January - February 2025 Archives - Positive Feedback

Punk Rock at Its Finest - the Iconic Green Day Dookie Receives the One-Step Treatment

Robert S. Youman — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 17:01:53 +0000

You have to applaud Grover Biery and his team at Because Sound Matters for giving us something different in the world of audiophile LP reissues. Grover has reached out and delivered on the unexpected, which includes new One-Step titles from Linkin Park, Green Day, K.D. Lang, and even The Flaming Lips (in the near future).... Read More »

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Cool New Limited Edition, 180 Gram, Clear Vinyl One Step Jazz LPs and Red Book CDs from AC Records in Poland

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 18:00:03 +0000

AC Records is the brainchild of jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer Adam Czerwiński. He's been performing in the jazz world as a leader and sideman for over forty years now, and has provided the rhythmic foundation from behind the drum kit for a myriad of famous and respected musicians. Among them, notable jazz artists... Read More »

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Craft Recordings' OJC Reboot Continues with Thelonious Monk's Classic 1957 LP, Monk's Music

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 17:43:28 +0000

Craft Recordings continues their reboot of the Original Jazz Classics (OJC) series with another heavy-hitting 180 gram LP reissue, Thelonious Monk's 1957 release, Monk's Music (Riverside Records). Monk's Music is a cornerstone from his middle period on Riverside Records, and features an all-star lineup of some of the greatest players in jazz, including John Coltrane,... Read More »

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Bill Evans Trio's Classic 1961 Album Explorations, now on Craft Recordings' Small Batch, Neotech VR900 Supreme One-Step LP

Tom Gibbs — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 20:59:34 +0000

Craft Recordings has just released the latest installment in their premium Small Batch audiophile LP series with a reissue of the Bill Evans Trio's classic 1961 sophomore effort, Explorations. The album would mark the final studio session with Evans' classic trio that featured Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums, and would come... Read More »

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Sound Liaison's Remastering of Thousand Shades of Blue - Free Download Tracks to Compare

Rushton Paul — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 17:21:50 +0000

I was fascinated recently by Sound Liaison's 2024 remastering of their excellent 2012 album Thousand Shades of Blue by Carmen Gomes Inc. In this new release, Thousand Shades of Blue Revisited, recording engineer Frans de Rond and producer Peter Bjornild went back to the original 96kHz 24-bit recorded tracks and applied everything they'd learned the... Read More »

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Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes: Making Recordings Sound Better, Part 2

Frank Doris — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 23:29:07 +0000

This is the latest installment of re-published articles from our good audiobud, Frank Doris, Editor of Copper magazine, the journal of Paul McGowan's company PS Audio. Paul has kindly given Frank Doris permission to re-publish here at Positive Feedback, and some of Frank's valued articles appear here occasionally, courtesy of them both. This is Part 2 of a three-part interview with Jamie... Read More »

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Floyd Cramer's Only The Big Ones

Robert Pincus — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 23:18:29 +0000

Floyd Cramer (1933-1997) was one of the most prolific studio musicians who ever sat on a piano bench. During the early 60s he was a key member of Nashville's A-team of musicians who backed famous singers, such as Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Dean, The Everly Brothers, and Jim Reeves. And... Read More »

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Call It!

Roger Skoff — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 21:19:29 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about a game that could save a valuable part of our culture... As many of you probably know by now, I like and listen to just about every kind of music: everything from opera to Tuvan Throat-singing, to Mexican Rancheras, to Russian folk songs (which are just like Mexican music in that... Read More »

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Grado Labs Signature HP100 SE Headphones – a Brand New Direction for a Historic Manufacturer

Robert H. Levi — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 19:48:09 +0000

One hundred years ago Joseph Grado, founder of Grado Labs, was born. In 1953, he established the iconic Grado Labs producing extraordinary phono cartridges and dynamic headphones in Brooklyn, New York. The skilled manufacturing continues there today with even stronger creative energy from John Grado providing the leading Epoch 3 Phono Cartridge and the very... Read More »

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The iFi Neo iDSD 2 DAC/Amp: Yeah, Yeah, Little GTO!

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 17:48:08 +0000

The iFi Neo iDSD 2 occupies a most intriguing spot in the UK firm's extensive roster of DACs and DAC/Amps. At $899, it is the first step down from the much praised $3249 iDSD Pro Signature. In fact, the two are the only items the iFi website lists as "Home Audio" above the ZEN range... Read More »

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E207: MoFi Electronics MasterPhono Phonostage

AudioAnalyst — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 18:47:08 +0000

Today I introduce you to the exceptional performance and remarkable value that the moderately priced Mobile Fidelity MasterPhono Phonostage represents. This exceptional and versatile phono preamplifier is the latest creation from the mind of colleague and friend, Peter Madnick, with over 45 years as a prolific industry designer, leading to something on the order of... Read More »

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E206: Epic Sonic Upgrade: The SparkoS Labs SS3602 Discreet Op Amp

AudioAnalyst — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 18:43:51 +0000

oday, I share my impressions of the sonic improvements enjoyed by the overachieving, über affordable Fosi V3 monoblock amplifiers after replacing the stock Texas Instrument NE5532 IC Op-Amps on their boards with a pair of the SparkoS Labs SS3602 Discreet Dual Op-Amps. In early November, with one of my “Second Space” episodes, “E199, The Amazing,... Read More »

