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CES 2019: Tape and Digital | Nagra elevates our listening experience

by Mohammed Samji in CES

Nagra‘s rooms are always on, and dialed to 11. They sneak up on you, and deliver a different something special each time. A must visit room at any audio show, Nagra always brings together three elements: a great system, fantastic music, and René Laflamme. René has a double role as Sales and Marketing Manager for Nagra America in addition to being a recording and mastering engineer at 2xHD. René always treats us to something special that he mastered on a sexy Nagra reel to reel deck. I [...]

1 Comment

Thales Simplicity II Tonearm Review

December 16, 2018 // 2 Comments

On March 27th, 1983, the New York Times published an article titled “Sound; Tonearms: Is Linear Better?”. The article read like a technical paper, more sophisticated than some of today’s articles found in Audiophile magazines. Without too much introduction, the article jumped right into contrasting the pros and cons between tangential versus pivoted tonearms as if it was normal kitchen table talk. But when Sony released the first commercial CD player in 1982, the sale of turntable [...]
VPI Player Review | The Millennial Audiophile

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ZYX UNIverse Optimum 1Ω MC Cartridge | Review

4 Comments
Pure Fidelity Eclipse Turntable Review

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Recording the Masters FOX C-60: The New Audio Cassette Standard

5 Comments
Audio Cassette Revival: For Real?

6 Comments
Review: Kondo Overture II integrated amplifier and GE-1 Phono Amplifier

2 Comments
Review: ZYX 4D Ultimate MC Cartridge

2 Comments
Review: The Pro-Ject RPM 9 Carbon turntable with Sumiko Blackbird

4 Comments

Audio Fur and the Border Patrol DAC

January 6, 2019 // 16 Comments

The Dissenting Opinion Stereophile’s Herb Reichert posted a letter on the web version of an “As We See It” column written by his colleague Jon Iverson. I’m reposting it here (with linking and attribution) for several reasons, but mainly because I want to use it as a map to work out my … feelings. The TL;DR of this (rather long) post is summarized pretty much entirely by Mr. Reichert’s comments. I have taken the liberty of then beating said horse past [...]
dCS Network Bridge and Vivaldi DAC receive MQA and juice my streaming

5 Comments
Bricasti M1 Review: Balancing Head and Heart

8 Comments
Audio Note UK DAC 2.1x Signature Review

3 Comments
Audio Note UK CDT-Two/II CD Transport Review

1 Comment
Review: Mytek puts the + on the Brooklyn DAC

9 Comments
Review: dCS Network Bridge – The Swiss Army Knife of Streamers

3 Comments
Review: Living in the future with KEF LS50 Wireless + Roon + Shinola Runwell

7 Comments
The List: Five of the best CD Players on the Planet

32 Comments

Sonus Faber Sonetto II Speakers | Review

December 30, 2018 // 15 Comments

Nothing but the truth Should audio components always be 100% truthful to the source? Ahhh, that’s one of those questions that has resulted in untold audiophile angst, much like the supposed supremacy of analog over digital, or tubes vs. solid state. In the end, it’s ultimately up to the ear of the listener, and nothing else. If it sounds good to you, then it’s probably good. Me? I’m an unabashed truth guy. That’s perhaps why I tend to gravitate toward pro audio DACs and speakers for [...]
YG Acoustics Sonja XV and Dan D’Agostino Relentless

1 Comment
Wilson Audio Sasha DAW with dCS Bartók DAC | First Listen

4 Comments
Wilson Audio Sasha DAW | First Look

9 Comments
Apple HomePod Review: Smart Speaker for the High-End?

8 Comments
Studio Electric M4 Review | The Millennial Audiophile

2 Comments
Sonus Faber Launches Sonetto

3 Comments
Precision in Provo: Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic

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Review: Linear Tube Audio ZOTL 10 Mk.II Amplifier

2 Comments

Naim Uniti Atom All-In-One Audio System | Review

January 20, 2019 // 1 Comment

Introducing the Naim Uniti Atom “All in one, and one for all!” Wait, what? Ha! You’ve just been introduced to my new tagline for Naim Audio’s nifty combined audio system, the Uniti Atom. It’s an all-in-one audio system, as in high-end meets lifestyle. As in “I want this thing, and so should everyone else.” So let me explain… I’ve dealt with combined audio systems before. I suppose I’m a bit biased against them, but for no good reason. Audiophile purist snobbery perhaps? [...]
D’Agostino Relentless Monoblock Amp | First Listen

2 Comments
YG Acoustics Sonja XV and Dan D’Agostino Relentless

1 Comment
Peachtree Audio Nova300 Review | The Millennial Audiophile

2 Comments
Auris Audio Fortissimo Integrated Amplifier Review

1 Comment
Bakoon AMP-41 Review | An Open Window

1 Comment
Emotiva TA-100 Review | The Millennial Audiophile

5 Comments

The Haruomi Hosono Archival Series | The Deep End

January 18, 2019 // 1 Comment

“You’ve never heard of Haruomi Hosono?” With every music review I write, I try to learn something new. It can be anything–something about the artist, something that happened in history during the recording or even the sound of a musical instrument I’ve never heard until that moment. I learned something quite spectacular while tackling these five remastered releases from Japanese pop/rock/electronica pioneer Haruomi “Harry” Hosono. That little morsel of trivia was buried [...]
Best Albums of 2018 | Monthly Spins

2 Comments
Newvelle Records | The Deep End

1 Comment
Monthly Spins: December 2018

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The Beatles “White Album” Super Deluxe Edition 6CD + Blu-ray

4 Comments