Audio: Listen to article

No matter what business you are in, it’s about people. What about AI you say? I’m glad you asked. According to OpenAI’s James Betker, AI’s success is, “not determined by architecture, hyperparameters, or optimizer choices. It’s determined by your data set, nothing else.” In other words, people who create content that is ingested by computers. The better people are at writing, the more of that writing AI scrapes, the better its output.

I bring this up because in recent months Audiophile Style has been inundated with attempts to promote new audio applications, many of which were written largely by AI. I’m not against using AI to assist or even create an entire app. If that’s what one wants to do, I would never stand in the way. But, based on my experience, the success or failure of these audio apps is absolutely determined by the people creating them.

This is where a new app named VeraVox comes into the picture. At first I ignored VeraVox. I saw it as just another app in the sea of apps flooding my inbox. Then I was persuaded to at least look at the app. I spent 30 seconds on the VeraVox website, and considered that my “look.” We are all overloaded with information every day, all day, and we have to practice a little self care, by picking and choosing where to spend our time. A cursory website perusal was where I drew the line.

Roughly a week later, Audiophile Style contributor @Josh Mound expressed interest in VeraVox and shared with me that he had been in contact with its developer Riccardo (@RikyPate). My interest went from “little” to “some,” based on Josh’s comments.

Several days after that a few questions and answers were passed between Riccardo and I, through Josh as our intermediary. Riccardo’s responses increased my level of interest from “some” to “this might be worth more time.”

Over the next few days, additional communication was exchanged between Riccardo and I, through Josh. Every response I read was a green flag indicating that I should install VeraVox, and more importantly, indicating Riccardo was unique, had experience, clear vision, and a plan, and was very appreciative of other people’s time. He also was willing to say no to some ideas and requests. Saying no, with well reasoned responses, is imperative when literally anything is possible.

VeraVox Beta

I’ve used VeraVox, still in beta, for around two weeks. It is a vey refreshing app, built for a specific group of music listeners. No bells and whistles, no EQ, no DSP, no endless options that require one to use it three hours per day to maintain a fresh understanding of what’s going on, no, no, no. And, I love it.

I started by dragging individual albums into the queue and letting them play. I’m an album guy. I like listening to the art as it was created, a complete presentation and picture. When I was done, I cleared the queue and dropped another album into VeraVox. The simplicity enabled my brain to think about only the music. And, the sound was fantastic. I’d switch to other apps and be subconsciously pulled back to VeraVox.

I could’ve continued to drag and drop music into the queue, but I wanted to try the library manager. I then added my entire library of two, three, four, five, six, eight, ten, and twelve channel recordings to VeraVox.

Searching, sorting, filtering, and generally viewing one’s library is a very pleasant experience through VeraVox. My brain was at ease the entire time. It’s quick and to the point. Exactly as Riccardo has designed it, and following the same ethos as his audio playback engine is designed, adding nothing and changing nothing.

Two quotes come to mind when using VeraVox.

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

- Albert Einstein

“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”

- Oscar Wilde

While these quotes come to mind, I am not saying VeraVox is the best. There can be no “best” when so many apps are designed to do different things, fill different voids, and satisfy specific groups of consumers. The aforementioned statement are what I think of when not trying to think, and just using the application.

Important Notes

VeraVox is still in beta. It’s not perfect. I run into small issues frequently, but no showstoppers. For example, the filtering option wasn’t working on all tabs of the library view. I posted about the issue, with screenshots, and Riccardo fixed it that same day.

I don’t expect any developer to fix something the same day, but Riccardo isn’t any developer. He is perhaps the most accessible developer I’ve ever seen, gracious, and thankful of all input and constructive criticism.

VeraVox has serious potential. It’s a budding rose among many thorns. Right now the only cost is one’s time. The benefits range from many to none, depending on one’s requirements. The only way to find out if it’s for you and if you want to spend a little time helping this budding rose come to full bloom, is to give it a try.

I encourage everyone to download it. What’s the worst thing that can happen? That’s a rhetorical question. After all, I do understand we are audiophiles.

For much more information about how and why VeraVox is designed like it is, visit the VeraVox beta website here, and to interact with Riccardo and others using the app, visit the topic on Audiophile Style here.

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about

Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

Audio: Listen to this article

Like all crazy audiophiles, I have my limits. I limit my main home audio system to twelve Wilson Audio speakers, although sixteen might be better :~). Along similar lines, I limit my on the go system to a pair of Sennheiser IE 900 earphones, a portable DAC dongle, and my iPhone. Sure, a high end DAP dedicated to high performance playback would likely be better, but as I said, I have my limits. When I’m away from home, I limit the amount of devices I carry, thus limiting the number of devices I need to charge, update, fiddle with, sync, etc…

A year and a half ago I started using the $79 iFi GO link Max, connected to my iPhone and IE 900 earphones. A great combination that served me well, until the captive USB cable started to fail. Over the last couple months I’ve had my eyes and ears open, kind of looking for something different, but not overextending myself as if I was traveling around the Moon and needed something right now. Then the Schiit Audio Vestri announcement arrived in my inbox and all was right in the world. Add to cart, I “needed” it “now.”

Schiit Audio Vestri

The Vestri is different, just like Schiit Audio is different. The company designed, and manufactured Vestri on its own in-house SMD line, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Made of milled aluminum and glass, Vestri feels different. Designed with Schiit’s Mesh digital to analog conversion, custom filtering, and Unison USB, Vestri sounds different. Featuring a removable USB cable and individual LEDs under the glass, that will outlive you and your pet tortoise, Vestri is for those of us who value distinctions with differences.

I’ve listened to Vestri for several days, with heavy usage that last two days, and really enjoy what it delivers. I started listening with Vestri connected to my iPhone, then transitioned to Vestri connected to my MacBook Pro (M2 Pro). The MacBook Pro setup is nicer because I have a zillion different apps and sources of music available, and it enabled me to connect both my iFi Go link Max and Vestri simultaneously. This is important because DACs require time to stabilize after powering up. I’m not a big comparison, DAC shootout type of guy, but I thought if I’m going to listen to both, I might as well attempt to do it right.

Vestri’s interface took me some getting used to, but as a guy who tries hard never to read a manual, I may be to blame. Once I looked at the manual, I immediately called Guinness, to see if I qualified for the speed reading record, as I finished it in 3.2 seconds. Only joking, Schiit put its straight to the point writing skills on display in the Vestri manual. I can’t even use the word “page” as that would be too extensive to describe it.

As soon as I read the following, and spent five seconds to digest it, everything made sense.

Touch to make an icon flash

Touch again to change icon

Double touch to toggle it

Those who also read the above "page," and digested it, likely noted the Phase, NOS, and Loudness options. On the go, I don’t do much external upsampling and filtering, but if I did, the NOS mode would be very nice.

The feature that I absolutely love, and I know some friends can’t live without in their own main audio systems, is Loudness. It’s a fact of life that human hearing isn’t equally sensitive across the entire audible frequency spectrum, at all volume levels. Harvey Fletcher and Wilden A. Munson wrote about Loudness in 1933. The International Organization for Standardization, which oddly standardized its three letter acronym as ISO, classifies the newest Loudness standard as ISO 226:2023.

The bottom line for me is that we don’t hear low and high frequencies as well as mid range, at low volume levels. We need a boost in those regions to hear what the mixing / mastering engineers heard when checking albums during production. Engineers often work or spot check albums around 80 dB because that’s the sweet spot where our ears perceive all frequencies most evenly.

Enabling Loudness at low listening levels on the Schiit Audio Vestri, provides a nice compensation for this unavoidable fact of life. Without knowing the exact SPL level of every headphone and volume combination, when connected to Vestri, Schiit Audio listen to a broad array of headphones and developed its best interpretation and implementation of Loudness compensation. Those seeking perfection can keep looking, and looking, and looking, until they decide the best compromise that’s implemented is better than the perfect solution that’s still on paper in the lab.

I really like the Loudness feature. Listening to most music at my normal lowish level, Loudness enabled me to hear much more bottom end. The best part is that Vestri’s Loudness isn’t like a bloated bump. Listening to my favorite double bassist Gary Karr, Loudness provided a much more full bodied illusion of his instrument, without muddying the details.

On Karr’s album Kol Nidrei, the amount of detail I enjoyed with Loudness enabled was pretty surprising. The same can be said for some of my favorite Pearl Jam albums. On the single Man of the Hour, written for Tim Burton's movie Big Fish, Jeff Aments foundational bass line, starting about two second into the track, is completely absent without Loudness enabled. At least, completely absent through my IE 900 earphones at the level I usually listen. Rather than suffer in my typical audiophile fashion, enabling Loudness provided a scientific way of hearing what’s actually in the mix.

Loudness is a feature we all need on all of our audio systems. Seriously, it only makes sense if we want to listen at levels other than 80 - 85 dB.

Listening through Vestri then comparing it to the iFi GO link Max, I was able to clearly hear differences. The biggest difference I heard immediately, is the iFi GO link Max ads a spatial character to the sound compared to the Vestri. A bit wider soundstage and an EQ curve like a small mound in the midrange. Not an inverted V shape, just a little mound, when listened to with my MacBook Pro (M2 Pro) and Sennheiser ie 900 earphones.

After switching back and forth several times, with and without Loudness, spinning my head into audio circles of confusion, then taking a break for a while, I determined the Schiit Audio Vestri is more for me. When Loudness is enabled, I get the full bodied richness of everything that’s on the recording. Without loudness, listening at higher levels, I prefer the less artificial sound stage of the Vestri.

Vestri, like my audiophile life, has limits. It “only” goes to 32 bit / 192 kHz. Not an issue for most people, but an issue for those playing DXD or DSD local content. Volume is “only” controllable via the touch screen on the unit, not remotely via a playback application, unless one wants to remove bits before they get to the DAC by using an app’s software volume control.

The one limit for me that’s annoying, and likely not an issue for 99.9% of listeners, is the lack of a dimming feature. The LED lights indicating which features are enabled and volume level, are illuminated at a constant brightness, all the time. I listen through headphones every night as I go to bed. The next time I mess with my wife’s sleep due to the lights on my “stupid headphone setup,” might be the last time. I’d vote for a way to disable the lights via “press + hold” on the glass panel or something similar.

