CMY Invites! Franck Tchang Returns.

Franck Tchang Returns to Malaysia, again. 

You can tell that Franck Tchang loves coming to Malaysia, his favorite audiophile market. CMY Audio & Visual invites you to share the experience of music listening with acoustic treatment, a presentation by Franck Tchang, founder of ASI and designer of the controversial acoustic resonators, amongst other audio related products.

John Yew, CMY boss, tells me that Franck has some new and interesting items on demo. Refreshments and light snacks will be served.

The presentation and demo session will be held from 3pm, Sunday, 4th November 2012, at the CMY Audio & Visual Damansara Uptown showroom, located at 32, Jalan SS21/58, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya. 

For R.S.V.P. please call Chan at 03-77272419 or 012-2873551, as seats are limited.  

Visiting Fluid Mastering Studio 1.

PMC UK had planned to bring us to visit Metropolis recording studios in London, followed by Fluid Mastering studio as part of our hifi trio "educational" program. Alas, as luck would have it, Metropolis was fully booked for the day as recording from the previous night finished late and the next sessions arrived earlier than scheduled. Still, we managed to get a glimpse inside one of London's biggest commercial recording studio. It's a hip and happening place. Enjoy the photos.


Metropolis studios is located inside an old power plant, aptly called The Power House!



The art gallery like foyer reveals the extent of the sound treatment done to the place. The bands were jamming inside and we heard absolutely nothing outside!



The first floor foyer, which leads to the in house cafeteria and a lounge of open space.



Jo seen here with all the artists whose albums are recorded here at Metropolis.


We were then quickly ushered to the nearby Fluid Mastering studio 1 where we're graciously hosted by Nick Watson, one of the Mastering Engineers working that day. Nick quickly explained to us the difference between a recording and a mastering studio. The first is where the music is recorded, and the later is where all the subtle magic happens. It touches up raw recordings in to it's final commercial presentation, in form of a master for stamping, be it for CDs, LPs, or tapes.

While we're there, Nick was working on a live concert recording. He played us the original recording and the remastered tracks back to back. We all could hear the subtle touches that the remastering had an an effect to the original recording. On the original recording, there was a wall of sound effect, where the music was relatively flat, and no staging or imaging was discern able. The bass guitar lines on the track was at times drowning out the female vocals too. The remastered track cleaned up the bass lines and made it tighter, and it now never interfered with the vocals. The highs seemed "airier" and there is now some resemblance of what we audiophiles recognise as staging and imaging. There was overall more depth to the music, making it easier to follow.

Nick says it typically takes a day to master an album, however there are really though ones that can take two or three days of work. The final mastered version of the recording is then sent to the artist for approval, which most of the time is O.K. However, there are some artist who set very specific standards and may require further adjustments pending their final approval. With the artist's approval, a master stamper can then be made for mass production of CDs or LPs.
  

Nick Watson at Fluid Mastering studio 1, seen behind are a pair of PMC BB5-XBD active monitors with Bryston amplification. A pair of smaller Spendor monitors are also used to check reproduction of the mastered music file.



On the Captain's chair. Nick uses various software and hardware on his console to fine tune all the recordings that comes to him.



A pair of Studer reel to reel tape player is used for playback and transfer.



An LP cutting lathe is used to cut a master stamper, which is then used to press production LPs. 

 

A CD transport mated to Weiss DAC on the console.

 

A Rega P3 is used to monitor playback of  LP.

Some of us asked if Nick thought that LP is truly superior as a music format compared to CD? He reckoned if he had mastered them both of the same album, there should be no difference at all. If any, he says, it's because a vinyl set up offers more personalised tweaking to met preferences of the owner of the hifi system. A good CD based system would almost naturally be more accurate due to it's lack of adjust ability.

James of AV Designs then asked Nick to play some music which can stress test the Bad Boy PMC BB5-XBD. Nick choose a bass heavy dance/club track which high lighted the capabilities of those famed PMC monitors. We were awe struck by the agility and superb bass control of the flag ship PMC monitors. There are no BB5-XBDs in Malaysia today as yet, so this experience is priceless.

Next, PMC launches a new speaker range to commemorate their 20th Anniversary celebrations!

