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Headphone Amp/DAC ReviewsPortable Player Reviews
iFi nano iDSD Black Label Amp/DAC Review
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 22, 2018

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $199

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Handles PCM, DSD, and MQA natively
Second iEMatch output for IEMs
USB or battery powered
Minus
No analog line input

THE VERDICT
This full-featured budget amp/DAC can get the best out of most headphones, especially in the all-important presence region.

If you’re looking for a USB amp/DAC to juice your headphones, you might assume that a couple hundred bucks would buy nothing more than a stick amp, one of those compact dongles that extends straight out from your computer’s USB port. We live in the golden age of the stick amp, and I’m sure not knocking ’em. But what if the same money can buy something with a little more real estate for circuitry and the always vital power supply, offering better than 96-kilohertz/24-bit resolution, DSD, MQA, and two headphone outputs with different gains, one for demanding ’phones and one for more efficient ones (including in-ear monitors, aka IEMs)? Of course, you must read on.

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Audio Video News
AVTech Media Ltd (UK) Acquires Home Tech Network From TEN: The Enthusiast Network
SV Staff  |  Mar 22, 2018

New Group Combines AVTech Media’s Specialist Hi-Fi/Home Theater Titles with TEN’s Home Tech Network to Create World’s Largest Consumer Electronics Audio/Visual Publishing Enterprise

NEW YORK, NY — AVTech Media Ltd (UK) (www.avtechmedia.co.uk) has purchased the Home Tech Network from TEN: The Enthusiast Network (www.hometechnetwork.com), it was announced today.

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Ask S&V
What Computer Volume Settings Provide the Best Sound?
Al Griffin  |  Mar 22, 2018
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q What software and computer control panel volume settings deliver the best sound when playing music using apps like iTunes and sending the digital output to a DAC? —John de Perczel

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Audio Video News
Bill Reauthorizing FCC, TV Station Funding Awaits Senate
SV Staff  |  Mar 22, 2018
In a rare display of functionality, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Ray Baum Act. Named after the former staff director of the Energy and Commerce Committee who died recently, the bill reauthorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), among other things.
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Audio Video News
NBC to Trim TV Commercials
SV Staff  |  Mar 22, 2018
If those blaring SUV ads are challenging your attention span or DVR trigger finger, here’s some good news: NBC recently announced plans to trim advertising time by 10 percent and reduce the number of breaks by 20 percent, starting with the coming fall season.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Pioneer Expands Elite Lineup with $499 AV Receiver
SV Staff  |  Mar 22, 2018
Pioneer has expanded its 2018 Elite receiver lineup with a 7.2-channel base model that lists for $499.
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New Products
March 2018 New Gear Part 2
SV Staff  |  Mar 21, 2018
Klipsch Reference Premiere Designer On-Wall Speaker Series
Klipsch has the perfect solution for enthusiasts who want big sound but don’t have room for freestanding speakers. The latest iteration of its flagship Reference Premiere series trades bulky enclosures for slim, wall-mountable cabinets with wraparound magnetic grilles.
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Audio Video News
New Audeze Headphones Embrace 3D Audio
SV Staff  |  Mar 21, 2018
Audeze has launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to introduce a new set of planar-magnetic headphones built around 3D audio technology developed by Israel’s Waves Audio.
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Audio Video News
3D Lives On Samsung's Cinema LED Screen
SV Staff  |  Mar 21, 2018
3D is dead as a doornail in major-brand TV lines but Samsung appears to think it has a future in theaters. It has created a 3D version of its 34-foot Cinema LED theater screen.
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Reference TracksThe S&V Interview
Roxy Music’s Self-Titled ‘Re-Make/Re-Model’ of Rock Convention Gets a Rich 5.1 Upgrade
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 21, 2018
No one had ever seen or heard anything like it before. When Roxy Music released their self-titled debut in June 1972 — ironically enough, on the exact same day their spiritual brother-in-creative-arms David Bowie released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars — the art-school-tempered British sextet instantly ushered in an immediate sea change for both the style and sonic character of an already sagging rock scene...
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