Wrap Up

Schiit Audio is different in many ways. Its new Vestri portable DAC is pure Schiit, through and through. Unique metal and glass housing, custom filters, Unison USB, LEDs that’ll last longer than any of our favorite music, a removable USB cable, and great sound quality, among other things, are why I love Vestri. I’m not a guy who can search Amazon, select the first recommended product, and call it a day. Heck, I struggle to search Amazon and find anything I want, but that may be more of a me thing. I like different, unique, AND great. That’s Schiit’s bread and butter.

I have the user manual ready to pack, as I’ll be taking Vestri with me to Kauai in a couple weeks. Those who actually read this review, know the first part of that is a joke. The second part is real. I’m ready for a vacation after the huge site upgrade. Fortunately the upgrade looked simple to most people, but I assure you it wasn’t.

I absolutely recommend the Schiit Audio Vestri. Its features really hit home with me, especially Loudness compensation that’s simple to enable/disable with the tap of a finger. I’m always game for features that increase sound quality rather than just increase the price. Schiit’s Vestri is full of such features, and it seems like Schiit may have left a zero, before the decimal point, off the price tag. Well done.

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Schiit Audio

Model: Vestri

Price: $99

Web: Vestri Page

Manual: PDF

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

Audio: Listen to this article

Three years ago, the $35 Kiwi Ears Cadenza separated itself from a crowded field of budget IEMs, quickly becoming one of my go-to recommendations for audiophiles curious about in-ear listening.

Since then, Kiwi Ears has released a bevy of intriguing IEMs, signaling an unwillingness to follow competitors in churning out endless variations of the “Harman Curve.” Standouts like the dark-but-delicate Airoso ($129) and the “New Meta” -tuned KE4 ($199) helped cement Kiwi Ears’ reputation as a value-focused brand that understands how to maximize bang for the buck.

The most recent Kiwi Ears IEM to cross my desk was the Punch, a collaboration with prolific reviewer Hawaii Bad Boy. At $449, it signaled the brand’s ambitions to compete in a higher price bracket. Despite its solid build and quality cable, the Punch proved to be a sonic letdown.

Three newer Kiwi Ears IEMs — the Septet ($269), Astral ($299), and Orchestra II ($349) — again show the company reaching beyond its budget roots. Can this trio succeed where the Punch failed?

Overview

The $269 Septet (Amazon, Kiwi Ears, Linsoul) sports a 1DD + 4BA + 1 planar + 1 PZT “quadbrid” driver configuration.

A passive five-way crossover network divvies up the frequency range among the four driver types. A 10 mm dynamic driver takes care of the low frequencies, two balanced armatures cover the midrange, and a micro planar transducer and piezoelectric driver work in concert to reproduce the treble.

Rare among IEMs, the Septet is open-backed, a design choice that “not only boosts the soundstage but also imparts an ‘acoustic’ texture to the music, creating a more immersive and lifelike listening experience,” according to the company.

The Septet is spec’d at a 15 ohm impedance and 95 dB sensitivity. If that sensitivity suggests a somewhat demanding load for an IEM, it shouldn’t come as a surprise given the design. In my testing, however, capable dongles like the $125 FiiO KA5 and Neutron HiFi DAC V1 provided more than enough juice to drive the Septet with authority.

Pitched at both professional users and audiophiles, Kiwi Ears boasts that “whether you’re mixing, mastering, or enjoying high-fidelity music, the Septet offers a truly technical audio performance.”

I always take time to describe the shells in an IEM review, even though it can sometimes feel perfunctory — “a picture is worth a thousand words“ and all. The Septet, however, benefits from description, as it’s physically and texturally one of the most interesting IEMs I’ve seen in some time, particularly at this price point.

The Septet builds on recent Kiwi Ears designs like the Aether and Airoso, both of which eschewed 3D-printed resin shells in favor of CNC-machined aluminum. A single piece of matte black aluminum forms the rear of the shell, including the nozzle. As with the Aether and Airoso, the Septet’s rear is minimally contoured and lacks a concha fin.

The matte gunmetal faceplate features diagonal vents and a recessed disc at its center, etched with the Kiwi Ears logo. Through the vents, a layer of copper-colored aluminum with fine perforations is visible. The overall effect vaguely recalls the Audeze LCDi3, though the Septet’s execution is considerably more striking.

The Septet’s shells measure 0.91 inches (23.3 mm) long, 0.67 inches (17 mm) tall, and 0.85 inches (21.7 mm) from the end of the nozzle to the top of the faceplate. Given the unibody design, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where the nozzle begins, but its ridged section measures 0.14 inches (3.3 mm) long and 0.22 inches (5.7 mm) wide. The nozzle is oriented mostly perpendicular to the body, angled at roughly 10 degrees, and terminates in a fine mesh.

The Septet uses two pinhole-sized vents — one on the inner portion of the shell and another on the top, near the recessed 0.78 mm inlet. Despite its metal construction, the Septet isn’t particularly heavy, weighing in at 0.3 ounces.

The Septet comes in the larger, two-layer Kiwi box described in my previous multi-Kiwi IEM review.

It ships with a matte version of the standard 4 by 3 by 1.5-inch Kiwi Ears zipper case, rather than Kiwi’s superior $17 faux-leather magnetic flip-top case. That’s not necessarily surprising given the price point, but a better case would’ve been a nice inclusion.

The Septet’s four-strand braided cable resembles the one bundled with the Aether, though it features a transparent brown jacket. One notable difference, however, is the addition of a modular termination, allowing users to swap between 3.5 mm unbalanced and 4.4 mm balanced plugs.

The Septet includes six pairs of eartips, all made from semi-transparent gray silicone with a texture more suggestive of budget IEMs. One S/M/L set features large-bore openings, while the other uses smaller bores. Overall, they’re the weakest link in the Septet’s accessory package, and I quickly swapped them out for cheap hybrid tips with a silicone stem and foam canopy.

The $299 Astral (Amazon, Kiwi Ears, Linsoul) is a 1 DD + 6 BA hybrid IEM that Kiwi Ears pitches as being “engineered for music professionals and discerning audiophiles alike.”

The Astral’s low end is handled by a 10 mm in-house bioceramic dynamic driver, which the company says “offers excellent low-end thump” with a “gentle roll-off at 300 Hz.” The middle frequencies are covered by two custom balanced armatures, said to target an “accurately compensated pinna curvature at 2.8 kHz.” Another pair of balanced armatures — “modified from the renowned SWFK design” — are responsible for the upper frequencies. (Kiwi Ears’ promotional material doesn’t specify the role of the remaining pair.)

The Astral is spec’d at a 23 ohm impedance and 105 dB sensitivity.

The Astral’s shell is polished black resin with a faceplate that resembles metallic multicolor confetti. In terms of shape, the Astral adopts the same pseudo-custom style used on the KE4, complete with the generous concha fin and shorter metal nozzle.

The shells measure 0.89 inches (22.6 mm) long, 0.70 inches (17.8 mm) tall, and 0.92 inches (23.4 mm) from the end of the nozzle to the top of the faceplate. The metal nozzle measures 0.14 inches (3.3 mm) long and 0.24 inches (5.8 mm) wide. The nozzle is oriented mostly perpendicular to the body, angled at roughly 10 degrees, and terminates in a series of parallel slits.

The Astral uses a single, approximately 1.5 mm open, metal-ringed vent on the rear of the shell. The only other markings on the shell are the model name, serial number, and R/L indicator printed in gold on the inside of each shell, which weigh 0.2 ounces each.

The Astral ships in the same box as the Septet and includes the same case. However, its cable is notably better. Indeed, it looks to be almost identical to the one included with the much pricier Punch, except that its textured cover is clear grey and its hardware is matte grey. Like the Septet’s cable, the Astral’s uses Kiwi’s new modular system for switching between 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm terminations.

The Astral’s tips are also carried over from the Punch. Instead of shipping with two pairs of lower-quality tips like the Septet, it comes with S/M/L pairs of 0.37-inch tall silicone tips consisting of a thick, moderately firm light-blue stem and a soft, frosted canopy. As noted in the Punch review, these are my favorite Kiwi tips, except, perhaps, for the “Flex” tips included with the KE4. The Astral also includes four replacement filters for the nozzles.

The $349 Orchestra II (Amazon, Kiwi Ears, Linsoul) is actually the third entrant in Kiwi Ears’ Orchestra line, following the original Orchestra and the Orchestra Lite. Like its predecessors, it’s an all-BA IEM. But it ups the driver count to ten balanced armatures per side.

A four-way crossover divides the ten drivers across the frequency range. According to Kiwi Ears, the Orchestra II is tuned for “exceptional audio clarity, rich mids, and impactful bass, perfect for audiophiles and music enthusiasts who demand studio-quality sound.” Details on how the drivers are constructed or apportioned across the spectrum are nowhere to be found — a shame, given how much more useful that information would be than promotional verbiage.

The Orchestra II is spec’d at a 15 ohm impedance and 110 dB sensitivity. Like most all-BA IEMs, it should be easy to drive. But this design might make it susceptible to the kind of output-impedance-driven frequency response variations I’ve documented elsewhere — something I’ll test below.

Though it borrows elements from its predecessors, the Orchestra II doesn’t look quite like any other Kiwi Ears IEM. Following the Orchestra Lite, its shells are transparent acrylic resin, which the company says is designed to minimize resonance. The transparent shells provide a glimpse of the four Kiwi-branded metal-housed BAs, as well as the two larger low-end BAs with acrylic housings, which the company says “reduces resonance, providing tighter, more powerful bass compared to metal-cased drivers.”

The Orchestra II’s shells adopt the Aether‘s gentle rounding rather than the heavily contoured shell and prominent concha fin of the Lite, but take their nozzle cues from the Lite, with a unibody design, generous lip, and uncovered three-bore termination. Beyond those holes and the flush .78 mm socket on the rear of the top of the shell, the Orchestra II is sealed.

While the Orchestra II’s body is acrylic, its faceplate is metal. The upper three-quarters is devoted to an iridescent pearlized triangle covered by a silver hex-patterned overlay, which reminds me (favorably) of the “Hexalite“ soles in in retro Reebok Pump shoes. That section is covered in clear acrylic and bordered on the bottom by a brushed aluminum strip containing the company name on the right earpiece and the model name on the left.

The Orchestra II measures 0.95 inches (24.3 mm) long, 0.69 inches (17.6 mm) tall, and 0.95 inches (24.3 mm) from the end of the nozzle to the top of the faceplate. Given the unibody design, pinpointing where the nozzle begins is somewhat arbitrary, but It’s approximately 0.15 inches (3.9 mm) long and 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) wide. The nozzle is angled at roughly 15 degrees from the top of the body when viewing the Orchestra II from the rear. The shells weigh 0.3 ounces.