Pictures are courtesy of James Tan, Felix and Big E.

PMC Presents, The British Music Experience!

The British Music Experience located in the O2 Arena, is a must attend attraction for "music lovers". It's a kind of music and pop culture museum meets interactive music workshop theme concept. The O2 Arena is also a place where happening concerts take stage. PMC certainly thought it was a cool place to entertain us, the hifi scribes and dealers worldwide.

As we enter, we're greeted by a generous music memorabilia and merchandise area. From there we enter a general zone where we're shown entertainment options available in Britain thru the post war years till present day. There are also interesting period rooms, ranging from the big band 50's to the flower power 60's, followed by the psychedelic 70's, then the progressive rock/punk 80's, and not forgetting the boy band and girl power 90's till the present day British music scene. Each room is filled with music, interactive counters, period costumes worn by famous artists of the time, complete with projection videos and lighting effects, to make it all a relevant experience!



This section shows the various television sets and programs available to Britain over the years.



The reception and bar area for the thirsty crowd.

There's also a dance booth, where one is given video instructions, on selected song dances popular over the decades. Remember the Saturday Night Fever moves, or the strangely familiar Macarena steps anyone?

However, the area where we spent most of our time in was the Gibson Interactive zone, where video tutorials are available via head phones ala recording studio style for any given musical instrument, mostly guitar, keyboard and drums. There's also a vocal recording booth available for those karaoke champions wannabe. We're thought to play/sing like a pro rocker and can choose to have our own performance recorded on to our own smart ticket which we can later decide if purchase the said recording is worth while. Here are some photos of us having fun!


Jerry Kuo, Editor In Chief from U-Audio Taiwan, having some guitar practice. 



Jo, recalling his experience at a recording console, remember Pop Pop Music's Love's Tapestry CD folks?



Felix going really deep in to his cords!

 

Now, who's this John Mayor wannabe? Think Ain't No Sunshine concert performance at the last guitar festival on Blu-ray!

 

The author going for some drum kit action.



Did Mark Knopfler forgotten his hair band? No, it's just James Tan from AV Designs, doing his "kamikaze" guitar hero thing!



After all the ruckus we made in the Gibson Interactive zone, it was time for some rock music concert, performed by The Tin Spirits along with some special guest.



Now, that was fun! You can visit the http://www.britishmusicexperience.com/ and do a virtual tour of the place, and in case you do visit London for leisure in the near future, do include it in to your visit itinerary.

PMC 20th Anniversary Celebrations!

Folks, our hifi trio's London trip was timed to coincide with the PMC 20th Anniversary Celebrations. PMC will play host to us from here onwards. The event was a glamorous affair, held at the London O2 Arena, which is where part of the Olympics 2012 will be staged too!

PMC brought in all the hifi press and worldwide dealers to join in the festivities. I'll leave you with some of the photos for the night! 

The grand entrance to the London O2 Arena.



This sign signifies not only 20th Anniversary Celebrations, but something more potent to come!

 

Happy 20th Anniversary PMC!

 

Peter Thomas speaking his thoughts for the last 20 years.

 

The Malaysian(mostly) delegates, staff of AV Designs and some of the notable hifi scribes.

 

The London O2 Arena at night is a beautiful. and futuristic looking site.

The hifi trio congratulates PMC and wishing them another 20 more successful years!

Pictures courtesy of James Tan of AV Designs and Big E.



Music All Around!

I spoke to the Pop Pop man who has just returned from HK for a business trip.

He recounted how disappointed to find out that even an entertainment mecca like HK does not have a jazz scene. His many mega audiophile friends in HK who have been to jazz clubs all over the world also concur that HK is a cultural desert. In fact, this bunch of mega audiophiles told him that they find Malaysia's No Black Tie to be among the world's best. It is definitely something to be proud of. Many don't even know that we have the best drummer (Lewis Pragasam), best bassist (Andy Peterson), best percussionist (Steve Thornton), best music director (Mac Chew), best music arranger (Mac Chew, Salvador Guerzo, Aubrey Suwito) in the region. But then again, how many local audiophiles bother about local music?

