Soloist - the companion of a solo violinist

Violin! My favorite instrument in the world. It touches my heart. In my opinion it has the most character of any instrument. Though I like happy music, the sad versions are my favorite. And what instrument can convey that feeling better than a violin? I have been a student of this beautiful instrument and music for some time, though in parts at different stages in my life. In no way I am qualified to do a professional review of a violin. I just know what I like. I have heard different violins and players both recorded and live. I can definitely identify something I like. This is purely based on that.

I have been using a Yamaha EV (electric violin) for quiet some time. While an EV is really good, I wanted to get a good acoustic one. I had an old, inexpensive student acoustic violin, but never owned a better one. That's when I decided to get a new acoustic violin. My teacher also recommended to get one. I am a member of Fiddlerman's forum and came to know about his shop and the beautiful violins for sale. After some research, also many samples heard by me and my teacher, I decided to go for the Soloist by Fiddlerman. Yes it is a Soloist from Fiddlershop.

I chatted with Fiddlerman and he picked up one for me from the collection. He played it for me and uploaded the video (link at the bottom). Soloist is an amazing violin. It is beautifully crafted and tastefully varnished. Each and every part talks about quality. The wood has a beautiful light golden brown shade with contrasting tail piece, chin rest and a fingerboard. It is fitted with a hand-carved French Despiau 3-tree bridge. The fingerboard and pegs are ebony. It is installed with a set of D’Addario Kaplan Amo Strings.

Playing this violin is really heart warming. The tone is warm and rich. It definitely feels and sounds like a much more expensive violin than what actually it is priced at. It is much lighter than any violin I have ever used, including my Yamaha EV. Combined with the quality of the violin itself and the amazing Kaplan Amo strings, the warmness and richness of the sound coming from it is amazing to listen. What more do you need?

The quality of each and every part used is really good. This comes with an ebony tail piece with a hill style fine tuner for the E sting. The rest of the strings are tuned with fine ebony pegs as usual with any good violin. The fine ebony finger board is very smooth and beautifully carved for the friendliness of your fingers. The bridge is attached very well to the body.

Fiddlerman includes a fine oblong suspension violin case with the outfit which houses a temperature meter and a hygrometer. The case can hold four bows, includes a Holstein premium rosin, a beautiful Fiddlerman's carbon fiber bow and a wood violin shoulder rest.

As I am more used to the sound of the Yamaha EV, the Soloist is growing on me day by day. She is opening her up. Each day it improves with the sound and warmness of the violin. I am liking it more and more and so is my practice sessions. It is getting lengthier! Here is a picture that compares the Soloist with Yamaha Electric violin. 

Now the last but not the least part. As much I love this instrument, I love the name of it! Yes the Soloist! I am someone who love solitude, as much I love the company of my loved ones and other human beings . And for someone like me, who also love violins, what name on the earth can be more appropriate? This probably could be the one last violin I will be buying for me for the rest of my life. I really don't think I need anything bigger or better. This is going to be one of my solaces in my ups and downs. Yes years to come (I don't know how long, do anyone?) and there could be times I want to get lost in something. I am sure we are going to get older together, in happy and sad moments, which colors the warm but cold, bright but dark journey called life.

Click here to know more about the Soloist.

Fiddlerman playing my violin after setup.

Neeye - A Harmony of Music and Dance

Neeye - A Harmony of Music and Dance

Original YouTube URL: Neeye - YouTube URL

It is a always beautiful to see two people enjoying, forgetting all things around them. When Music and Dance become the main part of their enjoyment, it is even better. That is what this amazing little video is about. Is there a big and long story behind it? May be, may be not. All we are presented with is just two beautiful people, a boy and a girl, harmonizing themselves into dance, music and to each other.

The video starts with two young people trying to rehearse their dance performance with a beautiful background song and somehow they are missing their steps and synchronization. Someone, who seems like their instructor intervenes and tells them to simply look at each other more and increase the proximity. The magic starts from there! I feel like it is actually a message to us to look at each other more.

 

Then they continue their practice which no longer looks like a practice at all. The dance. music and them becomes united as if they are the notations in the staff on a sheet of melody. They move to another abandoned building roof top and the scenes over there are also beautiful. One thing I really liked is how they rode their motorcycle. Thankfully they both were wearing helmets which is not a common site in shows and movies. The background and scenes changes to an amusement park for a short while. It actually adds a balance to the overall video which shows how the togetherness or proximity as mentioned by their instructor earlier helps them to become more connected, fluid and become "one".

First of all kudos to the dancers and musicians behind this great work. You all did an amazing job! Special mention to Shreya Deshpande and Niranjan Harish who take us with them to another world. Music Composer Phani Kalyan and Choreographer Vishwakiran Nambi have also done a beautiful work which gel together well. All went fine in the hands of Gomtesh Upadhye who is the writer and Director. I should also congratulate  the photography, editing, sound engineering and other supportive crew for this wonderful creation.

Thanks to Nikon for helping with photography, I am a Nikon user myself :).
Some more screenshots and images.

I will be waiting more from this team. Give us more, either in the music or dance form or something like this which brigs the best of two. Efforts like these remind me we still have beautiful people around us who love art, love and life which make us human beings.

Setup used for review:

TV – Samsung 55JS8500 55” SUHD 4K HDR TV.

PC – Dell Precision Custom PC with i7 and Nvidia GeForce 950 Graphics with JRiver Media Server.
4K Blu-Ray – Oppo UDP-203 UHD/HDR Disc Player, CD/SACD – Denon 1940CI Disc Player.
DAC – Teac UD-301 DSD DAC. 

AVR – Marantz SR6011 Dolby Atmos/ DTS:x  11.2 channels in 5.2.4 setup.

Amp – Rogue Audio Sphinx V2 Integrated Amp w/ Northern Electric Tubes for fronts/Music.

Tower Speakers – Monitor Audio Silver 6.
Center Speaker– Monitor Audio SLCR, Surround Speakers – NHT SuperZero Book Shelf Speakers.

Height channel Speakers - PSB Imagine XA x 4 Atmos modules.

Subwoofers – Outlaw Audio LFM-1 and SVS Sound SB-1000.

Audioquest, Mogami and Bluejean cables.

O Kadhal Kanmani

Telling romance in a romantic way, who else can do this better than Mani Ratnam? I wanted to watch this movie but I wanted it in a legit, good quality way. So I waited till it showed up in a quality online streaming site and finally here it is on Netflix (yes Netflix US has this movie now!). It is good to see both Netflix and Amazon bringing more Indian movies to the US cloud. This was a sweet addition.

O Kadhal Kanmani is all about romance and it is told with a brilliant touch of photography, music and sound. That is what all you want in a Sunday evening when it is cold outside and you want to spend couple of hours watching a flick! The first thing came in my mind was it's resemblance with another MR hit Alaipayuthey. The movie starts in a Railway station, a techie boy and an academic girl, boy is much more poorer than the girl, an older couple who stands as a symbol of eternal love..(the list can go on). Nevertheless I enjoyed the movie anyway.



Though there are few scenes and occasions where you feel like it "happens only in movies" (isn't it obvious?) there are lot of moments and scenes which are very realistic as well as romantically energizing. The director has used his skills to shift us to our own imaginary worlds about love, romance and companionship.

Alrighty folks, more than the story and quality of the overall movie, I am here to talk about how well it is packed. The photography is well done. The balance of the colors, lights and tones are very well taken care of, so is the editing. The scenes really made canvas like images in my 55" SUHD screen. I wish I could get  a 4K Blu-Ray disc version of this movie! The songs are also light and sweet. One thing I really want to mention about is the background score and sound effects.

While the background score is beautiful and uses some very unique bits and instruments, the sound effect is amazing. The last main sequence in the market in heavy rain was really an experience. Though the movie is not in Dolby Atmos (at least not in Netflix where it gives a regular Dolby 5.1 output), my Marantz AVR up-mixed it to full surround and it was really cool! With the height channels mostly playing the rain, it really felt like we were in the market and walking along with the characters.

If you want to spend two hours watching a feel good romantic movie, this is a good choice with added benefits of great photography, music and overall visual / audio experience. Try to watch it in a moderately good to well entertainment system to get fully involved with it. After all a good comeback for Mani Ratnam.

Setup used for review:

TV – Samsung 55JS8500 55” SUHD 4K HDR TV.

PC – Dell Precision Custom PC with i7 and Nvidia GeForce 950 Graphics with JRiver Media Server.
4K Blu-Ray – Oppo UDP-203 UHD/HDR Disc Player, CD/SACD – Denon 1940CI Disc Player.
DAC – Teac UD-301 DSD DAC. 

AVR – Marantz SR6011 Dolby Atmos/ DTS:x  11.2 channels in 5.2.4 setup.

Amp – Rogue Audio Sphinx V2 Integrated Amp w/ Northern Electric Tubes for fronts/Music.

Tower Speakers – Monitor Audio Silver 6.
Center Speaker– Monitor Audio SLCR, Surround Speakers – NHT SuperZero Book Shelf Speakers.

Height channel Speakers - PSB Imagine XA x 4 Atmos modules.

Subwoofers – Outlaw Audio LFM-1 and SVS Sound SB-1000.

Audioquest, Mogami and Bluejean cables.

Reelmonk - a Monk I have been waiting for.

