Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i Hi-Fi Choice

www.hifichoice.co.uk Issue No. 448 April 2019 For those of us with large music libraries stored in several locations, integrating everything into one controllable place can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. My music streaming setup currently pulls in music libraries stored on a laptop computer and a capacious Melco music server – both containing downloads and ripped CDs – as well as subscriptions to three streaming services, so integrating and accessing everything using just one inclusive piece of reliable software can often seem like the impossible dream. But wait, the six playback software options in this month's Group Test – starting on p24 – promise to do just that, and along with a laptop are a great way to get started and enter the world of networked music without…

PLAYBACK SOFTWARE GROUP TEST THIS TEST CENTRES around the idea of using a computer to take on the role of a media server in an audio system, as might be the case for someone moving into digital music playback for the first time. A 2013 Lenovo T530 ThinkPad running Windows 7 and mid-2012 MacBook Pro are used to run the software and store a selection of test files to be collated and to establish how the software handles a music library. For iTunes and its ALAC-only format playback, a free piece of software (any-audio-converter.com) is used to convert FLAC files to ALAC – playback checks via a Melco N1A NAS drive (HFC 394) and Leema Acoustics Elements Streamer (see p60) show they sound identical to the FLAC originals. A Chord…

As one of the more established premium software options on the market, Audirvana claims to have more than 80,000 users. Until recently, these were all on Mac OS X but a beta version for Windows 10 is now available (see boxout). Here we focus on the established OS X version. Offering a comprehensive selection of supported formats including DSD (and SACD ISO files), it also has native support for MQA sent to a compatible DAC or unpacked before doing so. It is also one of the services here to offer the ability to select upsampling and processing options before material is outputted, either to an external DAC or the soundcard of the computer. The software can check with the DAC and apply the maximum possible settings, which in the case…

Dating back to the nineties, the earliest versions of jRiver were marketed more as a convenience ‘jukebox’ than audiophile software. In more recent years it has become a more quality-orientated option, supporting all the major lossless formats with extensive support for the various versions of DSD, but not MQA. This matters less than it might because unlike the other fee-based platforms here, jRiver does not support integration with on-demand streaming services. It does have some streaming integration with internet radio options, although these are somewhat random. Should you need it, there is comprehensive video playback software (as well as Youtube integration) that, without prompting, collates all the images on the laptop too. This might explain why installation takes as long as all the other services put together. As well as…

CEO, SME Ltd. DP: What brought you to this venerable company? SM: I was attracted by precision engineering capabilities, coupled with the unique skills and ultimate craftsmanship. In many respects I matched SME to my career and experiences in the aerospace industry. From there it was considered that my skills, knowledge and experience would complement the highly skilled workforce at SME. I am an aircraft engineer by profession with over 34 years’ experience within the industry. My career started as an aeronautical engineering apprentice at British Aerospace and progressed from licensed aircraft engineer to senior management positions in engineering, operations, customer relations and sales. I am not an audiophile, but I am a music lover and vintage audio equipment enthusiast. Why did you launch the Synergy? The decision to develop…

Extracting extended bass frequencies from compact loudspeaker cabinets is a balancing act that has challenged designers for decades. The laws of physics are a hard taskmaster and unless you push impedance and sensitivity into difficult to drive areas, the amount of air a standmount can move is limited – although refinements to cabinets, drivers and ports help to extend the frequency response of some designs as much as possible. US-based Definitive Technology has taken a slightly different approach with its Demand series of standmount loudspeakers and the outwardly conventional designs employ an alternative technique to help deliver a bit more weight to the bass frequencies by using a passive radiator on top of the cabinet. This assumes the role that’s ordinarily undertaken by a port and acts to maximise efficiency…

Toulson-Clarke has two main music systems. “I play everything directly off WAV or AIFF if I’m checking mixes and I monitor through two speaker systems for comparison”, he tells me. “Firstly I use a pair of Genelec 1081s, which are high-quality studio monitors. I like the very true, untainted sound – they can be driven very loud with no altitude sickness. Secondly, I have a pair of Acoustic Energy AE1 Actives. These are very decent hi-fi speakers costing one quarter of the price of the Genelecs; they sound a little softer, but retain the same proportional relationships between the low end, the mids and highs. Bass isn’t appreciably slower than the Genelecs. I run a Thorens turntable hitched up to the same speaker systems via a little studio mixer. Upstairs…

1951 THE NEW SOUNDS Davis’ debut was a 10in and contained only four tracks, but he relished the opportunity to stretch out his solos and transcend the 78rpm format’s three-minute limit. 1954 MILES DAVIS QUARTET Another 10in with his first classic ensemble, including pianists Charles Mingus and Horace Silver, Percy Heath on bass and drummers Max Roach and Art Blakey. 1956 MILES The first outing with his new quintet featuring John Coltrane on sax, Red Garland on piano and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The stand out track is his set closer The Theme. 1957 BIRTH OF THE COOL Recorded in the pre-LP days – which explains why the tracks come in around three minutes – the seminal recordings on which Davis broke with bebop and created cool jazz. 1957…

PRICE: £2,999 AVAILABLE: MAY CONTACT: 01833 631021 WEB: NEATACOUSTICS.COM Showcasing its Ekstra floorstanding loudspeaker for the first time at last month’s Bristol Hi-Fi Show – see our show highlights starting on p10 – the latest design from Neat Acoustics is set to go into full production in mid-April with a suggested retail price of £2,999 per pair. Measuring 170 x 1,100 x 250mm (WxHxD), the Ekstra is a 2.5-way configuration that employs a 50mm ribbon-type tweeter partnered to a 134mm mid/bass driver in a sealed cabinet design mounted on a specially profiled sub-baffle that’s attached to the main cabinet via a de-coupling polyethylene membrane. The lower section houses two 134mm bass units in an isobaric arrangement. The mid/bass drive unit on the front of the cabinet is a treated paper…

Q Acoustics has grown from zero to hero over the past decade by selling enjoyable sounding attractively priced loudspeakers to cash-strapped audiophiles all around the world. It’s not a new idea, of course, because Mission was master of this back in the eighties and nineties, and before it Wharfedale cleaned up in the seventies. This time-honoured formula shows how there will always be a demand for speaker designs that sound better than they should given their knockdown price. The problem comes when you try to move upmarket. The company’s flagship Concept 500 floorstander (HFC 426) costing £3,999 was the first to enter into high-end territory and the Editor’s Choice-awarded design sounds even better than expected given its cost. As you start to enter these price points buyers tend to become…

Developed as open-source software where updates and improvements are made available via multiple users so you can pick and choose which ones to apply, Foobar has been around since 2002. It was originally intended to be an alternative to Windows restrictive Media Player and the basic platform continues to be updated and improved. The version of Foobar as it appears after downloading supports every commonly encountered format except WMA lossless and DSD. Should you wish to play DSD, you can easily download and install an additional plug-in. This also applies to how the software outputs to your device. In its default form, Foobar will not upscale the signal, but it can downsample to a lower bit-rate should you need to, and additional plug-ins will need to be added to perform…

Initially released in 2001 as SongsDB, MediaMonkey is unique in the group as the only ‘freemium’ option. The basic software is available for free and you can then upgrade to the Gold level for a one-off $19.95 payment. The extra features in the Gold package provide a clue to where MediaMonkey is primarily targeted. They extend to managing large databases – such as having different information visible for different genres and better ripping options. The basic playback hardware is unchanged between the two versions. This is relatively basic, although a direct mode is supported and there is an equaliser that is fully compatible with replay gain – the means by which a library recorded and mastered at different levels can be output at a homogenous one. Format support is more…

