Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i Hi-Fi Choice

As the audio world moves to active speaker systems with streaming capabilities built-in, you'd be forgiven for thinking passive loudspeaker designs are a bit old hat. But despite technology moving things on considerably in recent years with ever more sophisticated and elegant all-in-one solutions to experience music at home, listening to a pair of traditional two-way standmounts is still the way to go for plenty of us. Many readers will have started out on their hi-fi journey with a pair of 'bookshelf' loudspeakers partnered to a source and amplifier of matching separates to satisfy their quality audio goals, and it still remains the well-trodden path towards hi-fi nirvana for many budding audiophiles today. There's nothing old hat about the models in this month's Group Test and our six thoroughly modern…

PRICE: £4,500-£7,700 AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 01323 843474 WEB: SPENDORAUDIO.COM BUILDING ON THE success of its D7 and D9 floorstanders, UK loudspeaker maker Spendor has introduced updated versions of its two-strong D-Line models in the form of the D7.2 and D9.2. Priced at £4,500 and £7,700 respectively, the D7.2 is classed as a mediumsized 2.5-way, while the D9.2 is a full-size three-way, four-driver design. Both benefit from improvements made to the cone material of the 180mm speaker drivers employed for bass and mid/bass duties, along with crossover network refinements, damping material improvements and re-engineered cabinet structures. Spendor’s 22mm LPZ (Linear Pressure Zone) tweeter and 5G Linear flow port incorporating a tapered twin-venturi port still feature. Both claim 90dB sensitivity into 8ohm and finish options are black ash, cherry and oak.…

Focal is on the move. You’d think with such a vast speaker range it would have already hit every possible niche, but apparently not. The striking Kanta N°1 is best described as a high-end standmount speaker aimed at those who put design flair before convention. It’s certainly something different for this French brand and is one of its most expensive standmount loudspeakers. Focal describes it as “a new vision for a premium speaker,” no less… Regular readers who saw the £6,999 N°2 floorstander review back in HFC 435 will remember the Kanta range is the first time that the company’s beryllium tweeter and flax mid/bass drivers have been combined. Another innovation is the range of snazzy baffle colours offered with the gloss black cabinet paint finish – carrara white, gauloise…

Our hi-fi journeys might mirror McCartney’s long and winding road, but a short time after setting off some travellers will encounter a challenging curve. Let’s call it buying speakers and the circa £1,300 price point dilemma. Once, the best advice would have been to go for a monitorclass standmount, prioritising quality over quantity, but things aren’t quite as clear cut any more. Comparably priced big floorstanders have undergone a fairly radical repertoire reset in recent years, offering a real (if value-orientated) taste of that high-end holy grail: fusing a wide power bandwidth with speed, resolution and refinement. There’s a likeable sense of assurance and authority that’s smooth and tuneful For me, the switch-up game changer has been Bowers & Wilkins’ £1,249 603 (HFC 448), a beefy, well-built, three-way Brit tower…

Although the new SL-1200G and its derivatives are a remake of Technics’ – indeed arguably the world’s – most iconic turntable, the SL-1000R proved to be the greatest engineering challenge to Itani-san and his team. It’s the brand’s flagship turntable, and the pinnacle of what Technics engineers can do. The package includes the SP-10R motor unit, S-shaped magnesium tonearm and an aluminium base. “Our new direct-drive motor is very precise and very strong,” Itani-san explains, “And we chose diecast aluminium for the base because wood has its own sound. We resist external vibrations in a number of ways including via the base, and also by using a heavy platter. While this offers damping, it causes more load on the servo. There’s a delicate balance when using torquey motors with heavy…

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN you combine state-of-the-art decoding and streaming with a speaker that has a design that dates back half a century? Mytek’s Brooklyn Bridge – the Brooklyn DAC with streaming facilities added – is not only Tidal and Qobuz capable (and supports MQA to give Tidal an extra zing), but it’s also Roon-ready, which is how it is working here – ensuring that the best interface in the business is there to guide your music choices. Golden Grahams The 50 year-old section takes the form of the Graham Audio LS3/5. As the name suggests, this is a direct descendent of the original compact broadcast monitor and, no, I haven’t made a typo and omitted the ‘a’. This is the original, which didn’t require the decoupling arrangement and foam pads…

