REVIEWS
library. I listened to Collard Greens
and Cornbread Strut, a very short but
hard-bopping piece played by a jazz
combo of piano, bass, drums, and
horns, including a smokin’ tuba. It
sounded clean and open on the LCD-1;
I could hear each instrument clearly
within a unified whole.
This year, composer Max Richter
wrote and recorded a haunting musical
backdrop entitled All Human Beings
meant to accompany the reading of the
United Nation’s Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. On his album
Voices, the piece begins with Eleanor
Roosevelt reading the Preamble in
a 1949 recording, after which many
other modern voices continue readingthe Declaration in a wide variety of
languages. It’s a lovely tribute to basic
human rights that are all too often
ignored in today’s world.
In addition to Voices, Richter also
released a related album called All
Human Beings, which includes a six-
minute version of the piece played five
times. Each one starts with the Eleanor
Roosevelt recording that morphs into a
modern voice reading Article 1 in one
of five different languages – English,
Spanish, German, French and Dutch. (I
wish he had included some languages
from places other than western
Europe.) I listened to the English
version on the LCD-1, which sounded
gorgeous, with a wide soundstage for
the orchestra
and choir, and
the voiceover
sounded
completely
natural and
present.
Next up was
Starlight by
guitar legend
Lee Ritenour
from his album
Dreamcatcher.
Most of the
album is simple
solo guitar – inThe Audeze LCD-1 planar magnetic headphones are quite
transparent in their audio reproduction.