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Recent Articles

Images of the High End Exhibition 2016 - Part 1
05-15-2016 | By Wojciech Pacuła

Hideaki Nishikawa-san, the TechDAS constructor, is signing a printout with the May High Fidelity cover. "Japanese style? – Sure, with pleasure…" Einstein has prepared a premiere – The Tonearm, presented on the Air Force III turntable. The German Trigon company does not often surprise us with new products, but now demonstrated a few novelties at... Read More » . . . Read More »


High End Exhibition 2016 - Munich, Germany
05-15-2016 | By Wojciech Pacuła

The original plan was completely different: the Old Pinacotheca (German: Alte Pinakothek - collections of paintings from the 14th to the 18th century), the New Pinacotheca (German: Neue Pinakothek - a collection of European art from classicism to art nouveau), perhaps even the Deutsches Museum (Masterpieces of Science and Technology)—the largest museum of this type... Read More » . . . Read More »


Foundations of Burden by Pallbearer
05-15-2016 | By Matt Olivas

When listening to this album, I found it difficult to do so with a strict, examining state of mind. I wanted to capture all of the technicalities and mechanical bits within each song, so that I could later articulate what those ingredients did to either help or hurt the album. I wanted to listen to... Read More » . . . Read More »


MQA Announces New Partnerships at Munich High End 2016
05-04-2016 | By Positive Feedback

This year’s High End sees MQA, the innovative music technology, reveal further business updates, including new content and hardware partnerships. MQA Music Partners High Res Audio, the renowned international high-resolution music download service, joins the list of MQA content providers, meaning music lovers visiting www.highresaudio.com can download high-quality releases from renowned labels including 2L, Acoustic... Read More » . . . Read More »


The 3.5.7 Ensemble’s Amongst the Smokestacks and Steeples
05-04-2016 | By Marc Phillips

One of the advantages of writing about LPs and turntables for the last 18 years is that sometimes records just show up in my mailbox without warning or reasonable explanation. I know nothing about Chicago's Milk Factory Productions, and even less about The 3.5.7 Ensemble, but my intuition tells me that the same intrepid individual... Read More » . . . Read More »


AXPONA 2016: Bodies, Motion, Sound
05-01-2016 | By Maurice Jeffries

Ever since the annual AXPONA/Chicago high-end show relocated in 2014 to the jazzy Westin O'Hare, located just down the street from the show's former home, the far more modest Doubletree Inn, I have approached this annual event with a combination of cautious optimism and mild trepidation. You see, whatever its shortcomings as a hotel (tired... Read More » . . . Read More »


High End Audio in the Age of Uncertainty
05-01-2016 | By Maurice Jeffries

Plus a Few Album Recommendations Component Droughts, the Grumblings of Privileged Men, and Happy Endings For longer than I care to remember, I don't have any components to review, a situation I find both annoying and liberating. Liberating in the sense that I needed a respite - as well as the kind of perspective that... Read More » . . . Read More »


Nativ Touchscreen Music System Tops Fund Raising Goal
04-24-2016 | By Brian Moura

Nativ Sound, an audio start-up based in Hong Kong working on a family of elegant touchscreen music components, has announced that they have passed their $100,000 fund raising goal on Indegogo in one week. This exceeds the company's original goal of reaching that milestone in 2 months. Nativ's family of music system components includes Nativ... Read More » . . . Read More »


The MOON Neo 280D and the MiND of Simaudio
04-24-2016 | By Andy Schaub

"Shine on you crazy diamond"  - by Pink Floyd First of all, I should say that I like the Simaudio MOON Neo 280D ($2200) very much and that, with the optional MiND module, it provides for a one-box media server solution, WiFi support, DSD256-capable DAC, and all. Having said that, I did run into a... Read More » . . . Read More »


Music from Prokofiev, Sylvia, Gabrieli, and More!
04-24-2016 | By Karl Lozier

Prokofiev, Scythian Suite & Symphony No. 3. Orchestra: Sao Paulo Symphony. Conductor: Marin Alsop. Recording: Naxos NBD0047 There certainly are significant differences in the music composed by Prokofiev compared to those famous Russian composers that preceded him. It is our good fortune to have his compositions available now. Yes, he turned out those compositions needed by performers in the... Read More » . . . Read More »


Axpona 2016 – Into The Mystic
04-24-2016 | By Robert S. Youman

Hark, now hear the sailors cry Smell the sea and feel the sky Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic And when that foghorn blows I will be coming home And when the foghorn blows I want to hear it I don't have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy... Read More » . . . Read More »


Notes of an Amateur: Ibragimova’s Mozart x 2; Return of Eighth Blackbird; Violist Paul Neubauer; Max Reger; and New Music for Flute and Piano.
04-24-2016 | By Bob Neill