CD Deutsche Grammophon FOR HIS LATEST solo album on DG, Berlin Philharmonic principal Mayer turns to music from the first half of the 20th century. He plays two original concertos: Eugene Goossens’ capriciously kaleidoscopic single-movement work and the famous Richard Strauss concerto. Elgar’s Soliloquy is heard in Gordon Jacobs’ beautiful orchestral arrangement. The version of Le Tombeau De Couperin for solo oboe and orchestra is attractive and includes the fugue movement, but otherwise adds little to Ravel’s own orchestral version. The disc is immaculately played and recorded, and worth buying for the Elgar alone.…

Madonna Madame X FLAC 24/88.2 onkyomusic.com LISTENING TO MADAME X is a strange experience. Madonna still demonstrates her ability to change with the times, and yet much of this album sounds familiar. That bold, confident phrasing is still in evidence, her propensity to genre hop is still there and it flits from Latin-flavoured R&B to housey, auto-tune pop with apparent ease. I’m not sure if this will go down as a Madonna classic, but it’s fun and sonically at least full of bells and whistles. PH Black Midi Schlagenheim FLAC 24/96 onkyomusic.com THE BEST BAND in London that no one has heard of, Black Midi is a feral concoction of punk, post-punk and experimentalism. Young bands often play it safe and transfer their live set to their debut, but across 11 songs…

highresaudio.com unveils Jimmy Cobb’s This I Dig Of You, Mahler’s Symphony No.6 by Sir Simon Rattle and Berliner Philharmoniker and Introducing Kenny Burrell (Remastered) by Kenny Burrell. hdtracks.co.uk has Betty Harris’ The Lost Queen Of New Orleans Soul and Hello From Las Vegas by Lionel Richie. Finally, onkyomusic.com introduces The Raconteurs’ Help Us Stranger, Love Will Find A Way by Philip Bailey and 5 Weeks In LA by Evie Irie.…

2x CD Naxos THERE IS MUCH to savour on this glorious performance of Berlioz’s 95-minute dramatic symphony for soloists, choirs and orchestra. Slatikin’s interpretation is expressive and stylish; both strings and choir make a delectable sound with slow music; and the three soloists are very good. But too many passages feel under rehearsed, with uncertainties of ensemble in orchestra. At times the choruses are weak. The performances of the overtures Béatrice Et Bénédict and Le Roi Lear are far superior. The recorded sound is confused and rather phasey. The main chorus in particular lacks clarity and focus.…

CD Columbia AFTER TWO ALBUMS and four Grammy awards as the soulful lead singer with Alabama Shakes, Howard’s first solo outing is a thrillingly diverse set on which her sassy but cerebral personality takes centre stage. Synth-fuelled psychedelic funk, hip-hop loops, gospel righteousness and crunching rock collide gloriously while her lyrics candidly tackle issues of sexuality (Georgia), identity, family tragedy and growing up in the Deep South as mixed-race child (Goathead). Above all, though, it’s all about Howard’s glorious, bluesy voice, an instrument that evokes comparisons with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin.…

Vinyl Oona Records DOING PRECISELY WHAT it says on the tin, the aptly titled Mambo Noir deftly drop kicks the traditional kitsch stylings of the Cuban genre into touch, replacing it with an altogether cooler, smokey jazz club vibe, by way of a David Lynch-type darkness that teeters precariously towards the sinister. With simple piano, double bass, drums and some electronic effects thrown in for good measure, this is mambo for the 21st century: harmonic, freewheeling, bluesy and with a touch of super cool jazz. Stunning stuff.…

Streaming services have quickly risen from an affordable way to listen to new music, to–in some cases–a viable alternative to a CD or record collection. The improvements in speeds and stability of broadband in the UK means that millions of tracks are just a tap of a keyboard or touchscreen away. Perhaps the most exciting thing about these on-demand music services is that some (most notably Tidal and Qobuz) offer lossless and hi-res music files that have the potential to sound at least as good and, in many cases, better than your ripped compact discs. Look out for our Group Test on high-quality music streaming services next month.…

