 4 tape + 1 1,2 dB (with 1 66% THDI any two points on a tape and to choose tended and shows excellent azimuth Type 1 tape + 1 dB (wall 0 60% THDI any particular program on a tape for agreement with the BASF standard INDICATOR READINGS FOR 3% DISTORTION (315 Hz) playback simply by punching in the test tape. The rise at the very top of the Type 2 taps +4314 dB (for + 3 dB DIN) Type 4 tape +4 dB (ha +2 dB DIN) number of selections that should be range is characteristic of modern decks Type 1 taps + 51/2 dB(lm +4 1/2 dBOIN) skipped. The latter feature is aided by that compensate in their playback DISTORTION (MD at —ID dB DIN; 5111).W SUN) the tape counter, which indicates how equalization for head-gap losses and is Type 2 tape S 1.81% Type 4 tope S087% many selections you have entered to be not indicative of any flaw in the design. Type I tape 5. 0 71% skipped. The counter has two other Diversified Science Laboratories used ERASURE fat 100 Hz) modes: as a standard turns counter and tapes recommended by Tandberg for Type 2 tape 72 dB Type 4 tape 50 dB as a real-time counter. The elapsed-time its record/play tests, all Maxell formu- CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 315 Hz) 43 dB display is one of the best we've encoun- lations: XL-IIS as the Type 2 ferrico-

INDICATOR "BALLISTICS" tered. When activated, it automatically balt, MX as the Type 4 metal, and XL-IS Response time :.-_- 4 msec calibrates itself to the tape length in as the Type 1 ferric. Following its usual Decay time 1.600 msec Overshoot 0 dB use, so that the times shown are always practice, the lab adjusted the deck for

SPEED ACCURACY (105 (0(27 VAC) 03% last accurate. And the counter keeps up each tape before making any measure-

FLUTTER (ANSI weighted peak; R/P) 1 0 072% with fast-winds in this mode, too— ments. As you can see from the curves,

SENSITIVITY (re DIN 0 dB. 3(5 Hz) something that can't be said for many the resulting response in all three cases line input (low) 115 mV other such devices. extends across the entire audible band. line input (high) 11 2 mV Another interesting touch is that But more important is the smoothness INPUT OVERLOAD (clipping at I kHz) line input (low) 55 volts fast-winds are done at a constant speed, of the curves, which ranges from very line input (high) 063 volt which is good for the tape (because it good for the Type 1 and 4 tapes to excel- INPUT IMPEDANCE 160k ohms spools more evenly) and helpful when lent for the Type 2. Dolby tracking (in- OUTPUT IMPEDANCE you want to wind a specific distance dicated by the match between the hoed 290 ohms variable 47 ohms into the tape (because you can time it). curves with and without noise reduc- MAXIMUM OUTPUT ((torn DIN 0 dB) Moreover, you have a choice of two tion) is quite good as well—within a dB hoed 077 volt speeds plus an audible cue mode and a or so across the entire range. variable 30 wIft rocking mode (Tandberg calls it step- Erasure with metal tape is not as search) for homing in on an exact point good as we would like to see, and the on a tape. The degree of control is ex- flutter, though low relative to what we traordinary—more what you'd expect see from most other models, is a shade from a professional recorder than from higher than we would have expected a home deck. from a deck in this one's price and tech- Control is also the name of the nology range. Neither is much cause game for the meters, which, because for concern, however, and the remain- A QIIKX GUIDE they are analog and therefore continu- der of the data is more than reassuring. TO TAPE TYPES ous, permit very fine adjustments of In particular, we are impressed with Our tape classifications, Types 1 through 4, are based on the Internation- the tape-matching controls. When re- the machine's performance at high re- al Electrotechnical Commission mea- cording, however, they can be a little cording levels. At — 10 dB (re DIN 0 surement standards. (IEC Type I) tapes are ferries difficult to read, especially at a dis- dB), treble response is as extended as it requiring "normal" bias and 120-micro- tance, and their side-by-side arrange- is for many other cassette recorders at second playback equalization. ment makes judging channel balance — 20 dB. Perhaps we can thank Dyneq M I 2 ( I EC Type II) tapes are intend- ed for use with 70-microsecond playback more of a challenge than it is with for this. EQ and higher recording bias. The first decks having conventional over-and-un- The TCD-3014A is not a deck we formulations of this sort used chromium dioxide; today they also include chrome- der LED indicators. The meter ballis- would recommend to a casual recordist, compatible coatings such as the ferrico- tics are exemplary, by the way, exhibit- who could satisfy his needs and tastes baits and a few metals. TIPS S (IEC Type III) tapes are dual- ing absolutely no overshoot—quite a at a much lower price. Instead, it should layered ferrichromes, implying the 70- feat for a swinging-needle design. And appeal to the buyer who is serious microsecond ("chrome") playback EQ. they are equalized to complement the Approaches to their biasing and record- about the art of recording but still ing EQ vary somewhat from one deck overload curves of typical tapes. Tand- wants a machine that can be used effec- manufacturer to another, when they are berg has championed this approach for tively by others less knowledgeable accommodated at all. Formulations of this type are no longer being made. many years, and they are absolutely than himself. For him, this latest from ITPI 4 (IEC Type IV) tapes are the right, particularly with cassettes, Tandberg is a dilly of a deck, offering metal-particle, or "alloy," tapes, requir- ing the highest bias of all and retaining which can get into trouble very quickly construction, performance, and fea- the 70-microsecond EQ of Type 2. at high frequencies. In fact, the meters tures seldom seen in consumer tape have a separate scale for metal tape, equipment. •

44 HIGH FIDELITY High-grade videocassettes have proliferated at a dizzying pace. But are they really worth the price?

The Premium Videotapes B Y R O BER T AN G U S

ONCE UPON A TIME, VIDEOTAPE WAS VIDEOTAPE. IT ALL the premium videocassettes from Scotch are EG +, came out of only two or three factories in Japan and a EXG, EXG Hi-Fi, EXG Camera, and EXG Pro. Nor is couple in the U.S. And all the tapes met the minimum Scotch alone in this tape-breeding enterprise. TDK, technical and dimensional specifications set down by JVC, Memorex, and other leading brands have beefed the licensors of the Beta and VHS formats. Although up their premium offerings, even though this segment there were some small differences between brands, accounts for only about 15 percent of the total video- videocassettes of yore mostly did whatever recordists tape sales in the U.S. asked of them, and did it well enough to make the busi- Selecting a high-quality tape is made even more ness very large indeed. difficult by the lack of industry-wide standards for Those were simpler times. The recent prolifera- videocassette testing and rating, not to mention by no- tion of premium-priced tapes has left the average menclature. You can't even fully trust a videotape shopper bewildered and even the experts confused. If data sheet, though finding one in the first place should a "premium" tape is one that is touted as superior to be considered a positive sign. Marketplace confusion the least expensive or "standard grade" tape in a man- is not reduced by a manufacturer's freedom to call ufacturer's line, some companies offer no fewer than what is actually a standard-grade tape by a premium- five of them. For example, in ascending order of price, sounding name. A handful of brands have been known

Robert Angus writes extensively on video equipment and technology. 19 8 6 T A P E S P E C I A L Copies of the best source

material should look to simply label the same tape sepa- cies in the tape coating; new and exotic materials, such rately as "standard" and "high as barium ferrite, can be included in the coating. The better with a higher grade." And one company, which latter two processes produce smaller and more per- grade of videotape. didn't actually make its own tape, fectly shaped (more elongated) magnetic particles bet- was in the embarrassing position a ter able to record video frequencies without adding few years back of buying a very noise. good standard-grade product from one supplier and a Beware of any claims that a particular tape, pre- very poor premium tape from another. Considering all mium or standard, provides improved detail. Strictly these factors, many experts feel that tape test reports, speaking, detail is a function of frequency response— unless they are conducted using an unusually large the wider the better. But because of the frequency- number of samples of each videocassette, are not as modulation process used to record a videocassette, reliable as they should be. So the questions persist: Is resolution is limited by the VCR. And a VCR's high- there really that much of a difference between stan- frequency abilities are restricted by the standardiza- dard and premium grades? If so, what performance tion of the recording format (Beta or VHS). All video- characteristics are improved with premium tapes? tapes are capable of holding more detail than the And are they worth the sometimes substantially high- recorders are providing. It takes a move away from er cost? the established recording standards, as in Super Beta VCRs, to obtain notably improved resolution. Any Fancy Colors greater "detail" seen with premium-grade tapes is mainly the visual result of an improved luminance IN THEORY, AT LEAST, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES, AND S/N ratio, hence the stress placed by manufacturers they can be important. The two principal respects in on reducing tape noise. which high-grade tapes offer visible improvement are noise and dropouts. Noise, in video, can be broken Dropouts Drop Out down into two related types: luminance noise (often called "video noise" on tape data sheets) and chrome THE OTHER PRINCIPAL BENEFIT OF PREMIUM VIDEO- (color) noise. Both show up as a rough, grainy, detail- cassettes—and one of the most significant improve- obscuring quality in the picture and are characterized ments in all grades of tape in the past year or two—is by a measurement of signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, much a dramatic reduction in the number of dropouts, those as with noise on audio cassettes. pesky little white blips in the picture due to momen- Don't be misled into thinking that the small dis- tary losses of contact between the video heads and the parity in S/N ratio between standard and premium tape surface. Dropouts are caused by a variety of ills, tapes (2 or 3 dB, as found in a test report or on a spec including airborne impurities embedded in the tape sheet) are insignificant. This magnitude of difference during the coating process, dust and debris attracted is visible, especially in a side-by-side comparison. Man- and held to the tape's surface by static electricity, and ufacturers will tell you—with some truth—that col- poor handling practices during the loading of the tape ors, particularly brilliant reds and yellows, tend to into shells. You can test for dropouts by making a re come out better when recorded on premium tape. cording of your VCR's composite-video input with no Large expanses of color are (or should be) brighter, signal being fed (to obtain an all-black screen) and by more vivid, and freer from mottling, and detail should then looking for white flashes and dots on playback. appear more clearly, because of And you can get a feel for how sensitive tape is to improved chroma and luminance impurities by looking at the figure on page 48. Beware of any claiins S/N ratios, respectively. Certainly A low dropout count is visible (by being invisible), that a particular any tape-to-tape duplicate will look desirable, and thus attractively salable. Therefore, better if the videocassette used has videocassette manufacturers have set about creating videotape provides a higher S/N ratio, because video low-dropout premium tapes in several ways. One com- noise builds up very rapidly with pany, for example, inspects its regular run of tape, improved detail. each generation of dubbing. setting aside batches that exhibit unusually low drop- Copies of the best source material out counts. Another has invested in additional clean- (videodiscs and live TV broadcasts) also should look room equipment, while continuing to make its stan- better with a higher grade of tape. dard-grade tape nearby in a virtually identical facility Videocassettes with excellent noise performance lacking only the additional air scrubbers and sanitary are obtained by several different methods, sometimes procedures for the employees (special smocks, hair used in combination. Manufacturers may cull the stan- nets, and so forth). Several million dollars have been dard-production output for tape batches having un- spent by 3M on research into the causes of and cures usually low chroma and luminance noise; extra milling for static electricity, and much of the knowledge procedures can be used to refine the magnetic parti- gained has been applied to videotapes. At least one

46 HIGH FIDELITY 19 8 6 T A P E S P E C I A L

Japanese manufacturer has discovered that a switch ground. from manual assembly to fully automated production At two companies, 3M and Memorex, the ap- leads to a sharp decline in dropouts—none of those hu- proach has been slightly different. The two firms are mans to dirty things up. Nowadays, many makers using a new additive in the shells of their most expen- combine several of these steps to achieve premium sive tapes that is designed to prevent static charges tapes that are nearly dropout-free, even at the prob- from accumulating in the first place. According to lematic beginnings and ends of cassettes. John Hakanson, 3M's resident authority on static elec- Unfortunately, a higher price and a fancier desig- tricity, in addition to producing antistatic shells, the nation on the box do not guarantee that a tape has company treats the internal parts of its cassette mech- fewer dropouts than the same manufacturer's stan- anisms to reduce static. This in- dard grade(s). In general, it's true that the costlier cludes the tape itself, which is tape is better all around, but there are variations in back-coated with a dull-finish an- A higher price and a dropout count from batch to batch, whether regular or tistatic compound. Memorex's lat- premium. It's not unheard of for a very good stan- est premium cassettes contain tiny fancier designation do dard-grade batch to meet or beat the dropout figures wire triggers inside the shell to for an unusually poor run of premium tape from the drain off the charges that build up not guarantee that a same plant, although quality-control procedures are on the rollers as the tape passes. tape has fewer dropouts supposed to catch and reject the latter. Perhaps the More than static is being bat- best strategy is to buy tapes by the case, so that all the tled with the latest premium cas- than the same cassettes are from the same batch. If one tape is drop- sette shells. Joseph Petite takes out-ridden, you can take the whole case back at once. the case (literally) of Memorex's manufacturer's Camera premium tape. "You'd ex- standard-grade(s). Cling-Free pect a cassette used for recording in the field to be low in dropouts, to THERE'S MORE TO A PREMIUM-PRICED VIDEOCASSETTE produce excellent colors, and to have good detail in the than on-screen performance. As mentioned above, pictures," he told me. "But then, you'd expect that of static charges are a menace because they attract dust, any videotape you pay extra for. which can stick to the tape or get caught on the video "Videocassettes used in the field take quite a beat- heads. "Besides acting as a magnet for dust and dirt," ing," he continued. "For that reason, we have used a says Memorex Vice-President Joseph Petite, "[static plastic [ABS] for our Camera cassette shells that is electricity] also inhibits the free running of the tape more durable and rugged than the high-impact sty- inside the shell. That's not so important when you're rene normally used in less expensive cassettes. And recording on an AC-powered VCR, but it puts an extra we've made the [shell] walls thicker to stand up to strain on the battery to keep a portable model operat- dropping and getting kicked around." There's also a ing at the proper speed. That in turn means shorter Scotch videotape (EXG Camera) with components battery life for each charge—unless you remove the made of "high-impact plastic," as the packaging says. static electricity inside the cassette." A number of manufacturers are actively combat- ing the various forms of "static cling" by switching Special Needs from flimsy cardboard or plastic cassette sleeves to ONE APPLICATION FOR WHICH HIGHER-THAN-STAN- durable plastic boxes that protect all six sides of the dard-grade videotape is necessary is digital-audio re- tape from dirt and by the introduction of antistatic cording on a VCR via a PCM adapter. Although you techniques in the construction of the box, cassette don't need a superior video S/N ratio for the recording shell, and internal cassette mechanism. For example, to come out, you do need a tape with as few dropouts JVC's Kenji Awakura argues that two of the greatest as possible. A dropout, which can look like a rather generators of static electricity are the removal of the innocuous white dot or streak when superimposed on cellophane wrapping from the package and the very a video signal, can ruin a digital-audio recording by act of slipping a cassette out of its plastic sleeve. (How being decoded as a loud click or by causing a complete about that for a Catch-22!) The result in either instance loss of the audio signal. Now, this criterion doesn't al- is a static charge on the surface of the shell that can ways imply a premium-priced tape—some standard- reach 50,000 volts. JVC's premium-tape response: a grade brands actually have fewer dropouts than the box with a lining in which are embedded particles of high-grade products of other manufacturers. Howev- iron and carbon, both known for their ability to dis- er, when you do find a producer whose standard tape charge static. A foil strip along the bottom edge of the is very free of dropouts, chances are that one of its spine is connected directly to the lining. When a user premium ones will be better still. It may not even be touches the strip, any static buildup inside the box the most expensive premium tape that company of- flows through the foil and the body harmlessly to fers. In general, videocassettes labeled "Hi-Fi" tend to

FEBRUARY 1986 47 gannrus Deleterious Debris

COTTON ilBH2 CIGARETTE 6 MILS ASH 03 MILS

PACING LOSS HUMAN NECESSARY HAIR f OR COLOR 3 MILS DROPOUT DuST 4160610i RP,;DUE 0 031 MILS MOS • -; 601', VARIOUS POPULAR AIR AND FIN

