| May 2013 - The Conductor's two new students - Burson expands their Conductor range with the SL9018 [$1.550] and SL1793 [$1.250] by stripping away the 6mm casing, stepped attenuator and variable/fixed outputs. The casing turns 2mm folded aluminum, the attenuator becomes an Alps and the adjustable gain structure shrinks from 3 stages to two. The SL9018 retains the Conductor's ESS9018 chip, the SL1793 goes PCM 1793. And unlike the Conductor's 4 watts, both newcomers put out 2 watts max into a headphone load.
That's how pricing has come down from the original $1.850. Vive la recession. |  |
| May 2013 - Blue peaches - Peachtree Audio's new Bluetooth speaker deepblue [$399] "is a one-box music system whose sealed elliptical enclosure contains all custom-designed drivers - a 6.5" woofer, two 3" midranges and two 1" soft-dome tweeters to become a compact but true three-way speaker. The deepblue is powered by a 240-watt five-channel amp with DSP and comes with remote control."
|  |
| May 2013 - MIT goes down market - MIT Cables announces a broad line of new products. The StyleLine high-performance cables utilize many of the same patented features but advanced manufacturing techniques miniaturize the networks and bring the cables to much more affordable price points. "A comprehensive StyleLine catalog will offer cables for both single-ended and balanced interconnects plus speaker cables all in a variety of performance levels. USB and HDMI cables will round out the initial offering. In many cases miniaturization enables the passive networks to fit inside the RCA and XLR connectors rather than needing large network boxes. In models where too many articulation poles are utilized, completely new and much smaller enclosures are mounted in the middle of the cables rather than at the ends, making them easier to manage. Pricing starts at $199/1m for the single-ended SL3 ($299/pr for balanced)."
|  |
| May 2013 - More DSD - "Resonessence Labs announces their flagship Mirus targeted at audiophiles who listen to their music collection exclusively over a hifi
amplifier and quality loudspeakers, i.e. not headphones. To that end the Mirus has two ESS Sabre 9018 chips
running in parallel for a total of eight 32-bit DACs per channel.
Additionally Invicta and Mirus have received firmware and hardware upgrades to
accommodate DSD and DXD as well as 352.8/384 PCM over both USB and the SD card.
The new Invicta and Invicta Mirus are priced at $4.995. Previous models are eligible for the same software upgrades." |  |
| May 2013 - ASI LiveLine Reference cables - Franck Tchang announces that "after a lot of work I finally finished the Reference LiveLine cables as both interconnect & speaker models. The reference cables use our ASI legacy multi-metal design. They have a very dark background, stunning dynamics even at very low listening levels and lots of body and rich harmonics. The price for a pair of 1.2m RCA interconnects is €1250 or €1.800 for XLR. Speaker cables are €2.600/pr for 2.4m." |  |
| April 2013 - Colotube preamp - The Swiss tube electronics company introduces their C3g-based triode preamp with Lundahl output transformers, four RCA inputs and one output, a passive function and 19dB of gain in active mode. The price is CHF 7.700 and trim matches their 300B SET monos with solid-wood Wenge cheeks and steel cover.
|  |
| April 2013 - New Thiel - "The CS1.7 [$3.999/pr] employs Thiel’s phase/time coherent design using precision-engineered 1st-order acoustic crossover networks and the latest technology for the woofer and tweeter engineered by us specifically for the CS1.7 project. The tweeter based on the platform used in the CS1.6 has been highly optimized for the CS1.7 featuring a new voice coil, new magnetic circuit and reworked aluminum diaphragm resulting in increased linearity and lower distortion. The aluminum woofer’s 'star' diaphragm was conceived using the latest laser measurement technology and also utilizes a new voice coil and magnetic structure that enables the driver to operate as a piston through a much greater range of frequencies. The cabinet is 1-inch thick and the massive baffle with its low-turbulence vertical port 2-inches. The CS1.7 comes with leveling feet and an optional brushed aluminum outrigger base is available as shown."
|  |
| April 2013 - Polished schiit - "When we announced Bifrost and Gungnir, we said these DACs were pretty much future proof since they’re upgradable. Now it’s time to announce the first upgrades!
