Accuphase DP-560 REVIEW
July 25, 2017 Comments Off on Accuphase DP-560 REVIEW
“The full name of the DP-560 player is the MDS SA-CD Player. MDS refers to a technology that Accuphase has been developing for years – the Multiple Delta-Sigma – and means that a few DACS are connected in parallel. Thanks to this, their quantization errors are minimized and dynamics is improved. At the time when the ESS Technology ES9018S reigns, it is really simple – there are eight DACs in each circuit and they can be used to decode multi-channel signal or be connected in parallel for stereophonic signal; the latter option is used by many manufacturers.”
MCINTOSH LABS MB50 STREAMING AUDIO PLAYER £2,750 REVIEW
July 24, 2017 Comments Off on MCINTOSH LABS MB50 STREAMING AUDIO PLAYER £2,750 REVIEW
” The McIntosh MB50 is a remarkably versatile device. It’s a first toe in the streaming waters for many McIntosh users, it’s the obvious next step for MHA150 and MXA70 users, and for some it might be their first McIntosh product. It’s capable of standalone use, although I’d recommend using it in conjunction with an amp or headphone amp, and it communicates to the outside world effortlessly using the Play-Fi app. It’s not without idiosyncrasies – the lack of wired DLNA streaming seems a notable exclusion – but the potential for using this as the start of an ad hoc Play-Fi network does offer future promise. Recommended.”
OPPO Digital UDP-205 Ultra HD Audiophile Blu-ray Player Review
July 8, 2017 Comments Off on OPPO Digital UDP-205 Ultra HD Audiophile Blu-ray Player Review
“I then brought the UDP-205 temporarily into my bedroom home theater system, routing it via both HDMI and stereo RCA through Anthem’s MRX 720 receiver into my old Samsung 1080p plasma, mostly to test the player’s HDR-to-SDR conversion capabilities and to perform some quick listening comparisons between the Anthem’s DAC and that of the UDP-205.”
Vivaldi 2.0 Digital Playback System Review
February 6, 2017 Comments Off on Vivaldi 2.0 Digital Playback System Review
“Often when I’m writing a review I try to think about the person who might audition and then buy the product at hand. How would his or her wants and needs inform the buying decision? For much of my time with the Vivaldi 2.0, I was too preoccupied with my own wants and needs, greedily shuffling through my CDs and SACDs and raiding John Quick’s USB and NAS drives, to consider anything beyond the simple pleasure of listening to music. While it’s staggering how many ways you can integrate a Vivaldi 2.0 system into your audio system and home network, I personally would keep it simple (so to speak) and use it primarily for playing discs, relegating file replay to what could be copied to thumb drives”
DCS VIVALDI VERSION 2.0 REVIEW
February 3, 2017 Comments Off on DCS VIVALDI VERSION 2.0 REVIEW
” Much of the emphasis of these Version 2.0 upgrades is targeted at improving the ability of users to employ high-resolution sources. I personally continue to like playing CDs, but the industry is clearly moving with the introduction of servers. So when Quick proposed setting me up with a router and a NAS, I was eager to give it a go, especially because I have a cache of private recordings bestowed upon me by recording engineer Peter McGrath that I always enjoy playing.”
dCS Rossini Player & Rossini Clock
December 3, 2016 Comments Off on dCS Rossini Player & Rossini Clock
” The combination of the dCS Rossini Player and Clock produced what was, overall, the best sound from digital I have experienced in my system. While not as laid-back as the sound of my long-term reference PS Audio DAC, it didn’t suffer from the glare that often accompanies digital components that concentrate on resolution at the expense of listenability. With the Rossini I got both, whether from CDs or files played via Ethernet or USB.”
Meridian 808V6 Signature Reference CD player review
June 5, 2016 Comments Off on Meridian 808V6 Signature Reference CD player review
” The big news here though is the V6’s ability to decode MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) files, a Meridian-developed compression format that aims to deliver accurate sound while packaging hi-res music into about the same amount of space as conventional CD-spec (16-bit/44.1kHz) files.”
OPPO BDP 101Ci Blu-Ray Player
May 29, 2016 Comments Off on OPPO BDP 101Ci Blu-Ray Player
” Even in its scaled down form the BDP-101CI still offers key features such as 4K scaling, bitstream output for important lossless surround sound codec such as Dolby Atmos and DTS-X, high resolution USB ports and legacy digital outputs.”
Chord RED REFERENCE MKIII HDSD REVIEW
March 18, 2016 Comments Off on Chord RED REFERENCE MKIII HDSD REVIEW
” This data is fed to the rear XLR and optical output connectors and also via a dual data bus to the digital to analogue conversion electronics. Based on the QBD 76 DAC the digital signal is converted from 176.4KHz to analogue audio. The DAC also features RAM buffer technology that sequentially takes in all the data, re-times, it then sends it out giving jitter free operation. Player features also an USB input that can be fed signal from a computer or music server.”
Luxman • D-08u CD/SACD Player Review
November 8, 2015 Comments Off on Luxman • D-08u CD/SACD Player Review
The first thing you will notice about the D-08u is just what a handsome package it presents. Set in the rack next to the traditionally styled Audio Research gear, it looked like Battlestar Galactica had joined forces with a fleet of Civil War ironclads. But this is not science fiction — there is nothing speculative about the forward-thinking design of this Luxman player. Touch the open button on the remote and listen to the disc drawer open — it’s whisper quiet and smooth. Slip in a disc and watch the tray disappear just as quietly and smoothly. This is certainly one of the slickest components of any kind I’ve ever encountered.”
Audiophilepure 
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