High-End Audio / Audiophile
/ Immersivephile Hi-Fi Equipment
Reviews And Think Pieces
November
2021
Enjoy the Music.com Sponsors Capital Audiofest Happy Hours
Enjoy the Music.com, high-end audio's celebrated online site since 1995 and a leader in providing industry news, gear reviews, and show reports is pleased to announce that we're sponsoring Capital
Audiofest's 'Happy Hour'. Exhibitors and members of the press will join us for complimentary food and beverage on Thursday.
Enjoy the Music.com loves our loyal readers and show attendees, and so
we're once again partying on Friday for all attendees. Both events will take place from 6:00 PM through 8:00 PM at the Hilton Hotel
Olive's Restaurant / Bar. We look forward to seeing you there!
---> Enjoy the Music.com sponsoring CAF 2021 Happy Hours.
Enjoy the
Music.com's Great Holiday Gift Guide 2021
We want you to support audiophile
companies this holiday season.
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
Welcome one and all to Enjoy the
Music.com's 16th annual Great Audiophile Gift recommendations! We all love gifts, yet getting that something special for an audiophile can be quite a challenge. This year
we're doing something extra special to benefit the industry. Usually, we have our recommendations, with links to Amazon where, yes, we received the typical (low) associate fee. Well, it was time to do
something... different.
---> Enjoy the
Music.com's Great Holiday Gift Guide 2021.
Capital Audiofest (CAF) 2021 Show Report
Capital Audiofest is recognized as a fun, friendly, and family-oriented show where you often see families strolling from room to room listening to music and auditioning gear. You can also browse the multiple bins of vinyl LP records, CDs, and hi-fi accessories in the Atrium Marketplace. During CAF
there are wonderful live music events too!
---> See our Capital Audiofest 2021 show coverage.
Hi-Fi And Music Industry News
Essential high-end audio news you need to know.
Enjoy the Music.com posts audiophile news virtually every day.
The Hidden Effect Of Hi-Fi
How hi-fi re-kindled my love of listening to music!
Article By Emiko
Today For a long time, silence was my thing. Actually, no. Let me rephrase that. For a long time,
non-musical sound was my thing. And that may seem weird for me to admit, considering
I'm a recording artist, composer, and performer. But that's just it. That's exactly
why silence and the non-musical sound was
"my thing" for so long. I grew up in recording studios. From two-inch tape to
ADAT, to DAT, to CDs to the advent of ProTools and everything else (I was using Digital Performer when it was just
"Performer" and goodness, I remember when the VST in Cubase didn't exist), I was either tracking it or being tracked on it. And that meant countless hours of takes, more emotion, less emotion, more flourish, and having various producers saying things to me
like....
--->
The Hidden Effect Of Hi-Fi.
Is It Fair To Fix It?
Roger Skoff writes about getting the most enjoyment out of your system.
Article
By Roger Skoff
It
used to be that "Mid-Fi" audio gear could instantly be spotted by its
abundance of "features" (knobs, dials, lights, controls, and
functions, for whatever purpose) and that the cheaper it was, the more of such
toys and goodies it was likely to have. "Serious" (high-end) audio gear
tended to be exactly the opposite – the more you paid for it, the less it was
likely to do. The best of high-end audio electronics often had no
"bells and whistles" at all and, though usually offers very high
performance, tended to be simple to the point of austerity. Tone controls were,
of course, out of the question. So was any form of Fletcher-Munson
"loudness" compensation, or, for phono use, such mid-fi commonplaces as
"scratch" or "rumble" filtration.
---> Is It Fair To Fix It?
Turntable Lab: 10 Questions For Peter Hahn
Peter Hahn, owner And founder Of Turntable Lab
in New York City, joins us for 10 questions about vinyl and the state of the industry.
Review By Ian White
If
you shop for records, DJ equipment, HiFi equipment, or turntable accessories
online, you've probably spent some time on the Turntable Lab website.
After more than 20 years, the online retailer has a global customer base who
love their selection of products, and value their expertise and customer
service. As a customer, I've always been drawn to their music section that
offers records you don't often see for sale on sites like Music Direct or
Acoustic Sounds. Turntable Lab's Peter Hahn explains how the company started
and offers up some thoughts on the future of vinyl.
