Does music help you get to sleep? Bedphones will work just fine!

Does music help you get to sleep? Bedphones will work just fine!

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

One of the things that, it seems to me, separates headphone enthusiasts from traditional audiophiles is an interest in good inexpensive stuff, or devices with unusual utility. Think Koss Porta Pros or the Riva Turbo X. The Porta Pro has been delivering excellent sound quality for its very low $49 price for decades and for decades headphone enthusiasts have been praising their worth. And when the Riva Turbo X Bluetooth speaker showed up at CanJam a year or so ago, headphone hobbyists embraced it immediately as a great sounding portable speaker. These are cool little gadgets, and it seems to me headphone enthusiasts are more than willing to have a good hard look at them....no matter the cost.

Inside MQA

Inside MQA

Jim Austin briefly discusses MQA in his review of the Explorer2 in this issue, but a more complete description of MQA can be found in an article posted on Stereophile's website at the end of 2014.

MQA involves two fundamental concepts, discussed in a paper presented to the Audio Engineering Society in October 2014, the first responsible for a potential improvement in sound quality, the second responsible for a large reduction in the bandwidth required for storage and streaming of high-resolution files...

Meridian Explorer2 D/A headphone amplifier

Meridian Explorer2 D/A headphone amplifier

I was lying on a mattress on the floor of an empty apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Not as grim as it sounds—it's a nice apartment, and the mattress was new, and had just been delivered—but it was hot (no air-conditioning), and my family and my furniture were still in my condo up in Maine, and I was lonely. I needed some cheering up. Which is how I rationalized the decision to buy an Explorer2, Meridian Audio's tiny, inexpensive ($299) digital-to-analog converter.

Dan D'Agostino Dems in Dallas Saturday

Dan D'Agostino Dems in Dallas Saturday

May 21, 2–6pm, Bill McKiegan, President of Sales at Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, will be presenting a day of listening at Audio Concepts (11661 Preston Rd #280, Dallas, TX 75230) in Dallas, Texas. The featured system will include the new Momentum M400 mono amplifiers, Momentum Preamplifier, and Momentum Phonostage (above), driving Wilson Alexx loudspeaker and using the AMG Viella 12 turntable.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement