Classical Candor: Jun Fukamachi at Steinway (CD review)

Jun Fukamachi at Steinway (CD review)

Jun Fukamachi, piano. LIM DXD 038.

Record producer Winston Ma has been releasing LPs and CDs in various audiophile formats over the years from Golden String to First Impression Music, from gold discs to XRCDs and K2 HDs. He never seems to tire of experimenting, always looking for the best possible medium of music reproduction at any cost. Now, we get one of his latest dreams. He explains in this disc's booklet notes that "Direct cut LP...has the most breathtaking dynamic contrast and richest musicality, combined with stunning presence and definition." That's right, a quarter century into the CD age, he admits that vinyl records still sound best to him. That's why he decided to make this latest CD recording of an LP.

Huh? Yes, he has recorded an LP directly to CD, using no master tapes. The record he used is what he considers the best-sounding LP in his experience, "Jun Fukamachi at Steinway," a Toshiba-EMI direct-cut recording from around 1978, taken from the only brand-new copy known currently to exist, on loan from Toshiba-EMI's own studio library. Using the latest state-of-the-art technology (DXD, Digital eXtreme Definition), recording and mastering engineer Bruce Brown meticulously transferred the sound of the "Fukamachi" LP to CD using two separate phono cartridges, turntables, and tonearms for comparison purposes.

This may be the ultimate audiophile CD of all time because you get to hear the same recording played back through two of today's top pickups--a van den Hul Colibri XC-HO and an FIM Black Ebony One; five tracks recorded twice each for ten tracks in all. Four tracks are from the "Fukamachi" LP: Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major and Fukamachi's own "Just Driving You Crazy," "Ran-Ran," and "Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Messenger"; plus a bonus track of Lennon and McCarthy's "Day Tripper" from the album "Super Strings" by the Tokyo Strings Ensemble, conducted by Tsugio Tokunaga. The total length of the disc is fifty-five minutes, but since everything is repeated twice, it's really about twenty-seven minutes of actual musical content.

OK, I said it's an ultimate audiophile recording because it's the kind of disc that isn't primarily intended for musical listening. Oh, the music is all right, but there isn't much of it, and it varies so much, there is little continuity to it. No, this is a disc for demonstrating to yourself and to other audiophile friends what pure sound is all about. It is for convincing people that LPs really do sound better than most CDs. It's for arguing about which of the two cartridges used for playback is better. That kind of thing. You know: The stuff that audiophiles dream of and live for.

The first thing I noticed about the sound is that it is, indeed, terrific. It is probably the best piano recording I've ever heard. I just wish it were, like, sixty full minutes of Chopin Nocturnes or something worth sitting down and actually listening to as music instead of just sound. The dynamics are, as Winston says, strong and wide; the definition is superb, startling, in fact, in its clarity; and the sonics are perfectly natural, perfectly realistic, with no harsh overtones, no glassiness, no edge.

The next thing I noticed was that the two cartridges do sound different, if only so slightly. Right off, I noticed that the Black Ebony was louder than the van den Hul; measuring the first few notes of the first two comparison tracks with a sound-level meter, I found the Black Ebony about four or five decibels louder. So, if you're going to make comparisons, adjust for volume. Next, I noticed in the program notes that each of the comparison tracks differs in length by several seconds. The Nocturne as played back on the van den Hul, for instance, is 11:22 minutes and on the Black Ebony 11:04. I'm not sure what to make of this. Either one turntable is running at a very slightly different speed than the other, or the timings were simply measured differently. As far as a preference between the two cartridges is concerned, I leave that to dedicated audiophiles to argue. I thought the Black Ebony was the tiniest bit warmer than the van den Hul, with a touch fuller bass, but I didn't go back and forth enough times to determine the matter to my satisfaction. Let's just say they are different and leave it at that.

The kick, though, is the nostalgia factor. I haven't listened to an LP in years, and it was kind of fun to hear the needle plunk down on the vinyl surface, hear a momentary pre-echo, and then hear the occasional soft ticks and pops, even from a brand-new LP. Ah, those were the days. And, I guess, still are.

Now, if Winston is going to do anything further with this idea of transferring records to CD, I hope he choses a few albums of more extended musical play, with more content a person can actually listen to. Also, you're probably wondering how much this disc is going to set you back. Well, it ain't cheap. Again quoting Winston from the disc's booklet notes: "We offer 3 editions of this special production: Regular DXD CD, at K2 HD price, boasting higher definition quality; Collector's Edition with RCC (Resonant Control Coating), and washed with deionized cleaning solution, at a higher price. Very limited Direct-from-Master Edition 24k Gold with RCC, deionized solution washed and dynamically balanced, at a premium price."

Heaven only knows what that "premium price" is; I didn't have the guts to look on FIM's Web site to find out. But I know it won't be too much for the audiophile in search of absolute, transcendent sonic purity, perceived or otherwise.

JJP

John J. Puccio, Founder and Contributor

Understand, I'm just an everyday guy reacting to something I love. And I've been doing it for a very long time, my appreciation for classical music starting with the musical excerpts on the Big Jon and Sparkie radio show in the early Fifties and the purchase of my first recording, The 101 Strings Play the Classics, around 1956. In the late Sixties I began teaching high school English and Film Studies as well as becoming interested in hi-fi, my audio ambitions graduating me from a pair of AR-3 speakers to the Fulton J's recommended by The Stereophile's J. Gordon Holt. In the early Seventies, I began writing for a number of audio magazines, including Audio Excellence, Audio Forum, The Boston Audio Society Speaker, The American Record Guide, and from 1976 until 2008, The $ensible Sound, for which I served as Classical Music Editor.

Today, I'm retired from teaching and use a pair of bi-amped VMPS RM40s loudspeakers for my listening. In addition to writing for the Classical Candor blog, I served as the Movie Review Editor for the Web site Movie Metropolis (formerly DVDTown) from 1997-2013. Music and movies. Life couldn't be better.

Karl Nehring, Editor and Contributor

For more than 20 years I was the editor of The $ensible Sound magazine and a regular contributor to both its equipment and recordings review pages. I would not presume to present myself as some sort of expert on music, but I have a deep love for and appreciation of many types of music, "classical" especially, and have listened to thousands of recordings over the years, many of which still line the walls of my listening room (and occasionally spill onto the furniture and floor, much to the chagrin of my long-suffering wife). I have always taken the approach as a reviewer that what I am trying to do is simply to point out to readers that I have come across a recording that I have found of interest, a recording that I think they might appreciate my having pointed out to them. I suppose that sounds a bit simple-minded, but I know I appreciate reading reviews by others that do the same for me — point out recordings that they think I might enjoy.

For readers who might be wondering about what kind of system I am using to do my listening, I should probably point out that I do a LOT of music listening and employ a variety of means to do so in a variety of environments, as I would imagine many music lovers also do. Starting at the more grandiose end of the scale, the system in which I do my most serious listening comprises Marantz CD 6007 and Onkyo CD 7030 CD players, NAD C 658 streaming preamp/DAC, Legacy Audio PowerBloc2 amplifier, and a pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE loudspeakers. I occasionally do some listening through pair of Sennheiser 560S headphones. I miss the excellent ELS Studio sound system in our 2016 Acura RDX (now my wife's daily driver) on which I had ripped more than a hundred favorite CDs to the hard drive, so now when driving my 2022 Accord EX-L Hybrid I stream music from my phone through its adequate but not outstanding factory system. For more casual listening at home when I am not in my listening room, I often stream music through the phone into a Vizio soundbar system that has tolerably nice sound for such a diminutive physical presence. And finally, at the least grandiose end of the scale, I have an Ultimate Ears Wonderboom II Bluetooth speaker for those occasions where I am somewhere by myself without a sound system but in desperate need of a musical fix. I just can’t imagine life without music and I am humbly grateful for the technology that enables us to enjoy it in so many wonderful ways.

