An “iPhone Adventure” with Alan-san & Honda-san!
An hour-long walk early in the morning with my dog, Nico-chan, is a precious time for me. It's a time for prayer and a time for mysterious realizations. It happened recently, when the sun had risen slightly and the sky was starting to turn blue in the cold air, that a thought popped into my mind about my “iPhone Adventure” with Alan-san and Honda-san, which led me to a new "Music Adventure" in my life.
The "iPhone Adventure" was aptly named by my close friend, Alan-san, and which I introduced to you in the article Adventures in Real Sound with Yazaki-san: Alan-san’s GEC PX25A (DA30) Monaural SETs - Part 5 HERE.
For me, the iPhone Adventure was, of course, part of my ongoing “Real-Sound Adventure”, but I came to think that it would be more appropriate to call it my “Music Adventure” because it introduced so much new music into my life.
I found while using streaming services such as YouTube Music and Amazon Music that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology built into those services has led me to many beautiful songs that were completely unknown to me.
Recently, I have become particularly fascinated by the exotic voices of female Latin singers with beautiful guitar playing in the background. It made me realize once again how great such music is, which is filled with passion and charm, and the songs come from places that are far away from Japan. I could say that my world of music has truly expanded.
Actually, I'm not only the one who feels this way. Last year, through 2023, I was able to renew and deepen an old friendship with Motoki-san (Mr. Yutaka Motoki), who is still surprisingly energetic at 91 years old, and has a wonderful and respected personality.
At Motoki-san's request, I built up the “Improved U4” that I mentioned in Part 5 (above), which is an improved version of the Douk Audio U4. I also repaired and modified his single ended tube amplifier, which features the very rare transmitter tube, the RCA 830B.
Fortunately, Motoki-san owned a pair of Cornetta loudspeakers, which are large corner bass reflex speakers with a built-in short front horn, which was extremely rare in Japan.
The speaker drive unit that was installed into this loudspeaker cabinet was the Tannoy 3LZ, which has long been called a masterpiece.
Now with his own "Music Adventure", day and night, Motoki-san enjoys playing music from all over the world through YouTube Music using his Android phone, the improved U4, his RCA 830B SET amplifier, and his Cornetta loudspeakers.
I witnessed Motoki-san's life become brighter through this very simple iPhone Adventure, or rather, through his new found Music Adventure.
I can't help but be amazed at Motoki-san's fresh and young sensibilities, at 91 years old!
For me, who will turn 77 years old this year, Motoki-san's vibrant life at 91 years old brings me hope for the future.
Every time when I see Motoki-san's happy face enjoying his music, I really feel that the 'way of audio' is one means to an end for discovering happiness, and enjoying the music is the goal we should reach for in our audio adventures.
Surely it was just these new musical experiences that brought about a dramatically positive change in Motoki-san's life.
Now, I would like to share with you two examples of wonderful performances on YouTube Music that Motoki-san and I always enjoy together.
The first example (above) is Anne-Sophie Mutter und Munich's orchestras - Beethoven violin concerto - Beethoven Symphony No.5, which you can hear on YouTube HERE.
The second example (above) is Kika Edgar - Sabor a Mí, which you can see HERE on YouTube.
Well, not only Motoki-san, but also Alan-san and Honda-san in the USA, and a few kindred spirits in Japan have also experienced and enjoyed an iPhone Adventure that resulted in deepening their own Music Adventure.
The benefits of rapid advances in digital technology that have made the iPhone Adventure possible are amazing, such as the increased functionality and performance of mobile phones, and the development of digital wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Furthermore, the internet environment that made on-demand music streaming services possible was unimaginable for me only ten years ago. I've been involved in audio both as a professional engineer and as an audio enthusiast for over half a century, but now I really feel we are in a new and wonderful era that music lovers have been looking forward to.
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