--->
Turntable Lab: 10 Questions For Peter Hahn.
RCA Celebrates Living Stereo In 1958
Music lovers welcome RCA's new stereo LP recordings.
RCA Victor announces their new line of new 2-in-1 Stereo Orthophonic High Fidelity Victrolas. Within this 1958 promotional film, they
announce their new Living Stereo two-channel music system technology. This vintage "Living Stereo" video is a promotional film produced for the RCA Victor Corporation by the Jam Handy
Organization. It's always interesting to look back at the history of recorded music and hear gentlemen like Bob Banks of RCA Victor saying stereo is "nothing short of a miracle". This "dramatically new technology"... living stereo, played on a vinyl LP record.
---> RCA Celebrates Living Stereo In 1958.
Understanding State-Of-The-Art Digital Room Correction
Video By Mitch Barnett Of Accurate Sound
Within this video, presented by Mitch Barnett of Accurate Sound, we take a deep dive into his presentation on the fundamentals of "proper" Digital Room Correction
(DRC). This includes hands-on DSP FIR Filter Designer demos using Acourate and
Audiolense. Having participated in many audio forum discussions, having watched online videos on Digital Room Correction (or
DRC), and having reviewed over a dozen DRC products over the past 11 years, I have come to two conclusions. One is that there is considerable misunderstanding about
DRC, how it works and even what problems DRC is trying to solve. And, just as important, understanding what is possible using the SOTA of
DRC.
---> Understanding State-Of-The-Art Digital Room
Correction.
North America Premiere Review!
Kronos Discovery Turntable
Drive-by reviewing at Long Valley.
Rick Becker
Investigates A Treasured Turntable.
It
was supposed to be a nearly five-hour trip but my wife missed a turn on the
shortcut and took the Shooting Brake through an all-terrain parking lot to buy
lunch at Subway. Then there were accidents on I-80 to slow us down.
Nevertheless, Bill Parish was all smiles, as usual, when we pulled into GTT
Audio to get a listen to Louis Desjardins' latest masterpiece, the Kronos
Discovery turntable. Bill had sent me his GTT video newsletter
with a pow-wow after David W. Robinson, Editor in Chief and Senior Writer
Maurice Jeffries of Positive Feedback had spent an afternoon listening to the
new turntable. Emails flew and Louis sent me a copy of Alan Sircom's review in HiFi+
magazine. I emailed Louis and told him I thought it was a very good
review. He replied that he thought it was an Excellent!
--->
Kronos Discovery Turntable Review.
Meitner Audio MA3 Integrated
Hi-Res DAC Review
Outstanding performance and value!
Review By Phil Gold
The
industry is converging around integrated digital front ends – something to
access streaming services such as Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, Internet Radio as well
as your own digital library and some offer a volume control. You may get analog
inputs, maybe even a phono section for turntable fans, while some include a
power amp stage. Today we are looking at a very special sample of this breed. First of all, who or what is Meitner Audio? Meitner Audio is
the junior sibling of the reference class EMM Labs, based in Calgary, Canada.
EMM Labs. It is named after Ed Meitner, as is EMM Labs (Ed's initials are EMM).
For a DAC with variable output, the DV2, EMM Labs carries a list price of
$30,000, and they also offer a streamer, the NS1, which lists for $4500. So that
makes a total of $34,500 for a two box streaming DAC with volume control. What if I told you the MA3 Integrated D/A Converter was the
exact equivalent of these two boxes for a total of $9500. Well, I'd be
lying of course, or at the very least exaggerating. But I wouldn't be that far
off the mark.
--->
Meitner Audio MA3 Integrated Hi-Res DAC Review.
World
Premiere Review!
Synergistic Research Ethernet Switch UEF, Foundation Ethernet Cable, Active Ground Block SE, And Purple
Fuses Review
Speed dating into the world of streaming and
beyond....
Review By Rick Becker
Andy
Wiederspahn at Synergistic Research knows I'm Old School but offered to send me
one of their new Ethernet Switch UEF and Foundation Ethernet cables. He knows I'm
a fanboy of Synergistic, but also a fairboy when it comes to reviewing. I
assured him I could lean on my good audio buddy, Tom Lathrop, to help me out
with breaking it all in and providing an evening of critical listening. This
wasn't going to be a long critical review spanning dozens of musical genres from
various music providers. Nope, it was going to be the reviewing equivalent of
speed dating. Tom was educated as an electrical engineer, so he was
skeptical that an Ethernet switch could make a huge difference. But he is also
an audiophile with a dedicated room and a pretty good system.
