Singer/songwriter Jessica Carson and band offer a richly-textured musical tapestry in stunning high-resolution sound Boulder, Colorado, January 24, 2023 – Octave Records' Clandestine Amigo returns with their newest release, Pinnacle, showcasing the vocal, piano and songwriting talents of Jessica Carson. The new album, available on SACD/CD and high-resolution download formats, features a richly-textured production and wide musical variety, and... Read More »
Over the past four years, I've found myself regularly returning to recordings by the Spanish string quartet, Cuarteto Quiroga. Their performances are refined, beautifully played, nuanced in interpretation, and played with total conviction. They recently released their sixth album for Cobra Records, Und es Ward Licht! (below), and it's a stunner. It's well past time... Read More »
Featuring dual THX AAA 788+ amps, dual AK4493S DACs and support for audio up to 32Bit 384kHz/DSD256 at £189/$199 January 19, 2023 The FiiO K7 is a balanced desktop amplifier featuring dual AK4493S DACs, dual THX AAA 788+ amp technology, USB/Optical/Coax/RCA inputs, and both 6.3mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced headphone outputs. Building upon the success... Read More »
Patricia Barber, Clique!. HQ180 33.3 LP: $39.99 MSRP. Patricia Barber patriciabarber.com. Impex Records impexrecords.com Patricia Barber's Clique! was released to great fanfare by Impex Records in August, 2021. I had the good fortune to review the DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) 32-bit/352.8kHz digital download files of the album at that time, and you can read my review... Read More »
The New Products Celebrate Italian Artisanship and the Heritage Brand’s Roots VICENZA, ITALY (January 17, 2023) – Sonus faber is proud to announce the revival of its iconic and award-winning Homage Collection, showcased in the premiere of 4 new products. The extension of the current collection highlights Sonus faber’s deep Italian heritage, commitment to its artisans’... Read More »
With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Maurice Jefferies visits the home of Greg Weaver, also known as the Audio Analyst Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief The New Apartment Lounge's Maurice Jeffries visits the Audio Analyst at home for the third time. Report By Maurice Jeffries What would we do without... Read More »
190 Listening Rooms, Top Hi-Fi Audio Brands, Thousands of Products and Gear, Educational Seminars and Live Musical Performances SCHAUMBURG, IL - - The 12th annual AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) will return April 14-16 to the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center offering three jam-packed days of incredible sounds, technology, seminars, networking and the newest products in the industry. AXPONA is the largest high-end audio show... Read More »
Cary Audio is pleased to announce that the DMS-800 Professional Version (PV) Network Audio Player/Streamer/DAC has won a Hi-Fi Golden Diapason Award for 2022. The award was announced in the November 2022 issue of the Diapason d'Or Magazine and will be presented at its Awards Ceremony on January 20, 2023, in Paris, France. Diapason d’Or is a French magazine published monthly focusing... Read More »
Beware! Wildly broad generalizations coming below... Interesting conversations get started over morning cappuccinos in our household. Today, the discussion was about files from the HDTT (High Definition Tape Transfer) catalog versus modern recordings from the NativeDSD catalog. Ann opined that, overall, she found the NativeDSD files in our library were the files to which she... Read More »
The Absence of the Presence. Happy Valley, OR, 2022. Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson. About my Brutus Awards… For years I have reiterated what our PF Brutus Awards represent. This is especially for the benefit of new readers who are unfamiliar with what we have in mind for this special recognition. Another... Read More »
New series of demonstration-quality recordings focuses on various critical sonic aspects of audio reproduction Boulder, Colorado, January 16, 2023 – PS Audio’s Octave Records is proud to announce its all-new series, The Art of Hi-Fi. Each recording in the ongoing series will showcase a different aspect of high-quality audio reproduction, beginning with this initial release, Volume 01: Bass. As the title indicates, The Art... Read More »
(January 13, 2023) Enjoy the Music.com, high-end audio's celebrated online site for 28 years and a leader in providing industry news, gear reviews, and show reports is pleased to announce that we're sponsoring Florida International Audio Expo's Industry Happy Hour during their 2023 event in Tampa. Exhibitors and members of the press are invited to join... Read More »