Bifrost Uber: This DAC/analog upgrade card improves the sonic and measured performance of Bifrost, using a discrete direct-coupled gain stage from Gungnir. This is adds more complex topology and DC servo to eliminate capacitors in the signal path and to improve on the already impressive performance of the AKM4399 D/A converter.
Cost is $70 when purchased with Bifrost or as a board for professional installation; or $100 as an upgrade.
Gen2 USB.
This new USB card for Bifrost and Gungnir supports 24/176.4 and improves USB performance across the board. Featuring the C-Media CM6631A receiver and additional isolation and filtering, the Gen2 USB input outperforms external USB/SPDIF converters that cost several times as much.
Cost is $100 when purchased with Bifrost or Gungnir or as a board for professional installation: or $150 as an upgrade."
|  |
| April 2013 - Finnish widebanders in Germany - "The frankfurter hoergesellschaft is proud
to announce its latest entry to its high-end portfolio: handcrafted
fullrange speakers from Finland. These newcomers from the North
go back to the beginnings of speaker technology with wide bandwidth single-driver
speakers. None of their models use crossovers. Adjusting
sound is done with cabinet measures and the usage of different
filler materials. Six different models are available at the moment.
Shown here is the Erotic with a 6.5" bamboo paper widebander in a bass reflex enclosure. Bass is really amazing and response
~35Hz - 18.5kHz."
|  |
| April 2013 - Teresonic digital - Teresonic announces Clarison Digital, "a new line of high-end digital cables. These feature pure OFC Litz wire which consists of multiple strands each individually silver plated. Military-grade shielding provides triple signal protection from electric, magnetic and mechanical interferences. All Teresonic cables are designed and tested at over 200MHz. The RCA cable sells at $395/1.5m as does the BNC equivalent. A fully balanced AES/EBU version retails for $445." |  |
| April 2013 - Go Furutech - "After the success of our high-end WBT RCA connector offering for our Ultimate Silver Dream interconnects, we were asked about a high-end version of the XLR cables. We found it in the Furutech CF-60, a tour-de-force in maximizing every single design detail for the single purpose of completely uncorrupted signal flow."
So says Artisan Silver Cables. |  |
| April 2013 - Rotel -
The RA-1770 integrated [$1.599]
"draws on a high-capacity power supply with Rotel designed and manufactured toroid. Subsequent power supply segments are built with tight-tolerance parts like T-network capacitors. The input section provides front-panel USB for easy connection of music storage devices including iPods, iPhones and iPads. A rear panel asynchronous 24/192 USB input is accompanied by two each coaxial and optical inputs. The level on these sources can be fixed for devices which provide their own volume control. Analog inputs are on XLR and RCA. Wolfson's WM8740 with selectable digital filters handles D/A conversion. The discrete class AB output stage produces 120wpc into 8 ohms. There are pre-out/main-in connectors, a VFD display and a precisely calibrated electronic volume control."
The companion RCD-1570 CD player [$999]
sports the same Wolfson WM8740 converter and a slot-loading disc transport.
|  |
| April 2013 - Luxury USB cable - Fono Acustica add a USB cable to their Armonico cable range. "Truly handmade thermo-treated precious-metal conductors are
blended in proprietary ratios. Air-insulated dielectrics with
ultra-effective shielding and large vibration-isolating tubing
supplemented with external anti-resonant African hardwood blocks
reduce structural and airborne interference. Termination is with custom
24K gold-plated connectors in African hardwood bodies and hand-soldered joints."
|  |
| April 2013 - PHY goes ferrite fi - "Starting last year step by step, we've now rebuilt all of PHY's tools and began production of the bronze parts in France which previously had come from China. Except for the Alnico magnet we now have a purely French product and the finishing and delivery times are better. We are happy to announce our new E17LB15 driver which due to his then financial troubles Bernard Salabert could never afford to offer to the public. This driver is now in production and stock for immediate shipment." This is a 17cm/6-inch paper-cone widebander with Ferrite magnet, 84.67Hz resonant frequency, 15-ohm impedance and 96dB efficiency.