PRICE: £1,900 WEB: auralic.com REVIEWED: HFC 441 A streaming transport that focuses on the business of accessing your digital music files from a home or external server and presenting them to an outboard DAC via its digital output connectivity, the Aries G1 offers a USB-A port to communicate with a wide selection of USB DACs without the need for a driver plus a trio of optical, coaxial and AES outputs to make sure all bases are covered. Like other Auralic products, it uses Lightning Server software to cache the music library information on the player and app–effectively reducing the role of your NAS to pure storage–to offer impressive integration of Tidal and Qobuz. Sound quality As a transport rather than a complete streamer, it isn’t too contentious to suggest performance is largely…

PRICE: £2,200 TELEPHONE: 01732 740944 WEB: nadelectronics.com REVIEWED: HFC 451 Boasting BluOS compatibility so it can integrate with all the products using that protocol to share hi-res music round the home, the half-width M10 has coaxial and optical digital inputs, along with two sets of analogue ins and an HDMI input complete with ARC (Audio Return Channel) compatibility, enabling TV sound to be piped through the system. It can hook up to a UPnP/DLNA NAS device or you can connect USB storage direct to the USB-A port located below its Ethernet connection on the rear. You can also stream from online music services including Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz and TuneIn radio, there’s MQA decoding for Tidal Masters and it’s Roon-ready. Sound quality The M10 sounds so much bigger than its diminutive casework would…

Gilberto Gile Jorge Ben Xangô Ogum “Two songwriting giants come together, wrapped up in a gorgeous modernist sleeve by Rogério Duarte. This is a 1975 Brazilian double gatefold original.” Dave Barker meets The Upsetters Prisoner Of Love “Lee Perry originals are always sought after and this 1970 UK Trojan LP in amazing condition is extra-special.” Idles Joy As An Act Of Resistance “Rough Trade Records orange vinyl with a bonus CD. Although it was only released last year, this classic debut has already achieved collectible status.” Manos Tsangaris Elephant’s Easy Moonwalk Through The Night “A 1990 German minimal drum workout that sounds as out of place now as it did then. Just the kind of record that we love.” Dave Evans The Words In Between “A fantastic 1971 British singer-songwriter…

German headphone specialist Sennheiser has announced the IE 80S BT wireless in-ear headphone priced at £439. Following the success of its popular and Group Test-winning IE 80S wired design back in HFC 431, the wireless version also employs a dynamic driver in each earpiece but adds Bluetooth with support for LHDC, aptX HD and AAC codecs. It claims six-hour playback from a charge and the wireless neckband can be detached so it can be used with an optional cable. It comes with three sets of in-ear adapters. EN-UK.SENNHEISER.COM…

There’s a generation of audiophiles for whom the Naim Nait is very special. Many who now have something close to their dream hi-fi systems, will have started with Naim’s first integrated amplifier – and never forgotten it. Effectively the Salisbury company’s entry-level pre/power amplifier combination that had shrunk in the wash, so to speak, it was a remarkably convincing little thing. So much so that its minimalist ethos went on to define the eighties zeitgeist as far as British specialist hi-fi was concerned. That first Nait was paired down to the point of having no tone controls, a single-channel volume trim pot disguised as a balance control and a power output lower than many of today’s headphone amplifiers. It was one of the most extreme hi-fi designs of a pretty…

Head of Focal UK DP: What’s special about the driver construction and what qualities does it bring? MS: Kanta N°1 is equipped with a new generation IAL (Infinite Acoustic Loading) tweeter, featuring a beryllium inverted dome, along with a flax sandwich cone mid/bass driver. Developed over a five-year period, this unique cone material is constructed from a high-quality flax fibre core enclosed by two thin layers of glass fibre to deliver a high-performance diaphragm with high internal damping, high velocity of sound and high flexural rigidity. This combination of driver technologies is unprecedented and dramatically reduces distortion, guaranteeing a precise, detailed and warm overall presentation across the whole frequency range. What was the design approach of the Kanta series and how long did it take to realise? As with all…

THIS MONTH 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. CHRIS WARD EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Like his first kiss, Chris will never forget the sound of his first amp – an Aura Evolution VA-100. War Of…

