IFI LAUNCHES NEW HIP-DAC
February 11, 2020 Comments Off on IFI LAUNCHES NEW HIP-DAC
https://www.headphone.guru/ifi-launches-new-hip-dac/
The headphone amp has a nominal power rating of 400mW and is capable of delivering over 700mW from the balanced output depending on the impedance of the attached headphones – impressive in comparison with the hip-dac’s peers, driving all manner of headphone/earphone types with ease.
The amp stage features switchable gain, which iFi terms PowerMatch. This matches the level of drive to the load presented by the headphones, by adjusting input sensitivity and thereby signal strength. With high-sensitivity headphone types such as in-ear monitors, leave PowerMatch at its lower setting for ultra-low-noise performance. But if your headphones require more drive – most on/over-ear types, for example – press the PowerMatch button on the front panel to increase gain.”
T+A Teases Products
February 11, 2020 Comments Off on T+A Teases Products
https://audio-head.com/ta-teases-two-headphone-products/
“Germany is no doubt called home to many iconic headphones, and the new Solitaire P is hand built there as well. T+A is traditionally known for its work in the loudspeaker arena where it has been cranking out gear for over 41 years. The new pair of cans hopes to draft some of that knowledge into the headphone realm with a “sophisticated planar-magnetostatic design philosophy”. From the release: “With its ultra-lightweight membrane, which covers the whole area of the capsule and is positioned between the planar magnetostatic drive system, each drive unit delivers excellent sonic properties, with the entire surface area of the membrane driven to deliver a spacious, airy feel that is unique even for planar headphones.”
The HA 200 front end consists of DAC section capable of 32/768kHz and DSD. Three headphone outputs can be found on the front panel along with two bopping meters. The internals make use of two separate toroidal power transformers, one for the analog bits and the other for digital. A plethora of inputs shape up the back, 2 analog and 6 digital. And optional HDMI input is also available.”
McIntosh RS200 Wireless System REVIEW
February 11, 2020 Comments Off on McIntosh RS200 Wireless System REVIEW
Sonus Faber Electa Amator III review
February 10, 2020 Comments Off on Sonus Faber Electa Amator III review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/sonus-faber-electa-amator-iii
“A carefully calibrated crossover, packed with high-quality parts such as ClarityCap capacitors and Jantzen inductors, links the two drivers. The crossover frequency is an entirely conventional 2.5kHz. Connection to the speaker is via two pairs of rather lovely multi-way speaker terminals. These are beautifully made and thoughtfully shaped to make handling easier.
Being a Sonus Faber speaker, we’re not surprised to find that the cabinet is made of solid walnut rather than the usual veneered MDF. The 25mm thick panels use a damped, sandwich construction to help rigidity and resonance behaviour, and once the 30mm thick Carrera marble base and thin brass plate are added, the result is an impressively sturdy structure. High quality, soft leather covers both of the front and back panels, which feels lovely to the touch.”
Fiio M15 Flagship Music player Review
February 9, 2020 Comments Off on Fiio M15 Flagship Music player Review
https://www.headfonia.com/fiio-m15/
“The DAP is pretty to me, though that of course depends on your personal preference. On top you have the perfectly finished headphone and LO outputs as well as the volume dial. The positioning of the volume wheel is a bit weird depending on what you’re used to. Where we very often see the volume dial on the right, Fiio has placed it on the left. It’s special, but once you’re used to it, no problem.
All the M15’s button can be found on the left side. They’re rather plastic like but the design is nice and they fit perfectly in the case. On the right side? Nothing! On the bottom you’ll find the USB-C connector and the MicroSD slot. Almost forgot, the M15 has one button you can program yourself. Extra points!”
MBL N31 CD/DAC REVIEW
February 9, 2020 Comments Off on MBL N31 CD/DAC REVIEW
https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2019/12/3/f4outun4p1rocuvdzlfo3wbh1qe8oh
W”hat the N31 does not feature is MQA support (Reis could not confirm whether MQA was a possible future update) or an SACD drive. More on this choice later. But, what the feature rich N31 does include is a very sophisticated, deep dive design by Reis minimizing jitter and intersample overload. It also includes a CD text recognition display (and full colour album art as part of its Roon Endpoint feature set), a CD slot drive that has been optimized to account for air turbulence and mechanical vibration (the CD drive and its bog standard Red Book playback is one of the glories of this machine), a fully-balanced signal path from the DA converter to XLR output and optically-isolated USB inputs with its own power supply”
Cube Audio Nenuphar, 10″ single driver Review
February 8, 2020 Comments Off on Cube Audio Nenuphar, 10″ single driver Review
Paradigm Persona 9H Loudspeaker £34,000 Review
February 8, 2020 Comments Off on Paradigm Persona 9H Loudspeaker £34,000 Review
https://www.hifinews.com/content/paradigm-persona-9h-loudspeaker
“That said, the speakers can be sweet and light on their feet with Copland’s own recording of ‘Billy The Kid’ [Copland Conducts Copland; Sony Classical SS 89041] and then deploy their immense power and speed with Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’ from the Rage Hard compilation [ZTT 177SACD]. It’s a track I have used often, both as a stern test and an absolute riot, but I don’t think I have ever heard it as clean and hard-hitting as it did via these Paradigm flagships, even with my phone’s VU SPL meter suggesting we were peaking at around 105dB some 4m from the speakers.
Scale back the musical forces, or at least the complexity, and the Persona 9H ‘sound’ showed itself well-suited to the cleanly-recorded interplay of the Oscar Peterson Trio’s A Jazz Portrait Of Frank Sinatra set [Verve 0602498625750], with subtle drumming from Ed Thigpen, Ray Brown’s bass with great snap and resonance, and of course Peterson’s delicate touch on the keyboard much in evidence. It was one of those times when you fire up one track just to have a listen, and then find yourself still gripped when the album finishes.”
Audiophilepure 
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