Good Morning, Sunshine.
What kind of idea are you?
If you, against all odds, found your way to this tiny spec on the virtual map, you likely enjoy listening and maybe too, the components used to facilitate the ritual? Maybe you're just lost. For that, I am grateful. Welcome, all.
Today, it's Bellbird, talk of dynamic range, the way of the Idler, and gear I wish I hadn't sold.
First, a grateful nod to The Tonearm, for it was they who showed me the way to Montreal based collective, Bellbird, and their latest, The Call.
Listen up.
One thing I've noticed over the years, reading headphone reviews, is that the dynamic expression delivered by a particular driver is less likely to be a hot topic. More often, the tech-talk focuses on bandwidth, scale and measurements. Tuning. From one angle, I suppose it makes sense; headphone drivers sit mere millimeters from our ears, so perhaps some listeners don't hear the difference between a headphone rated at 86db and another rated at 101db when driven to similar SPL's. They do recognize the fact that the power requirements are quite different, though the focus here is typically on the wider range of amplification available for pairing with the latter, so making it a better value proposition. Add to this that, in recent years, many of the best rated or most highly regarded headphones in the game are quite difficult to drive and carry sensitivity ratings in the low 80's. The point here isn't to argue that those products aren't deserving of their status, but simply to illustrate that for many, dynamic expression appears to reside quite low on the list of performance measures they consider when evaluating a headphone.
That's surprising. No judgment. This does illuminate that our strange corner of the world is a diverse as the rest. All good, I think.
I come from the low watt, highly sensitive loudspeaker camp, and so typically pursue the same approach with headphone listening. I've found that only highly sensitive drivers deliver the kind of truly affecting playback I seek. I had a pair of Meze 109 Pro, which are very sensitive (112 dB SPL/mW at 1 kHz) but alas, they were lost with many other items. The dearly departed Zu Audio Soul 6, were my last pair of loudspeakers. We were a match made. I sold them, and now I miss them so. Ah well. Point is, I am happy to be covering the grell audio OAE2 in the coming weeks, as they are built around a 40mm bio-cellulose dynamic driver rated at 100db - my kind of transducer.
Another topic I rarely approach, mostly because I've limited experience with it, is turntable design, specifically the motors that drive them. I've owned a direct drive 'table and a couple of belt drives too. My current 'table is the handsome and endlessly engaging PTP Audio Solid9 paired with the Sorane SA-1.2 tonearm. It will likely be my main spin 'til I can't hear it anymore. I've no desire to change things when it comes to vinyl playback. Cartridges are another story, but that can wait. I find that my analog front end, when compared to my digital/streaming components, wins every time. When used with the PTP power source, it's blissfully quiet (yes, I've also done plenty of listening with headphones), freaky dynamic, colorful and never fails to deliver affecting playback. That's a lot, I know. Yet it remains.
Digital playback is great. I spend most of my time streaming these days, though that will change at some point. Still, the idler drive is a unique beast. If you are an analog kid, and have yet to put your ears on one, I recommend it. Now, it's not so easy, I know. Idler designs are not widely available, and many will cost you dearly.
PTP Audio's designs are reasonably priced, and hand-built to order by Peter Reinders in the Netherlands. Reinders collects Lenco turntable motors originally built in the mid-1960's, services and updates them, then mounts them to the Corian plinth of your choice. Now, servicing these motors may not be as easy as modern designs, though there is a large community of idlerfolk online, so you'd not be alone. I'll add that I've had no issues with mine. If you are someone who prizes touch and drive, force and tone, you'd do well to sit down with one of these 'tables.
Thanks for listening.