Maggielurva's drive to revolutionize the local music scene and bring forth local talents is highly commendable. But Malaysians have a tendency to look down on local talents until they get fame in/from overseas. We are Malaysians what. If Zee Avi were to sign under a local label and not Jack Johnson's Brushfire, she wouldn't have gone anywhere far.

Anyway, here's two interesting activities organized by Pop Pop Music next week: both happen in Loud+Clear record shop in Solaris Dutamas. Admission is free. You have to call Caffee Wong at 012-3698169 to let her you are coming!

3 In 1 Happiness Event.

The first thing that struck me about the thoroughly modern urban chic designed, Sunway Giza Mall is those big giant fans, hung from the centre "big top" open air area. Those giant fans help to cool the side walk cafes down enough to make sitting in the open air spaces look "happenin" and sweat free.

The giant fans mounted from the "big top" provides the necessary cooling to hang out at the open air spaces, and cafes.

The newest CMY Audio & Visual shop front, located on the first floor of the air conditioned section of the Sunway Giza Mall.

The latest CMY Audio & Visual branch is located on the first floor of the air conditioned section of the mall. The showroom is tastefully decorated to reflect the discerning clientele at the up and coming area of Kota Damansara.
All the CMY brands are available here!

From left: WS Woon(Wadia i-competition winner), Big E and John Yew(Head Honcho of CMY) doing the "Grand Prize"(a Wadia 170 iTransport) giving ceremony.

I had the pleasure to escort our Wadia i-competition winner, WS Woon to the "Grand Prize" giving ceremony, and along the way, got to know him as an audiophile. We hope to feature his high end system one day.
A section of the crowd listening to the Jz8 CD demo.

The main event was of course, no other than ML's Pop Pop Music laucnh of the Jz8 album with CDs scheduled to be available some time late this month. I was so hoping that I could get my copy and get Lydia and Tay Cher Siang of the Jz8 duo to autograph it. I also got the opportunity chat up the friendly duo, which will appear in the 10Qs section latter. Those who attended the event was treated to a real eye/ear opener, with Lydia doing an impromptu unplug solo performance vs the demo CD of the song Ferris Wheels. All I can say is, this gurl's got it going on! Yeah!
From left: ML, Lydia and Tay Cher Siang of Jz8 duo.

The promising sounding all Naim system used for the CD demo.

The Naim electronics, powered by RGPC power conditioning.

The Naim Ovator speakers represent Naim's new thinking on speaker design direction. Retailing for only RM$38K.

One of the unusual design feature of the Naim Ovator speakers, the BMR tweeter decoupling suspension system. The speakers also has plinth decoupling system functioned by an ingenious leaf spring design.

ML declares "We are gonna sell at least 30,000 copies of Jz8 CDs!". Not an over optimistic forecast I'd say, going from Lydia and Tay Cher Siang's musical talents.

The system used to demo the Jz8 CD is an all Naim system featuring the latest Naim Ovator speakers. This speaker heralds a new speaker design direction, more inclusive to a wider target audience, other than to the usual loyal olive hair shirt Naim owners! The sound from the system is promising, which I suspect it had slightly diluted that Naim signature sound, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on the degree of oliveness in Naim one is. The Naim Ovator comes with a few new design innovations and I urge our readers to check it out, even if one is not a Naim loyalist.
Andy is the store manager for the CMY Kota Damansara branch. So do look out for this ever friendly chap!

There's also an area dedicated to AV systems demo.
If Andy looks familiar to you, that's because he was previously posted at the nearby 1 Utama CMY branch. You can contact Andy at, 016-9765277.
Stay tuned for my 10Qs to the Jz8 duo.

3 In 1 Happiness Event. CMY New Branch Opening, Launch Of Jz8 CD and Wadia i-Competition Prize Giving Ceremony.

The latest CMY Audio & Visual showroom in the equally new Sunway Giza Mall, Kota Damansara.

This message has already appeared in two other music and hifi related blogs, so please treat this as a final reminder!

