Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/ampsandsound-yellowstone-preamplifier

Ampsandsound’s Justin Weber is a rare breed, a Zen master of audio design whose components somehow carry the DNA of the man himself: humane, fair, quietly extraordinary. Heavy words to hang on a preamplifier, I know, but my time with the Yellowstone earned every one of them. It may be the finest preamplifier I have ever had the privilege of living with. Its onboard phono stage alone justifies serious attention. You can stack that on top of a tonal palette of impressive beauty, a soundstage the size of a small continent, dynamics that snap and breathe like live music, and a rightness and wholeness that makes you forget the gear and listen.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/technics-sl-1200gmesl-1210gme-turntable

I spent an afternoon playing a handful of familiar tracks with a variety of cartridges, including the relatively new Nagaoka MP-700 (review coming soon). As is the case with my other Technics turntables, swapping cartridges is easy: Just set the antiskate to 0, adjust the counterweight to 0 (meaning the cartridge is floating with the tonearm parallel to the platter), then dial in the recommended tracking weight and set the antiskate accordingly (footnote 7). (The tonearm height may need to be adjusted so that the arm is parallel to the record surface while playing a disc; this process is clearly explained in the user manual.) I confirmed the accuracy of the Technics counterweight dial with my digital scale.

https://www.enjoythemusic.com/news/0726

TIDAL has officially become the first major streaming platform to cut off royalties for fully AI-generated music, marking a decisive shift in how the industry handles synthetic audio content. With the elimination of the controversial MQA music format, this may be another step in the right direction for TIDAL. Announced on June 29th, the policy states that tracks identified as 100% AI-generated will remain streamable but will no longer earn royalties or qualify for direct-to-fan sales, with enforcement beginning July 15. The company will also introduce a visible “AI” badge next to any track deemed wholly machine-made, giving listeners clear insight into how the music was created. TIDAL says this transparency is essential as its catalog has been increasingly flooded with AI-generated submissions from third-party distributors. The platform’s leadership emphasized that the move is not anti-technology but rather a protection of human creativity and artist livelihoods. 

Beyond demonetization, TIDAL is taking a hard stance against fraudulent AI content, including songs that impersonate real artists or mislead listeners. Automated detection tools will identify and remove such uploads, aligning TIDAL with a growing industry trend toward policing synthetic music. Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and the audiophile lossless Hi-Res Music fave Qobuz have all introduced AI-labeling or filtering systems, but TIDAL’s approach stands out by directly targeting revenue streams, not just visibility. Industry analysts suggest the policy could reshape how AI music is distributed. By eliminating financial incentives, TIDAL may reduce the volume of fully AI tracks while encouraging creators to use AI collaboratively rather than as a total replacement for human artistry. The company calls its new AI policy a “living document,” signaling that further updates will follow as detection tools improve and the market evolves. TIDAL’s decision arrives at a pivotal moment: AI-generated music uploads are surging across streaming platforms, and concerns about impersonation, spam, and artist displacement continue to grow. By prioritizing human-made work in its royalty system, TIDAL positions itself as a champion of authentic, organic creativity—and sets a precedent other services may soon follow.

Work in progress at the Wilson Audio manufacturing facility. A pair of mighty bronze/gold Autobiography speakers are nearing completion, showcasing their complexity and attention to detail down to each part; there are over 1,800 of them per speaker.

But there’s certainly a high amount of dynamic headroom on the ZEN Air DAC 2 to sound satisfyingly husky for a budget model.The sonic signature does best with Rock, EDM, and music that rely on an impactful, fast attack and decay, and not so much with the delicacy needed for complex tracks.I personally like the way the ZEN Air DAC 2 attacks transients with decent kick drum impacts that don’t sound anemic.

However, you need to maintain a moderate volume level when using full-sized headphones that are not the easiest to drive, since that can lead to distortion due to limited power reserves.