--->
Synergistic Research Ethernet Switch UEF, Foundation Ethernet Cable, Active Ground Block SE, And Purple Fuses Review.
World Premiere Review!
High Fidelity Cables MC-1 Pro Double Helix Plus Signature Power Conditioner
Review
The importance of good power for your components should not be underestimated.
Review By Rick Becker
First of all, it's not what you think. It's not a box that
conditions your power and has outlets to plug all your gear into. Homeland
Security would undoubtedly open your suitcase and take a close look at it if you
tried to board a plane. It's a plug-in conditioner that looks like a tactical
weapon James Bond might keep handy for blowing up cars or helicopters. I found
it works best when plugged into a power strip or into the duplex outlet that
your power strip is also plugged into. Rick Schultz was interested in having me review some of his
other products after the rave review
of his NPS-1260 3D contact enhancer — a spectacular tweak that
improved the transparency, resolution, and dynamics of my system. While NPS is
related to High Fidelity's other products, their major innovation is their
Magnetic Conduction technology that drives the flow of current to the center of
a cable, thereby reducing or eliminating the skin effect typical cables have on
the music signal.
--->
High Fidelity Cables MC-1 Pro Double Helix Plus Signature Power Conditioner Review.
ampsandsound Bryce Monos Amplifier Review
Getting the most out of 12 Watts.
Review By Sam Rosen
Justin
Weber, the owner of ampsandsound, has been on a roll lately. 2021 has been a big
year for him. He introduced two new headphone amplifiers (The Rockwell, and the
Agartha), had two of his products put on the 2021 Stereophile recommended
component list, and introduced a new set of mono block speaker amplifiers known
as the Bryce Monos. In today's review, we are going to talk about the Bryce
Monos, which are in my opinion, the ultimate expression of Justin's single-ended
work. In the headphone world, ampsandsound has built a niche as a
high performance tube amp manufacturer. Its products, like the Bigger Ben and
the Kenzie, are well known quantities in high end headphone circles. However,
ampsandsound's best kept secret is its speaker amps.
--->
ampsandsound Bryce Monos amplifier review.
Audeze LCD-5 Flagship Headphones Review
As good as it gets!
Review By
Peter Pialis
I have been a big fan of
Audeze's headphones throughout the years. Since their initial release of the venerable LCD-2 over a decade ago, Audeze has become a world leader in planar magnetic technology and has produced some of the very best headphones on the planet. Well, never to let the grass grow under their feet, the engineers at Audeze have certainly been quite busy this past year with three significant new releases: LCD-R (ribbon-based headphones, and CRBN Electrostatic (their first foray into electro-static headphones), the
LCD-5's round out this amazing trifecta of great new products. The original LCD-2's wowed the world of personal audio with truly some of the best performing headphones ever released a decade ago. Their relaxed and natural tone was a stark contrast to the many brighter sounding headphones previously released like the AKG K701,
Beyerdynamic T1 and Sennheiser HD800.
--->
Audeze LCD-5 flagship headphones review.
Topping D30Pro DAC & A30Pro Headphone Amplifier Review
The desktop DAC/headphone amplifier category is getting very crowded and competitive.
Review By W. Jennings
Let's
have a conversation about Topping. A quick Google search reveals a lot of strong
opinions about the brand; most of them are quite positive but there's a lot more
to the story. Topping have proven to be a formidable brand in the desktop
audio category and products like the Topping D30Pro DAC and A30Pro
Headphone Amplifier are selling faster than they can produce them. The brand has made some great products of late and seems to
specialize in building DACs and amplifiers with ridiculously low noise levels.
The measurements of recent models have been so impressive that most analyzers
cannot directly measure the THD+N without using a secondary amplifier and
dividing the results by the amplification factor of that secondary.
--->
Topping D30Pro DAC & A30Pro Headphone Amplifier review.
Dayton
Audio OmniMic V2 Precision Measurement System
Speaker measurement made easy.
