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Some of the DSD Stereo Downloads at HDtracks Two years ago at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver, Acoustic Sounds and Native DSD announced their new music download sites that would feature Direct Stream Digital (DSD) downloads. At the same show, Sony Electronics introduced a family of Digital Music Servers and Converters that would... Read More »

In past reviews of loudspeakers I presented the notion that products, for me at least, tend to sound like the personality of the designer. How so…? Well… From Issue 64…"So how do they fit into the idea of being cut from the same (or similar cloth) as the designer? That is… do they present the... Read More »

USB DAC recording system offers professional-grade A/D conversion and the ultimate in vinyl archival To satisfy audiophiles everywhere, KORG expands its Direct Stream Digital (DSD) hardware and software products with the introduction of the DS-DAC-10R, a revolutionary USB DAC recording system offering professional-grade Analog-to-Digital (ADC) conversion.  Thanks to seamless integration with the improved AudioGate 4 software... Read More »

There's anarchy afoot in the listening room; LP's are stacked everywhere, yet even in the shadow of chaos, there is a renewed love for that old black plastic magic. Yep, spinning records has become quite the pastime again, and it all started with a realization that I wanted better vinyl playback. While writing Phase One... Read More »

I'm baaaack! Hey, this place looks really different. I like what you've done with the wallpaper and the new carpets. You look great too. You've gained a little weight and put on a touch of grey but I must say, it looks good on you—very distinguished. It's been thirteen years since I last graced the... Read More »

Andreas Koch of Playback Designs, RMAF 2014 Direct Stream Digital, or DSD, encoding has been used for years already for SACD and also as an intermediate format inside analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. It's basic concept is Delta-Sigma modulation and uses 1 bit per sample with a sample rate of at least 2.8224MHz (64 x 44.1kHz).... Read More »

In Issue 78 I introduced you to the remarkable Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki of Tokyo, Japan (above, center, with friends), in my article about the SPEC RSA-M3 Real Sound Amplifier. Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki has been a successful professional audio designer in Japan for over 40 years, and has been involved in the design of many fine... Read More »

Positive Feedback will once again be hosting, and I will be moderating, a panel on DSD at RMAF 2015. This year we'll be exploring a different aspect of DSD. Our seminar title is "DSD: The artist and the studio perspectives." We'll be discussing what performing artists and producers/audio engineers have to say about their experiences... Read More »

Once you know better, who wants to live with worse? PF Editor Dave Clark once described the letdown of listening to speakers from one’s youth and realizing that they don’t measure up as, "Kind of like running into that girl who you thought was so hot back in high school and wondering what the hell... Read More »

Preface Without Mirth How many years will it take to tame, or dissolve, mind-numbing noise suffusing "audiophile" events? Year after year, more than twenty five in my experience, any expectation of focused attention with music and superior audio gear—formerly at CES and now THE Show Newport Beach, as elsewhere, where the claim of audiophile privilege beckons... Read More »

Okay so in my last two Ramblings I shared my experiences, and expectations, of music servers or streamers; specifically the Antipodes DX and the Aries from Auralic. Both stunningly good, and yet both at rather opposite ends of the "what does it cost to get the best," and how they are packaged to the end... Read More »

It took a while but I am finally first—even if but by a scant three hours—at something (Well to be honest, I did win a few fencing tournaments in my younger days). That something was not only being the very first high-end reviewer or audiophile (outside of Magico) to audition Magico's newest $58,000 (in standard... Read More »

This is going to be a sort of two-part review… first about the Auralic Aries and then about what I did to take my current file-based audio system to a completely different and yet, stunningly musical level... along with the Aries. Okay so to piggy back on the Antipodes review… yeah, I want it easier... Read More »

Roger Skoff writes about some people he encounters on the internet... Although I use the internet daily, I'm not all that familiar with a lot of the lingo and the current culture that has developed from and around it. Oh, I know (after having asked someone) what IMHO means, and LOL, and even ROFLMAO, but... Read More »

We live in the true Golden Age of fine audio. I've said this before, but I don't want readers to forget the fact that we're awash in a great wave of audio designs in all categories, with the recordings to go with them. The best DSD and DACs, the best turntables, the best LPs ever... Read More »

Hitting the Ocean, or: "What Are You Babbling about Now?" Those words contained about as much sympathy as you'd be likely to imagine they would. "What are you babbling about now?" That was my wife of 19 years, her face contorted in that 'you-know-I-don't-care' expression that drops like a curtain at the first sign of... Read More »

Product launches happen all the time in fine audio. We have well over 300 DSD DACs now, for example, new turntables and cartridges all the time, with amps, preamps, integrateds, headphones, wireless speakers, cables, accessories, music servers, NAS/hard-drive arrays, and speakers spilling forth continuously. It seems like nearly every day I get new press releases... Read More »

Sometimes it's not just the destination, it's the journey, whenever it is that you finally arrive. Trust me, this is, in fact a review of Naxos' Classics Online HD•LL Streaming Service, but a little background is in order, so please bear with me.... I know myself pretty well, and, let’s face it—I can get pretty... Read More »

After laughter at the first GOP debate from Donald Trump's chauvinist dump on Rosie O'Donnell, jazz hounds, east and west, now look eagerly ahead to the impeccable vocal art of Diane Reeves on the third weekend of September this year near Carmel. Ms. Reeves is literally at the top of any astute list of jazz... Read More »