CD Decca YOUNG NORWEGIAN SOPRANO Lise Davidsen begins her recital with Princess Elizabeth’s two arias from Wagner’s Tannhäuser and finishes with Strauss’ Four Last Songs. In between we hear more Strauss, including the sublime Morgen! and Wiegenlied. Davidsen has all the controlled dramatic power required of a Wagnerian soprano. She can sing with fine sensitivity too, but her low register sometimes lacks richness of tone. The recording is excellently engineered. Both orchestra and voice are beautifully reproduced, with good stereo focus. But Henry Wood Hall in London is a little on the small size for such repertory and the soundstage is a bit constricted. Do you agree with our reviewers? Decide for yourself and listen to some of this month’s tracks at www.hifichoice.co.uk…

CD Ribbon BALTIMORE-BASED INDIE BAND Lower Dens has forged something of an impressive reputation following three successful albums. Now big things are expected of Jana Hunter and co. as the band returns with a new collection of songs that ably demonstrate their ability to seemingly effortlessly make finely crafted, eighties-tinged atmospheric pop. Massed keyboards swirl to create a dream-like haze, snares crunch while choruses stamp themselves indelibly into your brain. This fourth outing is comfortably the band’s warmest-sounding record yet. And, whisper it quietly, in places it even sounds like a young U2.…

SACD Dutton Epoch TOWARDS THE END of his life, Elgar worked on an opera called The Spanish Lady and a third symphony; both left unfinished at the time of his death. A few brief excerpts from the former are usually heard in an arrangement for strings by Percy Young, but this new suite features different material and is scored for full orchestra with organ. I like what I hear; music with a yearning bitter-sweet melancholy typical of late Elgar. The Organ Sonata receives a persuasive performance, as does the Severn Suite. Dutton’s SACD recording sounds warm and rich and effortlessly detailed, with excellent clarity and clean natural balances. JH The Brand New Heavies TBNH Vinyl Acid Jazz THE BAND YOU never knew you missed is back with 14 solar-powered bubbles of joy.…

Vinyl Schnitzel Records NOT MUCH OF note comes to these shores from Delaware, but this debut from these psychedelic funk pushers might just change all that. Fruit Basket is an audio confectionary that releases Solid Bronze from any stylistic shackles and presents them as paddlers of swoonsome grooves populated by floaty guitar solos, dreamy baselines, squidgy keyboards and, on Invisible Man, an asthmatic vocoder vocal Jeff Lynne would covet. Lyrically quirky and melodically spacious, never more so than on Swangin, this sweet-natured set is pure solid, golden fun.…

CD 4AD DANISH BAND EFTERKLANG makes a welcome return with its first album in seven years. Perhaps best known for a dreamy, at times melancholic sound, the three-piece produces something much more organic sounding on this release – indeed, Efterklang has collaborated with a Belgian baroque ensemble called BOX, which helps to give the songs here real depth. Fused with the band’s sonic washes and quiet, subtle melodies, Efterklang has produced a winner – closing track Hold Mine Hænder providing a suitably uplifting end to a dreamy album.…

2x CD Deutsche Grammophon A WELCOME RELEASE of two powerful symphonies by prolific Polish-born Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg. From 1946, Symphony No.2 receives a skilled and committed performance from Kremerata Baltica. The CBSO is joined by the aforementioned Baltica, violinist Gidon Kremer and other soloists. Weinberg conveys his profound message with a direct musical language, which is no more difficult than say, Shostakovich. The performance is quite simply superb. There’s huge dynamic range, some excellent detail and a deep and weighty string sound For Symphony No.2, the recorded sound is very involving, with bold, sonorous string tone and rich reverberation. The stereo soundstage is a bit of a multi-mic patchwork. No.21 has no such reservations. It is a thrilling recording, with a huge dynamic range; excellent detail; a deep and weighty…