Mozart, Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Alina Ibragimova, violin. Cédric Tiberghien, piano. 2 CD's. Hyperion CDA 68091. Most of us know when we're hearing the real Mozart and not a near miss, we know in our heads and elsewhere what is required of a genuine Mozart performance. Today we have the composer's Sonatas for Keyboard... Read More » . . . Read More »


Brinkmann’s “MQA-ready” DAC Debuts At The Munich HiFi Show
04-22-2016 | By Positive Feedback

The Digital Source So Good, Only An Analog Leader Could Have Built It!  Thirty years after the introduction of their first Digital-to-Analog Converter, Brinkmann Audio is proud to introduce “Nyquist,” the world’s most advanced DAC, at the 2016 Munich HiFi Show. Authored by the newly expanded Brinkmann design team, Nyquist sets new standards in adaptability,... Read More » . . . Read More »


Impressions: A Note from an Editor's Backside
04-13-2016 | By David W. Robinson

Things can pile up. From time to time, especially when I get too busy, miscellaneous projects and notes accumulate. They don't warrant a major article, but they are items that I should mention to you. And this is a brief and very different sort of flash for you. Ergo 21 As a writer and editor,... Read More » . . . Read More »


Boulder  announces immediate shipment and release of 2120  D/A  Converter
04-12-2016 | By Positive Feedback

The  2120  Stereo  Amplifier  is  a  reference-­‐level  digital  music  source  in  the  2000  level   products  from  Boulder.     With  the  completion  of  the  HDMI  input  module,  Boulder  Amplifiers  is   pleased  to  announce  the  full  release  and  shipment  of  the  2120  D/A  Converter.   The  original  2000  Series   was  in  continuous  and... Read More » . . . Read More »


Daedalus Audio will be at AXPONA 2016 with its new DiDs!
04-08-2016 | By Positive Feedback

Daedalus Audio  will be in the Marketplace with a full head-fi setup to audition the new DiD (Daedalus isolation Devices. We will show the DiD with the new Tryst tube headphone amp from Modwright and the ModWright Elyse DAC, as well as all WyWires cables, including both Blue and Platinum series headphone cables. The DiD... Read More » . . . Read More »


CanJam SoCal 2016 - Behind the Booths and Back
04-03-2016 | By Michael Mercer

A Personal Audio Odyssey  Dan Wrights ModWright Tryst headphone amp was stunningly musical & engaging. CanJam SoCal 2016 was a very special time for me, and it was a raging success for Head-Fi.org and the personal audio community. A good friend recently said on the phone, "Sounds like it couldn't have gone any better," he... Read More » . . . Read More »


Sikora Reference Turntable
04-03-2016 | By Wojciech Pacuła

Lublin is a city in the south-east part of Poland and the capital of Lublin Voivodeship (province). The name  Lublin, exactly the same as today which is quite rare, first appeared in chronicles in 1228. Just like Kraków comes from the name of Krak, a legendary ruler residing on Wawel Hill, also Lublin comes from... Read More » . . . Read More »


Seong-Jin Ho - The Man and His Music
04-03-2016 | By Bartosz Pacula

The winner of the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition The 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition which took place between the 1st and 23rd October 2015 in Warsaw was a tremendous artistic and, in a way, commercial success. It was not a coincidence—the National Fryderyk Chopin Institute responsible for organizing the competition, in cooperation... Read More » . . . Read More »


Notes of an Amateur: Schnittke, Tchaikovsky, Jessica Lee.
04-03-2016 | By Bob Neill

Schnittke, Penitential Psalms; Three Sacred Hymns. RIAS Kammerch0r, Hans Christian Rademann, conductor. Harmonia Mundi 902225. Russian Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998), as I've written many times before here, is one of those second generation modernists who makes you go to him and who generally makes you glad you did. His Penitential Psalms confront us with sternness until... Read More » . . . Read More »


Anne Bisson: Blue Mind­ An Audiophile Favorite is Given a Makeover
03-28-2016 | By Myles B. Astor

Anne Bisson: Blue Mind, Co-sponsored by Wuti Larnroongroj, Brilliance Music and Studios and Gary Koh, Genesis Advanced Technologies. 15-ips, 2-track, reel-to-reel tape. Originally produced and recorded by: Guy St. Orge. Recorded July 21-22, 2008, Reference Studio, St-Calixte, Quebec. Remastered by Bernie Grundman. http://www.annebisson.com/en/. Price: $600. It's rare that performers get to revisit and remaster their... Read More » . . . Read More »


MIT Cables Launches First Non-Cable Audio Product on Indiegogo
03-26-2016 | By Positive Feedback

MIT Cables Launches First Non-Cable Audio Product on Indiegogo Manufacturer puts its patented Multipole™ Technology in an active circuit for the first time = March 25, 2016-Rocklin, CA – MIT Cables has done something they never said they would do, which is put their patented Multipole™ Technology inside an active circuit, making their brand new product, the Vero HCA 29 High... Read More » . . . Read More »


Kinsky, Copula Mundi
03-25-2016 | By Wojciech Pacuła

Kinsky, Copula Mundi. SPV Poland/Requiem Records 104 | 2015. Premiere: 1993. Re-edition: 2015. Medium: Compact Disc The Kinsky band, which was created in 1992, existed only for six years and recorded only one album, but, perhaps thanks to this, it has become the legend of underground rock music in Poland. Its music is most frequently described as a combination of... Read More » . . . Read More »


Pylon Audio Sapphire 23 Loudspeakers
03-25-2016 | By Wojciech Pacuła

Considering the present times and other Pylon Audio products, 23 loudspeakers from the Sapphire series have untypical proportions. If they had been produced a few years ago, that would not have been strange. At that time, almost all loudspeakers offered by Pylon Audio, Monitor Audio and other manufacturers representing the base and medium price ranges... Read More » . . . Read More »


My Life in Music, by Joe Cohen
03-24-2016 | By David W. Robinson

[Joe Cohen is a long-time friend of Positive Feedback, and owner of The Lotus Group, a high-end audio company in California. Joe is married to the Jazz vocalist Daria, and has a deep love of music going well back into the early days of his life. I read an earlier, shorter version of his musical... Read More » . . . Read More »


Adventures in Cabling
03-21-2016 | By Scott Robertson

Want to start an argument with your audiophile friends? Tell them cables don't make a difference in sound. Or conversely, tell them cables do make a very clear and easily discernable difference. One side or the other, you are bound to get all kinds of personal experience stories and possible pseudo-science claims as to why... Read More » . . . Read More »


Journeys in Audio Subjectivism - Part Four
03-16-2016 | By Robert Schryer

Zu Audio: divine, evil, beautiful, disgusting; Or, "Careful with that tone, mister." So what kind of sound are you after? Accurate? Musical? Okay. But according to whom? Because, the fact is, each of us has a brain that's unique, including in what it perceives as being accurate and musical. Does this make us all somehow... Read More » . . . Read More »


AXPONA 2016 Welcomes a Number of New Exhibitors [Updated 3/18/16]
03-15-2016 | By Positive Feedback

AXPONA 2016 welcomes a number of new exhibitors, showcasing the very best in high-end audio equipment. Rosemont, IL, April 15-17 AXPONA (Audio Expo North America), the defining high-end consumer audio show in the United States, returns to the Westin O’Hare Rosemont April 15-17, with over 20 new manufacturers and dealers making their debut at the show,... Read More » . . . Read More »


Nikolaus Harnoncourt Conducts Bruckner
03-14-2016 | By Stephen Francis Vasta

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor, "Wagner" (Nowak ed., 1877) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam/Nikolaus Harnoncourt Teldec 4509-98405-2. TT: 54.35 The "historical performance" movement that arose in the 1960s proved more popular, at first, among academics than among regular listeners; eventually, however, its notions of performing older scores without the stylistic accretions of later eras... Read More » . . . Read More »


THE Show Announces the Death of Richard Beers
03-14-2016 | By Positive Feedback

THE Show announces the death of Richard Beers on January 25, 2016, due to lung cancer. This is the text of their press release, which arrived minutes ago: "Dear Industry Friends, My name is Maurice Jung and I am the interim President for T.H.E. Show Newport. It is with heartfelt sorrow that I must inform... Read More » . . . Read More »


Quality Headphone Gear For The Rest Of Us Pt. 1
03-13-2016 | By Occupy HiFi

I love writing about what we audio geeks call "reference-level" audio components. By reference-level we mean state-of-the-art, "reference" meaning close to referencing the real thing: The sound of music in real time and space. . . . Read More »


Aurender Newest Software Upgrade Adds Qobuz Streaming & Unique Smart Copy® Uploading
03-12-2016 | By Positive Feedback

Aurender, a leader in award-winning, high-resolution audio products, announced that their latest downloadable software upgrade, System SW 4.5.58 (5.5.58), adds several new significant features, including: Qobuz high fidelity streaming, and the company's unique Smart Copy® function that allows direct music uploading, within their Conductor App, to any Aurender Music Streamer/Player's internal HDD directly from your... Read More » . . . Read More »


Star Wars Comes to DSD and Analog Tape
03-11-2016 | By Brian Moura

Star Wars Original Soundtracks in Stereo DSD and Analog Tape Horch House has released the first three original soundtracks from the Star Wars Series: Episode 4: Star Wars – A New Hope, Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode 6: Return of the Jedi in Stereo DSD, analog tape, and WAV formats. The albums... Read More » . . . Read More »


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