LATEST ADDITIONS

The Fifth Element #80

John Marks Aug 08, 2013

First, two noteworthy CDs. San Francisco's Cypress String Quartet, whose set of Beethoven's late quartets and high-resolution downloads I praised in the April issue, is back with a new CD (Avie AV2275) that explores their musical roots.

Music and Recording Features Interviews

Terence Blanchard: Animal Magnetism

Robert Baird Aug 08, 2013

Down deepest, beneath everything he does, underlying all the facets of his ever-expanding career in music, Terence Blanchard is still a New Orleans guy. Question that and you can hear his dander rise.

Headphone Reviews The Entry Level

The Entry Level #32

Stephen Mejias Aug 08, 2013

Even before I'd really listened to PSB's Alpha PS1 powered desktop speakers (see last month's column), I suspected that I'd like them: They're affordable, attractive, small enough to actually fit on my desktop, and designed and manufactured by a true high-end audio company. Besides all that, the PS1s had been highly recommended by a friend, AudioStream.com's Michael Lavorgna. I only needed the speakers to sound good in my home. And they didclean, clear, detailed, and dynamic, with a surprisingly big and bold overall sound.

Stephen Mejias

Record Sale at The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

Stephen Mejias Aug 08, 2013

Gulp.

All the details, from the website of the New York Public Library, with critical commentary from me:

Stephen Mejias

Moderat: II

Stephen Mejias Aug 07, 2013

Moderat is made of Apparat’s Sascha Ring and Modeselektor’s Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary; as the album title suggests, II is their sophomore release. This is no slump, however, and the music these men make together is seamless and true: It does not sound like two distinct visions forced together, but instead reflects a natural progression of shared ideas, a tangle of conflicts, tensions, and parallels brought together to create something exhilarating.

Fred Kaplan

That's It!

Fred Kaplan Aug 07, 2013

That's It! (Sony Legacy) is a hell of a fun album: the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the treasure of New Orleans music, wailing with cylinders wide open.

Purists might protest. All the songs on this record are new (a first for the PHJB), and the solos tend more toward R&B riffs than trad-jazz polyphony. In short, the vibe seems to pulse more from the rowdy late-night clubs up on Frenchman Street than the band's usual stately sanctuary in the heart of the French Quarter.

Stephen Mejias

Looking Forward: Matana Roberts' Coin Coin, Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile

Stephen Mejias Aug 06, 2013

Matana Roberts is a rare talent&#151a saxophonist, storyteller, and singer with a distinct voice and powerful vision. Her 2011 release, Coin Coin, Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres, shocked me with its uncompromising combination of beauty and violence. Listening to it&#151anyhow, anywhere&#151is a singularly moving experience. My complete review of Coin Coin, Chapter One appeared in Stereophile’s November 2011 issue and I later named it one of my favorite records of that year. It sticks with me still as one of the most thrilling and seemingly important records I’ve ever heard.

Today, Constellation Records announced Roberts’ follow-up, Coin Coin, Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile, to be released on October 1.

News CAS 2013

The 4th California Audio Show Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 04, 2013

The fourth annual California Audio Show is poised to get underway August 911 in a new venue, the Westin San Francisco Airport (Westin SFO), in Millbrae, CA. The only West Coast consumer fine-audio show between Newport Beach (in very southern California) and Denver, CAS4 is expected to draw close to 1000 audiophiles per day to listen to systems in at least 41 sound rooms, 16 of which are of medium or large size.

Budget Component Reviews Digital Processor Reviews

Schiit Audio Bifrost D/A processor

Jon Iverson Aug 01, 2013

Late last year came an epic audiophile moment: I slapped a final length of tape on the box of the awesome-sounding MSB Diamond DAC (Stereophile, October 2012), in final preparation for its trek to John Atkinson's testing lab, in Brooklyn. Next up was the Bifrost DAC from Schiit Audio. I popped it into my system, where, moments before, the MSB had held court.

From $43,325 to $449. Yowseh!!the MSB costs almost 100 times as much as the Schiit! Was this even fair?

Sweepstakes

Stereophile Makes Brian Happy

Ariel Bitran Aug 01, 2013

We're always happy to spread the love of gear (and music) here at the good ole' STP. STP's one of our in office abbreviation for Stereophile. Occasionally, it's STRP. Sometimes it's, "We have to do another issue?", but seriously, we do enjoy making audiophiles happy. It's one of the best parts of the job.