CD ECM IN THE BACKGROUND of this all-star trio is the looming figure of Keith Jarrett. Gary Peacock played bass in his trio and Motian banged drums in the quartet of the seventies. But pianist Paul Bley, who died in 2016, had a longer career than Jarrett and played with Charlie Parker back in 1953. This album was recorded live in 1999 and all but two of the eight tracks here are original pieces that are superbly played in Bley’s relatively sparse style, which leaves plenty of space for Peacock to elaborate. It’s a superb recording with lots of space and fabulous low end.…

1969 CROSBY STILLS & NASH–CSN Flawless harmonies and stellar songwriting make for a perfect debut, from Crosby’s haunting Guinnevere to Stills’ Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. 1970 DÉJÀ VU–CSNY Less of a cohesive group record than its predecessor, but it didn’t matter: four singer-songwriters working at the top of their game is hard to beat and the singing is perfect. 1971 4 WAY STREET–CSNY Recorded live on their 1970 US tour, featuring a warm acoustic set followed by a dynamic live set in which the guitars of Young and Stills on Southern Man are a highlight. 1970 STEPHEN STILLS–STEPHEN STILLS Featuring Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, this is a cracking set of songs with Stills voice and instrumental virtuosity in prime form. 1971 IF I COULD ONLY REMEMBER MY NAME…–DAVID CROSBY…

AAC Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a lossy audio codec designed as the successor to MP3, claiming better sound quality at similar bit-rates. AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) was developed by Apple in 1988 and uses uncompressed pulse-code modulation (PCM). There’s also a compressed variant of AIFF known as AIFF-C or AIFC, which can sometimes be recognised by an. aifc file extension, although these can also appear with the standard. aiff or aif extension, so check for higher bit-rates to know you’re playing uncompressed files. Being uncompressed means AIFF files will demand more space than lossy and lossless equivalents. ALAC Apple Lossless Audio Codec data is stored within an MP4 container, but it employs different encoding in a lossless (not lossy) format that uses a linear prediction method, similar…

PRICE: £800 TELEPHONE: 0207 9402200 WEB: cambridgeaudio.com REVIEWED: HFC 437 Cosmetically at least, little has changed from the original CXN, but look under the bonnet and the updates become more obvious. In a nutshell: a faster, more powerful processor for a smoother user experience, MPEG-DASH and HTTP Live Streaming HLS compatibility to enable high-quality internet radio streams (many BBC stations at up to 320kbps) and greater playback control via the ability to ‘seek’ through a track played over UPnP, USB or Spotify Connect. Bluetooth still isn’t included (this will set you back a further £70), but all digital inputs play hi-res up to 24-bit/192kHz via the dual Wolfson WM8740 24-bit DACs Sound quality The CXN V2’s streaming skills are mighty impressive, hi-res or not. Yes, the overarching presentation is smooth, full bodied,…

PRICE: £2,300 TELEPHONE: 01722 42600 WEB: naimaudio.com REVIEWED: HFC 446 The most affordable of three streaming solutions from Naim, the ND5 XS 2 provides PCM support up to 32-bit/384kHz via WAV file formats (24-bit/384kHz via FLAC and ALAC) and DSD support up to DSD128. Decoding is undertaken by a combination of a SHARC DSP that performs upsampling before sending the signal to a Burr-Brown PCM1791A DAC and outputs to a choice of stereo RCAs and DIN connections for analogue as well as a BNC coaxial digital output. There are also four digital inputs–one coaxial, two optical and a BNC. It offers access to streaming services such as Tidal and Spotify Connect, internet radio is also supported and wireless connectivity is provided via Bluetooth with aptX HD, AirPlay and Chromecast Audio (up to…

DESCRIBED AS “ONE of the most cost-effective upgrades imaginable” Origin Live’s Enabler is a thin sheet of composite that is designed to fit between the top of a phono cartridge and the underside of your tonearm. It comes supplied with a pair of washers made from the same composite together with a pair of nylon washers, and the combination is designed to provide cartridge decoupling and azimuth adjustment for any headshell and cartridge combination to ensure greater performance. An additional washer for both materials is supplied for Rega fittings–the idea being that you punch the third hole in the Enabler itself manually. Fitting the Enabler is a fairly fiddly process. Even with a detachable headshell, getting everything lined up is mildly infuriating and perfectionists will also need to adjust their…

