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Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm rapidly developing a reputation as a Fiio fanboy. The thing is, I put a fair amount of effort into cultivating a relationship with them at a point when they were just really cracking into the North American market. And now, suddenly, they're responsible for a rapid-fire release of multiple product... Read More »

When I first gained an awareness of Fiio as a company, I thought their product offerings were very reasonably-priced alternatives to the typical mega-buck audiophile choices available in personal portables and accessories. But I wasn't absolutely convinced that they could make the transition to a company that could meet consumer demands for the level of... Read More »

Marcin Ostapowicz of JPLAY contacted me a couple of months ago; JPLAY had just released the latest iteration of their superb computer-based music playing system, now billed as JPLAY Femto. Would I be interested in taking a listen? Of course, was the answer—JPLAY has definitely been my go-to software choice for making baseline comparisons between... Read More »

I've had the "Dirty Weekend" version of the Zu Audio Omens for almost five years now; retailing for right at $1K USD, they're the least expensive way to taste the Zu experience. Zu has a very liberal upgrade and trade-in policy; they're constantly improving the technology of the drivers and cabinets they employ. The "Dirty... Read More »

A couple of weeks back, I arose on an otherwise unremarkable Sunday morning, had my coffee and checked my losing lottery numbers. I then proceeded downstairs to remove and replace the Hana EL cartridge that's been the recent mainstay of my analog playback system. The Hana SL (with its Shibata stylus) had recently arrived from... Read More »

When this review offer came from Norman Varney's company, AV RoomService, Ltd., I knew Norman from the Facebook experience, and I knew that he worked with custom audio installations that appeared to me to be fairly high-end. He seemed to me to be a really nice, knowledgeable guy, and I enjoyed seeing photos of some... Read More »

As Fiio continues their push into higher-performance personal portables (and into the US market!), they're releasing some technologically remarkable products that perform at a shockingly high level. And at price points that tend to be well below the cost of completing brands like AK, HiFiMan, and Sony. I'm continually impressed by the performance of the... Read More »

I have a fairly long history with Audioengine loudspeakers and products; in my book, they're some of the most well-designed, well-constructed, and best-sounding powered speakers and ancillary products on the market. The level of technology employed in their designs approaches the current state-of-the-art, especially when you consider the ridiculously low MSRPs of many of Audioengine's... Read More »

Late last year, I had a tremendous review opportunity that focused on ProJect's The Classic turntable; unbeknownst to me, the review unit arrived as the heavily upgraded Superpack SB edition. Which, along with electronic speed control and other really nice goodies thrown in, also came with a Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 cartridge attached to... Read More »

I've been using JPLAY as my go-to computer-based music player/streamer for the last couple of years—it's without a doubt the very best bang-for-your-buck improvement for use with any PC music playback system. In my review of the Sonore microRendu last year, I found that music via my PC with JPLAY came darn close to matching... Read More »

At the last Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, a conversation took place between Chris Morris of Bluebird Music (Spendor's North American distributor, based in Canada) and PF's Dave Clark regarding Spendor's newest and most affordable line of loudspeakers. The A2 and A4 Models, priced at $2395 and $3195 USD, would offer Spendor's renowned sound at a... Read More »

Despite my growing fascination with all things computer/network audio, I've always loved the sound of vinyl and still spend a fair amount of time spinning LPs. Even considering the many acoustic and mechanical flaws either inherent or possible with vinyl reproduction, the sound of a well-played LP has an almost intoxicating quality that's near impossible... Read More »

First, a little background on recent system developments…when we moved into the new house last January, my goal was to modernize our computer, audio, and video accessibility as much as possible. I had a new dedicated listening room with beefy, dedicated electrical wiring, and the new room had three times the internal volume of my... Read More »

About five years ago, I'd just gotten an HRT Streamer HD DAC with balanced outputs, and had also just upgraded my system amps to a pair of Emotiva XPA-1Ls. The Emotivas were (and still are!!) capable of fully-differential, balanced Class A operation, and I was itching for a balanced preamplifier to help me enter what... Read More »

The personal portable market is a really tough one, especially when you're attempting to market anything towards audiophiles. The biggest problem seems to be the opening price point for anything considered audiophile-quality or Hi Res certified—with just about anything that seems to appeal to anyone who's "serious" about music playback being somewhere around the $1K... Read More »

Streaming is the future of computer audio. Anyone who's serious about playback of digital files knows that streaming is essential to achieve the ultimate in effortless, totally transparent playback. Think of it like this: with computer audio, there's no transport, per se; you can have the world's greatest digital-to-analog converter, but you've still gotta have... Read More »

Up until the arrival of the Stellar Gain Cell DAC a couple of months ago, my home system—while capable of producing some very satisfying music—was basically a cluster fu©k, with a mish-mash of two  preamplifiers controlling all inputs. One for balanced (Luminous Audio Axiom II), a second one for single-ended (Acurus RL-11), and a constant... Read More »

Anyone with any level of appreciation for great cello performance should check out Elinor Frey at once; an immensely talented and virtuosic player, she's also a seriously gifted researcher and scholar of all things cello, with a special appreciation for the Baroque period. Although she plays both modern and period instruments, it's pretty clear that... Read More »

Last year I reviewed Fiio's M3 DAP, which broke the mold and set new standards for great-sounding, CD-quality, microscopically sized DAPs at the sub-$100 USD price point. But if you wanted a more full-featured unit—especially on a budget—you were basically out of luck, with the only real competition starting at about the $500 USD mark.... Read More »