There's a 3 in 1 "Happiness Event" happening next Saturday, 2.00-4.00pm, 15th May 2010. Place is the brand new CMY Audio & Visual show room at Sunway Giza Mall, Kota Damansara. First "Happiness" is that we are celebrating the official opening of the said show room.
Maestro Tay Cher Siang will be at hand to autograph ML's latest production, the Jz8 CD and meet fans.
The next "Happiness" is that ML of Pop-Pop Music is launching his most anticipated work till date, the Jz8 duo, which features Maestro Tay Cher Siang, who makes up half the partnership, to personally autograph the CDs bought there and then plus to meet his fans in person. The Jz8 CD will also be on demo.
Attn: W.S.Woon, your "Grand Prize", the Wadia 170 iTransport awaits your collection!
The final "Happiness" is that CMY has decided to include the "Grand Prize" giving ceremony of our recently concluded Wadia i-Competition, which resulted in W.S.Woon being declared the winner. W.S.Woon please show your self for the event to collect your "Grand Prize", which is a unit of the excellent Wadia 170 iTransport dock.

Please RSVP your attendance for the event with Chan of CMY by calling 012-2873551.

See ya all!

Announcing the Winner of the CMY Wadia 170iTransport Competition

Well, finally, here it is! After a couple of weeks of deliberation, Team CMY has chosen the winner.

Our "A Wadia 170iTransport for Your iThoughts" competition ran the whole month of March. We received a total of 9 submissions. Out those we received each week, we chose one to be shortlisted for CMY's consideration.

(DRUM ROLLS...... DRUM ROLLS.......)
CMY chose the week 2 entry from W.S.Woon as the final winner, citing its family orientation and the fact the Wadia is something to be enjoyed by the entire family. These are also values that are pretty much close to their heart.

Prize giving will be arranged for middle of May. We are pleased to re-produce the winning article here:

"Seeing the brand Wadia now is like taking a trip down memory lane. It was almost 10 years ago but I can still see the excitement on my father’s face when he set up his first “high-end” audio system, Wadia 6.

Back then, I could not understand the significance of having a “high end” audio system as we already had a few CD players at home. What puzzled me even more was the fact that you need to dedicate an entire room to fully appreciate the sound system.

I asked my dad, “What makes this CD player so great?” He said, listening to music is never the same when you could hear every single detail, lively, natural & warmness of sound which made a song great.

I may not comprehend the meaning of “quality sound”, but I remember the warmness of its sound brought a homely type of feeling to our house. For my dad and I, listening to the soothing sound of his audio system provided us a certain peace of mind. It was so relaxing that I lost track how many times I fell asleep in that room and I hope this natural soothing sound would past on to my next generation as well. The feeling of mental relaxation through great sound is what Wadia symbolizes to me."

A Wadia 170iTransport for Your i-Thoughts - Final Week

Below is the fourth and final qualifying entry for Hifi Unlimited's Wadia 170iTransport competition. The final winner will be announced some time in April.

The following is from Wang C. A.:

Essential Wadia 170i

I lead a hectic life.
I thrive on the fast lane.
I expect high performance.
I don't accept compromises.
Either I do or I don't.
My choice is clear.
I don't look back
It’s not an option.

I keep abreast with cutting edge technology.
My work requires me too push the limits.
I am the kinda guy who can be two places at one time.
The world is in the palms of my hands.
I control everything from wherever I am.
It doesn't matter where I will be.
I can be there, in an instant.
The press of a button.
I am transported.
Thanks to technology.

That’s me, at work.
When I play, I play just as hard.

When I am home, I am a different being.
I leave work outside my door but I bring the world home with me.
I am offline but I am connected, through my IPOD.
My vibe, my videos, my rhythm, my home essentials.
Never come home without it.

I don’t fuss the small stuff.
I don’t live with big clumsy, furniture either.
Everything has a purpose, a reason.
Clearly conceived, conscious space.
A place to dock my mind.
In the center of the room, a small revolution.
A Wadia 170i.
To dock my IPOD.
Plugged in, music flows immediately.
Crystal clear music through the air.
Rhythm gets my foot tapping.
Every musician comes to life.
A touch of the remote brings the projector to life.
Music video cruising from my Ipod through the Wadia 170i.
Crystal clear digital audio.
High resolution video.
High performance, miniature wonder.
Nothing like home.
Nothing like my Wadia 170i.

I don’t need anything else.

A Wadia 170iTransport for Your i-Thoughts - Week 3

Below is the third qualifying entry for Hifi Unlimited's Wadia 170iTransport competition. There is one last qualifying space left now for that chance to win the grand prize.

