Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2011 was the funnest show I've been to in recent memory even though I missed covering a few floors as time ran out Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure if attendance was up, down, or the same as previous years but I had a great time talking to everyone who made the show. I did much more talking than listening to music at RMAF 2011. The C.A.P.S. v2.0 seminar was really fun as was the Windows seminar in the AudioQuest suite. There were a few new products at RMAF this year and a few old products with Series 2 type upgrades. Most impressive were the new products from Peachtree Audio, Stax, Woo Audio, and the never budget friendly Burmester Audio Systems. If this Rolls Royce of music servers fits one's budget at $50,000 then why not pick one up? Life is too short and your money won't do you any good when your dead. (To be read sarcastically with a smirk on one's face).
The 2011 California Audio Show was a blast. First and foremost I enjoyed meeting several Computer Audiophile readers, answering their questions, and thanking them for being so loyal. Seriously if every show was like this I'd attend them all! In general I was enthused by the high level of knowledge of the show attendees. Maybe there's a reason the Bay Area has the highest population of Computer Audiophile readers in the world :~) The California Audio Show couldn't have been more opposite from the Newport Show in June. The Newport show was full of physical media on CD or vinyl. The CA Show was full of computers and music servers. I only saw a few rooms without computer based audio of some sort. In addition to meeting people and seeing a plethora of computer audio systems I found what could easily be my 2011 product of the year.
Most computer audiophiles living in the San Francisco area are well aware the California Audio Show
takes place July 15, 16, 17. If this is news to you I highly recommend looking into the show and attending if time permits. The Bay Area has the largest population of Computer Audiophile readers in the world. I'd enjoy meeting up with any readers going to the show. During the show I'm going to co-moderate the DSD panel presentation with Cookie Marenco of Blue Coast Records. I'll try to squeeze as many computer audio related DSD questions in as possible. CA readers at the show will definitely want to stop by the Marutani Consulting suite in Plaza 1 Ballroom. Sharing the space will be Blue Coast Records. Tim has assembled a great group of industry leaders to speak in the suite as well as an incredible playback system. The system is capable of playing any relevant format such as vinyl via Continuum turntable, tape via ATR102.5 tape machine, 1x 2x and 4x high resolution PCM, DXD, and DSD. Some of the files played in the suite are direct to DSD masters. The components assembled to playback this material range from Pyramix and Sonoma digital audio workstations to Constellation Audio amplifiers and Magico Q5 loudspeakers. All of this sounds good on paper or on screen, but may mean nothing without proper installation, setup, and the ability to work with the Plaza 1 Ballroom's acoustics. I'm excited to see Tim's suite, many other exhibits, and the CA readers at the show.
I would much rather see a photograph taken by Ansel Adams using a cheap disposable camera than an amateur photographer using the best camera in the world. The same thought process holds true when it comes to high end audio shows. Decent components can sound wonderful in the right hands while the "best" components on Earth can be unlistenable if not setup with the utmost care. T.H.E. Show Newport Beach was populated by few of the former and far too many of the latter. Not only was most of the sound bad, most of it was reproduced with old school disc spinners like CD players and turntables. T.H.E. Show Newport Beach was like a time warp of sorts without many innovative audio systems. More than any other show in recent memory the gap between the best systems and the worst systems was enormous with very few middle-of-the-road systems. That said, certain dealers, manufacturers, and distributors deserve credit for spending time, energy, and money making their rooms sound very good despite unfavorable hotel room conditions.
Day three of CES 2011 I split my time between the Venetian and the Mirage. The Venetian is the official home of CES high performance audio and the Mirage is the unofficial home for a few well known high-end audio companies each year. I started the morning meeting with Classé to follow up on our initial meeting at CES 2010. Last year Classé was in the beginning stages of designing a USB enabled product. This year Classé is showing the fruits of its labor. Few USB implementations surprise me or catch me off guard like the new Classé CP-800 did this year. The Musical Fidelity suite at the Mirage displayed new products, existing products, and offered a nice asynchronous versus adaptive USB comparison using the new and existing MuFi products. At the Venetian Computer Audiophile reader favorite Weiss Engineering displayed one of the most popular products of 2010 and a new prototype products that could be a product of the year sometime in the future.
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