September 16, 2022 - First launched in 2016, Focal’s Utopia headphones rank amongst the best headphones in the world. Under constant renewal, the French brand with a unique savoir-faire in acoustics, has given its iconic product a new design while adding acoustic enhancements (new voice coil, ‘M’-shaped grilles inside the earcups...). All the exclusive, high-end... Read More »
LOS ANGELES, CA. (THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2022) – Full details on Independent Project Records' (IPR) release of the previously unreleased archival concert Savage Republic – Africa Corps Live at the Whisky A Go Go 30th December 1981 set coming November 18, are now confirmed. Pre Save/Add here. Clocking in at 37 minutes, befitting the band’s opening slot on the bill that night, the 10... Read More »
Astell&Kern, a global leader in high-resolution audio playback devices and accessories, announces a new collaboration with Empire Ears to produce in-ear monitors (IEMs) under the Astell&Kern brand. The latest collaboration with Empire Ears expands Astell&Kern’s already extensive partnerships with premier headphone and In-Ear Monitor (IEM) manufacturers. The limited-edition Odyssey will be sold exclusively by Astell&Kern dealers worldwide for... Read More »
World's first DAP where digital and analog signal processing is completely separated by HEXA-Audio Circuitry DAC design First time Asahi Kasei's latest Flagship DAC, the AKM4499EX has been used in an audio product Stunning Audio Performance through Independent Dual Audio Circuits World’s first use of Stainless Steel 904L for DAP body material Equipped with high-performance... Read More »
Thus far in 2022, HDTT has given us three new and outstanding transfers of well known, and well loved, performances from the RCA Living Stereo catalog. To these, I've added several more of their excellent DXD/DSD256 Living Stereo reissues, plus a final reissue that RCA never released as a Living Stereo, but should have. They... Read More »
BINGHAMTON, NY (September 14, 2022) - McIntosh is proud to announce the XCS1.5K Center Channel Loudspeaker, a critical component to perfect any home theater system, complementing the brand’s iconic XRT2.1K or XRT1.1K FloorStanding Loudspeakers, and voiced to match them to ensure impeccable sonic imagery with clear, high-quality sound. The center channel speaker is a critical... Read More »
Onwards to Part the Third of my Pacific Audio Fest 2022 Photo Essay and Audio Oasis! Awards report... Genesis/Merrill Audio In the Genesis/Merrill Audio space It's hard to know what to say about Gary Koh's good-sized Genesis room, featuring Merrill Wettasinghe's very special next-generation (MX) amplification from Merrill Audio. There was so much really unique... Read More »
The ocean swells of the recent controversy about Mobile Fidelity and its unannounced (until now) use of DSD256 continue to roil, whether useful or not. Greg Weaver and I had a long conversation about this, provenance, processing, and the (to my mind) vital role that DSD256 has to play in the future of analog LP... Read More »
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, September 9, 2022 — Wireworld Cable Technology, one of the world's most respected brands of high-performance audio and video cables, announces the release of the Platinum Starlight 48 HDMI cable. This third-generation flagship HDMI cable features carbon fiber plugs with supremely conductive silver-clad contacts. Following the previous generations, the cable has solid... Read More »
Faro, Portugal, September 12, 2022 ZENmini S The new Innuos ZENmini S is based on the popular ZENmini Mk3 music server and streamer. The option of an SSD for the ZENmini has been a highly-requested feature. The ZENmini S replaces the hard drive with a solid-state drive (SSD) and increases the system RAM from 4GB... Read More »
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, September 9, 2022 — Wireworld Cable Technology, one of the world's most respected brands of high-performance audio and video cables, announces the release of the Platinum Starlight 48 HDMI cable. This third-generation flagship HDMI cable features carbon fiber plugs with supremely conductive silver-clad contacts. Following the previous generations, the cable has solid silver... Read More »
Introducing EXPANSE, our new flagship open-back headphone. EXPANSE sets a new standard in open-back headphone musicality, soundstage, detail retrieval, and comfort. Featuring Dan Clark Audio’s all-new 4th generation planar-magnetic driver and our breakthrough Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System, EXPANSE delivers a stunningly smooth presentation to bring new depth and breadth to all your favorite music. Acoustic... Read More »
