Magic of Christmas 2010

Sabrina and David Schultz, Amy Farwell and her family all enjoyed the Portland Symphony Orchestra's Magic of Christmas performances this past weekend. We especially admired Suzanne Nance's soprano voice as one of our favorite features of this year's show. Nance is often heard as the host of the weekday morning classical music program on our local Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN). David said he was pleasantly surprised when Nance's incredible voice sounded professional. Sabrina and David both got a kick out of the dancing Santa's routine choregraphed by Bethany Field. It was a nice change of pace to also listen to the Saco Bay Children's Choir directed by Camille Saucier. Sabrina noted with amusement the percussionist's quick trasitions between various instruments during Anderson's Sleigh Ride. Amy enjoyed the end song: Let There Be Peace on Earth arr. Ades.

Transparent Launches Try It Now Promotion

Here's how it works:
Your dealer can make sure that you get the best cables for your particular set up and system goals. Once you have filled out the “Try It Now” form on the previous page, simply press submit. Representatives from Transparent and your dealer will contact you about your “Try It Now” audition.

Your dealer will collect your credit card information to secure the loaner cables that are right for you. Some of your cables may need to come from Transparent's inventory. You will be able to pick your cables up at your dealer's facility as soon as your audition system of cables is complete, or preferably your dealer will deliver and install your cables in your system to insure that it is fully optimized with Transparent.

Enjoy the cables in your system for 21 days, experimenting with as wide a variety of source materials as possible, to experience the full range of Transparent performance. If you like the improvements in your system, simply keep everything in place and the charge remains on your credit card. In the unlikely event that you choose to return the cables, you may return them to your dealer for credit provided they are in excellent condition.

IMPORTANT: Act now! Only a limited number of cables are available for this trial program, and the program ends on January 31, 2011.


CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP

Transparent Attends PSO’s The Planets

With the stage extended out to accommodate the sixty-four members of the Choral Art Society, Demos sat closer than usual at the most recent performance of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He was in the third row from the stage and commented that the increase in volume was significant. Amy sat in the fourth row while Josh took Jack and Karen’s seats in the balcony.

There was no intermission and it was like the orchestra was pulling us along on a ride at a faster pace than usual. Another special feature of this performance was a very large screen that featured pictures of the various planets. Amy thought it was brave but risky to do this at a symphony performance that traditionally has been a strictly auditory experience. One criticism was that a number of the photographs were not of the best quality.

As the concert progressed through Holst’s seven movements, each section distinguished itself as a musical metaphor for one of the seven planets. For example, Mars, named for the god of war, had a militant sound. Amy really enjoyed the parts that featured the first violinist and later the two harps in the Venus movement.

This was the program we enjoyed on the night of November 9, 2010:
JOHN ADAMS Fanfare for Orchestra: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
JOHN WILLIAMS Suite from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
GUSTAV HOLST The Planets, Op. 32/H 125

Symphony Opening Night 2010

Last night was the Season Opening Celebration for the Portland Symphony Orchestra at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine. All three of Transparent’s founders: Carl Smith, Karen and Jack Sumner were in attendance. Carl Smith brought his grandson Zach, age 13, to enjoy the symphony for the first time. Demos and his wife Jen, Brad and his wife Gina, and Amy were all in attendance. Here’s a peek at the program:

Richard Strauss Don Juan, Op. 20
Giovanni Bottesini Concerto for Double Bass no 2 in B minor
Edgar Meyer Concerto for Double Bass in D major
Tchaikovsky Symphony no 4 in F minor, Op. 36

The evening was off to an energetic start when Robert Moody conducted Don Juan with serious enthusiasm. Gina foldly remembered Heath Ledger in the movie Casanova (Don Juan is Casanova in Spanish).

Amy’s favorite piece of the evening was the Bottesini because the double bass solos were phenomenal. Karen described Meyer’s performance last night as masterful. The always entertaining Demos said he had a visual of Tom Hanks wrestling a bear watching Meyer perform. The audience responded with such excitement from Meyer’s performance that he received a standing ovation.

Later with Tchaikovsky, Amy thought the symphony sounded confident. The musicians worked well together and they were off to a bold beginning in the first movement. The second movement builds and comes back down to a sweet tone that sounded sad in the end. The third section changes completely to a fun, fast pace with lots of plucking and then back to bold, multiple crescendos. Demos described this piece as sonorous and it was one of his favorites along with the Bottesini.