GERBORNE CONTAMINANTS ARE RINGER PRINT 061 MILS

COMPARED TO THE TAPE TO HEAD OXIDE LAYER SPACING SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE A PLASTIC TAPE BASE 1 VIDEO DROPOUT A MIL IS OF I 000 AN INN

offer the best combination of performance and price promise in the performance of both. Edge-track re- not only for PCM recording, but for Hi-Fi VCR and cording has never met high fidelity standards and edge-track taping as well, since all are adversely af- probably never will, although prerecorded tapes can fected by dropouts. Makers of PCM adapters all rec- have fairly good analog sound with Dolby B encoding. ommend a tape of "high grade" (one notch above stan- And it's not clear that all premium videocassettes pro- dard) quality or better for digital recordings. vide superior edge-track recordings, but their freedom Although edge-track audio recording is now pas- from dropouts and probably better quality control se, having been thoroughly outclassed by the Hi-Fi should give more reliable performance. processes, the analog-audio properties of a videocas- The bottom line would seem to be what it has al- sette should not be ignored, particularly if you don't ways been: caveat emptor. There are differences be- have a Hi-Fi VCR yet or if you make tapes for some- tween standard and premium grades of tape, and they one who doesn't. The characteristics that make a can be significant, depending on what you are shoot- videocassette desirable for audio are the same as ing. Try the most durably packaged and dropout-free those that are important for an audio cassette: an even tape you can find for those once-in-a-lifetime live re- coating free of dropouts, wide frequency response, cordings (weddings, graduations, and the like). Anoth- low noise and distortion, and good headroom. An addi- er, slightly lower grade would be suitable for long- tional stereo consideration is that the left and right term archival storage and general tape and disc channels should provide equiva- dubbing. Standard-grade tape is best used for ordi- lent performance. Since the right nary time-shifting in which picture quality is not criti- For digital-audio channel is recorded near the edge cal and for recording low-quality source material like of the tape (up to the edge in the old black-and-white movies and TV shows. recording on a VCR via VHS system), any slitting varia- Some degree of brand loyalty is not inappropriate a PCM adapten you tions or deformations in that area, here, because of the way videotape is made. Ofttimes no matter how slight, can affect the same production line is used for all of a manufac- need a tape with as few the right-channel signal level and turer's tapes, the main variations in grade being due other sound characteristics. Prob- to differences in magnetic coating and quality control. dropouts as possible. lems of this type are not a matter A company that's sloppy in producing its best tape is of tape price, but instead vary likely to be no better at it with its lesser grades. How- from one Inallulacturer to another. Since the same ever, there may be cases in which a standard-grade equipment is used to slit a company's premium and will do the job better than the same manufacturer's standard videocassettes, it's likely that any aberra- premium products. The truth is that there is no single tions in one grade will show up in the other. "best" tape for all uses: You're going to have to ex- Unfortunately, the engineering trade-offs in- periment with several grades and brand names for volved in making a tape capable of simultaneously any specific application before you settle on the video- handling audio and video frequencies result in a com- cassette that consistently achieves results you like. •

ea HIGH FIDELITY The tape you use in a cassette deck is best for the kind of program materi- will determine, to a great extent, how al you're recording (see "Tape Catego- good a recording you will get. But this ries" on page 50 for some opinions on does not mean there is a single "best the matter). tape" for recording all program mate- rial on all machines. Instead, there are THE OBJECTIVE: probably several best tapes for you r The goal of this enterprise is not the particular deck. choice of a tape that "sounds good," For top results, a tape must have hut rather the selection of one that will magnetic characteristics matched to make an accu rate copy of the input— the bias and equalization of the record- a dub as little changed from the origi- er. Accordingly, the easiest (though nal as possible. (Besides, according to not the most obvious) way to choose a some definitions of "high fidelity," a cassette is to select a specific deck. An tape that is an accurate copy does advanced model with a computer-con- "sound good.") Sonic accuracy de- trolled system of setting bias level, re- pends on three main aspects of tape cording EQ, and sensitivity can adjust performance: frequency response, itself to the variations among tape noise, and distortion. The first is by far brands and even among batches of the the most important. same brand and formulation. If the Flat frequency response should be deck's designers have done their BY DAVID RANADA the result of all deck/tape pairings, homework, the resulting match will be the optimum. In this way, a but it is rare. Any deviation from flat response is undesirable, just self-adjusting deck can free you to pick just about any cassette as a basic principle of high fidelity, but it is particularly trouble- from any major brand without concern for compatibility. Models some when recording on a cassette deck, where it can cause the with manual trim controls for bias and sensitivity provide the same noise reduction circuits to misbehave. The resulting "mistracking" advantage, although they require more effort on your part. Either can lead to noise pumping (the noise level behind the music rising way, you are left to concentrate on other aspects of tape choice, and falling along with the signal) and breathing (the dynamics of such as price, performance, or whether the basic formulation is the music changing unnaturally). suitable for the music being recorded. In fact, the audibility of these effects depends more on the flat- Finding the best matches for your deck, regardless of its con- . ness of the record/play response than on the basic noise "floor" of trols and features, requires time, energy, and money. The time and the tape (though that is important, too). The performance of all the energy are used in a few home listening tests that will enable closed-loop noise reduction systems (such as Dolby B, Dolby C, and you to narrow your choices down to a few tapes in each major cate- DBX) deteriorates in proportion to the recorder/tape combination's gory. You'll therefore need at least one sample of each tape under deviation from flat frequency response. If the response is flat, the consideration (that's where the money comes in). The tests assume noise reduction circuits can do their job well enough for recording that you have no control over your deck's recording characteristics levels to be kept low, minimizing distortion while still maintaining (bias, EQ, sensitivity) and that you already know which type of tape an adequate signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. AT-HOME TESTS HELP YOU PICK THE BEST AUDIO TAPES FOR YOUR DECK.

F BRUARY I 986 49 19 8 6 T A P E S P E C I A L

GETTING STARTED deck is properly cleaned, is to gather the "test equip- An appropriate first step in choosing a cassette is sim- ment." The minimum gear for most of the tests is a ple, but often overlooked: Read the deck's instruction tuner or a receiver (as a source of FM interstation booklet. Many manuals contain the manufacturer's hiss) and a pair of headphones (so that you can hear recommendations for which tapes to consider, possi- small, low-level differences). More revealing evalua- bly even specifying those used for factory alignment tions are possible with a Compact Disc player and a of the deck. If nothing else, these recommendations CD test disc containing various test tones (pink noise, can help narrow your shopping list to a manageable sine waves, etc.). And don't forget to use your eyes. two or three brands in each category. Yes, you can tell something about a tape's audible For each sample, use the proper bias and EQ set- performance just by looking at it. The surface of the tings. This usually involves adjusting one or two of the tape should be mirror-smooth, with no creases or deck's front-panel switches, though many recent ma- bumps running from edge to edge or along its length; chines make these settings automatically. Switch off either is an indication of poor slitting and loading prac- the deck's noise reduction systems—you'll be testing tices at the factory. If you have a brand-new cassette, the tape, not the effectiveness of the noise reduction, fast-forward it to the end of Side A and look for at least to start. The next step, after making sure the creases put in the tape by its wrapping around the hub latch. Too tight a winding at the factory can cause per- manent dropouts in the last minute or so of Side A, which is, more important, also the first minute or so of Side B. You don't have to reject a tape because of this THE EASIEST WAY fault—most have it—but you should not use the very beginning or end of a cassette for any tests or as the TO CHOOSE A CASSETTE IS TO portion recorded on during a self-adjusting deck's alignment procedure. Is the surface of the tape dished (concave) or bulg- CHOOSE A CASSETTE DECK. ing (convex)? Although no deformation would be ide- al, a slightly concave surface is preferable to a convex one, which would indicate a tendency for the edges of the tape to pull away from the heads. The curvature is TAPE CATEGORIES less important if the cassette's pressure pad supports There are three main types of cassette tape, as defined by internation- the tape firmly over the entire surface (implying a al (IEC) standard and characterized by the formulations of their mag- fairly large and properly aligned pad). While you're netic coating: Type 1 (standard, normal, ferric), Type 2 (chrome, fern- looking at the pad (this is "The Compulsive's Guide," cobalt, or, sometimes, metal), and Type 4 (metal). The missing Type 3 after all), check to see that none of its fibers (if any) is the ferrichrome formulation, now fallen into disuse. In theory, the are fuzzing out over the surface of the tape, there to best all-around tape is the Type 4, which has pure iron particles as its be caught between the tape and the heads. magnetic material. These tapes usually have the widest dynamic range and the greatest high-frequency recording capacity, in addition FLATTEST RESPONSE to being the most expensive. In practice, however, the top grades of Testing by ear for frequency-response flatness in- Type 1 or Type 2 can come very close to equaling the performance of volves recording a steady noise signal: interstation Type 4, especially if the deck incorporates the Dolby HX-Pro head- hiss from FM or pink noise from a Compact Disc. If room-extension system. you have an analog tuner, dial it to a spot between For live recording, metal tape is perhaps the best choice because it stations; a digital tuner should be set to an unused FM affords the greatest leeway before overloading and will therefore channel. Switch off the muting to obtain the rushing give you the most protection from unanticipated peaks. General LP hiss; the sound should be uncontaminated by distant and tape dubbing will usually not require a Type 4. A few Compact stations, clicks, buzzes, and the like. If you have a CD Discs with very wide dynamic range may benefit from metal, but only player and a test disc, use a track containing wideband if you are using neither Dolby HX-Pro nor Dolby C or DBX. A high- pink noise and program your player to repeat it indefi- performance ferric may be the best choice if you want just one type of nitely. (Interstation hiss sounds brighter than pink tape, since the performance of a good Type 1 is very close to that of an noise because it contains less low-frequency power. equally priced Type 2, as HIGH FIDELITY's tape tests have shown (see Either signal will serve for this evaluation.) Record a the August 1985 issue). And because ferries are recorded with 120- few minutes of noise on each tape at a level no higher microsecond equalization, they are the most universally playable in than —15 dB on the meters. Do not change recording portable, car, and old home cassette decks. RR. levels when changing tapes. On playback through headphones, take advantage of the tape-monitor switch on your amplifier or receiv- er to compare the recorded hiss with the ongoing "live" hiss. If you have a three-head deck, use its source/tape-monitor switch to make the comparison while recording. Take care that the overall levels of

50 HIGH FIDELITY 19 8 6 T A P E S P E C I A L live and recorded hiss are as closely matched as possi- and higher levels the hiss used in your frequency-re- ble (though this may not be feasible with many decks sponse tests. At some level, the tape will go into gross and may require some fancy volume-knob twisting as overload (saturation), drastically curtailing its high- you switch between source and tape). Beware of any frequency response and possibly causing its overall tape that sounds, or reads on the deck's meters, notice- output level to drop. The higher the level can be turned ably louder or softer than the original, as it may cause before this occurs, the better. Dolby-type noise reduction systems to mistrack. The tape that sounds most like the source has the flattest response on your deck. Pay particular atten- tion to the very highest frequencies, which may be slightly reduced on playback. On the other hand, THE LOWEST NOISE many of the premium-price Type 1 and Type 2 tapes have a designed-in treble boost that is applied when A TAPE WILL HAVE IS WHEN they are recorded and played with standard equaliza- tion curves on high-quality decks. Most recorders, built as they are to provide the standard curves, will SILENCE IS RECORDED ON IT. reveal this boost. Unless your model has provisions to compensate for it (by slight overbiasing or by changes If you have access to sine waves, try taping a fre- in the recording equalization), you might consider quency between 300 and 500 Hz at a fairly hefty level avoiding these tapes altogether, as they, too, can (0 VU or above). Use the tape-monitor or source/tape cause mistracking of the noise reduction systems. switch to compare pure input with distorted output. Some decks, however, may sound flatter with these The tape sounding most like the input has the least tapes, in which case they should head to the top of distortion. You can also hear modulation noise in this your list. test as a kind of grittiness added to the original sine wave. This "asperity" noise is probably the major LOWEST NOISE problem with all analog audio recording, and it is diffi- One might think that a tape has its lowest noise right cult to remove with noise reduction circuits. Tapes out of the case, before it is recorded on. That's true, vary in their modulation-noise levels, but without test but that doesn't represent actual performance. The instruments it is usually hard to tell which one has the lowest noise a tape will have in use is when a recording least. of silence is made on it. The resulting "bias noise" is higher than the cassette's brand-new or bulk-erased FINAL CHOICES hiss level. To test for it, leave your deck connected to Some attention should be paid to the relative impor- your audio system, switch the amplifier to the phono tance of each test. For example, if you plan to use input (to prevent tuner signals from coursing around Dolby C or DBX, the noise and distortion results are the system), turn down the deck's record-level con- less important than those for frequency response. trols all the way, and make a recording of several min- And if your deck has Dolby HX-Pro, the distortion test utes of silence on each tape under evaluation. Then is the least important. Once you eliminate the truly rewind the cassettes and listen to them through head- bad tapes, you probably should go through the fre- phones with the volume control turned up fairly high. quency-response test again with the noise reduction Without noise reduction, the noise levels of all system of choice switched on. your samples will be high. Equal-grade (similarly list- After all this, you might find that there are no sig- priced) tapes from name-brand manufacturers will nificant audible differences among the tapes tested. have just about equal levels. Many will be so close that This is quite possible, especially if you're auditioning a fair comparison—done by leaving the headphone name-brand, high-quality cassettes. The choice of a volume the same while rapidly switching cassettes— specific tape is then very simple: Any will do. Just buy will not reveal any significant differences. In that a case or two and enjoy. Then again, if you are truly case, there are none. A lemon will stand out, however, obsessed, you might want to test the cassettes for oth- as being much noisier. If you have trouble telling er aspects of performance: dropouts (listen for any which tape has more hiss, you might switch in the sudden changes in level during playback of hiss or, Dolby B noise reduction system on playback. The better yet, a 3-kHz sine wave), wow and flutter (the noise won't totally disappear, but what remains on steadiness of pitch of a 3-kHz tone heard over speak- each cassette may be more easily differentiated be- ers), channel-to-channel balance (there should be no cause of the response shaping by the Dolby circuits. change or drift in stereo image during the hiss play- back over headphones), or tape winding (ideally, the WEST DISTORTION tape "pack" should be smooth after fast-forward or Distortion is difficult to evaluate without test instru- rewind). Or you might want to check for one of my ments, or at least without a generator or a CD test disc own pet peeves: whether the on-esxsette labels are to supply mid-frequency sine waves. One way to mea- large enough. But if you get this far, maybe you sure overall headroom is to keep recording at higher should first see a psychiatrist. •

FEBRUARY 1986 51 MEDLEY Edited by Georgia Christgau and Ted Libbey

Thriller Video

This month's BA( hBEA I they were in town). And hey, chael's high-water high-step- label's history to the exclusion view section leads with the Sam Cooke's Live at the Har- ping a dozen times, and it's of rebel Rick James.) hottest thing on the market: a lem Square Club, 196,1 was still amazing. Personal to Atlantic Rec- videocassette of D.A. Penne- discovered by our youngest Promoters must have ords: All is forgiven. Well, al- baker's legendary 1967 docu- critic, who's barely out of his foreseen the 1984 Victory most The label's recent- mentary, Monterey Pop. Re- teens. tour as the six Jackson broth- ly released Best Of s (Wilson releases of classic material on So anyway, where were ers chimed in harmoniously on Pickett, Joe Tex, Otis Redd- video and Compact Disc func- you that Friday night in May "I'll Be There." But Michael ing, Booker T. and the MGs, tion as libraries of pop culture 1983 when Michael Jackson himself would have to wait a Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave) history (even if you can't bor- stunned television audiences few months before sales of are typical of the disappoint- row for free). You might think everywhere with his riveting Thriller started climbing into ing mixture of overexposed we critics are just a bunch of performance of "Billie Jean" the multimillions, and on this and atypical hits found in such old-timers intent on reliving on The Motown 25 Special? I night you could tell he was packages that so infuriated the past, but while I'm aware was camping in a state park— getting impatient. As his writer Wayne King in his July that one of our jobs is to be on I remember because I was sor- brothers leave the stage, he 1985 reissue feature, "Not top of the next trend, I'd rath- ry to have missed it. Available remarks, "The old songs are Fade Away." But the seven- er turn you on to a blues giant to date only as an excerpt on great," his upper lip tensing volume (14-record) Atlantic like the late Big Joe Turner Making Michael Jackson's into a sneer, "but I like the Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974 (who was pictured with the "Thriller" (Vestron), the new songs." Then, whammo! should acquaint the curious April 1985 review of the video whole thing can now be seen— The intensity, aggression, and with gems like "Little Egypt" Rock and Roll—The Early in context—on the videotape fluid inventions of his remark- by the Contours (a new one for Days) than cover the Jesus Motown 25: Yesterday Today able dance are just unforget- me) and dozens of obscure and Mary Chain (who I hear Forever (MGM/US Home En- table. (Too bad, though, that worthies. were pretty good last time tertainment). I've watched Mi- Motown 25 homogenized the Georgia Christgau

Weissonbers Moves to DG In one respect at least, the says, to his older RCA Debus- For those interested in Editor's note: The Rachma- greatest artists are little dif- sy disc, but with the addition miscellaneous recitals, Weis- ninoff First Sonata was on ferent from the ordinary run of Estampes ). Other firm senberg already has two in Mr. Weissenberg's program of men: For both, a change of plans call for a Brahms B flat print on Pattie Marconi: Vol- when he appeared recently pace is sometimes necessary, Concerto, with the Berlin Phil- ume I (CO69-16326) and Vol- at the 92nd Street Yin New if life and career are to retain harmonic and Herbert von Ka- ume II (2904161), which is his York. The most common crit- their creative zest. So it is with rajan; a complete Rachmani- final, "divorce" disc for that icism of the piece—that it is Alexis Weissenberg, that noff concerto cycle (including company. Both will be avail- dense and overwritten—may magnificent if ever controver- the Rhapsody on a Theme of able from International Book still apply, but this per- sial (for the best of reasons) pi- Paganini), again with Berlin and Record Distributors, 40-11 formance made an excep- anist. After having made more and a conductor yet to be 24th St., Long Island City, tionally strong case for the than 40 discs for EMI's French named; all three Chopin sona- N.Y. 11101. It is certain that music. Following the Rach- branch, Pattie Marconi, he re- tas and the four Ballades; the Weissenberg's many fans will maninoff the pianist offered cently signed an exclusive con- complete works of Chopin for want these albums; they also three encores: Debussy's La tract with Deutsche Gram- piano and orchestra, with Seiji have a great deal to look for- plus que lent, Schumann's mophon. Ozawa conducting; and both ward to in his new association Arabeske, and the E minor What he is scheduled to Rachmaninoff sonatas. (To with Deutsche Grammophon. Prelude of Chopin. If even a record should keep him busy judge from Weissenberg's He is one of the most search- fraction of Mr. Weissenberg's for some time to come. The 1981 Salzburg performance of ing and provocative pianists of feeling for this music is cap- first two LPs are already on Rachmaninoff s First Sonata, the last four decades, and at tured in the upcoming re- point of release: an album of this coupling will surely fill a age fifty-six, he still has many cordings, lovers of the piano Searlatti sonatas and a Debus- gap). Finally, there just may surprises to offer! will indeed have "a great sy recital (close in content, he be an encore disc. Thomas L. Dixon deal to look forward to."

S2 HIGH FIDELITY C L A S S I C A L

MONTREAL'S MAGNIFICENT MAESTRO

E2"

B Y D A V I D P A T R I C K

Charles Dutoit enlists Charles Dutoit still isn't willing to let Greeks, would you come?" lunchtime consist of mere eating if he can Awestruck, the waiter nods spasmod- the resources of the do some politicking on the side. Little mat- ically. planet to build his ter that his Montreal Symphony Orchestra "So, we'll do it! And afterwards, we'll (Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, as have an enormous Greek salad together! orchestra. it is known by Francophones) is interna- How many of you are there in the city? tionally acclaimed for its best-selling rec- About 90,000? Then we'll play in the Fo- ords and ongoing 50th-anniversary world rum. There are 18,000 seats, and I want all tour. After years of galvanizing support of you. We'll do it on the Greek national for the MS0 over lunch and dinner with holiday! What? You have two ? My, my! It government officials and others, the mae- is good to have two national holidays." stro seems to have overlooked one special- So persuasive is Dutoit that he could interest group in his campaign to enlist the convince you that icebergs in the Atlantic resources of the entire planet for the are hot real estate. Framed by a careless greater glory of his orchestra. mop of curly black hair, a square jaw, and On this particular summer day, Du- generous laugh lines is his piano-keyboard toit, from his sunlit window seat at Milos smile, which he uses liberally to get what Restaurant, is courting Montreal's Greek he wants. He confirms appointments with population. "Are you always Greek?" Du- a "thumbs up" sign with both hands and toit asks the waiter in his typical rapid-fire that killer smile. Saying goodbye to a casu- fashion. al acquaintance, he blows three kisses and "Oh, yes," he replies, bewildered. shouts, "Ciao!" One doesn't have to be a "If I played a concert for all of you close friend to call him "Charlie."