Orange, CA. September 12th, 2022 – ELAC, a leading global provider of high-performance speakers and electronics, today announced the Debut ConneX powered bookshelf speakers. These new powered bookshelf speakers combine the simplicity and versatility of a traditional soundbar with the performance of premium bookshelf speakers. “A premium audio experience does not have to be complicated.... Read More »
Ye Olde Editor with some very fine coffee. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2015. (Photograph by Lila Ritsema.) Time to continue my Pacific Audio Fest 2022 Audio Oasis! Awards. Part the Second, then...onwards! Parasound/Innuos/Marantz/Dr. Feickert/Norstone/Straight Wire/KEF Here's an eyeful of an earful of a fine-sounding room… The Parasound/Innuos/KEF/etc. room featured some designs from companies that I knew…JC... Read More »
Lansche Audio is pleased to announce High End by Oz, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, as its official distributor for North America. High End by Oz LLC. is a high-end audio distributor covering North America with some of the finest high-end audio products from around the world. The addition of Lansche Audio to the portfolio further... Read More »
Did you happen to know that one of Planet Earth's great writers, Garrett Hongo is also a music lover and audiophile? That's right, Garrett Hongo is one of us. Garrett has written over thirty works in over seventy publications, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1988 for The River of Heaven,... Read More »
This will be the best sounding digital reissue of Kind of Blue in your collection. There. I said it. No waffling around. This reissue is stunningly good. If you don't run and get it NOW, you will kick yourself for not having done so sooner once you finally hear it. Miles Davis - Kind of... Read More »
This issue of Notes on Recent Finds includes a mix of recordings found at NativeDSD. Several albums are from the quite remarkable Sono Luminus label, whose recordings (by engineer Daniel Shores) are supremely good. I've written about their albums in other articles. I'm including three more here. Also included is a delightful new recording from... Read More »
L-507Z integrated amplifier and PD-151 MkII turntable BALLSTON SPA, New York, September 2022 – Featuring Luxman’s original LIFES1.0 distortion canceling feedback engine, the new L-507Z is a Class AB integrated amplifier of exceptional sound quality. The first model in Luxman’s Z Series, the new integrated amplifier joins the PD-151 MkII turntable, which incorporates a new,... Read More »
RAVEL: Orchestral Works, volume 2. The Philharmonia/Geoffrey Simon. Cala CACD 1005. TT: 75.42 Rapsodie espagnole. Le gibet (orch. Goossens). Five O'Clock Foxtrot (orch. Palmer). Piano Concerto in G (Gwendolyn Mok, piano). Pavane pour une infante défunte. Pièce en forme de habañera (orch. Hoérée; Han de Vries, oboe). Daphnis et Chloé: Suite 2. I picked up... Read More »
Robinson reflecting… (portrait by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Editor) Prologue… At long last, after 2.5 years of pandemic interruption and scheduling conflicts, I was finally able to get to an audio show…and not a moment too soon. The Pacific Audio Fest was held from July 29-31 in SeaTac, WA, at the Hilton... Read More »
Snoop Dogg and Dave Malekpour at Snoop Dogg's Beach City studio complex (photo courtesy of proaudiodesign.com) As a 36 year veteran of the professional music industry, founder and president of Professional Audio Design, Inc. David Malekpour has come a long way. "I started working in pro audio for an acoustic designer and studio tech in... Read More »
A special Positive Feedback guest editorial from John Marks, J.D. and James Tuomy, AES John Marks has been a longtime audio friend of mine, and a respected member of audiophile recording and loudspeaker design community. He recently approached me to publish a technical paper that he and James Tuomy had written regarding proposed modifications to the... Read More »
In the early days of our hobby, one reviewer reigned supreme. From his first "test report," in 1957, until his retirement in 1998, Julian Hirsch is said to have written— either as himself, or as Hirsch-Houck Laboratories—some 4000 "laboratory test reports" on the hi-fi equipment of his time. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Hirsch). All of those were, reminiscent of... Read More »