Here’s where things get interesting. Despite sharing the same graphic design, the Orchestra II ships in a flatter, wider box than other models. Could that be because it includes a better case? Yes! I was giving up hope when even the $449 Punch included the standard zipper case.

The IEMs sit on the right side of the box’s interior, situated in die-cut foam. A large box on the left holds the case and cable. A smaller box under the foam slab on the right holds something else new for Kiwi: two small Kiwi-branded tip cases made of nicely textured frosted hard plastic.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself, though. We need to talk about the new case before we talk about the new tips.

As I opened the box, I was expecting to see the aforementioned magnetic case. That’s not what I saw. (That case seems to have disappeared from the internet entirely, and I’m glad to have bought a few while they were around.) But the grey, textured faux-leather zipper case included with the Orchestra II might be even nicer. At 4.75- by 3.5- by 1.75-inches, it’s substantial. The gold-colored zipper is hefty and relatively smooth. The interior is suede-textured, with a mesh pocket on the lid. It’s spacious, with more than enough room for the IEMs (cable attached) plus a dongle, extra tips, or an alternate cable.

Speaking of the cable, it’s light silver and uses what seems to be the now-standard Kiwi Ears modular connector. However, its wire is heavier gauge than the others and represents a clear step up in luxuriousness without introducing any comfort or microphonics issues.

Back to those tips.

The first of the two plastic cases includes six pairs: S/M/L pairs of .25 inch (6.5 mm) tall wide-bore black silicone tips and S/M/L pairs of .37 inch (9.5 mm) tall, narrower-bore tips with a thick, moderately firm yellow stem and a soft, translucent black canopy. The former look like an attempt to approximate the JVC Spiral Dot fit and sound. Simply due to their shallow height and large bore, they do a reasonable approximation of the JVC sound. The drop-off in fit is a bit steeper. The Spiral Dots are thicker, firmer, and contoured slightly differently. They’re also $10 a pair.

The second box contains two more S/M/L sets of the .37 inch-tall tips with the thicker stem and thinner canopy. The first has a red stem and grey canopy. The second has a frosted stem and matching canopy. Stepping down from the pseudo-Spiral Dots through the .37 inch frosted pair, the bore diameter drops from 6.8 to 5.8 to 4.8 to 3.8 mm. While none of these tips is premium quality, they're all perfectly cromulent, and the ability to systematically experiment with tip depth and bore size without buying aftermarket options is a feature I associate with flagships like the Sony IER-Z1R, albeit at much higher luxury and price.

Measurements

The measurements for this review were taken using an IEC-711 Clone Coupler and Room EQ Wizard. While the images below come from REW, these measurements and others are available on my “JoshTBVO” Squiglink site. Squiglink is an interactive platform created by Super* Review's Mark Ryan Sallee. It allows users to compare and manipulate IEM measurements. So if there’s a graph I don’t present below that you want to see, you can create it yourself.

When looking at the REW graphs below, note the y-axis values, which represent a 35-decibel range. Each light-grey horizontal line represents just 1/5th of a dB. The displayed IEMs have been level-matched using the ANSI/CTA-2034-A pink noise method, which usually better reflects the subjective sound of the IEMs than the standard 500 Hz normalization method.

Starting with the Septet, we see excellent channel matching.

The Septet exhibits a mild V-shaped tuning, with ample sub-bass and a shallow mid-bass tuck. The midrange hits its lowest point around 800 Hz before rising gradually to a slight upper-mids bump. Kiwi Ears instead shifts a substantial amount of energy into the presence range, with a significant peak between 5 and 6.5 kHz.

The Astral’s channels are almost perfectly aligned.

Relative to the Septet, the Astral fills in some of the upper bass and lower midrange, reaches its midrange nadir around 800 Hz, and strikes a more traditional balance between lower and upper treble.

What about the top-of-the-line Orchestra II?

Yet again, nary a fault to be found when it comes to channel balance.

Like the Septet, the Orchestra II’s frequency response is V-shaped. But it’s a very differently drawn V.

Compared to the other two, the Orchestra II shifts a bit of sub-bass energy into the mid-bass region. Its trough lands much lower, near 300 Hz. After a gradual two-decibel rise through 800 Hz, the Orchestra II peaks at almost exactly 3 kHz, creating a generous — but not overwhelming — upper-midrange peak.

What about the tricky issue of impedance?

Neither the Septet nor the Astral nor the Orchestra II exhibits as much sensitivity to amplifier output impedance as the Kiwi Airoso. The Septet and Astral are mostly immune to it, while the Orchestra II shows a slight frequency response variation when toggling the iFi Go Bar‘s IEMatch switch between the off, 3.5 mm, and 4.4 mm positions, which iFi says raises the Go Bar’s output impedance from below 1 ohm to “between 1 and 3 ohms.”

Other low-impedance amplifiers, such as the Neutron HiFi DAC V1 and FiiO KA5, yield frequency responses nearly identical to the Go Bar’s with IEMatch off. That appears to be the Orchestra II’s most neutral response. So I’d recommend pairing it with a low-impedance amp.

Subjective Analysis

I decided to begin my listening test by pitting the Septet against the Moondrop Kato. As I’ve written before, the Kato is a Hall-of-Fame IEM — a single-DD with superb timbre, excellent detail retrieval, and a pre-Harman flavor of neutral marked by modest sub-bass and a gradual upper-bass transition.

Beyond its emphasis on mid-bass over sub-bass, the Kato has a more prominent upper-midrange peak and less energy in the presence region above.

I connected my two favorite DAC/amp dongles — the Neutron HiFi DAC V1 and FiiO KA5, both of which I’ve reviewed previously — to my Mac Mini. The Kato and Septet were plugged into the DAC V1 and KA5, respectively, then level-matched using the ANSI/CTA-2034-A pink noise method. Finally, the same track was played from Roon to both devices, allowing me to switch quickly back and forth between the IEMs.

For my first level-matched listen, I cued up longtime test track “King of the Jailhouse” from Aimee Mann’s 2006 album, The Forgotten Arm. As I’ve written before, “Jailhouse” is one of those perfect songs that populate every one of Mann’s projects, made all the better by Ryan Freeland’s clever hard-panned mix. The instruments are all panned far left and right, leaving plenty of room in the center for Mann’s expressive vocal, which is treated with a touch of stereo reverb. The coolest part of Freeland’s mix is that the feed from Paul Bryan’s electric bass is mixed far left, while its mic’d string noise is mixed far right. It’s one of those little audio “Easter eggs” that makes this such a sonically rewarding track.

Everything in Freeland’s mix is cleanly separable and tonally balanced through the Kato. Both Bryan’s left-placed bass and the kick on Victor Indrizzo’s right-placed drum kit have plenty of weight without boom or bloat. Jebin Bruni’s low-mixed Mellotron and piano are clearly audible, as is Bryan’s string noise. Mann’s vocal is detailed with only the most subtle sibilance, despite the Kato’s generous upper-midrange peak. As the mix becomes more complex, with the entrance of Jeff Trott’s lonesome electric guitar and Bryan’s backing vocals on the right, each element is easily identifiable and tonally accurate.

The interesting thing is that the Septet comes across as the much darker IEM on “Jailhouse.” Its more modest upper midrange tames the reverb on the right-mixed snare and Mann’s lead vocal. Higher up, though, its presence-region peak has the unintended consequence of accentuating some sibilance, such as on the initial “s” in “So they packed up their troubles.” The Septet also pushes low-mixed elements like the Mellotron too far into the background, and across the mix — Mann’s vocal included — dynamics feel slightly dialed down. The Septet’s trade of mid-bass for more sub-bass shows up on the kick of the right-mixed drum kit, which actually sounds fuller through the Kato. None of this is to suggest the Septet sounds bad. The Kato just sets a high bar.

For my second test track, I put on the version of “Cornflake Girl” from Tori Amos’s A Piano: The Collection, her superb career-spanning (at the time) collection from 2006. The Kato handles “Cornflake Girl” the same way it handled “Jailhouse” — pulling apart Kevin Killen’s busy, layered mix without disturbing its coherence. Each element is realistic and three-dimensional. Bassist George Porter Jr.’s center-mixed electric bass is both nimble and authoritative, and drummer Carlo Nuccio’s kick lands with real impact and clean transients. Amos’s voice, mixed up front, comes through with every inflection intact. Percussionist Paulinho da Costa’s left-mixed sleigh bells strike a nice balance between metallic sheen and body. On the right, additional metallic percussion from da Costa is easily distinguishable from the strings of Steve Caton’s strummed acoustic guitar.

“Cornflake Girl” emphasizes the scooped quality of the Septet’s tuning. The mid-bass dip is again noticeable — particularly on Porter’s electric bass, Nuccio’s kick, and the lower registers of Amos’s Bösendorfer. Da Costa’s sleigh bells come across as brighter through the Septet, though not one-dimensionally so. Amos’s voice, meanwhile, tips into sibilance and loses some of its throaty quality, and the strings of Caton’s acoustic dominate over the body of the instrument. The Septet’s mid-bass dip also contributes to a tonal hole-in-the-middle and a related “three blobs” soundstage, where the left, center, and right images sit as three discrete blocks rather than a continuous stage. This is more apparent on “Cornflake Girl” than on “Jailhouse,” where Freeland’s hard-panned mix is pointed in that direction by design.

Swapping the Septet for the Astral, the sonic story is very different, despite the fact that the Astral’s mid-bass tuck is even more dramatic than the Septet’s.

By shedding the Septet’s pronounced presence peak and adding some upper-midrange energy, the Astral’s tonality reminded me of a slightly darker take on the legendary Moondrop S8.

Returning to “King of the Jailhouse,” the Astral’s presentation is different from Kato’s but nearly (if not quite) its equal. Its sub-bass boost gives the electric bass on left more heft, as well as slightly crisper initial transients. However, its darker tuning robs the snare of some of the tonal accuracy and microdetail that allow for the separation of skin from wires. The backing vocals and electric guitar likewise are a bit more subdued, though Mann’s lead is nearly as nuanced, albeit with a touch less reverb. Despite some strengths, the Astral can’t overtake the Kato on this track.