USB FILTER: AudioQuest JitterBug £30 HFC 407 The JitterBug is cheap, compact and extremely effective at cleaning up the audio signal being fed to an external DAC. Placed between the computer’s USB port and the DAC, it’s an effective add-on with any of these software options. STREAMING SERVICE: Qobuz From £25/month HFC 440 Roon supports both Tidal and Qobuz streaming services, but it is Qobuz’s hi-res tier that is winning us over more consistently. It requires no additional decoding and the discount if you have Sublime+ subscription makes augmenting your music library even more tempting. PORTABLE HEADPHONE AMP/DAC: Chord Electronics Hugo 2 £1,800 HFC 425 An outstanding DAC/headphone amplifier, the Hugo 2 is a multi-purpose device that excels with whatever it’s connected to and is the perfect partner for Roon’s…

In the admittedly somewhat insular world of loudspeaker drive unit diaphragm material innovation, Bowers & Wilkins’ so-called Continuum FST cone has become a bit of a celebrity. Eight years in the making as a replacement for the company’s influential and very yellow woven Kevlar cone, it was unveiled in 2015 as the key new tech in the latest generation of the 800 Series Diamond flagship range, which instantly gifted it a certain prestige and the prospect of being able to float a helpful halo over more affordable model lines that would adopt it over time. There’s clarity, verve and a supple, agile bass that’s rhythmically lucid Truth is, it hasn’t taken that long to trickle down, via the 700 Series, to the entry-level 600 Series, now in its sixth generation.…

Jes Kerr, founder and designer Kerr Acoustic, reveals the music that he uses to demo and develop products James Blake James Blake The subterranean low frequencies put even the most capable drive units to the test. Helpful for finding unwanted cabinet resonances and assessing cone excursion limitations. Venetian Snares Rossz Csillag Alatt Született The sheer density of transient information exposes the tweeter’s ability to reproduce content without sounding fatiguing. Peter Gabriel New Blood Rich in texture and tonally colourful, this stunning recording demands a truly hi-res speaker system to vividly recreate its layered and highly engaging soundstage. Daft Punk Random Access Memories A staple in my collection for fine-tuning tonal balance and assessing the time domain performance of a speaker system.…

Brian Eno Before And After Science “A perfect mix of Eno’s poppy and experimental sides. He invented about seven genres on this LP, some of which went unexplored until some 20 or 30 years later.” Paul McCartney Ram “Criminally underrated and poorly reviewed when it was first released in 1971, this is a goofy, mellow masterpiece and one of our all-time Macca favourites.” Tinariwen Tassili “We really wish we’d discovered this sooner! A beautiful, emotional blend of African styles – the group is from Mali – and Western pop and rock influences.” James Last Voodoo Party “If you think James Last never put out a worthwhile album, think again! This strange mix of funk, latin, and bongo fury is a firm shop favourite.” Daphne and Celeste Save The World “Our…

At the beginning of March, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) published its end of year report for 2018, highlighting a generally positive turn of events especially for vinyl, which reached its highest point for 30 years. In 2018, the report revealed, revenues from recorded music in the United States grew by 12 percent to $9.8 billion (approximately £7.5 billion) at estimated retail value. For the third year in a row, double digit growth was primarily driven by the increased popularity (and so revenue) from paid subscription streaming services including Spotify, Apple, Tidal and Amazon among others. For the first time ever, subs to the aforementioned services numbered more than 50 million as revenues increased by 30 percent year on year to reach $7.4 billion, meaning that streaming contributed…

• Kilmarnock-based specialist Atlas Cables introduces its EOS dd (dual drain) mains power leads with a high-performance screened design. Priced at £145 for a 1m cable fitted with an IEC/13A plug (other plug variants and lengths are available), the company says its new entry-level power cable utilises similar screening technology found in its upmarket EOS 4dd range to filter out harmful RF noise and remove it from the AC power feed. Using proprietary high-purity low-resistance oxygen-free copper (OFC) conductors covered in a PVC dielectric, both the dual drain and power conductors are wrapped in a hybrid carbon-loaded screen and the company’s anti-vibration filler. The entire construction is encased in a royal blue PVC outer sleeving. ATLASCABLES.COM…

