Sony WF-C500 wireless earbuds review
November 19, 2021 Comments Off on Sony WF-C500 wireless earbuds review
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/sony-wf-c500
Building affordable true wireless in-ear headphones is a different discipline to building expensive ones, but it’s no less tricky. In the WF-C500 Sony has managed to bring a lot of what makes its expensive true wireless in-ears such a success without cutting too many corners too obviously – and in the process it’s made your job of choosing a great sub-£100 pair that little bit harder.
Yes, the WF-C500 can be bettered (and by quite a margin) for battery life, but you’ll be hard-pushed to find a more comfortable pair. Yes, you can buy greater outright scale of sound but you won’t encounter a more complete control app. Some alternatives are a punchier and more ‘exciting’ listen, but very few strike a more convincing sonic balance.
Convergent Audio Technology • JL5 Limited Edition Stereo Amplifier $25,000 Review
November 19, 2021 Comments Off on Convergent Audio Technology • JL5 Limited Edition Stereo Amplifier $25,000 Review
https://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/convergent_audio_technology_jl5_limited_edition.htm
After 25 years, I’ve still not discovered a single amp that’s everything to everybody, if such a beast even exists. But I’ve now heard one that comes closer than any other. The CAT JL5 Limited Edition brings together tremendous drive with transparency and, for lack of a better term, humanness. It has the body and presence that bring performers to life, the power reserves to keep up with seemingly any music played at any level, and the clarity to reveal the qualities of each recording. And the JL5 has its own set of super powers, which include exceptional control, wide dynamic range and high resolution, all while driving any speakers (or a pair of huge passive subwoofers). It also displays the tonal beauty of great tubes, in a package that costs less — even far less — than other stalwarts.
Ken Stevens is a unique audio character and as confident as a shaman in his message: that everything that goes into creating audio electronics matters to the sound, that tubes don’t have to give to and take away from the music, that an all-triode amp doesn’t have to peter out when the music gets really loud or really dynamic, and that a stereo amp that achieves all of this doesn’t have to cost six figures. How the JL5 is a Limited Edition is a mystery, because I’m sure CAT will make as many as the company can sell, but it is an audio rarity, and a musical revelation too.
IBASSO DX240 REVIEW
November 18, 2021 Comments Off on IBASSO DX240 REVIEW
This makes a big difference in terms of UI and usage, even more with APK Pure installed as standard. Still, no Google Play Store out of the box, but since APK Pure gives you the same options (and more…) that’s no big deal. In a few seconds, you’ll have all your usual apps up and running, like most modern smartphones
Thanks to the new Qualcomm 660 CPU and 4Gb of Ram (2 gigs less than the DX300) the player feels snappy. Obviously, it isn’t as fast as the DX300 – and that must be due to the screen – but it’d be unfair to call the DX240 slow. Everything open/close in the blink of an eye and downloading tracks from Apple Music/Amazon didn’t take much time as it could be with some players.
Auralic Altair G2.1 Review
November 17, 2021 Comments Off on Auralic Altair G2.1 Review
https://stereo-magazine.com/review/auralic-altair-g21-review
Change of scenery: despite all their independence, Michael Barenboim, the “lioness” Martha Argerich and the Staatskapelle Berlin are merged into a single entity when performing Debussy‘s “La Mer”, a unity that is not often offered in such an interlocked way. Here, the Auralic convinces with a very natural reproduction of the grand piano as well as all the instruments of the orchestra. Nothing is discolored or blurred, everything is just right. Localizing the dimensions of left/right and front/back is possible thanks to a precise layout of the different elements. The size of the room, created at the mixing console, can also be understood perfectly.
Sometimes, I have to please my sense of local patriotism for my hometown of Cologne. This time, I had to go on a nostalgia trip and found what I was looking for in a live recording of the Cologne cult band “Piano has been drinkin‘”, long since disbanded. Neither “Daach sin Juwele” nor “Anfürsich es et Blues” depend on an exuberant number of details nor on richness of tonal colors. Rather, they rely on the atmosphere and the joy of playing, as well as the almost physically perceptible stage presence of frontman Gerd “Jächt” Köster with his rough and deep voice and the band‘s ability to improvise. Here, too, the Auralic presents a convincing performance, as it does with “Ruude Jolf”, where all the ingredients necessary for an emotional rendition are found, including the relaxed playing of the bass.