The same broad differences between the Astral and Kato are audible on “Cornflake Girl,” but the critical balance shifts more in the Astral’s favor. The Astral manages to give more body to the electric bass and thump to the kick without introducing bloat. While it doesn’t quite offer the Kato’s delicate tonality — which allows the Kato to separate complex passages despite the limitation of a single-DD IEM — its hybrid design does a superior job of separating elements like the metallic percussion and acoustic guitar strings spatially. The Kato presents each individual element three-dimensionally, but its overall stage is relatively flat. The Astral’s, in contrast, is both deeper and taller, which helps it make up for its comparative deficit in separating small tonal differences. There’s also no doubt that the Astral is the more macrodynamic IEM, which adds a welcome dose of dramatic contrast to a track like “Cornflake Girl.”

Turning to the Orchestra II, we get another IEM whose frequency response departs sharply from the Kato’s:

Beyond offering significantly more sub-bass than the Kato and reaching its minimum further down in frequency, the Orchestra II actually exceeds the Kato’s generous midrange energy between 500 Hz and their shared 3 kHz peak — though only by a decibel or less.

Connecting the Orchestra II and putting on “King of the Jailhouse,” I’m immediately struck by its staging, which is a few steps closer than the other IEMs and noticeably U-shaped. Mann’s voice is right in front of you, while the side-mixed elements sit fully off to the left and right, creating an almost surround-sound effect. Tonally and technically, the Orchestra II combines many of the strengths of the Astral and the Kato. Its macrodynamics are even better than the Astral’s, and its bass stays clean even as it hits hard. Further up the spectrum, the Orchestra II’s rendering of Mann’s vocal inflections is on par with the Kato’s. The tonality of metals like Indrizzo’s cymbals is perhaps slightly behind the Kato’s presentation, given the advantage of the Kato’s DLC diaphragm. But it’s only a small step, and careful tip selection can narrow the gap substantially. In general, the Orchestra II is nearly even with the Kato when it comes to resolving small details and textures, but adds much more macrodynamic contrast and a truly stunning soundstage.

The Orchestra II acquits itself even better on “Cornflake Girl.” Its 10-BA array has no trouble distinguishing elements of the complex mix that overlap in space and frequency. Da Costa's right-mixed metallic percussion and the strings of Caton's acoustic are easily separated, as are Amos's vocal overdubs. The Orchestra II’s ample low end renders Porter's bass with nimble heft. All-BA IEMs can sometimes suffer from a slight artificiality and grain, but the Orchestra II almost wholly avoids it, which is all the more remarkable because upper-midrange peaks like its own tend to make any grain painfully obvious. The Orchestra II's tuning is dynamic and high-contrast enough to render the Kato's linear response somewhat staid by comparison, yet it largely avoids slipping into hi-fi-showroom hype. In both macrodynamics and macrodetail, it exceeds the Kato while ceding little if any ground in the micro regions.

KE4 More Years?

Until now, I’ve compared these three new Kiwi IEMs against each other and our $200 champion, the Moondrop Kato. What about Kiwi Ears’ own $199 KE4?

The KE4 would get my nod for the best Kiwi IEM so far. It’s also among the best-known examples of the so-called “New Meta” tuning. Where the Harman Curve’s in-ear target concentrates its midrange energy between 1 and 3 kHz, the KE4 keeps the lower pinna-gain region relatively restrained, then begins its peak around 3 kHz and sustains it through the presence area and into the brilliance region. By shifting energy upward, “New Meta” IEMs like the KE4 trade midrange attack for top-end extension. Done well, the result is an airier presentation. Done poorly, it can impart a “crunchy” quality to the treble.

Relative to the Septet, Astral, and Orchestra II, the KE4’s mid-bass tuck is much more modest, resulting in audibly more energy between 60 and 600 Hz. But in true “New Meta” form, the KE4 has significantly less energy between 1 and 2.5 kHz. Above that, the pattern is less clear. There’s everything from the Astral’s relatively traditional roll-off to the Septet’s bold presence peak.

Returning to “King of the Jailhouse,” it’s clear that the KE4 saves much more of its overall energy for the presence and brilliance regions. This brings some welcome developments — the initial transient attack of Bryan’s bass is more distinct, for example. But less positively, it introduces noticeable sibilance into Mann’s vocal and reproduces Indrizzo’s cymbal with too much splash. Flaws? Yes. But the KE4 does everything else well. It offers superb macrodetail and macrodynamics, well-above-average microdetail and microdynamics, along with excellent staging and separation.

How does the Orchestra II compare? Well, it's safe to say that the contrast is stark.

Yes, this graph represents just a 35-decibel range. But the difference between the KE4 and Orchestra II at 300 Hz is nearly two dB, while the gap at 1.5 kHz is nearly four.

On “King of the Jailhouse,” this results in a notably different tonal cast to everything from Indrizzo’s snare to Bruni’s piano. The Orchestra II gives the snare a crisp initial transient attack, where the KE4 trades some of that impact for an extended reverberant splash. Bruni’s piano takes on a touch of a barroom tone through the KE4, while sounding more stately and restrained through the Orchestra II. Mann’s voice, meanwhile, is a bit more front-of-the-mouth on the KE4 and slightly nasal on the Orchestra II. These are meaningful but subtle differences.

Which is more accurate? That takes us into “circle of confusion“ territory. What was mixer Ryan Freeland hearing on his system? What about mastering engineer Gavin Lurssen? We don’t know. My personal preference would probably land somewhere in the middle, but both the KE4 and Orchestra II are defensible interpretations of neutral.

Compared to the Orchestra II, the KE4 stages slightly further from the listener and comes across as a bit more spacious. The Orchestra II is a much more immediate and immersive listen. Which sound do you prefer? It’s a matter of taste. On technicalities, though, the Orchestra II arguably improves upon the KE4 across the board. It edges the KE4 on macrodynamics, matches it on macrodetail, and cleanly surpasses it on both micro levels. The Orchestra II is simply texturally superior to the KE4.

The tonal differences between the Astral and the KE4 aren’t nearly as dramatic, but that doesn’t mean they’re insignificant. If the KE4 is relatively brash and high-contrast, the Astral is subtler and more congealed. While the Astral’s tuning is arguably more pleasant than the KE4’s, the Astral is even with the KE4 (at best) on the macro level, while falling a step behind it on the micro one. Indeed, despite its warmer tuning, the Astral’s low-level reproduction is a bit rougher than the KE4’s — even given the KE4’s aggressive treble extension.

Going back to the Septet underscores its quixotic frequency response. Throughout most of the spectrum, it’s slightly darker than the KE4. But its presence peak pushes Indrizzo’s snare even further from a crack toward a thwack and turns the splash of his cymbal into a tizzy hash. The Septet’s overall presentation of the mix takes on a slightly hollow quality — another consequence of its scooped midrange. Beneath the quirky tuning, the Septet remains a solid technical performer. In fact, EQ’ing each of these IEMs to match the other and evaluating their resolution with frequency response controlled might be a task for another article. But in its stock form, the Septet can’t compete with the KE4.

Conclusion

Does this trio of Kiwi IEMs right the ship following the company's off-course Punch? Yes. Are all three resounding successes? No.

The Septet has the most interesting build and design of the bunch. But its bold presence peak relegates it to an admirable, if flawed, attempt to land on an unconventional tuning that still hews to a plausible neutrality.

The Astral offers a relaxed and inviting tuning, a comfortable fit, and a great cable. But it's outmatched on technicalities by slightly more affordable competition like the Kato and KE4. The Astral’s a solid choice for treble-sensitive buyers who aren’t worried about wringing every last detail from a recording. But most audiophiles would probably prefer a more resolving IEM.

The Orchestra II, though? It’s a winner that’s well worth its modest price premium over the Septet, Astral, and KE4. Kiwi's decision to pair it with its best case and cable isn't overreach. The Orchestra II looks and sounds like a premium IEM, with a realism that surpasses the best of Kiwi's previous offerings.

Listening to the Orchestra II, I couldn't help but think of the Moondrop Variations. Its V-shaped tuning, aggressive treble peak, and somewhat artificial tonality kept it from being my favorite Moondrop IEM — especially at $500 — but it’s undeniably one of the most well-regarded IEMs of its era.

Given that lukewarm reaction, I sold my Variations before acquiring my IEC-711 coupler. But I wanted to know whether my recollection held up. So I pulled Sallee's IEC-711 measurement from his Squiglink.

Not bad for long-term auditory memory. The graph also helps explain why my reaction to the Orchestra II is so much warmer. It dials down both the Variations’ sub-bass bump and upper-midrange peak, all while delivering better resolution and accessories at a significantly lower price.

As someone sensitive to pinna-gain energy, I might prefer an even more restrained upper-mids peak from the Orchestra II. But that's a minor criticism, and the Variations' enduring popularity suggests my preference is far from universal. At $350, the Orchestra II is an easy recommendation for audiophiles after a dynamic IEM that doesn't sacrifice technical proficiency or tonal sophistication on the altar of fun.

About the Author

Josh Mound has been an audiophile since age 14, when his father played Spirit's "Nature's Way" through his Boston Acoustics floorstanders and told Josh to listen closely. Since then, Josh has listened to lots of music, owned lots of gear, and done lots of book learnin'. He's written about music for publications like Filter and Under the Radar and about politics for publications like New Republic, Jacobin, and Dissent. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Hi Guys, I’m coming up for air after working on a major site upgrade over the last couple weeks. Today I moved the site, upgraded absolutely everything behind the scenes, and am now working through a punch list of items. The site is good enough to at least launch live, so give it a go and let me know what works, what doesn’t work, what’s missing, or whatever is on your mind. 

Now that the upgrade is done, I can add additional functionality and look at improvements that just weren’t possible previously. 

Some of the sub-forums were combined, while others were split into something new. The DSP sub-forum has been requested for a while, and it’s now live. I’m moving topics into that forum as I type this, so give me some time to populate that one. 

All users can now access light, dark, and system preference modes. The system preference mode will monitor your device and switch between light and dark modes based on your system.

Premium Subscribers will notice two themes available at the bottom of every screen. The Audiophile Style Theme is the one you want. I set it manually for you all today, but you can adjust it if you wish.

The one thing that really bugs me about the site now, and I will continue working to remove it, is the Cloudflare Insights script that must run. It isn’t collecting any information on individual users, and in fact it isn’t setup to do much of anything, but it still drives me nuts. It isn’t as simple as disabling Cloudflare insights in my Cloudflare account, as that’s what I did with the older version of the site. Anyway, the work continues. I hate any data collection and I don’t want it for anyone in this community. We have absolutely zero other analytics, data collection, etc… 

OK, back to work. All questions, comments, and concerns welcomed. 

