Herb Reichert: Binaural in the Bunker | Stereophile

In this video, we revisit Stereophile writer Herb Reichert in his self-described "bunker" in Brooklyn to listen to a selection of music from M•A Recordings. Shot in Brooklyn, NY in March 2018.

**********

[bollingbryant]

Herb, you are the reviewer's reviewer. No one can stand up to you. Bless you! May good health and the joy of life keep you young and enthusiastic! I appreciate all that you share with us.

[francois-xaviergonnet]

Yes, it's possible to hear clear differences between systems on youtube. Probably not everything like in real life, but you can still learn few things. When the system is really good, you can hear it. You can feel the sweetness, the impact, the quietness, etc...
Good job Stereophile !

[dtsdigitalden]

It's an absolute delight to watch you, hear you, listen with you and walk with you.

I think you're bang on: we can hear quantitative differences through youtube, and what a complex supply chain that is audio wise; your capture, compression, upload, youtube compression, coded decompression, DAC, amp, headphone. Man, that's mind boggilng. Qualitative differences, perhaps not. In a similar way that pointing even a high quality DSLR at a monitor to give someone else a viewing experience, we know it won't match seeing the display in person. And such is the issue when we capture the sound waves created by equipment, speakers vibrate air molecules to translate the information to a microphone, it follows that convoluted supply chain, and we hear ... something. We know that we hear when we listen with you on Youtube isn't what you heard when you sat in the bunker.

Still, thank you for taking us along to share the experience! Truly delightful.

[Gma]

Herb is world famous now.
Just thought I'd let you know.

[johnvalatos]

This was fantastic. Very engaging, felt like I was there listening. The written reviews are great too but this is something else, you got to do more of this for us viewers. Can't say whether we hear the quality over Youtube but we get a sense of it and more importantly a feel of what you experienced, it is something else and worth continuing with in my opinion. Cheers.

[leoluck]

The sound was incredible. I would really appreciate more videos like this from yourself as well as your peers. Thanks Herb!

[jonpatrick]

Thank you Herb and Stereophile. I enjoyed this video immensely. It's cool to see a little into someone who you admire's life. The garden and chickens were icing on the cake. Take care

[georgelenz]

With Herb, What you see is what you get. A genuinely nice person.

[mrfrosty]

Gorgeous music. I particularly liked the percussion on the last song.

[antoinep]

That was fantastic Herb, both the binaural recording and the way you talk to the camera, it’s just like being there hanging out with you. I listened with midrange Sennheiser HD-650s cans powered by a midrange DAC/Amp and was surprised at the amount of detail that battled through YouTube’s compression. With the LP track the surface noise was very prominent and the pops and clicks had nowhere to hide.

[seank]

Herb, I hope you do more of this type of video.

[johnsimmons]

I love listening to Herb....more Herb....and his Art is incredible as well.

[SamsonSlayer]

I wish I was there also Herb! I always love reading your reviews. I like how you write about the entire listening process. Keep up the great work!

[johnsimmons]

I love herb...I find him very entertaining and an excellent reviewer. I built my entire hifi rig based on things he has favorably reviewed and it sounds great.

[Gma]

YouTube through phones 📱 on the opposite side of the planet is very great sound.
3am, the volume is at its lowest setting and I can clearly hear its Herb talking to me.

YouTube sounds get better and better.

I just heard the movie Tombstone 🎬 in my home cinema and that was up loud.
That sound track was earth quake BANGS for a long time.

It's unforgettable.

Worth every cent.

[loulopez]

I’m 50 and new to the audio journey & Stereophile (i actually subscribe), but i wish Herb and the other great writers there did more of these. It’s a wonderful peek into new & not so new gear & music. Herb is a pleasure & someone i enjoy learning from.

[DonHamlin]

Fascinating video. I’m sure we don’t get the full experience but I can definitely say this was the best sound I’ve ever heard from YouTube. The CD track seemed the most dynamic and lifelike. The percussion was startling at times.

[nickn]

Loving the Venus Square Mars, bought the files but will also pick up a physical copy. THANKS HERB! Such a great video.

[joneill]

Herb, love these Binaural projects and look forward to your follow up on the Joseph Audio speakers that always seem to sound so good with carful set up and component matching.

[jimatyeo]

I do like Herb and his reviews, however I really miss Sam Tellig. He was the only guy in high end audio that could find these amazing products that were not as costly as a new car.