Interview With David Chesky on Music and His New Venture the Audiophile Society.

With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Steven R. Rochlin interviews David Chesky.

Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief

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Article By Steven R. Rochlin

The Audiophile Society is the brainchild of composer, pianist, and audio pioneer David Chesky. The new label will focus on bringing even more realistic three-dimensional recordings to market with their Mega-Dimensional Sound, The Audiophile Society's name for their unique two-channel 3D audio that can play on all existing two-channel stereo, while showcasing emerging artists working in a multitude of genres. The ultimate goal of The Audiophile Society is to change the way you hear music.

Steven R. Rochlin: David, what do you think about the current state of the music and audiophile world?

David Chesky: The interesting thing about audiophiles is that they are cool with collecting LPs, CDs, and open reel tapes, but at the same time very open to new ideas like what we are trying to do. I work a lot in the classical world where it is so hard to get people to like something new, we call it the un-acceptance of the unfamiliar. But audiophiles are the opposite and are eager to try out the newest technology and embrace it if it is indeed better. And what is important for me just as audio gear moves forward, so must music. We can make much better recordings now with technology just as we can make better audio gear. It is very important for this ecosystem to survive and hopefully grow that audiophiles support new recordings. Between better gear and better recordings one day we might not be able to tell if it is live or recorded. That is the goal I am shooting for.

SRR: What do you think of music streaming?

DC: Streaming is great for the consumer but breaks down the catalyst for going into music. If musicians cannot make money on streams, why would young people want to do that as a career? Streaming seems to be cannibalizing everyone as the services and artists cannot make money. But if you are using music to get people into a store to sell the other things, then I guess a company can make it up on those items. We are teaching people that a cable has $1000 in worth, but a musician spending six months writing, producing, and recording an album is worth nothing…. As much as my kids love music, I hope they do not go down this path.

SRR: Tell us about your new venture the Audiophile Society.

DC: Today major labels want artists with big Social media followings. But what about really talented musicians that just don't have that business aspect down. They get kicked by the wayside. I want to get really great players that deserve to be heard and supported and record them with a new Immersive technology I developed called Mega Dimensional sound. And this simply is a much wide soundstage. Past the 60-degree speaker angles, much deeper soundstage, and they have height in there as well. And all this does not need fancy new gear to be played back on. You can play it on any two-channel stereo system as long as you sit in the 60-degree triangle to get the best results. if you do this correctly you will be sitting in front of a large wall of sound, and it will feel like the musicians are in your home. And we offer this in 192kHz/24-bit or DSD.

SRR: What are you doing for headphones?

DC: I am making completely separate mixes for headphones. Speaker and headphone HRTF are not the same. When you buy an album and play it on headphones the sound is stuck in your head. It is like your older brother goes to college and you inherit is a jacket that never fits quite right. By re-mixing everything for headphones, we can externalize sound and you feel like you are in the venue where the music was made in. We really can transport you there.

SRR: Where can Enjoy the Music.com readers find this?

DC: It is called The Audiophile Society. I would love all your readers to stop by, get the free sampler, and sign up for the newsletter so we can be in touch. If we can get some audiophiles in mass, we have some surprises coming up later this year.

SRR: What are you working on with your own music these days?

DC My Excommunication Mass just came out and people are digging the music and the 3D space and the sound of the choir. I just made a jazz trio album with two audiophile musicians, Peter Washington and Billy Drummond, called The Great European Songbook that comes out in October. We will be playing Dec 6th at Jazz at Lincoln Center. My daughter has a cool album soul on soul, and she will start playing live now that Covid is letting us out again. I am hoping to tour my jazz trio this year and just get back to basic, being a musician full-time.

SRR: What speakers are you listening to these days?

DC, At home, I have specially modded and rebuilt Quad 57s by Kent McCollum. I find with the Quad I can hear problems I might have with phase or imaging. They are super-resolved, great for finding the wrong notes.

Enjoy the Music.com would like to thank David Chesky for taking his valuable time to be with us during this interview. Please check out the Audiophile Society's music and as always...

Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin

More Information About The Audiophile Society

"These recordings are compatible with your home and portable systems and can be played back on anyone's home speaker system or headphones without the need for buying any other audio equipment. Our Mega-Dimensional audio is more than some application. It is a process that is thought out from the ground up on each recording," says David Chesky. "When you hear our new Audiophile Society recordings on speakers, you should feel like you are in the space with the musicians. The sound of our music is not stuck to the speaker grills like a normal recording but should float up before you. You should experience a sense of height and a wider and deeper soundstage. It should be a more enveloping realistic experience."

Audiophile Society recordings use multiple sample rates, rendering and outputting at the highest sampling frequency to ensure the best sound for the creation of 3D audio.

All Audiophile Society audio downloads will include a special dedicated 3D headphone mix. As David says, "Headphones are different experience from speakers and the mixes should be treated differently. When you hear our headphone mixes you should feel the sounds coming not from inside your head like normal stereo recordings, but you should feel a sense of externalization from the sound. The listener should feel like they are in the venue that the music was performed in.

All Audiophile Society downloads come in a choice of two audio packages: The Hi-Res PCM Package (which includes a 192kHz/24-bit speaker mix, a 96/24 headphone mix, & a DSD speaker mix) or The DSD & 48/24 Package (which includes a DSD speaker mix, a DSD headphone mix, a 48/24 speaker mix, and a 48/24 headphone mix), all in Mega-Dimensional Sound.

In addition to recordings, The Audiophile Society website will feature audiophile merchandise, videos, interviews, and content.

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