With its worldwide debut at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) in January 2016, Audio Desk Systeme of Germany and their USA agent, Ultra Systems Inc. are pleased to announce their next generation, upgraded version of the award-winning ultrasonic LP cleaning system, the new Vinyl Cleaner PRO. “Incorporating five years of evolutionary enhancements in... Read More »
Wilhelmina Smith, Cello. Britten, Schnittke, and Shostakovich. Thomas Sauer, piano. Arabesque 26801. I had known of Wilhelmina Smith since her career began in the 1990's, knew especially that she played on the wonderful Arabesque album of Copland's chamber music. But I did not know until recently that she had also made a recording as lead.... Read More »
Phonostages. Or phono preamplifers. Same things. You know, the box or input on your preamp or whatever that takes what is coming from your turntable and makes it into something you can actually appreciate—like music. Right, so let me elaborate… it amplifies the signal and applies the required RIAA curve necessary for proper vinyl playback. Sounds easy,... Read More »
Shop the Latest Technology & Gear, Experience Listening Rooms and Enjoy Intimate Concerts AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) returns to the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont, IL, April 15-17, 2016, offering music lovers, audiophiles, and musicians three jam-packed days of incredible sounds, technology, presentations, design, and the very latest products in the industry. AXPONA is the... Read More »
Cary Audio has long been synonymous with the world’s best sounding audio components. No matter vacuum tube or solid state, analog or digital, two-channel or multi-channel, Cary Audio has always represented the pinnacle of performance. The new DMS-500 is no exception and represents the ultimate in network audio! The DMS-500 Digital Music Streamer is a... Read More »
Analog is the thing now. Well for many it has always been the thing, but for many others… it is the new thing. Nice. Great stuff on vinyl and for sure, if done right, it can be quite different than digital. I say different, as better, all depends on the mastering, pressing, quality, etc. I... Read More »
Miles has clocked plenty of game-time since Part I of our Bass for Miles column here at OccupyHifi. So I thought it was time to head over to Fort Miles (a.k.a Miles room at his mothers house, where his first-rate PC Gaming lair is located) and speak with Miles in his element. Admittedly, I had other motives: Like experiencing Star Wars Battlefront on Miles gaming system with my beloved Audeze LCD-X open-back planar headphones with the SubPac S2 radiating low-end through my bones as I waged war against the Dark Side.
Native DSD Music starts the new year with a catalog of over 800 albums and over 11,000 tracks from 39 record labels. Every week you will find about 10 New DSD Albums added to our collection for your listening, from an ever increasing roster of record labels. Despite all of these increasing DSD selections and numbers, there is one that we promise to keep the... Read More »
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ” GRAMMY® -Nominated recording engineered by Keith Johnson First LP mastering of this work at 45 rpm! Composed at his artistic peak, Camille Saint-Saëns said of his Symphony No. 3 "I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I... Read More »
The Editors Series Numbers show how much the world of hobbyist magazines has changed. In a book entitled EISA. Looking Back, Moving Forward published in 2007, which was to add splendor to the 25th anniversary of the EISA reward, we read that the German Stereo magazine had an impressive circulation of 70,000 at that time... Read More »
This is Glyndebourne's first ever staging of an opera by Rameau. Though he was well known as an innovator/thinker in the music world, it was not until he was fifty years old before he composed this opera in 1773. It just might be his best opera. Based on a well-known story from long ago, there... Read More »
And now for something really different, with a set of reflections that are short, sweet, and right to the point. Last May I was approached by a company I was unfamiliar with, Blue Microphones, to evaluate their new powered headphone, the Mo-Fi. (Yes, I found that name to be interesting, as well. Wonder if the... Read More »
When in January this year I received an email from Mr Hari Strukelj of Natural Sound asking if I was willing to review one of Audio Tekne's products I had no idea whether this would be a one time gig or maybe I would be given a chance for more encounters with products by this... Read More »
I was that close to falling asleep while waiting for the final results of 17. International Chopin Competition that were presented after midnight. The list of awarded musicians was also quite surprising, as my favorite was Kate Liu, and I also keep my fingers crossed for Aimi Kobayashi from Japan. A bronze medal for an... Read More »
That actually offers us three pieces of information: it is a label ("record label"), it deals with re-issues of recordings, and it is known for "audiophile-quality sound recordings". This label differs from most others as it focuses its efforts on re-issues of already recorded and previously released material, unlike other labels that record and release... Read More »
Despite the virtual disappearance of EMI Classics as a separate label—having been swallowed into the Warner Music combine—Mariss Jansons's inconsistent but always interesting Shostakovich cycle remains worth examining. (Besides, with online and secondhand shops largely having replaced the big music chains as retail sources, the nominal "availability" of this or that item has become moot:... Read More »
Beginning at the end of 2003, PF established its first annual awards for fine audio. The Brutus Award was established for the best that David Robinson and Dave Clark had heard in their own listening rooms during that year. You can think of it as our equivalent of an "Editors' Choice" award. The Gizmo Award,... Read More »
The 20 songs I played a lot more than other songs this year, in alphabetical-artist-order, that were released in 2015 and that ended up on a list I made at the end of the year in 2015… Action Bronson – Mr. Wonderful "Baby Blue" Action Bronson takes himself, and his music, juuuusssttt seriously enough to... Read More »