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2010

Transparent Audio, Inc. will be at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest on October 15,16, and 17.

Rooms 2030 features VTL, dCS, Basis Turntable, Wilson Audio, and of course Transparent cables and power products. This is a showcase of amazing recordings in several formats. The famous dCS Paganini digital products will spin CDs in both standard and higher definition formats. The Basis Inspiration Turntable will feature the best vinyl collected over 40 plus years of searching. A wonderful music addition for this room is Wilson Audio’s own Peter McGrath. He is a world known recording engineer, and always has masters in the latest high-resolution digital format to share with true classical music aficionados.

Come and enjoy Transparent’s new series MM2 power products and talk with Brad O’Toole about how they can improve your own system at home. Brad has been in the high end audio world for over 20 years and is a wealth of information about connecting your system properly and making sure no music is lost in the linking of your system’s components. He also loves talking about proper system setup to maximize results from your existing equipment.

Marriott Tower - Level 9 – 9026 features products from Doshi Audio, Wadia, Wilson Audio, and Transparent Audio’s Reference XL series of speaker cables and interconnects. The room is sponsored by Paragon Sight and Sound. Why not come and hear the tapes on the Studer reel to reel?

Transparent’s own David Schultz – Director of Sales for Transparent will be on hand to answer questions about Transparent’s products. David is also happy to talk about your system and making sure it is at its best. He has been into Audio since infancy which is a while ago, and probably has owned or tried your products in his own system.

Carl Smith's Account of Paul Vermel's Visit

Carl Smith and Paul Vermel

An earlier blog entry contains the story of my reclaiming the tape archives of the Portland Symphony resulting in an 85th Anniversary 2 CD set of selections from each of the five permanent Music Directors since the early 1960s. All the restored tapes are now being stored at Transparent Audio on behalf of the Symphony and are available for listening sessions for those who have a special interest in the Symphony's work from 1960 to 2000.

Yesterday [August 31, 2010] I had the pleasure of hosting a two hour "concert" in our sound room for Paul Vermel, who led the orchestra from 1967 to 1974, and his wife Carolyn Paulin, a producer for the WFMT radio network in Chicago. Paul came to the Portland Symphony from Paris where he attended the Paris Conservatoire. He is credited with achieving a major advance in the professionalism and performance quality of the orchestra.

The concert consisted of master tapes from radio broadcasts played on a restored professional tape deck that can be seen in the background of the photo. Paul confessed to having some concern about the quality of the performances before the concert started but he was extremely pleased to discover that the orchestra played with great skill and enthusiasm and the audiences gave long and vigorous applause. The selections included a Verdi overture, a Richard Strauss tone poem, and portions of works by Mozart, Wagner, Ibert and Stravinsky. As a conductor Paul made it clear that he would like the volume level to approximate what it would be from his position on the podium and we did not disappoint him. Because the microphones were right above the front of the stage Paul could even hear the sounds of his adjusting the podium, shifting his feet, and occasional coughs from the audience as the orchestra prepared to play. We were transported 40 years back in time.

Audio Advice wins local and national awards

Our congratulations to Audio Advice, great people, great products, great service.

http://www.audioadvice.com/blog/audio-advice-news/2010/audio-advice-wins-local-and-national-awards/comment-page-1/#comment-465

Previewing Brian Wilson's Newest with the Master

"With the help of Bull Moose Music, [Bob]Ludwig previewed "Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin" one night last week at the high-end listening room at Transparent Audio Inc. in Saco... First impression: It's amazing how much this record sounds like the Beach Boys, circa "Pet Sounds," with its layers of harmonies, complex arrangements and range of musical dynamics. " -Bob Keyes, Portland Press Herald, August 15, 2010 edition. If you want the full story hit the link below:
http://www.pressherald.com/life/audience/good-vibrations_2010-08-15.html

Lisa catches a deer

Lisa catches a deer, with her camera! Our Lab Manager had this to say about her weekend:
"I went out for a ride on my bike this morning along little ossipee river and then the saco river this afternoon. Stopped for a break to enjoy the view for a bit and the view just got better. I just got to sit there and watch quietly. She was so peaceful, playful and beautiful, and all alone. No Mama around."