|  |
| April 2013 - OMA dojo calls you on the mat - "OMA introduces a new line of polycrystalline graphite turntables mats. Unlike other carbon products such as carbon fiber and amorphous carbon, polycrystalline graphite offers the best possible interface between the turntable platter and a record. Both mats are thicker at 6mm than any other graphite mat. The OMA SP10 graphite mat [$340]is sized exactly to fit the inset Technics SP10 platter. The OMA idler mat at 11.7" diameter fits the Garrards, Thorens TD124 and Lenco platters."
|  |
| April 2013 - Dare stare into the abyss - Explains Joe Skubinski of JPS Labs, "Abyss Headphones came about from the need for a superior way to listen to
music. We worked for nearly 5 years on our first model headphone
with much time spent experimenting with existing diaphragm and magnet materials
to ultimately decide we had to make our own.
So we developed an in-house method of manufacturing an extremely low
mass diaphragm with a conductive trace optimized as a unique planar-magnetic
transducer." The Abyss AB-1266 headphone package sells for $5495 in the USA and begins
shipping in May.
|  |
| April 2013 - Aëdle - From France and made there comes a pair of headphones claimed to combine impeccable industrial design, noble materials like Titanium drivers, Neodymium motors, virgin aluminum ingot, genuine lambskin leather, manganese steel, liquid silicone and protein foam and ultimate sound.
The VK-1 [€320] is available in Classic and Carbon finishes, i.e. clear-anodized and black anodized T6066 aircraft grade aluminum with matching camel-brown or black leather. Each sealed headphones includes a 3.5mm detachable Aramid-fiber cord, additional 3.5 audio cable, travel pouch, airline adapter, 6.5mm adapter and metal serial number card.
|  |
| April 2013 - MacMini PSU - Funjoe of Hong Kong firm Clones Audio (so named for his 'gainclone' chip amps) introduces his mPSU [$499], a linear ultra low-noise power supply upgrade for the popular MacMini (2010 and newer). A 10-minute 'how' to' installation video linked to from his site shows how to upgrade the MacMini to accept the new power supply.
The photo at right obviously shows the innards without the casing. |  |
| April 2013 - OMA - Oswalds Mill Audio introduces their Metamorphosis amplifier/rack system. "The Metamorphosis is inspired by RCA and Western Electric cinema amplifier rack systems from the 1930s. Metamorphosis dispenses with conventional audio shelving to house the BK 807 amplifier and PD1 pre or PD1 phonostage in a new and elegant way. From the original handmade solid Walnut chassis of the BK 807 amplifier, the new metal amplifiers and rack metamorphose into a work of audio art. With a much smaller footprint than ordinary audio shelving would require, Metamorphosis is an aesthetic statement, showing that high-end audio does not have to be a collection of boxes on shelves."
|  |
| March 2013 - The hiFace goes 32/384 - M2Tech introduces the hiFace DAC whose USB 2.0 interface couples to a 3.5mm 2V analog output for preamplifiers, integrated amps' line inputs and "a wide range of headphones".
Size is 88 20 x 14mm, weight is
20g. It supports all sample rates from 44.1 - 384kHz at bit depths of 16-32. Z-out is 10kOhm, SNR is 112dB.
|  |
| March 2013 - Lessloss teaser - Louis Motek previews their Laminar Streamer, a curvaceous steel+Panzerholz machine of 16.5x15.75x6.3" dimensions and 53lbs weight that streams WAV/AIFF files from FAT32-formatted SD cards up to 32GB. There's no Windows, OSX or Linux operating system but a proprietary music-only OS with full 24/192 support. "Unlike all other computer audio, the Laminar Streamer operating system runs synchronously at the audio sampling rate over the same clock used for the formation of the audio data. The intricacies of asynchronous reclocking, buffering and jitter reduction have been solved at their very source. The streamer instantly recognizes the SD card. Boot time is less than 0.2 seconds with nothing to configure and no buffering, synchronicity, latency or compatibility issues." Outputs are S/PDIF on RCA, AES/EBU on XLR and I²S on 5-pin connector. Price TBA.
