2015 RMAF SHOW REPORT – LOUDSPEAKERS OVER $20,000
October 17, 2015 Comments Off on 2015 RMAF SHOW REPORT – LOUDSPEAKERS OVER $20,000
” The striking VR-55 Aktive ($60,000/pr.) leverages collaborative component manufacture and the application of VSA’s pioneering (and extraordinarily cost-effective) patent-pending active noise reducing cabinet technology, using specially developed, custom-built drivers from Accuton and ScanSpeak. The result really speaks to me, setting new benchmarks in its price class for resolution, transparency, and room integration.
Focal Sphear in-ear headphones Review
October 15, 2015 Comments Off on Focal Sphear in-ear headphones Review
IOS CORNER FACE-OFF: HF PLAYER AND NEPLAYER
October 15, 2015 Comments Off on IOS CORNER FACE-OFF: HF PLAYER AND NEPLAYER
New music must first be synced before it registers in your device. If you’re listening to regular old Redbook file, you can just plug and play through iTunes the way you do normally. iTunes files sync normally. If it’s HD files you’ve got a hankering for, you have to drag and drop them into the app section of your iDevice. Either way, you first need to sync your device. I kind of find it a drag. And, the same files take yonks to transfer. A DSD album measuring 1,5GB takes much longer to sync than the same size album through iTunes. That is the nature of non-proprietary interfaces.
earstream Review
October 15, 2015 Comments Off on earstream Review
My only concern was the harmony between Michal’s creations and my HD800. I would also be trying my trusty Audeze LCD-2 and compare the Sonic Pearl 2 with his first Black Pearl with PSU, Cembalolab’s Spring 1 and Burson’s HA-160DS amplifiers. I parked myself on my desk and assembled a useful playlist. My first selection was Mullova. For me, Viktoria Mullova must be one of the three finest violinists currently active with James Ehnes and Vadim Gluzman. I am a big fan and followed her since her Bach albums. Her impeccable technique and soulful tone are what I look for in a violin player. She and pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout met on this Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos 3 & 9 album released on Onyx. Here we have period instruments with shimmering synergy. EarStream’s reproduction of the violin’s timbre was pellucid without being harsh even on Mullova’s high-pitched passages. Bezuidenhout’s forte piano was a little dark but perfect for my HD800. Too much treble energy with the Sennheiser could be problematic. Because this treble was a little rolled off compared to the Cembalolab Spring 1, there was no need to decrease the overall volume.
Q1 DAC/AMP BY FIIO
October 15, 2015 Comments Off on Q1 DAC/AMP BY FIIO
Powerwise the Q1 does just fine with both sensitive IEMs, portable headphones around 32ohms and gleefully does a decent job of driving the HE400s. That bass boost of the Q1 fattens out nicely on the HE400s giving an added touch of fullness on a headphone not really known for it slamming bass. It won’t command the full potential of the HE400s in terms of imaging and soundstage but it more than adequate for driving capability
Conventional Audiophile Wisdom
October 14, 2015 Comments Off on Conventional Audiophile Wisdom
You can bet I’ll be staying in contact with Boris Granovsky — not only for his opinions, but for the feedback his customers give him. Reviewers need to be educated just as much as the average audiophile does. It takes a village, and all that.
Hifiman Edition X
October 14, 2015 Comments Off on Hifiman Edition X
Early rumours or expectations (no one has heard them yet except for Steve): Smaller soundstage, warmer, priced between HE-6 ($1,299) and the HE-1000 ($2,999).
DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY SYMPHONY 1 HEADPHONES REVIEW
October 14, 2015 Comments Off on DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY SYMPHONY 1 HEADPHONES REVIEW
We loved the sound by Bluetooth, the slight brightness of the active circuitry compensating for any softness through the Bluetooth link and delivering a lively, balanced and energetic performance. Their 50mm drivers can deliver low, as witnessed by Neil Young’s Walk With Me suitably shuddering the skull under its low resonances, they had the light touch required for the detail in Paul McCartney’s My Valentine, and they passed the congestion test of kd lang’s The Air that I Breathe, its tricky layers and rising dynamics remaining smooth and information-rich even during the massed vocal peaks.
Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenty Mono Amplifiers
October 14, 2015 Comments Off on Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenty Mono Amplifiers
I heard evolutionary changes in multiple parameters. Overall, these could be described as a greater robustness in the MX-R Twenty’s sound over the MX-R: more meat on the bone. The MX-R Twenty did away with the faintest sheen of electronic haze that I heard in the MX-R only in direct comparison with a pair of Aesthetix’s Atlas Signature tubed/solid-state monoblocks. What I’d incorrectly attributed to the faintest remnant of LP surface noise or master-tape hiss in the otherwise effervescent sound of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s Porgy and Bess (180gm LP, Verve/Speakers Corner MGVS-6040-2) was revealed as an artifact introduced by the solid-state MX-R. There was no hiss with the MX-R Twenty. The increase in contrast made possible by eliminating the perception of a noise floor (rather than artificially boosting the top) opened the door to greater enjoyment regardless of volume level, and never at the expense of long-term listening pleasure. There was nothing etched about the MX-R Twenty’s sound.
Audiophilepure 
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