Jim Austin

CH Precision C1.2 D/A processor
Audacious AudioDigital Processor Reviews
Jim Austin  |  Jan 27, 2023  |  30 comments
If you're reasonably handy, you can probably build your own digital-to-analog converter. It won't cost much, and if you're careful, and knowledgeable enough to understand and follow some rather technical instructions, or if you have patience enough to follow advice from a few different online discussion forums—and the judgment to distinguish the good advice from the bad—then the DAC you make may end up sounding very good.
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Room Acoustics Writ Large
As We See It
Jim Austin  |  Jan 17, 2023  |  9 comments
Since writing about Manhattan's renovated Geffen Hall in this space in our January issue, I've attended two concerts there. I thought I'd report back. The first of the two performances—the hall's "Grand Gala" concert, though they didn't invite me to the fancy dinner afterward—included works by young Puerto Rico–born composer Angélica Negrón (You Are the Prelude) and Ludwig van Beethoven (Symphony No.9). The second included works by Stravinsky (Symphonies of Wind Instruments), Bartók (Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra, with Daniil Trifonov and Sergei Babayan), and Sibelius (Symphony No.7).
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Big-Hall Acoustics and Hi-Fi
As We See It
Jim Austin  |  Dec 20, 2022  |  11 comments
What do New York's Lincoln Center and the typical Stereophile reader have in common? Both have recently made large investments to achieve sonic excellence.

I doubt that very many Stereophile readers have spent as much as Lincoln Center did on the renovation of Geffen Hall: $550 million. But then few audiophiles' systems are supported by the likes of David Geffen, a $100 million contributor to the Geffen Hall project, or Joseph and Clara Wu Tsai, who gave $50 million.

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December 2022 Jazz Record Reviews
Music and Recording Reviews
Jim Austin, Robert Baird, Thomas Conrad, Sasha Matson  |  Dec 16, 2022  |  1 comments
Ethan Philion: Meditations on Mingus, Jakob Bro, Joe Lovano: Once Around the Room: A Tribute to Paul Motian, Brother Jack McDuff: Moon Rappin', Miles Davis: That's What Happened 1982–1985 (The Bootleg Series, Vol.7), Marshall Gilkes: Cyclic Journey and Noah Garabedian: Consider the Stars Beneath Us.
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Stereophile's Products of 2022
Products of the Year
Jim Austin  |  Nov 18, 2022  |  26 comments
What does it mean to be Stereophile's Product of the Year? It's an honor, certainly, and probably helps the winner sell more products, but is there anything more we can say about it?

The PotY competition is the culmination of a whole year of the magazine's work, starting with the choice of products to review. Only products we review or consider carefully in a column qualify for the competition, and every product we review is eligible for the competition: We only review products we think will have a decent shot at being among the best.

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A new listening companion
As We See It
Jim Austin  |  Nov 15, 2022  |  18 comments
I have a confession, one I'm hesitant to make for reasons that will soon become clear, but my conscience compels me to make it.

I have a new dog. A puppy. Her name is Ella Wren.

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Estelon XB Diamond Mk.2 loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Jim Austin  |  Oct 20, 2022  |  24 comments
I remember, at High End Munich 2019, setting eyes on one of the most attractive loudspeakers I'd ever seen, in the color that, as I now know, Estelon calls Ocean Mystery. I remember it as a passive demo, no music playing, seen through glass; whether that memory is strictly accurate I don't know. Memories are funny things.
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Audio Advice Live: a solo audio show in Raleigh
As We See ItAudio Advice Live 2022
Jim Austin  |  Oct 19, 2022  |  1 comments
For years, Audio Advice Live has been an annual event, drawing enthusiastic audiophiles to the dealership's showrooms on Raleigh's Glenwood Avenue, next to Virgin Cigars. This year, Audio Advice Live was different. It was a fully fledged audio show, held like most such events at a conference hotel: the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel in that North Carolina city, with rooms sponsored and presented by a wide range of hi-fi and home-theater manufacturers and distributors.
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Hi-Fi 101
As We See It
Jim Austin  |  Sep 13, 2022  |  11 comments
I first heard about the project in an email, one of the dozens I receive every day and barely glance at. It said that the editor of a German hi-fi publication was crossing the ocean to talk about hi-fi audio to students and their parents at a junior/senior high school in Westchester County, New York, just 45 minutes or so by car from my Manhattan apartment. Interesting. And odd. I moved on to the next email.
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Audio Advice Live: A Single-Dealer Audio Show in Raleigh
New ProductsNews
Jim Austin  |  Aug 26, 2022  |  1 comments
Since 2007, Audio Advice Live has been an annual, one-night event, drawing enthusiastic audiophiles to the Audio Advice showrooms in Raleigh's Glenwood Avenue, next to Virgin Cigars, or to their location in Charlotte. But this year, Audio Advice Live was different: It was a fully fledged audio show, held like most such events at a conference hotel: the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, in that North Carolina city, with rooms sponsored and presented by a wide range of hi-fi (and home-theater) companies. The show's website listed 70 brands—58 home audio brands, the others video-related—followed by a graphic saying "+ MANY MORE!"
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