CD Recommendation: The Very Best of George Howard and then some.

One of my favorite saxophonists, however he will sadly be missed but his beautiful music lives on.

George Howard: Born September 15th, 1956 - died March 20th 1998 ~ Jazz-Funk / Fusion / Contemporary Jazz an Smooth Jazz Soprano Saxophonist.

Extract from Wikipedia:

Howard was born September 15, 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the late 1970s, he began touring with Grover Washington, Jr., who was one of his idols. In the early 1980s, Howard released his first and second studio albums, Asphalt Gardens and Steppin' Out. Both albums were well received and ranked high on the Billboard magazine jazz album charts at number 25 and 9, respectively.

By 1985, Howard's third album, Dancing in the Sun, had scaled the Billboard Jazz Album chart to number 1. Each of his next three albums, Love Will Follow, A Nice Place to Be and Reflections would also reach this height in the Jazz Album chart. After the success of Dancing in the Sun, Howard left the label GRP Records in order to join MCA through the 1988 release of Reflections. However, he returned to GRP Records in 1990 and released Love Will Follow in 1991. He stayed with GRP until his untimely death of lymphoma on March 22, 1998. His final album, There's a Riot Goin' On was released posthumously (one month after his death) on April 21 by Blue Note Records.

If you like the saxophone and smooth Jazz then you should get a copy of "The VERY BEST of GEORGE HOWARD and then Some", this is a compilation of some his best renditions, the first track is one of my all time favorites: "Love Will Follow" and track 10. is another: "Love Will Find A Way", so why wait, get a copy and you will not be disappointed.

Love Will Follow - George Howard

Album Details:

Track listing
1. Love Will Follow 2. Baby Come to Me 3. Everything I Miss at Home 4. When Summer Comes 5. Diane's Blues 6. Home Far Away, A 7. Midnight Mood - (previously unreleased) 8. Cross Your Mind 9. Find Your Way - (previously unreleased) 10. Love Will Find a Way 11. Miracle
Details
Distributor:	Universal Distribution
Recording type:	Studio
Recording mode:	Stereo
Album notes
Producers include: George Howard, Victor Bailey, Morris Pleasure, Sonny Emory, Rayford Griffin, Darrell Smith, Rex Rideout. Compilation producer: John Cartwright. His Discography: 1982 - Asphalt Gardens - Palo Alto Jazz 1984 - Steppin' Out - Palo Alto Jazz 1985 - Dancing in the Sun - Palo Alto Jazz 1986 - Love Will Follow - Palo Alto Jazz 1986 - A Nice Place to Be - MCA 1988 - Reflections - MCA 1989 - Personal - MCA 199? - Dancing in the Sun - GRP ( re-issue ) 1991 - Love Will Follow - GRP ( re-issue ) 1992 - Steppin' Out- GRP ( re-issue ) 1992 - Love and Understanding - GRP 1992 - Do I Ever Cross Your Mind? - GRP 1993 - When Summer Comes - GRP 1994 - Home Far Away - GRP 1995 - Attitude Adjustment - GRP 1998 - Midnight Mood - GRP 1998 - There's a Riot Goin' On - Blue Note

Tube Damper Rings.

Tube dampers are used for reducing the micro phonics in your tube amplifiers rendering less noise and quieter playback of music.

What are micro phonics? The tube is constructed with many metal parts which are put together by welding and by way of support with the mica wafers. The metal parts can vibrate when subjected to shock externally. When the metal parts move, their capacitance change which results in the variation of voltage they produce. As a result micro phonics is induced, feedback generated by a tube’s over-sensitivity to acoustic signals or vibrations. A microphonic tube will amplify or conduct that signal resulting in sonic degradation of the sound produced. You can easily determine if your tube is microphonic by gently tapping it with a pencil (if it is, the tapping will be heard through the loudspeakers). Micro phonics is an inherent property of all vacuum tubes, and all tubes produce micro phonics to some extent no matter how well a vacuum tube is produced. Some audio amplifiers are more prone to micro phonics than the others.

How do tube dampers improve the sound? Tube dampers reduce the amount of vibration within the metal structure, thus minimizing the micro phonics the tube produces. As a result, music appears to be tighter in bass and having a higher level of transparency and resolution.

Most tube damper rings are made of Aerospace High Temperature Silicone, rated to withstand very high temperatures, this is necessary as vacuum tubes run very hot. They are made to absolutely high precision and quality.

I have experimeted with tube damper rings and have fitted them in some instances not entirely because of micro phonics but because I have found that they have made and overall improvement on the music reproduction.

Mhdt Laboratory "Havana" Non-Over Sampling Audiophile Grade DAC (GE 5670 triple mica 5 star tube).

The current Digital-to-Analogue Converter of choice that I use with my Little Dot, Mk VI headphone amplifier is the Mhdt Laboratory "Havana" Non-Over Sampling Audiophile Grade DAC (using a GE 5670 triple mica 5 star tube).


This DAC masterpiece from Mhdt Laboratory in Taiwan is one of the truly better audiophile grade non-over sampling DAC's available on the Market today and the Mhdt team must be congratulated on the design and production of this piece of equipment which has very superior sonic capabilities. It is a no frills DAC and does not have any HDCD decoding capabilities. The reason why this DAC is a real winner is mainly because there are "no op-amps" in the final resulting audio chain and the audio remains faithful without any sonic signatures which op-amps tend to inflict.

The sound is very fluid, musical and the finer nuances not normally noticeable are easily distinguished due to the high resolve capabilities of the DAC, but it does not have the usual hard digital sound which are normally associated with up market DAC and has a touch and warmth of analogue sound which I am accustomed to. Two thumbs up!

The Havana DAC is in fact the Flagship of Mdht Labs. weighing in at US$899. The two other models are the Paradisea 3 list price US$599 and Constantine+ list price US$399.

The service that is also provided by Lin-Li and his team are second to none. "Mdht Labs."

Details:

• This is a DAC mainly designed for the audiophile.

• CS8414 digital input with non-oversampling structure.

• This is traditional DAC, it cannot decode any HDCD signals.
  

• The digital signal accepted is based on the capability of CS8414 digital receiver, which means the max: 96KHz in Spdif format.

• There are "No digital filters", "no Op-amps".

• Utilizes the legendary R-2R multi-bits Burr Brown PCM56P (16 bits) DAC chip.

• There is No differential phase shift in both channels.

• More detailed yet natural and musical sounding.

• Metal case, with silk brushing aluminum plates , smoked acrylic front panel.

• 1 x USB input, 1 x Coaxial input, 1 x Toslink optic input.

• Tube buffered output, tube instocked GE5670.

• Tubes can be rolled: 5670, 2C51, 396A, 6385, 6CC42, 6854, 6N3, 6854, CV2575, CV4013, CV5894, CV8247, CV2381.

• 115/230V power supply selectable from internal PCB jump pins setting

• Output 2.6V, < 800 ohms,

• Dimensions: 28cm(L) x 15cm (W), 7.5cm (H)
  

• Weight: 1.8Kg (3.5 lbs)

CD Recommendation: Chris Babida - I Remember "We Miss You Leslie"

This is a fantastic Jazz CD by Chris Babida and the sonics and atmosphere on the recording is just unbelievable. One of the better recordings that I have heard in a long time. The live club jamming session is just great and is kept lively throughout the whole session. This recording is so good that I use it for a reference recording when listening to various pieces of audio gear now.

My favorite tracks being:

1. Track No. 8 - Play No More;
2. Track No. 3 - A Chinese Ghost Story;
3. Track No. 11 - We Miss You.

The album is a serious dedication to the late Cantonese singer - Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing. The recording is recorded and mastered by JVC, Mr. Tohru Kotetsu and was recorded live. It is a 20 bit Super Coding recording. I would deem this as a must have Jazz album if you are serious about Jazz.

The tracks:

01. 序曲… / Piano Intro
02. 沉默是金 / Silence Is Gold
03. 共同渡過 / Enduring Together
04. 想你 / Thinking Of You
05. 拒絕再玩 / Play No More
06. 倩女幽魂 / A Chinese Ghost Story
07. 無需要太多 / Not Too Much
08. 風繼續吹 / Wind Blows On
09. 深情相擁 / Embrace
10. 你在何地 / Where Are You
11. We Miss You / 鮑比達 演唱

Power Conditioning: Bada LB-3300 Power Filter Plant.

Many are skeptical about the importance of power conditioning, but I am an advocate for cleaner power to the electronics. The effects are not immediately noticeable if you are listening through speakers and many would argue that such devices are questionable and may even downgrade the audio. On the contrary if you listen to music via headphones and do an A-B test of tracks before placing a power filter in-line and after a filter is placed in-line you will notice a difference. The background will appear quieter, there is less noise, resolution is higher and even the overall dynamics, impact and sound stage will be improved. If your filter does not do any of the things I just mentioned then it should be sent away for recycling.

I use a number of different power filter plants.

But not all power filters are created equal. In the study I use a Bada LB-3300 Power Filter Plant and this is an inexpensive model that does actually provide good results, the build quality is solid and robust and is a good item to be added to clean up the mains power and let you enjoy the music more!

The proof is in the pudding:

I've experienced better sounding music reproduction, more silent with less background noise when equipment was plugged in through the Bada LB-3300. The sound staging also appeared slightly deeper and wider. It didn't seem to inhibit the dynamics produced on the various pieces of equipment in the system and in fact I detected some improvement. Certainly a good starter for someone getting in to power conditioning products on a budget or for something in the study.

Bada LB-3300 Power Filter Plant:

• New upgraded product replacement for LB-3000 which is the previous model;
  

• Distribution circuits for less interference and high fidelity, quieter background with less noise;

• For amplifiers, for source and pre-amp, other two outlets with no filters;

• Professional sockets and thick copper spring plates for tight connection and less loss;

• Heavy duty aluminum alloy chassis;

• Protection for AC line transients and overload;

• Detachable power cable;

• Use of Wima MKP-10 capacitors for filtering;

• Has on/off switch to isolate whole system supply.

Specifications:

Rating voltage: 220V/50Hz
Maximum carrying power: 3000W
Maximum electricity: 15A
Size： 127 X 56 X 349 mm
Weight: 2.5Kg

Since the power cord is detachable, my suggestion is replace and upgrade it with something better!

Of course if you want something a bit beefier, there is the larger bigger brother version - Bada LB-5500 (3000 watt rating):

Test and Burn In CD's for System Enhancement.

I have received some emails asking about the XLO Test & Burn In CD that I used for my equipment. This is an HDCD CD produced by the cable manufacturer XLO for test, evaluation and burn in of system cables and equipment which I have found very useful. The Cd should be available from most stockist such as Tower Records, HMV etc., if you have problem get a copy then you can get a copy on eBay. It is about US$25.00. These are also music tracks for evaluation besides the test and burn in tracks. The cover looks like:

TRACKS Disc 1 1. Channel Identification 2. Voice in-Phaes 3. Voice Out-of-Phase 4. Clap Track 5. 315 Hz Test Tone 6. Prof. Johnson Does Something Spatial 7. Demagnetizing Sweep 8. Demagnetizing Fade 9. System Burn-In 10. Mono, In-Phase 11. Mono, Out-of-Phase 12. Stereo, Out of Absolute Phase 13. Stormy Weather 14. Shiny Stockings 15. Morton Gould: Derivations, Rag 16. Janacek: Sinfoniett, "The Queen's Monastery 17. Franz Biebl: Ave Marie 18. Weinberger: Polka and Fugre Label: Reference Recordings Release Date: 09/09/2005 Recording Mode: Stereo Recording Type: Studio Distributor: Allegro (Distributor USA)

You may also wish to check out the Ayre Acoustics - System Burn In CD, The Irrational, But Efficacious! test CD. The five-minute glide tone is the most useful track, when this is played through your system at a moderately low volume, will improve the system sound and is the main system burn in tool .

Ayre advises that the tone helps demagnetize residual fields that build up in your components over time. It is also recommended that your system runs such a track from time to time to keep it in top performance. The other tracks have more specialized functions and feature white noise, pink noise, brown noise, etc.

All tracks were created digitally with 88.2 kHz, 32-bit resolution. Enhanced resolution transfer to the 44.1 kHz, 16-bit CD format was performed using 0.5 bits of dither with a triangular probability distribution function for maximum fidelity.

Awarded a 'Golden ear' award by the Absolute Sound magazine.


Tracks
1. Short Glide Time
2. White Noise
3. Pink Noise
4. Brown Noise
5. Mono Brown Noise
6. Out of phase Brown Noise
7. Full Glide Tour

This Ayre Burn In CD is available from the UK for about GBP16.00 or US$23.36.

Home Grown Custom Made Power Cable: 2M Length VIC 13mm Cable.

This time it's 2 power cables, each of 2M length comprising of VIC 13mm high purity copper with Hubble connector and Permaplug 13 amp plugs plus TDK 13mm RFI clamp on chokes:

Yarland P-100 Tube Headphone Amplifier "2008 Edition" ( 2x EL84/6BQ5, 2x 6N3P )

Yarland P-100 Tube Headphone Amplifier ( 2x EL84/6BQ5, 2x 6N3P );

The photos below are of the Yarland P-100 Tube Headphone Amplifier which utilize 2 x EL84 / 6BQ5 and 2 x 6N3P. There are two Neutrik outputs, one is a 32 ohm impedance (right) and the other is a 300 ohm impedance (left). This is a straight headphone amplifier with only one set of inputs and no pre outs at all!

This unit has travelled from Wang Chung, Wen Zhou Lucheng Yarland Sound & Equipment Factory to Hong Kong which is more then 1000 Km, the journey takes 3 days. The serial no. of the unit is S/N:090502.

In the meantime you can head on over to their web site and browse around first: "Yarland"

Background:

The tube complement are Chinese 2x EL84/6BQ5, 2x 6N3 for the P-100 2008 Edition. The 2008 edition is probably now 3-4th generation for the P-100. The original P-100 appears to be somewhat different in outlook from the present P-100, with all tubes on the outside amplifier top deck with tube cage (the version 1 actually is not bad looking at all {I like it} and in many respects is probably better for tube cooling and more convenient for tube rolling purposes). The original Version 1 P-100 also supported preamp and speaker outputs whereas the present P-100 2008 edition is a straight headphone amp with 1 set of audio inputs and not supporting any pre amp. outputs or speaker outputs at all. The 2008 version is different from the version 2-3 as it is much more beefed up inside, stocking no less then 4 transformers, much larger capacitor banks, better quality audio caps. and 2 Neutrik headphone sockets on the front panel. There are some photos of the P-100 V1 which I have asked another head-fi'er - fhuang for permission to use before I post them and I hope he will allow me to post them.

fhuang on Head-fi (Fulam) has kindly agreed to allowing me to post picks of his P-100 V1, take a look and you will see the big changes:


It is a great pity that the new P-100 2008 edition does not support audio outputs as it would also be nice to have an extra EL84 pre amp to drive speakers. Yarland, please reconsider if you are reading - my suggestions:

1. Revert to the Version 1 Case with all tubes out side and on the top deck;
2. Pre. amp. output;
3. Speaker outputs.

Inset photos shows the Version 2-3, one can see from the front panel the different headphone sockets used:

The stock Chinese tubes sound OK and that is about their extent, but really they are always the limiting factor of all the Chinese amps., this is inevitable since it would not be possible to sell these amps. at the present prices should they supply higher grade tubes. I personally roll the tubes with all my amps. However, changing the tubes is harder with the P-100, since with the Yarland you have to remove the entire cover, but you will be rewarded with far better sound. I have not changed the stock EL84’s yet since my tube armoury has no stock of El84's presently, I need to procure some and have in mind the Siemens EL84's and I have replaced the Sino 6N3’s, with a pair of Sylvania 5670's and they sounded much better than the Sino tubes, which were noisier, less full bodied (sounds like I am describing red wine?), and Sino 6N3's always have a slight coloration to the treble. Below are the Sylvania 5670's used instead of the Sino 6N3's:

As with all new gear, certain hours of burn in are require before one can really give the amplifier a true acid test review and the amplifier is being burned in using an XLO burn in CD presently but the initial response of the sonics and SQ is truly positive.

