Debussy - Preludes Book 1

I finished my listening to this admittedly super-expensive system with a live DSD 256 recording of a Debussy piece by Russian pianist Ilya Itin decoded by the Merging Technologies Merging+NADAC DAC — Double wow!!

An acid test! If you want to see how your system really handles a recording of performing brilliance and extraordinary dynamics, then Ilya Itin, a Steinway Contract Artist, recorded directly to Quad DSD by the team of Thom Moore and Robert Friedrich will certainly do it!

The quiet passages are amazing, but the occasional thunderous moments will knock you back in your seat! This is one of the most fantastic piano recordings that I know of, combining Debussy (another favorite of mine) with an artist whose interpretation of the Preludes has become my current ne plus ultra. If you don't have this recording in its native Quad DSD, then you are missing out quite seriously, amigo!

Can't handle Quad DSD? Then get yourself a Quad DSD DAC!

Itin’s is a rare and exciting artistry indeed…poised, pure, and ravishing in its range of color, Itin’s playing is a prime example of a superb technique put at the service of an inquiring and imaginative mind.

I don’t think I shall soon hear a greater performance of Debussy in my life.

My conclusion? Simple, really: The Wave Kinetics Records two-album set is truly the finest, most right-on performance of Debussy's Preludes I have ever heard, with the most outstanding production and audio engineering of a solo piano that I've ever experienced. Frankly, I consider it to be worthy of a The GRAMMYs Award, for both its performance and for its production values. I hope that Wave Kinetics Records pursues this recognition for its sterling work here.

Regardless of whether you're listing to Ilya Itin's Debussy Preludes on a major full-range system, or via headphones, or anything in between, you'll hear what I mean. This is a true world-class reference album, a modern classic in our own time.

Those of you who have Quad DSD playback will definitely want to add this to your collection; you'll listen to it again and again. Debussy lovers, attention: Ilya Itin is a brilliant artist!

And if you don't have Quad DSD playback capabilities yet, what the hell are you waiting for?! Given the proliferation of Quad DSD playback over the past several years, there is no excuse for you live without this supreme audiophile reference format. These two album downloads all by themselves justify making an upgrade…but there are many more Quad DSD recordings available now, as well.