Compact 16-gauge design for internal wiring and DIY applications Wireworld Cable Technology—respected manufacturer of highperformance audio and video cables—is pleased to announce the Helicon 16, a new series of compact speaker cables, designed for internal wiring and DIY applications. These highly flexible cables consist of two flat conductors that are twisted and bonded together. This... Read More »
Wyred 4 Sound launches two new digital products to cap 2015 Wyred 4 Sound is pleased to announce two new products to crown a productive year for the high-end audio company. Based on the success of the popular Remedy, both new products are designed to reclock and eliminate jitter from digital signals for markedly improved... Read More »
I first met Merrill Wettasinghe at AXPONA 2014 where he was showing his Veritas monoblock amplifiers with Sadurni horn speakers. It was quite an incredible system, and to say I was impressed would be an understatement. After enjoying the Merrill Audio room once again at the 2015 show, Mr. Wettasinghe offered to send me his... Read More »
Never in my wildest imagination did I ever foresee myself facing a mountain of reel-to-reel tapes to review in 2015. Sure, some of the backlog is directly traceable to summer AC problems that halted my reviewing for over two months. At the same time, however, it's also an indication of just how many new companies... Read More »
In this brief jotting, Dan Zimmerman, Contributing Artist to Positive Feedback, continues his meditations upon art, music, and creativity. Some of these will be longer…others, shorter. But all of these reflect the understanding of creativity, the arts (including the audio arts), and spirituality in our ongoing search for the transcendent in our lives. Selah. To... Read More »
Yarlung Records announced the release of a new addition to its critically acclaimed series of 45 RPM LPs on 180–gram vinyl, mastered by Steve Hoffman andBob Attiyeh with vinyl mastering by Bernie Grundman. The Janaki String Trio is featured in performances of Krzysztof Penderecki’s String Trio and Jason Barabba’s String Trio in four movements. Alan Rich writes: The short, two-movement String Trio of Krzysztof Penderecki... Read More »
At CES 2016, Audio-Technica will be debuting some of its most significant new products ever, all embodying our CES 2016 theme: "A Higher Level of Listening." New product highlights include the following: An exciting new turntable and Hi-Res Audio compliant SonicPro® headphones will make their debut. Be sure to come see these products including a... Read More »
Seeking to fill a void between exorbitantly priced "snake oil" solutions and bare bones, point A to point B audio accessories, Ohio-based SVS proudly launches the SVS SoundPath audio accessories line. Whether it’s an interconnect cable to hook up a subwoofer or other component, a bass management fix to eliminate room artifacts, or speaker cables... Read More »
So yeah… been a crazy year. Not as much reviewed as we had hoped for, but yes… a few items did pass through our doorway and into our system getting us all warm and fuzzy. For Carol and I, well, we like things we review to be not too pricey… more about reasonable and not... Read More »
[Here's the final installment of my Brutus Awards for 2015. It covers software, music, and our special PF Lifetime Achievement Award (posthumous) for my dear friend, Bobby Palkovic. This has been a ton of writing to complete the Brutus Awards this year; I hope that you find them to be helpful as you continue in your own... Read More »
Schubert Quintet LIve! A Live Recording of the Schubert's cello quintet by the Brentano Quartet with Michael Kammen. Azica Records. ACD 17304. Whenever I forget what suavity is, I listen to the Brentano Quartet to remind myself. The Brentanos employ suavity to evoke the 'classic' quality of Mozart, Beethoven, and here, Schubert. They are not... Read More »
[Here's the second part of my Brutus Awards for 2015. Part three will appear within the next day or so.] Cables TARA Labs Zero Evolution interconnects and Omega Evolution speaker cables and AC power cables The TARA Labs Omega Evolution speaker cable, in tandem with the Audionet MAX monoblock amplifier. (Photograph by David W. Robinson)... Read More »
The saga, or journey, continues with my Auralic Aries adventures. In my last Ramblings (HERE) I shared my experiences with upping the Aires' performance quite a bit via the Certon C4 Integrita NAS, the HDPLEX linear power supply for the Neatgear switch and WiFi units, various tweeks and gadgets (for example the RLI-1 LAN Isolator... Read More »
Gather around, audiosports fans! It's that time of year again…Positive Feedback's Brutus Awards season. At the end of each year, my unindicted co-conspirator Dave Clark and I give our Positive Feedback awards. These are our annual "best stuff we heard this year" plaudits. No padding, crap, junk food, or meaningless drivel here: Just the righteous... Read More »
Spatial sound has developed mainly thanks to the cinema. The first stereophonic system was Fantasound, created by Walt Disney's engineers to be used in Fantasia—an animated film from the year 1940. At that time, the term "stereophonic" was not synonymous with "two-channel"—sound was recorded on three tracks, based on research carried out by Graham Bell... Read More »
Best Sound in Show The 78 project brought in a live acoustic band, Sean Walsh and Ray Williams, sat them down in the conference room, stuck a microphone in front of them and recorded them with a portable Presto lathe. The recording, well, it sounded like something out of an old Presto, but the band... Read More »
As always, I enjoy writing about a professional audio conference for the high end community. The AES show is really two things, it's a bunch of people upstairs selling hardware mostly to professional production people, and it's a different bunch of people downstairs talking about science and technology. What makes the AES different from other... Read More »
If you've been following my OccupyHifi On-The-Road series, you know it's been a crazy, shit, I'm sorry, it's been a crazy muthafuckin' year! OK, so I got it outta my system straight out the gate. If you can't move past that bullshit I still can't help you. Stop hatin' and move on to the polite section of the interwebs. I tried to hide how heavily this twenty-year divorce journey affected me earlier on Occupy.
I didn't expect Geoff Merrigan, Tellurium Q's CEO, to offer a new flagship model so quickly after the release of the Ultra Silver. It was/is an excellent cable and it came from a company that has quite a stable portfolio, that does not have to use any and every novelty that comes to the market.... Read More »
