In these observations about high-end audio shows, fondness is foremost, but a few dark side notes will slip in.
1. Everybody There Is Crazy—In A Good Way.
In the real world, do people slap you on the back when they learn that you're about to spend the equivalent of a…
In conjunction with that 50th anniversary mini-tour, Rhino has issued deluxe remasters of both albums on 3 LPs or 2 CDs, with plenty of bonus…
It's hard to convey the scope of the annual High End Munich audio show to someone who has never attended. Spread out over three floors of a large facility called the Munich Order Center (MOC), the show is notable for how different it is from audio shows in the US. The ground floor is an area about the size of three American football fields, where brands set up professional trade show booths to display their wares. This is a long way…
May has long been one of my favorite months of the year, mostly because it means it's time for the Munich show, the annual gathering of the high-end audio tribe in the Bavarian capital. High End Munich 2023 marked my return to the biggest audio show in the Western world following three years of lockdowns and travel restrictions, so I was eager to get back to the land of Wiener schnitzel and bratwurst.
This year, as an added bonus, I was invited to visit the production facilities of turntable and…
Apparently accurate reproduction of a Bösendorfer piano is no small achievement, but the piano is just one instrument, albeit one with wide dynamic and frequency range. A large orchestra playing Mahler is a different kind of challenge. Jason Victor Serinus favorably reviewed Rafael Payare and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal's recording of Mahler's Symphony No.5 (Pentatone PTC5187067) in the September 2023 issue of Stereophile. His only caveat was that it "may lack ultimate transparency." Perhaps so but, listening to the 5.1 channel 24/96 download from pentatonemusic.com, I cannot fault…
Description: Network-connected audio converter with two expansion slots for input/output boards. Base unit digital I/O: 8 AES3 I/O (DB-25), 8 ADAT/2 S/PDIF (TosLink), RAVENNA/ AES67 (RJ45), Word Clock (BNC), Sync I/O (DB-15: LTC, MIDI, Video Reference). Base unit analog output: Two headphone (6.35mm, 3.5mm TRS). Voltage (AC): 90V–260V, 47–63Hz. Voltage (DC via optional supply): 10–14V. Max power consumption: <30W. Specifications via headphone-monitoring jacks: THD+N: <–106 dB (0.0005%) at 1kHz, 0dBFS. Dynamic range (A-weighted): 118dB. Frequency response:…
Digital sources: Custom Intel/Win11 music server running JRiver Media Center v31 and Roon, exaSound s88 Mark II, and Okto DAC8 Pro D/A processors. QNAP TVS-873 NAS.
Preamplifiers: Coleman Audio 7.1SW for balanced DAC-to-amp switching.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, NAD C 298.
Loudspeakers: KEF Blade 2 Meta (L/C/R) with IsoAcoustics GAIA II feet, Revel Performa3 f206 (SL/SR). Two JLAudio e110 and one SVS SB-3000 subwoofers.
Cables: Digital cables: AudioQuest Coffee (USB). Analog interconnects: Mogami Gold AES TD DB-25–XLR snake, Benchmark…
KR was still working on his review at the time I was scheduled to measure the Merging Hapi MkII, so Independent Audio loaned me a different sample for the testing. This sample had the serial number H95861 and was running firmware version 1.5.1b55774. I followed the instructions in the quick-start guide to download and install both the Merging MTDiscovery app and the RAVENNA/AES67 Virtual Audio Device (VAD) driver on my MacBook Pro. After I connected the Hapi to my router, the app found and identified it and opened its local control webpage on my browser. This page…
For Koenig, this issue wasn't merely academic. Before making his name as head of Contemporary Records in Los Angeles, he had attended Yale…