Mola Mola Tambaqui D/A processor Review
January 17, 2022 Comments Off on Mola Mola Tambaqui D/A processor Review
https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-55-mola-mola-tambaqui-da-processor
The next day, wearing a smirk, I hooked the Tambaqui directly to the Parasound Halo A21+ amplifier driving the Falcons. This time I chose balanced AudioQuest Mackenzie XLR interconnects because the solid-core Mackenzies sound cooler and more transparent than the braided-wire Cardas Clear Cygnuses. I wanted this Mola Mola–to–Parasound audition to deliver maximum force and clarity. It did much more than that.
This Mola Mola–Parasound combo made recordings sound bold, solid, and blue-sky clear but never cold or hard. It put fingers-on-strings tangibility into my current streaming obsession: The Art of Segovia (24/96 FLAC DG/ Qobuz). The Tambaqui-Halo matchup made Andrés Segovia sound direct, unfettered, and unmitigated, like a direct-to-disc LP.
FIIO FH9 REVIEW
January 17, 2022 Comments Off on FIIO FH9 REVIEW
The FH9 IEM feels fabulous in hand, and I think based on the titanium design, it should be a reliable item for extensive usage. The chassis is tooled with a 5-axis CNC machine. So everything is beautiful and complete, and the shells are simply fantastic.
FH9 comes with a high-purity silver cable with 9 branches of 28 wires each, for a total of 224 wires. Each wire is individually isolated. They are braided together in a Litz pattern. The cable feels very high quality with good flexibility and tensile strength.
The FiiO FH9 has an ergonomic shape for most ears out there. It’s quite round, like the previous models, but the difference is that this design provides a fuller fit. The fit is more complete and ergonomic for a Universal IEM.
The supplied tips work very well. I chose the silicone ones, despite me usually liking the foam tips more. That’s because the IEM fits very well and I don’t have to use the foam tips to get a flush & secure fit. The silicone tips do the trick and they’re enough to give you nice isolation. You can opt for foams to get more isolation though. SpinFits are also an option if you like those.
Jotunheim 2 vs SingXer SA-1 vs THX AAA 789 vs A90 [ Solid State Showdown
January 17, 2022 Comments Off on Jotunheim 2 vs SingXer SA-1 vs THX AAA 789 vs A90 [ Solid State Showdown
VISION EARS PHÖNIX REVIEW
January 16, 2022 Comments Off on VISION EARS PHÖNIX REVIEW
The package is separated into two sections. The top gives you all informational material, a thank you card, an instruction manual, extra meshes should the installed ones get dirty, a little booklet about the Phönix and a cleaning cloth. Then below the warranty card, which comes in a black leather credit-card holder, you’ll find the leather carrying case.
The bottom part is where the good stuff is hiding though. Here you have two separate boxes again. The top one holds your new jewel-like IEMs and the supplied cable. A quick word about the cable. It’s manufactured by HanSound Audio – a premium aftermarket cable manufacturer. VE’s website tells us, that the cable is a 23AWG silver/gold alloy copper litz cable, very much like HanSound’s Torfa. The cable itself comes with a pre-configured 2.5mm balanced termination. And if you look closely on the barrel, you’ll see it has VE etched all over it. That’s the kind of attention to detail that VE is famous for.
Manley Labs Stingray II integrated amplifier £6,499 Review
January 16, 2022 Comments Off on Manley Labs Stingray II integrated amplifier £6,499 Review
Its enthusiasm for vinyl doesn’t actually extend to sitting underneath a turntable, however; that caused mine to hum so I dropped the amp down a few shelves and all was well. Then it was possible to enjoy the fulsome bass of Conjure’s Untitled II [Music For The Texts Of Ishmael Reed, American Clavé] where the dynamics of the saxophone are spot on (at sensible levels) and the tune proves to be utterly charming. Ornette Coleman’s ‘Ramblin’’ [Change of the Century, Atlantic] also offers up a joyousness through blasting but not aggressive horns and fat double bass, the result being close to what they might have heard in the control room back in 1960 when this sort of tube technology was at its peak. The track reinforced the notion that the Stingray II is not an amplifier to sit in front of and stroke your beard but one for moving your body, or at least clicking your fingers (man).
