Sidebar 3: Custom Earmolds From Westone
At least two companies, Westone and Sensaphonics, make custom earmolds that fit Shure headphones. Shure works closely with Sensaphonics, whom they recommend on their website and in their product literature, but I went with Westone because that's the company my audiologist usually works with.
The audiologist stuck a piece of cloth in my ear to protect the eardrum, then injected foam in the ear canals. During the two minutes the foam takes to harden, Westone recommends you keep your mouth open for best results. When my audiologist asked why,…
Jim Austin returned to Westone's custom earmolds in May 2007 (Vol.30 No.5):
In my March 2007 review of Shure's E4 earphones (p.118), I described my preliminary experience with the custom earmolds Westone makes for Shure's E2, E3, and E4 series of in-ear 'phones, as well as for Westone's own UM-1, UM-2, and the new "3" phones (which I plan to review).
Westone's earmolds are made from silicone material impressions of your ear canals made by your audiologist. Westone's literature suggests that the fit should be positive—when it's in right, they say, you'll know it. That wasn't my…
In the early 1980s, Ivor Tiefenbrun, of Linn Products, Ltd., compared digital audio to "a nasty disease" that his company offered not to spread. Less than 25 years later, digital sources outnumber analog ones in Linn's product line—so much so that the venerable Scottish manufacturer has expanded its line of disc players to encompass two different formats: multi- and two-channel.
The Majik CD player ($3500) is the first new member of the latter group. (It's also the only member, of any vintage: Linn was forced to discontinue its Sondek CD12 in 2004 because certain of its…
The Majik had the driest, tightest, clearest, most explicit bottom end I've heard from a CD player in ages. On "Nashville West," from the Byrds' Live at the Fillmore (Columbia/Legacy CK 65910), I noticed for the first time that Roger McGuinn wasn't just lightly strumming chords on his electric 12-string guitar (as I'd always thought), but instead adding a steady stream of bass runs on his instrument's lower strings, as counterpoint to Clarence White's own steel-guitar bends. And each note in John Paul Jones' pedal-bass part in "Since I've Been Loving You," from Led Zeppelin III (Atlantic A2…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-box CD player. Formats supported: CD, HDCD, CD-R, CD-RW, DTS Audio, MP3. Output level: 2.0V. Signal/noise: 100dB at 22kHz. Total harmonic distortion: 0.004%, 20Hz–20kHz. Channel balance: 0.05dB. Channel separation: >90dB. Analog output impedance: 300 ohms. Digital output impedance: 75 ohms. Digital output jacks: RCA, TosLink.
Dimensions: 15" (385mm) W by 3.125" (80mm) H by 14" (360mm) D. Weight: 10.78 lbs (4.9kg).
Finishes: Silver, black.
Serial Number of Unit Reviewed: 1089631.
Price: $3500. Approximate number of dealers: 150…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Linn LP12 turntable, Naim Armageddon power supply, Naim Aro tonearm; Rega Planar 3 turntable, Rega RB300 tonearm; Miyabi 47, Lyra Helikon Mono cartridges.
Digital Sources: Linn Unidisk SC, Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD players; Naim CD5x CD player.
Preamplification: Linn Linto, EAR 834P phono preamplifiers; Lamm LL2 preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Lamm ML2.1 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Heimdall & Valhalla. Speaker: Nordost Heimdall. AC: JPS Labs The Digital (CD players),…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Linn Majik's maximum output level was 2.01V RMS and the player preserved absolute polarity; ie, was non-inverting. The player's error correction was superb: the Majik produced audible glitches in its output only when the gaps in the data spiral on the Pierre Verany test CD reached an enormous 2.5mm in length. The output impedance was to specification at 298 ohms at low and midrange frequencies, dropping very slightly but inconsequentially to 291 ohms at 20kHz.
The Majik's frequency response was flat, with just a very slight, –0.2dB droop at 20kHz (fig.…
In some ways, building an inexpensive yet musical two-way loudspeaker is a greater design challenge than creating a cost-no-object reference product. Although the latter is a much more complex endeavor, the venerable two-way box seems to bring out the creativity and resources of the designer. Rather than throw money at the product in the form of more expensive drivers, enclosures, or components, the designer of a low-cost two-way is forced to go back to the basics, rethink closely-held tenets, and rely on ingenuity and sheer talent to squeeze the most music from a given cost. Consequently,…
I was immediately taken by the Type K/IIs' musical performance. They were very well balanced, open, and had no glaring colorations. The bass was particularly impressive: tight, articulate, tuneful, satisfyingly conveying the weight and rhythm of music. The low-frequency presentation successfully walked the fine line between quantity and quality of bass. I never felt shortchanged of fullness and body, yet found the bass to be very well-defined, punchy, and with good pitch resolution. The Type K/II's low-frequency agility created the feeling of good integration between bass and the rest of the…
Have you noticed how developed the art of the high-end put-down has become?
"I have a high-end system; you listen to mid-fi!"
"You're still listening to old-fashioned single-ended tubes?"
"Listening to rock music on a high-end system is like hauling trash in a BMW."
"Audiophiles who still listen to classical music are museum-music–loving old farts."
"You're just a disillusioned subjectivist; my opinions are totally objective."
And the deadliest of all: "I'm a music-lover; you're only interested in hardware."
Like all put-downs, these reveal…