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E205: The Studio Electric M5 Loudspeaker

AudioAnalyst — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 18:41:05 +0000

For three decades now, David MacPherson, the managing partner of Studio Electric, has been building remarkable sounding and relatively affordable loudspeakers. One of his underlying goals as a designer has been to create loudspeakers that, not only he would choose to own, but that fall into his own budgetary choices for such products. I first... Read More »

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E204: Capital Audiofest 2024: BADASS, Margules Audio & Viablue

AudioAnalyst — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 18:37:07 +0000

Today I present my final room evaluation from this past November’s Capital Audiofest 2024. We will visit room 832, BADASS, or Ball Audio Distribution And System Solutions, run by Bruce Ball. We’ll meet Julian Margules, of Margules Audio of Mexico, and Anke Patt, of Viablue cables and accessories of Germany…

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E203: Capital Audiofest 2024: GTT Audio & Video

AudioAnalyst — Sun, 02 Feb 2025 18:34:39 +0000

Today we visit, and get a quick listen to, the GTT Audio room on the seventh floor at the 2024 Capital Audiofest. I’ve had viewers – and readers – ask why the GTT Audio room, and several others, always seem to make my show reports. Well, the answer is absurdly simple. Bill and his partners... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 28 Pure DSD256 from Eudora, Hunnia, Yarlung, plus more

Rushton Paul — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 22:52:26 +0000

I'm catching up... honestly I am. There are many wonderful albums to talk about, more than I can cover in one article. But, I'll make a start and then add more in a later article. Today, I want to visit several terrific Pure DSD256 recordings from Eudora, Hunnia, and Yarlung. Plus some outstanding high resolution... Read More »

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Mogwai, The Bad Fire

Michael Mercer — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 17:14:53 +0000

Mogwai, The Bad Fire Mogwai is a cosmic band. With the fires finally subsiding in Los Angeles County; The Bad Fire is aptly, and unfortunately titled. Utterly coincidental (we don't want to spark even more conspiracy theories here—the world needs that like we all need holes in our heads)—but isn't that one of the most... Read More »

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New! HiFi-Tuning Diamond Fuses

Marshall Nack — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 20:42:06 +0000

Audiophiles spend thousands for a 39" (1 meter) power cord, only to follow it with an inch of conductor that costs around $3 at a local hardware store. That power cord may be highly rated, but current flow and sound quality will be constrained by the cheap fuse element at its tip. Surely, we can... Read More »

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The S-DUO Pro Ultrasonic Stylus Cleaner + Gauge and I-Brush from HumminGuru

Bruce Kinch — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 21:56:35 +0000

I recently became aware of HumminGuru, a Hong Kong based company with a quite forward-looking perspective on the viability of vinyl. While reviewing their affordable and very effective ultrasonic record cleaning machines (HERE), I also discovered a couple of accessories that break new ground for LP spinners. As with their record cleaners, HumminGuru's only outlet... Read More »

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Bruno Walter's Classic Mahler Ninth Symphony in Stunning Sound Quality

Rushton Paul — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 20:52:56 +0000

Mahler Symphony No. 9 in D major, Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra. HDTT 1961 2024 (DSD256, DXD) HERE Some performances are so culturally significant that they require special notice when a superb new release becomes available. Such is the case with this 2024 reissue from HDTT of the classic account of Mahler's Ninth Symphony recorded... Read More »

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The Goldring Ethos SE - a Ringer of an MC Phono Cartridge

Juan C. Ayllon — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 19:02:09 +0000

The Goldring Ethos SE Moving Coil Cartridge sports a capital G on its body's front like the "S" on Superman's chest—or the G on the University of Georgia football helmet of Herschel Walker—to which I see a passing similarity. Going into his first game in 1980, he was a fourth-string running back—unexceptional, merely fitting in... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 27 HDTT Recent Releases

Rushton Paul — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 18:39:29 +0000

I've been on a bit of an audio hiatus these past few months, but that hasn't meant I wasn't paying attention to the many excellent albums Bob Witrak has been releasing over that time. Those of you who have read some of my other writing know with what great respect I hold Bob's work at... Read More »

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Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes: Making Recordings Sound Better, Part 1

Frank Doris — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 17:05:51 +0000

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The Invisible DAC: My Listening Impressions of the dCS Varèse System

Lee Scoggins — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 21:55:50 +0000

The dCS Varèse DAC For some time now, I have enjoyed visiting my friend Scott Carpenter who owns Evolution Hi-Fi in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, Georgia. As my friends will tell you, I am a frequent visitor of hi-ﬁ shops, and I have a deep passion for the latest technology. Fortunately, Scott is not... Read More »

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Acoustical Systems Archon Improved MC Cartridge

Robert H. Levi — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:05:37 +0000

I love reviewing phono cartridges. In my incredibly neutral Helius Omega Tonearm, for example, they dramatically reveal either error or truth, thin or full textures, and the recording or the performance. Michael Fremer and Bob Levi at the LAOC Audio Society Board dinner, 2024 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) The Acoustical Systems... Read More »

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