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So, two things on my mind here… the Aurender A10 and how wonderfully musical it is, and the WireWorld Starlight Cat8 Ethernet cables… and how they work so well together. I mean they work great by themselves with the Aurender A10 going a long way in terms of musicality, delicacies, nuances, bass, slam, and depth…... Read More »

Fiio have been well-regarded as an audio company for their budget to mid-priced offerings. The original Fiio X5 DAP captivated audiences worldwide but with a keen attention to detail and reception for critical feedback, Fiio have consequently released generational devices which have improved upon and refined their original vision.   Enter, the Fiio X5 3rd... Read More »

The two newest entries in AudioQuest's DragonFly family of DACs are the Black ($99 USD) and the Red ($199 USD), with the core design approach appearing to me to be one of simplicity of use in accessing the majority of files one listens to on a daily basis, along with easy connectivity to a broad... Read More »

This article, by Dave Clark, Larry Cox, Francisco Duran, and Lauren Stephens originally ran when audioMUSINGS was in print - Issue 10, 2000.   The MSB Link DAC II 24/96 comes into our home at a very interesting time. As the audio world begins to move to a more refined digital format (24/96, DVD-A, and SACD, none... Read More »

This article, by David W. Robinson, originally ran when Positive Feedback was in print - Vol. 7, No. 5, 1998. Background to a review If you do high-end audio reviewing long enough, you get to hear a lot of equipment. Some of the names come and go...I'd tell you which ones, but I don't remember them!...... Read More »

Nothing beats the convenience of digital music. For many years, I have stored and played back digital music (before the MP3) because of how easy it was. I loved having a huge collection of music just to play at the tip of my fingertips. Not only that, but it caused a surge of new music... Read More »

A couple of years ago I wrote one of the first in the nation reviews of the AURALiC Vega DAC (read my Vega review HERE). I found the experience of using the Vega revelatory, especially on high resolution downloads. Since then many other reviewers have weighed in on the Vega with similar experience, and some... Read More »

Introduction – The Illusion of "LIVE" Imagine something hard enough and it often materializes. About this time last year, I was engaged in several speaker reviews, most notably the Waterfall Audio Niagara Glass loudspeakers (see my review, HERE) and I thought to myself, "I wonder what effect the digital to analog conversion (DAC) stage and any step-up amplification... Read More »

The Oppo Digital HA-2 SE A while back, the good folks at Oppo sent me a review sample of their replacement for the HA-2 USB DAC and Headphone Amp, the HA-2 SE (Special Edition). This is their very compact DAC + headphone amp with battery, made for road/travel warriors who want extra finesse and punch... Read More »

My son's increased homework load and need for more quiet time is requiring more headphone listening for me. I don't particularly like listening to headphones... not sure why, maybe it's growing up in a "Big Fat Greek Wedding" family, where everyone was social, like it or not. Naturally, I have a modest headphone setup for... Read More »

My Questions and Answers (MQA) An interview of and by Andreas Koch on the subject of digital audio formats In the age of digital audio it appears that a new format is trying to conquer the consumer market every few years, but their success-to-failure ratio is much smaller than 1. It makes us wonder why... Read More »

I have been very excited about this review since the opportunity was presented late in 2016. The T+A PA 3000 HV integrated amplifier and PDP 3000 HV SACD/CD/DAC  have both received many rave reviews over the last two years. The descriptive "rave" would be quite an understatement. Some of my audio buds with ears that... Read More »

John Marks' final installment about his recommended Steinway and Sons office system is below. He focuses on the Grace Design m920 DAC as the digital heart of the system. Read on for his summary. And remember that John's blog site, The Tannhauser Gate (http://www.thetannhausergate.com) is a fine place for audio commentary and music/video reviews! Recommended. Dr. David... Read More »

The Gryphon Audio Kalliope DSD DAC upon arrival here… (Photograph and image processing by Robinson) The world of DSD DACs has certainly exploded over the past four years, going from a relative "we happy few" to over 400 models to choose from. The price points vary wildly…from $189 all the way out to multiple tens... Read More »

Flemming Rasmussen of Gryphon Audio Gryphon was never the adopter of technology for the sake of technology on its own, we always found it intriguing and followed it closely, but our experiments remained in the lab for the right timing. Right timing? Gryphon made it first appearance 30 years ago with a revolutionary HEADAMP, taking... Read More »

Part 2 of John Marks' Christmas recommendations:  This time, the hardware. Like the wise men's gifts, in a set of three. Simple. Affordable. And each clearly excellent at its price point. Very helpful, friend John! Dr. David W. Robinson, Ye Olde Editor Part 1 covered recorded media (CD boxed sets, and an SACD/CD hybrid). Part... Read More »

For the second time this year, I've had the good fortune to report on an exciting new digital product. This time it is Auralic's latest digital to analog star, the Auralic Altair Wireless Streaming DAC.   According to Auralic's president & CEO, Xuanqian Wang, "The new ALTAIR is both a high quality streamer and DAC, and was... Read More »

Ever been burned by an audio purchase? Yep, me too. Although a lifetime of short-term gratification ensures that I'll never have to worry about blowing big money on audio, I have learned on thing: While flash-in-the-pan audio baubles hog all the press, the wise money goes to companies that deliver high quality over time. For... Read More »

The PS Audio DirectStream Junior DAC is another member of the class of audio components that exudes pride of ownership from the time it lands on your doorstep. No flimsy cardboard boxes here folks. The DSJ comes double boxed with the outer box in plain cardboard to fool nosy audiophile neighbors with a predilection for... Read More »