By Juan C. Ayllon It was incredible: John McLaughlin, Paco DeLucia and Al Di Meola were actually seated in my family room, jamming flamenco style, their fingers whirring blindingly fast on their acoustic guitars. As long as I live, I will never forget it. Well, not quite but, closing my eyes, my ears sure could have fooled me! Lampizator North America’s Fred Ainsley asked me if I’d like to review their Super Komputer music server a few days before AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) if I agreed to drop it off at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center in Schaumburg, Illinois where it’s being held, before opening day. I had reviewed and purchased a prototype of the Lampizator DSD Komputer music server in 2015 (you can read the review here) and, now their latest version of their 6,900 Euro flagship Super Komputer with a wholly revamped power supply was sitting in its flight case in the middle of my man cave. “It’s so heavy, I can hardly move it!” my wife had exclaimed over the telephone after she signed for it. Indeed, it weighed over 50 lbs. Lugging it downstairs, I posted several photos to Facebook before hooking it up. Sporting a utilitarian rectangular design, unpacked, it was a 17 ½” x 20 ¼” x 4 ¾” black aluminum chassis with heat vents on top, four removable hard drives on the left side, a WIFI antenna and a bank of inputs for USB (including a 3.0 output), ethernet, HDMI and SPDIF in back, and a silver faceplate with the name, Lampizator (the “O” doubling as an on switch that turned orange when powered up). Its literature boasts the following:
The next day at 5:30 AM, Lampizator’s IT specialist, Antoni Bagan, set it up remotely from the factory via TeamViewer linked to my MacBook Air. Now, after keeping it powered on for a week, it is show time. Paco De Lucia / Al Di Meola / John McLaughlin. “Guardian Angels.“ Friday Night in San Francisco. ALAC 44.1 kHz 16bit. Philips, August 10, 1981. The textures, squeaks and finger picking nuances of the late, classic guitarist virtuoso, Paco De Lucia -- as with the space of the hall -- is superbly presented by the Super Komputer, and when McLaughlin (center channel) and Di Meola join in, the hairs on my arms stand up, as the three take turns leading and comping one another one moment, sharing choruses the next. The brilliance, the timbre of the wood, plucked strings, the occasional tap on the side of the hollow body and the dizzying runs sound as if they are being performed at the front of my room -- except that the space opens up much, much larger. This is special. Jack DeJohnette. “Speaking in Tongues.” Extra Special Edition. WAV 44.1kHz. Blue Note Records, 1980. The imaging of DeJohnette’s resonnant cymbals crescendoing, Paul Grassi striking a tiny bell and various percussion instruments, the clicking of a tongue and guttural vocalese by Bobby McFerrin, Grassi’s snare taps and strikes, then Lonnie Plaxico’s bass, Michael Cain’s piano and some female voices on high reverb, keys, and toms join the fray as this abstract piece builds. The performance envelops me in a shimmering wall of sound that leaves me blinking after it ends. I think I need a cigarette. Steely Dan. “Aja.” Aja. WAV 44.1kHz 16bit. ABC Records, September 23, 1977. The tone and melody of pianist Michael Omartian and guitarist Larry Carlton opening to this jazz/pop classic rending it instantly recognizable are fully articulated, and accompanied by Joe Sample on electric piano, Steve Gadd on ride cymbal and drums, Victor Feldman on percussion and Chuck Rainey on bass, it’s apparent that this is no ordinary listening session. And, then, there’s Donald Fagen’s haunting, upper register, nasally vocals -- so vivid, refined and gosh darned articulated in its graininess. Wayne Shorter’s atmospheric tenor saxophone solo, the delicate instrumental interlude before Donald Fagen offers up his languid and pensive, “Up on the hill, they think I’m okay -- or so they say” is breathtaking in its sense of immediacy. Steve Gadd’s stupefying drum solo (arguably his best solo recording) and Sample’s electric piano leaves me stunned with the brilliant presentation of detail, pace, rhythm and dynamics. Patricia Barber. “Silent Partner.” Modern Cool. ALAC 44.1 kHz 16 bit. Premonition Records, June 30, 1998. Barber’s is conveyed in its breathy, sultry best, as she croons, “No