James Gang, Bang, SD 7037, ATCO Records, 1973 By the end of the 1960s, following the emergence of such dynamic UK-based trios as Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, one of the brightest trios to appear on the subsequent American scene was the James Gang. Though founded by drummer Jim Fox in 1966 with fellow... Read More »
600-watt ultimate-performance hybrid tube/solid-state power amplifier is the last to be designed in partnership with legendary audio engineer Bascom H. King Boulder, Colorado, September 1, 2022 – PS Audio today announced the introduction of its new top-of-the-line PerfectWave BHK 600 Mono Power Amplifier, the finest amplifier ever created by the company. The BHK 600 is the last audio component... Read More »
Time for another article about recent finds that I think you may enjoy. These are once again albums from HDTT and this time they're all jazz—hope you don't mind. Many are Pure DSD256 transfers, so the sound quality is pure, clean and transparent. You'll find my earlier Notes on Recent Finds article HERE. Today we're... Read More »
The following is an interview with recording engineer Bert van der Wolf, chief recording engineer, producer and founder of Northstar Recording Services, many of whose wonderful recordings have been reviewed at Positive Feedback (see list of reviews HERE). He records frequently for the Challenge Classics label whose DSD64 releases are available through NativeDSD (see HERE).... Read More »
Bert van der Wolf is one of the best recording engineers in the business today. His recordings have only gotten better and better over the years as he's been able to incorporate into his recording chain the latest developments in high end technology. I've written many times in these pages about various of his recordings... Read More »
This article by John Zurek originally ran in Issue 31, May/June 2007, 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. It started out innocently enough. One of the spikes broke—my fault—on my... Read More »
GHOST is a Swedish band playing a genre of hard rock, formed in Linköping in 2006. In 2010 the band released its demo and then a complete album entitled Opus Eponymous. Since 2013, their album covers have been designed by the Polish graphic designer Zbigniew Bielak. We are reviewing the Japanese version of their latest... Read More »
Chantal Chamberland's Soirée. Evosound (HERE) A re-issue is always an interesting temporal situation. As listeners we are invited to experience the excitement of the new simultaneously with the comfort of the familiar. Just such an invitation appears with the Hybrid SACD release of French-Canadian jazz singer Chantal Chamberland's Soirée. With her smoky voice and whole-hearted... Read More »
Gig Harbor, WA- Isaac Markowitz and Shane Buettner proudly introduce MIBS Distro (Markowitz Isaac Buettner Shane), performance audio’s NEW brand management and distribution/rep firm. Serving North America and specializing in aspirational, ultra-performance analog, MIBS Distro is the exclusive home of Lyra Co Ltd.’s hand-built phono cartridges in the US and Canada. MIBS is founded and managed... Read More »
August 31, 2022—Andover Audio and Vinyl Moon are partnering in a new sales initiative, “Spin the Moon,” from September 1 through December 1. Andover customers who purchase any model of “Spin” product—the SpinBase, SpinDeck, SpinStand, or SpinSub, including their “Max” versions—are eligible* to receive a free month from Vinyl Moon when signing up for either... Read More »
New dates for next year’s show! June 23-25th, 2023 Doubletree/Hilton Seattle, WA We would like to thank everyone for making the Pacific Audio Fest 2022 a huge success! We have negotiated better dates for 2023 at the same hotel and are producing an even better show for 2023. This show has been a dream of... Read More »
The forefathers of skate punk reissue their seminal debut album across all digital platforms and vinyl August 26. The Deluxe Reissue includes: · Remastered audio by David Gardner from the original analog tapes. · 20-page full-color book on the oral history of the band, narrated by John Reis (Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu). · Insights from Henry Rollins, Roger Miret... Read More »
Cappella Records is thrilled today to announce an all-new website and store at cappellarecords.com! When you check out our new site, you can save 30% on all* of our releases with the coupon code SUMMER22 until September 1st! Order now from our entire catalog on CD, Blu-Ray, LP, SACD, and hi-res downloads direct from Cappella Records! With all-new videos, audio samples, digital booklet... Read More »
