Music Downloads
Michael Lavorgna Mar 16, 2012 1 comments

[Steve Silberman of AudioQuest, who incidentally turned me on to Archive.org, offers up 5 favorites 4 live 3 free and lets the music speak for itself]

Sweepstakes
Jon Iverson Mar 14, 2012 261 comments
Register to win a Arcam rDAC audiophile-grade Digital to Analog Converter (MSRP $479) we are giving away.

According to Arcam, the rDAC's sleek cast aluminum case, hides the latest digital technology, including the outstanding Wolfson 8741 DAC. With coaxial, optical and USB inputs, the rDAC renders music with stunning accuracy and musicality.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. Click on the picture above for details on how to enter.

[This sweepstakes is now closed.]

Michael Lavorgna Mar 14, 2012 9 comments
It's mysterious. It's music. It's a music player. It's a headphone amp, for two.
Hardware How-To
Michael Lavorgna Mar 13, 2012 8 comments
NAS Topologies
Sometimes a picture saves words and as you can see a NAS device connects to your Router with an Ethernet cable (hey that was much less than a 1,000). The next point of interest is since a NAS sits on your network and is attached to your Router via Ethernet, and Ethernet allows for cable runs of up to 100 meters, your NAS can live in another room leaving your listening room that much quieter. While some NAS devices are quieter than others, none are silent.
Hardware How-To
Michael Lavorgna Mar 13, 2012 0 comments
Anatomy of NAS (What makes a NAS not a HDD?)
When buying a NAS device, you'll want to pay attention to a number of specifications including CPU Speed and Installed Memory/Maximum Memory. These two features along with the fact that the majority of NAS devices come pre-installed with a version of the Linux operating system tell you why a NAS is more than a "drive". As a matter of fact, some NAS devices come without any hard disk drives at all (more on that below).
Michael Lavorgna Mar 10, 2012 9 comments
As a follow-up to The Emperor's Old Clothes: In Theory Is Where I Do My Best Practice, I thought it worthwhile to point you to Soundkeeper Recordings who offer various versions of the same music for download in different bit/sample rates. For free. Here's why...
One thing that comes up repeatedly in discussions with other music lovers and audiophiles regarding CD vs. high resolution digital formats, is the fact that most folks have no means of making a valid comparison. Often, the high resolution version of a record is mastered at a different session, sometimes by a different engineer. At many so-called "format shootouts", one hears level differences, EQ differences, etc., making a true comparison of the formats impossible. Astute listeners realize these are comparisons of different masterings and not of the formats themselves.
News
Michael Lavorgna Mar 09, 2012 0 comments
I think we all about know dynamic compression and the loudness wars but somehow the fact that music which has been severely compressed sounds like crap hasn't reached the minds and ears of some people who make music. I wonder about the inherent logic being applied along with sound-numbing bandwidth limited mastering in order to sound louder than the music played before and after yours if everyone is doing the same thing and broadcasters employ their own signal-processing and volume-leveling. Where does the real advantage come into play?

Perhaps its simply a stand-off—OK let's stop the loudness wars. You go first. Well somebody's got to go first and the people and companies behind International Dynamic Range Day want to help force all of those hands off of the loudness control. All I will add is March 16, 2012 is International Dynamic Range Day, bravo!, and this movement deserves our support.

News
Michael Lavorgna Mar 08, 2012 7 comments
An article titled, "24/192 Music Downloads...and why they make no sense", on xiph.org is getting a lot of attention on the audio forums because it claims that 16/44.1 provides better sound quality than 24-bit/192kHz. The author, Chris Montgomery, has also cleverly titled the associated file "neil-young.html" as a wink toward Mr. Young's recent calls for a move away from MP3s toward higher resolution formats. It's also worth noting that according to Mr. Montgomery's Wikipedia page, "Christopher “Monty” Montgomery is the creator of the Ogg Free Software container format and Vorbis audio codec and others" so one can perhaps see why he's taken what Neil Young said so personally.
News
Michael Lavorgna Mar 05, 2012 0 comments
After my initial review of the Paradigm A2 powered desktop speakers ($279.99/ea. in Black Ash, $329.99/ea. premium finishes) Paradigm decided to re-think a few design aspects of this loud speaker. Chief among these re-design considerations was to make it, well, not such a loud speaker.
Music Downloads
Michael Lavorgna Mar 02, 2012 0 comments
Masaki Batoh, Brain Pulse Music

Masaki Batoh, musician formerly of the band Ghost and currently also an acupuncturist, conceived of and had the Brain Pulse Music Machine made to translate brain waves into sound waves which the wearer can learn to control to make music.