one must know/ no one to call/ But for the lipstick and perfume, there would be no trace of me at all…” Not at all! Accompanied by her understated piano, Mark Walker’s brushes on the snare, Michael Arnopol’s upright acoustic bass, with the Super Komputer, this recording presents irrefutable evidence of her mastery of her craft in uncanny, transfixing manner. A tap on the ride cymbal, a light crescendo moments later on the crash -- it’s scary real. Then there’s the superb articulation of Dave Douglas’s muted trumpet lead, comped by Barber’s piano, Michael Anopol’s upright acoustic bass and Walker on drums and percussion transfix in this ballad. The sense of air and space, the darkness of the background -- It’s all conveyed extremely well. With AXPONA two days away in nearby Schaumburg, Illinois, sitting here in my man cave, I feel that I am being transported forward in time to one of the “Best in the Show” exhibits. As good as my DSD Komputer prototype was, this is even better. It’s really that good! Azusa Yamada, Pearl Alexander. “Tsuki.” Azusa Yamada and Pearl Alexander at Sakiki 2015. DSD128 download. Saidera Records by Native DSD Music, 2015. The bowing and string plucking of Pearl Alexander’s contrabass juxtapositioned against Azusa Yamada’s marimba are so ethereal and abstract, in one sense, and so palpable on the other. I close my eyes and they stand ten feet in front of me, but in a magnified soundstage. The rosined bow rubbing across strings -- one moment resonnant and full, the other squealing, squeaking and protesting while Yamada’s frenetic, dextrous strikes of her mallet (called knobs) on the marimaba’s wood bars over pipes (or resonators) below produce the lush tones flitting about with verve; at once, it’s more melodic, dancing on the scales with aplomb. Spare vocal intonations by Alexander appear, conjuring up Pat Metheny Group’s Pedro Aznar in the 80s ever so briefly. Their dance, their dialog is conveyed in vivid, vibrant textures. It’s transfixing, the Super Komputer capturing the performance -- and Seigen Ono’s masterful recording -- in real space. The polite clapping at the end reminds me that this is indeed a live recording at a tea ceremony. Somehow, I feel I should be wearing a blazer and tie right about now. Too Fast, Too Soon It is now Wednesday when Fred calls me up. With AXPONA’s set up day tomorrow and opening day on Friday, could I please drop it off sometime tonight, he asks. Of course, I say, snapping a few photos, packing and loading it onto my wife’s SUV for the short journey to the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center. Arriving there, after gawking at this immense 21st Century architectural marvel, I procure a bellman’s dolly, wheel my cargo to the front desk, where it’s secured, and head home. Fred thanks me, adding that we’ll have to have a beer or two at AXPONA. If only I had another week with it -- if only. Their new, $30,000 flagship DAC (digital to analog converter), the PACIFIC, which will be paired with the Super Komputer this weekend at AXPONA, was scheduled to arrive at my home a few days ago but, as it stands, it is now at a shipping warehouse about an hour away. I would have loved to have them play in tandem in my man cave. Who knows? There’s always tomorrow. Concluding Remarks
I have lived in the suburbs of Chicago most of my life. When it’s night time, the skies seem more or less black. The further that one gets away from the city, the darker the sky gets and the more stars you see, which stands to reason: there’s less ambient light to reflect off dust particles in the air. Now, I’ve spent time in the desert, at sea, the mountains and various locations in the wilderness. However, the blackest skies I ever saw was as a youth while camping with my family in the deep woods in the Menominee Indian Reservation in northeast Wisconsin. Craning my neck around midnight, I saw millions of stars, many of which I never knew were there. I watched a falling star shoot across the heavens and burn out somewhere in our stratosphere. It was sheer magnificence. That’s what listening to music was like with the Super Komputer as my source. As wonderful as my Lampizator DSD Komputer is, this definitely trumps it. I am astonished. You can view the Lampizator North America site here. Equipment Used:
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