As much as I delight in pagan dreams of sweetly perfumed garden nymphs, I’m embarrassed to admit that my mind also drifts in pleasant reveries whenever I hear the words research and development in the same sentence.
A Couple of Closed-back Headphones
I am by nature a greasy gear head. The idea of taking well considered steps of engineering to analyze and possibly improve the operation of any electrical or mechanical system never fails to get my imaginative juices flowing. This is why I’ve spent decades fascinated by perfectionist audio: I like watching and participating in its edgy, eccentric evolution.
So it’s perfectly natural that I’m attracted to what some call personal audio. I’m drawn to the latest headphones because they’re a part of a new, intelligent, fast-paced audio trend that is all about research and development. The leading edge of what’s technologically possible in headphones is advancing so quickly that companies like Abyss, Audeze, AudioQuest, Focal, HiFiMan, and Sony have zero time to bask in last year’s achievements.
One school of contemporary headphone engineering leans toward creating the type of sound I’ve heard in professional recording and mastering studios. This studio sound (bear with me) is typically strong, very clean, and finely resolved: purely Apollonian. It is neither bright nor dull, and energy-wise, it’s evenly balanced across the audio band. At its best, studio sound produces little to no listening fatigue, and has a “listen-into” quality that lets me hear how a recording was assembled and how I imagine the music was composed. I am predisposed to like this type of low-distortion sound.
SONY MDR-Z1R HEADPHONES
Of all the contemporary audiophile headphones I’ve studied, only five models have achieved the type of pro-studio sound described above: AKG’s K812 ($1499); Audeze’s LCD-4 ($3999); Focal’s Utopia ($3999); Sony’s MDR-7520, a pair of which I own ($499); and now, Sony’s new MDRZ1R ($2299.99).
ãã®èšäºã¯ Stereophile ã® June 2017 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã9,000 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã ?  ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
ãã®èšäºã¯ Stereophile ã® June 2017 çã«æ²èŒãããŠããŸãã
7 æ¥éã® Magzter GOLD ç¡æãã©ã€ã¢ã«ãéå§ããŠãäœåãã®å³éžããããã¬ãã¢ã ã¹ããŒãªãŒã9,000 以äžã®éèªãæ°èã«ã¢ã¯ã»ã¹ããŠãã ããã
ãã§ã«è³Œèªè ã§ã? ãµã€ã³ã€ã³
AURAL ROBERT
Another \"outlaw\" country artist
Nina Simone: Wild Is the Wind
By all accounts, Eunice Kathleen Waymon, aka Nina Simone, who passed in 2003, was a troubled person and a brilliant artist. Why she was not more acclaimed during her lifetime is a question several recent film projects have tried to answer. Did her fierce stand on civil rights lose her fans?
Vintage hi-fi, old and new
Many audiophiles and serious music lovers are passionate about vintage. Vintage has become a popular \"way in\" to the hobby, especially popular among younger folks.
Tekton Moab Be
LOUDSPEAKER
ARCAM Radia A25
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
Wharfedale Heritage Series 90th Anniversary Dovedale
LOUDSPEAKER
Technics Grand Class SL-1200/1210GR2
RECORD PLAYER
Thrax Audio Siren
Based in Bulgaria, European audio company Thrax has been active since 2009.
EMM Labs MTRS
STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER
SPIN DOCTOR
Alternative phono cartridge technologies and the DS Audio DS-W3 optical cartridge system