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Tagged as 'The World's First MQS Player', the AK240 natively plays back DSD 128, and looks to heavily favour right-handed operation.
So far we know the following:
I expect we will find out more by following the Astell & Kern website. Fans at Head-Fi have already gone mad at the purported 3.000$ AUD price tag.
No matter how amazing Vorzüge’s previous PURE was, today’s PURE II completely blows it away. The violence is almost illicit. As long as your requirements are explicitly portable, the PURE II may be the best-sounding headphone amplifier at any price. It’s that good.
Read moreThe always-trustworthy cymbacavum has published a telling review essaying why the DX50 may not be the player in which we should place our hope. (For a second opinion, check out Ω's review of the DX50, or head on over to headfonia for a third op.)
On the face of it, I agree with many of the interface issues cymba decry. However, the bar for audiophile players has already been set. It needs to be raised before we can judge audiophile players like the DX50 or the Fiio X3 to the same build and interface standards on which we judge mass market players.
The DX50 will not play or browse your music as flawlessly as an iPod will. But it is a good-sounding player. The question that both cymbal and Ω is asking is this: why can't the two be reconciled into a single package?
Was a trip to Shinjuku's Yodobashi Camera. It truly is amazing to see hundreds of speakers and amps Legoed together into tight sound walls. Trying to hear anything meaningful from any of it, however, is next to impossible.
Digital Audio Review is a fabulous audiophile website published by 6moons editor, John H. Darko. Darko prose gots its tongue in its cheek and keeps important points on the tip. Recommended.
The age of good battery life, massive power, and freaking amazing gain control is upon us. It’s the age of the ALO Rx MKIII-B+, an age that cooks your beans without over-cooking them, you know what I mean?
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Ω was out all weekend with the flu. But his betters at headfi caught the decent and indecent in the best act of the holidays. From Audio Technica to xDuoo, there's a world of geeky interest for the geeky interest in you over at headfi.
Ω out.
Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog and matching stand
As stated above, one pair of Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog headphones (MSRP 599$) will be freed to one lucky winner come 13 January, 2014. Secondary and tertiary prizes also available.
I signed up. You should, too. Here's how.
The TE-05 sounds great. If only a detail-oriented photographer would get rid of all that dust!
Totally understated though it may look, the TE-05 is pretty smashing. Its single dynamic driver engine comes wrapped in a turned aluminium case, terminated with MMCX connectors. Aluminium is a necessity today in the mid-budget earphone category. Its resonant qualities are much better than plastic. And MMCX for under a 100$ USD? Great.
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The Sony MDR-1R as seen by Martin's excellent eye. (Click to read the review)
Martin Irwin, a comrade in towns, put up a brilliant review of the Sony MDR-1R headphone back in June. Brilliant because it says all that is necessary in just a handful of paragraphs. Brilliant also because it is beautiful.
Martin Irwin has a lovely website and some great insight, especially on the photophile world, though methinks he be beating around the audiophile bush quite a bit. Be sure to check him out for more of the good stuff.
“A lone operatic singer in a flowing white tunic sings into a headmic as she walks slowly through the lobby, trailed by some 200 audience members donning headphones. Suddenly, a line of dancers run and twist through the crowd. The audience disperses, some following the dancers, others the singer, to different parts of the station.”
If anyone is up to tacking the above task, it is Sennheiser. They've been gaining ground thanks in part to myriad high-end inner monitors which allow stage musicians and actors to put on more active performances than ever before. Bandwidth and signal fidelity are key items to conveying crystal clear performances to fans.
And in the centre of Los Angeles' buzzing Union Station, that tech was key. Audience members wore Sennheiser headphones to tune into the unique performance. Those Sennheiser phones were part of a greater system of proprietary and shared tech that allowed the pristine transmission of audio signals from the performers to the audience members.
Events like this put performers, directors, and musical producers on the map. Additionally, regular Joes and Joettes out there get to see headphones put to different -- and in this case, revolutionary -- uses.
Read all about it here.
Tsukuba, Japan
