NEW YORK CITY, May 20, 2004 THE HOME ENTERTAINMENT SHOW
Ray Kimber, of KIMBER KABLE, will be demonstrating the latest IsoMike� recordings in the Lincoln Room on the 4th Floor of the NY Hilton. The playback source will be Direct Stream Digital (DSD) tape at 2.8224MHz, via an EMM DCC-2 DAC/Preamp. www.emmlabs.com

The IsoMike� is an acoustic baffle that is placed between two spaced omnidirectional mics. Unlike previous similar baffles the IsoMike� is much larger, magnitudes more absorptive and has a shape that improves the low frequency isolation by "scattered phase." The recordings were made with Tascam DS-D98 HR recorders (www.tascam.com), then transferred to a Pyramix Mastering System (www.merging.com) for edit selection. No gain changes or processing was done, so some tracks will play at softer or louder levels than other tracks. The dynamic range within a track is the same as the original live performance. All recordings were made at a low enough level to assure no clipping, therefore you may need to turn your volume control a bit higher than when playing commercially available CDs which have had their volume "normalized" and/or compressed. Use caution on the first playing as some of the tracks do reach nearly 0VU, and several of the tracks might scare the cats!

The tracks were recorded using only two microphones, however up to 4 recorders were running in sync, so there would be the chance to use two, three or four pairs of microphones and later compare the differences between microphones. Microphones owned by KIMBER KABLE include Neumann M-150, TLM-50, TLM-170, DPA 3529A, 4003, 4007, 4004, Sennheiser MKH-800, MKH-20, Earthworks QTC1 and B.L.U.E. BOTTLE w/B4-B6-B7. www.neumannusa.com, www.sennheiser.com, www.earthwks.com, www.bluemic.com, www.dpamicrophones.com Cables were custom KIMBER KABLE silver microphone cables and KIMBER KABLE Palladian Power cables. The centerpiece between the microphones and recorders is a Millennia Media HV-3D pre-amp (www.mil-media.com). Recording and playback have no mixing, limiting, compression or any other type of processing.

At no time were the microphones in a "close miked" position. Small groups might have a performer-to-microphone distance of 10-15', larger groups would have performer-to-microphone distances up to 60'.


CD Track
DSD Tape
Description
00:00:00
Blank
1
00:01:00
Band
2
00:03:58
Piano Concerto
3
00:07:13
Musical Theater
4
00:08:20
Musical Theater
5
00:09:27
Band
6
00:11:37
Choral
7
00:13:23
Gospel (T Minus 5)
8
00:15:33
Orchestral
9
00:18:05
Piano Concerto
10
00:19:35
Orchestral
11
00:20:28
Orchestral
12
00:22:24
Musical Theater
13
00:23:16
Band
14
00:25:46
Band and Choir
15
00:27:14
16
00:29:30
17
00:32:20
18
00:34:42
19
00:35:44
20
00:39:44
21
00:41:45
String Practice
22
00:46:51
23
00:48:57
24
00:51:04
25
00:55:58
26
00:58:55
27
01:00:55
28
01:03:22


*Note -
Track 7: Excerpt from T Minus 5 Album, PURITY, release date: summer '04 as a SACD Hybrid

Track 21-28: String practice with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble

This was a wonderful experience with new friends and a rare opportunity as Ogden, Utah was the first date of their Fall 2004 US Tour. Cheers to Kenneth Sillito, Harvey de Souza, Mark Butler, Jan Schmolck, Robert Smissen, Duncan Ferguson, Stephen Orton, and John Heley.
There are tracks with little "sounds" in them, like the dropped pencil in track 28 or the sound of a quiet audience between movements on other tracks. We have included these sounds as they allow an interesting way to assess the fidelity of a stereo system.

The DSD tapes will only play in a Tascam DS-D98HR tape recorder. If you use the internal DAC convertors you may want to experiment with changing the filter setting in Menu #D to "custom" instead of "standard". Super high performance will be obtained by using a high quality external DAC that will convert SDIF-3, such as the Ed Meitner EMM DAC. Hint: use the EMM as the clock source.

All DSD recordings have some ultra high-band noise, this might cause audible "sparklies" at high volume settings on playback on some hardware combinations. Nothing is broken, this is the normal result of playing raw DSD, mastered DSD material will have filtered 80KHz noise, call if this is a problem when playing the DSD tapes.

The CDs are Redbook 44.1KHz/16bit down-converted from DSD, playable in a normal CD player.

Since there is NO limiting, the dynamic range might surprise you, your system or your pets. So be VERY cautious the first entire playing so as to not damage amplifiers or speakers. Track #1 is an example of pesky wide dynamic range.

All recordings were made at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah. In the Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts, the Austad Auditorium. Performers are Students, Faculty, Staff, and Guests of WSU. GO WILDCATS!

Track Notes from:
 CES 2003 CES 2004 HE 2003
HE 2004
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