Although the shop’s name may be anachronistic–didn’t video tapes go out with the ark?–don’t be fooled: Music and Video Exchange Greenwich is very much a forward-looking record store, building on the successes of the past and–with its awareness of current trends–having one eye firmly focussed on the future. The shop’s set on two floors a short walk from Cutty Sark DLR station in this tourist draw of South-East London, and crammed with stock: there’s everything from bargain vinyl crates on the floor to boxsets and even a collection of Spice Girls dolls perched on top of cabinets filled to bursting with CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays. Records and posters fill every available spot on the walls. Welcome home… “We opened in 2000, as the first South London branch of Music and…

Electronic design director, Naim Audio DP: Why did you bring back the phono stage to the Nait integrated? SS: We have a cross-departmental product innovation team that gathers information and proposes products. That gives us a great mix of input – including market research; requests from our global distributors, retailers and end users; our dedicated Naim Forums and other social media. It was a pretty strong and easy message to pick up on that vinyl use is increasing. We then coupled that demand with a range of technical advancements we’d made within research and development – including the ability to add a phono stage within the already crowded confines of an integrated amplifier without it harming sound quality. Why did you opt to only provide a moving-magnet option? It’s all…

Like the award-winning DragonFly Red, the new Cobalt has the robust 2.1-volt output to drive almost any headphone, uses a bit-perfect digital volume control for outstanding signal-to-noise ratio, enables seamless compatibility with Apple and Android devices, and is an exceptionally competent and affordable MQA Renderer. Cobalt’s precedent-setting performance is made possible by: New ESS ES9038Q2M DAC chip with a minimum-phase slow roll-off filter for more natural sound. New Microchip PIC32MX274 microprocessor reduces current draw and increases processing speed by 33%. Improved power-supply filtering, specifically designed to reduce WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular noise. Includes a form-fitting Carbon-level DragonTail USB-A to USB-C adaptor. From MP3 to MQA and Hi-Res, DragonFly Cobalt preserves the body, warmth, and natural color in all your music. Experience more beauty at home and everywhere you listen.…

CD Because ON ITS RELEASE in 1998, Chao’s Clandestino sold five million copies – virtually none of them in Britain. Perhaps this expanded 21st-anniversary reissue with three new tracks will redress the balance for the record is a singular classic. Full of bouncing, tropical, global, Latino rhythms, chiming harmonics and sinuous vocals that weave in and out in four different languages, it’s a maverick outlier of a record quite unlike anything else in the pop firmament. The songs range from the hilarious surrealism of Bongo Bong (arguably the album’s best-known song, thanks to a Robbie Williams cover version) to the bittersweet Lágrimas De Oro. Yet despite the glorious eclecticism, there’s also a beautiful cohesion that makes it sound almost like a concept album. At the time the record captured the pre-millennial…

Cal Massey Blues To Coltrane 180g vinyl Pure Pleasure RECORDED IN 1961, this is the only solo album to be released by trumpet player and composer Cal Massey. Which given his success as a contributor to albums by Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and many more, seems odd – he is reported to have been blacklisted following a confrontation with a Blue Note executive, and died in 1972. Massey was a nuanced and sophisticated trumpet player with a flair for composition that makes these five tracks stand out. He is joined by Hugh Brodie on tenor, Patti Brown on piano with Julius Watkins on French horn and bassist Jimmy Garrison. The recording is better than average for its vintage and recorded in double mono with different players appearing in…

Clare Teal A Tribute To Ella Fitzgerald The quality of this recording with The Syd Lawrence Orchestra supporting the fabulous Clare Teal is fantastic. Your foot will be tapping all the way. The National Symphony Orchestra Espana Recorded as live at Air Studios, this has one of the biggest bass drums you′ll find on a modern album. A great hi-res recording. Interpreti Veneziani Vivaldi In Venice You will feel as if you are sat in the audience. The air and space, along with the performance, is intoxicating. As a copy master tape, it′s superb. JS Bach Toccata and Fugue in D With this Chasing The Dragon acoustic recording it’s just as important to hear the space as well as the instruments. The bass also flaps the curtains!…

