Out 27th January on the Kompakt label Pop ambient 2014 is the 14th instalment of this series of albums presided over by label head honcho Wolfgang Voigt. Pop Ambient kicks off with “The God of Pads” Ulf Lohmann who’s had a six year hiatus and it would appear he’s back in fine form with the […]
As the title may suggest the Concord USB is a powered USB cable from Astintrew and Danny Worth has been listening to one for the last few weeks. “Tones were nice and relaxed and unforced, there was an ease to the sound, a silky flow to the music and, most importantly, the nasty upper bass […]
UK Distribution company Henley designs contacted Hifi Pig to tell us about the new Quintet Series of Moving Coil (MC) phono pick-up cartridges from Ortofon. The all-new range of cartridges includes 5 models to offer a range that ties in nicely with Ortofon’s existing Cadenza Series of premium MC cartridges, and their 2M range of […]
Thomas at TSAE, whose Evince loudspeakers we reviewed, got in touch with Hifi Pig to tell us that NuNu Distribution has been appointed the official UK and US distributor for their products. Anthony Sallis at Nu Nu Distribution said “At NuNu we are admirers of the different and the bold innovators in musical reproduction. Thomas […]
Denon has announced its first standalone USB Digital to Analogue Converter, the new £329 DA-300USB DAC which boasts the same Advanced AL32 Processing and 32-bit, 192kHz digital to analogue conversion technologies of Denon’s flagship CD/SACD players. It is scheduled to hit stores in February 2014. The DAC can be connected via USB-B or the additional […]
When this diminutive Bluetooth loudspeaker arrived just before Christmas we thought that the best person to review it would be our sixteen year old son Harry as he’s potentially the target market and he’s the one with Bluetooth enabled kit. “The sound quality is very good, the bass is surprisingly rich and the high notes […]
Like me, the name Leon Haywood may well be a new one to you but don’t let that stop you from reading further because this one is a bit of a hidden gem. Haywood is best known for his crossover hit “I Want’a Do Something Freaky To You” from 1975 which has been sampled by […]
Charo, or Maria del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza as her parents would have known her, is a Spanish-American singer, actress, comedienne and flamenco guitarist well known back in the day for her somewhat flamboyant style and her catchphrase “Cuchi-Cuchi” (‘Cuchi’ is a Spanish slang term for a woman’s genitals. However, Spanish speaking countries […]
Even if you’ve been living under a rock for the last 35 years or so you must have heard either some of Loleatta Holloway’s disco charged tunes or at the very least one of the many tunes that sample her …”Love Sensation” anyone? “Queen of the Night” was first released in ’78 on Gold Mind/Salsoul […]
British manufacturer Arcam of Cambridge, used CES to unveil the new FMJ A49, a 200 Watts per channel stereo integrated amplifier, hand-crafted at the company facility in Rochester New York. Arcam say this is the best and most powerful amplifier they have ever made with its 200 watts per channel Class G constant power into […]
The Airplay™ enabled A100 is a network-ready, 50w Class A/B amplifier that combines wireless streaming technologies with audio system design to bridge the divide between a world of digital music and your hi-fi speakers so that it will play your music wherever you store it – on computer, smartphone, NAS drive or the cloud, or […]
Italian high-end manufacturer Eam Lab built contacted Hifi Pig to tell us a little about their HA 360.2 amplifier. The Eam Lab 360.2, say the company, is an amplifier that “we have enclosed all the know-how gained in recent years and we were able to produce an extremely reliable amplifier with an exceptional price”. […]
Arcam got in touch to tell Hifi Pig about their new affordable Bluetooth micro-DAC, the miniBlink. Basically it allows music streaming for Android, Apple, PC, Mac, iPad, Tablet, Phone etc and builds on the reputation of the company’s rBlink. The miniBlink is the first in the new Arcam “mini” range of digital micro-components at affordable prices for […]
Clones Audio, whose 25i amp we reviewed in April 2013, contacted Hifi Pig to tell us about there latest mono power amplifier, the 55pm. The Clones Audio 55pm comes with a separate casing and power supply which they say “provides cleaner imaging and more extension on both ends of the audio spectrum as your speakers […]
HiFiMan launched their smallest, lightest and cheapest portable audio player. The HM-700 features a balanced output which HiFiMan say will deliver a wide and lifelike soundstage and comes with a balanced version of the company’s RE-400 in ear monitors. The new player will play most of the most well known formats and it has 32GB […]
Black Pearls whose integrated amplifier Hifi Pig reviewed last year have announced the introduction of their first CD player, the Virgo. Virgo is a top loader CD player equipped with a USB audio interface. It features the Philips CD PRO 2 module, two PCM1794A in dual-mono configuration to convert the digital signal to analogue and […]
Krell will introduce what they are calling the most revolutionary design in its history at CES 2014. Called the iBias the new tech’ will allow Class A operation but without the associated energy loss and heat. The new range of amplifiers includes seven models with each being 3U high and having removable rack mounting ears […]
German based MBL whose 116F Radialstrahler loudspeakers we reviewed in 2012, have announced their latest “Noble Line” electronics at this years CES in Las Vegas.The range will include amps and digital products. The New range of amps feature the second generation of the company’s Linear Analogue Switching Amplifier (LASA) technology which is independent of speaker […]
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Chord Electronics’ DAC 64, the company has launched Hugo at CES 2014 – Hifi Pig reported the imminent launch and gave a sneaky peek in late November. Chord say Hugo is the world’s most advanced headphone amp/DAC, offering five digital inputs including A2DP aptX Bluetooth, plus advanced 384kHz PCM […]
The Mark Levinson № 585 integrated amplifier combines 200 watts per channel power output (into 8 ohms, 350 watts into 4 ohms) and offers six digital inputs including USB, optical, coaxial and AES/EBU XLR, to accommodate a wide variety of digital music sources, including 32-bit/192kHz computer audio and DSD over PCM via USB. The № […]
Absolute Sounds, UK importer and distributor of hi-fi and home cinema equipment, got in touch with Hifi Pig to let us know what the brands they represent will be doing at this year’s CES. Audio Research The American company unveil their latest entry-level CD player, the CD6, which also serves as an outboard DAC. This […]
Audio-Technica began in Tokyo in 1962 and now they are debuting their new SonicFuel headphones at CES 2014. “The Solid Bass range cranks up the bass so you get powerful sound for pop, rock and hip-hop while the SonicPro range is designed for ultimate audio performance in the recording studio, behind the decks or on […]
The Zodiac Platinum, features a 256X upsampling mode where DSD64 and DSD128 are upsampled to DSD256 which Antelope say will deliver new standards in accuracy, transparency, imaging, and dynamics. The new DSD DAC ships with an entirely new, second-generation Voltikus power supply and an aluminum remote control. “We have created an algorithm that we believe […]
Naim Audio has announced a preview of it new Reference pre and power amplifiers at CES Las Vegas today. They are Statement NAC S1 preamplifier and NAP S1 mono power amplifiers. The NAP S1 mono power amplifiers are each rated at 746 watts into 8 ohms, 1450 watts into 4 ohms and over 9000 watts […]
Germany‘s T+A, announced the launch of five new products at CES in Las Vegas. P 3000 HV – UK SRP £9,500 – is an analogue pre–amplifier that features include HV (High Voltage) design, 7 x unbalanced / 4 x balanced inputs, identical ‘double-mono’ circuit construction, significant internal shielding with each section housed within its own […]