The following is from Alex Chong W.F.:

Wadia, Unforgettable Sound

End of a song sung by Tsai Chin, found myself grumbling that I was neither in an euphonic mood nor ecstasy fit. My hifi system still stood in the middle ground and I believe the weakest link would be the source, a Marantz SA8003. It is a SACD/CD player but it still falls short of the best CD source that I have ever heard. Still fresh in my mind is a ‘live’ sound I heard in an audio exhibition many years ago. A Wadia CD player was demonstrating songs by Tsai Chin which it produced with transparency, scale and realism that triggered goose bumps all over me. The clarity of flow on vocal, the reality of musical instrument was rendering Tsai Chin ‘vocally naked’ in front of me, and the rhythmic beat stirred up emotion to the highest state that I concentrated on her despite hundreds of visitors streaming in and out of the listening hall.

A visually striking, solid built square metal box that can even survive a nuclear explosion, blue lighting proudly displaying ‘Wadia’ with posh quality written all over it. This is the CD machine that I would love to own and I pushed myself to ask for the price. Wadia is a well known brand for audiophiles with deep pockets, re-confirming that I could not really afford it, I sadly moved out of the listening room.

Wadia's sound has since hounded me, still having dream of the unforgettable goose bump from Tsai Chin. Even as now I have heard other great brands for CD sources, yet I am still finding myself wishing for a Wadia. I am still very much in the hoping someone, someday would offer a reasonably priced secondhand Wadia CD player that I'll eagerly to put my well earned money to.

==================================
For the complete Rules and Regulations of the Wadia Competition, please refer to our earlier announcement here.
Grand Prize! Wadia 170i Transport. Picture shown with iPod attached. The iPod or iPhone to use is your choice, and is sold separately. By the way, you'll also need to connect the Wadia 170i Transport to your high end rig via a dedicated DAC.

Important Announcement On the Wadia 170iTransport Write-in Competition

We want to apologize to our readers and contributors to the Wadia Competition. We have made a boo-boo in the e-mail address which you are required to send your write-ups to.

A keen-eyed contributor pointed out a typo to us. The correct e-mail address to use is odiosleuth@gmail.com. In our previous posts, we have reversed the 'e' and 'u' (they have been corrected now).

For those contributors who spelt out the address, your entry would have reached me. However, if you cut and paste the email address, your entry might have gone missing in cyberspace.

If you have sent your entry to us in the last 2 weeks, please resend them again. I'll acknowledge receipt by a return e-mail within 2 working days from now on. If you do not receive my return e-mail, please check the e-mail address you use and re-send again.

We apologize again for this mishap. Please roll-in those entries now!!

A Wadia 170iTransport for Your i-Thoughts - Week 2

Below is the second qualifying entry for Hifi Unlimited's Wadia 170iTransport competition. Hurry! There are only 2 more qualifying spaces for that chance to win the grand prize. The following is from W.S.Woon:

Seeing the brand Wadia now is like taking a trip down memory lane. It was almost 10 years ago but I can still see the excitement on my father’s face when he set up his first “high-end” audio system, Wadia 6.

Back then, I could not understand the significance of having a “high end” audio system as we already had a few CD players at home. What puzzled me even more was the fact that you need to dedicate an entire room to fully appreciate the sound system.

I asked my dad, “What makes this CD player so great?” He said, listening to music is never the same when you could hear every single detail, lively, natural & warmness of sound which made a song great.

I may not comprehend the meaning of “quality sound”, but I remember the warmness of its sound brought a homely type of feeling to our house. For my dad and I, listening to the soothing sound of his audio system provided us a certain peace of mind. It was so relaxing that I lost track how many times I fell asleep in that room and I hope this natural soothing sound would past on to my next generation as well. The feeling of mental relaxation through great sound is what Wadia symbolizes to me.

==================================
For the complete Rules and Regulations of the Wadia Competition, please refer to our earlier announcement here.


Grand Prize! Wadia 170i Transport. Picture shown with iPod attached. The iPod or iPhone to use is your choice, and is sold separately. By the way, you'll also need to connect the Wadia 170i Transport to your high end rig via a dedicated DAC.