We've just returned from this concert in The Hague:

Elgar, Enigma-variations Xian Zhang, conductor
Sergey Rachmaninov, Piano concert nr. 3 Nikolay Lugansky, piano, Xian Zhang, conductor.

Residentie Orkest The Hague Philharmonic

Mixed feelings and a helluva thoughts (Yeah, as always). OK, one by one…
[read more...]

Or a quadraphonic record into a stereo one.

Le's assume you have a bunch of files in one directory. The following script will downmix 4 channels into 2 with the following proportions:

• LF => 100% LF
• RF => 100% RF
• LB => 100% LF
• RB => 100% RF

and move the stereo files into a directory called "stereo":

If you want to change the front/back ratio to, for example:

• LF => 100% LF
• RF => 100% RF
• LB => 70% LF
• RB => 70% RF

the sox command will look like:

Here's a quick way to upgrade one or both Solaris (tested with Nevada snv_107) and SqueezeCenter (tested with SC 7.4 24827).

1. Remove the CPAN directory in the SC root directory
   # mv CPAN CPAN.orig
2. Install missing CPAN modules
   # perl -MCPAN -e shell
   cpan> install Bundle::CPAN
   . . .
   cpan> reload CPAN
   cpan> install I18N::LangTags
   cpan> force install Scalar::Util
3. Disable Encode::Detect::Detector module in Slim/Utils/Unicode.pm (line 40). The module can't be compiled for Solaris.
   # vi Slim/Utils/Unicode.pm
   . . .
   #use Encode::Detect::Detector;

I'm a big fan of Finite Elemente creations. I had or still have Spider and Master Reference Pagode racks, Ceraballs, Cerapucs, Cerabases… All of them brought a great deal of enhancements in dynamics and resonance dumping. So I thought that The Resonator will definitely not hurt and hopefully bring me closer to There. The idea was to use it on top of the Transporter, which is known for its thin ringy tincan case. But considering the price (319-400EUR in Europe, $550-745 in the US) I decided to audition it first and borrowed one from my dealer.

From the description and ad campaigns:

• Diameter: 120mm
• Height: 30mm
• Weight: 370g
• Material: anodized aluminium (silver or black), stainless steel insert
• The Resonator converts the resonance energy into heat across a broad band, instead of relocating its spectrum or generating new intrinsic like conventional attenuation of component cabinets, using mass blocks, for example.
• Strategically placing the Resonator in a resonant zone on your component's chassis, can reduce vibration by more than 20dB

This is what it looks like:

[read more...]

SqueezeCenter 7.2 is officially out and not interesting anymore ;-) Let's have a look at version 7.3 which has a new streaming service. In this test I downloaded SqueezeCenter-7.3-22975.ZIP from here.

The first attempt to start the server (after unpacking and "chmod"-ding) gave me this error:

The "built-in" build-perl-modules.pl failed to install the CPAN module:

So, I decided to go the old way and get rid of the supplied with SqueezeCenter CPAN directory.

… update YAML::Syck just in case…

… and start the server again …

This error looks familiar. And after commenting line 40 in SqueezeCenter-7.3-22975/Slim/Utils/Unicode.pm (#use Encode::Detect::Detector; ) the server came alive and immediately updated the firmware of the Transporter to version 62.

… EACом грабанул, на флаки фубаром по кую покромсал … (Alextref)

… распакуй вв в вав, и жги EAC-ом через куй … (yuri_usa)

… Куй тэги пока Реплюй Гейн не пришел … (LF)

http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cjk32/hdcd/

According to the discussion  (here) the following command should work:

Read this article first.

Summary:

"After using the two power conditioners with different components  (both tube and solid state) and at different times of day and night, I reached the conclusion that the "DIY Hydra" was a sonic twin to the production Shunyata Hydra 4, taking into account the additional purity provided by eliminating the varistor in my "DIY Hydra". I found that similar performance to a $700 manufactured product could be obtained for an expense of roughly $100 and some time and effort. The downside is that the "DIY Hydra" has a resale value of effectively zero. The well-reviewed – and deservedly so – Shunyata Hydra 4 will retain its value far better."

Notes:

• New Hydra Model-4 costs between $800 and $1300.
• 2nd hand one can be found for $500-600

Conclusion:

• Do not buy new
• The DIY one costs less than the difference between "new" and "old"

Something to think about …

After upgrading to snv_93 SqueezeCenter (quite predictably) refused to start again. The error was:

The issue is related to the same Scalar::Util module. Just force install it like explained here.

MAC (Monkey's Audio Converter) for Windows can be downloaded from http://www.monkeysaudio.com. But what about a UNIX version? Two years ago v3.99 Update 4 Build 5 was released but then the development stopped because of some contradictory licensing reasons. That means that MAC for UNIX is not maintained anymore. Fortunately, the old version still works. I compiled it under Solaris 11 x86 and use it for SqueezeCenter.

The source tar file is attached to the post: mac-399-u4-b5.tgz (MD5)

Some notes.

• To check the MD5 digest:
  % md5sum -c mac-3.99-u4-b5.tgz.md5
  mac-3.99-u4-b5.tgz: OK
• Always use –prefix=/usr/local (or any other directory in which you keep non-standard files) configuration parameter, because by default the prefix is set to /usr. You might overwrite Solaris file /usr/bin/mac (message authentication code):
  % ./configure –prefix=/usr/local
• If you are going to use –enable-assembly=yes option (you need yasm to compile assembler code) under Solaris change "sh" to "bash" in src/MACLib/Assembly/Makefile in the following line (line 214 in my case):
  STRIP_FPIC = sh $(top_srcdir)/strip_fPIC.sh

  This is what the line should look like:

  STRIP_FPIC = bash $(top_srcdir)/strip_fPIC.sh
• There is already a program /bin/mac (see above). If you don't want to use the full path to the MAC, simply rename the latter:
  # mv /usr/local/bin/mac /usr/local/bin/MAC