I love guitarists, and I own a lot of LPs by guitarists. Although I file the jazz guitarists, like Barney Kessell, Johnny Smith, and Wes Montgomery, alphabetically, many guitarists, regardless of genre, are also found in my miscellaneous guitarist section. That's where the obscure guitarists and multi-artist collections of guitar music are found. One obscure... Read More »
High Definition Tape Transfer has been on quite a roll in 2022 with a strong schedule of new releases. Their jazz releases in 2022 have been phenomenal and, hopefully, merited your attention. But, the classical albums they've reissued have been similarly outstanding, including performances in the top echelons of the catalog such as the Mercury... Read More »
Remastering is a technique applied to improve sound quality. It can be done in digital or analog domain. There are few audio manufacturers who also release their own recordings. One of them, and probably the most interesting, is the Japanese Esoteric, which remasters classical music from the world's best labels. Esoteric is a brand owned... Read More »
One of the few Polish audio brands that conquered global markets, highly acclaimed among both users and reviewers around the world, J. Sikora, after several years of consolidating its market position, prepared premiere products for the last Audio Video Show in Warsaw—new, improved versions of their fantastic tonearms. For this test, we received the first... Read More »
January 11, 2023 – Succasunna, New Jersey. Orchard Audio, LLC is proud to announce that the company will exhibit at the Florida International Audio Expo (FAE), February 17-19, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. Orchard Audio’s exhibit will feature the following award-winning products: Starkrimson® Stereo Ultra: 500W gallium nitride (GaN) stereo audio power amplifier Starkrimson® Mono: 150W... Read More »
“Stand-Alone” Word Clocks are the Final Frontier of system enhancement, providing audio and network performance upgrades attainable in no other way. Silent Angel created the Genesis GX to be the ultimate audiophile Word Clock: take your system to the next level with Genesis! Ultimate Performance and Ultimate Versatility Genesis GX is a true, state-of-the-art word... Read More »
Worb, Switzerland – We are very excited to announce the release of the new DAC1 Mk II D/A Converter. Over a year’s time was spent carefully considering how to improve upon our award- winning design to offer customers around the world even greater musical enjoyment, and we could not be happier with the results (see... Read More »
“Got My Mojo Workin’…” The latest firmware upgrade for the I1 Universal Integrated Amplifier is now available and offers more than just a software tweak. It delivers a step-change in musical performance. Software Version 2.0 makes two significant changes to the digital decoding section that lies at the heart of this versatile unit. The... Read More »
Buffalo, NY, January 10, 2023 – Bluebird Music, a distributor of high-performance audio products since 2000, is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the new AVM CS 8.3 Black Edition All-In-One Streaming Receiver. The new model is now in stock at Bluebird Music and now available for demonstration at AVM dealers. The new CS 8.3 Black Edition... Read More »
Hi-Fi sound for your phone, laptop or games console. The BTR7 features wireless charging, colour display, MQA, and support for audio up to 32Bit 384kHz/DSD256. Whether listening to music from your smartphone, laptop or games console — on the move, in the car, or in the home — the FiiO BTR7 portable amplifier ensures your... Read More »
AVA Group A/S, owners of the superlative audio electronics brand Vitus Audio, announces that they have engaged Elite Marketing Dynamics, LLC (EMD) as their official representative sales agent throughout The Americas (United States, Canada, Caribbean, and Latin America). EMD shall commence sales of all Vitus Audio products by January 2, 2023; hereby, enabling Vitus Audio... Read More »
CES, Las Vegas – January 5, 2023 - The French brand Focal expands its collection of loudspeakers for Home with Vestia. This line comprises five models and has been designed for high-quality music enjoyment and Home Cinema experiences delivered by Focal’s renowned savoir-faire in acoustic. The brand which is recognized by the French government as... Read More »
