Are you ready for a weekend of binge listening to new sounds? Here’s the latest round up of albums that caught and sustained my attention. The Beatles, Live at the Hollywood Bowl For some strange reason these live Beatles tracks from the Hollywood Bowl have never been released in any digital format, just the 1977 …

I’ve written tons of pro LP articles over the years, but the LP will remain a niche format. Year after year, we lose some of the LP faithful when they sell or give away their vinyl collections, but there are many more “LP clingers” sticking around for the long haul. The most hardcore among them only grudgingly play digital, and …

Here we go again, another terrific over-the-ear headphone from Beyerdynamic, the DT1990 Pro. The refreshed look, with slotted black ear cups is sharper than the grey mesh ‘cups of previous DT Series ‘phones. Comfort is still a strong suit, thanks in part to the memory foam-filled plush velour ear pads, and moderate head clamping pressure. The headphone comes with two …

The New York Audio Show was held this past weekend, November 4-6 at the Park Lane Hotel. I had a great time seeing old friends, and meeting lots of Audiophiliac readers! Enlarge Image Bob Carver and his Amazing Line Source Loudspeaker. Steve Guttenberg/CNET I kicked off the show listening to Bob Carver’s new Amazing Line Source Loudspeakers, these ultra skinny …

I’m listening to a pair of huge speakers, each one stands nearly 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall, and they sound like no other in my experience. The speakers are part of the Wheel-Fi System Medium that’s hand-crafted in Catskills, New York. Shaken and stirred by the sound, I rang up Wheel-Fi owner/designer Jeffrey Jackson to learn more about his unique …

It was in 2009 when I reviewed my first Hifiman headphone, the HE-5, and that headphone in some ways outshined the very best and much more expensive Denon, Grado, Sennheiser and Ultrasone headphones of the time. The Hifiman HE-5 also sounded different, probably because its planar magnetic drivers were lower in distortion and much larger than the conventional drivers in …

I reviewed the new Rotel CD14 CD player a few weeks ago, and now it’s time to cover its partner in crime, the matching A12 integrated stereo amplifier ($899, £799, AU$1,299). They were a nice pair, but I’m not too sure how many folks still care as much about CDs as I do. That’s why I decided to cover the …

As recording studio engineer/designers go, Rupert Neve is a rock star. His mixing consoles are so highly sought after, Dave Grohl made a music documentary, “Sound City,” that featured a Neve console. Rupert Neve was named man of the century by Studio Sound Magazine readers in 1999, and in 1997 he won a Technical Grammy award. Neve consoles are used …

Audiophile digital converters have come a long way, they used to just be converters, but the Arcam irDAC-II not only transforms your music’s digital bits into analog signals with utmost care, it can also serve as a digital preamp, and a headphone amp. I assume most buyers will either use the Arcam irDAC-II with a set of desktop powered speakers, …

I mention it in nearly every headphone review, something along the lines of, “The Reference 1000 was easy to drive, but the Reference 2000 was hard to drive.” What’s up with that, and what does “easy or hard to drive” mean to prospective headphone buyers? Simply this: if you’re using a smartphone or portable music player, a hard to drive …