Black Swan - Blu-ray Review

Black Swan (Blu-ray)

By Doctorr

Video: 4 Mo's/5
Audio: 4 Mo's/5

Black Swan is a twisted fantasy tale that is so creepy that it reminded me of "Event Horizon".  Just like Event Horizon, it has managed to stay with me well after the movie is over.

Natalie Portman plays the role of a ballerina who has been chosen to be next Queen Ballerina for her NY City ballet company.  She finds herself involved in a strange relationship with Mila Kunis's character, Lily, who is a complete opposite of herself.  The role requires Nina to play the White Swan (innocent and graceful) and the Black Swan (sensual and guile).  Nina is perfect for the White Swan but has trouble playing the Black Swan which incidentally is a role Lily could play perfectly.  This leads to rivalry between the two which leads to friendship and ultimately leads to Nina becoming more in touch (ahem!) with herself as a dancer and allows her to play the Black Swan to Perfection!

Throughout the movie I kept on thinking that Nina's mother did not exist and that Lily was really Nina.  I am still not sure! 

Video:
The director intended a grainy look for this movie and the blu-ray presentation is spot on in that regard.  There isn't much to say except that the look and feel of the movie totally convey the true intent of the director, Darren Aronofsky, which was to provide a washed out, at times soft, and grainy documentary look.

Audio:
The soundtrack is perfect for this movie.  The sound design adds to the mood and atmosphere of the movie.  The sound stage is wide and very natural. 

There is a scene towards the end of the movie which freaked me and my wife out completely.  Without giving away too much, there is quite a bit of action in the front stage, and by the time the action stopped, we were so immersed in the movie that during silence there is a knock on the door, and both of us turned towards back-right of the room because we thought someone was knocking on our outside wall.  That is a great example of the what great sound design can do, provided your speakers are dialed in correctly. 

Conclusion:
This is a dark movie that is so powerful that I felt the urge to write about it in an effort to get the movie off my mind.  Maybe I'll go and watch Tropic Thunder now! 

Highly recommended.

Do you still use a CD player for listening to most of your music?

I commented on this question on UltimateAV.com. 

My question to you is, if you don't use a CD player, what do you use?  Please take the above survey.  Thanks.

My response was:

Music: Ripped WAV 44.1khz, and Hi-res 96/88.2/176.4/192 downloads
Storage: Dedicated PC based Server
Media Player: Windows 7 running Foobar, XBMC
Soundcard: ASUS Xonar Essence STX
Remote: iPad app for XBMC and Foobar
Music Streamer: Sonos
Remote: Sonos Controller and iPad app.

I use a custom built PC based Server for all my media. The server was custom built for the purposes of listening to high resolution downloads from Linn and HDTracks. I use Windows 7 to run Foobar into an ASUS XONAR STX soundcard running ASIO bit perfect drivers that support Sample Rates: 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 kHz.

In addition to HDTracks and Linn, I also use iTunes to download music, but create Apple Lossless versions of the files that I download.

I have ripped my CD's into Wav files.

Emotiva XDA-1 DAC vs. Pioneer Elite SC-37 Burr-Brown DACs

I was recently asked a question on MartinLoganowners.com about my thoughts on the Emotiva XDA-1 DAC. Here is the question which is followed by my answer. I think this Q&A can make a very interesting debate.

 

Question:

How do you like the XDA-1? I realize you said you aren't really sure how to best use it yet, but how is the sound? One of my co-workers just ordered one and is a bit nervous about how it will perform. He is running all Emo gear into a pair of Vienna Mozarts if that helps. He was between the DacMagic and the XDA-1, but chose XDA-1 of course.

I am also in the same boat as you, I am using the Marantz SR7005 and I am not sure if I should even get another DAC, so I am also curious.

 

Doctorr's Response:

Thanks for the question. I have tried this DAC in 2 configurations.
1) As a Preamp. (Server, CD player, and Sonos) connected to the DAC and the DAC directly connected to the XPA-2.
2) As a standalone DAC. (Server, CD player, and Sonos) connected to the DAC and the DAC connected to the SC-37 via analog output and the SC-37 preamp output to XPA-2.

I preferred the all digital configuration in #1. As I noted earlier the DAC is silent in this setup and there is no background noise. The sound is richer with extended highs and solid bass. There is definitely more air to musical instruments and voices. The midrange is also good but I found the midrange better in option #2. However, with option #2 the quieter passages in music are not completely quite like they are with the DAC operating as a digital preamp in the digital domain.

I have not had any issues with the XDA-1 possibly because I received the 2nd batch after the kinks with volume control had been worked out.

DacMagic vs. XDA-1: DacMagic is a Stereophile class B recommended product and I have no doubt that it is a very good DAC. I chose the XDA-1 over the DacMagic for the simple reason that it can used as a preamp and the fact that it can handle 24bit/192KHZ downloads. The DacMagic maxes out at 96K. While that may not be an issue for most people, it was something that I wanted.

After having listened to the XDA-1 for a couple of months I do like the sound of this DAC over the SC-37 DACs. In my opinion the sound will ultimately depend on how you use the DAC.

After trying this both ways, i.e. receiver DACs and standalone DAC, my recommendation would be to use a standalone DAC because of the overall improvement in sound.

Hope this helps!

 

MartinLogan Vantage vs. MartinLogan Montage

Just for the heck of it I decided to give my Vantages a break for a week. I moved my Montage left and right floor standing speakers from the rear to the front of room in the spot that was previously occupied by the Vantages.

Source Equipment: Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD, PS3 (3D), Media Server feeding an Asus Xonar STX sound card, and Sonos.

Amplification: Pioneer Elite SC-37, Pioneer VSX-33. I am in the market for a new amp because I have sold the Emotiva XPA-2.

Music:
The Montage created a wide sound stage. The sound was well off to the right and left of the speakers with an excellent center image. While listening to 2-channel music the speakers completely disappeared in the room and never really drew any attention to themselves. The bass was plenty and the mid-range was very good. I did have to increase the low pass crossover to 45Hz from 30Hz on the Depth-i to get the low end closer to my liking.

Comparison with the MartinLogan Vantage:
I moved the Montage back to their designated surround duties and listened to the same material again on the MartinLogan Montage.  Right off the bat I noticed that the Montage were more forward sounding and brighter than the Vantage.  The cymbals had a tad bit more sparkle to them on the Montage, but on the Vantage's, to my ears, they were more natural and less fatiguing over time.  The soundstage on the Montage was wide but did not extend vertically as high as the MartinLogan Vantages.  The alarm clocks and bells in Pink Floyd’s “Time” had more height to them on Vantage then the Montage. 

The Vantage retail for $5,600 whereas the Montage retailed for $1,500.  So, it was clearly obvious to me that in this case the extra dollars actually resulted in better sound, even in my modest system.  The MartinLogan Montage overall are very good speakers and hold there own when it comes sound staging and imaging and that is one of the reason’s why I will always keep them.