Tag: MQA
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#New Music Friday: Feat. Julian Lage & Our Native Daughters
TGIF! Here’s another list of this weeks best sounding new recordings…Just click on the covers for the Tidal stream! Happy Listening! 1. Julian Lage-Love Hurts (Jazz) 2. Alicia Olatuja-Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women (Soul/R&B) 3. Our Native Daughters-Songs of Our Native Daughters (Folk) 4. Cochemea-All My Relations (Jazz) P. CashI’m an audio writer who…
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#Music Monday: Barbara Howard-On The Rise
There’s a pretty cool story behind this week’s Music Monday selection… Picture this…a young concert promoter in Ohio holds a talent search to discover local talent, finds a young lady with such a beautiful voice that he creates a record label to record her music. The label only lasts a little longer than a year,…
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iFi xCAN Portable Headphone Amp Review
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Powerful Portable Audiophile Amp with Excellent Wireless Sound Judging from my research and general discussion about the xCAN, it seems like people are really confused about what it actually is. I guess part of the confusion is the existence of the xDSD, a portable headphone amp/DAC that is more along the lines of what people…
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Qobuz, Hi-Res Streaming Service, Schedules U.S. Public Launch for Valentine’s Day
For those of us not lucky enough to get in on the private beta running right now, Qobuz, the Hi-Res streaming service from Europe, has announced it will open to the public in the U.S. on Feb 14th, Valentine’s Day. Up until now, Tidal was the only game in town for better than CD quality…
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Roon 1.6 Is Here with Roon Radio, Qobuz, and New Design
Roon, the audiophile music player, and music management software from Roon Labs, is starting off the new year with a new design, plus a couple new features. The new features, part of the Roon 1.6 update, include Qobuz integration, which will allow users to blend their own personal music libraries with uncompressed Hi-Res music (up…
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Koss KPH30i Review: Lush Audiophile Sound for Only 30 Bucks!
Like many young and broke budding audiophiles, my interactions with Koss headphones back in the early 2000s was my first opportunity to hear what decent headphones sounded like. At that time, the KSC75 ear clip phones were considered to be the gateway drug of the headphone hobby, and after plugging them into my portable CD…
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TIDAL Making MQA Audiophile Format Available To All Android Smartphones
UPDATE: Check out my post on How to get the best sound quality from the TIDAL app and MQA! TIDAL Masters MQA is now available on iOS as well! Check out our post about it here. TIDAL announced today that it will be making TIDAL Masters, their implementation of MQA high-resolution streaming, available to all…
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The 10 Best Sounding Albums of 2018…That You Haven’t Heard Yet.
As an Audiophile, good music is one thing, but good sonics is just as important. I not only want my music to induce toe-tapping but it should also be well recorded so it can make all the electronics, speakers or headphones that I constantly obsess over shine. Here’s my list of great music from 2018…
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USB Audio Player PRO Adds MQA Support
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USB Audio Player Pro, the popular music playback app from eXtream software, now supports MQA decoding, but you will have to pay a little extra for the option. The upgrade comes in the form of an in-app purchase which costs $3.99. Once purchased, it unlocks the ability for UAPP to function as an MQA core…
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2018 Budget Hi-Fi Holiday Gift Guide
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Last-Minute Gifts for the Audiophile/Music Junkie in your life! Christmas is approaching fast, and if you are ordering online, then the time to order your gifts and have them delivered in time is approaching even faster! Here are some last minute gifts for the Audiophile in your life that won’t break the bank! 1MORE Triple…
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Review: Nano iDSD Black Label by iFi
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MQA and Native DSD playback set this mini powerhouse apart. Looking for a powerful, great sounding, DAC/headphone amp combo that handles MQA rendering and native DSD playback? Want it to be smaller than a pack of cigarettes? Want to pay less than $200? Then the Nano iDSD Black Label by iFi is not only the…
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AXPONA 2018: Sunday At The Ear Gear Expo (HiFiMAN, Acoustic Research,Dekoni,Cleer,MEZE Audio,Campfire Audio, MYTEK)
With all the ground I had to cover at the show on Saturday, by Sunday morning my feet were absolutely killing me. But that didn’t stop me from checking out my favorite part of any audio show and that is the headphone demos. AXPONA calls it the Ear Gear Expo, and it shares the Expo…
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Portable Hi-Res: MQA Streaming With Tidal Masters On the LG V30!
In January, I wrote a post called “LG V30: The Ultimate Hi-Fi Audiophile Review”, and in that post, I talked about MQA (Click here if you don’t know what it is), and how the V30 was the first smartphone to support that hi-res format. I fully understand that MQA, like hi-res music playback as a…
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iFi Nano iDSD Black Label In The House!
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This headphone amp/USB DAC has all the technology, but how does it sound? Review coming soon! P. CashI’m an audio writer who started as a young audio salesman/consumer electronics professional back in the late 90s. That’s where I discovered the magic of 2-Channel sound. My thirst for great sound has led me on a delightful…
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10 Building Blocks for Your Budget/Affordable Hi-Fi System!
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in Best Buys, Budget, DACs, Headphone Amps, Hi-Fi, Hi-Res Music, Home Audio, Integrated Amps, MQA, Music, Power Amps, Preamps, Reviews, Speakers, Streaming, WirelessCheck out our updated list for 2019: 10 Building Blocks for Your Budget/Affordable 2-Channel Audiophile System! (2019) 1. Elac Debut B6-This speaker has become a legend of sorts in the audiophile world due to it’s insane value for the money. When paired with a quality amp like the NAD C338 on this list, you will have…
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Onkyo’s New PD-S10 DAP offers MQA, DSD and Tidal Compatibility at $499
Onkyo’s latest entry in the competitive luxury DAP market , the PD-S10, offers quite a bit for a sub $500 music player, including dual ESS Sabre DACs, MQA and Native DSD playback along with support for Tidal. It also has one piece aluminum construction, balanced headphone out, and 16 GB of internal storage expandable to…
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LG V30: The Ultimate Hi-Fi Audiophile Review
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in Bluetooth, DACs, Headphone Amps, Headphones, Hi-Fi, Hi-Res Music, Home Audio, MQA, Music, Reviews, Streaming(Update: The Tidal Android App now supports Tidal Masters (MQA) streaming on the LG V30…check out my post about it here.) DSD, FLAC, MQA, OH MY! Those were my first thoughts last August when I read about the new LG V30 smartphone and it’s upgraded Hi-Fi Quad DAC. You see, I already owned the LG…
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This $150 Budget Hi-Fi Headphone Setup Will Wow You!
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in DACs, Deals, Headphone Amps, Headphones, Hi-Res Music, Home Audio, MQA, Music, Reviews, StreamingLooking for great sound on a razor-thin budget? Well this combo, which includes a comfortable over-ear headphone and a well-respected headphone DAC/AMP, will give you a quality hi-fi experience for less than what many people spend on headphones alone. To create this budget rig, we start with an entry-level set of AKG studio cans, the…
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My Return to Tidal Hi-Fi – No Strings Attached!
So i’m a week into my 12 day Free Tidal Preview Access, and I must say I have a new appreciation for their “Hi-Fi” CD Quality streaming. I signed up back in 2015, and it seemed like it was not quite ready for primetime. At that time, when you listened to a selection, the service…