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This article, by Dave Clark, Victor Chavira, Francisco Duran, and Sherman Hong, originally ran when audioMUSINGS was in print - Issue 1, 1998. At the Hi-Fi 97 Show in San Francisco, Vince Garino and Joe Reynolds of Nordost were most gracious in giving Carol and me a semi-private demonstration of the cable line. The demonstration involved... Read More »

Mola-Mola Kaluga circuit board Some of you may recall when Class D amplification began to appear in high-end journals. There were birthing pangs, to put it mildly. Granted it was quiet, linear, and powerful; on the other hand, it was often dry and brittle. The treble, in particular, was nasty. At the time, around 2006,... Read More »

"The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,  Shorter of breath and one day closer to death." —From "Time" by Pink Floyd So, first, you might ask, where have I been and why I am not talking about digital music servers, instead reviewing a vinyl reissue you can't buy anymore—at least... Read More »

You would be surprised if you actually measured your turntable's platter. It may be several RPM off and you didn't even know it. I started to get suspicious when I was listening to some music and the pitch just seemed a little off. I'm guessing not everyone has the ability to discern a pitch-shift but... Read More »

Admittedly, I am not a headphone enthusiast.  I have an old pair of open backed Grado SR 60s used occasionally for casual listening around the house. For music on the go I carry a pair of Klipsch S4i earbuds. Both pairs of headphones offer pleasingly smooth response and low coloration with a wide range of... Read More »

I think I made a mistake, one of those forest-for-the-trees kinds, in hunting for a radio-friendly single on the new Silversun Pickups album. I'd been spoiled with their previous offerings and came into this album, headphones swinging, lazily assuming I was going to be getting more of the same. It'd be really, really, amazingly good... Read More »

Audeze has come a long way from its first planar magnetic offering. The upstart company from the United States has steadily grown and offered what some would say to be the best headphones currently in the market place. Not wanting to stay on their laurels the guys from Audeze are back at it again; this... Read More »

Driving north on I-25 after the first day of the show. It's dark, we're tired, and only one lane of three is open. It's just as bad on the other direction. Traffic moves forward at 10 to 15 mph as rain comes down and gigantic paving machines emit asphalt roars and smells. The ten miles... 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 »

Today, headphones are designed for DJs, hipsters, style mongers and those willing to spend $3k on high-end "Wearable Technology." The $399 Master & Dynamic MH 40 headphones stand in stark contrast to those business models. Not only are the MH 40s an example of a well conceived and smartly designed product that surpasses marketing hype,... Read More »

There's every probability you already have an opinion about audiophile tweaks and the folks who review them. Sometimes it seems like half the double-blindsters on the internet remain fixated on the original AudioPrism StopLight CD marker pen, so discussing any device from that company entails a certain incendiary risk-especially as Positive Feedback now features a... Read More »

Another year and another RMAF show is in the books.  I'm going to tell you about some of the rooms that I considered to sound very, very good, and I will leave out the rooms which didn't sound so great. As we all know by now, pulling off setting up a system in a hotel... Read More »

It is hard to find own niche on the market. The smaller the industry the smaller potential customer group and thus the more difficult is to reach them. On top of that there is this, sometimes even unaware, preference audiophiles have for products made in Western Europe, USA or Japan. If you consider all that... 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 »

I was truly unsure that in 2015 any of us would be needing a two box, multi-function digital source for portable transportable media. I took a CD around with me at T.H.E. Show Newport and found few rooms that could play it or, at least, without first ripping it. That said, the course of true... Read More »

I understand why there are so few surround sound gear reviews in high end audio. Two channel reviews occasionally dip into technology (not from moi) but (to paraphrase Bill Clinton), it's about the sound qualithy, stupid! Surround sound reviews end up being highly technical because so much is going on—straight wire with gain? Ha! In home theater and... Read More »