It occurred to me that most of the music I had played through the Stingray II was not exactly power hungry so I dropped a few weighty tunes including contributions from Kraftwerk and Beck. These lacked a little in the low-end power department and anyone with a taste for visceral impact would be advised to get more sensitive speakers for the purpose, that would go a long way to delivering the required power
REL Subwoofer Array – Carbon Specials and MBL 116f
January 16, 2022 Comments Off on REL Subwoofer Array – Carbon Specials and MBL 116f
DAN CLARK AUDIO STEALTH REVIEW $3,999 REVIEW
January 15, 2022 Comments Off on DAN CLARK AUDIO STEALTH REVIEW $3,999 REVIEW
Dan Clark Audio Stealth Review
The Stealth’s pads are wonderfully constructed and are equally comfortable. While they share the overall shape of the pads on the Aeon series, they’re quite different. For starters, they’re angled – there’s more width at the back of the pads which forces the driver to have a more ‘speaker-like’ direction towards your ears. Next, there’s a couple of different materials in use here. An extremely soft vegan leather is used for the outside surfaces of the pad, and a very fine suede is used for the inner surfaces of the pads, as well as the surface that rests against your head. The Stealth’s pads are supple, premium-feeling and ultimately extremely comfortable. Full marks here. I must note that unlike some manufacturers who equip their high-end headphones with easily removable/swappable pad systems, the Stealth (like other DCA headphones) uses a simple adhesive system that allows them to be peeled off and stuck back on several times. I don’t see why you’d ever want to replace them, but while somewhat inelegant I guess it makes for the best airtight seal.
Simaudio Moon 860A v2 Stereo/Mono Amplifier $19,500 Review
January 15, 2022 Comments Off on Simaudio Moon 860A v2 Stereo/Mono Amplifier $19,500 Review
But if my seven numbers ever came up on that lottery ticket I never buy, there’s no question in my mind that I’d give the 4B3 to my brother-in-law and pick up a Simaudio or two. Why? Well, it’s undoubtedly a matter of degree. Where the Bryston provides a quiet, clear background, the Simaudio ups the ante by a hair, adding just a touch more depth to the soundstage. The Simaudio is just a touch more restrained in the highs, nipping just a leetle bit off the top of cymbals and sibilants, which is more to my own personal taste.
The main difference between these two amplifiers is more of an overall presentation thing. For an extra $13k or so, you get a more sophisticated-sounding amplifier, one that can more realistically rebuild the original recording space in your very own listening room.
It didn’t take long for me to determine that—yes—the 860A v2 is the better-sounding amplifier. Rather, it took me a long time to figure out why and to distill my thoughts in a coherent manner. And that’s really as it should be—throwing more money at a problem can only go so far in audio, and when you get to these extremely high-end products, improvement is no small feat.
Jason is sad
Simaudio has done it, though. With the 860A v2, they’ve made an amp that’s notably better than my own Bryston, which is already really, really good. The 860A v2 is a true statement product. Without even listening to the thing, it’s easy to see that this amp exudes quality and workmanship.
Really—there’s nothing about the 860A v2 that I didn’t like. Searching back over my time with this amp, I honestly can’t think of any areas for improvement, in either sound quality, build, or functionality. That is truly rare for me, as I can usually muster some sort of quibble, something I’d like to change. But that’s not the case here.
Velodyne MicroVee X Review
January 13, 2022 Comments Off on Velodyne MicroVee X Review
https://stereo-magazine.com/review/velodyne-microvee-x-review
The Velodyne-typical “Digital Drive Control System” (DDCS) is supposed to ensure extremely low distortion. It should be clear that the MicroVee X, which weighs almost ten kilograms, was not designed to be combined with floorstanding speakers the size of telephone booths or extremely loud low bass orgies. Let‘s be honest here: everyone wants bass, but you wouldn‘t want to see an accompanying or even necessary subwoofer.
The MicroVee X is an ideal, extremely ambience-friendly solution for helping a rather compactly designed music system or even a small home theater corner to significantly more emphasis in the lower registers – and that already in its third generation. It can indeed do this with an astonishing authority and sovereignty. In contrast to many a competitor that works around dominant frequencies and is also larger, it reveals itself to posses an extremely subtle spirit. Through physics, the sub furthermore also ensures that the impression of spaciousness can be dramatically improved when using it. Lower tones indeed suggest a much larger room. Textures in the bass, for example from the classic albums “Crime Of The Century” by Supertramp, Pink Floyd‘s “The Wall” or “Rumours” by “Fleetwood Mac”– which I probably know better than any other record – can be followed very clearly and cleanly with the MicroVee. And what about some “Boom” in the home theater? No problem either, in fact, quite the contrary. As a very good addition to smaller speakers, it com
Audiophilepure 
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