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So there is a lot to see and hear at RMAF. So much, that just getting to the majority of rooms, saying hello, taking a few shots, and giving a quick listen becomes not only mind boggling, but physically boggling. So here is Part 2. Will have a lot more to say in the conclusion.... Read More »

Always a great time, but man are we getting old. Hard to do the shows like we used to in the past... just not able to make all the rooms nor sit and spend any amount of time. When we did, we found ourselves too beat to get up and continue. Even so, we did hear... Read More »

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 »

ATC are makers of studio monitors. I expect every reader of this review has at least one recording in which an ATC speaker was used in producing it. And we're talking some exceptional recordings, think Pink Floyd, Mark Knopfler, Diana Krall, and great recording engineers, again think Doug Sax, George Massenburg and Bob Ludwig and... Read More »

One of the most frequent reactions of people who have never visited me before and who have nothing to do with audio, is their surprise at the sight of my speaker cables trailing on the floor. In my reference system, I have been using the Tara Labs Omega Onyx cables for many years. They are... Read More »

The Truth Serum We just arrived at Alice Tully Hall here in New York City on Saturday night, but I wasn't looking forward to the program. Yet another Dvořák's New World Symphony? C'mon, give it a rest, maybe trot it out every two years or so. Such was my gloomy mood as we settled into... Read More »

When one of the fellow audio journalists from abroad asks me about the best Polish audio brands among few I always recommend Warsaw based Amare Musica. It is a company that from the very beginning, from 2012 when they debuted during Audio Show in Warsaw, always offered highest quality products. They debuted with the De... Read More »

The Sunshine Company, Ltd. S50 Underboard Isolation Platform Early this year, David Robinson asked if I would be interested in reviewing a line of cost-effective isolation products from a Japanese company, Sunshine Company, Ltd., with my Magnepan 3.7i loudspeakers. They claimed excellent success in helping music lovers and audiophile improve the performance of their audio... Read More »

This is a review of the Cary Audio DMC-600 Special Edition ("SE") digital music center which was added to the Cary Audio line up of products in the fall of 2014 or, perhaps, early 2015. It went on my radar after I received a press release in the fall of 2014. Intrigued, I touched base... 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 »

The Audio Oasis! Awards Time is short…on to my Audio Oasis! Awards. These I give to the rooms that were of high quality, drawing me in to sit down and really get into the music. You know:  An audio oasis! Rest for the weary audio traveler and all that. For me, that's a sign of... Read More »

When you're basically just maintaining the middle-of-the-road audio status quo, it's really very easy to get caught up in allowing yourself to become relatively pacified by garden-variety, substandard fidelity that's essentially just masquerading as an acceptable version of the absolute sound. And regardless of how relatively refined your hearing is with regard to what is... Read More »

I have some more pictures to share from RMAF and a few more thoughts about the show.  Below is a picture of the Einstein/AF-2 room. I think the AF-2 is a great looking table, but nothing much was happening when I visited the room so I really don’t have much to share beyond the pictures.... 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 »

This review is short, and to the point. And yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. This is something really different, and what does a label printer have to do with high-end audio, anyway? Well, the connection is actually pretty clear once you think about it, and realize what the Epson LW-600p does in a particular application.... Read More »

Winner! Winner! Winner! Finally, Grado Labs has stepped up with a mono phono cartridge you can take home to mother. After much research, John Grado has developed an entirely new motor and sculpted wood body which sings with unbeatable clarity and organic color. The Statement Reference Series 2 Mono was truly worth waiting for, and... Read More »

Rosary Sonatas. Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. Rachel Podger, violin. David Miller, theorbo and arch lute; Marcin Swiatkiewicz, harpsichord, organ; Jonathan Manson, viola da gamba, cello. Channel Classics SACD. CCSSA 37315. Biber's (1644-1704) searching, expressly mystical meditations on the Christian story from the annunciation through the nativity to the crucifixion and resurrection and on to... Read More »

Damn! Unbelievable! Yet another trip to Denver done; another annual circuit in the Earth's orbit; the 12th RMAF is in the books. The only one of these that I've missed was the 2008 show, when I had just temporarily relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Otherwise, I've seen them all, from the very beginning, when Al Stiefel... Read More »

While getting ready to conduct another interview for "The Editors" series, I sent an appropriate enquiry to the largest printed German audio magazine—Audio (it is a coincidence, of course, but the latest interview from the series also involved another printed German magazine—"Stereo", read HERE ). Audio has been published for many years and it is... Read More »