William (Bill) Heck, Webmaster and Contributor

Among my early childhood memories are those of listening to my mother playing records (some even 78 rpm ones!) of both classical music and jazz tunes. I suppose that her love of music was transmitted genetically, and my interest was sustained by years of playing in rock bands – until I realized that this was no way to make a living. The interest in classical music was rekindled in grad school when the university FM station serving as background music for studying happened to play the Brahms First Symphony. As the work came to an end, it struck me forcibly that this was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard, and from that point on, I never looked back. This revelation was to the detriment of my studies, as I subsequently spent way too much time simply listening, but music has remained a significant part of my life. These days, although I still can tell a trumpet from a bassoon and a quarter note from a treble clef, I have to admit that I remain a nonexpert. But I do love music in general and classical music in particular, and I enjoy sharing both information and opinions about it.

The audiophile bug bit about the same time that I returned to classical music. I’ve gone through plenty of equipment, brands from Audio Research to Yamaha, and the best of it has opened new audio insights. Along the way, I reviewed components, and occasionally recordings, for The $ensible Sound magazine. Most recently I’ve moved to my “ultimate system” consisting of a BlueSound Node streamer, an ancient Toshiba multi-format disk player serving as a CD transport, Legacy Wavelet II DAC/preamp/crossover, dual Legacy PowerBloc2 amps, and Legacy Signature SE speakers (biamped), all connected with decently made, no-frills cables. With the arrival of CD and higher resolution streaming, that is now the source for most of my listening.

Ryan Ross, Contributor

I started listening to and studying classical music in earnest nearly three decades ago. This interest grew naturally out of my training as a pianist. I am now a musicologist by profession, specializing in British and other symphonic music of the 19th and 20th centuries. My scholarly work has been published in major music journals, as well as in other outlets. Current research focuses include twentieth-century symphonic historiography, and the music of Jean Sibelius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Malcolm Arnold.

I am honored to contribute writings to Classical Candor. In an age where the classical recording industry is being subjected to such profound pressures and changes, it is more important than ever for those of us steeped in this cultural tradition to continue to foster its love and exposure. I hope that my readers can find value, no matter how modest, in what I offer here.

Bryan Geyer, Technical Analyst

I initially embraced classical music in 1954 when I mistuned my car radio and heard the Heifetz recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. That inspired me to board the new "hi-fi" DIY bandwagon. In 1957 I joined one of the pioneer semiconductor makers and spent the next 32 years marketing transistors and microcircuits to military contractors. Home audio DIY projects remained a personal passion until 1989 when we created our own new photography equipment company. I later (2012) revived my interest in two channel audio when we "downsized" our life and determined that mini-monitors + paired subwoofers were a great way to mate fine music with the space constraints of condo living.

Visitors that view my technical papers on this site may wonder why they appear here, rather than on a site that features audio equipment reviews. My reason is that I tried the latter, and prefer to publish for people who actually want to listen to music; not to equipment. My focus is in describing what's technically beneficial to assure that the sound of the system will accurately replicate the source input signal (i. e. exhibit high accuracy) without inordinate cost and complexity. Conversely, most of the audiophiles of today strive to achieve sound that's euphonic, i.e. be personally satisfying. In essence, audiophiles seek sound that's consistent with their desire; the music is simply a test signal.

Mission Statement

It is the goal of Classical Candor to promote the enjoyment of classical music. Other forms of music come and go--minuets, waltzes, ragtime, blues, jazz, bebop, country-western, rock-'n'-roll, heavy metal, rap, and the rest--but classical music has been around for hundreds of years and will continue to be around for hundreds more. It's no accident that every major city in the world has one or more symphony orchestras.

When I was young, I heard it said that only intellectuals could appreciate classical music, that it required dedicated concentration to appreciate. Nonsense. I'm no intellectual, and I've always loved classical music. Anyone who's ever seen and enjoyed Disney's Fantasia or a Looney Tunes cartoon playing Rossini's William Tell Overture or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 can attest to the power and joy of classical music, and that's just about everybody.

So, if Classical Candor can expand one's awareness of classical music and bring more joy to one's life, more power to it. It's done its job. --John J. Puccio

Jun Fukamachi at Steinway (CD review)

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"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa