Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Tech Trends 2012: Small is Beautiful
Michael Berk  |  Mar 26, 2012  | 

IT’S CLEAR THAT since the dawn of the iPod era, listeners and manufacturers alike have been struggling to figure out what kind of gear makes the most sense for a musical universe dominated by iTunes, and the rise of Apple rivals and music-streaming services has made matters even more confusing.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Logitech Harmony Touch Smart Touchscreen Universal Controller
John Sciacca  |  Dec 25, 2012  | 

Remote controls can essentially be clumped into three categories: low-, middle-, and high-end. At the low end are DIY models that offer basic “all-in-one” control functions and are meant to replace lost or broken manufacturer-issued remotes. High-end models require professional programming and provide powerful automation features, IP and RS-232 control, and radio-frequency operation.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Something in the Air: Wireless HDMI from Gefen, IOGear, and Vizio
Daniel Kumin  |  Apr 03, 2012  | 

I have seen the future, and it is wireless. Wireless data, wireless music, wireless speakers, wireless keyboards, and now, wireless HDMI hi-def video. (Of course, all these things still need to be plugged into the wall, for AC power. Perhaps, somewhere on the Other Side, Nikola Tesla is still working on that.)

Wireless HDMI gets us that much closer to the Jetsonian ideal of the sheet-of-glass video screen floating unencumbered on a wall – without having to tear down that wall to run wires.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Yamaha RX-A3020 A/V Receiver Page 2
Daniel Kumin  |  Dec 25, 2012  | 

Back when A/V was just "A," Yamaha was among the first to elevate the receiver from dormroom necessity to Serious Audio Component. Brand Y then negotiated the transition to audio-plus-video smoothly, and today remains one of the leading purveyors of the all-in-one home theater centerpiece.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Test Report: D-Box Technologies SRP-230 Universal Motion Platform and IV/BD Motion Controller
John Sciacca  |  Feb 13, 2013  | 

Between increasing your system’s audio channel count to 9.1 or 11.1 and upgrading to a bigger, brighter, or even higher-resolution 4K video display, there’s no shortage of ways to take your home theater to the next level. And while such improvements can certainly add excitement, the basic home theater experience still pretty much remains the same.

The thing that most home theaters can’t do is put you into the action, literally letting you feel what is happening onscreen. The sliding of gravel under the tires. The rock and sway of a boat. The thud-thud-thud of a jet being riddled with gunfire. Providing that experience is the role that D-Box fills.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Test Report: Darbee Darblet Video Enhancer
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 13, 2013  | 

I think you can file most video enthusiasts into two broad categories: Purists and Bestists.The Purists want accurate color, bit-for-bit accuracy from Blu-ray, original aspect ratios, and so on. Bestists want the image to fill their screen, and to see a picture with hyper-detail (and maybe hypercolor). Which brings us to Darbee’s Darblet video enhancer. While a Purist might dismiss the Darblet as something a Bestist would want, I couldn’t say for sure that both camps won’t be curious. It is … interesting.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Tech Trends 2012: Siri-ously Kinect-ed
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 20, 2012  | 

While the hype at CES this year was all about OLED, 4K, and bigger TVs, a quiet revolution began in the interaction department. LG and Samsung both announced new ways to control TVs using facial and speech recognition, or even just a wave of your hand.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Review: Lirpa Labs Ts1-Lirpa iPad app
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 31, 2013  | 

There is no audio company in the world more revered, feared, disputed, or discussed than Lirpa Labs.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Review: Battle of the DACs
Al Griffin  |  Apr 04, 2013  | 

When Audioquest released its DragonFly USB Digital-Audio Converter back in 2012, the tiny USB-stick DAC quickly found a niche with audiophiles seeking to improve the sound quality of music played on their laptop computers and listened to via headphones or desktop speakers.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Review: Audioquest DragonFly
Al Griffin  |  Apr 05, 2013  | 

I've had a DragonFly revolving in and out of my desktop setup ever since I first checked one out for S&V's 2012 Holiday Gift Guide, so I was already very familiar with its capabilities.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Review: High Resolution Technologies microStreamer
Al Griffin  |  Apr 05, 2013  | 

Housed in a billet-like slab of aluminum, the HRT microStreamer’s clean, utilitarian design tips you off right away that it means business. In this case, that biz is performing the same basic tasks as the Dragonfly, including decoding files with up to 96 kHz/24-bit resolution. And at a mere 2.5 inches, it checks in for work in a similarly compact form factor.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Review: Meridian Explorer
Al Griffin  |  Apr 05, 2013  | 

[*Note: After sending me an Explorer, Meridian quietly introduced a running change into its production.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Traveling Companions: Headphone Amps from FiiO, iFi, and Miniwatt
Michael Berk  |  May 29, 2013  | 

As you might have gathered from the headphone roundup we did a couple of weeks back, there's probably never been a better time to be into personal audio. With a whole new breed of enthusiast listeners out there, rabidly interested in headphones and the accessories that make 'em a better experience and willing and able to upgrade given the relatively low cost of admission, a host of audio firms new and old have been churning out new and innovative 'phones and accessories so quickly that it's been a little difficult to keep up. Taking a look at the landscape of affordable (let's say under $500), you'll find that afistful of new headphone amps and DACs are bringing once-esoteric features to the masses, at down-to-earth prices.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Review: Firestone Audio ILTW USB DAC
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 13, 2012  | 

There is a way to make your music sound better. Well, OK, there are LOTS of ways to make your music sound better. If you're looking to improve your digital music, beyond new speakers, amps, and so on is a bit of technological wonder called the DAC, or Digital/Analog Converter. This is what turns your music files into something analog you can actually hear.

Receivers these days tend to have built in DACs, but just because they're there doesn't necessarily mean they're any good. A great sounding DAC can smooth out your digital audio, making it sound more natural and realistic.

Firestone Audio's tiny ILTW packs a lot into a tiny frame, for not a lot of money.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Test Report: NuVo Technologies Wireless Audio System
John Sciacca  |  Jul 03, 2013  | 

As a custom installer, I hear a lot of requests, andone of the things people ask for most is wireless audio. Sending music around the home without the hassle, cost, or mess associated with long runs of wire is the modern American audio dream.

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