Alta Audio Alyssa Loudspeaker $5000 Review
November 16, 2021 Comments Off on Alta Audio Alyssa Loudspeaker $5000 Review
https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2021/10/18/nxcnsx8u0t6lc929c817vjasyy5g0c
Right away I knew I had a problem, the voluminous bass was overwhelming my modest listening room. It was troubleshooting time. So began a week of experimentation, first moving the speakers out significantly from the wall inch by inch (in the end I settled on 25 inches) and experimenting with various degrees of toe-in. I also experimented with the provided port plugs. Fully inserting the plugs seemed to make the speakers too anemic, inserting them about halfway was a much better compromise and will likely be the recommended route for anyone with a room smaller than mine, but I still favored the sound sans plugs, and changes in positioning helped balance things out. Image was the widest with no toe-in, but toeing the speakers in just a tad did help make the midrange more present. With the tricky positioning of this unique speaker mostly sorted, I sat down and did my best to analyze how these speakers portrayed music.
REL T/9x Subwoofer Review
November 16, 2021 Comments Off on REL T/9x Subwoofer Review
REL T/9x Subwoofer
As mentioned, each of the three models in the /x series provide a similar voice and level of resolution. The one (or pair) you choose will depend heavily on how low your main speakers can extend, the volume of your listening room, and ultimately how loud you play music.
Moving up to the Serie S subs brings more refinement in every aspect, though at a higher cost. If you are looking for a high performance, yet compact and cost-effective way to add low frequency extension, the REL T/9x is fantastic. The T/x subwoofers are meant to be used as single subwoofers or in pairs, they can’t be expanded to six-pack array service. This may be your ultimate decision when trying to decide between a pair of T/9x’s and a single S510. If you want bang for the buck, and a minimal box compliment, the T/9x will serve you well. Higher audiophile ambitions? Maybe the S/510. Or, just put the T/9xs in another system. I can spend your money all day.
Sony WF-1000XM4 Noise-Canceling $280 Review
November 15, 2021 Comments Off on Sony WF-1000XM4 Noise-Canceling $280 Review
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/sony-wf-1000xm4-noise-canceling-true-wireless-earbuds-review
Sony continues to raise the bar for filtering out ambient sound, with the 1000XM4 eliminating more external noise than nearly every other noise-canceling bud I’ve auditioned. But the 1000XM4 has the same flaw I’ve encountered in all noise-canceling buds save the Bose QC: wind noise. You’ll hear some whooshing through the external mics if you’re walking through 10MPH or higher gusts, or especially when bike riding or running outside. Sony’s Ambient Sound Control lets you turn noise canceling on and off and switch between plain noise canceling and automatic wind noise reaction, but I couldn’t detect a difference between the two.
Fyne Audio F1-8 Review
November 14, 2021 Comments Off on Fyne Audio F1-8 Review
The in-room measured frequency response at 1-meter was extended in the treble to at least 20kHz and fairly uniform to a bit below 300Hz, where room modes began to dominate the response. The lower midrange was slightly recessed, mainly through the power range of the orchestra, covering the octave from 200 to 400Hz, which is pretty typical for stand-mount speakers. In-room bass extension was reasonably flat to about 45Hz. The measured impedance minimum was about 6 ohms, which translates into a tube-friendly, easy-to-drive 8-ohm nominal load. The rated sensitivity is 91dB, which means that even a 30–50Wpc power amp should do fine. Setup was quick and simple: For best imaging be sure to allow a few feet of breathing space behind the speakers, and toe them in so that the driver axes intersect in front of the listening seat.
As the audio gods would have it, I happened to be listening to the Tannoy System 1000 studio monitors when the Fyne F1-8 arrived on my doorstep. This late 90s Tannoy design features a 10-inch coaxial driver and conventional bass-reflex loading. In my estimation, that entire series represents the last great set of passive studio monitors marketed by Tannoy. I was quite interested to find out if Dr. Mills was involved in the System 1000’s design, so I asked him about it. His response: “Yes, indeed, I was involved with those monitors. Those things can rock.” And we certainly agree on that score.
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