FEBRUARY I 986 53 MAGNIFICENT MAESTRO Most charming, though, is the trans- been achieved on disc. here as Martha Argerich's talented ex- parency of Dutoit's charm. One needs only "One thing about Berlioz that one husband. Even though he had ten years as a few serious minutes with him to realize should never misunderstand: There is no music director of the Bern Symphony to what a passionate sense of purpose lies be- sex, or at least not the way there is in Wag- his credit, it was dangerously extravagant neath his suave veneer and how much his ner and Strauss and Ravel. It's passion of him to tell Montreal he would put the self-confidence is born of years of hard and dreams and love, but it's very pure city back on the musical map. Never mind work. He is refreshingly devoid of arro- love. Musicians have gotten into the habit that the orchestra was demoralized over gance and pretense, if for no other reason of overdoing these things. It's a 19th-cen- the abrupt departure of Rafael Friibeck de than that he is too busy pushing both him- tury habit, but an understandable one, Burgos, that the Quebec separatist move- self and his orchestra beyond the reaches since the French never did Berlioz. Poor ment was sending the city's corporate of average imaginations. guy, he loved France so dearly, but never headquarters fleeing to Toronto, and that a recession was setting in. Dutoit resorted IN AN OUT-OF-THE-WAY CHURCH to guerilla tactics for getting the public be- WITH EXCEPTIONAL ACOUSTICS, hind the symphony, such as loading his WHERE THE ONLY INTERRUPTION principal players in the back of a hors& MAY BE THE DRONE OF A SEA- drawn wagon for performances of L'His- PLANE, CHAR M DUTOIT AND THE toire du soldat throughout Montreal. MONTREAL SYMPHONY ORCHES- More significantly, he brought Lon- TRA HAVE ESTABLISHED THEM- don Records' Ray Minshull to Montreal SELVES AS ONE OF THE HOTTEST and convinced him to record the orchestra. TEAMS ON THE RECORDING SCENE. Having spent years as a student usher at concerts of L'Orchestre de la Suisse Ro- mande, Dutoit proposed that London use Ernest Ansermet's repertoire and discog- raphy as a model for the MSO's image, one that would give it a specific identity with record buyers. By settling on 19th-century and early 20th-century French and French-influenced works, the orchestra not only has far less competition than it would if it were recording the standard repertoire, but it is also able to demon- strate digital reproduction quality at its best. (The symphony's calling card is still Fueled by a basket of fried zucchini and a had any successes there.... its 1980 recording of Ravel's Daphnis et mug of beer, Dutoit whiles away the after- "When I first performed La Damna- Chloe, which swept the international rec- noon talking about future projects so am- tion de Faust here, there was a cut at the ord awards.) bitious that many music directors end of the trio. One stupid guy decided one Annual visits to Carnegie Hall began wouldn't dare dream about them, much day to cut 16 or 20 bars—for whatever rea- in 1982. And to celebrate the orchestra's less discuss them publicly. Having already son. We had this tenor from Paris, and he 50th anniversary last season, Dutoit recorded most of the orchestral works of said, 'Oh, of course we take the cut.' I said, launched a world tour, including the Far Ravel, he is beginning a Berlioz cycle for 'I don't know of any cut.' Naturally, I East and Europe—where even French au- London Records, the first undertaken by a knew, but I didn't want to say anything. diences gave the group an uncondescend- Gallic conductor. (Charles Munch went as But he insisted, 'This is French tradition!' ingly warm welcome. The final leg of the far as doing most of the orchestral and And he tried to insult me and all of these journey is this year's sweep through the choral works.) But with Romeo et Juliette Quebecois as if we were provincial people Eastern U.S., which will mark the MSO's already completed and Harold en Italie, who knew nothing. He said, 'Nobody has debuts in Boston and Washington. featuring Pinchas Zukerman, scheduled ever performed these 20 bars!' And I told Of course, there's much more to Du- for May 1987, Dutoit is already talking him, 'Listen to me! You have one day to toit than shrewd salesmanship. Whether about Les Troyens. He would love to per- learn them!' He took it very badly. That because of his inborn French-Swiss sense form the five-hour opera in concert form story went back to France. He was saying of color, or because he experiences physi- over two evenings and subsequently re- so many terrible things about me!" cal pain when orchestras overplay, Dutoit cord it. And if the Paris Opera goes has molded an ensemble that is distinctive through with tentative plans to produce In 1977, when Dutoit arrived in Montreal, for its civilized, unforced sound and that the work in 1989 with him in the pit, he nobody imagined he would make the city renders chords like fine brush strokes of a could conceivably transfer the already re- the home of the world's finest French or- masterpiece painting. Violinists talk about hearsed Paris cast to Montreal. The impor- chestra, and certainly not in such a short how playing under conductors with expan- tance of the Berlioz cycle is that the Lau- time. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra sive arm motions inspires them to do the sanne-born Dutoit promises to give the was known as Zubin Mehta's stepping same with their bows, producing a round- composer a Frenchness that has rarely stone to Los Angeles; Dutoit was known (Continued on page 79)

54 HIGH FIDELITY attempts to revive the very special thrills once provided by Leopold Stokowski's Bach transcriptions, which have repre- sented the first introduction of innumera- ble listeners to Bach's organ and other masterpieces and the enticing initial en- counter of some with the grandeurs of symphonic scoring. I unwittingly spoke for my whole generation when I exulted in January 1928 (reviewing the first Philadel- phia Orchestra recording of the Bach-Sto- kowski Toccata and Fugue in D minor): "Does the popular mind still attach the ad- jectives 'dry' and 'cold' to Bach? A single playing of this record will pulverize the popular mind." In the present effort to capture the hearts and minds of a new generation with Hyphenated-Stokowski mesmeric spells, RCA has passed over the original Philadel- phia mono 78s of the late 1920s and 1930s in favor of some of the early LP and 45- rpm monos of 1947 and 1950, in which Sto- kowski leads "His Orchestra"—the often- ridiculed name of what actually was a superb ensemble of New York's finest players, many of them noted soloists. The choice makes good sense, because these versions have not been reissued before, as best I can tell. The present Gold Seal reissue (one of The Sony-pioneered Walkman cassette 80 current "Legendary Performers" se- player with lightweight headphones is ries titles) includes some of the Big Bang Personal now coming to be recognized as the most hits (the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, personal medium of recorded musical the Chaconne in D minor, the so-called Gi- experience. Unlike concert-hall listening, ant Fugue from B.W.V. 680, and the Cho- where one is part of a crowd at a consider- rale from the Easter Cantata) that so com- Listening able distance from the sound source, or pletely astonished earlier generations. record-playing at home, where there often Also the sprightly Little G minor Fugue are room companions and always at least a and the far-less-well-remembered Bourree Enters a few feet separating the listener from the from the Second English Suite. Digital re- loudspeakers, a "personal" tape player mastering wonderfully clarifies the origi- speaks to oneself alone, seemingly bring- nal sonics, which, in any case, testify elo- ing the music not so much into the ears as quently to the high state of the audio arts Golden Age directly into the mind. at the end of the 1940s. Starting out as an upscale answer to the boom box phenomenon among kids, Another contender for Golden Age status Walkman-type listening soon proved to be is the Spanish operetta genre known as addictive for a larger public. With mush- the zarzuela. I doubt that any single-pro- rooming player sales, tape manufacturers gram anthology could be more representa- not only stepped up new-release produc- tive or more idiomatically sung and played tion, but began combing their back cata- than the Moss Music Group's release of logs for likely reissues—many of them in the Discos Columbia Golden Voices of unique couplings or double-play combina- Zarzuela, starring some of the outstand- Delights for armchair tions especially devised to exert maximum ing Spanish singers and specialist conduc- personal-listening appeal. tors and orchestras in well-varied excerpts and on-the-go audiences Remembering earlier Golden Age pe- from the best-loved zarzuelas. riods of comparable growth, producers To listeners of non-Iberian back- have tended to return to tried-and-true grounds, such specialized revivals may B Y I. I. D A R R E L L best-seller offerings. One current example lack the heartwarming associations (non-

'I fifillAi4 , I 'OW ss musical as well as musical) of early memo- ping are the two Richard Strauss concer- ries. One indelible childhood experience of tos. The first was written when Strauss many Americans—probably their first- was a student and was intended to please ever encounter with ballet, possibly their his horn-playing father; the second, which first with any kind of musical theater—is emerged more than a half-century later as likely to be the Christmastime treat of at- a paternal memorial, is one of the remark- tending a performance of Tchaikovsky's able autumnal masterpieces that crown The Nutcracker. Certainly, no one who the composer's long career. Dennis Brain, has first heard and seen this work with in his near definitive 1957 Angel versions, childish delight can ever hear the music remains unmatched as an interpreter of again apart from a glowing aura of re- these works, but never before have the or- membrances. chestral scorings—or the golden sonori- The latest complete recording is only ties of the horn itself—been more tran- the second digital one. It is by rising star ling, the English horn) and the French scendently realized than by Philips's Leonard Slatkin with the St. Louis Sym- horn. Perhaps their matchless gifts for engineers in the Baumann recording. phony and the same producer/engineer eliciting extramusical associations stem team responsible for the success of the from their links with a supposedly idyllic It is such music, richly rewarding on its group's Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 of pastoral life—shepherds piping to calm own terms, but incalculably enriched by 1984. Unlike the Nutcrackers of John their flocks while simultaneously soothing nostalgia, that strikes deepest—especially Lanchbery with the Philharmonia Orches- their own loneliness, hunters summoning when fully experienced via cassette tap- tra for Angel and of Antal Dorati with the scouts and dogs while bolstering their own ings heard on a portable player. And this Concertgebouw for Philips, Slatkin's is an courage by boldly proclaiming that they personalized medium need not necessarily opulent concert performance rather than are on the chase. be confined to its customary alfresco on- one shaped by years of experience in the The supreme Pied Piper of our own the-go usefulness; it can speak just as per- pit. But can any ballet orchestra make as day, Heinz Holliger, reminds us—often suasively to sedentary listeners. much of the music in the theater as is done with almost unbearable poignancy—of the It is the ideal way of sharing the ecsta- so resplendently here? oboe's distinctive powers, most recently in sies that Samuel Pepys described so mov- his latest, and most zestful yet, recording ingly in his diary entry for February 27, Some of the most memory-haunting mo- of Mozart's Oboe Quartet. With members 1668, after attending a London per- ments of the score—the journey through of the Orlando Quartet, he adds a darkly formance of Massinger and Dekker's trag- the mysterious snowbound Pine Forest haunting Adagio (K.580a) and the Diverti- edy, The Virgin-Martyr: and especially the dreamlike "Waltz of the mento No. 11 that was Mozart's 1776 birth- Snowflakes" with its wordless siren day present to his sister Nannerl—bracing But that which did please me beyond any thing song—exploit that bitter and sweet long- open-air music with oboe and paired horns. in the whole world was the windmusick when the ing for something lost long ago that we One of the players, master hornist angel comes down, which is so sweet that it rav- call nostalgia. Hermann Baumann, may be heard again ished me, and indeed, in a word, did wrap up my Whenever such works stimulate lis- as soloist (with the Leipzig Gewandhaus soul so that it made me really sick, just as I have teners' emotions by piercing the con- Orchestra under Kurt Masur) in more so- formerly been when in love with my wife; that sciousness to reanimate long-buried mem- phisticated exploitations of his instru- neither then, nor all the evening going home, and ories (if not the basic collective ment's capacities. Weber's concertino at home, I was able to think of any thing, but unconscious itself), the most persuasive in- probably was one of the first attempts to remained all night transported, so as I could not strumental voices often are those of the explore the full potential for bravura and believe that any musick bath the real command winds, above all the oboe (and its tenor sib- expressivity of the horn. But more grip- over the soul of a man as this did upon me. •

P O R T A B L E F A R

BACH (arr. Stokowski) pared Clavier," Bk. 1; Chorale, from STRAUSS, R.: TCHAIKOVSKY: Instrumental and Choral Cantata. B.W.V. 4 ("Christ lag in Concertos for Horn and The Nutcracker, Op. 71. Works. Todes Bandon"). Orchestra: No. 1, in E flat, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Stokowski and His Orchestra. John Op. 11; No. 2, in E flat. Women of the St. Louis Symphony MOZART: F. Pfeiffer, reissue prod. RCA Red WEBER: Orchestra Chorus, Slatkin. Jay Da- Seal AGK 1-5280 (A). Quartet for Oboe and Strings, vid Saks, prod RCA Red Seal ARE Concertino for Horn and Toccata and Fugue for Organ, in F, K. 370% Divertimento for 2-7005 (D, 2). Oboe, Horns, and Strings, Orchestra, in E minor, Op. 45. in D minor, B.W.V. 565; "Jesu, Joy in D, K. 25 1't; Adagio for Baumann Leipzig Gewandhaus Or. of Man's Desiring," B.W. V. 157; GOLDEN VOICES OF English Horn and Strings, chestra Mazur ,Philips 412 237-4 ZARZUELA. "Wir glauben all an einen Goff " in C, K. 580a**. (D) Cabal/it, Kraus, Berganza Domin- B.W.V. 680; "Sheep May Safely Holliger*, Baumannt, Gasciar- go, Lorengar, Aragall; various or- Graze," B.W.V. 208; Fugue for Or- nno", Orlando Quartet. Philips 412 chestras and conductors. Various gan, in G minor, B.W.V. 578; Bour- 618-4 (D). raw, from English Suite No. 2. in A prods. Moss Music Group CMG minor, B.W.V. 807; Chaconne, from 1149 (A). Partita for Violin, No. 2, in 0 minor, Excerpts from works by Chapi, B.W.V. 1004; Prelude in B minor, amenez. J. Guerrero, Luna, Serra- B.W.V. 869, from "The Well-Tem- no, Torrobo, and Vives.

56 HIGH FIDELITY REVIEWS SINOPOLI SCORES WITH "RIGOLETTO"

VERDI: Rigokotto. ruson. Grube rRovayd i,; AFacscsabdaeemender. di s Sahnoicoff, Biha Lloyd, Or- chestra and Chorus, Sinopok Erik Smith, prod Philips 412 592-2 (D. 2). 0 (3). 1=1(3). Sit VIA LELLI MASOTTI MASOTTI LELLI VIA Sit

Unless you're a hard-core fan of Renato that would stagger music-lovers not familiar dreamlike climaxes unrelated to anything Bruson, Neil Shicoff, or Edita Gruberova, with contemporary European philosophiz- done by the singers. the main points of interest of this 34th (by ing. The musical results—depending on Macbeth (Philips 412 133-1) was even my count) complete recording of Rigoletto whom you ask or which performance you more extreme and sometimes so slow that are likely to be the use—unadvertised by hear—can be either unnatural or unnatural- the drama disappeared, though only in the Philips—of a textually accurate score, in- ly potent. Rigoletto is Sinop°li's fourth Verdi admittedly crucial scenes for Macbeth or his cluding some elements of the critical edition, recording. The first, Nabucco (Deutsche Lady. The apparitions were uncommonly and the conducting of Giuseppe Sinopoli. Grammophon 274 102-1), showed both his telling, and the witches cackled with unem- Since the critical edition can't by itself bring strengths and his quirks. Among the barrassed glee. Sinop°li's third Verdi record- the opera to life, I'll postpone comment on it strengths was tremendous energy, derived ing, a disc of overtures (Philips 411 469-1). to the end. For all except scholars, the attrac- in part from a radical view of timbre that en- was more consistent and, within the limita- tion here will be Sinopoli. courages him to emphasize aspects of Ver- tions imposed by a collection, equally individ- He's an uncommon conductor: a medical di's orchestration—shrill piccolos, crashing ual. Recordings of German music show the doctor, composer, and quasi-Viennese intel- percussion, searing brass—that other con- same range, from an unforgettable coupling lectual who became famous as a specialist in ductors might find crude. Among the quirks of the Schubert Unfinished and MendeIs- early Verdi. He subjects everything he con- was overpowering emotion, manifested in sohn Italian symphonies (Deutsche Gram- ducts to an aesthetic and historical analysis oompah accompaniments that surged to mophon 410 862-1)—the one heartrendingly

FEBRUARY 1986 57 gentle, the other at once joyous and solid—to like Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony did when adds, "The heartless earth covered her be- a Brahms Ein Dee tsches Requiem so pains- Sinopoli conducted it this past fall with the loved head." Here his voice sinks, almost as taking and yet so delicate that to many lis- New York Philharmonic. if he were sobbing those words half to him- teners it's likely to sound paper-thin (Deut- The balance of expressivity between self. Up to that point, Sinopoli and Bruson sche Grammophon 410 697-1). A Mahler singers and orchestra in Rigoletto is much don't even seem to agree on how fast the mu- Fifth Symphony is just out (Deutsche Gram- better than it was in Nabucco or Macbeth. sic should go (Sinopoli goes faster). But at mophon 415 476-1); I'd expect it to be provoc- The singers seem to have learned some of the words I've cited, both of them, with a ative, at the very least. Sinopoli's flexibility—but still there are striking ritard and diminuendo, create a mo- Rigokilo is more consistent than Na- gaps, moments throughout the score when mentary hush of utter heartbreak—which, burro or Macbeth. Sinopoli's power and sin- the conductor pauses or holds back and the beyond its immediate impact, shows how un- cerity are both evident at the start, in a pre- singers simply pause with him, as if he'd paralleled this performance would have been Indio that promises both full-blown tragedy flashed a red light at a line of traffic. Ideally, if singers and conductor had been equally in- and—since this is Verdi, not Thomas he'd be providing an accompaniment to even spired throughout. Mann—something less ponderous and equal- more striking nuances the singers would cre- The singers, of course, are top interna- ly welcome: a heart overflowing with pathos ate on their own, but for now he seems con- tional stars; taken on their own terms, and compassion. The ensemble just before tent with a compromise in which the initia- they're hardly bad. Shicoff is especially wel- Monterone's entrance in the first scene tive all too clearly comes from him. The come, simply because he doesn't provide the bounces with a heavy but genuinely Italian climax occurs with "Piangi," Rigoletto and by-now-too-familiar sound of Placido Domin- swagger, the result in part of Sinopoli's way Gilda's great duet in Act II, which Sinopoli go, Jose Carreras, or Luciano Pavarotti and of building texture upward from the rhythm conducts with extreme sensitivity and with a because he brings a sullen machismo to his of the bass. His control of touch is evident in flexibility of tempo unmatched even in re- role that may sound wholly American, but the precisely calculated weight of the som- cordings made generations ago (when it was isn't at all inappropriate as one element of ber chords at the start of the second scene, expected as a matter of course). The singers the Duke's lecherous appeal. I have to add, which show us not just the street at night follow dutifully, but don't convey half of though, that after repeated listening, I suggested by the stage directions, but a par- what the conductor gets from the orchestra. found it hard to ignore a labored quality and ticular street, with individual trees, walls, What's especially frustrating is that a tendency to sing just a little bit flat. and shadows. there is one moment when, working with Gruberova (as collectors who've heard Gilda's entrance is an explosion of Bruson (whom he once told me he particular- the aria disc and complete Lucia she record- tender energy, which is maintained as long ly respects), Sinopoli gets exactly what he ed for Angel already know) is the real thing as the opening motif of her duet with her fa- seems to want. In Rigoletto's solo at the be- in this music, above all because her voice car- ther continues. Sinopoli gives this and other ginning of the Act I duet with Gilda, the jest- ries the rare Italianate ring that's as much a

repeating orchestral patterns such shape, er's voice seems to break as he speaks of his matter of passion as of phrasing and tone. color, and intensity—in a word, such mean- wife, the only creature apart from his daugh- Unfortunately, she sounds abstract here, as ing—that they emerge as true counterpoints ter who has ever loved him. "She died!" he if she'd somehow come to earth as the Pla- to the vocal line. making Verdi's music seem cries, and then ("weeping," says the score) tonic ideal of an Italian lyric soprano. Some more complex than is commonly thought. phrases (her first line in the quartet, for in- Listen, for instance, to the rhythmic tension stance) sound almost mechanical. In her con- between the contrasting stresses of voice fession to Rigoletto in Act II, though, she

and accompaniment in the second part of F O R M A T K E Y comes to life and for a moment shows us not "Cortigiani," when Rigoletto pleads with just Gruberova, but—nakedly—Gilda her- 0 LP Marullo. Or, for a purely orchestral example, self. CI Cassette try the music (easy to dismiss as mere filler) Bruson does that with his character, too, that accompanies Rigoletto's search for / Co mpact Disc in the passage I've already described. Other- E.) Videocassette Gilda and his repeated, helpless attempts to wise, he's touching and immensely dignified, cry out. In Sinopoli's hands, each new harmo- Videodisc but (like nearly everyone who sings the role) ny evokes a new rush of heartbroken desper- ® O pen reel can't come near to what George Bernard ation. R E C OR DIN G INF OR M ATIO N Shaw definitively described as Rigoletto's