Brand director, Q Acoustics DP: Who would you say the new Concept 300 is aimed at? AM: We are targeting it at similar buyers to our floorstanding Concept 500, but with smaller listening rooms – or those who just prefer speakers in smaller cabinets. The unique Tensegrity stand has made a huge impression since we introduced it, appealing not just to the hi-fi cognoscenti but to people who simply love to have beautiful, individual things in their homes. Tell us about its development… It took 18 months to develop, even though we carried over the two core technologies from its bigger brother – Dual Gelcore and P2P bracing. The two main new ideas were the Isolation Base and Tensegrity stand. We also did a new crossover using high-grade polypropylene film…

Audirvana Plus $74 (plus tax) p27 A long-running option for Mac users and with a beta testing version for Windows, Audirvana offers a wide range of format support including full MQA decoding, library management options and compatibility with some UPnP streaming devices. Foobar2000 FREE p29 An open-source playback platform for PC and Mac, Foobar makes great play about the high level of customisation on offer via optional plug-ins that enable you to change the way it looks, how it connects to your DAC and even how the signal is processed. iTunes FREE p31 With the support of one the world’s largest companies, iTunes has been around for a long time. It offers smooth integration with its own Apple Music streaming service and a hassle-free listening experience albeit with a limited…

As arguably the best-known software program in the business that successfully brought computer audio to the mass market, iTunes originally acted as a music library curation tool and playback software primarily designed to manage Apple devices. Now that those devices are able to look after themselves – thanks to content storage via iCloud – it has been revised to focus on curation and playback of audio and video. One aspect of iTunes remains stubbornly unchanged, however, and that is the formats it supports, or rather doesn’t. The list is by far the most limited of all the software options on test, with FLAC and DSD being notable absentees. It supports ALAC and AIFF lossless formats, although its handling of metadata on AIFF files can be a bit erratic to say…

Relative newcomer Roon first launched in 2015 and has been making strong progress ever since. This is despite having the highest cost of any of the other options in the group – you can have lifetime memberships of Audirvana Plus or jRiver for comfortably less than a one-year subscription to Roon, but the case for its high costs becomes more compelling when you see how it operates. Like the other software here, it can be installed on PC or Mac and used to control and send music to a USB DAC, but this barely scratches the surface of its capabilities. The computer running the Roon software becomes the ‘Core’ and can output content to any Roon client or Roon-ready device (see boxout) and is able to upsample the material in…

“I had 30 good songs, and needed the shelf space. That’s why I put out my new album”, quips Toulson-Clarke. Chase The Setting Sun is something he’s very proud of. “It’s true to the idea of the band, of friendship bound closely with music making. It closes the circle creatively between the beginnings of Red Box and the band today. I really feel it is the best album we’ve made and maybe the best album I can make. It was recorded at Olive Studio – my home studio – on a Studer tape machine running at 15ips synced up to a state-of-the-art digital system run by an iMac. I use a Steinberg analogue-to-digital converter, Neumann, AKG and Shure mics, all running through a classic seventies mixing desk, a Trident Fleximix,…

ED SELLEY EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Active in the industry since 1999, Ed’s first record was Boss Drum by The Shamen. He splits his time between reviewing and protecting hi-fi kit from his son Will. NEVILLE ROBERTS EXPERTISE: ENGINEER Neville has an eclectic taste for classical baroque and jazz. His wife was forced to marry his transmission line speakers in the eighties and he collects BBC test card music. JASON KENNEDY EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Editor of HFC from 1998 to 2001, Jason’s first turntable was Rega’s Planar 3 and Elvis’ 40 Greatest Hits was his first vinyl, so don’t go stepping on his blue suede shoes. DAVID PRICE EXPERTISE: REVIEWER DP two-finger typed his first hi-fi review 25 years ago. Since then he’s edited Hi-Fi World and HFC. He describes himself as an…