|  |
| March 2013 - Birch Acoustics - This new US company which sells direct to the end user specializes in crossover-less widebander speakers in laminated Birch Ply enclosures whose insides are shaped as asymmetrical acoustic diffusers. The Finch [$750/pr] is a 4" 1-way monitor of 60Hz bass extension and 86dB sensitivity. The Robin [$3.200/pr] is a 5" 1-way monitor of 90dB efficiency and 48Hz-20kHz response. The Falcon [$2.500/pr] is a 4 x 4" 1-way tower of 92dB efficiency and 50Hz bass reach whilst the Raven shown [$7.500] combines four 5" drivers in a similar line-source array to produce 96dB sensitivity and 40Hz-20kHz bandwidth.
|  |
| March 2013 - Octave MkII - Metrum Acoustics introduces its Octave MkII [€1.075 with USB] with trickle-down tech from the flagship Hex. The II adds 192kHz sample-rate acceptance for coax and optional USB (96kHz for optical) with a new input receiver. It applies new data buffering for lower jitter and uses improved parts. The USB module is from the Hex and powered from the internal 15V power supply rather than USB power.
|  |
| March 2013 - Bryston speaker line - This will consist
of eight models including the floorstanding Model T [$6.995/pr standard, $7.995 Signature, $9.495 active], Middle T [$4.600] and mini t [$2.695] along with a powered subwoofer called T sub [$4.195], two
center channels, an in-wall and an on-wall. “I think we met
with a degree of skepticism when we first announced the speaker project - rightfully so. There are a lot of speaker companies already”
said Bryston’s James Tanner. “We set out to create an affordable reference
loudspeaker and went to great lengths to achieve a result that separates
us from the competition."
The 52.5" 3-way Model T comes in three version - standard with internal passive
xover; Signature with external crossover and custom-made aircore
chokes and Bryston-proprietary film capacitors; and active with a Bryston 24-bit digital
electronic crossover for tri-amplification. All three versions
use three 8" woofers, two 5.25"midranges and two 1" titanium dome tweeters.
The Middle T has two woofer, one midrange and one tweeter. The mini t
is a smaller version of the Middle T. Both TC1 and TC1 mini
are 3-way center channels. The T Sub runs three 8" woofers powered by
an internal 600-watt amplifier. Both architectural models are 3-way sealed enclosures.
Bryston loudspeakers come in three vinyl-wrap standard finishes—Black Ash, Natural Cherry and Boston
Cherry—whilst hardwood veneers and high-gloss paints are extra.
|  |
| March 2013 - New Voxativ - Inès Adler's new π counters the firm's upwardly mobile pricing trend by selling for €9.995/pr whilst still offering 99dB sensitivity and a claimed 40Hz-20kHz bandwidth +/-3dB. Cost savings were achieved with a far smaller simpler enclosure of just 69 x 39 x 31cm at 20kg. The driver loading is referred to as an AST® horn, "neither horn nor bass reflex". The driver is new too and called AC-1.5. Its membrane treatment was co-developed with the chair of polymer chemistry Prof. Spanger of the Chemnitz University. Optional driver upgrades include neodymium, Alnico or field-coil motors. Voxativ's wooden driver membrane is optional too as are matching stands.
|  |
| March 2013 - Totalitarian DACs - TotalDAC's discrete Vishay metal-foil R2R platform expands with the model D-1 [€6.960] which adds one ECC82/12AU7 per channel for 600-ohm output impedance and 1.2Vrms output on both RCA and XLR. The 24/192 async XMOS USB transceiver is compatible with JPlay's 24-bit 'extreme hibernate' mode. A digital volume is included and the power supply is external. There's also the new D1-digital USB bridge [€3.950] with AES/EBU digital outputs for maximal jitter and EMC suppression with digital preamp functionality.
|  |
| March 2013 - DanaCable - Vinh Vu of Gingko Audio explains: "In designing DanaCable we went back to basics instead of exotic. Copper is a tried and true very cost-effective material for audio.