Article By
Jeff Poth
As a speaker designer, getting high resolution measurements has always been an issue for me. I have done a variety of measurements and evaluation methods, ranging from listening only to utilization of RTA based measurement (I used a Behringer 8024 and the 2496 equalizer to perform RTA functions with pink noise), impedance testing, and a variety of others as appropriate, but I never got over the hump of getting proper software, calibrated microphone, microphone preamplifier and having measurements that could be published. I could get a very solid idea of how a device was performing, but only publish graphically if I plotted points manually, and was limited when it came to what resolution I could measure at (which allows for much finer tuning of a device). Given my role as a
DIY audio writer here at Enjoy the Music.com, this had to change; enter the Dayton
Audio OmniMic V2 Precision Measurement System ($399.99) – an all-in-one software and calibrated USB microphone
package.
--->
Dayton Audio OmniMic V2 Precision Measurement System.
The Intro
Editorial By Art Dudley
Apart from reminding Listener's
readers how seldom I have been arrested compared to George W. Bush (the score stands at "zero" to "three that we know of"), I vow to keep the following observations as non-political as I
can. Today's concern goes to the heart of our hobby. Specifically, what should we, as audiophiles, be doing with our hi-fi gear? Should we use our stereos to lay bare every nuance of sound on our recordings, as faithfully and thoroughly as technology allows? Or should we use them as we would a drug, to achieve a musical bliss-out whenever the fancy strikes
us? And: Is it acceptable for us to even think of these as separate goals? The old musical
kicks-vs.-fidelity to the master tape argument has been around longer than Goldie
Hawn, and it gets trotted out at least every other week on the various internet hi-fi forums.
---> The Intro By Art Dudley.
At The Edge Of Science
The sonic explorations of Kondo-san.
Article By Joe Roberts
Audio experimenters have uncovered many
gaps in the models textbook science brings to bear on electro-acoustical phenomena.
This can be a source of bafflement and embarrassment to authorities in the field, but
our ears have proven their value as a most subtle evaluation device - one which hears
things that can't be there. Many scientists take the comfortable and logical way out
and deny the possibility of unmeasurable "new" audio phenomena. For example, in the Spring 1991 issue of The Skeptical Inquirer, Fred E. Davis gave
us "Hi-Fi Audio Pseudoscience," an article committing cables, AC cords and
conditioners, CD treatments, and novel uses for digital clocks to the shady realms of mysticism
and the powers of suggestion. He doesn't claim to have done much listening. Surely
not worth the trouble based on mathematical models. Yet most of this study was based on "skimming through three or four
audio magazines." Very rigorous method indeed!
---> At The Edge Of Science.
Triophoni: Triode Triumph
Article By Dan Schmalle From VALVE
This month I will take the opportunity to show off a little
(Oh brother, not again...). I have today been putting the finishing touches on my latest amp
project, a pair of triode output power amps called Triophoni. Since I spent a fair amount of
time writing up a blurb to advertise them I will use excerpts from said blurb to describe them:
6CK4 cathode type triode valves operate class AB1 push-pull as the output tube. This tube exhibits
low drive and plate voltage requirements, allowing for fewer drive stages than the typical triode
amplifier, helping to reduce phase shift. A triode's transfer curve is more linear than that of a pentode. This
helps minimize amplitude, harmonic and phase distortion, resulting in the incomparable
triode sound.
---> Triophoni: Triode Triumph.
How To Do A Comparative Listening Test
Article By Cookie Marenco Of Blue Coast Records And Music
Setting
up a listening test to compare various types of files is not easy. You need a
base of equipment and a trusted set of files to start. Set aside several hours
and have a few people involved. We rarely do a test with fewer than three people.
Here we'll explore some of the basics steps to compare files. Keep in mind, the objective is to determine differences in
formats, cables, devices, conversion tools, etc. You don't need to like the
music. The question is "do you hear a difference". That difference
might be insignificant, but if it repeatedly appears, then there is a
difference.
--->
How To Do A Comparative Listening Test.
The Long View
When you audition a component, you're actually judging a complete system.
