Jacques Duphly - 1760 Stehlin harpsichord - 24-bit/44.1 kHz

This is a recording of harpsichord pieces by Jacques Duphly (1715-1789), a French harpsichord composer. Duphly is not as well known as his predecessors Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, but the music in this selection is excellent.



It was recorded on May 19/20, 1977 in the Hall of Musical Instruments, National Museum of History and Technology, Washington, DC. It was engineered by the always capable Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz. The instrument, built by Benoist Stehlin in 1760, has a lovely complex tone characteristic of late French harpsichord design. It's one of the most altogether satisfying recordings of a harpsichord I've heard.



01 - Allemande, Courante, Le Vanlo [11:29]

02 - Rondeau, La Tribolet [7:05]

03 - Rondeau, La Damanzy, La Cazamajor [8:56]

04 - Le Forqueray [5:43]

05 - Chaconne [7:01]

06 - Le Medee [3:59]

07 - Le Pothouin [5:13]



Complete scores of Duphly's pieces for harpsichord can be found at:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Pi%C3%A8ces_de_clavecin_%28Du_Phly,_Jacques%29



This is one in a series of LP transcriptions I'm uploading, using an analog rig that is near state-of-the-art (the turntable, tonearm, cartridge, pre-amplifier, and cables together cost about $10K). As a result, there is virtually no surface noise or tracking distortion, and much finer resolution of detail than you may be accustomed to in LP transcriptions. The sound is sweeter, richer, and more natural.



The LPs I'm selecting for these transcriptions were brilliantly recorded and are in excellent condition, so the transcriptions do full justice to the additional resolution provided by 24-bit quantization. The performances are among my favorites. The files have all been properly tagged and titled.



The torrent includes a PDF file with scans of the LP covers and liner notes, including pictures and technical drawings of the instrument.



Lyra Helikon phono cartridge

Linn LP12 turntable with Cirkus upgrade and Lingo power supply

Linn Ittok tonearm

Audioquest LeoPard tonearm cable

PS Audio PS2 preamplifier

Kimber PBJ interconnect

M-Audio Audiophile USB A/D converter

all plugged into PS Audio P300 Power Plant (regenerative AC synthesizer)



Live Lite 4 for M Audio 4.0.4, 24-bit/44.1 kHz

ClickRepair 3.0.1, DeClick=1, DeCrackle=Off, Method=Wavelet, Pitch Protection (lowest possible settings)

FLAC, level 8



Note: Some people have questioned my use of a relatively inexpensive M-Audio A/D converter with such a high-quality analog rig. But I can testify that the M-Audio produces excellent results. The output (D/A) side of budget components like the M-Audio is the main weakness, because outputting an analog signal requires pre-amplification, which requires good electronics to do well. But the input (A/D) side receives an already-amplified analog signal and merely has to digitize it. This is done by the Texas Instruments (formerly Burr-Brown) chip in the M-Audio, which has nothing to be ashamed of. All the M-Audio has to contribute is a minimal signal path (RCA connector, wires) to the chip and the DC power that the chip runs on. The quality of the DC power in this case is considerably enhanced by plugging the M-Audio into a PS Audio P300 Power Plant, which regenerates pure AC power through amplification of a 60 Hz, 117V signal. The resultant 24-bit files differ from the analog original only slightly.