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HiFiMan presented a few noteworthy new products at CanJam NYC, including the EF400 DAC/headphone amplifier, the Edition XS planar-magnetic headphones, the HE-R9 closed-back dynamic headphones, and the HM800 mini-DAC.

The HiFMan EF400 DAC/headphone amplifier (shown above with the HE-R9 headphones) follows their older EF6, the company's PR rep, Adam Sohmer, told me. "People were looking for an update." Updates it brings. The EF400 contains HiFiMan's latest "Himalaya" R-2R "ladder" DAC module. It converts PCM signals of up to 24/786, Sohmer told me. The EF400 DAC/amp will retail for…

Brilliant Adventure could easily have been called Bowie Gets His Edge Back. After years of shallow creativity, he found himself back at pop's outer reaches. Included in this wonderfully packaged box set are the remastered studio albums Black Tie White Noise, Outside, Earthling, 'hours...', and The Buddha of Suburbia, which served as a soundtrack for a BBC series of the same name. There's also an exuberant live album…

Isaiah J. Thompson is a new pianist of exceptional promise. He is 24 and has already acquired two degrees from Juilliard and released two impressive records. He is not your typical wunderkind. He has qualities that most young badasses acquire later in life if at all, like concision, control, taste, and humility.

The first…

Here's a superbly executed oddity that somehow manages to enthrall: Atmospherically recorded arrangements for string orchestra of works written between 1847 (Mendelssohn's final String Quartet No.6 in F minor, Op.80) and 2019 (Joanna Marsh's In Winter's House). That a string program that includes two pieces initially composed for choral voices works so superbly is due to the care and…

Unfortunately, that strategy hasn't…

The more records I played, the more I saw that the S12s were creating these enormous…

Description: Reflex-loaded, 2-way standmount speaker with one 4" (100mm) coated alloy-cone woofer, and one 1" (26mm) alloy dome tweeter enclosed in a two-layer cabinet made of RIMCast polyurethane. Frequency response: 45Hz–25kHz (–6dB). Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum, 5.3 ohms). Power handling: 150W RMS, 300W peak. Recommended amplifier power: 25W–125W.
Dimensions: 15.7" (400mm) H × 9.3" (237mm) W × 10" (254mm) D. Weight: 17.5lb (8kg).
Finish: Piano Black, Pearl White, and Oyster Grey Matte, plus…

Analog sources: Linn Sondek LP12 Klimax turntable with Linn Ekos SE/2 tonearm, Linn Ekstatik moving coil cartridge, Linn Urika phono preamp, and Linn Radikal/2 power supply; Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5" tonearm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum moving coil, Koetsu SUT, EAR Phono Classic MM/MC phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server, dCS Bartók DAC/streamer.
Integrated amplifiers: Pass Labs INT-25, Line Magnetic LM-518 IA.
Power amplifier: Parasound Halo A 21+.
Loudspeakers: Falcon…

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, an Earthworks microphone preamplifier, and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Vivid Audio Kaya S12's farfield behavior, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for its nearfield responses. I left the vestigial grilles that cover the two drive units in place for the measurements. I used Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle.

Vivid specifies the Kaya S12's sensitivity as 87dB/2.83V/m. My B-weighted estimate was inconsequentially lower, at 86.3dB(B)/2.83V/m. The Kaya S12's…

Around the time I took over as Stereophile's editor, I bought a Peloton, the internet-enabled stationary exercise bike. It was a lifesaver during the pandemic, when gyms were closed; despite the poor audio quality and the awful music many of the instructors choose, it's good, diverting exercise.

I quickly learned I'd be wanting Bluetooth headphones, since dangling wires get in the way. The Peloton, though, can be finicky about…