OH DEAR: Whatever Happened To The Audiophile?

Linton weeks writes: You may remember the type: Laid-back in an easy chair, soaking in Rachmaninoff, Reinhardt or the Rolling Stones, enveloped by the very best, primo, top-of-the-line stereo equipment an aficionado could afford. In robot-like, 1980s cadence, the audiophile could rattle off favorite components, which might include an all-tube Premier One power amp by […]

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BENCHMARK AUDIO: Application notes – Rules of Thumb for Music and Audio

John Siau writes: As an engineer I like to use “rules of thumb” to make quick estimates that help explain what can be expected from the physical world around me. These rules of thumb are easy-to-remember approximations that eliminate the need for complicated and needlessly precise calculations. If you learn a few key rules of […]

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ANALOGUE: Mr. Ray Purchase asks … what happened to analogue synthesisers?

In the early 70s, as a youngster …. I became aware of the music synthesiser. To me the word “synthesiser” conjured up a vivid impression of the sound and look of the instrument, and still does. I imagined that synthesisers were so expensive, futuristic and exotic that they probably had to be borrowed from government […]

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FRANK ZAPPA: The Roxy Performances (7CD Box Set)

We are told ….. Complete collection includes all four public shows, invite-only soundcheck, rehearsal and Bolic Studios session. Forty three years ago in December 1973, Frank Zappa played a series of legendary concerts at the famed Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Considered a high-water mark of his career, owing to the incredible, […]

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CHORD ELECTRONICS NEWS

Chord Electronics has launched its first ever small desktop integrated amplifier, Anni. Capable of driving both headphones and compact loudspeakers, the Qutest-sized Anni benefits from the company’s proprietary ULTIMA circuit topology and is perfectly positioned to exploit the full potential of today’s high-performance headphones, desktop monitors and high-resolution audio sources.  The new Anni desktop integrated amplifier forms part of the […]

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BENCHMARK: Audio application notes – Intersample Overs in CD Recordings

John Siau writes: We have frequently used Steely Dan’s Gaslighting Abbie from Two Against Nature in our listening tests. This is a spectacular CD recording with lots of dynamics and a low noise floor. Nevertheless, in a little over 5 minutes, this track has 559 intersample overs on the left track and 570 on the right track for a total […]

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