From the Picasso of jazz to the Prince of Darkness, Miles Davis was known by various soubriquets in his long and storied career as a musical genius whose towering talent did more to shape the sound of modern jazz than any other performer. Leonard Feather, perhaps the greatest jazz critic of them all, wrote that Davis was “black, volatile, rebellious and as resilient as jazz itself.” Strangely, Davis himself never used the word “jazz” to describe his music. Yet it was impossible to separate him and his trumpet from the genre. In equal parts charismatic, aloof, flamboyant, uncompromising, stylish, outspoken and fiercely independent, Davis played a crucial and often controversial role in every major development in jazz from the mid-forties all the way through until his death in 1991. He…

1979 The SEE Corporation starts as the 2Tone movement emerges, with Madness and The Specials entering the top 40. 1984 The Revolver is reviewed in Hi-Fi Choice, while Prince has his first top-10 hits with When Doves Cry and Purple Rain 1990 The original company closes as, for the first time ever, singles (from The Steve Miller Band and Dee-Lite) tie for the number-one spot 1994 Revolver UK Ltd. launches, while Prince scores his only UK number-one single with The Most Beautiful Girl In The World…

BORROWING MANY OF the features from 1More’s Triple Driver BT (HFC 443), the Dual Driver BT ANC sports the same flexible neckband, convenient fast charging (10 minutes for three hours and an hour for seven hours continuous playback), plus play/pause controls with a microphone on the left end of the neckband. The main addition is Active Noise Cancellation, but another feature unique to the BT ANC is that the earpieces are magnetic clasping, meaning they won’t flap around while not in use. There’s a generous choice of silicone eartips, a storage bag, 3.5mm-to-USB-C cable for wired listening and a flight adapter. The Dual Driver BT ANC uses a dynamic driver and single balanced armature, with a sort of open-back design. Happily, sound leakage is minimal. Performance is solid, but lacks…

For sale / Wanted www.hifichoice.co.uk These pages are a must-read if you’re thinking about buying used kit, or if you have hi-fi you want to sell. It’s free – simply submit your ad with no more than 50 words (we reserve the right to edit it if not), remembering to include your email, phone number and county. Simply email your ad to: letters@hifichoice.co.uk. This service is open to private advertisers only. Just one ad per household and please note that images are for illustration only and do not represent what is for sale. FOR SALE CANADIAN GUTWIRE Synchrony 3m length speaker cables, superb, totally new condition £700. Synchrony interconnects available separately: 07787 574784 or email: stephen.adolphus@gmail.com. GRAHAM SLEE Elevator MC step-up for between cartridge and phono stage. It is black…

WHARFEDALE DIAMOND Does the 11.3 floorstander live up to expectations for the brand’s best-selling loudspeaker range? PLUS: REVIEWS Hegel H90, Acoustic Energy AE120, Métronome Technologie Le Player 2S, Auralic Vega G1, Shure KSE1200, Goldring Ethos REGULARS Dealer Visit, Music Legends, Music Reviews, Audiofile news and all your hi-fi questions answered by our team of experts MAY ISSUE ON SALE 25 APRIL If you don’t want to miss an issue PASSION FOR SOUND EDITORIAL TEAM Editor Lee Dunkley Production Editor Jake Day-Williams Art Editor Emily Hammond CONTRIBUTORS Simon Berkovitch, Jeff Ginn, Paul Hirons, Paul Hocker, James Hughes, Cliff Joseph, Jason Kennedy, James Parker, David Price, Neville Roberts, Ed Selley, Adam Smith, Luiz Thuy, David Vivian, Chris Ward, Nigel Williamson PHOTOGRAPHY Mike Prior ADVERTISING Sales Simon Dunn Tel: 01689 869853 Email: simon.dunn@hifichoice.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS UK…