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

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I’m working out the final kinks of a huge site upgrade, as I just posted about here, almost all my time right now is dedicated to that. I have components in for review, but I just can’t focus on them enough to write a review that’s worthy of your time. What I can do is save you time, not money, and show you what I’ve been listening to, so you can cut right to the chase. I hope you appreciate this new music as much as I do. 

Last week was about six immersive albums. This week it’s six stereo albums to enjoy. Four of these can be streamed right now, while two require a purchase and immediate download. What a time to be alive :~)

Two You Need To Purchase

Suppé Overtures - Paul Paray, Detroit Symphony Orchestra (HDTT24210)

Few classical releases grab my attention immediately, right from the moment I press play, like this release of Suppé Overtures. In addition, it also scratches my itch for the enjoyment of a slow burn that builds into something very special. 

On track three, the horn section is glorious. Don’t skip ahead, just wait for it to arrive after tracks one and two. 

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra sounds absolutely fantastic on this album. Spend six minutes laying the opening track The Beautiful Galathea, and tell me I’m wrong. Only kidding, but feel free to if you must. 

From High Definition Tape Transfers:

This recording serves as a definitive example of the golden era of Mercury Living Presence, a period defined by the visionary production team of C.R. Fine and Wilma Cozart. Utilizing the iconic three-microphone technique to capture a 3-track master, the engineers achieved a level of depth, presence, and staggering dynamic range that remains a benchmark for audiophiles today. By eschewing artificial spotlighting in favor of the hall’s natural acoustics, this release preserves the authentic "Detroit Sound", a transparent, wide-screen sonic stage that places the listener directly in the front row of one of the 20th century’s most formidable recording venues. 

The Ghost, the King and I, featuring Scott Hamilton (SL-1084A)

The following paragraph nailed how I feel about this album, and explains partially why I like it. 

This recording documents Scott Hamilton at a moment where introspection and scale converge. His playing is marked by a rare emotional candor, less a display of virtuosity than an ongoing process of self-examination. Each improvisation unfolds as a deliberate risk, shaped by a willingness to engage uncertainty and to articulate his inner states without mediation.

There’s a time and place for everything, including displays of virtuosity. The Ghost, the King and I, featuring Scott Hamilton has an amazing trio of Frans van Geest (the Ghost), Vincent Koning (the King), and Rob van Bavel (the I), yet they show beautiful restraint in service of vibes and music. 

There’s a reason Van Halen’s track Eruption is well known, but not found on a ton of playlists. It’s guitar virtuosity and creativity at its best, but Eruption doesn’t pull at the heartstrings, give anyone the warm fuzzy feeling, or tell a story that takes one’s mind away from reality for 1:42. Scott Hamilton and this trio take listeners on a journey with a rainbow of sonic delights, in a way showing even more virtuosity by showing restraint, in order to make music, not mathematical formulas in sonic clothing.

Track two, Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar is my favorite, although I always start with track one and listen from start to finish. I like albums as a whole piece of music. 

From Sound Liaison:

Engineer Frans de Rond created the setup by placing the Josephson C700S microphone at the center, with Scott positioned just behind it. The other instruments were supported by spot microphones, carefully added to keep the soundstage created by the C700S fully intact. The session took place in Studio 1, world famous for its acoustics, sampled by Altiverb and used as a reverb sample on countless recordings. But here, present in Studio 1 itself, we had the real deal: the real hall surrounding each instrument, not a digital sample managed by an auxiliary pot.

Another great album from Frans. It should be purchased as DSD256 is one wants the original master. I’m listening to the DXD 24/352.8 and it’s glorious. 

Four You Can Stream

Gabrielle Cavassa - Diavola 

I love Cavassa’s voice, music selection, and supporting band of Joshua Redman and Don Was, on this album. We’ve all heard Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head a million times. Cavassa’s version has a wonderful raw sound to it that’s much more intimate than other versions with which I’m familiar. Great stuff. 

Other tracks to sample before adding the album to your library - Prisoner of Love, Bossy Nova (a Cavassa original that first hooked me on Diavola), the moody track Angelo, and for a different feel the title track Diavola mixes it up a bit.

Melissa Aldana - Filin

I’m a fan of Melissa Aldana’s work. Filin is easily my favorite album of hers or album on which she has been featured. I could listen to track one, La Sentencia, all day long. It has feeling (get it - Filin), emotion, and warmth, with the beautiful imperfection of Aldana’s tenor sax “noises” throughout. 

The first paragraph in an article on Aldana’s site about Filin, explains all one has to know about this album.

“For as long as she’s been a recording artist, the Chilean-born tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana has wanted to make a ballads record. With archetypes like John Coltrane’s classic 1963 LP Ballads as her North Star, Aldana saw a slow-tempo project as a way to advance her lifelong quest for sound.”

The album is full of beautiful ballads that hit one like a warm fireplace, with good fidelity and better music. 

The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album

Certainly not new, but new to me! Released in 1975 and brought to my attention in the last few months. What a fantastic combination. A middle-aged Tony Bennet and the magical Bill Evans collaborated for four days in the studio, and came out with this amazing album. 

I played track one, Young and Foolish, in several rooms at the Axpona trade show this year.  It sounds wonderful on any system, but is something not behold on there best HiFi systems. 

The only track on the album that isn’t on my list of favorites is surprisingly Waltz for Debby. Call me old school, but I’m so used to Bill Evans’ original version that it’s all I’ll accept. I applaud the re-do of this one and I’m sure others will enjoy it, but it isn’t for me. Everything else on the album is wonderful. 

Flea - Honora

I’m a big fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea. He could record an album of hand clapping and I’d at least give it a listen. His creativity and freedom is inspiring. 

His new solo album, Honora, is right up my alley. In my recent review about the Lumin X2 flagship Network Player, I touched on this album:

I put on the new “solo” album by Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea. Release in 24/44.1, the album, Honora (Qobuz) is not what casual listeners will expect. Flea plays the trumpet on every track, and is joined by a host of talented musicians playing cello, drums, double bass, violin, viola, Rhodes piano, clarinet, and many other instruments. It’s an eclectic album to say the least. 

My favorite track by far, is a cover of Wichita Lineman, featuring Nick Cave on vocals, Anna Butterss on double bass, Flea on trumpet, and Jeff Parker on guitar. Through the Lumin X2, this track is a feast for the ears. It opens with Butterss’ authoritative double bass, quickly joined by Parker’s guitar that sounds like a mix between Joe Pass and John Frusciante. The bass, centered between the right and left channels, is like a foundational pillar for the other musicians to lean on and leap off of, always present and always sounding wonderful through the X2, despite what else is going on in the song. 

Nick Cave enters the track at roughly the 30 second mark, and sells the song like I’ve never heard. His voice sounds so much better than I remember on any of his albums. It has depth, width, and a colorful range with subtle and purposeful strain at times. I’ve always heard Nick Cave as a more monotone story teller, but this track, through the Lumin X2, is like Nick Cave unleashed, unbound from the constraints of an album carrying his name. I admit to not being the biggest Nick Cave fan, but to me this sound makes me very interested in more of his work, that perhaps I overlooked or wasn’t thrilled by, though another system that didn’t bring me this close to his music. 

Another track on this 24/44.1 album with great sound and great musicianship is called Free As I Want To Be. It’s an original Flea composition, featuring Deantoni Parks on drums and Flea playing trumpet and electric bass. The opening drum beat sounds great through the X2, with all the air and authority that’s on the recording. Throughout the track, Parks goes from delicate taps to powerful kick drum stomps, and there is a beautifully delicate texture to it all. 

Along the way, Jeff Parker’s guitar adds flavor to the consistent time keeping by Parks on drums. Listening to this track, with Parker in the left channel, I can completely envision the musicians sitting in the recording studio, vibing off each other, and Parker coming up with his fills and solos on the fly. They sound incredibly organic, and through the Lumin x2 they sound revealingly raw. 

I couldn’t say it better than I already have, so I’ll leave it at that. Give the album a stream, you may find a new favorite. 

Wrap Up

Thanks for being patient while I’m finalizing a huge site upgrade. Hopefully the music recommendations these last couple weeks bring you enjoyment and save you time. 

To find these recommendations long before they are written about, and many more that are even better, check to the long running Album of the Evening thread (link).

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

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After visiting Wilson Audio headquarters in Provo, Utah for the launch of its new flagship loudspeaker the Autobiography, my dreams of upgrading my audio system ran wild. Like any audiophile, I dreamt of ways to make the speakers fit into my room and even took it one step further. OK, possibly ten steps further. I dreamt about what my 7.1.4 twelve channel music system would be like with all Autobiography speakers. As the saying goes, if your dreams don’t scare you a little bit, they aren’t big enough. Ok, that’s not only a big dream, but it’s foolish to think about mounting four 821 lbs speakers on the ceiling. Let’s get back to reality with some music that can be played through any system from two through sixteen channels. 

Let’s start with Eagles album One of these Nights. 

From Eagles’ shop (link):

The Eagles' One of These Nights (Deluxe Edition) features a new 2025 mix of the band's fourth studio album and a previously unreleased full live show recorded at Anaheim Stadium on September 28, 1975, presented across 3 CDs. The set also includes a Blu-ray, which contains Dolby Atmos and hi-resolution stereo mixes of both the original album and live performance.

I’ve never owned or listened to this album in its entirety, until last week. In fact, there’s no way I would’ve purchased this new deluxe edition without it containing a TrueHD Dolby Atmos mix. After listening to this one a few times, I’m very happy I did. 

My local classic rock station burned out tracks One of These Nights, Lyin’ Eyes, and Take it to the Limit before I turned ten in 1985, and continued burning these out long after the turn of the century. It may sound strange, but I actually don’t know these tracks very well. I’ve only listened to them on FM radio. Listening to the album in high resolution TrueHD Dolby Atmos has been a real treat. 

I really like the immersive mix on this album. It’s fairly conservative, keeping the main image in the front and using the other channels to add flavor to the tracks. For example, on the title track, when the chorus “Ooh, someone to be kind to …” kicks in, the immersive mix envelopes the listener with the backing vocalists. Much of this vocal support comes from the side channels and audibly elevates the listening experience very nicely. 