Ever since I moved to US one thing which always made me disappointed was the lack of good quality and genuine resources to watch movies from our land. I hate piracy, I don't like to search websites for free pirated movie uploads. I feel sad for producers and studios when their movies are illegally uploaded to these sites and people watch them without any shame. I admit I have done this couple of times, but I only did so when I wanted to watch some particular titles desperately for some reason and there was no other way around. Other than the lack of content one another big factor is the lack of Quality. Yes, Quality is much more important than quantity. This piracy has made quality the least considerable one. People got used to watch sub-par prints online and they are happy with it. We do not care how the director really wanted to present the scenes with its clarity, colors, contrast, dynamic range and vividness. We do not care how the music director wants the audience hear the voices and each instrument playing its part with its depth and soundstage. We are just used to it. We just want to see it or listen to it. Take my word; there is a big difference in watching a movie or listening to a song in good quality versus below average quality. You will feel it when you see it.

Here comes a new kid in the block. Actually not in the block of what we have there already, but a new kid and a new block in fact. The Reelmonk.com. I first heard about it when one of my friends, who is a good film critic and an amazing writer (thanks to Jigish), re-posted the article in FB about the “Kuttippuram Palam” movie’s online release in Reelmonk. Once I reached home that evening after work, this was my main job, to setup Reelmonk. I have not connected my HTPC to my AVR in a while since all of my shows with Multi Channel sound can be watched with my TV itself, Blu Ray player or Cable box. I use my HTPC usually for two channel music whether it is files or streaming and of course for browsing web as well as all sort of music through web. I connected the DP to HDMI cable between my PC and AVR, configured the AVR again as my 5.1 sound device and tested it. Finally opened the Chrome and opened the Reelmonk.com site.

A screenshot from Kuttippuram Palam movie

Reelmonk is a site and an app. In the site you can register and buy credits. You need to download and install the player app. Once you open the site you can see movies listed. When you buy a movie, you spend your credits and you get a code in your registered mobile phone. Once you apply the code, you can start downloading and (simultaneously) playing the movie in the app. The process is very easy and user friendly. My international card was accepted instantly and I was able to buy credits in few seconds and buy my first movie. The only problem I faced initially was the resolution and scaling. But it was my fault actually (I use a 4K UHD TV and many apps need custom scaling to fit in). As soon as I hit the play button, it started the stream flawlessly. What a relief! After so many years of waiting I am watching a Malayalam movie online, streaming, legally, in good quality from a team of enthusiasts of our own land! The few movies I have watched so far hold really good picture and audio quality. True HD looks like True HD. Audio is smooth and flawless. More than anything you are watching a fully legal copy!

A screenshot of site and app

The player app is very simple and minimalistic. I haven’t experienced any major problems with the player during playback. Beware when you drag the slider for fast forward or rewind as it can get jerky. But it catches up soon. As far as what I would like to see in the player is the support for true surround formats. At this point I am not sure whether it is the player app or the movie files itself which doesn’t support the true Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1 or any higher formats, all I can listen is the Dolby Prologic or PL II which just upmixes  5.1 channels from the two channel cues. It is still not bad, you can listen to all 5.1 speakers and a good AVR can span the appropriate audio to surround / center with proper depth. But I would like a built in control panel for the app where I can tweak the Audio filters and settings and use the full capabilities of surround formats which is supported by your Hardware, like MPC-HC. I also would envision more higher resolution formats coming in the future. I am not trying to compare it with some other giants like Amazon or Netflix at this point. But the Reelmonk looks promising for a startup service and has the right features as a base layer now from which it can be expanded to something great.

A screenshot from Aadupuliyattam movie

Reelmonk needs the files in the same folder where you configure the path in the player. Also, you will find that its just a 'file' without any extension. Reelmonk have some custom encoding mechanism to make the file only readable in Reelmonk player, from the same folder and with in the same PC and user credentials. It is to prevent copying and piracy. But you can backup the files to your external storage when you have more movies in the default location. You can always copy them back and play them again whenever you want. Good job there! I have chatted with couple of Reelmonk support guys. They are very friendly and enthusiastic. They have helped me with so many questions. Please go to the site, www.reelmonk.com and take a look. I am sure you will not be disappointed, but rather would be amazed to see what is there and how cool it is!

Setup used for review:

TV – Samsung 55JS8500 55” SUHD 4K HDR TV.

PC – Dell Precision Custom PC with i7 and Nvidia GeForce 950 Graphics with JRiver Media Server.
4K Blu-Ray – Oppo UDP-203 UHD/HDR Disc Player, CD/SACD – Denon 1940CI Disc Player.
DAC – Teac UD-301 DSD DAC. 

AVR – Marantz SR6011 Dolby Atmos/ DTS:x  11.2 channels in 5.2.4 setup.

Amp – Rogue Audio Sphinx V2 Integrated Amp w/ Northern Electric Tubes for fronts/Music.

