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What the Hell is That It's no secret that I like to tweak. In fact, I made a name for myself and built a huge following in my early writing career writing about such minutiae. My third paid audio writing gig (after folding the audio analyst© that I had founded in 1988), saw me at... Read More »

New company, new product alert! Roger Skoff is back in the game, with a new company and new products. At 9AWG, the spellbinding Beyond Power Cord is the top of the RSX Technologies range, designed by the renowned Roger Skoff of XLO fame. Pricey, but a strong performer, it fits quite nicely in the audiophile... Read More »

Digital Streaming is a relatively new sound source for me. Call me old fashioned, curmudgeonly, resistant or even a snob, but I have been seriously engrossed in vinyl and transferring a bunch of it to reel to reel for over a year, so my streaming endeavors have been at a minimum comparatively speaking. I certainly... Read More »

Port and a Cigar at Night on a Deck. Happy Valley, OR, 2019 And now, on to the final chapter of my Positive Feedback Brutus Awards for 2019. Clarus Concerto AC Power Conditioner and Clarus Aqua High Current Power Cable A relative latecomer for 2019 Brutus Award consideration was the combination of the Clarus Concerto and... Read More »

By now, readers of this series have realized that it's a means for me to discuss songs I really like. In previous articles, these are songs that send a shiver down my spine, and I have outlined many times what I mean by that. I've also discussed the fact that these songs aren't "favorite" songs,... Read More »

Following the success of the impeccably designed and tonally agreeable Meze Empyrean headphones, the Meze Audio Rai Penta IEMs were established with the same decisive vision of a marriage of comfort, aesthetics, and sound. Culminating from three years of research and development, the Rai Pentas—as their name suggests—packs five drivers in a seamlessly hybrid topology.... Read More »

E-in-C Robinson going deep with the Sonoma Acoustics reference headphone system at AXPONA 2018 (photograph by Martin Roberts; image processing by David W. Robinson) Recordings, Labels, Sites, & Streaming Services This installment of my 2019 Brutus Award announcements will be relatively short and to the point. I've talked about many of this year's winners in... Read More »

Karen Gomyo was born in Tokyo, but grew up in Montréal. That is, up to the point when, at age 10, she moved to New York City, in order to study at the Juilliard School, at the invitation of Dorothy DeLay. Miss DeLay taught, among many others, my friends Arturo Delmoni and David Kim. Indeed, it's the... Read More »

Chip and Roger at the LAOC Audio Society Gala Banquet, December, 2019 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff finally proves that cables work and tells at least part of the reason why. For at least the last thirty years (that I know of), audiophiles have been divided into four—if not necessarily... Read More »

Here's the latest from our good audio friend and brother who writes and edits at The Tannhauser Gate, John Marks. He draws our attention to a very promising stereo/multichannel SACD from BIS. I have found John's recommendations to be trustworthy always, and have thus already ordered mine from Amazon. You can do the same! David... Read More »

Any analog lover will be the first to tell you, vinyl is a commitment. From record cleaning, to storage, to outer and inner sleeves, to dust removal methods and tools, the simple act of spinning records isn't so simple, but rather a very deliberate set of steps designed to optimize playback and extend the life... Read More »

Back when I moved last year into a home with a larger dedicated listening room, I wanted to spruce things up a bit and get some real cable elevators. I've had some in the past that were DIY style, and they worked, but weren't all that aesthetically pleasing. They did the job nonetheless, but it... Read More »

David Elias:  self-portrait at the Kilauea volcano crater, Hawai'i; Mauna Loa is in the distant background David Elias is a Musician-in-Residence here at Positive Feedback, and a longtime contributor to our magazine. He is a very early adopter of DSD, and worked with the renowned DSD master engineer Gus Skinas to produce several albums recorded in... Read More »

It is always great to see humble boutique companies produce high-quality artisan products that can compete with those from far larger firms. One such company—ZMF Headphones—have been producing premium wood-crafted heirlooms that have charmed the audiophile community for the best part of five years. Based in Chicago and headed by Zach Mehrbach, each headphone is... Read More »

Creating a killer pair of headphones which appeals to a broad spectrum of listeners, musical tastes, and listening preferences, is no mean feat. It requires a hard to achieve blend of sonics, aesthetics, build quality, convenience, comfort, and cost. Too much of one thing or too little of another and the experience can quickly begin... Read More »

When the opportunity came up to review the new Magneplanar LRS (Little Ribbon Speakers), even though I had thirty-plus years of experience with Maggies, I viewed the review possibility as something of a lark. Yes, there was a lot of buzz about the LRS, and yes, I was really pretty stoked to hear the latest... Read More »

This post excerpt comes in part from an email response to my friend Harold in the Netherlands. He was curious about our discussion related to my early MP3 work as an online musician through the '90s into 2000s, and how and why my MP3s could have sounded so good back then to literally everyone who... Read More »

I started several cable reviews towards the end of 2019. My lack of interest in cable reviews prior was due to disbelief that extremely high end cables, especially digital cables, would lead to improved sound quality. I also will be honest and say, even if these high end cables do provide a noticeable benefit, I... Read More »

Here's the latest from our good friend and fellow audio voyager, John Marks, he of The Tannhauser Gate. As always, John's sensibilities are exceptional, and his commentary is always both educational and a delight to read. Enjoy! Dr. David W. Robinson, Ye Olde Editor There are times when I think that a music-business story is... Read More »