Jon Iverson

NAD M50.2 Digital Music Player
CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 07, 2017  |  0 comments
NAD's new music server and network player features WiFi and ethernet networking, 2 USB inputs, Bluetooth AptX along with a CD slot on the front for either ripping or simply playing a disc. Inside are two 2TB hard drives--one for storing music and the other for automatic backup in case the first one fails. There is no DAC inside, so outputs include SPDIF, AES/EBU and optical along with HDMI.

But where things get interesting...

Continue Reading >
Nagra HD DAC Updates
CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 07, 2017  |  0 comments
When asked what was new this year, Nagra's Rene LaFlamme motioned me over to the company's HD DAC and noted that there are now two power supply options along with some other smaller changes. LaFlamme stressed that this is not a MKII version, but "just an evolution" of the product and that another update is coming.
Continue Reading >
Classé Delta Preamp/DAC
CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 07, 2017  |  0 comments
Classé was keeping information about their "in development" Delta Preamp/DAC close to their vest. But I was able to pry a few tidbits: price will be below $10,000, it will replace the CP-800, and it should appear sometime around May or June.
Continue Reading >
You Are Getting Sleepy, Your Ears Are Getting Heavy...
CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 07, 2017  |  4 comments
Who knows why somebody decided to put a mattress company between Aaudio Imports and AudioQuest. Their door was closed each time I passed by. Maybe they were napping.
Continue Reading >
Metronome Music Center
CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 07, 2017  |  0 comments
French manufacturer Metronome has created a new music server that General Manager Jean Marie Clauzel says is intended for people transitioning from CD to high resolution files. The Music Center is built around a custom built computer and operating system that can handle all PCM data rates and up to double DSD.
Continue Reading >
SweetVinyl SC-1 and SC-2
CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 07, 2017  |  2 comments
SweetVinyl is a new company from Mountain View, California and was displaying their first two digital products: Sugarcube SC-1 and SC-2.

The SC-1 is a simple 24/192 ADC and DAC that removes clicks and pops from your records, and can be inserted between your phono stage and preamp (or through a monitor loop) and uses an "artificial intelligence" rule-based system to find and eliminate clicks. The company stresses that this is not simply some kind of digital filter, and the SC-1 will not alter the tonal characteristics of the recording.

Continue Reading >
dCS Network Bridge
CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 07, 2017  |  0 comments
Up at the top of the Mirage hotel in the dCS suite, instead of a flashy new flagship product, the company was formally introducing something of a more practical nature: the dCS Network Bridge. The Network Bridge will allow owners of older dCS products to add networking to their existing systems. Audiophiles with other brand DACs can also use the dCS Network Bridge to add networking to their systems.
Continue Reading >
Musician Jake Shimabukuro Joining Stereophile at CES 2017
CES 2017Jake Shimabukuro CES 2017
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 02, 2017  |  3 comments
Stereophile tried something a little different for our CES coverage last year: we brought Graham Nash to the show. This year several new artist names were tossed about, and when Jake Shimabukuro came up we jumped at the chance to bring him to Las Vegas. Jake is a stellar musician, and has turned the ukulele into a respected instrument with his interpretations of classical and modern works, collaborating with a wide range of artists from Yo-Yo Ma to Alan Parsons. He is stunning to watch: If you've never seen or heard him play, check out the videos at the bottom of this story.
Continue Reading >
MartinLogan Masterpiece Renaissance ESL 15A loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Jon Iverson  |  Dec 22, 2016  |  8 comments
I prefer and have owned electrostatic speakers for most of my audiophile life. Depending on your point of view, this makes me either the most qualified or the least appropriate writer to review MartinLogan's new electrostatic loudspeaker, the Masterpiece Renaissance ESL 15A.

Oh, I've flirted with dynamic speakers. I've owned and loved—and ultimately, when I was an audio retailer, sold—models from Revel, Thiel, Vandersteen, and many others, while my long-term choice has been electrostats. And while I've spent plenty of time with electrostatic speakers from Acoustat and Quad, I've ended up owning MartinLogans: Sequels, Quests, ReQuests, and, currently, Prodigys.

Continue Reading >
T+A Elektroakustik DAC 8 DSD D/A processor
Digital Processor Reviews
Jon Iverson  |  Oct 04, 2016  |  13 comments
"They're so damn hard to tell apart!"

So exclaimed my longtime pal and fellow audiophile Bruce Rowley when I revealed to him that T+A Elektroakustik's new DAC 8 DSD digital-to-analog converter ($3995) had arrived for review, just after I'd finished writing up the Ayre Acoustics Codex DAC–headphone amp ($1795). Bruce had recently compared his own brand-new Codex with a DAC he'd owned for a couple years, both costing about the same but built to very different designs. He was surprised that, after carefully matching levels and working to eliminate any other variables, they sounded more alike than not, and only slightly different even after hours of listening. Technically, these were two very different animals.

Continue Reading >

Pages

X