And then there are the passages that (A) analog original "raging self-contempt," "superstitious ter- don't work. "Pori siamo" is too slow: It's ror," "impotent fury," "savage vindictive- (D) digital original marked adagio, at least at the start, but at ness," and "heartbroken grovelling." He Loge symbol beneath title indicates reviewed Sinopoli's tempo it loses any sense of flow or, format Small symbols following catalog limber snarls effectively when he's doing his dirty more crucially, any sense of normal speech. of reviewed Mutat indicate other available lot work for the Duke, but when he's alone with mats (if amyl "La donna e mobile" is too studied. The Catalog Ill111111e1S of all formals of a ionic Gilda, he loses all trace even of the capacity LAN recording usually we identical except fof brief, drained dialogue ("In a single day, ev- for malice. I don't sense (as I did with Tito differing prefixes al suffixes Catalog numbers of erything changed") between Rigoletto and forrnats other than the reviewed faunal we Gobbi's performance) that underneath his printed only if their, basic numbers differ sub Gilda before Monterone's second entrance is stalmally from that of the reviewed fofmat gentleness he's still capable of doing harm. Arabic numeral in parentheses in:locates stretched out of proportion, with too many Kurt Rydl is most impressive as Mon- number of items r,r nuit, Item set Unless other pauses, like the oddest moments of Macbeth. wise indicated. all multi LP sets ale in manual terone; Robert Lloyd and Brigitte Fass- sequence "Si, vendetta " is also a bit too studied; I wish baender do well enough as Sparafucile and it would blaze forth like parts of Nabucco or Maddalena, though Lloyd might fill out his

51I HIGH FIDELITY impressive sonority with a little more charac- have been said. People who know the opera ing make a strong case. The Grosse Page, ter. The Marullo, Borsa, and Ceprano are well—singers, especially—will hear those despite its furious dissonances, gloriously strikingly weak. This is, in sum, Sinopoli's two changed passages and wonder what in summarizes the preceding five movements' performance. I can't help wondering how it the world is going on. Gregory Sandou , disjunctive tempos, rhythms, and key rela- would have sounded if he'd had Gobbi, say. tionships. In length alone it balances the as Rigoletto, Maria Callas as Gilda, and, as BEETHOVEN: sprawling first movement, in which the Fitz- the Duke, either the irrepressible Jan Peerce Quartet for Strings, No. 13, in B flat, william players observe all repeats. Op. 130; Grosse Fuge in B flat, Op. 133. of Toscanini's NBC Symphony broadcast of Their attentiveness to the score seems to rk Fitzwilliam Quartet Peter Wad/and, prod. the last act or the disreputably stylish Dino London 411 943-2 (D). unleash a nervous energy that in turn gives Borgioli of the famous La Scala recording of this account an excitable quality. You won't 1930. find the aristocratic grandeur and even- About textual matters: I believe this is keeled warmth of the Guarneri; tempos tend the first recording to strictly follow Verdi's to be brisk, and dramatic contrasts are bold- score. No added cadenzas or high notes are ly etched. In fact, the fourth-movement Alla allowed, which makes Rigoletto's music danza tedesca swells and contracts in an ex- more implacable and the Duke's a little dull; aggerated fashion that's somewhat distaste- I can't believe that the flourishes that ful. Yet in the ensuing Cavatina, which con- usually decorate "Questa o queue" don't tains what is perhaps Beethoven's most suit both the Duke's character and the per- touching melody ever (he admitted as much), formance practice of Verdi's time better the Fitzwilliam players linger over each than the literal reading we get here. phrase, wringing out every ounce of emotion This is also the first recording to incor- with their fine ensemble work. porate two important emendations from the In any discussion of Opus 130, the inevitable If it's thrilling Beethoven you seek, this critical edition published in 1983. First, the question arises: Should the work conclude CD should be just the ticket. The vibrant end of "Caro nome" differs from what we with the Grosse Page, as originally con- sound complements a performance that sel- usually hear. Second, when the Duke enters ceived, or with the replacement finale that dom pauses for quiet reflection. in Act III, he (following Verdi's manuscript) Beethoven wrote at the suggestion of his Charles McCardell brazenly asks Sparafucile for "Your sister publisher Matthias Artaria? The Fitzwilliam and some wine"—a striking change from the Quartet sides with the composer (the Grosse FAURE: Quartets for Piano: No. 1, in C minor, familiar "A room and some wine," which the Page is sequenced before the finale) for rea- Op. 15; No. 2, in G minor, Op. 45. composer may have substituted after objec- sons violist Alan George elucidates in his (7 , Dornus. Andrew Keener, prod. Hyperion A tions from the ubiquitous Italian censorship. program notes. History has willed other- 66166. (Distributed by Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A., 3364 S. Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, Neither of these alterations is mentioned in wise, but with this Compact Disc, listeners Calif. 90034.) the libretto booklet supplied with the discs. can conveniently weigh both options by uti- Since Sinopoli doesn't follow the critical edi- lizing their machines' programming capabil- Domus is a young, healthy British group tion in every detail, Philips couldn't label the ities. with a young, healthy, bracing sound. recording as such. But something should George's remarks and the group's read- Whether that sound is appropriate to Faure

C R I T I C S ' C H O I C E

The most noteworthy releases DONIZETTI: KHACHATURIAN: SIBELIUS: reviewed recently L'Elisir d'amore. Piano Concerto*. String Quartets: in A minor; Popp, Dyorsky, Nesterenko, in B fiat, Op. 4. PROKOFIEV: Sibelius Academy Quartet. 0 Fin- BACH: Hobarth; Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, Wallberg. Piano Concerto No. 3, in C, lande FAD 345, Dec. Partite* Nos. 1-8, B.W.V. RCA ARC 3-5411, Dec. Op. 26**. 825-30. Kapell, Boston Symphony Orches- VERDI: Schiff. 0 London 411 732-1, Jan. ELGAR: tra, Koussevitzky*; Dallas Sympho- Don Carlos. ny Orchestra. Dora'''. 0 RCA Gold BLOC H: Cello Concerto in E minor. Raimondi, Domingo, Nucci, Seal AGM 1-5268 Jan. Ghiaurov, Ricciarelli. Valentini Ter. Piano Quintet No. 2. WALTON: rani, Chorus and Orchestra of the MONTEVERDI: LERDAHL: Cello Concerto. Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Abbado. 0 Ma, London Symphony Orchestra, Vespro della Beata Verdi's". String Quartet No. 2. Deutsche Grammophon 415376-I, Previa n CBS Masterworks IMT Kirkby, Rogers; Taverner Consort, harp. Pro Art.' Quartet Laurel LR Jan 39541, Dec. Players and Choir, Parrott. CD An- 128, Dec. gel EMI 4025 3963, Dec. RECITALS AND MISCELLANY HANDEL BRITTEN: Aminta • Rinds. SCHUTZ: GLENN GOULD: Choral Musk. Fisher, Kwella; London Handel Or "St. Matthew Passion," The Glenn Gould Legacy, Chance, Coxwell, Hayes, Salmon, chestra, Darlow. 0 Hyperion A S.W.V. 479. Vol. 2: Haydn, Beethoven, Seers, Unwin; Westminster Cathe- 66118, Nov. Hilliard Vocal Ensemble, Hillier. 0 Mozart. dral Choristers, Corydon Singers. Angel EMI DS 38167, Jan. Columbia Symphony Or- Best. CI Hyperion KA 66126, Jan. chestra, Golschmann; Leningrad Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra, Slovak. CI CBS Master- works M3T 39036, Jan.

fEBRUARY 7986 59 DUPING CABLES AND ENHANCER ALL-IN-ONE is another matter. While appreciating the musicians' artistry and energy, I think they NOW! Make Dupes so Close have missed here the essential feel of French music in general and of Faure in particular. to the Original You Can Hardly Proust loved the First Quartet, but the performance Domus gives it might have made him feel threatened. The group's ap- Tell Them Apart! proach is more supportable in the Second Quartet, a later and more virile work, yet even here the players' hyperactivity calls at- tention to itself. Berl Wechsler

PISTON: Cluartsts for Strings: Nos. 1 and 2. (71 Portland Stnng Quartet. L. E. Joiner and Jeny Is it the original L. Bowder. prods Northeastern NR 216. or "Super Dupe"? This completes the Portland String Quar- tet's Walter Piston cycle, certainly one of the most distinguished in the recorded annals of American chamber music. (The remaining quartets can be found on Northeastern NR 208 and NR 214.) Economy, expressiveness, and energy were Piston's three E's, and the cycle as a whole never flags in interest or value. The PSQ members worked with the composer, and they are fully comfortable with his laconic style, Yankee lyricism, and Boosts and driving rhythmic demands. Enhances Video and Audio Signals My only complaint with this disc con- cerns the recording acoustic, which I find a To make professional To make dupe tapes that look bit on the distant side. This is the premiere quality tape-to-tape copies, and sound so close to the stereo recording of the lively First Quartet. you need more than just originals—order your "Super A 1945 Budapest String Quartet per- cables, you need "Super Duper" today! formance of the more impassioned Second is Duper"!...duping cables and available on New World NW 302; the 40- enhancer all-in-one. • Separate video and audio controls year-old sound tends to shrillness in places, "Super Duper" regains but it does deliver the goods with more bite • AC power supply included signal loss by boosting and than the present Northeastern effort. enhancing video signal a • All gold connectors for Annotation is thorough, and the series optimum conductivity powerful 3 dB. .audio signal of album covers using paintings by Piston's a booming 20 dB! • Measures only 33/8" x 21/4" wife, artist Kathryn Nason, is a wonderful You can't make a dupe tape • Perfect for duping movies touch. A must for anyone with an interest in that's exactly like the original, and music videos chamber music or American music. but— with "Super Duper"— ONUS THAT Noah Andre Trudeau your dupes are so close to the CALL TOLL FREE original, you can hardly tell WAGNER the difference. 1-800-231-0031 TannhAus•r. Melchior, Flagstad, Thorborg, Janssen, List, HF-14 Harrell; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, TOMORROW TODAY, INC. Leinsdort John F Pfeiffer, prod. MET 12. (Avail- able from Metropolitan Opera Fund, PO. Box 10 DAY 50 Maple St.. Norwood. N.J. 07648 I'lease send me (qty.) I understand that if I am not completely 930, New York, N.Y. 10023.) HOME TRIAL satisfied. I may return the Super Duper Enhancer(s) for a full refund (exclusive of shipping) within 10 days. We are so sure that This is the January 4,1941, Metropolitan Op- you will be delighted Super Duper only $49.95 plus $2 shipping (Total: $51.95). with this product, we RStereo Super Duper only $69.95 plus $2 shipping (Total: $71.95). era broadcast: The singers include three Send check or money order (no C.O.D.$) payable to: make this guarantee: Tomorrow Today, Inc. Scandinavians (one of whom would soon be If, for any reason, you or Charge it: 0 Visa 0 MasterCard 0 Amex lost to us for nine years) and three emigres do not feel that the unit is all we say it is, Acct. * Exp. Date _ from Hitler. It is the Paris version with four you may return it for NY State residents please add appropriate sales tax cuts, fewer than expected from the Met at a full refund (exclu- Name sive of shipping) that time. I don't miss the hunk torn from Address Apt. ft _ within 10 days—no the second-act ensemble, but I do deplore be- questions asked. So, City ing kept from any note of Kirsten Thor- order yours today! 0 Enclose $1.00 for Video Accessories Catalog. Dealer inquiries invited. Write on your letterhead for information.

HIGH FIDELITY borg's magnificent Venus. Not only is her geons. Neville Marriner emphasizes trans- ing strings near the conclusion of Debussy's musicianship impeccable and her range even parency of texture here, and his interpreta- Danses momentarily upstage harpist Osian from bottom to top, but her sound on this re- tions are executed gracefully and smartly by Ellis. cording is of a beautiful richness unknown the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Marriner and company have a rollicking today. Their playing is light without making light of good time with the Ibert Divertissement. In Because of his superhuman strength the music—no small accomplishment in a the course of six movements, this Satiesque and his ability to handle the compass from E program of works that have a certain pre- pastiche quotes Mendelssohn's Wedding to G, Lauritz Melchior rightfully owned the cious quality about them. March and sends up the "Waltz King" role of Tannhliuser. He sang it at his Heiden- The uncredited stars are the woodwinds, Strauss, with an anything-goes attitude rem- tenor re-debut in Copenhagen in 1918, he who play with ingratiating, at times hypnot- iniscent of the music hall. first recorded the "Rome Narration" in 1923 ic, effect, especially in the orchestrated piano Vanguard's digital recording, first is- (now in Vol. 2 of Danacord's continuing com- works of Ravel and Faure. The Academy so sued some time back on an Academy Sound plete Melchior recordings), and he made his completely locks into all the scores that the and Vision LP imported from Great Britain, Met debut as the errant pilgrim in 1926. Mel- music practically plays itself. Only once, and is clean and convincingly spacious. chior eventually sang 144 performances— briefly, do things get out of hand: The surg- Charles McCardell but did he ever get the quick passages right? In this broadcast he rides roughshod over much of the music, but with such energy, "... the most successful design of all" passion, and glory that one forgives. J. Gordon Holt Stereophile July, 1985. Kirsten Flagstad is nothing short of su-

preme. There is a shining sincerity to her Mr. Holt elaborates further: "of all the speakers in this price class that I singing, plus that Mother Earth voice that have heard. I would say that Siefert's Maxim is probably the most suc- cessful design of all.. The system is beautifully balanced and almost beggars description or comparison. perfectly neutral... the low end from these is just amazing!.. these little Herbert Janssen has many fine mo- speakers will play LOUD! Unlike most small systems. they have the most accurate middle range I have heard from any speaker.. the high ments in his compassionate portrayal of end sounds as if it goes out almost indefinitely... I would gladly take this Wolfram, but he misses endowing the char- high end in preference to that of most over-S2000 speaker systems I have auditioned in recent years.. The Maxim reproduce massed violin sound acter with virility and is not particularly in- superbly— with not a trace of steeliness, yet with all the resinous sheen of the real thing...I have never heard strings on good CDs sound more teresting. Emanuel List is a woolly Land- natural...the imaging and soundstage presentation from these are ex- graf. Mack Harrell sings the few solo lines cellent. They do not sound small. Ii can make most audiophiles (and Send for a reprint of the entire review practically all music lovers) quite happy for an indefinite period of time. along with complete specifications of this walnut 2-way bookshelf size of Biterolf in a manner that makes you wish Recommended." system. Save $100 from the $499 dealer he had been the Wolfram. selling price. Buy the Maxim Ills Siefert Research, dedicated to excellence in sound. is a pioneering Aside from a few moments of overliter- factory-direct for $399, including ship- designer and manufacturer of minimum-group-delay and low- ping. 30 day, satisfaction-guaranteed alness, the young Erich Leinsdorf conducts a imermodulation-distortion speaker systems. return privilege. full-blooded, flowing performance. I resent the "truism" that James Levine has raised the level of today's four-service-a-week Met- SIIEIFERT RESERREIHI ropolitan Opera Orchestra: That band al- Phone: 213/457-4239 31212-H Bailard Rd., Malibu, CA 90265 ways responded superbly to real conducting. It does so here. The packaging of this album matches NOW AVAILABLE that of the others in the Met series. Even with the problematical lower voices, this THE NEW Thinnhauser is well worth the contribution to the Fund to obtain. Bert Wechsler SCH WANN ARTIST RECITALS AND MISCELLANY

ACADEMY OF ST. MARTIN- ISSUE IN-THE-FIELDS: The unique classical music guide. French Orchestral Works. Presenting over 25,000 classical ni Ellis; Academy of St. Martm-in-the-Fields, recordings listed by orchestra, trio, Marriner. Anthony Sargent, prod. Vanguard CD 25019 (D). 0 =3 quartet, conductor, soloist, vocalist, DEBUSSY: Danse sacrde et danse profane. choral group and operatic company. FAURE (orch. Rabaud): Dolly Suite, Op. 56. tr \. IBERT: Divertissement, from "Un chapeau de Reserve my copy of the new SCHWAN ARTIST ISSUE 1 ulahon Dept 825 Seventh Ave New York NY 10019 padle d'Italie." RAVEL: Le Tombeau de Couperin. Schwann Artist Issue. NAME I enclose lust 56 95 (plus $1 for One has to be pretty hard-boiled not to find postage and handling) for each ADDRESS APT # some enjoyment in this Compact Disc; in- copy. Number of copies _ CITY STATE ZIP deed, it might almost have been conceived as Amount enclosed $ _ PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER PAYMENT IN U S CURRENCY ONLY PLEASE ALLOW 6.8 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY MIFF a colorful Gallic litmus test for curmud-

