Ah yes, the world of cables… well specifically the world of USB cables. A lot of controversy as to their audible impact, or perhaps not if one actually sat and listened with an open mind. In the past I have shared the thinking behind their designs and any potential impact on the music (HERE), and have reviewed... Read More »
I think that the assertion that the Nobel Prize in Literature is essentially silly (and therefore, we are fools for taking it seriously) has something to be said for it. (Those happen to be the positions of the British novelist and translator Tim Parks.) Not one of: James Joyce, Tolstoy, Ibsen, Henry James, Robert Graves, Graham Greene,... Read More »
In their continuous pursuit of the finest in musical reproduction... ABYSS gives the AB-1266 Phi Reference Headphone a new suit, made of the hardest thin film coating on Earth. A colored polymer ceramic coating (CC) is factory applied and oven cured. This beautiful two-tone luxury black finish gives the Phi a sophisticated look and is... Read More »
It is no small feat to develop a product that transcends generations and becomes so ingrained in our society that it immediately conjures images of superior performance and jaw-dropping visions of beauty. Looking at a 1963 Porsche 911 next to a 2018 911 GTS, one can still see the striking lineage and heritage which this... Read More »
Do you know Polish music? No? It is a time capsule to read something more about it. And about my dreams too. Now and then I have such a thought: if we have so much in common with Japan, especially when it comes to love of music, why aren't we releasing Compact Discs in Poland... Read More »
Muddy Waters was born on April 4, 1913 and died on April 30, 1983. The 35th anniversary of his passing has recently come and gone. For this occasion, I find no better reason to introduce to you a dissection of one of the greatest blues albums ever recorded, entitled Folk Singer. Before we begin, please... Read More »
You may have noticed a trend over the years in my response to high-end audio shows. I've gravitated more and more to photographs not of products, but of people. Less and less of audio porn; more and more of the folks who make up the slightly mad world of fine audio. There are plenty of... Read More »
Making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. - Charles Mingus Years ago my friend, the British guitarist Robert Fripp (of King Crimson renown), found the time for a brief assignation at a Greenwich Village bistro. Over lunch, when I inquired as to how his visit to Manhattan was... Read More »
T.H.E. Show… The Home Entertainment Show of 2018… back after being abandoned by the creation of the Los Angeles Audio Show (LAAS ) in 2017, which died a sudden and yet sort of expected death in 2018 after its first show near LAX in 2017, left many with a sour taste and not sure what... Read More »
"May you live in interesting times." Legend has it that in ancient China this was a curse to be invoked against one's enemies to deprive them of a calm, simple life. The modern audiophile equivalent was the April 2, 2018 press release from Oppo's audio/video division announcing cessation of production of existing products and closing... Read More »
FIRENZE, Italy: Gold Note - the Italian High-End manufacturer based in Firenze – is introducing PSU-10, the external power supply developed to improve even further the performance of the PH-10 phono stage. PSU-10 has been engineered with the best quality audio-grade components to enhance the performance of PH-10 and improve even further your system: with... Read More »
Nordost is happy to reintroduce a true Nordost classic, the SuperFlatline Speaker Cable. SuperFlatline was one of the original cable options that put Nordost on the map. Easily distinguishable by its trademark, flat design, SuperFlatline quickly became known throughout the industry as one of the most respected high end speaker cables, offering an unmatched performance... Read More »
The world of fine audio was rocked by the news of David Wilson's passing. In this memoriam, our good friend John Marks, the editor of The Tannhauser Gate, reflects on David's contributions to the industry, and how he helped to set the foundations for modern high-end audio. I echo John's prayer for his eternal rest and... Read More »
ESS 422H Heil AMT/Moving Coil Hybrid Headphones: New Current Production Back in February when I reviewed these brand new headphones with their amazing drive system, they did not look like the current cans on the shelf today. They were pre-production and were supposed to be exactly like they are now in every musical parameter. Actually,... Read More »
Palmetto PM2192, CD $15.98 Amazon.com Fred Hersch, where have you been? It's been ages! Okay, I know I'm the one who's been out of touch with Fred Hersch and his amazing piano trio recordings. It's not his fault. It's a curious thing, one of those instances where you discover a new artist and buy an... Read More »
Great things can often spring from adversity. So it is with Antipodes new X-Series Modular Solutions. When a key supplier failed, Antipodes was forced to withdraw and replace its DS, DS GT, EDGE and CORE models. Antipodes decided that the replacements would, as with the flagship Antipodes DX, be completely designed and manufactured in-house and... Read More »
exaSound is proud to announce the PlayPoint DM next-generation music server and DAC. Combining a reference-grade 32-bit digital-to-analog converter, balanced dual-mono headphone amplifier and Roon-enabled music server in one elegant component, the PlayPoint DM brings simplicity and sonic perfection to your music room. With refinements like dual-mono fully balanced design, two 32-bit DXD/DSD256 DACs with... Read More »
Wednesday May 23rd, 7pm-9pm Angelica’s 863 Main St., Redwood City, CA 650-679-8184 Reservations http://angelicaswm.tunestub.com/event.cfm?cart&id=279348
This will be the first of another sporadically updated series I hope to do, maybe annually or maybe more often, about helping people set up their first real stereo system. I'll help them through the process of deciding what they hope to accomplish (hopefully wanting to listen to their favorite music at home and have... Read More »
