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Music manuscript, Northern Italy, circa A.D. 1350. (Courtesy of John Marks) "Best" and "Worst" are often creatures of Pure Subjectivity—especially when it comes to literature, art, and music. Golf and baseball, in contrast, have objective metrics. I know that I have a list of  "The Songs I Love to Hate." After you read mine, please... Read More »

PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25 ("Classical"). London Sympbhony Orchestra/Gianandrea Noseda. LSO Live LSO0363 (download only). TT: 14.01. Downloads: eclassical.com (FLAC 24-bit or 16-bit, mp3) lsolive.lso.co.uk (FLAC, mp3); prestomusic.com (mp3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC); qobuz.com (24-bit, 192.0 kHz) Prokofiev's first symphony is an affectionate homage to, or sendup of, the Classical style (whence the subtitle), and should... Read More »

Over the past 40 years, Jonathan Horwich has been making very high resolution reel-to-reel tape recordings of live jazz concerts. He works out of the Chicago area, but travels quite broadly to capture these performances.  Wherever he can get permission to set up his microphones and reel-to-reel tape deck (15 or 30ips, 2-track), he's likely... Read More »

If you know the name Lyle Ritz (1930 - 2017) at all, it's because you saw him credited as the bass player on a pop or rock album. Ritz was a prominent bass player in Los Angeles during the 60s, and he was part of the studio musicians collectively known as the Wrecking Crew. His... Read More »

Roger Skoff's new article is, hopefully, less ambiguous than its title. In a recent comment on one of my articles for this publication, a reader named Michael wrote in to say that he was clearly able to hear differences between some kinds of cables (specifically AC power cords and speaker cables ) but not between... Read More »

Women and War and Peace. Yarlung Records; Katelyn Bouska, Piano; YAR54460: Gold Substrate CD pressed in Germany.  Executive Producers: Evan Flaschen and Patrick Trostle. Recording Engineers: Bob Attiyeh and Arian Jansen. Mastering Engineers: Steve Hoffman, Arian Jansen and Bob Attiyeh. Microphone Preamplification: Elliot Midwood. AKG C24 microphone: Ancona Audio. Steinway Technician: Kathy Smith Cooper Bates. Photography Graphic Layout: MikeDesign "Kate flew to Southern... Read More »

Every now and then—but really, not all that frequently—a product appears that really "shakes the chessboard" in terms of performance, value for money, or both. The Monitor 9 from Solen Electronique is one such product. Solen is a Montreal-based Canadian company with manufacturing facilities in Canada and France. Its overall performance is top-tier, and its... Read More »

I was chatting with an exhibitor at last year's tiny NY Audio Show 2022 and mentioned I found the treble in his room had too much bite. I got no argument: "I like that. That's what I hear at concerts." Hmm…his comment made me pause before I continued with the rest of my list: boomy... Read More »

Over the course of my lifetime, I have grown to really love jazz. I distinctly remember the first time I heard a jazz trio playing at a party in my mid-twenties, and it affected me in a way no other exposure to music ever had. The delicately textured pluck or slap of the acoustic bass,... Read More »

Dialing in this DAC conjures an enchanted eye exam—however, instead of an optometrist switching lenses in a phoropter and asking, "Better or worse?", you swap 12AU7 tubes and focus on how they affect your music experience. As with eyeglasses, the optimal fit varies with each individual. It depends on a variety of factors—the room's acoustics,... Read More »

Base2 Music, located in West Sussex, UK, is a fairly new label, founded in 2017 by owner, producer and recording engineer, Jake Purches. Jake captured my attention because he's been focusing on a love of mine: well recorded organ music on some of the great organs around the world with internationally respected musicians. A fellow... Read More »

Or about computer sound recording systems It all started in January 1971 with the world's first LP with digitally recorded material. In a long chain of successive recorders—among Denon Digital, Soundstream, 3M, ProDigi, DASH, ADAT, RADAR - DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation, is the latest development. And this is its story. DIGITAL SOUND RECORDING –... Read More »

This article by Ed Morawski originally ran in Issue 6, April/May 2003, 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. E.A.R. 864 Although I was very pleased with my Plinius CD-LAD preamp,... Read More »

Over the past several years, increasing emphasis has been placed on products made in the U.S.A., and moreover, those hand-crafted by artisans. Entire fairs have sprung up showcasing wares by craftsman and more attention is being paid to the sources of materials of each product. Whether it is the farm-to-table movement, or your daily deliveries,... Read More »

During my show experience at FLAX, I basically live-posted capsules on Facebook from notable rooms I visited each day, saving my full coverage for after the weekend was over. Little did I know when I posted from the Focal Naim America room that I was opening a tempest in a teapot! At the point I... Read More »

Kirsten Edkins, Shapes & Sounds, Cohearent Records (33 RPM LP) There are many talented people involved with this project, but let's start with Kevin Gray. As many might know, Kevin is universally renowned and respected for his skills as a Mastering Engineer. This includes reissues and new releases on virtually every label and every analog... Read More »

Mobile Fidelity featuring Andrew Jones A couple of weeks prior to FLAX, I got an email press release from Mobile Fidelity alerting me that speaker designer extraordinaire Andrew Jones would be present in Tampa, giving talks about his new MoFi SourcePoint 10 loudspeaker. "Great!" I thought, "I'll definitely need to check that out!" Yeah, me... Read More »

Telos has been around for quite some time. I reviewed their active grounding unit in 2016 after hearing it being demoed ion the Positive Feedback Hospitality room at THE SHOW.  Impressed by what it did to the music being played, I ended up buying the demo unit and we have been living happily ever after.... Read More »

ENLEUM ist ein neuer Name auf dem Audiomarkt, der einen Neubeginn und gleichzeitig eine Fortsetzung der bekannten Marke Bakoon International darstellt. Das erste Produkt dieser Marke ist der AMP-23R, der den Bakoon AMP-13R ersetzen soll.