April 2017
Everyone who pays regular attention to the world of audio and video equipment knows the name Oppo Digital, Inc. Here at SoundStage!, we’ve been fans since 2006, when Roger Kanno and I reviewed their first two DVD players, the DV-970HD ($149 USD) and the OPDV971H ($199). Both players became instant Reviewers’ Choice winners. Since then, Oppo has released a string of impressive silver-disc players that have resided at or near the top of critics’ lists of recommendations.
April 2017
Concord B01MF9RD6H
Format: CD
Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment
I celebrated my 60th birthday by catching one of the best concerts I’d seen in a couple of years. Consider the context: as someone who reviews music for a living, I see a lot of live performances. Yet this one still resonates, and it wasn’t just the monumental anniversary that made it memorable.
Audeze iSine10 earphones measurements can be found by clicking this link.
March 2017
I’ve been reviewing headphones and earphones since 2008, but the Audeze iSine10s are the first I’ve encountered that create their own category. The iSine10s ($399 USD with Lightning and analog cables, $349 with analog cable only) differ from all other earphones not only in their sound, appearance, and the way they work, but even in the ways you’ll use them.
March 2017
The Criterion Collection 855
Format: Blu-ray
Overall Enjoyment
Picture Quality
Sound Quality
Extras
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was inspired, in part, by La Voix humaine, a 1930 play by Jean Cocteau. The film that brought Pedro Almodóvar international fame, it was the first of his movies I saw, in a small art house in Washington, DC. It blew me away -- here was Bringing Up Baby (1938) or Ball of Fire (1941) given a Spanish flare, brought up to date for 1988, and presented in vibrant, even outrageous color. Nearly 30 years later, I felt the same rush while watching this new reissue, one of the best the Criterion Collection has ever presented.
March 2017
We’ve heard a lot of debate recently about the value of science. As I write this, marches are being planned in which tens of thousands of people are expected to express their views on the subject. In audio, though, this is nothing new. For decades, we’ve witnessed arguments -- often shockingly acrimonious ones -- about the value of science in audio.
March 2017
This little outdoor speaker supplants JBL’s popular Charge 2 and sells at the same price: $149.95 USD. It’s available in black, gray, blue, teal, or red, and has a waterproof rating of IPX7, which means you can briefly but fully immerse it in water. It also plays loud, which makes it great for outdoor or poolside parties, and several Charge 3s can be paired for even greater SPLs. A free JBL app lets a pair of Charge 3s play in true stereo.
Blue Ella headphones measurements can be found by clicking this link.
March 2017
Few companies have the technical chops or the commitment to get into the headphone biz the way Blue Microphones did a couple of years ago. Its first headphones, the Mo-Fis, combined a radically new design, a fresh technical twist, and superb sound quality. Blue’s new Ellas ($699 USD) replace the Mo-Fis’ conventional dynamic drivers with planar-magnetic panels, which have enjoyed renewed attention thanks to the recent efforts of such companies as Audeze and HiFiMan.
Hot Shot 001
Format: CD
Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment
It’s easy to see the humor through the world-weary cynicism when Texas-born singer Delbert McClinton half-drawls lyrics like “I gave up drinking / I gave up pills / I gave up everything that gave me a thrill / Nothing salty and nothing sweet / I skip it all, from milk to wheat / I got a trainer and a diet guy / Sprouts and protein shakes, that’s all I buy.”
February 2017
The Canadian company Axiom Audio has established itself as a mainstream loudspeaker brand, and over the years has greatly expanded its product line to cover all facets of audio, including computer speakers, in-wall and in-ceiling and center speakers, omnidirectional speakers with sophisticated DSP modules, and power amplifiers. Now Axiom ventures into wireless speakers with the AxiomAir N3 ($799 USD). As with many of their other designs, Axiom’s take on this hotly competitive market segment is innovative and unique, promises better sound quality than typical Bluetooth speakers, and great value.
February 2017
Naxos 2.110372
Format: DVD
Overall Enjoyment
Picture Quality
Sound Quality
Extras
There was a gap in The Criterion Collection Blu-ray express this month; no title for review arrived. But Naxos sent me their edition of this dynamic film, now out of print on Criterion DVD. Naxos’s presentation is very Criterion-like, while tackling an element of film often ignored by Criterion: the music. And, upsampled to 4K, the DVD images offer a very impressive picture.
February 2017
My assignment at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, was to cover headphones -- a chore I thought might leave me plenty of free time to check out new speakers and subwoofers. But so many new headphones were launched that covering the category took up almost all of my time at the show. Much as I love high-end, audiophile-oriented headphones -- and there were plenty of new ones at CES 2017 -- I was just as excited to see promising new models at prices as low as $14.99. In fact, the most important trend was the introduction of many new headphone models that combined noise canceling with Bluetooth wireless operation, neither of which would be considered an audiophile feature, though both are vital to those who rely on headphones to keep them entertained as they wander the world.
Feburary 2017
After my discovery last month of quality headphones from Koss for $49.99 USD, I decided to investigate Altec’s MZX300 Bluetooth headphones, which retail for only $39.99.
Beyerdynamic Amiron Home headphones measurements can be found by clicking this link.
January 2017
The Beyerdynamic Amiron Home headphones represent a welcome reaction against recent trends in high-end headphones. In my opinion, many high-end headphones focus on making a dramatic first impression rather than offering a pleasant experience over the long term. Many are heavy, which might not bother the listener in a quick demo but could make the ’phones exhausting to wear for an hour. Some use uncomfortably strong clamping force to achieve a firm seal around the ear. Many are unnaturally trebly, which, in the short term, gives the impression of extra detail and spaciousness but often proves fatiguing in longer listening sessions.
February 2017
For the past 20 years, I’ve been preaching that buyers of audio gear in the mid- to upper price levels should spend some of their shopping time appraising the professional marketplace. In the beginning, I had to recommend jury-rigged systems with huge audio interfaces that had multiple microphone preamps, various digital inputs and outputs, and inputs/outputs that most audiophiles have never used. (Got any balanced TRS 1/4” cables in your storage box?)
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