Create the music system you’ve always wanted with the new Naim Audio Classic range. Featuring cutting-edge innovation, sharp styling and exquisite quality, New Classic lives in service of the sound. CES, Las Vegas – January 4, 2023 - Naim Audio launched in 1973 with a simple aim: to experience music replayed in its truest and... Read More »
Paris, France - Trinnov Audio will demonstrate its new groundbreaking acoustic processing technology, based on years of research, at ISE 2023 (booth 2D150). In partnership with Krix, Sony & Officina Acustica, this new digital sound field control system makes its debut in an active 13.16.6 channel home cinema system. The revolutionary new acoustic technology from... Read More »
New flagship DAC/preamp offers PS Audio’s latest technologies to deliver extraordinary sound quality and flexibility Boulder, Colorado, January 9, 2023 – PS Audio is now shipping its PerfectWave DirectStream DAC MK2, successor to the acclaimed original version. The DirectStream DAC MK2 incorporates a host of newly-developed PS Audio technologies to deliver a new level of sonic excellence in digital audio... Read More »
Enid Lumley, the long-ago first female reviewer for The Absolute Sound, was possibly a little over the top, but at least a major portion of her observations were dead on. She was right, for example, in thinking that lifting speaker cables off the floor (she ran them over short pieces of two-by-four) would improve the... Read More »
Buffalo, NY, January 5, 2023 --- Bluebird Music, distributor of high-performance audio products since 2000, is pleased to announce immediate availability of the all-new SME MK2 series turntables. The SME product range now includes: Model 12 MK2, Model 15 MK2, Model 20 MK2, Model 30 MK2 and Synergy MK2. The primary feature of the new MK2 models is a... Read More »
Effortlessly detailed audiophile sound everywhere The new Sennheiser IE 200 – an ideal choice for audiophiles looking for clarity, detail, and impact at home or on the go. Old Lyme, CT, January 5, 2023 – The Sennheiser IE range continues its history of excellence with the all-new IE 200. The newest member of the IE family... Read More »
Featuring dual ES9038Q2M DACs, the M11S is able to decode up to 384kHz/DSD256 Hi-Res audio The versatile M11S builds upon the success of previous award-winning portable audio players from FiiO. Alongside its 3.5mm single-ended and 2.5mm/4.4mm balanced headphone outputs, and dedicated line-out, the M11S also offers LDAC, aptX HD, and LHDC Hi-Res Bluetooth connectivity. Further wireless options... Read More »
Offering a comprehensive overview of American Black roots music, this 40-track collection spans generations and genres: from little-known banjo players and Gullah singers to New Orleans jazz icons and contemporary blues acts, and everything between Due out February 17th on 2-CD/digital formats available to pre-order beginning today “This collection is the DNA, the blueprint, a sonic... Read More »
I've written before about the recordings of pianist Hannes Minnaar (see HERE and HERE). I'm writing now to share with you a new solo piano recording of the Shostakovich 24 Preludes (a marvel), an earlier recording of piano works inspired by Bach, and a scrumptious complete cycle of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with Jan Willem... Read More »
In this superb release from Eudora Records, the Protean Quartet deliver stylish performances of the last of the Haydn's Russian Quartets, the first of Beethoven’s String Quartets, op. 18 no.1 (but already a masterpiece), and the first recording of Juan Pedro Almeida Mota’s String Quartet op. 7 no. 1. Performed on period instruments, with historically... Read More »
Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique. Roméo et Juliette: Scène d'amour. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Järvi. Telarc CD-80578. TT: 71.22. Downloads: classicalarchives.com (mp3) Like Cala Records and Avie Records, which I've recently discussed, Telarc Records, based in Cleveland, was created as an audiophile label. At first, they briefly pursued the "direct-to-disc" blind alley with Advent Records' Direct from Cleveland, presenting Lorin Maazel... Read More »
When I was fifteen I had yet to learn that greatest hits and best of records also meant The Worst Sounding Records. Back then my ears weren't very sophisticated, so I was oblivious to the fact that albums like Simon & Garfunkle's Greatest Hits and Rod Stewart's Sing It Again Rod were, despite the wonderful... Read More »
Robert Pincus joins PF as a writer of music and other topics of interest. Telling a story about myself is always a challenge, so I will start by telling you my name. My name is Robert Pincus, but some people call me Mr. Record. Some of you may know me from my ten-year tenure at Cisco... Read More »