MORE TO COME!

Manufacturer's Specifications:

Power Tube: EL84 x 2

Voltage Tube: 6N3 x 2 (Now tube rolled: Sylvania JAN spec 5670 x 2)

Working state: class A, single-ended

Bias voltage state: self-support bias

Invariableness power output:

Left stereo socket out: 300Ω 2w

Reght stereo socket out: 32Ω 1w

SNR: 91dB

input terminal:

General Power Voltage:

Max power :80VA

Product Size: (W)400mm x (D)280mm x (H)80mm

SIZE: 310mmWX320mmDX250mmH

WEIGHT: 7kgs

Photos first, more to come!


Photos below: The inside of the P-100 with the Sylvania 5670 tubes rolled in place:
Photo above: In the rack, the Darkvoice 336SE above the Yarland P-100 on the left, below the Yarland is the Mhdt Laboratory "Havana" Non-Over Sampling Audiophile Grade DAC using GE 5670 triple mica 5 star tube.

Cyroset Electro Harmonix EL-84 Matched Pairs:

I had decided to get a set of Cryoset Electro Harmonix E-84 matched pairs. These are a matched pair of EL-84 tubes which have by cryo treated at -300 deg. F for 24 hours using nitrogen and slowly brought back up to room temperature. Thee treatment is said to be ever lasting and will yield great benefits to the sonic values of the tubes. Well my Cryoset EL-84's arrived on 22nd April, 2009 and I will roll them into the P-100 over the weekend for burning in before final evaluation and listening.


Below the new Cryoset Electro Harmonix EL-84 matched pairs rolled into the P-100 on 25th April, 2009. Initial impressions are that the resolution is higher and more refined then the stock Shuguang Chinese EL-84, but it is still early and need some time for the Cryoset matched pairs to burn in before making a proper evaluation. They do sound promising, transients appear to have improved quite a bit and the sound stage is somewhat deeper and wider then before.

Update: 30th May, 2009

I have now over 130 hours burn in time on the P-100 and have found it blooming quite nicely, the bass is tighter, mids and highs are very well balanced with no coarse edges. Resolution is great and overall cohearance is very good, it is very engaging and the soundstage is very wide with my Darth Beyers. Bass impact and dynamics are very good and overall I would say that the amp is really now begining to show it's glory. The burn in wait is worth it.

I had been asked by Fairbanks how I would rate the P-100 against the other amps I own. This is particularly interesting since I have just taken stock of a Audio Space Acoustic Laboratory AS-2.8i tube intergrated headphone amp which comprises of 4 x 6V6, 2 x 12AU7 (rolled with NOS Tungsram) and 1 x 12AX7 (rolled with a TFK smooth plate). The AS-2.8i is not brand new and has been burned in for a while.

Well unfortunately for finese and detail, the P-100 is just slightly behind the AS-2.8i in terms of performance but not by much. It is just that the AS-2.8i seems to be a little bit more refined in all areas and presentation. The spatial impression of the music is better.

As for rankings against my other tube gear, here are the current standings:-

1. Little Dot, MK VI
2. Close tie - AudioTailor "Jade" & Audio Space AS-2.8i
3. Yarland P-100
4. Darkvoice 336SE
5. Oumeidanji KT-88
6. Ella W6

7. Little Dot, Mk III

Chris Babida.

I'm Sorry:

02 Im sorry - Chris Babida


Sweet, Sweet Love:

01 Sweet,Sweet love - Chris Babida


Love on the beach:

13 Love on the beach - Chris Babida


If that's what it takes:

10 If thats what it takes - Chris Babida


Will you cherish me:

15 Will you cherish me - Chris Babida


The good old days:

07 The good old days - Chris Babida