Alex McMurray at the Venue Music Bar

Demos had this to say about his evening on August 9th:

"Portland Maine had a great artist in town Monday night. Alex McMurray gave an amazing acoustic performance at the Venue Music Bar. The songwriting and musicianship were exceptional. The final set was an electric event with bass, drums, and a washboard played by Matt Foster. All I can say is “Wow”. This was my first visit to the new Venue Music Bar. You can tell a lot of time and effort has been put in to making this a great room for music. Check it out. "

http://www.alexmcmurray.com/

http://venuemusicbar.com/

New baby boy for Josh and Portia

Congratulations to Josh and Portia Clark who welcomed an over nine pound baby boy into their family this morning. This is their second child; we're sure their eldest son Lincoln who's three years old is excited today to have a baby brother!

Annual Birthday Bash 2010

Sabrina and Demos annual birthday bash had an impressive turnout on Saturday July 24th with at least sixty people. The live music was performed by Transparent's own Kevin Midgley, Mark Cousins and friends. Guests gathered to enjoy some nice weather, wonderful music, great company, the refreshing pool, fun games & prizes and some yummy BBQ. Fun was had by all including some furry friends: Rich's wienerdog Stella and Carl's Tootsie, as well as Betty's border collie Zoe, Sabrina's black labrador Piper and Brad's new scottie puppy Callahan. While the kids loved the pool, there were many activities to keep them entertained too. Sabrina & the gang did an outstanding job of organizing this event and we look forward to it ever year! More pictures taken by our talented photographer, Demos Dadiotes, can be found on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39750718@N05

One of our Founders, Carl Smith's recent contribution to the PSO

Charlton "Carl" Smith spent the winter of 2009/2010 transferring to CDs archival tapes of 250 Portland Symphony concerts performed between 1960 and 2000. This is Carl's account of how the project came about and what it has meant to him as a lifelong music lover and a long-term supporter of the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

I have been attending Portland Symphony concerts since the mid-1960s, when we sat on folding chairs on a flat floor, the members of the women's committees were identified in the program only by their husbands' names, and U.S. combat operations in Viet Nam were just beginning. I had been a classical music fan since 1942 when at age four I was given a set of 78 rpm records of the classic Boston Symphony version of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf", to this day the definitive introduction to classical music for children. In college I took a course in Bartok and Stravinsky and explored most of the classical repertory through the extensive record collections of the college music department and the Boston Public Library.

In 1969 I attended a concert at which 24-year old Lorin Hollander played Prokofiev's fiendishly difficult Second Piano Concerto and was so moved by the performance that I never forgot the experience. Several years ago I met Lorin, who lives in Maine and has performed with the PSO many times over the years, and we became friends. In 2008 I asked Executive Director Ari Solotoff if I could look through the PSO archives for a tape of Lorin's 1969 performance and to my amazement I found it in one of about 25 boxes of tapes in the attic of City Hall. The tape sounded remarkably good after 40 years and I became intrigued by the idea of recapturing more of the orchestra's early taped performances.

Ari and I discussed the possibility of using the music on some of the tapes for an 85th Anniversary CD of selections representing each of the five music directors who have led the orchestra over the half century that recordings of the concerts have been made. A committee of musicians was formed to recommend outstanding performances to search for in the archives but it soon became apparent that memories had faded to the point where it would be necessary for the committee members to hear a representative sampling of the recordings from each period to make meaningful choices for the 85th Anniversary CD.

Being largely retired, and spending winters in Florida, I told Ari that if he would arrange to have the tapes shipped to me I would try to transfer all of them to CDs. With technical help from Transparent Audio, Inc. and Bob Ludwig's Gateway Mastering Studios, both long term corporate sponsors of the PSO, I set up a recording studio in my den and began the process of tranferring 32 years of analog tapes and 8 years of digital tapes to CDs to provide the committee with an ample selection of music from which to make their choices for what we decided should be expanded to a 2 CD set. For the past 10 years the recordings of the PSO concerts have been made directly to CDs so my task was to transfer 40 years of tapes to CDs.

About 1000 pounds of tape boxes by shipping weight arrived by truck at my door and were stacked in a large guest room closet. In CD form all the regular subscription series concerts on these tapes covering 40 years fit in an aluminum case the size of an airline carry-on bag weighing 35 pounds. In this format the entire collection is easily transportable and every concert is instantly retrievable. They can also be transferred from the CDs to a computer had drive or to the Internet.

