Music News
IDLES Cover Sharon Van Etten’s “Peace Signs”
I didn’t see that coming.
Articles by Michael Lavorgna
HiFi News
Listening: The Most Moving HiFi-Related Video You Will Ever See
All’s I can say is thank you — Bob Lichtenberg, Christopher Bell, John DeVore, Erik Owen, Frankie Richards, Nick Kelling, Dave Gross, and Stereophile — for a beautiful, moving, and thought provoking story. Bravo!!
Art&Culture
Warren Ellis Beard Balm: For the Bad Seed In All Of Us
Beards, especially long beards, can become unruly. Positively wild. What’s the hirsute to do? Balm, my friend. Balm.
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Sarah Mary Chadwick | Me And Ennui Are Friends, Baby
: a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction
HiFi Thoughts
When Measurements and Blind Tests Go Wrong: A History Lesson
The correlation between measurements and hearing is tenuous at best. If we use history as a guide, engineers in the 1940’s were convinced people preferred narrow band music reproduction. They’d done blind listening tests to prove it!
Art&Culture
The Twittering Machines Barn Mug
Everyone deserves a Barn (mug).
Music News
Phoebe Bridgers: The Gift That Keeps Giving
Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher remains one of my favorite albums of 2020. Bridgers has joined musical forces with Jackson Browne for a new version of “Kyoto” and Maria Taylor for a cover of John Prine’s “Summer’s End” as part of the Spotify Singles series. Listen here…
Amplifier Reviews
Review: Riviera Audio Laboratories Levante: Measured Riches
Two of the principals of Riviera Audio Labs, Luca Chiomenti (audio designer and engineer) and Silvio Delfino (sales and marketing) spent a few decades talking about the kind of amplifier they’d like to make, if they ever decided to make one. Five years ago, on […]
In Barn for Review
In Barn for Review: Denafrips ARES II DAC
The Denafrips ARES II DAC uses R-2R DAC technology to convert digital to analog, an approach I’ve found can please the ears with a naturalness that evades many a chip-based DAC.
HiFi Bargains
HiFi Bargains: The Helm BOLT DAC: Pocket-Sized Conversion
The diminutive and delicious Helm BOLT DAC recently worked itself onto my short list of Favorite DACs. If we add its $99.99 asking price into the equation, we come up with a verified HiFi Bargain.
Art&Culture
Haruki Murakami T-Shirts!
Dress for literary success!
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: A Winged Victory for the Sullen | Invisible Cities
I dropped in on A Winged Victory for the Sullen for their self-titled debut album back in 2011 and keep a lookout for anything new. Like a hawk.
HiFi News
HiFi Show Schedule 2021: When You Wish Upon A Star [Update 3.3.21]
Have I mentioned I miss HiFi Shows?
TM Favorite Digital Gear
Twittering Machines Favorite Digital Gear
fa·vor·ite | /ˈfāv(ə)rət/ | adjective: favorite | preferred before all others of the same kind.
HiFi Thoughts
Certainly Uncertain: When Measurement Results Don’t Match
One of the greatest misconceptions in all of Audiophiledom is the notion that measurements are objective.