On evaluating speakers?


After reading an article in a stereo magazine on the digital recorder by Korg, I thought that it could be used as an excellent tool to audition speakers. Since it is portable and as per the article has excellent reproduction capabilities, why not use it as a familiar source in different showrooms. Any ideas?
pedrillo
Has anyone read the write-up on the Korg recorder?
It's in TAS. Though they say it cannot capture every fine detail and nuance found in the grooves of an lp it comes pretty close when played back through the Korg itself, which is done so in DSD format. According to the article DSD has much greater resolution than any other digital format, that if down loaded to a hard drive or computer and played back at 44khz, when compared to the playback through the Korg itself at the dsd resolution that the Korg sounded better by far.
For some of us vinyl play back represents the best format to use if in quest for the most accurate and musically pleasing sound in our homes. If we have taken our analog system to greater heights and are satisfied with the sound of our tt, we can hope to use that as a source when auditioning new speakers. But it would be quite difficult to carry a turntable from one show room to another, but the Korg itself is compact and weighs close to nothing. I thought maybe by capturing the magic found in the grooves onto something portable such as the Korg, that that would be an excellent way of having a familiar source any where we go including stereo show rooms.
Of course preamps and power amps play a major role, but it would be unreasonable to keep the pre and power amps the same. One reason for instance is some speakers sound better when matched to a particular amp or type of amp. But if the source is kept the same that will be one less thing that could be blamed for different listening presentations.
I hope this made things clearer.
it won't 'control' the room, which is still the 'eye of the storm' aside from the basic character of the brand itself.
Pedrillo, I understand your points, but it still would be easier to take an SACD disc to the dealer. However, if you think it's worthwhile to spend $1,200 on the recorder and are willing to take the time to do your own recordings, then let us know how it turns out. On paper, the Korg is an amazing piece of machinery.
I've got the Korg. It's an incredible consumer-level recorder, with 130dB of dynamic range. I've recorded my own D2D recordings with it and can't tell the Korg from the vinyl. In fact, thanks to the lack of sensitivity to feedback, you can play the Korg way, way louder with no concern.

I've compared interconnects easily with the Korg. It'd also be a valid way to compare turntables and cartridges and other front end equipment. However, for comparing speakers it'll be useless, because even the very best mic technique cannot easily be replicated for two different speaker systems.

There is a problem with the Korg. The input and output stages are low quality and add noise. When there's program material the noise level is low enough that it's not a problem. I'm waiting to archive my D2D collection until after I have the input and output stages modded by Ric Schultz and some shielding added. But for this weakness, it's an amazing unit.

Dave
Onhwy61,
I thought that vinyl is still better than SACD, wouldn't the Korg be a better source if I record vinyl onto it?