FEBRUARY 1986 II BY RO B E R T E. BEN S O N, IRVI N G

SCADS OF formance—featuring fine L A SIBELIUS singing by Mari-Ann Hag- The Bis label is continuing its gander, Jorma Hynninen, and traversal of the complete or- Erland Hagegard—seems chestral works of Jean Sibe- meet and right. Unfortunate- ECD lius with generally excellent ly, the accompanying Karelia Fourteen new releases results, particularly as to Suite, like the King Christian sound. Sibelius benefits un- II, is under tempo and frankly which Turovsky is joined by BLOCKBUSTER usually well from Compact rather lugubrious (especially the other members of the émi- Llog "BELLS" Disc treatment The titanic si- in the Alla Marcia, which gré Borodin Trio: pianist Luba Some people may dismiss this lences that permeate so much lacks the necessary swagger). Edlina and violinist Rostislav account of Rachmaninoff's of his output, heightened in Playing time: 52:19. (Bis CD Dubinsky. This work is dis- The Bells out of hand because this format, enable the big 250. Distributed by Qualiton tinctly different from some of the text is sung in English in- outbursts preceding and fol- Imports.) the composer's others, in that stead of Russian. True, be- lowing them to make their Jorma Panula conducts its musical content is not cause Poe's original English points all the better. the fourth disc, which contains "folkloric." Nevertheless, it is was first translated into Rus- The Gothenburg Sympho- all the songs that Sibelius per- wholly expressive of his abid- sian, and then back into rather ny Orchestra is again featured sonally orchestrated. Hence, ing personality and is well lumpy English for this record- on four new CDs, three of some familiar items such as served in this appealing per- ing, the performance loses a which were made with music "Flickan kom ifran sin als- formance. Playing time: 43:08. bit in literacy. Nevertheless, director Neeme Jarvi. The klings mote" ("The Maiden's (Chandos CD 8320. Distribut- Leonard Slatkin's electrifying Fourth Symphony, in A minor, Tryst") aren't included. Hyn- ed by Harmonia Mundi, conducting more than makes Op. 63—always the toughest ninen performs on the first U.S.A.) I. K. up for it The St. Louis Sym- Sibelian nut to crack—re- half of the disc, which is the phony has never sounded bet- ceives a broad treatment that more impressive. His selec- DIENUHIN ter (particularly in this superb- works superbly. (By the way, tions include the striking Ko- L A AND GRAPPELLI ly accomplished CD transfer Jarvi opts for using discreet skenlaskijan morsiamet (The The composer of the opening from an originally analog bells as well as glockenspiel in Rapids-shooter's Brides) and item on this disc is Max Har- source), and there is excellent the final movement—maybe "Pa verandan vid havet" ris, whose "Winter Set" may work from soloists Walter not the purist's solution, but I ("On a Balcony by the Sea"), never win an Oscar. Yet, he Plante, Marianna Christos, like it.) The disc is filled out by two of Sibelius's finest cre- merits the prominence he gets and Arnold Voketaitis. Trans- the brief, rather inconsequen- ations for voice. Haggander's here for providing violinists lation aside, The Bells rings tial Canzonetta and a defini- contributions on the second Yehudi Menuhin and Ste- here as in no other recorded tively pictorial traversal of half are well handled, though phane Grappelli the wonderful version. The same goes for the The Oceanides. Playing time: in her most demanding one, arrangements of numerous equally fine-sounding per- 52:47. (Bis CD 263. Distributed Luonnotar, her lyric soprano items that are indeed suitable formance of the filler, The Isle by Qualiton Imports, 39-28 is obviously strained. (Unfor- For All Seasons, to quote the of the Dead, which supersedes Crescent St., Long Island City, tunately, the engineers try to title of the CD. Included are the previous standard-setting N.Y. 11101.) make up for this by overmik- Ray Henderson's "Button up accounts by Serge Koussevitz- Jarvi's version of the ing her, which only succeeds in Your Overcoat," Irving Ber- ky and Fritz Reiner. Playing Third Symphony, in C, Op. 52, covering up some important lin's "I've Got My Love to time: 54:25. (Moss Music is likewise an unqualified suc- orchestral details.) Neverthe- Keep Me Warm" and "Heat Group MCD 10020.) B.Z. cess, particularly in the last less, a valuable collection of Si- Wave," Vernon Duke's "April movement, though his treat- beliana, and—with the above in Paris" and "Autumn in ELGAR FOR KIDS ment of the extensive filler— exception noted—quite well New York," Frank Loesser's L A AND OTHERS the King Christian H Suite— recorded. Playing time: 49:04. "Spring Will Be a Little Late Here is another winner from is oddly ponderous. Playing (Bis CD 270. Distributed by This Year," and half a dozen Chandos: a generous coupling time: 54:50. (Bis CD 228. Dis- Qualiton Imports.) B.Z. others of similar quality. The of some of Elgar's music per- tributed by Qualiton Imports.) good chamber-music back- taining to the world of chil- The third Jarvi disc is mainly STYLISH grounds are furnished by a dren. The Wand of Youth devoted to Sibelius's one and L A DVORAK varied group of instrumental- Suites Nos. 1 and 2 were writ- only opera, Jungfrun i Torn- The stylistic aptitude of cellist ists that adds lustre to the best ten in 1907 and are orchestra- et (The Maiden in the Tower). Yuli Turovsky is handsomely of all duet outings to date by tions of sketches dating back A marginal work, to be sure, demonstrated in this disc de- Menuhin and Grappelli—who to Elgar's teenage years, but full of attractive (if mainly voted to the infrequently not only think but sound as when he wrote music for a stillborn) music that has a heard Third Piano Trio, in F one. Playing time: 55:05. (EMI play set in a perfect, untainted built-in fascination. The per- minor, Op. 65, of Dvotik, in CDC 47144.) LK world where ill-tempered az HIGH FIDELITY KO L O D I N, A N D BI L L ZA K A R I A S E N

hear what he's doing, each 36879.) Playing time: 46:07. playing of the disc becomes an (Hong Kong 8220114. Distrib- unforgettable lesson in how it uted by Harmonia Mundi, should be done. There's abso- U.S.A.) R.E.B. SPRE lutely no background interfer- served up for review ence, and balance and clarity "PICTURES" LIO A are nigh perfect. Only a slight IMPERFECT raqi adults are barred, a dream- SMETAKA: breakup in the loudest climax- As an example of what Ravel land filled with fantasy crea- LW! STRING QUARTETS es betrays the fact that this had in mind as an orchestral tures. The movements include For those to whom "the" Sme- performance occurred over a enlargement of the score Mus- "Fairy Pipers," "Moths and tana quartet is the one in E mi- quarter century ago. Simply sorgsky created for piano in Butterflies," "Fairies and Gi- nor (entitled "From My Life"), fabulous in every way. Play- tribute to the work of his ants," "The Little Bells," and the plural "quartets" may ing time: 60:56. (Ades ACD 140 friend the painter Victor Hart- "Wild Bears," with several seem a misprint. This disc fea- 742. Distributed by Interna- mann, this recording of Pic- dances interspersed. turing the Smetana Quartet, tional Book and Record, 40-11 tures at an Exhibition by Sir Nursery Suite, written however, offers a satisfying 24th St., Long Island City, Charles Mackerras and the two decades later, consists of version of the later Quartet N.Y. 11101.) B.Z New Philharmonia Orchestra seven similarly child-related No. 2, in D minor, that extends is unworthy. It tends to exag- movements: "Aubade," "The the considerable high regard I EARLY gerate everything Ravel add- Serious Doll," "Busy-ness," feel for Smetana as a master n WAGNER ed that needs to be restrained, "The Sad Doll," "The Wagon of many varied forms. Credit The year 1836 was not a good such as swollen percussive (Passes)," "The Merry Doll," the leadership of Jan Novak one for Wagner. Newly mar- sounds and excesses of trom- and "Dreaming Envoy." All of for two distinguished perfor- ried, in debt, and unrecog- bone output The treatment by this is enchanting music, beau- mances (recorded in 1976). nized, he composed the Polo- the London Symphony Or- tifully played by the Ulster Or- Playing time: 46:06. (Denon nia Overture, a banal piece of chestra under Mackerras of chestra led by Bryden Thom- 7339.) LK little inventiveness, followed the suite from Stravinsky's son and recorded with the by the even more vapid Rule 1911 Petrouchka ballet is, for richness and dynamic range "DAM ES" Britannia Overture, a te- the most part, well considered. that seems typical of this la- DIGITIZED dious repeated statement of Playing time: 69:15. (Van- bel. Playing time: 63:29. (Chan- Perhaps the most amazing CD Arne's familiar tune. Each of guard 25023.) L K. dos CD 8318. Distributed by yet to enter the catalog is a re- these works lasts more than Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A.) cording of Ravel's complete 12 minutes, and neither of SNOSTAKOVICH'S R.E.B. Daphnis et Chloe ballet by them, for very good reason, L A SOUL the Orchestre du Theatre Na- adds to Wagner's fame. The Mstislav Rostropovich con- HOMAGE TO tional de l'Opera de Paris un- two marches—A merican ducted the National Sympho- L A TCHAIKOYSKY der Manuel Rosenthal— Centennial and Imperial — ny Orchestra in a cataclysmi- The 45-minute ballet, The "amazing" because the re- are more familiar, but they too cally definitive presentation of Fairy's Kiss, is Stravinsky's cording was originally made in are far removed from the com- Shostakovich's Symphony No. homage to Tchaikovsky, utiliz- 1959. This performance, by the poser's better efforts. The 5, in D minor, Op. 47, for Deut- ing many of that composer's way, is not the one featuring Hong Kong Philharmonic, sche Grammophon four years shorter works and songs as the same forces that was conducted by Varujan Kojian, ago. That account can now be well as some of Stravinsky's available for a time on a West- does not sound like a very heard to even greater effect in own music. Based on Hans minster album in the early large ensemble, and here it is the CD format. The slightly Christian Andersen's The Ice 1960s: The remastered 1959 recorded with an unappealing, bleary tone that afflicted the Maiden, it is a delectable, sub- account is far better played, shallow, dry quality. This CD sound on analog disc—and, to tle score. Appropriately, Stra- and Rosenthal's peerless con- is only for those who must a lesser extent, on cassette—is vinsky's orchestration of the ducting is even more in evi- own early works of Wagner, nowhere to be heard. The clar- brief "Bluebird" pas de deux dence (particularly regarding no matter how undistin- ity of orchestral texture, par- from The Sleeping Beauty is his unique way with rubato). guished. Liner notes are a ticularly in contrapuntal included as filler. The perfor- These advantages, cou- copy of the LP notes, slightly string passages, is fabulous, mances by Neeme Jarvi and pled with truly miraculous dig- reduced and twice-folded to fit as is the realistic duplication of the Scottish National Orches- itization, now make this Daph- into the CD box. (The two the Kennedy Center Concert tra are superb, with vivid, res- nis the preferred version. marches, incidentally, were Hall acoustics. A benchmark onant reproduction. Playing Rosenthal unlocks the poetic far better served by Marek interpretation has finally re- time: 50:51. (Chandos CD 8360. and balletic secrets of this gor- Janowski and the London ceived its sonic due. Playing Distributed by Harmonia geous score like no other con- Symphony Orchestra on a time: 45:34. (Deutsche Gram- Mundi, U.S.A.) R.E.B. ductor; now that we can really now-deleted LP: Angel S mophon 410 509-2.) B.Z.

FEBRUARY 1986 63 B A C K B E A SWING SHIFT Saxophonist Scott Hamilton and cornetist Warren Vache are throwbacks—and that's a compliment. DEBORAH FEINGOLD FEINGOLD DEBORAH

I V F R A N C I S D A V I S

Scott Hamilton's tenor saxophone—a n, mellower sound, but I still want to cut conditioned Selmer, manufactured in through—I still want that buzz that guys 1949—is five years older than he is. "I like Louis [Armstrong] and Roy [Eldridge] walked off with it for $500 when horns of and Bobby Hackett had." that vintage weren't in much demand," ex- Satirist Mort Sahl used to complain plains Hamilton, whose style aims for a that since World War II the presidency middle ground between Coleman Haw- had passed from Roosevelt to Ford, the kins's forthright stomp and Lester movies from John Garfield to Burt Reyn- Young's more standoffish relationship to olds, the mood of the nation from purpose the beat. "The problem with newer instru- to indifference. Sahl's punch line: Darwin ments is that they tend to go sharp when was wrong. I know some critics who you blow hard in the upper register, and would add that small-group swing has they don't have that subtone growl I like. passed from Hawkins and Eldridge to They're great for people who want to play Hamilton and Vache: Darwin was wrong, like John Coltrane, but they don't do any- and so was Hugues Panassie. I wish I thing for me." could juice up what follows by presenting Hamilton talks about a growl. His fre- these two musicians as subjects of heated quent sidekick, Warren Vache, Jr., talks controversy, these baby boomers who about a buzz, his name for the glorious le- have rejected hard bop, free form, and gato rip that has all but vanished from jazz fusion. brass. "I actually played cornet first, But controversy, which presupposes before the trumpet," Vache says, "and a that enough people give a damn one way Francis Davis is writing a book of few years ago I picked it up again, just for or the other, is conspicuously lacking in profiles of con tern porary jazz in usicians, fun. I haven't touched a trumpet since. I jazz these days. Like all minority groups, to be published by Oxford University Press. don't like the sharp, nasal edge. I prefer a the fans feel compelled to put up a unified

54 HIGH FIDELITY SWING SHIFT front whenever the public at large hap- quested to play something sweet and quiet Vache's taste was broader than the pens to be glancing. Meanwhile, the critics until the bride and groom arrived. "They rest of his family's (his brother is a banjo with categorical aversions are no longer say they want a hot jazz band for their af- player in Jim Collum's Happy Time Jazz thought derelict in their duty now that jazz fair, then they expect you to do the Meyer Band, a San Antonio-based trad outfit). has become so rich and varied (so diffuse, Ferguson bit anyway." But Hamilton, Hamilton, too, made discoveries on his some would say). The derriere guard— whose quarterly estimated-tax return was own after inheriting a love for the music who haven't had much else to cheer about due the following week, was happy for the from his father. "Unlike Warren's dad, my lately—hail Hamilton and Vache as trend- gig. "All I had to do was rent a tuxedo and father didn't play," explained Hamilton, setters. This is a neat bit of wishful think- play music for an afternoon." who grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. ing that assumes that bop, free form, and He even looks like a character out of "But he was an avid collector, with a lot of fusion were just momentary aberrations. the 1930s—so say cliché-ridden journalists sides from the '20s and early '30s. I loved And the dernier cri crowd maintains a too wet behind the ears to remember much that stuff, but I also began listening to code of silence on the duo, as though they about the 1950s, never mind the 1930s, in things that were 'modern' only in so far as are unworthy even of derision. Is it possi- describing Hamilton, with his slicked-back someone like my father was concerned: El- ble to take a middle line on Hamilton and hair, pencil moustache, and baggy trou- lington, Basie, Goodman, even some Char- Vache? I'm going to try. But first, let them sers. The implication is clear: He prefers lie Parker and Lester Young." speak on their own behalf: Johnny Hodges to Charlie Parker, Haw- Hamilton forgot all about jazz when Hamilton: "What people sometimes kins to Coltrane, symptoms of a more gen- he took up harmonica and joined a rock forget about Warren and me is that we're eral yearning for the speakeasy days and blues band. "I went along with the not repertory players. We're not involved before jazz began taking itself too serious- crowd for a while. But listening to Paul in trying to re-create anything, like a spe- ly. More likely, Hamilton is just a careless Butterfield, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, cific arrangement. We incorporate the mu- dresser who has never given much Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson sical principles of another era, but we're thought to matters tonsorial. "Maybe naturally led me back." Hamilton's re- improvisers—we're making it up as we go when I was younger, I used to fantasize awakened interest was also spurred by his along." about what it would have been like to come friendship with Duke Robillard, a former Vache: "When a sound is new, there's up in the old days," he said. "But that's member of Roomful of Blues and current an urgency to it that reflects the tempo of just an ego trip." leader of the Pleasure Kings. "Duke was the age. But that washes away with the "Don't ask me if I was drawn into jazz the ace blues guitarist in New England passage of time, until all that remains is by the life-style," laughed Vache, a around that time, and we all followed his the music, pure and simple. Hawkins's ver- chunky, well-groomed fellow who still lead when he began including Ellington sion of 'Body and Soul' is as alive right lives in Rahway, New Jersey, where he and Basic tunes in his sets. I wasn't the now as when he first played it into the mi- was born in 1951. "When I was growing only one inspired by him." crophone in 1939. There are always going up, I had no idea there was such a thing. Hamilton switched to tenor when he to be people hearing it for the first time, My father sold electrical appliances five switched his allegiance from the blues. and it's always going to sound magnifi- days a week, ate dinner every night at six "The first player to make a big impression cent to them. Music transcends its original o'clock just like everybody else's dad, and on me was Young, followed by Hawkins social and political associations. That's played Dixieland in country clubs on the and Webster. But the biggest influence of how it survives." weekends—something he continues to do all was Illinois Jacquet, because I got to to this day. He used to take me along to hear him live, and he was doing everything One Saturday last October, Vache was carry his bass, and as I got older, he would I dreamed of doing: pretty ballads, jump sitting in on a job that Hamilton had lined let me play my cornet with the band to- tunes, everything." up for his quintet: a wedding reception in a ward the end of the evening. I listened to Eddie Condon's was Vache's old swank hotel across from Central Park. the radio quite a bit as a kid, but compared stomping ground. "When I first came to "Isn't that always the way?" Vache asked to the records I heard at home, that stuff New York in the early '70s, I played there no one in particular after he and Hamilton sounded pretty inconsequential. I was out six nights a week, not 25 feet from Roy were sent back to the wings in favor of of step with my schoolmates, but liking Eldridge at Jimmy Ryan's. Roy took me John Bunch, their pianist, who was re- jazz gave me an identity." (Continued on page 76)

S E L E C T E D DISC OGRAPHY

SCOTT HAMILTON With MAXINE SULLIVAN HAMILTON AND VACHE With JOHN BUNCH Back to Back. Uptown. With Scott's Band in John's Other Bunch. Concord Jazz CJ 85, 1979 Concord Jazz CJ 288; 1985. New York. Famous Door HL 114; 1977 The Second Set. Concord Jazz al 70; 1978. WARREN VACHE Concord Jazz CJ 254, 1984 Skyscrapers. With ROSEMARY CLOONEY A First. iridescence. Concord Jazz CJ 111; 1980. Rosemary Clooney Sings the Concord Jazz CJ 153: 1981 Concord Jazz CJ 274, 1985 Music of Harold Aden. Midtown Jazz. Concord Jazz CJ 210; 1983. With BENNY CARTER Concord Jazz CJ 203; 1983. Rosemary Clooney Sings A Gentleman and His Music. Ballads. Concord Jazz CJ 285, 1985. Concord Jazz CJ 282, 1985.

F E FRIARY 1986 65 REVIEWS

Nt;,1 WEA /ANIS JOPLIN WITH BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY: MONTEREY WOULD MAKE THEM SUPERSTARS. MONTEREY POP. Utopian dream turned disaster area that D. A. Pennebaker, dir.; John Phillips and Lou hyped and transcended itself into Utopian re- Adler, prods. Sony Video Software ality by the force of its peaceable masses. 91W00043 (Beta), 91W00044 (VHS); $59.95. Nearly half a million Woodstock Nation citi- WOODSTOCK 1*; WOODSTOCK Ir.. SOME Michael Wadleigh, dir.: Bob Maurice, prod. zens lived through a temporary, naive self- Warner Home Video 1015 (Beta and VHS)*; exile from an America occupied with its war 1016 (Beta and VI-IS)• *; S29.98 each. in Vietnam. You've seen Michael Wadleigh's DEANE SHELTER. three-hour large-screen trip, no doubt: bad David Maysles, Albert Maysles, and Char- lotte Zwerin, dirs. RCA/Columbia Pictures performances (Joan Baez and Crosby, Stills, FLOWERS Home Video 60196 (Beta), 20195 (VHS); $29.95. and Nash), appropriately overblown ones (Santana, Joe Cocker, Ten Years After), L most of you, I never went to a rock fes- great ones (Sly and the Family Stone), and t. al. Fortunately for us, the great ones— excellent docudramatic editing, bucolic cine- IN YOUR the Monterey International Pop Festival, the matography, and comic relief. Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, and the free Monterey Pop, the chronicle of the 1967 concert at Altamont Speedway, weekends "Summer of Love" happening (just now that changed the face of the music and its available on videocassette), is D. A. Penne- audience—were preserved in feature docu- baker's humble forerunner to both the HAIR mentaries. Long the reference point for a re- Woodstock festival and film. Watching Mon- markable decade, a standard against which terey Pop today, we're not as inclined to feel incompatible events such as the Live Aid that cynical reaction we had when the media fund raiser are measured, Woodstock was a defused the revolutionary Haight-Ashbury

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M I I M E MIIIM MIN M M MIIIR MIIB M scene by reducing it to a few advertising slo- screen whitened by a lensful of spotlight. this, his first-ever American release. gans. It's disarmingly evocative of the time Revelation follows upon revelation. The Triumph is billed as the album that when psychedelic rock was just being born Who destroy their equipment in a shocking brings Higgs into the '80s, and I suppose it out of the electric experiments of young finale to "My Generation." Jimi Hendrix per- does, in small ways: a few synth lines, some white aficionados of folk and blues. In the forms every imaginable erotic act with his outside (for reggae) guitar solos, and a fuller context of the sunlit arrivals of flower chil- guitar before setting it on fire. These give- dance beat. But what's more important is dren, the schlock Scott McKenzie anthem 'em-all-you-got debuts prove just how burnt how comfortably it remains smack-dab in the "San Francisco" (produced, as was the film, out these guys were at Woodstock—the countryman tradition of his previous work. by promoters John Phillips and Lou Adler) is Who absorbed in their own glamour, Hen- And how, despite a couple of conspicuous surprisingly touching. And although three drix in his instrument. In Ravi Shankar's flubs (the background vocals on "It's Good- numbers by Phillips's group, the Mamas and Monterey set, the camera, after nearly eight bye" and the keyboard work on "Creation" the Papas, are two too many, they seem to fit minutes of posters, painted faces, flowers, are kinda hokey), Triumph is a showcase for as part of a youth movement not yet ruined dancing, bopping, and trancing out, settles Higgs's grainy, evocative voice. by its commercial appeal. on the master sitarist, who closes the festival Higgs glides effortlessly from an almost Though both festivals were supposed to by amazing everyone (including himself and talking style of phrasing on several cuts to make money, the musicians and the fans had his musicians) with another ten minutes of the irresistibly melodic singing of "I'm Right something else in mind. Almost by design, improvised virtuosity. There." On "So It Go," an atmospheric Rasta the crowds far exceeded ticket sales. But in Equally powerful in opposite ways is ballad with piano poking against whirling the spirit of a new hippie economy of free ex- Gimme Shelter. If Monterey Pop is full of synth, he invests the hoariest cliches ("No change, everyone got by through a miracle surprise ecstasies, this is a tragedy of inev- man is an island and only the strong sur- of communal collaboration. Two-and-a-half itabilities. Nothing seems to go right. Differ- vive") with unflinching passion. "Hurt My years after Monterey—and just three ent from the other two films in that it focus- Soul" conveys real majesty; "Come a Little months after Woodstock—a good-bye-party es on the headliners, Gimme Shelter Closer," deep yearning. "It's Goodbye" sim- concert climaxing the Rolling Stones' wildly ominously alternates shots of the frantic Al- mers with quiet intensity, and "Satisfy My successful U.S. tour was given at Altamont tamont preparations with footage from earli- Heart and Soul" and "Young and Wild" both on the same imagine-there's-no-country as- er stops on the tour. It's like a Rolling Stones combine sweet desire with gospel feeling. sumptions that had accidentally evolved at concert film turned murder mystery. The Drummer Harry T. holds down the beat earlier festivals. The terrible results—docu- San Francisco bands, outsiders at Monterey, and embellishes Higgs's admonitions with mented in Gimme Shelter, where the Flying organized Altamont and in part were respon- exploding cymbals, while the guitarists (four Burrito Brothers and the Jefferson Airplane sible for its fatal flaw, the hiring of Hell's are listed, but no word on who plays what) abort their sets to quell crowd violence, Angels for crowd control. The Grateful Dead solo brilliantly on "Hurt My Soul" and "It's before a gun-wielding participant is finally arrive, triumphantly enthusiastic, to hear Goodbye." Higgs offers more love songs knifed to death as the Stones watch from the what we have already seen—that the Angels than usual, but his polemical work is as inci- stage—marked the end of the mega-love-in have punched out Marty Ba.lin of the Air- sive as ever. Even when he's dissenting, he ethic. plane. The performance footage occasionally leaves 'em with hope, and that's one of the In one of Gimme Shelter's numerous shrinks into a 'IT monitor that the Stones reasons why it doesn't matter whether this is preconcert interviews, Mick Jagger articu- watch after the fact. Viewing the film as if it a '70s or '80s reggae album. Another reason lates: "The concert's an excuse for everyone were a newsreel of some assassination, the is that, like the best bluesmen, Joe Higgs is coming together, having a good time, balling projectionist locates the murder weapon timeless. John Morthland each other, getting real stoned, [not just for after Jagger asks for a replay. Frozen in u.. COOL .1: seeing] the Grateful Airplane or the Rolling frame himself as he exits, Jagger seems to Radio. Dead." But although rock festivals were kiss off the entire era: "See y'all," he says. O Rick Rubin, prod Del Jam BFC 40239. G!) clearly conceived as countercultural tribal John Piccarella (Distributed by Columbia.) gatherings, Monterey also tried to and suc-

ceeded at bringing different kinds of music JOE HIGGS: This is a test. Entrepreneurs Rick Rubin and and their audiences together. What makes Triumph! Russell Simmons recently inked a distribu-

Monterey Pop so special is the degree to (7) Jut Higgs and Earl "Chinna" Smith, prods tion deal with Columbia, heralding potential- Alligator AL 8313 C1 (Box 60234. Chicago, ly the biggest commercial boost to under- which they are captured in the process of dis- III. 60660.) covering each other. Blues students like ground hip-hop yet. Thus, Radio is not Canned Head, Country Joe and the Fish, and Because he has steadfastly avoided the lime- something the formerly independent Def Big Brother and the Holding Company (fea- light, Joe Higgs is one of the unsung heroes Jam tossed off carelessly. But don't talk turing Janis Joplin) display the kind of in- of reggae. He is better known for his compo- about doubts to L.L. Cool J. On Radio he dis- tensely impassioned amateurism that only sitions and for having taught the Wailers misses Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Mi- such rare moments could create. Joplin's (then a vocal trio of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, chael Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, Shake- raw, abandoned, stunning extensions of the and Bunny Livingston) how to sing than for speare, Picasso, and the Japanese Army, vocabulary of the female blues singer (with the Jamaican solo albums he released in 1974 'cause none of them has the stuff he's got. an awed Mama Cass looking on) are so unex- and 1979. But both those records were gems, And that's just one side. pected that even the camera seems numb. and from the fat, resounding riff that opens L.L. doesn't hold truck with the pop No less exhilarating is Otis Redding bobbing "Come a Little Closer" to the evenly buoyant slickness of Whodini, and doesn't sing (as do and weaving in and out of silhouette on a horn line that closes "Young and Wild," so is Kurtis Blow and other rappers), "cause I

HIGH FIDELITY just don't do that." L.L. is about how spare You" and the four-note piano figure on "I nyls' 1983 debut, Desperate, she recalled the speechcraft plus a skeletal set of synthbeats Can Give You More" are startling ostinatos wizened, disdainful timbre of latter-day can illustrate a hard life, its values and its that give the music color and organization. Marianne Faithfull. But this woman is less meanness. Not surprisingly, his most con- L.L. raps that he lives in a tough neigh- bruised than scrappy. As she puts it now in vincing lyrics are the ones that put someone borhood but still wears his gold out on the the sardonic "In My Life," "I was born and down, whether it's a liar or a hopelessly bad street. Sounds here like he's gonna get more. brought up wrong/And I don't know where I dancer. His idea of a come-on is "Yo baby, I sure hope the next Def Jam/Columbia es- come from/Mum had me when she was nine- wanna come to my crib, have some dough- say goes beyond the familiar put-downs and teen/A never-was that always has been." nuts and milk, and listen to a pop tune?" And chest-thumping that he delivers. Then again, Desperate teetered between adroitly ar- yet this and one other love song triumph be- I hope the next record has as much personal- ranged "new wave" and boisterous pub cause of his lust, a lust for lots more than the ity as this one. RJ Smith rock. Although the pop hooks still sneak up Kangol designer clothes and the expensive rather than announce themselves brashly, radio that give him his status. DIVINYLS: What a Lift! is more deliberately polished What • Life! On Def Jam's previous singles, Rubin and cohesive, aimed at the mainstream. Yet O Gary Langan, Mike Chapman, and Mark has shown two basic production modes: a Opitz, prods. Chrysalis WV 41511. CI the album has a coolly offhand quality, as if heavy metal crunch that's no surprise, given the band (with guitars) were still thrashing he's a big fan of AC/DC, Motorhead, and Christina Amphlett's vocal on What a out ideas in some backroom club; the melo- Husker DU, and a flip-side minimalism, a Life! 'a hit single bid, "Pleasure & Pain," a dies remain a little ragged around the edges. skin-tight percussion-only style that leaves Holly Knight-Mike Chapman tale of good That suits the mood of material like the caus- out most of the boomy bottom that hard hip- lovin' (and love-makin') gone bad, is discon- tic "Don't You Go Walking," which turns hop usually showcases. Play the 12-inch of certingly direct: bitter, accusatory, and as in- lover-come-back cliches on their ear; the cau- L.L.'s "I Need a Beat" (issued months ago timate as an argument that seeps through tionary "Guillotine Day," a litany of troubles and remixed for Radio) and you hear a pret- the bedroom walls. It was also customized, in rendered with defiance, not despair; and the ty good record, but one whose sparseness concept at least, for America's airwaves by sly "Sleeping Beauty," a reverie about ro- could not carry a whole album. Rubin has this undernoticed Australian band. mance and sex-or, I should say, about the since concentrated on making details reso- When Amphlett wasn't suggesting a romance of sex. nate. The dripping-water sounds on "I Want more of-this-earth Lene Lovich on the Divi- On stage the Divinyls elaborate on the

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FEBRUARY 1986 69 F O R M A T K E Y toured rap (America 's "If I Ruled the seven of his nine gold records, beginning O LP/EP World"). The best vocal performance here is with "Tired of Being Alone." The sound is as =1 Cassette "Tender Love," from the Force M.D. 's, who good as it can be after the fact, with every • Co mpact Disc in 1984 demonstrated that they could rap, sigh and slide in his voice palpably present in CT Videocassette break dance, and sing. If they were better the room, and with the hiss of the original ® Videodisc looking, they might have gotten a chance to master tape audible only at high volume. O 12-inch single act, too! Havelock Nelson And now I can listen to "Here I Am (Come O pon rip& and Take Me)" or "Let's Get Married" over Large symbol beneath title indicates reviewed and over just by pushing a couple of buttons. format Small symbols following catalog number SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE of reviewed format indicate other available for MIRACLES: That's heaven to me. Jeff Nesin mats (if any) Catalog numbers of all formats of a panic Compact Com mand Performance: 18 Greatest Hits. ,flaf recording usually are identical except to, THE LAST POETS: drffering pref roes or soft roes Catalog numbers of s, m, Do k0e6y 0Robinson 7 i m and vanous prods Tamla formats other than the reviewed format are This Is Madness. printed only if their basic numbers differ sub Doug/as and Stefan Bnght, prods Cel- stantrally from that of the reviewed format AL GREEN: (2) Al/l an d 6105 lI Arabic numeral in parentheses indicates Compact Com mand Performance: number of items in mull, 'tern set 14 Greatest Hits. THE LAST POETS: Oh My People. rk Willie Mitchell and Al Green, prods. Motown MCD 06111MD. O Bill Laswell, prod. Celluloid 6108. a record's charms with a rehearsed rowdiness that's just this side of unpredictable. Amph- Tam la / Motown records were miserably A product of the Sixties' black awareness lett isn't afraid to appear inelegant; her rudi- pressed. We're not talking persnickety au- movement, the Last Poets cut preacher/ mentary dance steps are a cross between a diophilia here, just the reasonable desire of a teacher-like recordings that placed them in schoolgirl's awkward jig and a very personal man who loves the tune to hear it without the the mainstream of Afro-American tradition- war dance. But her wild card is her person- snap-crackle-pop that was the hallmark of al music. But their no-nonsense delivery of ality: She's too smart to be one of the girls, the labels' quality control in their glory Third World issues affecting the black com- too feisty and special to be one of the boys. years. In a commendable—and thrilling—re- munity gained them little commercial suc- And her best is probably yet to come. versal, the CDs in this Compact Command cess—although "O.D.," which Mick Jagger Michael Hill Performance series are compiled meticu- had already stolen for his film Performance, lously, transferred directly from the original did make the pop, soul, and jazz Top 100 VARIOUS ARTISTS: master tapes. For the first time, you can charts in 1971. Krush Groove. hear everything on "The Tracks of My The Poets pitted the powerful ghetto O Russell Simmons, Kurtis Blow, and Doug Mc- Tears": Mary Tarplin's typically understated "reality poetry" of Alafia Pudim and Omar ' Henry, prods. Warner Bros. 25295-1. CD 0 guitar intro, Smokey Robinson's last sob, Ben Hassen against the stark polyrhythms Because Knish Groove was anticipated as and all details in between. This sonic sanita- of percussionist Nilija, resulting in a sound the hip-hop flick that would tell it like it is, tion is a joy throughout, from "Going to a they coined as "spoagraphics," or spoken Chaka Khan's wimpy-vampy theme (re- Go-Go" to "I Second That Emotion" to pictures. This Is Madness, the original leased weeks before the credits even rolled) "Cruisin .." And the lush doo-wop ballad group's second album (now reissued), au- injected into this critic's head some serious "(You Can) Depend on Me" is a digital reve- thenticates their ties with African culture. skepticism. It isn't so whack that it's barred lation. Because the song selection tries to be "Related to What," "Mean Machine," and from the boom boxes in my Brooklyn neigh- representative right into the '80s, the disc "This Is Madness" are each divided into two borhood, but "Can't Stop the Street.' sways leaves out too much of the brilliant mid-1960s distinct parts: A "chant" section shifts into when it should rock. Run-D.M.C., the Fat Miracles, including some personal faves ("A the main verse and percussive track. There's Boys, Kurtis Blow, and Sheila E. whip up a Fork in the Road," "The Love I Saw in You a nuts-and-bolts call for human understand- rapper's delight on "Krush Groovin'," which Was Just a Mirage," "My Girl Has Gone") ing in "Mean Machine," where the Poets is more deserving of title-songdom. Still, and some essentials: the elegant "More combine echo and elementary electronic ef- Khan's presence, like Sheila E.'s, affords Love" and the sublime "Ooo Baby Baby." fects to create a true three-man rhythm ma- whiter exposure to hard-core artists such as Still, I'm thankful for what I've got. chine, and although I don't necessarily agree L.L. Cool J. Debbie Harry contributes what Because Al Green never recorded for with their Third World view that the contra- deserves to be her big comeback, the kinetic Motown, his CD doesn't have to redress the ceptive pill is a social evil, the song grooves. "Feel the Spin." But, Mr. Warner Bros. Big same old grievances as Smokey's. Green's Despite the new lineup's disclaimer to Cheese, why lay the unfunky "Love Trian- hits, all made in the '70s, cut in the same rap on Oh My People, their latest release, gle" on the Gap Band? Memphis studio with the same producer/en- the addition of modern synths makes "What Cool J's sturdy, electro-fattened "I Can't gineer (Willie Mitchell) and many of the We Gonna Do" and "This Is Your Life" Live Without My Radio" is the cut most like- same players (the Hodges brothers, the late sound like the kind of music you might hear ly to devastate. It will slow-burn its way up Al Jackson, Jr.), were better recorded and at funky roller rinks. While the latter takes your feet into your brain-fuzz. And speaking pressed to begin with. This collection is rea- off from a "Mean Machine" theme, the over- of fat, the Fat Boys' retread, "All You Can sonably comprehensive, from Green's powering bass beat makes it difficult to Eat," offers the usual human beat-box/ food- slowed-down Southern version of "I Can't think of this as the poetry in motion the Po- processor imitations. Their producer, Kurtis Get Next to You" and his transcendent ets once created. "What Will You Do," the Blow, breezes in with his best track in "Love and Happiness" to the churning origi- only song that follows their original format, years—a well-arranged, melodically con- nal of "Take Me to the River," and it includes drags on dully. Long tracks interspersed

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20 day return ). A rnuSt be phoned in for prior authoriZahon and must be not tape or deface manufacturer's original cartons Shipping and handling chortles not receive within 20 days from receipt of original shipment All products must be returned refundable Pictures are for illustration only and do not represent the product exactly as In Original factory packaging clean and unscratched along with blank warranty card Do shown Rainchecks available upon request. All prices reflect manufacturers rebate Wouldn't you like to have a with mini-interviews are a far cry from the captivating sound that was the stamp of new skill you could call your own? their original, uncompromising artistry. Learn TV, audio, and video servicing Mildred Camacho with at-home training from NRI. AEROSMITII: Done with Mirrors.

