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Freddie de Tommaso, Puccini Arias with London Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Gardner. Decca 4870768 (digital EP, no booklet. La Bohème: Che gelida manina. Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai; Guardate, pazzo io son. La fanciulla del West: Una parola sola...Or son sei mesi. Le villi: Torna ai felici dì. We don't ordinarily associate the EP format—the extended-play CD—with classical... Read More »

For some time I've wanted to share with you some of this outstanding music, performance excellence, and superb audio quality coming from Sono Luminus' ventures with Icelandic composers and performers. Why Iceland? I didn't have any clear understanding other than that Sono Luminus CEO Collin Rae has some connections there and they got started with... Read More »

By the mid-2000's, my growing appreciation of jazz music was also developing into a full-blown fascination with the artistry of jazz singer and pianist extraordinaire Patricia Barber. And when Taylor Perry of Shore Fire Media approached me mid-year 2021 to gauge my interest in covering Barber's soon-to-be-released album Clique!, I was quite nearly thunderstruck. I... Read More »

During well more than half a century of being a HFi Crazy, I've learned a lot about not only our hobby and its toys and goodies, but also about my fellow audiophiles. (I and my friends have always referred to ourselves as "HFi Crazies," so know that I use that other term lovingly). One of... Read More »

It's been a very passionate and rewarding journey for me when it comes to Patricia Barber and her music. As a long term resident of Chicago, I was able to see her and her band perform at the Green Mill many times over the last 30 years. Though she is now performing at several additional... Read More »

NativeDSD continues to earn highest recommendations from me as a preferred source for high resolution downloads. There are some labels they don't have access to, unfortunately, but their catalog continues to grow with new labels showing up every few weeks. This means their new releases outpace my ability to write about them. But, I'll keep... Read More »

Brad Lunde, at right, talks with a photographer based out of Los Angeles the ATC suite at this year's AXPONA (photo by Juan C. Ayllon) Brad Lunde is in Room 1534 at Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) held at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel to expedite the introduction of ATC's brand new SCM20 ASL h, a... Read More »

This article by Dave Clark originally ran in 2006, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print" you are also going to see some articles from our early days of going online.  Want to add some flavor or seasoning to your system. Spice it up a bit!... Read More »

Frank Doris:  a portrait. AXPONA 2025, Chicago, IL. (Photograph by David W. Robinson.) I have been extremely impressed with the reissues I've heard from Impex Records, including Patricia Barber's Nightclub and more recently, Companion, the absolutely astonishing 1STEP Getz/Gilberto 45 RPM 2-LP release, and their 2020 reissue of Sing and Dance With Frank Sinatra. Impex has reissued the... Read More »

With such a rich history of music in the western world, it is too easy to get lost in centuries past. We can too easily fail to see the amazing music being written today. With this article, I want to offer up some outstanding music of the 21st Century I've been privileged to hear these... Read More »

The impressive PS Audio room, boasting their latest, continues to be a crowd-pleasing fixture at AXPONA Despite current concerns regarding U.S. tariffs, this year's edition of AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) proved to be triumphant, bigger and better than its predecessors, boasting over 200 listening spaces on 12 floors representing over 700 global manufacturers, distributors,... Read More »

John Marks is a multidisciplinary generalist and a lifelong audio hobbyist. He was educated at Brown University and Vanderbilt Law School. He has worked as a music educator, recording engineer, classical-music record producer and label executive, and as a music and audio-equipment journalist. He was a columnist for The Absolute Sound, and also for Stereophile magazine. His consulting... Read More »

Automotive journalist, amateur endurance-car racer, musician and music lover Jack Baruth challenged our mutual friend John Marks to come up with a list of the most frequently over-programmed pieces for symphony orchestra. And then, for each "War Horse" composition, come up with a "Delightful Discovery, Dark Horse" piece. John's answers ran in two articles published... Read More »

Nagra is a brand of portable audio recorders manufactured since 1951 in Switzerland. Starting in 1997, it also offers high-end equipment for the audiophile community (...). The Kudelski Group's original product, Nagra recorders are now developed, manufactured and sold by an independent company, Audio Technology Switzerland S.A., based in Romanel-sur-Lausanne. en.wikipedia.org, accessed: 3.01.2024. The founder... Read More »