We put more than 10.000 strands of oxygen-free copper in our 8-weave Sapphire speaker cables. This
reduces resistance to 4 milliohms in a 2.5m pair. We construct our cables with a patent-pending technique to reduce L and C to a minimum. Our speaker cables measure as
low as 1.6uH in inductance and 270pF in capacitance for a 2.5m run. Besides holding the wires
together, weaving makes for a very flexible cable that audiophiles find easy to install. Lastly we use high-quality terminations."
Pricing ranges from $395 for a 1m Onyx interconnect to $1.500 for an equivalent Diamond; and $1.195 for a 2-meter Onyx speaker cable to $3.950 for a Sapphire Reference equivalent.
|  |
| March 2013 - Walk up - Walker Audio introduces the new Proscenium Black Diamond V turntable [$105.000] with "improvements to the air supply, record clamp
and motor base assembly and our newest discovery, a specially treated fine-grained
crystalline material that reduces static buildup and cancels the effect of virtually all EMI, RFI and
microwaves which we employed at strategic locations in the turntable’s operation."
All previously purchased Walker Proscenium tables can be upgraded to
Black Diamond V specs.
|  |
| March 2013 - Go bi - Trends Audio introduces the CQ-107 splitter cable to encourage biamping with their TA-10.2 power amps and PA-10.1D tube/headphone/preamp
|  |
| March 2013 - Vista Audio - Boris Sasic introduces a new version of his Phono-1 preamplifier. The Phono-1 MkII [$299] "has no capacitors in the signal path. RIAA compensation is achieved with 1% film capacitors and 0.1% resistors. The MkII offers a wide range of load and gain settings suitable for MC and especially LOMC cartridges. Optimum operation with step-up transformers is also supported. Discussions on theory and practice of cartridge/preamp optimization are being added to the Vista Audio website."
|  |
| February 2013 - More DACs - Rein Audio's X3-DAC is a 24/192 machine with twin
Wolfson WM8741 converter chips preceded by a CS8416 digital receiver. There are USB 2.0, coax, optical and AES/EBU inputs plus 4Vrms XLR and 2Vrms RCA analog outputs. Clock jitter for both S/PDIF and USB is below 50ps. Dynamic range is listed as >118dB. Buffering and output stages add AD797 and OPA2604 opamps to each channel.
|  |
| February 2013 - DSD 256 - exaSound Audio Design announces the e20 MkII "as the first high-end DAC capable of DSD playback at 11.2896MHz (DSD256). exaSound DACs have always stayed ahead of the curve and the latest e20’s DSD 256 capability not only goes beyond the capabilities of all other DACs on the market today, it is ahead of current recording technology. This ensures that audiophiles will enjoy studio master files how they were recorded, without down-sampling or down-conversion, well into the future, without equipment upgrades."
|  |
| February 2013 - Sub bass - The R-528SE by REL Acoustics Ltd. "is a 'Special Edition' version of the current R-528 conceived to provide reference sub-bass performance in a much smaller enclosure at a lower cost. Embodying many of the performance attributes of our flagship Gibraltar G-1, the R-528SE delivers extraordinary performance for the space challenged home theater or 2-channel enthusiast. This design is superior in all regards to the standard R-528 with improved amplification, upgraded cabinet bracing and driver design. R-528SE still features an active front-firing and down-firing passive radiator but uses the custom carbon fiber 12” active unit of the G-1. The 12” ABR passive radiator also is a carbon fiber design. Together this driver complement is equivalent to a 16” driver in an even larger cabinet. Each R-528SE is available in hand-rubbed gloss piano black lacquer with gloss white available by special order. To further distinguish it from the standard version, the top and side name badges as well as the massive support feet are coated in nickel-plated chrome."