Article By David Schwartz,
Member Of Gotham Audio
I attended my first audio show in 1957, in the days of mono. As a teenager
interested in electronics, I discovered High Fidelity just about the time that
my disillusionment with ham radio set in. A friend invited me to hear his father's hi-fi system. All I can remember of that day was the sound of that
big five foot tall speaker system in the corner of his living room. Never had I
heard anything that sounded so real. I was hooked. Over the last sixty some odd years, I have been
involved in audio as a consumer, audiophile society president and small
retailer. Needless to say, much has changed since those early days. In future
columns, I plan to describe these changes, revisit assumptions made as well as
evaluate their effect on the audio world of today.
---> The Long View: When you audition a component, you're actually judging a complete system.
Digital Amplifier Company MEGAschino MK2 Mono
Amps Review
Magnificent monoblocks from Tommy
O'Brien.
Review By Rick Jensen
I have been a tube guy all my life since I bought and built a Dynaco SCA-35 with
money from my paper route at age 14. That said, I've owned some fine solid-state
amps and preamps over the years – a Phase Linear 700, the Quatre DG-250 (mine
didn't blow up on me, but did when my brother-in-law took it to college), an
Aragon 4004, and several lesser lights. But normally, my system has been
tube-based; conrad-johnson preamplification and Music Reference amplification
for most of the last two decades. I've reviewed and/or had in the home for extended periods some
very fine non-tube amps, too, from Linn, Mark Levinson, conrad-johnson, and
more.
---> Read our Digital Amplifier Company MEGAschino MK2 Mono
amplifier review.
World Premiere Review!
Fallbrook Audio TR-1 Turntable
Review
The affordable Fallbrook TR-1 vinyl spinner made in California.
Review By Ron Nagle
As I write
this the TR-1 is selling with an introductory price of $649 that represents a
$100 savings over the normal price of $749. Along with that, there is an
optional dust cover temporarily priced at $100. I would strongly advise getting
that dust cover, it will make your TR-1 table cat-proof. The Fallbrook people
tell us the turntable is, "proudly hand-assembled with many locally sourced
parts." Now I'm not certain what that involves. Let us step back a bit and take
a broad look at the vinyl player market. There are some affordable turntables in
the market place. To introduce a new and affordable turntable at this point is
most certainly a venture that represents a bold move.
---> Read our Fallbrook Audio TR-1
turntable review.
Binaural Beats
What are they, and how can they help you to feel
good?
Article By Becky Pell
We
humans have a range of different brain wave states and speeds, each relating to
a different state of consciousness, be it waking, sleeping, or somewhere in
between. Binaural beats are a phenomenon whereby we can voluntarily create
different brain waves using external sound sources, thereby inducing the
associated mental state. First, let's take a look at the different states of
consciousness which we most commonly experience.
---> Read Becky Pell's Binaural Beats article.
10 Questions For High-End
Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Furutech
This month we're featuring Furutech as they answer a few of our 10
questions. Furutech, founded in 1988, designs and manufactures an extraordinary range of A/V cables made with extremely high purity OCC single-crystal oxygen-free copper. We have several complete lines of analog and digital, power and coaxial cables available in terminated and bulk quantities.
They make a wide range of highest quality OEM A/V connectors and other signal transfer parts.
---> Read Our 10
Questions To Furutech.
10 Questions For High-End
Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Matthieu
Latour, Audio Division Director
Of Nagra Audio
This month we're featuring Matthieu Latour, Audio Division Director Of Nagra Audio.
In 1951, Stefan Kudelski, a gifted 22-year-old engineer, developed an extremely high quality, miniature, self-contained audio recorder which he named simply the
"Nagra I". Nagra is a Polish word meaning "will record". The interest in his invention was
immediate. The Nagra II and III followed in the mid to late 1950s revolutionizing the world of radio broadcasting, cinema and
music.
---> Read our 10 questions to Matthieu
Latour.
10 Questions For High-End
Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Chris Sommovigo, Designer And Engineer At Stereolab
This month we're featuring Chris Sommovigo, Designer And Engineer At Stereolab.
In 1992 Chris Sommovigo introduced to the world the first truly precision-made 75 Ohm digital coaxial cable under the brand name
ILLUMINATI, and has since designed more than a dozen other digital cables for the market – either for the Illuminati brand, for
Stereovox, or for other brands (such as Kimber Kable and i2Digital). His digital cable designs remain among the most sought after and popular designs in the
world.
---> Read our 10 questions to Chris Sommovigo.
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