Whenever cellist and vocalist Maya Fridman releases a new album, I celebrate. Or perhaps it's a happy dance. Either way, I head off to download the album and spend some time listening. And I'm never disappointed. Maya's musicianship is superb, both as a cellist and as a vocalist. But it is probably her sensibilities about... Read More »
I don't always manage to include all recent HDTT releases that I've liked in any given article. Sometimes a little catch up is required. Thus the belated reviews of two releases missing from my last discussion, Overtures by Offenbach and Auber and Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson. And a Pure DSD256 Miles Davis reissue plus... Read More »
Woodinville, WA – Genesis Advanced Technologies launched a new entry-level line-up of three passive floor standing loudspeakers at the Pacific Audio Fest in 2023. Now, after another two years of development, Genesis is proud to announce the top of the line – the servo-active G7 Samba – to be launched at the Southwest Audio Fest... Read More »
Paris, March 20th, 2025 - Qobuz, the platform for high-quality music streaming and downloads, today announced the results of an independent audit, confirming its commitment to fairer compensation for artists. In an industry where lack of transparency is often debated, Qobuz becomes the first streaming platform to have its average payout rate per stream officially validated.... Read More »
Those who have travelled with me through my notes on recent finds know that I have eclectic taste in music. I enjoy almost anything acoustic that is well performed and well recorded. Unfortunately, this also means that you have to scan through the album covers to see if there may be anything that aligns with... Read More »
With a few tweaks to the internal geometry of the original Reflection headphone cable, resulting in tighter bass response, and with 3D printed carbon fiber hardware, Clear Reflection SE headphone cable is here! As with the rest of the Reflection Cables, Reflection SE headphone cable uses our patented Matched Propagation Conductors to convey a wide,... Read More »
– Written by PS Audio’s Paul McGowan, the all-inclusive series is a complete guide to system setup and optimization, audio technology, and more – Boulder, Colorado, March 18, 2025 – PS Audio announces the release of The Audiophile’s Guide, a comprehensive 10-volume series on every aspect of audio system setup, equipment selection, analog and digital... Read More »
The new HD 550 brings a compelling new choice to audiophiles and gamers seeking next-level capability that outshines its price tag. Wedemark, Germany – March 19, 2025 – The Sennheiser brand today unveiled the HD 550, a hi-fi headphone that balances revealing performance with effortlessly smooth tuning. Boasting sprawling stereo imaging and an ultra-light build,... Read More »
To enhance its selection of finishes and bring added elegance and style, Focal refreshes its range and continues the success of its wireless active noise-canceling headphones, with the release of Bathys Deep Black. Focal Bathys Deep Black This deep black finish is available for $699 exclusively on the Gramophone website here. The original silver/black and... Read More »
ET3 CD Digital Transport Features Audiophile-grade Components and Performance in a Sleek, Compact Chassis Montreal, Quebec, March 18, 2025 – Forte Distribution, a key distributor of audio and audiophile music products, announced today that the Shanling ET3 compact CD transport is back in stock, after having completely sold out in late 2024. The ET3 CD... Read More »
SMA-4750 and SMA-8300 Deliver High-Power, High-Performance Audio for Luxury Home Cinema Systems NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — March 18, 2025 — HARMAN Luxury Audio Group today announced that the highly anticipated JBL Synthesis SMA Series Amplifiers are now available in North America. Featuring powerful built-in DSPs for custom loudspeaker tuning and system configuration, the amps are designed for residential cinema applications with a... Read More »
Premium Vinyl Series Revisits Two Influential Hard Rock Staples Limited Edition Reissues Of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and Alice Cooper’s Love It To Death Out Now High-End Remastering Of Essential Albums Available Exclusively At Rhino.com ORDER NOW (March 14, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA) Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) ignites its series of acclaimed limited-edition, high-end... Read More »
