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Digital Processor ReviewsHistorical
Sony DTC-1000ES R-DAT recorder & Sony PCM-1630 A/D converter
Martin Colloms  |  May 06, 2021  |  First Published: Aug 01, 1987  |  2 comments
With the furor over the launch of DAT (digital audio tape), it is worth remembering that commercial digital recorders have been with us for some time now: it is now nearly a decade since studio PCM converters were first successfully used for audio recording in conjunction with a VCR (which uses a helical spiral recording via a spinning drum to achieve the high writing speed).
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InterviewsMusic and Recording Features
Mary Halvorson: Melt the Frame
Ken Micallef  |  May 05, 2021  |  2 comments
In her reworking of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from my Friends," on the 2018 tribute album, A Day In The Life: Impressions Of Pepper (impulse records), Brooklyn guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson reinvents both her instrument and the song.

Most baby boomers can hum the tune of the Beatles' classic, from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in a handful of notes. It might take longer to recognize Halvorson's joyous, angular version. A master of jazz phrasing, guitar technique, avant-garde discourse, and effects pedals, Halvorson bends the Beatles song to her 21st century will.

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Analog CornerPhono Cartridge ReviewsPhono Preamp Reviews
Analog Corner #283: Grado Epoch Mono, Miyajima Infinity Mono, MuTech RM-Kanda Hayabusa, Angstrom Audiolab Stella, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Vinyl
Michael Fremer  |  May 04, 2021  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2019  |  4 comments
Lately, there's been too much gear worth covering and not enough space to cover it in. So this time . . . less think-piece filler and more hardware!
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Powerline Accessory Reviews
Shunyata Research Everest 8000 power conditioner
Brian Damkroger  |  Apr 30, 2021  |  105 comments
Shunyata Research is the brainchild of Caelin Gabriel, whose résumé includes stints at NSA, in military R&D, and in the computer industry, first digging weak signals out of noise then developing very high-speed network devices. He is also a lifelong audiophile.

Shunyata's roots are in the scientific understanding and engineering base Gabriel has developed during his career. I've long been impressed by those scientific underpinnings—which extend not only in audio but also to other fields including medical devices—and by how open the company is in talking about its technologies.

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Solid State Power Amp Reviews
Mytek HiFi Brooklyn AMP+ power amplifier
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 29, 2021  |  11 comments
Big changes are afoot at Mytek. First up: The Mytek Brooklyn AMP+, the newest version of the compact, class-D Brooklyn AMP. The AMP+ is already in production.

In my 2018 review of the original Brooklyn AMP, I wrote that the class-D amplifier exuded "a consistent sense of truthfulness, striking resolution that was never analytical, spacious soundstages, superb dynamics, and some of the 'blackest' backgrounds I've ever heard...with the right recordings." I continued, "The AMP let me revel in its reproduction of the low end, with zero overhang or bloat, and profoundly impressive retrieval of micro- and macrodetail—but in doing all this, its touch was always light and never surgical."

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Revinylization
Revinylization #17: Gearbox Records & ERC's Jazz Reissues
Jim Austin  |  Apr 28, 2021  |  0 comments
In Revinylization #9, I profusely praised the expensive, unobtanium Electric Recording Company (ERC) stereo reissue of Sonny Rollins's Way Out West. The record was superb-sounding and beautifully made.

"Clearly, these records are valuable in part because they're rare. But only in part. They're also valuable because they're beautifully cut, well-crafted, and gorgeous. I can live with their business model, even if I don't love it. I'm just glad there's a place in the world for objects like this."

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Gramophone Dreams
Gramophone Dreams #48: The Venus Tube, Western Electric's 300B
Herb Reichert  |  Apr 27, 2021  |  53 comments
I would now be a prosperous gentleman had I been a clever fellow during the 1980s and held on to some of those Western Electric 300B vacuum tubes I used to buy for nothing and toss around casually (footnote 1). Unfortunately, I have no talent for acquisition or hoarding.
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News
High End Munich Canceled for 2021
Stereophile Staff  |  Apr 27, 2021  |  2 comments
Due to the ongoing pandemic threat, High End Munich 2021, which had been rescheduled to September 9-12, has been canceled for this year.
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Analog CornerPhono Cartridge Reviews
Analog Corner #284: Air Tight PC-1 coda phono cartridge, Zesto Andros Allasso step-up transformer
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 26, 2021  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2019  |  1 comments
Something's definitely happening at the house of Yoshio Matsudaira. The legendary gentleman, whom I've never met or corresponded with, manufactures cartridges for his own brand, My Sonic Lab, as well as for others, including Air Tight. Over the past few weeks, more than a few readers have asked me to review or at least listen to the latest My Sonic Lab cartridge, the Platinum Signature.
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Audacious AudioFloor Loudspeaker Reviews
Wilson Audio Specialties Chronosonic XVX loudspeaker
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 23, 2021  |  19 comments
Brand-fan excitement ran high among consumers and reviewers alike when Wilson Audio Specialties announced that it would roll out a nonfunctioning prototype of the Chronosonic XVX at the 2019 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF). The Chronosonic XVX was rumored to be a replacement for the $210,000/pair Alexandria XLF, offering performance similar to that of the $850,000 WAMM Master Chronosonic system (including two Master Subsonics and a controller) at a less breathtaking price. (You won't catch me writing "affordable" here.) The static unveiling at RMAF intensified anticipation.
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