You can learn to service and repair niques using a professional 31/2-digital 0 Ted Templeman. prod. Geffen GHS 24091. TV, stereos, electronic musical instruments multimeter. You'll use it when assembling and amplifiers, car and portable radios, your TV to check demonstration circuits record and tape decks, videocassette re- you build on the NRI Discovery Lab, and Ah, well, here you have it. This was a band. in your professional work It's the equip- corders and disc players, almost any kind They might be some kind of bad joke for of electronic equipment on the market. ment and training you need for success. And you can learn to do it at home, in Exclusive NR1 Training on those who'd conveniently prefer to forget your spare time, without quitting your job Videotape what they were doing in the mid-Seventies, or wasting time and gasoline on night In addition to profusely illustrated les- but Aerosmith were hard as molybdenum school. NRI will train you, as it has over a sons, you get NRI Action Videocassettes and boasted a mangy leer that has traveled million and a quarter others, with effective . . . videotaped lessons that show you graphic presentations of surprisingly well. They didn't think big—ac- electronic systems, vivid tually just a little lower than their belt buck- closeups of servicing tech- niques and professional les—but they sure got over. "shortcuts" to study and The surprise of Done with Mirrors is (a) replay as often as you it exists and (b) it isn't half bad, perfect for want. those moments when you'd rather not take Training For Success Excedrin and just ride out that bad attitude NRI not only pre- instead. The legions weren't holding their pares you to become a breath for another side-order of grease, not top technician, we get you ready for independence. after axeman Joe Perry split seemingly for NRI Video/Audio servic- good in '79 and formed his own band. Not ing gives you a great new after Aerosmith had proved their rep a cou- way to earn extra money doing part-time servicing ple dozen times over as unreliable and world- for appliance and depart- class substance abusers. Yet here they are, ment stores—building a on the treatment, doing anti-drunk-driving good-paying new career with an electronics firm commercials and touring their butts off. methods proven over 69 successful years. . . or even starting your own business. Done with Mirrors isn't shooting merely for You can start small, even part-time in your Hands-On Training nasty; it wants to be lowdown, Humble Pie NRI training is practical training all the basement or garage, make the most of way. Throughout your course, you'll per- your opportunities to grow into a success- narsty. form hands-on experience projects that ful businessman Singer and songwriter Steve Tyler Rush Coupon For Free make theory come to life and give you real hasn't lost his crumbum's-eye view of the understanding. Catalog universe: It's all still one big playpen for him Includes Both 25" TV and Send the coupon for our 104-page VCR, Plus DM M and More catalog showing all courses with equipment to pout in and bray about his conquests and As part of your training, you'll build and complete lesson plans. It also shows his dirty-dog image. Has the man lost the other exciting courses like Microcomputers your own 25" Heath Zenith color TV, a knack for pithy wordplay that made "Lord of state-of-the-art unit with infrared remote and Microprocessors. Digital and Com- tuning, programmable channel selection, munications Electronics, and more. Mail Your Thighs" and other tunes such monu- and the incredible space phone for remote the coupon today for your copy. And see ments? "Hey Betty Boop, you got me drool- calling. You also get a front-loading re- how you can make the most of your talent. in'," he sings on "Shame on You." Know mote-controlled videocassette recorder to If coupon has been removed, please write. play your videotaped lessons and learn NRI Schools, 3939 Wisconsin Avenue, why Steverino thinks a "dog" is man's best Washington, DC 20016. about servicing this complex instrument. friend ("The Reason a Dog")? 'Cause "he You'll learn troubleshooting tech- wags his tail instead of his tongue." I rest 1 my case. Supply enough passive aggression Please check for one free catalog only and this stuff can seem almost literary. NRI SCHOOLS o Color TV. Audio. and Video McGraw-Hill Continuing Systems Producer Ted Templeman—he of Van 0 Microcomputers & Education Center Microprocessors Haien fame—isn't Mr. Right for Aerosmith. 3939 Wisconsin Avenue 0 Electronics Design Technology 0 Digital Electronics His glossy, theatrical walls of sound flatten Washington, D.C. 20016 0 Communications Electronics • FCC Licenses • Mobile CB the punch of Perry's work on songs like 0 1111 We'll give you tomorrow. • Aircraft • Marine 1 n Industrial Electronics including "Your Face, My Fist" and "The Hop." Still, The catalog is free. The training is priceless. Robotics 0 Basic Electronics he doesn't torpedo the disc. Captain Lou and Small Engine Servicing Appliance Servicing Rowdy Roddy and their wrestling ilk have Automotive Servicing Age Name (Please Print) Auto Air Conditioning cut an album, but never mind: There's a lot 0 Air Conditioning. Heating. Refrig- eration. & Solar Technology more cartoon violence and sweat on Done Street Building Construction with Mirrors. I put it on, and I only have to All career courses wrestle with my conscience. RJ Smith City/State/Zip approved under GI bill 0 Check for details (Continued on page 74) Accredited by the Accrediting Com mission of the National Home Study Council 161 026 .1 HIGH FIDELITY ITV 'CA AMU T A L 0 G FIflEI I I II 110 II II I V Um Ulm II III

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FEBRUARY 1986 73 New Thing." The label had developed a sta- resonate with the characteristic poignancy JAZZ ble with enough Young Turks and open- of Moncur's theme. SONNY ROLUNS: minded postboppers to guarantee that al- Moncur's personality—a mixture of wry Tim Solo Album. most all freedom expeditions would be well- intelligence and compelling sadness—domi- r% Sonny and Lucille Rollins, prods Milestone staffed with enlightened moderates. nates Evolution just as much as Dolphy's M 9137 CI The results were predictably mixed, but dominates Lunch. It would be eccentric to At his best, Sonny Rollins follows the advice often surprising. For example, trumpeter suggest that the trombonist was as impor- of mentor Thelonious Monk: Work your vari- Freddie Hubbard, who acquitted himself so tant and influential a musician as the fierce ations off the melody of a song, not just its well on Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz and iconoclast. But this reissue will, I hope, draw chords. Rollins has put that tip to good use, previous Eric Dolphy records, sounds less some fresh attention to a neglected and orig- judging from past triumphs. But on this live than comfortable on Out to Lunch. Faced inal artist. Richard C. Walls recording of a one-time-only solo recital, his with almost unlimited options, he often re melodic juices just weren't flowing. sorts to cleverly busy solos, darting over the ORNETTE COLEMAN AND PRIME TIME: Actually, there are plenty of songs lurk- surfaces of the music without really getting Opening the Caravan of Dreams. (7% Kathehn Hoffman, prod. Caravan of Dreams inside it. On the other hand, vibist Bobby ing about, but few of them clock in at over Productions COP 85001. (312 Houston St., five seconds. Instead, we get an unrelenting Hutcherson, who has since become a rela- Fort Worth, Texas 76102.) stream of fragmented runs, stop-start rhyth- tively anonymous purveyor of modern bop, mic phrases, scalar figures, and roving lines. sounds every bit as possessed as the leader. In September 1983, Ornette Coleman re- The result is maddening. At this perfor- He eagerly explores both textural and con- turned to his native Fort Worth to inaugu- mance, recorded outdoors at the Museum of ceptual possibilities, so that a single solo rate the Caravan of Dreams, a nightclub for Modern Art in New York, Rollins couldn't might range from twinkling-bell prettiness experimental music and theater. Performing hang on to any melody (or harmony, for that to blunt, humorous phrases that resolve at home for the first time in 25 years, he matter), original or otherwise. themselves with a rude, metallic "bong!" played with the local symphony, with a There's a lot of nerve and technique on And Tony Williams, who a few years hence string quartet, and with his Prime Time har- display, but there's a lot of anxiety, too. At would become a devotee of fusion, that least molodic juggernaut. This is the first of three points, the saxophone colossus has to fall rewarding of genres for drummers, here live sets from that weekend to be released back on banal ditties to focus himself—a real boldly leads the rhythm section through the and for my money is the best Ornette album bad sign. When he touches on "There's No spontaneous breakups and recombinations since he unveiled Prime Time on 1977's Place Like Home" a second time, the audi- that turn each solo into a free-form suite. Dancing in Your Head. ence applauds, grateful that he has settled Out to Lunch is arguably Dolphy's finest Just compare this version of "Sex down at least for a few bars. Rollins's obvi- record, not only because of his own impas- Spy"—Ornette over two basses, drums, and ous discomfort and nervous flitting about ul- sioned playing, but because the rhythm sec- guitars—with the duet he cut with bassist timately grinds The Solo Album down to the tion (which includes bassist Richard Davis, a Charlie Haden on 1979's Soapsuds, Soap- level of a hip parlor game: Invite your past collaborator) has chutzpah: They follow suds. That one is slow and languorous—also, friends over and see how many split-second him out on his special limb and then try to unfortunately, studied and clinical (as much song quotations they can identify. shake the whole tree once they get there. of Coleman's studio music has been over the Maybe the whole thing can be written Further evidence of Williams's and Hut- last few years). With Prime Time, the tempo off to self-consciousness. It's not like playing cherson's glory days as revolutionaries can is supercharged, and Ornette comes at you unaccompanied is anything new to Rollins: be found on Grachan Moncur Ill's Evolu- in such a flurry that you hardly realize it's Lone-wolf cadenzas are part of his legend. tion, an album that has hardly received its the same tune. The original "sex spy" must But in the past, when inspiration was ex- due, partly because its achievements are not have been a daydreamer; this one is a heavy- hausted, he knew his band was there to help of the firebrand kind and partly because the breather. out. On this night, the pressure just got to trombonist's subsequent sparse recording Aggression alone does not make for bet- him. I hope he thinks twice before attempt- career has discouraged critical reevaluation. ter music, needless to say, but this stuff has ing another solo flight. Steve Futterman Moncur was a tidy, rather ironic improviser an earthiness and a raw vitality I haven't who granted his players a conditional free- heard from Ornette in some time. Can it be a dom that allowed them to soar as best they coincidence that this is his bluesiest album in ERIC DOLPNY: years? On "City Living," "Harmolodic Be- Out to Lunch. could against the melancholy pull of his com- bop," and "To Know What to Know," Or- O Michael Cuscuna, reissue prod. Blue Note positions. This tension proved an effective BST 84163. spur to longtime boppers like alto saxophon- nette plays with abandon, repeating rhyth- ORACHAN IAONCUR III: ist Jackie McLean and trumpeter Lee Mor- mic phrases, building the tune the same way Evolution. gan, who swing a little looser here without classic r&b sax honkers (his earliest influ- (7% Michael Cuscuna, reissue prod. Blue Note having to face the traumatic lack of struc- ence) would have. Welcome home, indeed. BST 84153. 0 ture that stymied Hubbard. Meanwhile, the The Prime Time band members often be- It was typical of Blue Note that the sidemen drummer and the vibist, as on the Dolphy gin tunes tentatively, as if they're waiting to on these two reissues, both examples of the record, often play like there's no tomorrow, see where Ornette's going, but then they label's mid-1960s involvement with the particularly on Side 1. The flip side is more tighten up and churn down their own path. avant-garde, would have been as comfort- conventional, with "The Coaster" a hard- When Ornette lays out, which he does very able with a more conventional setting as driving standout kicked along by Williams's rarely, they don't alter their attack to cover they were with what was then called "The dazzling drumwork. Its high-spirited solos for him at all. There's only one soloist here,

14 HIGH FIDELITY and the rest is ensemble playing that derives directly from jazz tradition; for the first time, it's clear how little (beyond use of elec- Pea s most trosie0 tric guitar) Prime Time owes to rock. Steady et Home Iniertatnmen1 as the band is, this remains Ornette's show all the way. Quite simply, he blows up a storm. John Morthland PRICES!

ZOOT SIMS: In a Sontimontal Mood. 0 Rune Obverman, prod Pablo 2310-914. CI Send For The late Zoot Sims gained attention as one of the "Four Brothers," saxophone players in Woody Herman's big band, all of whom FREE Catalog! worshipped at the altar of Lester Young. I Reg NOW Reg. NOW don't think Sims ever completely threw off La Fille Mal Empire Strikes S998 that association, although he spent the next Gardee Back 81998 40 years backing away from Young's seduc- $2998 81 998 Take the Money S2998 Staying Alive tive influence. and Run S998 Midnight Sims developed a style that leaned to- Peter Grimes Express S34 98 81998 ward bop without losing the tonal expres- (Opera) 81998 Terms of siveness of older saxophonists. The musical Dragon Slayer 819 98 Endearment 82698 shake-ups of the '60s left him out of the pic- ture, and he compensated by turning inward, Call Or Write Today For A Free Sales Catalog. broadening and deepening his sound; the Specify Laser Disc. We Ship Anywhere! C.O.D. MasterCard, VISA. Phone 1-800-626-3078 • In California 1-800-626-1768 or (213) 973-7373. swinger gave way to the romantic. His up- 4900 West 147th St., Hawthorne, CA 90250. tempo excursions were still models of con- trol, eliciting momentum and excitement from the most select notes. But at this point his ballads became the source of a new plea- sure: Using the same economy of means, Sims indulged himself in a tone of near in- toxicating sensuality. Recorded in Sweden in 1984 with just bass and guitar, In a Sentimental Mood is an unpretentious assortment of familiar standards and a blues. Who would have thought that anyone could cut through the dust of such war-horses as "Autumn

Leaves" and "Sweet Lorraine"? The intima- U N BE ATA BL E PRIC E S • PR OFE S SIO N AL SE RVIC E cy of the trio setting and the comfortable- FLEXIBL E PAY M E N T PL A N S • IM M E DIATE DELIV E RY ness of the lived-with material bring out an ISFUSTEREO VIDEO/7.V. CAR STEREO PANASONIC 5523 00 S240 00 unusual depth of feeling in both Sims and TALISMAN 129 00 KENW000 ZENITH 003200 S589 00 007513 S20 , 00 MONSTER INTERLINE I aa, 29 00 SONY JVC HRD566 8709 00 YAMAHA YCI800 5355 00 CARVER C4C00 858 00 RCA VLT600HF SS39 00 5481 00 bassist Red Mitchell. Sims's tone has rarely CANTON KARAT 200 266 00 OK NON DCR7600 SONY SLHF400 SABO 00 NAKAMICHI 113500 5493 00 ADVENT BABY 64 00 SHARP VC760 6109 00 JENSEN 509 TRIAX S 59 00 DENON DRM22 309 00 sounded as warm and personal, and Mitch- FISHER F1/14825 6409 00 JVC HSRX400 S199 00 MISSION 780 544 00 HITACHI CT 834 I 169 00 NAD 8155 246 00 SONY 2001314 3699 00 ell's solos share his concern for space and 134W 802FSP 949 00 RADAR DETECTORS A ,derS In 6100 - VHS Seta & nun NAKAMICH1 R0202 468 00 Call 108 toes, p.c. 5196 00 TECHNICS S6560 328 00 WHISTLER PECTRUM melodic distillation. The bassist's plush walk- FOX 660 $ 78 00 YAMAHA $7 366 00 TYPEWRITERS AKAI 009 299 00 COBRA t1/3101, $ 94 00 ing lines and chorded double stops make him 88 0 MIACI 291 00 COMPUTERS SAE 50004 138 00 SPECIAL SALE 359000 S 172 00 ONKYO TA2056 278 00 SCIA ROYAL 8200 $ 299 00 SOUND a one-man rhythm section; In a Sentimental REVOX 9225 944 00 BROTHER CE70 $ 369 00 CRAF TSMEN 5E550 -CALL - TANDBERG 301144 1092 00 PANASONIC RK400 S 249 00 SOUND AIWA ADF990 382 00 TYPESTAR 5 $ 99 00 CRAFTSMEN DC2214 8885 00 Mood could easily have been a duet. YAMAHA 210 WATT AMP 349 00 CANON COMMODORE C128 S 256 00 080 380111 425 00 SOUND- EPSON FX85 $ 345 00 CRAFTSMEN DC22I5 -CALL- Inevitably, there will be a surge of inter- SOUND- RECORDING TAPE TELEPHONES/ CRAFTSMEN DC4415 -CALL- HAFLER 08500 -CALL- est in the later recordings of Zoot Sims, no F WI T120 34 57 ANSWERING MACHINES HAFLER S245.00 SONY 1750 14.37 HAFLER D14120 -CALL- T ON 5490 $YS/ SANYO TAS3100 S 02 00 HAFLER 08110 8255.00 matter how much they're taken for granted KODAK T820 33.91 PANASONIC XT2425 $169 00 TEAL CACAO $2.39 PHONE MATE 8000 $119 00 NA/16 44,

at the moment. His balladeering is just too 2 t* memorable for him to be omitted from the • Free Subscription—the 2mating international Wholesale fia;ette r-• ranks of the great saxophonists who origi- NO MEMBERSHIP FEE REQUIRED , nally inspired him. Regardless, this album al- • Installment Payment Credit Plan • Friendly, knowledgeable sales people ‘ti, • All products brand new and carry U.S.A. warranties -.°49,0101' ready sounds like a classic. HOURS. 9AM-7PM EST Steve Futterman FOR FASTEST (212) 684-6363 Monday-Saturday SERVICE CALL or Write Direct: 2 PARK AVENUE, DEPT. 13, New York, N.Y. 10016 FEBRUARY 1986 PIlots 6306/0t 0 ehange 6119021m:4C. We reset/0811W 065110 Itmll quinItItes OHM may Ise wInctraren any1tMe

