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August 2022 Jazz Record Reviews

John Scofield: John Scofield
Scofield, electric guitar, looper
ECM 2727 (auditioned in 16/44.1 WAV, available as CD, LP). 2022. Manfred Eicher, exec. prod.; Tyler McDiarmid, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

In a distinguished half-century jazz career, John Scofield has been everywhere, played with everyone, and done everything. But he has never made a solo guitar record. Until now.

This eponymous release is his most intimate, most introspective album, though it's not entirely mellow. Scofield has roots in rock and country, and on his first solo record, he…

August 2022 Classical Record Reviews

Shiva Feshareki, Daphne Oram: Turning World
London Contemporary Orchestra, Shiva Feshareki, James Bulley, Kit Downes
NMC Recordings NMC D266 (CD, download). 2022. Jonathan Manners, Ellie Mant, prods., Gilly Chauhan, Andy Garratt, Ross Sanders, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

For her first proper full-length, British-born Iranian composer/performer Shiva Feshareki set her ambitions high, reaching up into the ether and backward into the early days of electronic music.

Feshareki has garnered acclaim for her live mixing of electronic and acoustic sounds. On the…

Sonus faber Omnia wireless loudspeaker

Pop quiz. What does the following verbiage describe? And what does it mean?

"It's about what we love the most. It's about what we hate the most. It's about what we wait for but never happens. Relationships turn on, interrupt, and resume. Or sometimes they just stay still. Floating and suspended. So breathe in. Let go. Let's begin from nothing."

Huh. Any luck yet?

"And suddenly we discover that it's easier than we thought. It's more powerful than we ever imagined. You can see and feel what's around you with an intensity that you never felt before. Just embrace the most…

Sonus faber Omnia wireless loudspeaker Page 2

A lighted dot on each side of that line—also tappable—lets you adjust the volume. As the level goes up and down, a much longer light strip expands and contracts accordingly. Nifty. Two other lighted strips round out the novel user interface: The middle one indicates a successful network connection, and the rearmost strip lets you know when a firmware update is in progress. Other patterns and animations indicate things like booting up, a factory reset, and the availability of new software. They're all just rare enough that I don't think I'd learn to match the light-strip behavior with the…

Sonus faber Omnia wireless loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Wireless stereo, 4-way, DSP-optimized closed-box system. Two 0.75" silk-dome drivers; two 3" paper-pulp cone drivers; two 1.75" cellulose-pulp membrane drivers; one 6.5" long-throw aluminum-cone driver. Frequency response 30Hz–25kHz, –6dB. Power rating (sum of all channels): 490W. Inputs: phono, line in, HDMI ARC. Network connectivity: Ethernet (10/100Mbps); Wi-Fi dual-band 2×2 802.11 b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5.2GHz).
Dimensions: 5.1" (130mm) × 25.6" (650mm) × 11.1" (282mm). Weight 16.75lb (7.6kg) Finishes: Walnut veneer, graphite (black).
…

Sonus faber Omnia wireless loudspeaker Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital sources: 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max and iPhone 12 Pro Max, running Roon. Roon ROCK (Lenovo ThinkCentre). Sony S9000ES SACD player.
Loudspeakers: Naim Mu-so 2. MartinLogan Crescendo X.—Rogier van Bakel

EISA Hi-Fi Awards 2022-2023

EISA, or the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, is an organization representing 60 of the most respected special interest publications and websites from 29 countries that cover Hi-Fi, Home Theater Video, Home Theater Audio, Photography, Mobile Devices, and In-Car Electronics. Every year EISA's Expert Group members, including editors from this publication, test a very wide range of new products from their field of expertise before comparing results and voting to decide the cream of every product category.

To win an EISA award all products undergo a comprehensive multi-step judging…

Rotel Michi P5 preamplifier Jason Victor Serinus September 2022

Jason Victor Serinus auditioned the Michi P5 in September 2022 (Vol.45 No.9):

When Rotel shipped the Michi S5 stereo amplifier to me for review (footnote 1), they sent along a sample of its companion stereo preamplifier, the P5 ($4299.99, serial number 255-9501002), so that I could experience a complete Michi pairing. After a brief listen to that Michi combo, I decided to pair the S5 with my familiar reference for that review, the two-piece D'Agostino Momentum HD preamplifier ($42,500) and write a separate follow-up to Ken Micallef's November 2020 review of the P5.

Whereas Ken's…

60 Years of <I>Stereophile</I>!

It was September 1962. In the UK, the Beatles were recording their first single, "Love Me Do," at London's Abbey Road Studios. And in the US, a young journalist, J. Gordon Holt, born in North Carolina but raised in Australia from 1935 to 1947, had become dissatisfied with the advertiser-friendly atmosphere at High Fidelity magazine, for which he had been the audio editor. Holt quit High Fidelity and, after a brief stint with phono cartridge manufacturer Weathers, published the first issue of what was then called The Stereophile. Cover-dated September 1962, its 20 pages contained one equipment…

Gryphon Apex Stereo power amplifier

Some time ago, an amplifier in for review caught fire when first powered up. I don't mean it smoked and sizzled and shut down—I mean that actual flames shot through the top grate. Fortunately, I was able to grab a kitchen fire extinguisher and douse the thing with foam. (Sorry, this was decades ago, and I don't remember the brand, but I think the company had a fire sale and was shut down.)

Another time, a representative of an amplifier manufacturer visited for an install. Once everything was connected and ready to be powered up, he assumed an unusually defensive stance. He turned his…