The sound of Fantasy's mono jazz records from the mid-fifties is a sound that I really love. Should you try some—and I am referring to the records that were pressed on translucent red vinyl—the first thing you'll notice is they lack the forced-upon-you "high fidelity" sound of the Capitol and Columbia mono LPs. This is... Read More »
Wholesale Announcement: Exclusive Distribution of Sam First Records & Colorfield Records. AudiophileUSA is excited to announce our partnership with two of LA’s most forward-thinking jazz labels—Colorfield Records and Sam First Records—available exclusively through AudiophileUSA! Colorfield Records, founded by Pete Min, captures the raw, spontaneous energy of LA’s cutting-edge jazz scene. Recorded and mixed at legendary Lucy’s Meat Market, mastered by Kevin... Read More »
Bulletproof rainbow ModHouse Audio x Eidolic Limited Tungsten Grills Refine your headphones with the ModHouse Audio x Eidolic Limited Tungsten Grills—a seamless blend of durability and understated elegance. Crafted from precision CNC-machined SUS303 stainless steel, each grille is finished with Austrian TA-C technology, resulting in a hardened surface rated at 8000HV—four times harder than sapphire. ... Read More »
For the first half of 2025, Craft Recordings has announced five new reissues to kickstart the next phase of their Original Jazz Classics (OJC) series. Including a pair of historic albums from Miles Davis, a classic (mostly) solo date from pianist Thelonious Monk, along with albums from two remarkable jazz guitarists, Wes Mongomery and Joe... Read More »
New Beginnings, New Challenges This year's FIAE show (February 21-23, 2025) relocated to a new venue and sported a rather different touch and feel from previous show iterations. The new venue, the Sheraton Tampa Brandon, situated in a quieter suburban setting, largely delivered on the show organizer's promise of a vibrant, family-friendly experience, though not... Read More »
Mozart Piano Sonatas, Josep Colom. Eudora Records 2024 (Pure DSD256, Stereo, MCh) HERE "There are good pianists, and then there is Josep Colom." * A living legend. A creative genius. A brilliantly and entrancingly insightful artist. Spanish pianist Josep Colom is all of that and more. And if you've not listened to his recordings, you... Read More »
Rhino Entertainment continues to give the Yes catalog of albums the Super Deluxe Edition treatment with a new LP/CD/BD box set of the band's fifth studio album, 1972's Close To The Edge. A truly expansive multi-disc box set, Close To The Edge: Super Deluxe Edition (SDE) offers not only new remasters of the album from... Read More »
Prior to last year's holiday season, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab caused a bit of a stir in the audiophile community when it announced the Original Master Recording release of Maria Carey's perennial favorite Merry Christmas. With availability in a variety of individually numbered, limited edition formats, including a 33 rpm UltraDisc One-Step LP, a pair... Read More »
Watch out. This is going to be a bit of a rant. I begin to cringe every time I read/hear from audiophiles: Was it made from the master tape? Or..., It can't possibly sound very good—it wasn't from the master tape. Yes, I'm talking about reissues. And, yes, I'm talking about audiophiles being brain-washed into... Read More »
The Jo Stafford Collection. Jo Stafford, vocals, with various orchestras (unidentified) and assisting artists. HMV Easy 7243 5 29450 2 3 (monaural, recordings 1943-63) Decades ago, my parents regularly listened to a Saturday afternoon radio show on which host Jonathan Schwartz programmed Frank Sinatra and other performers of the Great American Songbook. Once, when I was visiting... Read More »
Orange, CA – February 26, 2025 – ELAC, a global leader in high-fidelity audio solutions, is excited to announce the launch of its first outdoor and commercial speaker line: the Muro Outdoor and Muro Pro Series. This expansion marks ELAC’s entry into the outdoor and distributed audio market, bringing its legacy of innovation and superior... Read More »
Network Acoustics (NA) are excited to announce the release of the eno2 USB Cable and the eno2 Balanced Digital Cable. Developed alongside the reference muon2 USB and Balanced Digital Cables, both of the new eno2 cables incorporate NA’s latest innovations in noise-rejecting cable design and are available for purchase now. They improve on every aspect... Read More »