|  |
| February 2013 - Loch Nessma - Sinan Wasif announces his new SW Speakers Nessma as "sound from the sky". These hanging designs are coaxial 5-inch two-ways in the firm's trademark turbine-shaped enclosure. "These are best used as rear speakers for home-theater systems or massively paralleled to cover big halls, retail shops and public-address applications."
|  |
| February 2013 - Magnetic cables - High Fidelity Cables is in production for their new CT-1 speaker cables. Featuring the same ‘magnetic conduction’ technology as found in their interconnects, the connectors are a custom ground-up design that houses the unique circuit. Both spade and banana configurations are available. Prices are $2.400 for 1m and each additional 0.5m is $400. High Fidelity Cables has recently been granted U.S. Patent No. 8,272,876 for their invention. |  |
| February 2013 - AStri - Alberto Sabbatini introduces us to his AStri brand which
offers "loudspeakers and speaker stands, environmental acoustic correctors,
racks and accessories
which are all designed and handcrafted in Italy.
The first AStri line was Cignus, a range of loudspeakers characterised by a very refined look and luxurious finish.
Ten years later we now have launched the Aries line at more affordable prices to reach a wider market." The Aries line spans 5 models from €520/pr to €1.520/pr including a subwoofer and center channel. The Aries A3 shown is a 85cm tall sealed 3-way speaker with 20mm silk dome tweeter, 118mm PP midrange and sidefiring 165cm woofer. Sensitivity is 89dB, bandwidth 48Hz - 21kHz +/-3dB.
| |
| February 2013 - Hagerman KickStarter project - Jim Hagerman of Hawaii's Hagerman Technology announces the Bugle 2 which, if funded, "will be sold as either a full kit or fully
assembled. I thought Kickstarter was a great way to help pay for a
custom-molded transparent case. This allows DIYers to admire their
handiwork. And it's not just a nice-looking project. It sounds
fantastic and has excellent measured performance. For a
mere $100 you can build your own audiophile phono stage."
|  |
| February 2013 - Vida - The Aurorasound Vida phono stage "is a 2-box LCR unit which unlike conventional NF & CR type RIAA uses L (coil) to regenerate a precise curve. The latest semiconductor devices and discrete amplifier circuit achieve complete DC coupling to eliminate signal-path capacitors A high S/N ratio arises with an external power supply having extremely stable and super low-noise and high–speed circuits. The Vida sports an MC/MM selector, MC impedance selector, direct/subsonic filter, stereo/mono selector and a demagnetizing function. Each selector uses a sealed relay for reliability and stability. Rhodium-plated RCAs ensure loss-less transmission."
|  |
| February 2013 - You ain't gonna believe this schiit - "Think back to 2010.
When we launched Asgard, the world of headphones was a lot smaller. Desktop audio was really in its infancy. And to tell the truth, we didn’t really know if we’d be selling a ton of Asgards or giving our friends headphone amps for Christmas presents until the end of time.
2.5 years later it’s time to recognize that the world has changed. It’s time for Asgard 2 [$249] which now has selectable gain of 1.5 or 6. 1.5 is great for IEMs. Together with the Alps Blue Velvet pot it gives excellent control and great channel tracking as well as a dead-silent background. New pre-outs create a complete desktop system with powered monitors and headphones. The pre-outs also have gain switching and turn themselves off when you plug in headphones. What’s inside the Asgard 2 doesn’t look anything like the original. That’s because we learned so much during the development of Mjolnir. Asgard 2 has a high-voltage cascoded gain stage very similar to Mjolnir coupled to a Class-A Mosfet output stage. The result is distortion almost 10 x less than the original Asgard while retaining its no-overall-feedback design. Asgard 2 puts out a solid 1Wrms per channel into 32 and 50 ohm loads and 190mW into 600 ohms."