On the track Lyin’ Eyes, the immersive mix features most music in the front, but also uses the front height channels to raise the soundstage. This is done very well, finding the balance between only placing throwaway reverb and featuring Glenn Frey’s main vocals, in the height channels. I like that neither of those come from the ceiling speakers on this track. Much like the title track, backing vocals envelope the listener from side channels nicely. 

Take it to the Limit, due to its extensive use of really great sounding supporting vocals throughout the track, has a more immersive mix than the aforementioned tracks. I’ve often thought this track was fairly boring when heard through FM radio station KQRS here in Minneapolis. On my 7.1.4 immersive system, this track takes the listener along on the journey, telling a story and making it impossible to listen passively. I really enjoy this song when played in TrueHD Dolby Atmos, it’s far from stale and has a wonderful new energy that sucked me in, where previous versions failed. 

Jeff Buckley’s debut album Grace was recently remixed by Steven Wilson. The Blu-ray contains a stereo mix, and Wilson’s 5.1 and TrueHD Dolby Atmos mixes (link). Like almost all Steven Wilson remixes, Grace sounds like Wilson spent a lot of time breathing new life into one of his favorite records. Opening guitars and rhythm guitar throughout on the track Last Goodbye, are featured in side channels, while Buckley’s vocal, bass and drums are featured up front. There’s a locked in front image, with terrific elements in the immersive channels, such as strings entering from behind toward the middle of the track. The strings sound very supportive of the entire track, in their own positions on the soundstage, rather than calling themselves out like a look-at-me gimmick. 

What can be said about Buckley’s cover of Hallelujah that hasn’t already been said? Here’s something from the immersive mix that won’t be found elsewhere. In a very surprising move, Wilson opted to place Buckley’s main vocal by itself in the center channel. A friend of mine who mixes for a band that’s sold over 100 million albums, has previously told me he never leaves his guy, “hung out to dry” by soloing the main vocal in the center channel. 

It’s obviously an artistic decision, sometimes brought about by artists or even record labels that found vocal only tracks posted to video sharing sites several years ago. I don’t have a horse in the race. I onboard for however something is mixed, as long as I like how it sounds when played as a whole. 

Hallelujah sounds really neat when played via center channel only (see video below), but that gets old quickly. It’s like looking at a newspaper through a microscope. Seeing all the tiny dots that make up the comic section was neat in second grade, but three minutes into the exercise, everyone is ready to read the whole thing and laugh, as intended by the artist and reader. The same goes for Steven Wilson’s new immersive mix of Hallelujah. 

The immersive mix is really great. Eerily enveloping the listener with the opening guitar, followed by a laser focused vocal in the front center, Wilson sucks the listener into this track whether or not they are a willing participant. 

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris’ 2006 album All the Roadrunning is now out on Blu-ray for its 20th anniversary (link). The blu-ray includes brand new TrueHD Dolby Atmos mixes (standard and instrumental) by Guy Fletcher, a previously unreleased 5.1 mix by Chuck Ainlay and a 2026 remaster of the original stereo mix. 

I’m a big fan of both Knopfler and Harris. This album has never been on the top of my must-listen list for some reason. Their musicianship and their vocals make for a great combination, and I can see why many fans love the album and want more from the two artists. 

The immersive mix does a fair amount to bring the album to the listener, rather than viewing it from a stereo distance. Filling side channels and front height channels with mandolins, guitars, violins, and a light touch of vocals is well done. I like this version of the album much better than the stereo mix, as I can hear all the musicians laid out on the soundstage in their own spaces. Closer to sitting in the studio with all the players gathered around, than looking through the glass of the control room listening to the two channel mic feed through monitors. I believe fans of the album will get a lot of enjoyment out of this one, hearing it differently and what I believe better than before.

Motörhead’s On Parole (link) was certainly not on my immersive bingo card. For that matter, it was never on my stereo bingo card either. I love metal and have a lot of respect for Motörhead’s role in inspiring generations of metal musicians. 

Motörhead’s music has always been a bit out of my wheelhouse. When I saw Steven Wilson had remixed On Parole in TrueHD Dolby Atmos, I had to take a bit of the apple, or should I say a sip of the whisky or a ride on the iron horse.

The immersive mix makes On Parole immensely more palatable for me than any stereo mix. Wilson manages to engage me as a listener by separating sonic elements from a tight ball of metal up front to an appropriately spread out band. I can actually hear what’s going on in all these songs. Could I become a fan of Motörhead after listening to this? Let’s not go that far just yet, but I can’t rule it out. 

Strategically placing guitars in supporting positions on the side of the listener is a nice enveloping touch for a usual full frontal assault heard in stereo. Listening to the track Iron Horse / Born to Loose, Wilson splits the center channel between a solo of Lemmy’s vocal and a lead guitar solo. Maybe there’s something in Wilson’s water or he has made a decision to put more vocalists in the center channel, all alone, but I was surprised on the Buckley album and equally surprised to hear Lemmy Kilmister singing solo from between my front speakers. 

Note: there is a bit of instrument bleed into the center channel on this album, unlike Buckley’s Grace.

After discovering this soloing of Kilmister on Iron Horse, I checked out other tracks and found it’s very similar. Again, a fun exercise for a few minutes, but nothing that’s meant to be played for enjoyment often. 

Turning 180 degrees from 1970s heavy metal, I’ve recently listened to a couple albums recorded and mixed immersively from the start. 

Avishai Darash’s The Planned Child (link) is a wonderful piano jazz album from Brendon Heinst and his TRPTK record label. Captured in PCM 352.8 kHz 32 bit and offered in stereo, surround, and immersive formats, this is a you-are-there release.

Recorded at Fattoria Musica in Osnabrück, Germany, (link) and featuring the beautiful work of cellist Maya Fridman on some tracks, The Planned Child was sixteen years in the making. The album is an emotional journey that places the listener even closer to the feelings and experiences of Avishai Darash through the immersive mix.

Unlike previous mixes mentioned in this article, side, rear, and height channels are all used to more closely reproduce the recording environment, in this case mainly reverberations from the studio. It’s an artistic decision I respect and appreciate, and that fits this music perfectly.

The last album on my list today is certainly not last for any reason other than it’s being released in the coming days, and may not be available at the time one reads this article. 

Lucas Garcia Muramoto and Yu Nitahara’s album Nocturne is the newest released on the ADS record label. I’ve previously written about ADS recordings by engineer Gustavo Candido, namely his Invisible Cities Part 1 release, and am a big fan of his work (link). 

Gustavo provided me the discrete immersive 5.1.4 ten channel DXD version of the Nocturne album. Discrete immersive albums require no decoding, they are just plain WAV files that will play on any system with enough channels. I consider them the holy grail of music listening.

The ADS label also releases its recordings on just about every other format one can play, including stereo, DSD, and multichannel. 

Nocturne is another home run for Gustavo Candido and the ADS label. Musicians Muramoto and Nitahara, on piano and cello, are masterful and masterfully captured through Candido’s microphone configuration and Merging Technology converter. 

This album is more immersive and enveloping than the aforementioned The Planned Child release from TRPTK. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so it’s just a matter of taste. The mix on Nocturne places the listener mic closer to the musicians and has more information in channels other than the front right and left. 

Muramoto’s cello sounds so incredibly rich on this entire album, yet nothing like a synthetic sound that enriches an instrument beyond reality. Candido’s placement of the cello in the recording studio, and thus on the actual recording, is wonderful and enhances my enjoyment of this album. 

Suíte Brasileira "For Antonio Meneses": IV. Valsa Brasileira starts with Nitahara’s lush sounding piano and is joined by an equally lush cello from Muramoto. The emotion of the cello playing then pulls the listener into the story amazingly well. I’m unsure what the music was written about, but the feeling I have listening to it, must be the same as composer André Mehmari and the same as Muramoto and Nitahara are attempting to deliver.

This is another stellar album from Gustavo Candido and his ADS record label. A MUST purchase upon release day. 

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The new Wilson Audio Autobiography loudspeaker was unveiled to the press this week at the company’s headquarters in Provo, Utah. This was my first trip to Provo, and I felt like the new guy compared to the handful of other members of the audio press who’d previously visited Wilson Audio numerous times. That’s OK though, I consider my first at bat a home run, as it was for the launch of a new flagship loudspeaker, that’s objectively and subjectively better than anything Wilson Audio has ever created. 

I went into this trip with a little different mindset than most. Rather than be a technical writer, covering a plethora of new driver technologies, sizes, weights, watts, and materials, I was more interested in the human aspect and the end result. After all, the specifications and other details are available directly from Wilson Audio (link). What I can uniquely offer is my own view of the entire experience, what I heard, and how it compares to previous Wilson Audio loudspeakers. 

Autobiography was designed in service of music, and to evoke emotion and feelings in the listener. No matter the technology and innovation used in these, or any, speakers, I want to feel something when I sit down and listen to my favorite music. I also want to appreciate the craftsmanship and enjoy looking at the products, as they’re focal points in any listening room. This trip to Provo enabled me to check all the important boxes and to hear what happens when the rubber meets the road. 

The Reveal

The day started with a static presentation of Autobiography by Daryl Wilson and members of the Wilson Audio team, at the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah. Finished in 1937, this museum is now on the national register of historic places and the oldest museum for visual fine arts in Utah. It was a fitting place to unveil Autobiography. 

Once Autobiography was revealed, in the Crowned Rose color, Daryl Wilson proudly presented everything that went into this speaker’s design and why it matters. The elements that grabbed my attention most, as I sat back and took it all in rather than take notes, were fantastic color and paint finish, module alignment system with precision gears, both 12 and 15 inch woofers, the Convergent Synergy Laser Sintered (CSLS) tweeter and its custom housing, and the new 2" MID (Midband Integration Driver) with optimized sonic faceplates. 

Seeing the loudspeaker under the center of three arched walkways, and Daryl standing next to it, it looked very reasonably sized for a flagship loudspeaker. Certainly not as imposing as the WAMM. Autobiography also looked more compact and more refined than the WAMM. Beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, but in my view Autobiography looked stunning from all angles. 

Even though this was the visual portion of the unveiling, I felt compelled to manipulate the Module Alignment Sleds. Unlocking the cam lever, then rotating it via the grip, was very satisfying. The solidity and ease of motion were like that of a fine watch. Positioning the modules is only required during setup of the loudspeaker, but I have a feeling lucky customers will have to exercise restraint to leave the aligned modules alone. 

