LATEST ADDITIONS

Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 26, 2024
The jazzical nature of this ostensibly religious piano cycle invites an array of approaches that range from reverential grandeur to gaudy showmanship, finds Peter Quantrill

In the summer of 1944, the head of music at French radio asked the 35-year-old Olivier Messiaen, and the Catholic writer Maurice Toesca, for a reflection on the Nativity in words and music, to be broadcast over the Christmas season. Beyond its title, there is nothing very Christmassy about the piano cycle that became Vingt Regards, which may be why Messiaen's contribution was eventually shelved.

Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Mar 25, 2024
hfnoutstandingFew brands can match Luxman when it comes to blending traditional engineering values with timeless elegance, and the new PD-191A flagship is an exemplar of the art

There is a coterie of Japanese brands whose products never fail to delight. Along with Air Tight, Denon, SAEC, Stax and a smattering of other high-end producers, Luxman has provided gem after gem, from valve amps of undeniable desirability to great turntables. Luxman's latest flagship deck, the PD-191A, honours the brand's traditional mix of beguiling sound, superior build quality and stunning looks.

Martin Colloms  |  Mar 22, 2024  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2000
hfnvintageMartin Colloms wonders if this all-tube line preamplifier can re-establish Audio Research's supremacy in the exalted reaches of the high-end

As an increasing number of digital source components come equipped with variable output level one might think that line controllers – preamps without a phono cartridge input facility – are an endangered species. This will make sense to those embarking on an all-digital system, mixing a variety of digital sources and prepared to convert from the analogue disc domain to digital via an A/D converter function. Indeed, some digital control units are digital-only and cannot handle analogue signals at all.

Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Mar 21, 2024
hfnoutstandingLaunched a little after Halloween, iFi Audio's devilish top-of-the-range portable aims to put a bat up the nightdress of the competition. Are you ready to sell your soul?

With its wide range of portable, battery-powered DACs and headphone amplifiers, few companies have done as much as iFi Audio to improve listening on the hoof. Yet the new iDSD Diablo 2, its latest range-topping model and a replacement for the iDSD Diablo of 2021, pushes the envelope of the mobile DAC/amp genre, both by being far from budget at £1299, and large enough for its manufacturer to deem it more 'transportable' than genuinely 'pocket-size'.

Review and Lab: Paul Miller  |  Mar 19, 2024
hfnedchoiceA cryogenic/demagnetisation process and proprietary piezoelectric crystals lie at the heart of Furutech's 'Clear Line' plugs. We cut through the noise.

Cryogenic treatment is key to almost every Furutech cable and connector, as is the promise of exceptional build and finish quality [HFN Mar '18]. With cables, of course, the material engineering can easily be quantified, but with the Japanese brand's 'noise busting' NCF Clear Line plugs – supplied with RCA and XLR terminations for insertion into unused audio inputs – the science can easily lose some clarity. Prices are £205 for each RCA-equipped plug and £260 for the bigger male and female XLR derivatives.

Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Mar 18, 2024
hfnoutstandingB&W's premium 800 D4 range is bookended by Signature versions of the flagship 801 D4 floorstander and the 805 D4 standmount. But is the polish more than skin deep?

Only two years after launching the D4 generation of its flagship 800 series [HFN Nov '21], Bowers & Wilkins has announced Signature editions of both the range-topping 801 D4 floorstander [HFN Sep '23] and its partnering 805 D4 standmount. At £10,000 a pair the 805 D4 Signature increases the stakes for this compact model, as the 'standard' 805 D4 [HFN Feb '22] retails for a full £3000 less.

Steve Sutherland  |  Mar 15, 2024
Rock tempos and mind-melting guitar solos rub shoulders with down-and-dirty lyrics on a 50-year-old album now remastered on 180g vinyl, says Steve Sutherland

There are a number of reasons why musicians take umbrage with their work being hosted on streaming platforms. Some bridle against the scant renumeration forthcoming. Others have taken a moral stance, unwilling to be considered bedfellows with artists or podcasters who they deem to be politically undesirable. And then there are those who consider the very nature of streaming itself to be artistically damaging.

Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Mar 14, 2024
hfnoutstandingIncorporating Auralic's latest Tesla G3 streaming platform, the Aries G2.2 digital server also features a beefed-up PSU, a solid-state storage option and the promise of Dirac Live

At Munich's High End show in May 2023, a rare appearance by Auralic founder Xuanqian Wang heralded the launch of G3 versions of its Aries streaming transport and Vega streaming DAC, destined to extend the company's reach into the high-end when they arrive later this year. Yet at the same event the digital audio specialist introduced new G2.2 iterations of the Aries (tested here) and Vega [HFN Nov '23], both now available priced £5299 and £6899, respectively. Somewhat confusingly, all four models – regardless of their generation number – use the same G3 version of Auralic's Tesla streaming platform.

Steve Sutherland  |  Mar 12, 2024
From Dolly Parton to Pearl Jam, White Stripes to Snoop Dogg... this facility in Nashville is not just a recording studio but a teaching academy too. Steve Sutherland explains...

Name's Gregg...' We're some 30 minutes into the interview when the door to the cramped London hotel room opens and he stumbles in and collapses onto the bed. He's wearing headphones big as earmuffs and appears to be listening to something or other on his Walkman.

Review: Mark Craven,  |  Mar 11, 2024
hfnoutstandingNestled at the heart of dCS's three-box Lina headphone amp solution is the Lina DAC, now refreshed with APEX-level firmware as a springboard into its mainstream range

When dCS was founded in 1987, the idea that hi-fi hardware could be comprehensively upgraded without the need to lug it back to the shop might have seemed the stuff of science-fiction. Skip forward some 40 years, however, and firmware updates – delivered over-the-air for networked products – have become the norm. They're often used to squash 'bugs' and tweak minor settings, but what the Cambridge-based company has done with its Lina Network DAC is more noteworthy.

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