|  |
| February 2013 - Are Audio speakers - Are Audio is a handcrafted boutique speaker manufacturer based out of St. John's Newfoundland. "These speakers are produced by the pair allowing for the utmost attention to detail as well as being completely customized to your taste. You choose the hardwood and the color. Watch this video
for a demonstration." |  |
| February 2013 - Barky - Audiowood is pleased to "offer an updated version of our Barky turntable for 2013. Barky is constructed from a solid ash round simply finished with hand-rubbed polyurethane and paste wax. Barky features Rega parts including a 24V motor drive, RB303 arm, machined aluminum pulley, glass platter, thick felt mat and Rega Elys2 Cartridge supported on chromed solid-brass adjustable spikes. It is available in both 115V and 230V versions for $1500 (free shipping in the US). Barkies typically ship in 1-3 weeks from time of order depending on order backlog and voltage type."
|  |
| February 2013 - Slimmer Soloist - At $649, Burson's Soloist SL merely trimmed the fat on enclosure mass (3mm instead of 6mm case), attenuator (Alps pot instead of Burson's own stepper), 2 instead of 3 selectable gain levels, no pre-out and 2wpc instead of 4wpc into 16 ohms. All else (21-part FET-based input stage, class A output buffer and power supply network) remains untouched from the costlier Soloist.
|  |
| January 2013 - MM07A - Ed Kojima's Musical Heart Instruments company or Mhi for short introduces their new Evidence Tower MM07A. "Each incorporates wide-range high-sensitivity woofers up to 10kHz and a pure aluminum true ribbon tweeter up to 120kH.
Pricing for the Evidence Tower MM07A is $2.200/pair and $390/pair for the optional Image Enhancer MIE01A/DG."
| |
| January 2013 - Aubisque - New for 2013, the Ultra Fi website introduces the Aubisque USB Filter [$200] which installs in-line with a USB cable leading from your computer to your DAC "to filter the power and data signals for improved sonic performance".
|  |
| January 2013 - Go diving - Konstantinos Papachristou's new brand Black Pearls bows with the 70wpc Birth 100 integrated amplifier [€3.500] which combines a class A single-ended linestage with a minimalist push/pull Mosfet output biased high in class A. No local or global feedback is applied. There are 5 x RCA and 1 x XLR inputs, single binding posts and a 6.3mm headphone socket.
The power supply dedicates one toroidal transformer to each channel and each stage for a total of four. A credit-card type remote switches channels and controls volume. |  |
| January 2013 - Sony portable - The PHA-1 [$599] is a 24/96 DAC with async data transfer plus headphone amp with gain switch. In analog mode, the Lithium-Ion battery is good for about 10 hours. In iDevice digital transfer protocol this reduces to about half. Charging time is 4.5 hours. Max input voltage is 1Vrms. Connectivity is 3.5mm i/o ports for analog; mini USB plus iDevice USB for digital. A 30pin-to-USB link is included. DImensions are 67 x 26 x 130mm and weight is about 229g. Max power output into headphones is 175mW into 8 ohms and 26mW into 300 ohms, both figures at 10% distortion.
|  |
January 2013 - Wadax server - This Spanish firm announces the Hermes [$4.300 for streamer module, $7.670 for external server, $11.055 for both] which "adds plug'n’play streaming to our PRE1 and PRE1 MkII universal digital
preamplifiers. This solution has three parts
which may be added at any time.
1. A recording/playback streamer module housed inside the
Wadax PRE1.
2. A one-box external server.
3. An application control point of iPad 2 or later as GUI.
The internal module requests data from the external server asynchronously clocked to the D/A master clock. A buffer stores
data and sends it in bursts as demanded. <1ps jitter
approaches theoretical limits.
The streamer combines digital file management with
D/A conversion. File formats include WAV, AIFF, FLAC,
ALAC, WMA and MP3 from 32-192kHz at 16-32 bits. Recording is possible at 96kHz and 24-128 bits.
The Hermes connects to the PRE1 via RJ45. Music may be stored on internal SSD
or external NAS. Up to 2 SSD can be
connected in the server's back bays. The integral CD drive rips
bit perfect and requires an Internet connection for
automated meta-tagging.
The server/control point support uPnP-DLNA and can be used with 3rd-party
uPnP streamers."
|  |