Sheffield, UK & New Jersey, USA – March 5, 2025 – Wilson Benesch, the world-renowned British innovator in high-performance audio systems, is delighted to announce its official partnership with U.S. high-end audio importer Fidelity Imports. This strategic alliance marks a significant expansion for Wilson Benesch in the North American market, bringing its groundbreaking audio technologies to discerning U.S.... Read More »
Violinist Paik and pianist Niedermaier offer inviting, beautifully-recorded adaptations of classic opera favorites March 7, 2025 – Octave Records’ latest release, Love in the Moonlight: Operatic Fantasies for Violin and Piano by Susan Paik and Teddy Niedermaier, offers unique interpretations of beloved opera favorites, adapted for violin and piano duet. Beautifully recorded in high-resolution Pure... Read More »
Analogue Productions has by degrees been gradually remastering and releasing the entire Steely Dan catalog on SACDs, 180 gram LPs, and 200 gram Ultra High Quality Record (UHQR) ultimate LPs. The latest in this series is the band's fourth studio album, 1975's Katy Lied, a record whose sound quality (at least, on the original LP... Read More »
This article is the third and final part of Copper Magazine's interview with Jamie Howarth by Copper Editor and good audiobud Frank Doris. We republish it with the kind permission and blessing of PS Audio's Paul McGowan, with whom we have a deep shared love of DSD. You'll find part one republished by PF HERE, and... Read More »
Rhino Entertainment and Warner are aiming to Start Your Ear Off Right in 2025 with 26 limited edition LP reissues and releases. The current group of albums in the series includes a varied mix of 180 gram, clear vinyl 140 gram, and cool colored-vinyl 140 gram LPs. Start Your Ear Off Right encompasses a diverse... Read More »
Since downsizing 5 years ago and leaving behind my LPs and vinyl playback equipment, I have gradually built a new digital music library. At Dr. David's request, I shared this traumatic journey in several articles titled Yes, There Really is Music After Vinyl, the first of which you can find HERE. Today, most new additions... Read More »
Here are more really great audio systems that I felt really had it going on at the Florida International Audio Expo 2025. There were an abundance of exhibitors at the show this year, but the rooms I chose to highlight are the ones that really spoke to me, were technologically sensational, or played music that... Read More »
The T-1 Monitor with stand March 3rd, 2025 The Børresen T-series is designed and handcrafted in Denmark, embodying the expertise gained from our 0- and M-series. As a replacement for the 0-series, the new T-series is the result of extensive research and innovation, delivering exceptional performance in a refined design. The Børresen T-series has been... Read More »
The 2025 Florida International Audio Expo (FLAX) was new and improved this year, and the show took place at a new location, the Sheraton Tampa Brandon Hotel. The Sheraton offered a refreshingly new vibe compared to years past, and was strikingly more modern than the previous site, the Embassy Suites Westshore. It was a bit... Read More »
Roger Skoff at the LAOC Audio Society Gala, 2024 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes about the cost of building a system On one of the audiophile groups on Facebook, I just read a post where some guy wrote in and said he's got a turntable that cost whatever number... Read More »
This article by Marshall Nack originally ran in Issue 28, 2006, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print" you are also going to see some articles from our early days of going online. True confessions. I've seen guys sidle up to the Kharma Exquisite-Midi speakers and... Read More »
Nagra is a brand of portable audio recorders manufactured since 1951 in Switzerland. Starting in 1997, it also offers high-end equipment for the audiophile community (...). The Kudelski Group's original product, Nagra recorders are now developed, manufactured and sold by an independent company, Audio Technology Switzerland S.A., based in Romanel-sur-Lausanne. en.wikipedia.org, accessed: 3.01.2024. The founder... Read More »
For years, "leftovers" of what biographers have called the Loudness War has dragged on. The drive by radio stations, and by extension publishers, to make music sound as loud as possible, no matter what volume we choose, almost led to the collapse of the music market. But we seem to be entering a new era... Read More »
