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Questyle's Bruce Ball was on hand to demo the R or Reference version of their player that John Atkinson just reviewed for Stereophile. You can check the review for details, but here are the basics: the QP1R is available now for $899 and essentially offers more internal memory and higher quality components than the regular QP1 ($599). Check out the photo below of all the parts inside the new player. Gorgeous!
Pictured here is the tiny, almost pocket-sized digital recorder from NAGRA, the Seven 2 channel Digital Recorder, which lists for $4999 in the US. The Seven can record PCM files up to 192 kHz and has been designed as the successor to the Nagra LB, ARES-C, ARES-BB+ and Nagra V recorders. It has one digital input and two analog inputs equipped with traditional Nagra microphone preamplifiers which include phantom +48V microphones for condenser mics.
Also on hand is Nagra's new Classic DAC, based on the company's HD DAC design. The Classic will process PCM up to 384 kHz and double DSD. Inputs…
Making good on the prototype that Great Britain's Prism was showing last year, the new Callia DAC will finally be released for retail this month at $1,895. It will handle 32/394 PCM and double DSD via USB, optical and SPDIF inputs on back. There will be both balanced and unbalanced audio outputs with digital volume control along with low-impedance headphone output with sensitivity adjustments on the back panel.
First shown at Rocky Mountain in October, the soulution 760 DAC was again on hand and is now expected to ship at the end of January for startling $72,000. I say startling not only because this is pre-owned Aston Martin DB-9 territory but also because soulution tends to go with a minimilist esthetic with their casework. So the focus is on what's inside, not the fancy metal.
soulution's Cyrill Hammer explained to me that Inside is a converter based on that found in the 745 SACD-player with the addition of digital volume control and extra inputs on back. Those include SPDIF, AES/EBU, optical…
One of the great pleasures of CES is discovering new music. People come from all over the world, and often bring surprising choices.
Such was the case when distributor/retailer GTT Audio's Bill Parish asked what I'd like to listen to, and I turned it back over to him. I'm not sure who made the choice, but between Parish and Mola Mola's Bruna Putzeys, who had walked over, a track from Christine and the Queens emerged. New to me, and I've already ordered the disc on Amazon.
I was here to check out the Makua Linestage ($11,740) from Mola Mola which can include an optional DAC ($6,…
First, Bryston reminded show-goers that earlier this year they updated their BDP-2 Music Player (reviewed here by Michael Lavorgna at AudioStream.com and Larry Greenhill here and the box on top in the photo above) with a new "Integrated Audio Device" or "IAD".
Bryston claims that the new IAD delivers improved specifications and replaces the current two-piece third-party sound card and SPDIF interface module. All new BDP-2 players are currently shipping with the new IAD installed, and legacy BDP-2 consumers have an option to retrofit to the new device for $500.
Below the BDP-2 is…
Though not a listening stop, we had to say hello to the guys from Mobile Fidelity including (L-R in the photo above) Rob Loverde, Shawn Britton and Jonathan Derda. Turns out Shawn has mastered some of Graham's work, so they immediately set to talking about the new album and the possibility of MoFi getting their hands on it.
Afterwards, Nash dived into the bins and picked up several albums, primarily early Bob Dylan remasters. I asked him if he still had a turntable setup and he responded "not right now, but I'm in a new apartment and plan to get one."
[Note: click here for background on this project and here for how we set up the equipment.]
Chord Electronics had their suite divided into two rooms at CES, the main room as shown in the photo above and the smaller back room where all the headphone listening was taking place. Chord had their Mojo and Hugo TT DACs set up with a variety of Audeze headphones as reported earlier.
But in the main room was their latest DAVE DAC (which I'll be profiling in a later post) as well as some of their best electronics. The system was topped off with one of my personal favorites, the Vienna…
The surprising combination of the superb-sounding (but prototype) Technical Audio Devices Laboratories (TAD) loudspeakers with the wonderfully affordable Audio Alchemy electronics manifested some penetratingly beautiful Roy Orbison music.
These good-looking TAD prototypes are designed to become a more affordable (under $15,000/pair) version of TAD's popular and highly regarded Compact Evolution One loudspeakers ($26,000/pair with stands). This new design has been nicknamed the "White Carat Diamond," and is a three-way design incorporating a new 90mm concentric midrange/HF driver.
…
I discovered the Morel Octave 6 stand-mounted speakers ($2500/pair) at the 2015 CES. I liked them so much I wrote a review for our February 2016 issue. I spent a large number of hours—days, weeks, even months—listening with them. I thought they sounded liquid and exciting and musically provocative—but perhaps a bit over-saturated in the 50–120Hz region.
This time, Morel's USA distributor, Nir Paz, was demonstrating the bigger Octave 6 Limited Edition floorstanders ($6000/pair). He was driving them with the new 250Wpc (into 8 ohms) Hegel H360 integrated amplifier ($5700).
I was a…