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Chinese Hi-Fi Magazine Review
JULY 2008
SEe the complete review
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Chinese Hi-Fi Magazine Review
June 2008
SEe the complete review
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Audiophile Audition
EXCERPT FROM Audiophile audition -june 2008, by john sunier
I seem to be Johnny-come-lately with this unique SACD, which was released sometime last year. It’s
the first commercial release from a new label based in Belmont, California, whose goal is to set a new
standard in audio excellence with their recordings. I can’t disagree with any of the previous raves about
this stunning first effort; it appears they have met their goal.
Producers Cookie Marenco and Jean Claude Reynaud experimented in the studio for some time with
various mike placements and surround setups using solo or duo performers of roots music. They found
that placing their surround mikes in the 5.0 ITU surround layout pattern, plus closeup mikes for the
performers, achieved a holographic sensation on playback in both surround and stereo They call their
recording technique Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E.), and unlike most surround playback that is
only experienced when you are at the apex of the five-channel soundfield, their recordings also
sounded good when you moved outside of the speaker circle. They also record in the studio without the
use of headphones, overdubs or digital effects, and avoid using compression whenever possible... Read
The Full Article... |
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Stereo Times
Excerpt from
EMM Labs CDSA SE CD/Stereo SACD Player
by Nelson Brill,
March 2008
...A final word on the CDSA’s performance on stereo SACD, versus CD. I can report
that this is yet another area where Meitner and his team have surpassed expectations,
dramatically closing the sonic gap between the two formats. Take for instance, the
collection of acoustic songs recorded beautifully by Cookie Morenco and Jean Claude
Reynaud on their hybrid SACD Blue Coast Collection [Blue Coast Records]. On “Looking
For A Home,” the duet of Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai is so finely wrought that
it absolutely stuns in its acoustic simplicity, clarity and naturalness. Played through the
CDSA on either its CD or SACD layers, the subtle shifts of each vocal inflection was
clear and full, ringing like a bell into an airy recording space suffused with the gentle
chiming of Kai’s dobro and Greeninger’s crisp guitar lines. There were only slight differences
detected playing the two formats on the CDSA, with the SACD layer offering a
slightly more ambient presentation, with more surrounding air and a slight increase in
inner resolution, particularly heard in the plucking of the dobro strings and its decaying
smoke trails into the recording space....
Read
The Full Article... |
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Positive-Feedback.com
EXCERPT FROM Notes of an Amateur - November 2007, Part 3 by Bob Neill
I don't usually go within an acre of sound demonstration records, which as a genre almost always succeeds in separating sound from music, reinforcing the disease of which audiophiles are most
susceptible. But I trust well known and much honored recording engineer Cookie Marenco—and I
work for her fellow recording engineer, Jean Claude Reynaud, son of Himself, Jean Marie. Further,
they used my JMR Offrande Signature speakers to monitor this recording. Any other incentives?
Well, I played it on the Offrandes with a Blue Circle FtTH hybrid integrated amp and Audio Note and
Blue Circle digital at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and made a lot of friends.
Read
The Full Article... |
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Stereophile
EXCERPT FROM MUSIC IN THE ROUND #26 BY KALMAN RUBINSON
..Finally, I gave the MP1 a run with a remarkable new demonstration
disc, Blue Coast Collection: The E.S.E. Sessions (SACD, Blue
Coast BCRSA 1012a). Clearly intended to show off the talents
of the recording engineers-producers, Cookie Marenco and Jean-Claude
Reynaud, The E.S.E. Sessions is a spectacularly natural presentation
of acoustic instruments and voices in a rich, defining ambience
that envelops the listener. Via the MP1, the Levinson No.433
amp, and my B&W loudspeakers, I felt transported to some
unknown but very comfortable space in which I sat 6–10'
from an array of talented musicians, each of whom seemed to
want to communicate with me. The folky language most of them
spoke is not my usual dialect, but it was impossible not to
be engaged when the message was so immediate and personal.
And don't miss the last track, which features Glen Moore's
bowed double bass and a curious whisper. Read
The Full Article... |
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La Nouvelle
Revue de Son
Blue Coast Collection Review
The first shot is a master shot for this new American label
that is about to create a sensation. Some demanding artists
have refused all recordings to remain true to the emotion
of live music, this fugitive, magical instant that we can
only catch once in a lifetime. On this level, Blue Coast Records
has something new to present that is really surprising. Cookie
Marenco, the founder, many times rewarded with the very coveted
"Grammy" award, successfully gathered a great team
of sound engineers, including the very talented Jean-Claude
Reynaud (son of the speaker manufacturer Jean-Marie Reynaud).
Read
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5.1 Recording Vibes
With ESE
Mix Article on E.S.E. BY RICK CLARK
The dusk outside the Marin County, Calif., studio The Site
was magical, with deep reds, oranges and grays mixed with
clouds, mist from billowing coastal overcast drifting in and
redwood trees towering outside the tracking room windows.
Inside, Glen Moore, of the legendary acoustic fusion band
Oregon, was improvising his own magic on his 300-year-old
Klotz string bass. Its rich tonality filled the room, while
an impressive complement of precisely placed microphones captured
his performance. When I walked into the control room, it sounded
like Moore was in the middle of the Neve console, and when
I walked around the room, the bassist's position hadn't changed.
Standing outside the array of Jean-Marie Reynaud speakers
were producers/engineers Cookie Marenco and Jean-Claude Reynaud.
After listening for a few minutes, Marenco exclaimed, "No
bad seats!" She was right. What I listened to were the
fruits of almost two years of work, in which Marenco and Reynaud
pursued a surround production approach that would bring a
sound to live performance-oriented recordings that is intimate
and expansive. They call this trademarked technique ESE, or
Extended Sound Environment. Read
More... |
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Stereophile
eNewsletter
Excerpt from Road Trippin' by Wes Phillips
..Whoa! Keith Greenberg began playing guitar and Dayan Kai
chimed in on dobro, and they were right there, big as life
and all but visible. Then Greenberg started singing, and I
was so there, wherever there was. (Turns out there was Cookie
Marenco's Extended Sound Environment; you can get the record
at bluecoastrecords.com.) I'd been resisting this? What am
I, crazy?...
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