Before our eyes, slowly a hierarchy of devices used to play audio files begins take a shape. For a long, too long time, there was no clarity in this matter and we had to wade through various offers, each of which seemed to be the "right one", that its producer declared to be "the best",... Read More »
Two gents walk into a bar… So the joke generally begins. Unlike a joke, however musing, what comes next is nothing short of a blockbuster HiFi story worth telling and then some. The two gents in question, Howard Sosna, and Joe Kubala, went on to form what is otherwise known as Kubala-Sosna (or "KS" for... Read More »
Munich – May 10, 2018 – Focal, a recognized leader on the global stage for high fidelity products, today launches the most emblematic high-fidelity loudspeakers of all its Collections: Grande Utopia EM Evo and Stella Utopia EM Evo, at the 2018 HighEnd Trade Fair in Munich. Redefining the Utopia III Evo unveiled in 2017, the... Read More »
Audirvana Plus, the hi-fi software player acclaimed worldwide, now comes to PC users. Its new interface for Windows 10 will be presented in a World Premiere during the High End Show in Munich, 10 - 13 May 2018 Paris, May 9, 2018—Audirvana, maker Audirvana Plus, the reference hi-fi audio player initially made for Mac users, announced today... Read More »
The biggest and best yet from the originators Boulder, CO: 5/7/2018--- PS Audio is proud to announce the availability of an all-new line of Power Plant power regenerators, with models available to suit all systems and budgets. PS originated the power regenerator category, and the three new models are our best ever, featuring FPGA-based DSD sine wave generators and... Read More »
May 8, 2018, Buffalo, NY: Bluebird Music today announced immediate availability of the new Qutest DAC from England's Chord Electronics. The Qutest is a replacement of the popular 2Qute DAC. Qutest uses the same award-winning internal DAC architecture and proprietary software coding as the new Hugo 2, giving it proven class-leading technical and sonic performance.... Read More »
Yugawara-machi, Japan - May 7, 2018 - Black Cat Cable will be introducing the XOX “Cable Car” cable-lifting device during the High End show in Munich next week in Hall 3, booth J-15. An ideal expression of the cable-lifting device - simple, elegant, and without a dielectric signature! XOX Cable Cars are made from plated stainless-steel, are non-magnetic,... Read More »
For Immediate Release: 7th May 2018 Merrill Audio Advanced Technology Labs, LLC Bernardsville, New Jersey, USA. Connecting you to your Music so deeply they will touch your soul, that is the new line of the most advanced Power Amplifiers from Merrill Audio. This Crowning achievement took over 4 years of research, the use of the very latest... Read More »
So, months, days and year (no "s") into my sojourn with the Pear Audio Blue Little John (system par excellence), I've hit critical mass. I'm taken, enamored, sold-on, dedicated, committed to and otherwise fully engaged with this turntable life. Without spending another three-thousand-plus words telling you all the ways I'm madly in love with the... Read More »
Ye Olde Editor, in medias res… (photograph by John Robinson) No, this is not a major review. It is more of a retrospective and reflection on what I've heard in the upgrade of our LampizatOr Golden Gate DSD DAC from its original design to its new Golden Gate 2 version. As it turns out, that upgrade... Read More »
HIGH END 2018, Munich, Germany May 10, 2018 – NAD Electronics, a leading manufacturer of premium home audio and video products, announced an update to one of its most popular amplifiers ever: the C 316 BEE V2. Blending simplicity with best-in-class performance, the updated NAD integrated amp now includes a MM phono input featuring the... Read More »
May, 2018: EastSide Sound’s chief engineer, Marc Urselli, has embraced Nordost as his permanent cabling choice for all of his future recording sessions. We were introduced to Marc through our collaboration with Newvelle Records, an exciting, new company who produce original, high quality, vinyl recordings, which are distributed to their customers in bi-monthly subscriptions. Marc... Read More »
Affordable, Easy-to-Use Accessory Designed for Use with Most Current Turntables GRAND RAPIDS, MI, April 3, 2018 – Pangea Audio, developer and manufacturer of high performance, high value audio accessories, now offers the Record Doctor Record Clamp for a demonstrable improvement in performance from most modern turntables, from entry-level to high-end audiophile models. The Record Doctor... Read More »
Yugawara-machi, Japan - May 4, 2018 - Black Cat Cable will be introducing it’s latest Reference-Level cable, STARGATE, during the High End show in Munich next week in Hall 3, booth J-15. Stargate is an evolution that stems, in part, from a custom/limited release project called “Ultranova Supreme” - only a handful of RCA interconnects... Read More »
This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations. 61. Pixies, Surfer Rosa. 4AD – 803 (UK) (1988), MoFi – MFSL 1-296 (2009), 33 1/3 rpm. Genre: alternative, garage rock, noise pop, punk The words garage, punk, and noise rarely go hand in hand with audiophile, and yet this second release by the Bostonian band encompasses exactly... Read More »
I just had a rather arresting (in the sense of, one has to stop doing anything else, and just listen) listening experience. I want to share it with you. The music I was listening to is from an underappreciated (really, almost unknown) classic-era jazz recording; but I have heard it many times. However, I had never heard it... Read More »
Dodd's DSD Discoveries #27 "Requiems – Crossing Over, Saying Farewell" Bill Dodd Starting in our Issue 96, Positive Feedback added to its music review community select contributions from NativeDSD.com's writers. Bill Dodd's essay was originally published as part of his ongoing blog series, "Dodd's DSD Discoveries," over at NativeDSD.com. I enjoy Bill's well-informed and thoughtful selections from among the... Read More »
Self-released and available at b3jazz.com; CD $12.97, digital download $9.99 "My name is Kevin Gerzevitz and I play the Hammond Organ. I've learned through my fellow organist Robert Kennedy that you write reviews of jazz recordings. I am a member of a group called B3B4. We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area and... Read More »
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