ATMA-SPHERE S-30 MK 3.3 OTL POWER AMPLIFIER $4300 REVIEW
April 27, 2016 Comments Off on ATMA-SPHERE S-30 MK 3.3 OTL POWER AMPLIFIER $4300 REVIEW
” It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that I own a Futterman H-3 amplifier, a fairly recent purchase that has been lovingly refurbished. There’s no doubt in my mind that the H-3 is still a contender today, a full 50 years after its introduction. But it’s a tweaky product that the average consumer would have a difficult time maintaining. Naturally, I was curious about a confrontation, Futterman vs. Circlotron, a mano-a-mano duel for OTL supremacy. Let me start by saying that both amps acquitted themselves very well, perhaps on balance I would award the S-30 a narrow decision, though there were noticeable sonic differences. The H-3 was the more tonally neutral of the two, which I think is due to its much lower source impedance and thus minimal load interaction. In particular, the presence region was reproduced more realistically. In this regard, the S-30 benefitted from being mated with a brighter front end. The S-30’s midrange textures were purer and sweeter sounding, and I came to realize that I wasn’t totally happy with H-3’s capacitor coupling of the output stage. Listening through a large and mostly electrolytic cap bank seemed to add a slight layer of grit and veiling to the sound.”
PHYSIKS CARBON MKIV SPEAKERS REVIEW
April 27, 2016 Comments Off on PHYSIKS CARBON MKIV SPEAKERS REVIEW
” The German Physiks Carbon MkIV might be the last speaker I would own at the moment of writing this. It was so beautiful visually and sounded sonically superb. Pairing with 12 inches of woofer, you need real muscle for driving this pair of speakers to unleash its potential. Not saying that lower rated amplifier can’t sing, just that giving it more does get the appreciation in return favorably. And next to note is that, you need to play them loud to appreciate, no point getting a 500w amplifier and playing them at a mosquito volume to expect miracle performances. Most speakers need to play loud generally to sing beautifully.
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Onkyo DP-X1 MQA Enabled Hi-Res Player
April 26, 2016 Comments Off on Onkyo DP-X1 MQA Enabled Hi-Res Player
” Based on Android OS, the DP-X1 digital audio player supports many High Res Audio formats, up to DSD 11.2MHz, 384kHz/24bit FLAC/WAV audio files, and now MQA. With years of experience in building audio components, the DP-X1 contains many design initiatives dedicated to “Pure Sound”. To isolate sources of internal noise, the Audio circuit board and CPU board are built on separate boards. The Audio circuit design uses ESS technology’s SABRE DAC ES9018K2M and SABRE 9601K amp in a dual setup with a 2.5mm 4 pole jack for full balance output with support for normal BTL balance and Active Control GND drive, a first for the product category. With the ability to expand its storage up to 432GB and access to Google Play, the DP-X1 was built for expansion beyond the built-in functions.”
What a Label With 2.5 Million YouTube Streams Actually Earns
April 26, 2016 Comments Off on What a Label With 2.5 Million YouTube Streams Actually Earns
” The label also had some plays on Spotify, Deezer, and now-shuttered ZIK. Additionally, the label also had a small amount of downloads across iTunes, Google Play, 7digital, and Archambault, which only served to highlight the utter imbalance between streaming and download payouts.
YouTube (proper music video plays): $0.001005 Canadian ($0.000794 US) per stream.
YouTube (Content ID): $0.001342 Canadian ($0.001061 US) per match.”
BEYERDYNAMIC T1 SECOND GENERATION HEADPHONES REVIEW
April 26, 2016 Comments Off on BEYERDYNAMIC T1 SECOND GENERATION HEADPHONES REVIEW
“I also tried the T1 second generation phones with the Apogee Groove (review forthcoming). I’m happy to report that the diminutive, USB powered Groove can drive these 600 Ohm phones with no problem and the results are quite satisfying. More in the Groove review.”
How to Build a Subwoofer Box – Video
April 26, 2016 Comments Off on How to Build a Subwoofer Box – Video
Skogrand Cables Ravel Speaker Cables and Interconnects $6180 Review
April 26, 2016 Comments Off on Skogrand Cables Ravel Speaker Cables and Interconnects $6180 Review
” Both cables revealed a tremendous wealth of information in “Keith Don’t Go,” from Nils Lofgren’s Acoustic Live (16/44.1 FLAC, The Right Stuff/Capitol). Taps on the guitar soundboard, harmonic overtones, breathing, scratches of strings — all were delivered with startling clarity and finesse. But for richness of vocal and guitar tone, bragging rights again belonged to the Skogrands.”
Wilson Audio Specialties Sabrina loudspeaker $15,900/pair Review
April 25, 2016 Comments Off on Wilson Audio Specialties Sabrina loudspeaker $15,900/pair Review
” The soundstage thrown by the Sabrinas was wide and deep, with images on it precisely defined. The deepest soundstage and most precisely defined images I’ve heard from a pair of speakers under review were with Fujitsu Ten’s Eclipse TD712 Mk.2, which I reviewed in January 2007. The spatial definition produced by that single-driver speaker was uncanny—but the Eclipse couldn’t match the Sabrina (or any number of high-quality, multi-driver speakers) in maximum loudness capability and bass extension. Compared to other multi-driver speakers, the Sabrinas’ imaging was excellent. When I played the “Depth of Image” tracks from The Best of Chesky Jazz and More Audiophile Tests, Vol.2 (CD, Chesky JD68), the Sabrina’s reproduction of them was comparable to that of the GoldenEar Triton One—and the GoldenEars did better on this test than any other multi-driver speaker I’ve heard in my listening room.”
EARSONICS EM32 Review
April 25, 2016 Comments Off on EARSONICS EM32 Review
” The EM32’s lower treble is slightly less prominent than the Velvet, there’s more of a mid treble peak to boost clarity and soundstage, while the EM32 also has slightly more prominent upper treble. This gives the EM32 a very wide soundstage and fine detail retrieval, but also results in a slightly less smooth and forgiving nature. The EM32’s treble has a dynamic nature, a certain energy that makes it very inviting for uptempo music in true line of EarSonics current house sound. Electric guitars have a sharp attack with good bite, and EDM tones sound engaging. Overall the EM32’s treble is less prominent than the Velvet’s and more neutrally balanced with the midrange, but with certain tracks the U-shape can skew the tonality a bit more towards the upper frequency.”
AUDEZE SINE $500 Review
April 25, 2016 Comments Off on AUDEZE SINE $500 Review
“What blows my mind here is that the headphone requires no amplification at all. Get yourself a good USB DAC with low power output and noise and enjoy, you’ll never need more than what decent powered portable players like the iBasso DX90 or the new Luxury and Precision L3 have to offer. In fact, when I plug the Sine into my full size amplifiers, the Heron 5 from Airist Audio for example, I am met with a sound that I actually feel to be over-driven…and rightly so. Even the lowest output setting on the Heron 5 is beastly overkill what for the Sine was designed to be used with, which really was just a cell phone or decent portable music device. My iBasso DX90 with Rockbox is greatly preferred over usage with my L3 from Luxury and Precision, as well as all of my full size amps. However, I recently got to hear the Sine at a meet with Cavalli’s Liquid Carbon, which is an amplifier that has a good low output functionality for iems and efficient headphones. Sufficed to say, the pairing was just silly in terms of how great it was, truly silly.”
Audiophilepure 
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