• . 0 SEND FOR OUR NEW SWING SHIFT (Continued from page 65) Soul." Fair enough. But shouldn't the under his wing. It used to amaze me how same charge be lodged against Wynton FREE MINI approachable my heroes were, how eager and Branford Marsalis in relationship to HI-Fl DISCOUNT they were to pass along advice. All you Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter? What had to do was show an interest." Vache about the multitude of callow tenor saxo- CATALOG No. GGA and Hamilton have shared bandstands phonists recycling old Coltrane licks, so with the Eldridges and Benny Goodmans obsessed with scales and passing chords esie and Buddy Tates and Benny Carters, the that they don't even realize they're acting • Lowest prices ----N-ine OuRT7Lar, "v".. on audio father figures that thoroughly modern out a second-hand obsession? It's difficult components! 1 millies like David Murray and Wynton to avoid the conclusion that these two in- • • Fast service! Marsalis can only worship from afar. It vite skepticism not because they're old- • Fully insured! was inevitable that these two throwbacks fashioned, but because they don't play • In factory •••11 . sealed would eventually meet, and fitting that hard bop. cartons! their first encounter was at Condon's. For Or that Hamilton and Vache might be decades, that club and Ryan's stood as a regarded very differently if they were fortress against Greenwich Village jazz black. They discovered their fathers' trad progressivism, until both fell to the wreck- and swing collections around the same iuno ing ball in 1985: What bebop could not time that many of their black contempo- Q*REPRODUM011,rng. undo was no match for urban renewal. raries were buying their first Coltrane and (201) 227-6720 aar Unlike Vache, who holds a degree in Davis albums, when innovation was syn- • CUP & MAIL TODAY! music education from Montclair (New Jer- onymous with black protest; preservation II me M O ME M I sey) State College, Hamilton is basically was the white man's burden. Since then, • Sound Reproduction, Inc. I 241 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield, N.J. 07003 II self-taught and cannot read music. "It the rhetoric has taken an unexpected turn: I Please rush your free Hi-Fi Discount Catalog I doesn't handicap me as a bandleader. I Young black musicians are now applauded know enough terminology to tell the guys for their fealty to the old masters. A small- I Name what I want, and if that doesn't work, I group-swing revival would seem a logical I Address can demonstrate on piano. Not reading development in such a climate, and a City has one advantage: I'm not tempted to ac- glance through the new-release bins con- • State Zip cept studio work." What did handicap firms that we might be in the middle of imiso m mim memomo m mimmil Hamilton was a malady common to jazz- one. Look at the covers of these albums, men of his generation: "Not knowing any though: The only faces not pocked with songs! I thought I knew plenty, but what I age belong to white men. Remember when M orrng? actually had learned were their chord the burning question in rock used to be if young white men could sing the blues? (I Be sure and send us your new changes, not their melodies. John Bunch address 8 weeks before you move set me straight on that pretty fast." Now bet Hamilton does.) The only pertinent an- so you won't miss any copies of Hamilton teaches himself an old song by swer to that question: Maybe not, but with HIGH FIDELITY. listening to a vocal recording—and, as notable exceptions, young black men sure And please include an old mailing Young used to, he pays careful attention aren't about to. They're not about to swing label from our magazine when to the lyrics, "not for poetic or sentimental anymore either—at least not in the grand writing us about your subscription. reasons but just for help in phrasing the old manner of four beats to the measure. Write to: HIGH FIDELITY, The blues will never really die, of P.O. Box 10759, Des Moines, Iowa 50340 melody properly." . Change of address. Both Hamilton and Vache record as course, and neither will swing. Both con- " Enter new subscription. 1 yr. $13.95 leaders for Concord Jazz. And as members tinue to manifest themselves in many dif- payment enclosed " bill me in good standing of the label's floating ferent guises. Still, who would want to say Addi postage $6 per year outside U.S its poss. stock company, they are helping to revive goodbye to the original article? Vache is AFFIX LABEL a glorious old tradition with their work be- right when he says that the music of Cole- --- man Hawkins (and, by implication, his con- If you have no label handy, print OLD address here1 hind singer Rosemary Clooney. In the 1930s, top-notch improvisers regularly temporaries) will survive forever in this

narl,e please print played supporting roles on records by all age of mechanical reproduction. But jazz addfess manner of vocalists. "That tradition has fans know better than anyone that records e passed," Hamilton points out. "And it's a are sepulchral even when brand-new; the I stale Dp Code shame. Ironically, the only guys who know moment of inspiration they document is an L _ New Address how to play something behind a singer echo that grows ever distant. The few sur- viving heroes from the glory days of name now are rock musicians; they're the only please peel ones who have had any practice." swing aren't going to live forever. The address worst that one can accuse Scott Hamilton csty As I understand it, the biggest gripe and Warren Vache of is atavism, not mim-

slate ,P Code against Hamilton and Vache is that their icry, and it's good to have them around. solos lack the historical primacy that They're living proof that the jazz tradition FOR EVEN FASTER SERVICE CALL TOLL FREE Vache hears in Hawkins's "Body and didn't begin with Kind of Blue. •

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SMALL MEMBERSHIP FEE INCLUDES GIFT COMPACT DISCS-Most S11.99-513.99. 2,800 CERTIFICATE - WRITE EARS, BOX Plus Titles in Stock. Free Catalogue Plus 10245F, Milwaukee, WI 53208. Tapes & Records Monthly Updates. OZ Records, 5246H Memorial Drive, Stone Mountain, GA 30083, A MPEX P- TAI (404) 292-5452. Quality Open Heel 1800' or 2410' oll /. Reels Used us, , Case of 40. $45 00 3600' and Cassettes MC/Visa Valtech Electronics. Box 6-H. Richboro, PA 18954 (215) NORTHEASTERN COMPACT DISCS & 322.4866 CASSETTES. Lowest Prices. Widest Selection. Order Today! CALL TOLLFREE FREE RECORD. CASSETTE AND COMPACT I., 1-800-231-5811 (In CT, 1-452-1490). 7 CATALOG Features a tremendous selection of remaindered LP and cassette values in all musical day/week: 9 am-11 pm EST. v:00 H at 400 110C1 Of 0•4 01,1. 0• 01,•1 M C10 0000 41.1.00 .014 • .. . NOG Cc.1.41,5 /6 Siff 0.10.• C 0 •00 categories Compact disc, cassette and LP new releases at VISA/MC/COD accepted. Northeastern ta .l. itihrf V MMMM MM I! 1. no Prow sr 8101.01 . real, discount prices Many imports and smaller labels offered Compact Discs & Cassettes, 29 No. Hillside C ONIPLET [ L O W Of TOO *N O W ILL MIST OOK Prompt delivery Rose Records, Dept El, 214 South Ln., Monroe, CT 06468. Wabash Avenue, Chicago. IL 60604 C.D.SUPERMARKET PRICES SLASHED!! MOST COMPACT DISCS $12.49. LARGE MONTREAL'S MAGNIFICENT MAESTRO SELECTION. PROMPT DELIVERY! For (Continued from page 54) leave the local townspeople more annoyed information and phone orders, call TOLL- er sound. Perhaps it's no accident, then, than impressed when automobile traffic is FREE 800-382-1985. CA residents 800-322- that Dutoit achieves a voluptuous tone rerouted with roadblocks saying "Silence: 1985. C.D. Supermarket, 1525 Aviation conducting with his arms so far extended On enregistre!" That precaution, howev- Blvd., Suite 8-210, Redondo Beach, CA that he appears to be strung up by the el- er, is not enough to rid the area of noise 90278. bows. Of course, a much simpler and con- from private seaplanes on the nearby riv- siderably less mysterious explanation also er—which, by the way, is the sound one COMPACT DISCS AND LASER VIDEO is available: He has been known to repeat hears in the background of the MSC's ac- DISCS. Nice Prices — free lists. MC/VISA. a phrase of music 40-50 times in rehearsal. count of Respighi's Feste Romane. SIGHT & SOUND, INC. 18 Bennett Street, Dutoit is not one to leave anything to Such things sneak into the Montreal Dept. HF, Boston, MA 02135. (617) 787-4465. chance. He prepares meticulously for con- recordings simply because there isn't time certs, and for recordings he sometimes for a retake. For example, the orchestra COMPACT DISCS & ACCESSORIES. Call works years in advance. When given the only had ten hours of studio time for Ber- TOLL FREE 1-800-ALL-DISC (in okay to record Hoist's The Planets last lioz's Romeo et Juliette and Grande Sym- Connecticut 1-452-0203) For Free year, he began teaching it to the orchestra phonie funebre et triomphale. Predict- CATALOG M-F, 10-8, Saturday 10-6. 41 slowly over the summer, programming ably, recording sessions drive Dutoit into Monroe Turnpike, Trumbull, CT 06611. isolated movements at first, refining the an even greater frenzy of striving for per- whole thing on periodic runouts, and then fection. "I get so frantic and crazy!" he ad- Miscellaneous fine-tuning it at a subscription concert. mits. "I become very impatient if I see that

l[kMiAPtii ASbiS1A1i,.L 15.278 papers available' 306- we're losing minutes. It drives me crazy! page catalog—rush $1 00 Research 11322 Idaho, The night before a session, the players re- Everything has to work. I squeeze the lem- a • Angeles 9 , OR ,1 5 .'13-477-822F, hearse at the orchestra's recording venue, on of everybody! ... But I don't think any Business Opportunities St. Eustache Church. Though inconve- artist can pretend that a record is anything niently located 30 miles outside of Montre- I RUNIC HLPRESLNIAI IVES NEEDED.' Lowest more than just a moment of life. How good

Possible Prices. Over 100 Brands , Audio-Video-Car al, the church saved the MS0 from its it is depends on the day, the weather, how Stereos + Computers , Electronic Experts 1000 Orange acoustically dry home, the Salle Wilfrid you feel...." Not surprisingly, by the time Ave West Have , CT 06516 Pelletier, which would have been disas- a disc comes out, he is often ready to rere- Inventions trous with such sensuous repertoire. In cord it, so quickly do his ideas about a

I 111, deas. Inventions, New Products. fact, St. Eustache was found to be the only work change. improvements on existing products We present Ideas to building in the Montreal area that had Beyond Berlioz, Dutoit is all over the manufacturers Confidentiality Guaranteed Call Toll Free 1- 800-225-5800 for information kit good sound with relatively quiet surround- map with dreams of recording several of ings. Acclaimed as one of the greatest re- the more obscure Serge Diaghilev ballets. cording sites since London's Kingsway And having just finished a disc of Suppe Hall was lost to the industry, St. Eustache overtures, he'd love to devote a few ses- HIGH FIDELITY CLASSIFIED is often mistakenly called a cathedral by sions to Offenbach and other composers ORDER FORM record critics who assume that such rich- that some conductors dismiss as pops-con- RATES PER WORD: 15 word minimum ness would have to come from an august No charge for zip code cert fare. "You know people like that? building. In reality, the church is so nonde- They are snobs! It's great music and it de- Regular Type: $2.75 per word. Imperial Type: $3.75 per word. script, it wouldn't rate a blink from pass- serves to be played well." Discounts for 3 times: 6 times: & 12 times. ing motorists were it not for a plaque in Yet the repertoire he calls his "Bible" Check one: LIJ Regular U Imperial front commemorating the obscure 1837 dates back much further in his music edu- 35 : 6xE 12x E- Battle of St.-Eustache, which seems to cation, to the time he was a child: Bach, have occurred during no war in particular. Haydn, and Mozart. With great interest, Please print or type message below or on sep- arate paper Yet, there is a generous reverberation, he follows the unfolding performance- Name thanks to the unusually spacious interior, 'practice trend, and admits he has already Company and an evenness is imparted to the sound been influenced by it in having adopted a

Address by the dimpled ceiling. "There's no big more detached bowing style and less vi-

City/State/Zip buildup of the low end. Nothing ever brato. "Harnoncourt, Hogwood, and Gar-

Phone clouds the registers. With this kind of rep- diner, they're doing a great job of trying to

Signature ertoire, it has to be slightly washy, but clean up certain things. There is a lot to clear," says London Records engineer learn from these people, and I'm sure our Payment must accompany order James Lock, who discovered the church Send to Candice Leyden way of looking at these pieces will change. HIGH FIDELITY just as he was about to leave Montreal in I'd love to do a major public study of The 825 Seventh Avenue New York, N.Y. 10019 despair. Art of Fugue (with both lectures and per- (212) 887-8459 or The orchestra personnel and the formances).. . . 800-ABC-MAGS church are incongruent bedfellows. "If I had one wish, though," Dutoit Payment enclosed $ Though the recording crew tries to adjust says quietly, "it would be to record all the MASTER Card # taping schedules so that a local Alcoholics Mozart piano concertos and operas. There VISA Card # Anonymous group can hold its regular is nothing better in the world of music. It is noon meetings at the church, the sessions the top of creation." •

79 R E A D E R - A C T I O N P A G E

Many manufacturers who advertise in HIGH FIDELITY offer additional literature on their Advertising products free of charge to our readers. For more information on specific products advertised in this issue, drop a postcard, care of Dept. HF-286 unless otherwise noted, Index to the addresses listed below. If an address does not appear, literature is available through the company's dealers only.

Polk Audio Inc. Ambico 60 Aiwa Ken Crane 35 Oxford Drive. Moonachie. NJ 07074. 4900 W 147 Sr.Hawthorne, CA 90250 1915 Annapolis Rd., Balitmore, MD 21230 Art Dept HF 286 Att. Dept. HF 286 301 /837-4300 Att. Dept. HF 286 Audio Technics U.S. Inc. 7 Ambico Kyocera International, Inc. Radio Shack 50 Maple St. Norwood, NJ 07648 7 Powder Horn Dr., P O. Box 4227 300 One Tandy Center. Ft. Worth TX 76102 Aiwa America, Inc. 19 Att Dept HF 286 Warren, NJ 07060 Art : Dept. HF 286 Art Dept HF 286

LaBelle Camera & Stereo of Maine, Sansui Electronics Corp., Carver Corp. 10 Audio Technics 1221 Commerce Dr. Stow, OH 44224 155 Main Sr.Biddeford, MA 04005, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 216/686-2600 Art Dept HF 286 800-341-0783, In ME. HI. AK 201/604-7300, Art: Dept. HF 286 Harman Kardon 14 207-281-1401, Att Dept HF 286 Carver Corporation. Siefert Research P 0 Box 1237, Lynnwood, WA 98046, Maxon Corporation of America 31212 Ballard Rd . Malibu CA 90265 69 Illinois Audio An Dept HF 286 60 Oxford Drive. Moonachie. NJ 07074 213/457-4239 Art Dept HF 286 Art Dept HF 286 Dimon America. Sound Reproduction International Preview Society 17 27 Law Drive, Fairfield NJ 07006 NEC Home Electronics (USA) Inc., 7 Industrial Road, Fairfield, NJ 07006 201 1575 7810 Art Dept HF 286 1401 Estes Ave , Elk Grove Village, IL Art Dept HF 286 JVC Company of America 21 60007. Harman Kardon, 312 228.5900 Att Dept HF 286 Tesc Corp. of America, 240 Crossways Park West. Woodbury. NY 7733 Telegraph Rd. Montebello, CA 90640. J & R Music World 67 11797 New York Wholesale Warehouse Art Dept HF 286 800/528-6050, Art: Dept. HF 286 2 Park Avenue. New York, NY 10011 212/684-6363 Att. Dept HF 286 Technics, Ken Crane 75 Illinois Audio, One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094, 12 E Delaware Place. Chicago, IL 60611, Perreaux Att. Dept. HF 286 Kyocera International, Inc. 6 800/621-8042. Att Dept HF 286 do Westbury Advertising Assoc 1635 Privado Rd. Westbury. NY 11590 TDK Electronics Corp. J&R Music World, 516 16831000 Alt Dept HF 286 12 Harbor Park Dr.. Port Washington, NY LaBelle Camera & Stereo 71 23 Row Park, New York, NY 10038. 10050 Customer Service Dept. Art Dept. HF 286 Art : Dept. HF 286

MassII Corp. Cover IV Yamaha Electronics Corp. USA, JVC 41 Slater Dr, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407 660 Orangethorpe Ave Buena Park CA 90620. Nakamichi Cover III Art Dept HF 286 Art Dept HF 286

National Radio Institute 72

NEC Cover 11,43

New York Wholesale Warehouse 75

Perreaux 12,13

Polk Audio, Inc. 8,9

Radio Shack 3

Sansui Electronics Corp. 29

Siefert Research 61

Sound Reproduction 76

TDK Electronics Corp. 11

Technics 5 Advertising Offices Slew York ABC leisure Magazines. kr, 825 7th Ave. 7th Floor, New York. NY 101319 Tel (212) 265 8360 James A Casella. Advertising Dream &died J Yamaha 22 Morino, National Accounts Menne,. Michael Goklbeg. Eastern Adreneng Manger. James A Walken. Retold Adventure' Manager. Candse Leyden. Dasof Kid Advernong Managm Kathleen Claes, Banta of Products., Jaw Cennak. Adveniong Psiduchon Manager Mi st High Fidehn. Hitchcock Bulldog. Wheaten Ill 60187 TN (3121653 8020 Stan lane. Midwe'st Advertrung Waage, Las fterilear ABC Lenore Magness. Inc 2020 Avenue of the Stars. Suite 245. Century DN. Calif 90067 Tel (213) 557 , 6482 Add Weitien. Western Advernson Manager Plaiissel Reps: Kathleen Choda. Kathleen G Chada Associates. 21000 W Fourteen Mae Road. Birmingham Mich 48010 Tel (3131 642 3482 Tokyo: Jaw Memnon Commonsense. Inc. New Grua Bldg. 7-3 13 Grua. Ono •ku. Tokyo 104. Japan TN 033) 571.8748 Shigeo Kolseredv

I. HIGH FIDELITY

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Escape from the ordinary. Escape to the realism of Nakamichi Sound. The Nakamichi CR-7A Discrete-Head Cassette Deck —the most convenient—and sophisticated— recording instrument conceived by man. It selects equal.zation automatically— yet you can override the choice. It adjusts azimuth, level and bias automatically— yet you can match azimuth to any tape —from your armchair— with a wireless remote control. Its real-time counter reads elapsed time —and time remaining. It will even fade out a recording just before the end—if you'd like. The Nakamichi CR-7A and CR-5A Cassette Decks— Your escape from the ordinary. Your escape to Nakamichi reality!

n kNakamichi Nakamichi U S A Corporation 19701 South Vermont Ave . Torrance. CA 90502 (213) 538-8150 In Canada W Carsen Co. Ltd , 25 Scarsdale Road, Don Mills. Ontario M3B 3G7 solutely not. There are It helps capture the quality of itcertain areas in life where sound your system was designed you can't skimp on quality. to deliver. That's why there's Maxell XLS Use Maxell XLS for all your tape. It's engineered to achieve a taping needs. lower distortion and wider Because there's simply no sub- dynamic range. XLS frequency stitute for quality. response extends to the widest possible limits, with greater maxell sensitivity throughout the tonal THE TAPE FOR range. SOPHISTICATED EQUIPMENT. c IV'S ..ell t cope ...a el Amen,. ell 011eof Me w . .. PI 1 01014

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