Some of the older tapes were noisy or distorted or required baking to remove moisture. But beginning in the mid-1970s the tapes were recorded with fully professional equipment that Geoffrey Doughty, the radio voice of the PSO, and orchestra manager Russ Burleigh obtained as a contribution to the PSO from Derek Burt, then owner of New England HiFi. Mr. Doughty also spent time with the Boston Symphony's radio broadcast engineer to learn more about recording techniques, including the all-important art of microphone placement. As a result the sound quality of a large part of all the tapes is comparable to commercially released recordings.

It has given me great satisfacation to reclaim these tapes in a format that will allow the Symphony to make use of the music in our current digital age, but the most enjoyable part of the project has been the experience of hearing the music directly from the original master tapes. Digital recording has made considerable advances since CDs were first introduced in 1982, but there is simply nothing like the realism of hearing the music directly from the open reel tapes. In making the transfers to CD I did everything possible to retain as much of this lifelike analog sound quality as possible and Bob Ludwig has done the same in his all-important final mastering of the CDs.

Between November 2009 and April 2010 I had the privilege of "attending" 250 Portland Symphony Orchestra concerts as if I were sitting in an ideal seat midway between the stereo microphones that were suspended just above the orchestra. It was a thrill to re-hear concerts for which I was present in the hall as far back as the 1960s and to hear many other conerts for the first time. As broad as my interest in classical music has always been I heard many works that were new to me due to the musical adventrousness of all the Music Directors that the orchestra has been fortunate to have over the past 50 years.

This entire process has been an exhilarating experience and it gives me great pleasure to know that the many fans and supporters of the Portland Symphony Orchestra will be able to experience and enjoy this wonderful music.

A Mahler 2nd Symphony Finale

Carl Smith, Josh and Portia Clark, Rich and Lori Curole, and Kevin and Alison Midgley were all in attendance last evening. It was impressive collection of instruments:
4 flutes (all doubling piccolo), 4 oboes (2 doubling
English horn), 3 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet), 2
E-flat clarinets, 4 bassoons (2 doubling contra bassoon),
10 horns, 8 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, 2 harps, organ,
2 sets of timpani, a vast percussion battery, strings,
soprano and alto soloists, and mixed chorus.
This was the largest symphony we've heard and while it is an incredibly dynamic piece to play, everyone thought the orchestra played it very well.

Robert Moody, Conductor
Lisa Saffer, Soprano
Mary Phillips, Mezzo-soprano
Masterworks Chorus of the Choral Art Society

Conductor Moody talks about the finale in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/portsym#p/u/1/NWe6ULMlNbA

Visit our website to learn more about Transparent Audio:

http://www.transparentcable.com/

Testing, testing..

We are constantly testing new equipment to keep up with the latest developments in the audio world and lately we have been testing several new amplifiers. This photo from yesterday shows the current collection of amplifiers in our Saco Music and Film Studio from Classe, Jones Audio, Lamm, Mark Levinson, Simaudio, Theta and VTL. We also own amplifiers from Audio Research, Ayre, Bel, Conrad-Johnson, Krell, McIntosh, Rotel, Spectral, T+A and others which are not shown.

Wonderfully descriptive review from one of our customers

Brad,
I've been slowly upgrading my client's Transparent cables.... the latest being his speaker cables. He hasn't had them very long, but his review is quite a read.
He's a chef (for the opera house here in Seattle) and an huge fantasy fiction fan:

The Transparent Plus speaker cables are not quite what I expected. Upon first view I was stunned by their size; monstrous! "Gods, what have I done?" was my first thought. The network is the size of a clenched ogre's fist, white-knuckled around a garden hose. I fully expected the sound to punch through my chest, extract my heart, and SQUEEEEZE. Not quite the case...
Even though I only experienced Transparent Plus speaker cables for a 'smidge' over one week, I came to view them as suprisingly civilized!
Ogre isn't the violent simpleton I'd come to expect. More refined even than it's pleasant and polite youngest cousin, MusicLink. Once again, I'm amazed by Transparent. Overall bass is much improved. It is amply detailed and well anchored. The weight of the bass often times keeps my speakers from blasting into another world. The dynamics pop and sometimes explode, yet the sound remains musical.
My titanium dome tweeters, in past, have sometimes sounded HOT: the HF now flows in neutral among the music waves. Much of the excessive 'heat' has been syphoned by the ogre's grip. The midrange is more seductive than ever. Perhaps this is where the ogre's humanity resides. The midrange is animated enough to bring human vocals to the forefront and coax them to life.

The staging is more apparent than ever. All band members stand at their marks and contribute aptly to a more dimensional sound. Angles and depth are revealed.


