Tag: Tidal
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Q Acoustics 3020i Bookshelf Speaker Review
Great building block for your Budget Hi-Fi/Audiophile System! The Q Acoustics 3020i is the new “improved” sequel to the very well regarded 3020 budget bookshelf speaker. The original was known for its natural, warm, presentation which won a lot of fans in the press. However, the budget bookshelf market is cutthroat, and one can’t afford…
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Music Monday: 2019 Jazz Grammy Playlist For Your Streaming Pleasure
The 61st Annual Grammy Awards, otherwise known as “Music’s biggest night”, will be airing this Sunday, Feb. 10th on CBS. Being the Jazz lover I am, I always like to check out the nominees in the Jazz Category and catch up on any albums I may have missed. Here’s a Tidal playlist made up of…
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Get One Month Of Roon Free Courtesy of Qobuz
Last week I covered the release of Roon Labs’ Roon 1.6 update, and a big part of that was the announcement of Qobuz integration into their audiophile music management software. From the Qobuz blog: Roon manages, browses, and searches your local file collection and Qobuz digital download and streaming collections in one app, with the…
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Music Monday: Mare Nostrum-“Mare Nostrum III”
I was listening to a Jazz playlist on Spotify, and I came across this album from a group I never heard of before called Mare Nostrum. As you can probably gather from the title, this recording is the third part of a trilogy, released on the ACT label. The Album is made up of classic…
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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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Technics Releases Two Premium Headphones with apt-X HD and LDAC Bluetooth
Bluetooth, Headphone Amps, Headphones, Hi-Fi, Hi-Res Music, Home Audio, Music, News, Noise Cancelling, Portable Audio, Streaming, WirelessAt CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Technics released two premium over-ear wireless headphones, the EAH-F70N and EAH-F50B. Both models are aiming for audiophile sound quality, incorporating high-resolution Bluetooth codecs (both apt-x HD and LDAC) along with custom 40mm diaphragms. The F70N model adds active Noise Cancelling with an Ambient Awareness feature that will allow you to…
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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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The Best (Or Basically My Favorite) Jazz Albums of 2018
As far as I’m concerned, 2018 was a very good year for Jazz music, with so many great albums covering so many different styles. While there were many like the Mark Ward Trio and Dr. Lonnie Smith that followed the traditional paths set by the Jazz forefathers, there were others like Tigran Hamasyan or Mammal Hands…
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USB Audio Player PRO Adds MQA Support
Bluetooth, DACs, Downloads, Headphone Amps, Headphones, Hi-Fi, Hi-Res Music, Home Audio, MQA, Music, News, Portable Audio, Power Amps, WirelessUSB 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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Review: Nano iDSD Black Label by iFi
Best Buys, Budget, DACs, Headphone Amps, Headphones, Hi-Fi, Hi-Res Music, Home Audio, MQA, Portable Audio, ReviewsMQA 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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Pick Up These Critically Acclaimed Elac Debut B6 Speakers For Only $200! (That’s $80 Off)
Check out the deal on the new Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2!: https://amzn.to/2YymeN6 When the Elac Debut B6 speakers first hit the market at the unbelievable price of $279, this is what CNET had to say about them: “The ELAC Debut B6 bookshelf speakers offer stellar, best-in-class sound quality that no other speakers can match at this…
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Music You Need To Hear: Listen to Kamasi Washington’s “Fists Of Fury” and “The Space Travelers Lullaby”
Since he came on the scene a couple of years ago, Saxophonist Kamasi Washington has provided awe-inspiring soundscapes that simultaneously “do it for the culture”, and expose the listener to “high culture”. This continues with two more tour de force jazz compositions from his upcoming double album “Heaven and Earth” which is scheduled to come out June…
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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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Music You Need To Hear: Sons of Kemet-“Your Queen Is a Reptile”
Sorry guys, I missed Music Monday, but never fear I still have a great music recommendation for this week. This week’s album is from Sons of Kemet, a British jazz band I just discovered, led by saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings. As I said last week, (I think it was last week anyway) I am truly entranced by this…
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Music Monday: Wynton Marsalis Septet-“United We Swing”
I’m really digging this all-star jazz and blues jam session featuring some of the most iconic voices to ever record music…we’re talking Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, Audra McDonald and many more…all accompanied by a septet led by the one and only Wynton Marsalis. There’s some beautiful music here…Check it out! From wyntonmarsalis.org: Recorded…
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M&O Electronics BERYLLIUM ACOUSTIC Bluetooth Headphones Review
If you say you have never heard of M&O Electronics before, I would surely understand, because I am just making their acquaintance myself. I first heard about the MOOH-BE00BT Beryllium Acoustic Bluetooth Headphone in the Head-Fi forums, and they sounded interesting, so I requested a pair to review. M&O graciously offered to send me a…
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Music Monday: Jose James-“The Dreamer-10th Anniversary Edition”
I feel like Vocal Jazz is in a new Golden Age, where artists have escaped the monotony of imitation and forged new paths for an old art form. Jose James’ “The Dreamer” released in 2007, was at the leading edge of the Vocal Jazz resurgence, and it is just as fresh today as it was back…
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Music Monday: Snowpoet -“Thought You Knew”
Sorry so late, but it’s still Monday here in the U.S. so I have to sneak in my music recommendation for the week…This Week it’s from a group called Snowpoet, a band from the UK which blends Jazz Vocal, Poetry, Folk and a few other genres to great effect. This is their second album, but…
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Music Monday: Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette-“After The Fall”
I’m a huge fan of classic trio recordings and this one features a trio of masters performing a live improvisational tour-de-force. One of the best of the year so far…and the first track “The Masquerade Is Over”, is a must listen…the interplay between Keith on the piano and Jack on the drums is killer! From ECM Records: The…
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