“Cannibal 44” and a long time ago
Zoo Rave 1 on vinyl
A friend introduced me to techno many years ago, including the hard-to-find track (it’s not on some major streaming services I’ve searched), “Cannibal 44,” by Smashing Atoms. I found out, years later, that it’s on a techno compilation album, Zoo Rave 1. I accidentally bought it on vinyl because I wasn’t familiar with using www.discogs.com.
Right now, I’m listening to the entire album for the first time. It sounds great on my upgraded system. The last time I listened to this LP was I-don’t-remember-when. I had a cheap Dayton Audio HTA100BT, a $200 hybrid tube integrated amp with 50 W RMS per channel and all the bells and whistles I could want. That was my first attempt at choosing a stereo system, and it was fun.
I’m sitting in the sweet spot for my toed-in tower speakers, listening to bass kicks and voice samples from who know where. The soundstage is big.
This listening session began with me trying to compare three preamps. One is the Schiit Magni, an inexpensive headphone amp that cranks power and bass while doubling as a preamp. The Schiit Asgard is a bigger, class-A “Continuity” headphone amp and preamp. It uses the same Continuity technique developed by Schiit that my Schiit Aegir power amps use. It’s supposed to correct some weaknesses of class-A amplification, allowing more power with close-to-class-A amplification. The Schiit Valhalla 2 single-ended triode, output-transformerless all-tube preamp is another headphone amp that doubles as a preamp. So, yes, I use a lot of Schiit.
The Valhalla 2 is much weaker in the bass punch than the Asgard is, which is, in turn, a bit weaker in the bass slam than the Magni is. Each of the Valhalla and Asgard gives a much larger, immersive sound-field or soundstage than the Magni does. So, I can recommend them all for different uses. I’ve come to like the Asgard a lot. I didn’t really know what I was missing out on when it comes to punchy bass until I used it. The Valhalla gives sweet sound and a good depth and breadth of soundstage, but even an acoustic, double bass on an Ahmad Jamal jazz album, gets punchier treatment with the Asgard.
When listening to Zoo Rave 1, the Asgard gives the best sound, far and away, of the three described here. Because of the period in my life when I first heard it, this kind of 90s techno resonates with me today. I think it’s like drinking Mountain Dew for me. It peps me up but leaves me feeling a bit unhealthy. I don’t drink Mountain Dew except on rare occasions. I don’t listen to 90s techno except on rare occasions. Both are, for me, psychoactive; and I get drained by them rather than fortified. “Your mileage may vary.”