Wayne’s Desert Island Disks

All listed are on vinyl (LP), my only format.  However, some of them have been released on CD, which I have not listened to.  Many of these will be available only in used record stores or used online sources.  My listening bias is for live performances as they often are more inspiring than studio recordings, […]

The Best-kept Secret in Mac CD Ripping?

Great news for audiophiles who, like myself, love all-things-Mac — we now have our own ripper with most of the capabilities of “EAC” or “dbPowerAmp.”
And it’s free and open-source!
The product is called XLD (X Lossless Decoder) and boasts the most impressive feature list of anything Mac. You can download it here. If you use it, […]

Does Bandwidth Beyond 20khz Improve Sound Quality?

Some folks over at the SlimDevices Forum (here) are currently debating the impact of this 2000 psycho-acoustic scholarly research from Japan.
The results of the study support some remarkable and far-reaching conclusions:

Frequency content beyond 20khz enhances human perception of music - test subjects favor it over lower-bandwidth material.
Brain activity can be measured and used to correlate […]

Free Download - Blue Coast “The BAAS Sessions”

Click here for exclusive recordings from our Blue Coast Records event.
The tracks are available as both playable MP3 and downloadable 16/44.1 WAV. So most everyone should be able to play them with good fidelity.
You’ll find not just the mixed versions, but also the “raw mic” tracks from the various microphones that Cookie used.
Listening to these […]

Greeks Scientifically Test “Vinyl vs CD”

The Audiophile Club of Athens remains very active.
Its latest endeavor (documented here) tackles an issue that seems to plague many audiophiles - “is CD/digital (finally) better than analog/vinyl”?
Their answer is an emphatic  “NO!”
While I disagree with some of their methodology, it makes for interesting reading. And I certainly applaud their effort.
I’ll leave you to form […]

Best Systems at Rocky Mountain (RMAF 2008)

Let me begin with a quotable quote:

Audiophile: “I just don’t understand how a power cord can matter.”
Well-known cable vendor: “The first thing to understand is that the improvement has nothing to do with power….”
Audiophile: “Huh?”

Yep - believe it or not - a lot of hype and misinformation flowed in Denver this weekend. But so did […]

The Worst Album Covers EVER!

How do you like the one on the left?
It’s actually one of the more tasteful ones on this site, which is a unique “worst of” collection.
Note: Folks with delicate sensibilities should not click the link.
Enjoy!

Want to compare high-res digital formats?

Click here for an excellent source of music samples in widely- varying digital formats - right up to 24/353!
I’ve not downloaded any of them yet, so please share your experiences if you have!

On Bandwidth (and Sampling Rate)

For our technically-minded members, I’m sure that you’re aware of Fourier Analysis and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) that revolutionized signal processing. For others, the core idea is that any signal can be efficiently decomposed into a number of sine waves. The more sine waves, the better the approximation.
The graphic at left shows a number […]

Burning Amp 2008 (Oct 19th)

For many of us, tweaking or building our gear is a key part of our musical expression.
We Bay Area folks are lucky to, through DIYaudio.com and others, be a mecca for this activity.
I highly recommend dropping by Burning Amp, the annual celebration of DIYaudio. Among other things, you can meet folks like Nelson Pass - […]