As a result of changing priorities and a revolt…
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This year is not only one of fallout from the most divisive political campaigns of our time, but will also one of competing audio shows too close for comfort. Southern California will see dueling audio shows three months and 35 miles apart, and New York City and Washington, DC will host shows on consecutive weekends. While a proliferation of audio shows potentially presents plenty of opportunities for audiophiles to hear new gear, such conflicts ultimately limit which manufacturers can exhibit where, and can render some shows a poor value.
On February 16, Universal Music Group and MQA announced a multi-year agreement that will encode UMG's huge catalog of master recordings in MQA. In the language of the press release, the agreement promises "to make some of the world's most celebrated recordings available for the first time in Hi-Res Audio streaming." UMG's labels include ECM, Interscope, Geffen, A&M, Capitol, Island, Def Jam, Decca, Verve, Blue Note, Virgin, and EMI.
The announcement comes after the embrace of MQA by major label Warner, and the launch of the "Stream the Studio" campaign at CES 2017. Spearheaded by DEG…
Now that we've entered a world of post-disc audio (sorry, AnalogPlanet.com), audiophile streaming and file-playback products have appeared by the hundreds, and many companies are on their second, third, or even fourth-generation models.
The Chinese company Auralic Limited has been pushing bits around for seven years, releasing a half-dozen streaming and network devices. Their newest, the Altair, combines in a single package the functions of a DAC, streamer, and headphone amplifier with volume control, allowing it also to operate as an all-digital-system preamplifier. Just add power amp…
Another thing to watch out for is when you switch from the Stream input to a hardwired input such as Coax: The streaming function then stops, and it takes a few seconds to boot up again when you switch back to Stream. Here's the tricky part: the Stream input can be chosen only from the Altair's front panel or remote control, not from the app, which now has lost connection and, again, works only when Stream is engaged. Until I figured this out, the first few times I went to Stream after using the USB drive, the Lightning DS or Roon app would lose the Altair, and I'd restart the Altair to get…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: RoonReady wireless streaming D/A processor. Inputs: network-shared folder, USB drive, internal music storage (with optional 2.5" HDD or SSD installed), uPnP/DLNA media server, Tidal & Qobuz, Internet Radio, AirPlay, Bluetooth, Songcast. Digital inputs: 1 AES/EBU, 1 coaxial, 1 TosLink, 1 USB device to computer, 2 USB host for storage & DAC, 1 RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, 1 802.11b/g/n/ac dual-band WiFi. Analog outputs: balanced (XLR, output impedance 10 ohms), single-ended (RCA, output impedance 50 ohms), 6.35mm headphone jack. File types supported…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.5GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) running OS 10.12.1, Roon v1.2 Build 165, JRiver Media Center 19, iTunes 12, Amarra Computer Music Player, VLC, Reaper 5.20.100, XLD; Western Digital NAS (2TB); Toshiba, Western Digital portable USB drives; Oppo Digital BDP-103 universal BD player; Meridian Sooloos Digital Media System (Control 15, QNAP TS-669 Pro NAS); Apple iPad Air 2 & iPhone 6; Ayre Acoustics Codex, Benchmark DAC1 USB & DAC2 HGC, Luxman DA-250, T+A Elektroakustik DAC 8 DSD DACs.
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the Auralic Altair with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). As well as the Audio Precision's optical and electrical digital outputs, I used Pure Music 3.0 to play WAV and AIFF test-tone files sourced via USB from my MacBook Pro running on battery power. To test the Altair's performance via its streaming connection, I loaded Auralic's Lightning DS app onto an iPad Mini and sourced the same WAV and AIFF files from an i7 Mac mini running Twonky server and with my NetGear router connected to the Altair by 30' of CAT-6…
I have had a long relationship with Bowers & Wilkins. The first B&W speaker I spent serious time with was the DM-6, the infamous "pregnant kangaroo," which was reviewed by Allen Edelstein in December 1977 and which I borrowed for a while after interviewing the company's founder, John Bowers. Ten years later, when I met the woman who was to become my third wife, she already owned a pair of B&W Matrix 801s, a speaker reviewed by Lewis Lipnick in December 1987.
Both of these models were floorstanders, but the B&W speaker that spent the longest time in my listening room was…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, port-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25.4mm) diamond-dome tweeter, 6.5" (165mm) Continuum-cone woofer. Frequency range: 34Hz–35kHz. Frequency response: 42Hz–28kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Minimum impedance: 4.6 ohms. Harmonic distortion (second and third harmonic at 90dB at 1m on tweeter axis): <1%, 70Hz–20kHz; <0.6%, 120Hz–20kHz. Recommended amplification: 50–120W on unclipped program.
Dimensions: 16.7" (424mm) H by 8.4" (238mm) W by 13.6" (345mm) D. Weight: 28 lbs (12.6kg…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources: Aurender N10 music server; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; dCS Rossini CD player & Rossini Clock; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A converter with Bridge II network adaptor; Meridian UltraDAC; AudioQuest JitterBug, UpTone Audio ReGen USB cleaner-uppers; Mac mini running Pure Music 3, Audirvana, Twonky server; iPad Mini running PlugPlay, Aurender apps; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Phono…