Tower Speakers – Monitor Audio Silver 6.
Center Speaker– Monitor Audio SLCR, Surround Speakers – NHT SuperZero Book Shelf Speakers.

Height channel Speakers - PSB Imagine XA x 4 Atmos modules.

Subwoofers – Outlaw Audio LFM-1 and SVS Sound SB-1000.

Audioquest, Mogami and Bluejean cables.

The new Symphony - Emotiva XDA-2 Gen2, Audiophile Differential Reference DAC

“Music is the food of soul”. Though I really don’t know what soul is, I still feel the quote wonderful and true. I always have been an addict of good music that touches my heart in one way or other. Here is one joyful moment in my life where I found some new dimensions to it!




I am no audiophile. I may not be able to tell the difference between a 320KBPS mp3 and a FLAC but I can tell the difference between a crappy lossy file and a good rip. I have tried various DIY blind and online tests including Tidal and always got 80% correct . Despite of my aging ears, I think my regular listening helped me to achieve this (please do not ask me to take a test again, I might fail). Being a Systems guy I live in the middle of computers and accessories. It has made me lazy so that most of my listening is now from computers and network attached storages as the main sources ( I have terabytes of them). Though I have a decent Denon CD/SACD/DVD player (also another Denon CD changer), I just have no time to order or buy CDs and play them. I just buy high quality cuts and play through my PC or laptop which is attached to my music system. Now a bit about my components: again I am no audiophile and I can never afford 10s of thousands of worth of individual components. But I managed to save some hard earned money and set up a basic decent system. I am not going into details but it contains a Denon CD/SACD/DVD player, a Marantz 160w Receiver and a pair of Wharfedale Valdus 3-way floorstanders where a Polk powered 10" sub doing the low frequencies, all connected with basic but decent cables. By the end of this year I am expecting I can upgrade them to a better amp and floorstanders.

My pc (as well as my laptop) only has the on-board sound card and line or headphone out. Ever since I moved to digital as my main source I was thinking of a good DAC so that I can settle with a good entry level audiophile quality source. A DAC is a digital to analog converter. Every device that plays digital music files (Computers, CD players, ipods, phones etc) has a DAC built into it which actually converts the 0s and 1s in the musical file to analog audio which we can listen. The quality of the DAC plays a very good role in how the music is played. While most of the on-board DACs are poor to moderate quality a better engineered DAC is what audio enthusiasts are after. Here comes the Emotiva XDA-2 Gen 2 Audiophile  Differential Reference DAC. Though I am familiar with DACs and the principles behind it as an experienced systems guy (I also have used some small ones before) I spent so many hours in internet, forums, reviews and videos to find out how this unit works as well as how it stands against its competitors. Finally I felt that this is one of the best I can get in the price range and pulled the trigger! At least Emotiva and Amazon both have good return policies if I feel it needs to go back.




Here comes my bad luck (don’t worry; it is nothing about the device). I ordered the unit middle of a week and opted it to get delivered on the following Friday evening so that I can spend my Friday night setting it up and enjoy the music all weekend. I was eager to get out of office, got some fried shrimp and a six pack on the way home. Alas! The shipment got blocked somewhere in TN due to bad weather. Anyway I thought I will collect as much quality music I can in the weekend and make my time productive. I also did hours of listening through my sound card to make my songs by-heart how they sounded through it. Finally, after much of anticipation the XDA-2 showed up on Monday. It was a breeze to install (at least for me) and set up everything. I run Win7/8.1 and use Foobar2000. The driver got in perfectly and Foobar was able to push through the WASAPI with all the bit rates. Here comes the moment of truth.




Magic, new dimensions, 3D, pure bliss or whatever, I have no words to describe it. My aging ears now can feel it. The very subtle or minuscule differences are now a bit more. Music is flowing never like before. Strings are vibrating, vocals have those breaths between which are very clear, cymbals and drums are punchier and vibrant while fiddles and flutes make me more moody and tearful. I really do not know the jargon words, but what I am experiencing is a total harmonic difference in a very amazing way. The unit is still breaking in and I expect it would get better and better. 




So what is my conclusion? It is actually not a conclusion but it is a request or a call. If you enjoy music and your main source is digital (a normal computer or an old CD player), please get this. You will not be disappointed. There could be equally good or better DACs in this price range, there are much better DACs if you have more money to spend. But if you are anything like me, with a budget of $250-300 and still running your computer and its sound card as your main source of music, Emotiva XDA-2 is a good choice and I am sure it can stand its own against anything in this section. After all I have that smile on my face (I checked with a mirror believe me) and that’s what matters, na? 

And I got a new self defense weapon, the remote  

Headless, arm less.. walking all over

Headless, arm less.. walking all over

Clicking a clicker

Clicking a clicker