Like all Wilson Audio loudspeakers, Autobiography’s color is really up to the customer. A nice selection of available colors and finishes can be bypassed in favor of something custom, but based on what I saw, I’d go with the Ethereal White Satin in a heartbeat. Others I talked to loved the New Zealand Black Sand Satin, the Red Rock Sunset Satin, or the aforementioned Crowned Rose. Just like viewing works of art, we all have our own tastes. Fortunately in this case customers can participate in the creation, unlike the creation of the works on the walls of the Springville Museum of Art.

Prior to leaving the art gallery, Sheryl Lee Wilson, co-founder of Wilson Audio, briefly spoke about her pride for what Daryl has done steering Wilson Audio and what the entire team has done to bring Autobiography to fruition. To be honest, this was a very touching moment. To see a proud mother and a son equally as proud in this accomplishment and bringing joy and fulfillment to his mother was wonderful. A very human moment. 

The Process

The next stop after the art gallery was the Wilson Audio factory in Provo. This is a very impressive place with highly technical CNC machines, lasers, 3D printers, capacitor winding machines, and most importantly craftspeople. The amount of human touch and time involved in creating the Autobiography is massive, yet at the same time satisfying. Humans handing off to machines which hand products back to humans for finishing touches, is a well choreographed dance at Wilson. 

The old saying that nine women can't produce a baby in one month is equally as applicable to crafting the Autobiography. There are processes of heating, waiting, coating, waiting, painting, waiting, sanding, painting again, waiting, etc… that take time, without a reasonable way to decrease the amount of time. 

The biggest takeaway for me after visiting the factory was how much innovative technology is combined with a high level of human care. Winding capacitors with advanced machines followed by manually trimming and finishing them to 3 or 4 decimal place precision, is just one small example of what goes on at Wilson Audio. 

The End Result

After the factory tour, it was time to hear Autobiography. Or, perhaps more accurately, NOT hear Autobiography, if you know what I mean. 

I was the first person of this session to sit in Dave Wilson’s listening chair. A chair, and a room, I’d long seen in photographs and heard about in stories. It was pretty neat to be there. Before starting playback, Daryl spoke one more time about something I had on my mind, and I imagine others did as well. 

Near the back of the room was Dave Wilson’s magnum opus, the WAMM Master Chronosonic loudspeakers. I’d wondered about Daryl’s goals with Autobiography, possibly wrestling internally about trying to make something better than his father’s crowning creation, and where this new loudspeakers sits in comparison. Daryl talked about this, and his process. The one thing he said that made it sink it for me was this, imagine if Ferrari would’ve stopped innovating upon Enzo Ferrari’s death. Granted the last car personally approved by Enzo was the wonderful F40, its performance pales in comparison to what the company produces now. 

The F40 was released in 1987. The WAMM Master Chronosonic was released in 2017. They are wonderful achievements, but I have to believe, like Enzo Ferrari, Dave Wilson would’ve wanted his son to continually push for something better. That something has finally come to fruition with Autobiography. 

In the Wilson Audio listening room, Autobiography was painted in the beautiful Ethereal White Satin. For me, this is THE color combination I love. I sat in the listening chair, and Daryl started playing music. I didn’t even focus on the artist, album, or track that was being played. I let myself listen and feel the music. That’s how I listen at home, and this should be no different. 

Listening to music through Autobiography was an otherworldly experience unlike listening through any other loudspeaker I’ve heard. I previously spent time with the WAMM Master Chronosonic, in a custom listening room with my own music. Autobiography is unequivocally a better loudspeaker. The best loudspeaker ever to come from Wilson Audio. 

Again, not paying attention to what I expected to hear or what’s being played, I let myself listen. This lead to a huge smile, followed by some giggles. The sound was so good, I was giggling, as if to say, what in the world is going on, this can’t be real. There is a level of what I’ll call focus, that is unsurpassed. Autobiography is the sonic equivalent of an ophthalmologist’s phoropter. Except, Daryl Wilson didn’t have to ask me, which song is better, A or B. The speakers were setup for the listening chair, so all songs sounded spectacular. 

Daryl played Take the A Train from Bill Berry and His Ellington All-Stars (I had to subsequently ask for the name), on vinyl through a TechDAS turntable, that hit me very hard. As a digital only music loving audiophile, I first couldn’t believe I was listening to vinyl, and second couldn’t believe how good the music sounded through Autobiography. The FOCUS, the TRUMPET, the REALISM, the SOUNDSTAGE, the ILLUSIONS were all just stunning. Autobiography is a classic Wilson Audio loudspeaker through and through, only taken much further than anything before it. 

After Daryl’s playlist and presentation, he asked us each for a single song to play through the system. This is where the rubber really met the road for me and when I gave the loudspeaker an additional name. I played Olivia Vedder’s song My Father’s Daughter. Written by her father Eddie Vedder, it’s a song I feel emotionally, that happens to be great to me. 

As soon as I hit play, I knew I was in for something special. As soon as Olivia started singing, I closed my eyes. When she hit the chorus, “I am my father's daughter - Come hell or high water” my entire body was full of goosebumps. THIS is what’s so magical about a great audio system. Heard through Autobiography, I connected with My Father’s Daughter, the feeling in the song, the story, and a father’s hopes and dreams for his relationship with his daughter, unlike ever before. I was as close to tears as possible in front of strangers, and was ready to say, I’m not crying, you’re crying. 

Autobiography was sensational with great music, but it was astounding with personal favorites. After hearing My Father’s Daughter, I renamed this speaker Autobiography (Goosebump Edition). I had other names come to mind, but each one involved language a bit strong for a PG rating.

Wrap Up

I couldn’t be happier that I flew out to Utah to experience this event. Autobiography, a project years in the making, was finally ready for its first public performance. The visual experience at Springville Museum of Art was superb. The “craftsmanship” experience behind the scenes at the factory was eyeopening. The listening experience, in Dave Wilson’s listening chair, was otherworldly. 

I’ve been traveling a lot over the last month. I’m not complaining, I have the best “job” in the world. Coming home to family is always the best, but I can only imagine being the lucky owner of Autobiography and coming home to a relaxing listening session after hugging loved ones. Autobiography is like Leica and Hasselblad collaborated to make a super lens, and Patek and Piguet came together to refine the timing and aesthetic, but it’s all in a single loudspeaker. Plus, it’s all done in house at Wilson Audio, using locally sourced components and local craftspeople. Well done Daryl and the entire Wilson Audio team. 

Where to Audition

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AXPONA 2026 is in the books and I’m home after my six hour drive. I met some wonderful people for the first time, and spent many hours with old friends. I am a bit “audio’d out” after three days of nonstop HiFi, but I consider it a privilege to write about my experience, and  very far from a hardship. 

I visited as many rooms as possible, settling on three favorites. The show was so busy this year that I couldn’t get into all the rooms I wanted to visit. In some rooms I was stuck standing toward the back, just to get a glimpse of the system. I’m sure many of these rooms sounded great, but it isn’t fair for me to comment on them. 

One thought kept coming back to me as I walked the show. There is literally something for everyone at AXPONA. I saw so many different systems, types of systems, different spins on similar concepts, concepts that seemed way out there, large, small, expensive, inexpensive, and everything in between. If someone couldn’t find a system s/he liked at AXPONA, I’m guessing it would have to be built from scratch. And, there were companies at the show selling the parts to do just that. 

As one can see from the photos below, these systems have range. Some seem crazy to me, but my crazy is another persons perfection, and certainly the work of people who put in countless hours designing and crafting it. 

Two Enjoyable Demonstrations

On Sunday I spent time with the team from Innuos. They showed me what’s coming in the application and gave me a couple very good demonstrations. First, I listened to the STREAM1 AND STREAM3 servers, in a system very similar to the one on display last year. Both servers had on-board DACs, outputting analog to a D’Agostino integrated amplifier. Even in a noisy hotel, under less than ideal conditions, the difference between the two servers was very apparent. As an entry level server with built-in DAC, the STREAM1 sounded great. And, if I’d never heard the STREAM3 I would’ve enjoyed it even more. However, once I heard the STREAM3, I didn’t want to switch back to the 1. 

Keep in mind that I really didn’t know if I was listening to digital output or analog output, when I sat down, listened, and came up with my conclusions. I also wasn’t sure which unit I was listening to at the beginning. Innuos is great about allowing people to sit down, compare its products, and not tell them what’s going on or what they should hear. 

After I told the Innuos team that the first server sounded much better, had a clearly lower noise floor, and I didn’t want to switch back to the other server, I thought to myself, I hope it was the STREAM3 that I preferred. Of course it was the 3, it’s built much better but at double the price. Both server are completely capable of great sound, but once the 3 is heard, it’s hard to go back. 

The second demonstration involved the Innuos flagship Nazare system. After experiencing the Nazare in Faro, Portugal at the product’s debut before High End Munich last year, I haven’t had many opportunities to circle back with Nazare and listen to my own music selection for an extended time. At AXPONA Innuos enabled me to listen to the Nazare server, NazareNET, and NazareFLOW complete system, connected to the dCS Varese system, with which I am very familiar. 

As part of the demonstration I listened to my own music through only the Nazare server, then the same music through all three Nazare components. I thought I’d hear some differences, but given the rom was fairly noisy with people entering, leaving, talking, etc… I was unsure how productive this demonstration would be. Playing a new favorite of mine, Tony Bennett and Bill Evans playing Young & Foolish, I heard something very unexpected. 

Through only the Nazare server, connected directly to the dCS Varese via USB, the sound was great. When the NazareNET and NazareFLOW were connected I immediately heard the difference. Without any preconceived notions about what I should hear, if anything, I heard the midrange come together like puzzle pieces, perfectly placing Tony Bennett’s voice on display. The midrange changed from sounding artificially wide, beyond the speakers, to a perfect phantom center image. 

I hate to say Nazare on its own had a fuzzy, wide soundstage larger than appropriate in the midrange, because that’s really not the case. But, compared to the full Nazare system, those adjectives are the first things that popped into my head. The full system perfects an already great server, putting aspects on full display that one would never hear without it. Tony Bennett initially sounded fantastic, until he sounded even more fantastic through the whole system.

A quick spin through some rooms

My Three Favorite Rooms

At separate times during the weekend, I had each of these rooms as my Best in Show. I’d listen, leave thinking that’s easily the best of this entire show, then I’d circle back to one of the others and hear something I hadn’t heard in the previous “Best” system. One thing I know for certain there are three critical pieces involved in my selections. Without all three, it’s a HiFi demonstration that isn’t for me. 