Between musical notes the air is still. Music seemingly springs into life from the quiet darkness; like undead warriors materializing to cross swords with silence. There is more musical space from which to field battle. Immortal dead advancing on the battlefield, swords singing into the foreground with great harmonic accuracy. Warlocks in the background skillfully chant their tonal sorcery and ritual. War drums beat with energy as the enlisted march to Master Rotel's cadence. For immortality the wage is war. Music is immortal: timeless.


As I watch the cold wind blow it's breath of attrition. As I watch dark droplets of rain sacrifice themselves for Mother Earth, Thom Yorke presents to me, Eraser. And upon these leading moments I've come to realize that my first impressions of Transparent Plus weren't entirely wrong. The networks are indeed young ogre's fists yet those fists belong to a skillful architect. One who thoughtfully crafted a musical realm more expressive, revealing, and engaging than any I've experienced before. Instead of escorting me to Ye'Ole Theatre where Blast Chamber Music Company resides, he's taken my hands and guided me to the Transparent Gate.............through to the distance I catch a shimmering glimpse of an MM2 world...


...and somewhere a rabbit bounds frantically for it's life. It's well aware of the Herald's return. The damned Greyhound is loose again...
--
AA
Adam Andreasen
Definitive Audio
Seattle, WA

Mountain Top Concert

On Saturday, March 20, our Art Director Bruce Kennett hosted a concert at his 1810 barn in North Conway, NH. The event was a fundraiser for the local music organization, Mountain Top, which puts on concerts, offers music lessons, and is also very active in the public schools. The Boston-based quartet Brass Venture played to a sold-out crowd, presenting a wide program of music from Bach, Gabrielli, Hindemith and Scheidt to W.C. Handy and John Williams. The performers stood on a second-story hayloft and played toward a full house seated on the first floor and on an adjacent balcony. With its vast, reverberant open space, Bruce's barn was the ideal venue for the quartet's trumpets, trombones, and tubas.

Jimi Hendrix CD Release Party - Valleys of Neptune

Transparent hosted another CD/DVD release party with Bull Moose Music on Monday, March 8th at 6:30PM. This one was for an all new Jimi Hendix album called "Valleys of Neptune" which is made up of unreleased studio recordings from 1969. The album released worldwide on Tuesday, March 9th, so we were among the first people in the world to hear it. There were 26 people at the event, including the 18 winners Bull Moose had selected to preview the album, Bob Ludwig (Gateway Mastering), Bob Thompson (recording engineer, guitar teacher at University of Maine and Berklee), Jim Pinfold, Chris Brown and other people from Bull Moose.
Bob Ludwig and Bob Thompson both talked about the album and recordings from the 1969 era. Thompson gave an hour-long live demonstration of Hendrix's techniques and artistry, using vintage guitars and special-effects pedals, deconstructing several Hendrix songs and explaining their structure as well as demonstrating Hendrix's playing prowess. Ludwig gave us a detailed view of the entire production flow from recording to mastering to manufacture, and recalled aspects of the day he spent with Hendrix in a mastering room, prior to the release of "Electric Ladyland." Following those two presentations, we heard the entire album played over Transparent's state of the art system.

Josh gets quoted on HDMI 1.4 spec

Josh says in a new CE Pro article regarding the new HDMI 1.4 spec:
"The good news is that we already have an HDMI 1.4-compliant product line, at least in terms of handling all of the new high-resolution video formats included in the HDMI 1.4 specification, " he says. "This means a customer with a Transparent HDMI cable from five years ago already has a cable that will support upcoming video formats like 4Kx2K and 3D video. We have always insisted on 'over building' our HDMI products so they would have sufficient bandwidth and timing accuracy [low skew] to handle future formats. This no-compromise approach has already paid off for our customers who are now watching 1080p video on their original Transparent HDMI cables and it will pay off again when they can watch 4Kx2K video and 3D video on those same cables."

Read the full article here:
http://www.cepro.com/article/engineer_HDMI_14_does_not_make_sense/D1/

CES 2010

We had a successful show at CES this year; we introduced our new MM2 Technology in our PowerCords and PowerIsolators. We also had time to visit with friends including Dan Kessler (pictured on left above) standing next to our David Schultz in Las Vegas. We were at a suite in the Mirage hotel with a new display (pictured below).

What's running on the screen is a super-cool Blu-ray video that Karen has expertly put together to educate consumers about our products, technology and Transparent philosophy.