9x CD, 1x Blu-ray Audio Deutsche Grammophon KARAJAN’S 1975-81 DG Bruckner cycle has long been regarded as the gold standard. A release on Blu-ray Audio was inevitable. Alas, the set feels cheap. Just a simple clamshell box. Incredibly, Symphonies 5 and 8 are still split over two CDs when they should be on single discs. The BR has space for the Te Deum and Karajan’s later digital remakes of 7 and 8, but they’re not included. I feel slightly cheated having to buy this set on CD again just to get the Blu-ray. It does off er improved sound – noticeably cleaner and is more detailed/transparent, but DG’s penny-pinching leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Karajan (and Bruckner) deserve better.…

SACD Pentatone WHEN MAKING THEIR selections from these two hugely popular collections most pianists have the luxury of at least one full CD per composer. Here Kozhukhin has a meagre 65 minutes for both; which is a shame as his playing merits more. His technique is impressively fluent and his interpretations are well considered, expressive and poignant. The recording benefits from excellent production and sound with both the surround and stereo mixes being ideally balanced for this repertory. Although the stereo picture is a bit over-wide, the piano tone is sonorously warm.…

2x CD Linn MAGNIFICAT IS THE name of Philip Cave’s ensemble of six voices and five instrumentalists. Together they give a splendid performance of Schütz’s collection of 41 motets, published in 1625 as Cantiones Sacrae. Singing is stylish, confident, clean and focussed, but occasionally there could be better integration, balance and sense of ensemble to the voices. The recording has excellent purity and clarity, and beautiful reverberation. These days finding an ideally quiet recording venue is a near impossible task and a rather high level of background rumble is heard, changes in which are audible at edit-points.…

CD Record Kicks A SOULFUL, FUNKY gem, What Can We Do opens with a startling a capella choir giving way to a scorching treatise on the state of the world with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On a natural soul mate. Occasionally songwriting quality dips with a few tracks anchored to repetition of a semi-interesting turn of phrase, but little else as if the jam needed a few more days to evolve. But these are few and far between with the majority deserving your full attention. Hannah and co. are truly gifted players, bringing something fresh into an overcrowded market of funky wannabes. No mean feet.…

HELP&ADVICE If you decide to rip your entire CD library yourself be sure that you use a good ripping program. Many audiophiles rate dBpoweramp (dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm). It will let you rip music to high-quality FLAC files, and add album art and metadata–automatically or manually. Another option is a special ripping box like Zoneripper or VortexBox, which will automatically rip your discs and then store them on its internal hard drive. These really come into their own if you are planning on continuing to buy a large number of discs. If you own thousands of CDs, your easiest option might be to have a professional organisation do the work for you. Prices vary as do some of the options available in terms of formats, tagging and storage. If you have the budget it’s…

PRICE: £3,500 TELEPHONE: 0207 9402200 WEB: cambridgeaudio.com REVIEWED: HFC 447 The Edge NQ is jam-packed with features that mean it is not only a preamp, but more of a digital hub that can play analogue sources too. The DAC runs up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and is DSD256-capable, which is accessible via its aptX Bluetooth input or optical, coaxial or USB inputs. It has network streaming built in, plus Chromecast, AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Google Play and internet radio, all via the Edge Remote app freely available for iOS and Android devices. There are three analogue inputs, including one pair of balanced XLRs as well as three digital inputs–one coaxial and two optical–and a USB-B port and HDMI with an Audio Return Channel–meaning you can connect your TV. Sound quality It serves up a…

PRICE: £412 WEB: volumio.org REVIEWED: HFC 450 Volumio is a complete operating system designed to be run on devices such as a Raspberry Pi, and the Primo represents its first dedicated hardware for the platform that’s installed on an ASUS Tinkerboard–a single-board computer built around an ARM processor running Linux–and offers hefty decoding horsepower. This has been combined with an ESS ES9028Q2M DAC to enable it to handle PCM audio files up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512. It’s supported by AirPlay and aptX Bluetooth and is fitted with a conventional coaxial output able to send PCM audio signals up to 24-bit/192kHz, while any of the four USB ports on the rear can be used to attach a DAC to send it any sample rate natively. Sound quality ESS DACs usually have a very…