How time flies when you’re having fun! It hardly seems like four years since my review of Bryston’s BDP-1 Digital Player in issue 215. Since its auspicious debut, the BDP-1 has remained my reference digital ...

As I describe in this issue’s From The Editor, beneath every music server’s audio-component-like exterior lurks a computer. Do-it-yourself servers based on a Mac or Windows PC make no attempt to hide this fact from ...

In the late 1990s three acquaintances—an A&R representative at a major record label, a record-label owner, and a software developer—found themselves with the identical problem of having no way to easily access their large music ...

The following is a press release from Meridian Audio. January 29, 2016 - Meridian Audio announces the availability of a firmware update for its MQA-compatible products including Explorer2, Prime Headphone Amplifier, 808v6 Reference CD Player, ...

Just one year ago the high end’s digital scene could best be described as nebulous. Manufacturers weren’t sure where technology was going, what customers were looking for, or how to wrangle those mobile device-toting youngsters ...

Regular readers know that I’m enthusiastic about the potential of Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), the new digital encoding and decoding system that delivers better-than-hi-res sound quality at approximately CD bit-rates. I first heard this technology ...

The following is a press release issued by MQA. Las Vegas, NV – MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) launches major partnerships at CES 2016, including agreements with music download store 2L and playback partners AURALiC and ...

Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), the new digital audio encoding technology that delivers better-than-high-resolution sound in a file small enough that it can be streamed, took another step toward becoming a reality at the 2016 Consumer ...

Robert Harley: Let’s start with an overview of the concept of MQA—not the technology but the objective. J. Robert Stuart: MQA embodies a philosophy as well as a group of technologies. The philosophy starts with ...

The following is a press release issued by Wyred 4 Sound. ATASCADERO, CA | Dec 28, 2015— Wyred 4 Sound is pleased to announce two new products to crown a productive year for the high-end ...

In the context of discussing computer audio, it takes only the mention of three letters—“U,” “S,” and “B”—to raise John Mingo’s blood pressure. Since the Montana-based Mingo started Baetis Audio in 2011, he’s been expounding, ...

Meridian co-founder J. Robert Stuart was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) at a ceremony in Dallas in October. I had the honor of attending the dinner ...

The following is a press release issued by Baetis Audio. December 15, 2015 - Many customers asked us why there was such a big price difference between the XR3 model (at $7995) and the Reference ...

Astell&Kern AK Jr $500 The AK Jr is only 4.5" by 2" and 3/8". It will slip easily into almost any pocket you choose, except for the change pocket of your jeans. Unlike many portable ...

Let me begin with one central and perhaps overriding observation: One can debate the features and cost of the Burmester MC151, but not its sound quality. It is a truly outstanding digital player, one of ...