1. Great components (everything involved with sound reproduction)

2. Great system setup

3. Great music

I fully understand some manufacturers and consumers enjoy playing EDM, with crushing bass, at very loud levels. Heck, I may even enjoy that under different conditions. But, at a show, with information overload, overstimulation of the senses, and loudness wars going on between neighboring rooms, such demonstrations aren’t for me. At 50 I don’t feel old, but if labeling me a curmudgeon yelling at a cloud, makes people feel better about their own preference for 100 dB pounding bass for three days straight, that’s OK with me. As used car salesmen say, there’s an ass for every seat.

My three favorite rooms, in alphabetical order, are Aurender, Ypsilon / TechDAS, and Well Pleased AV. Those are the names on the door, but there’s much more to it than that. 

The Aurender room was very different this year compared to other years. Aurender worked closely with Tim Marutani Consulting and 512 Engineering, both based in Northern California, to model the room, well before the show, design an acoustic package to handle the room’s limitations, and to set the system up once in the room. 

The team put together a system of Aurender, Berkeley Audio Design, Doshi, and 512 Engineering components, with Rockport loudspeakers. The total system cost was certainly not inexpensive, but was nowhere near the top end seen elsewhere at the show. In addition, of all the rooms using Rockport speakers at AXPONA 2026, this room easily sounded the best to me. 

I listened to several of my own music selections, spending close to 45 minutes in this room. When the sound is right and I have the iPad for music selection, it’s hard to leave. Playing the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Le Sacre du Printemps, I was in heaven. I heard individual pieces of this orchestra pop out of a black background, from the correct position on stage, like it was Whac-A-Mole in the best way imaginable. I finished up my listening with Steve Perry’s Oh Sherrie. The track, while not an audiophile standard in the least, sounded superb. 

Ypsilon / TechDAS room, setup by Maier Shadi and his team, featured components from Ypsilon, TechDas, StromTank, Transparent, XACT, and Sasha V loudspeakers from Wilson Audio. I spent the most time in this room, listening mainly to the digital side. I am very familiar with all the pieces to this system, having heard them many times over the years. Using two StromTanks this system ran on battery for much of the show, removing the noisy hotel power from the equation. 

I believe AXPONA 2026 was the first time a preproduction Ypsilon streamer was seen and heard in public. This streamer was connected via both USB and HDMI for i2s, and features two audio paths, one Delta-sigma and one R2R. Feeding the streamer was a Roon server, with the added benefit of room correction filters designed by Mitch Barnett of Accurate sound. Room measurements were sent to Mitch remotely, where he created two filter options. The beauty of this room was the ability to use zero room correction, a small amount of room correction, or a touch more. 

Playing track from Natalie Merchant, Bon Iver, and Brittany Davis’s Black Thunder album, I loved the sound. Endless richness, organic sound, and a “you are there” feel. I circled back to this room one final time, putting on the aforementioned LA Philharmonic album in an effort to show me differences between the sounds of rooms. At the end of Glorification of the Chosen One, the drum is struck violently eleven times in succession. On this system, the reproduction of the drum was incredibly realistic in its dynamics, texture, and ability to punch one in the chest. This system is only polite when the music is polite. When Principal Percussionist Matthew Howard hits his drums, politeness flys out the window, in favor of air moving power.

The Well Pleased AV room, as always, seems like a hidden gem. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t like the work of Mark Sossa, the man behind Well Pleased AV distribution. This room always sounds good, and 2026 was no exception. The QLN speakers Mark selected for this show, fit the room nicely and responded to his meticulous setup very well.  Once surprise I didn’t see coming was the Norse amplifiers. These amps are inexpensive, at around $2,500, can be run in stereo or mono, and can operate in what’s called normal bias mode, “Increases Class A operation for a warmer, richer sound with exceptional linearity.” 

I played many tracks in this room. The music selection freedom was refreshing, but nothing new for these guys, enabling me to really hear the system. Tony Bennett & Bill Evans’ Young and Foolish sounded gorgeous through the QLN Prestige Five Gen 2 Loudspeakers, powered by Norse amps. Soundstage, texture, and realism all sucked me into this system. 

It was nice to see Mark using the XACT Audio S1 EVO music server with an iPad running JPLAY for iOS. I’ve used the same combo for many hours of listening, and know it well. 

Wrap Up

AXPONA 2026 was a blast. The success of the show made elevators a bit hard to come by, but I refuse to complain. While waiting, I met some new friends who showed me photos of their systems and told me about great music. Where else would I find this rich of an experience, all about HiFi and music? Vienna perhaps, but unfortunately I can’t make the Vienna show this year. I have some other stuff up my sleeve though.

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Today Dynaudio announced its new “benchmark for luxury passive bookshelf speakers” named Legend. Made at the company’s factory in Skanderborg, Denmark, just like the 1986 Compound series and 1984 Consequence speakers that inspired it. When I pulled my pair of Legend speakers from the box the first things I noticed were the curved, hand-crafted corner details and the wood finish. I thought, these speakers are going to fit in perfectly near my 1960s vintage Danish Arne Wahl Iverson teak listening chair, that I purchased from a local shop called Golden Age Design. 

Included in the Legend box is a “note about natural wood.” This note, detailing the natural rosewood veneer, variations in gain and color, and the hand selection process where panels are matched by eye, really spoke to me. Sure the note serves an informational purpose, but to me, this is part of why I love about the Legend speakers. The beauty is in the imperfection. By imperfection, I mean the lack of uniformity and identicality on an industrial scale. The Legend speakers aren’t stamped out by the zillions, as the aforementioned note says, “Yours are unique. Limited to 2 of 2.”

Another aspect of the Legend I noticed right aways, is the weight. The speakers are refreshingly reasonable, meaning they aren’t lined with tungsten and don’t contain driver magnets meant for twelve inch car subwoofers. At 14 lbs, the Legend speakers are easy to lift. In fact, these speakers may be the first bookshelf speakers I’ve ever had that can actually fit nicely on a bookshelf. My TAD Compact Reference 1 (CR1) were commonly called bookshelf speakers, weighing 101 lbs, and fitting no bookshelf I’ve ever seen. The Dynaudio Legend speakers will actually fit on a bookshelf because they are fairly light by HiFI standards, and reasonably sized at 7 1/3 (W) x 12 1/4 (H) x 10 2/3 (D) inches. As a hardcore audiophile I understand draw to heavy components, but I also know there’s a time and place for everything. The Legend speakers have all the Dynaudio heritage, including design and build quality, and sound quality, without the need for separate stands or reinforced shelving.

 Listening to the Legend

The first public appearance of the Dynaudio Legend will be at AXPONA in a couple days. As this is a brand new speaker, I received my pair roughly 36 minutes ago. Well, I’ve had them a bit longer than that, but the point is, the pair on my desk and fresh out of the box. I haven’t had much time to break them in or even listen extensively. But, I will offer my initial impressions. 

I dropped the Legend speakers into my existing desktop system, connected to the Mytek Empire amp, and dCS Lina DAC. I placed them on IsoAcoustics stands, not because it’s a requirement, but because I have them and figured it would be nice to elevate the level of the tweeter closer to my ear height when I’m sitting in my desk chair. The Legend speakers ship with small, clear rubber, stick-on pads that can be placed on the bottom of each speaker, so the speakers stay in place and the surface on which they are resting isn’t scratched. 

The Legend speaker also ship with reflex port foam plugs. These are really nice to have. Sometimes, due to speaker positioning against certain walls or in certain corners, these foam plugs work wonders to control booming bass frequencies. I tried the speakers with and without the reflex port plugs, and almost always preferred them with the plugs in. Positioned on my desktop, the speakers are close to the rear wall, and the right channel is close to the corner of the room. The plugs work very well to stop my room from ruining the sound. 

Listening to Shelly Manne and Bill Evans with Monty Budwig, on the album Empathy from High Definition Tape Transfers at 24/352.8 DXD, the Legends sounded excellent. The sound of Manne’s drum kit on this album, at times taking a backseat and other times being featured, sounds very organic, airy, and like it isn’t coming from the Legend speakers. This is kind of hard to visualize, given the speakers are near field and somewhat close to my ears, but the sound isn’t like that coming from a speaker. It’s more like I’m hearing through a window into Rudy Van Gelder’s studio back in 1962. On The Washington Twist, when Manne gets going toward the end of the track, I turned the volume way up, pushed my chair back, and let it rip. Wow, the airy organic sound remained identical but I could hear more of it with the volume pumped. Drum head texture, cymbal decay, and an overall cohesive sounding kit, was something I could listen to for days on end. 

When I was testing the rear reflex port with and without the foam plugs, I spend a lot of time listening to Monty Budwig’s double bass, on this album. If one’s in the mood for a boost of bottom end energy, “plugs out” is the way to go in a setup like mine. It’s a bit too much for me, as the bass can be overpowering, due to the walls in my room. When I put the plugs into the ports, the sound snapped into focus, Budwig’s bass was beautiful, with delineated notes filing out the low end of the Legend speaker’s 60Hz - 28kHz frequency response. 

Thirty-four years ago on April 6th, 1992, Pearl Jam released the Even Flow single. Not an audiophile standard by any means, and often thought of by the band as, mixed not as well as it could’ve been. The anniversary of this track’s release put it top of mind, and spurred me to listen not only to the original version, but the lesser known version recorded with former PJ drummer Dave Abbruzzese.

Recording the track with original Pearl Jam drummer Dave Krusen, the band played it between 50 to 70 times, in an attempt to get it right. Krusen wasn’t the reason for not getting it right the first several dozen times, but after he left the band, a new version of the track was recorded with Abbruzzese. This version isn’t the well known version from the album Ten, but it was released on the UK single and the Pearl Jam greatest hits collection named Rearviewmirror. 

Listening to this Abbruzzese version through the Dynaudio Legend speakers, it was wonderful to hear him pound his drum kit and to hear everything that was buried in the original mix. Guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, often playing in separate channels, working their magic, with Abbruzzese’s kit centered down the middle, sounded clear as day. Much of this separation, clarity, and better sound is from the new mix but through the Legend speakers all the elements sounded great. This hard rock track has a lot going on, and I’m sure it sounds like noise to many, but on my system I could hear all the juicy elements without any fatigue. I was completely satisfied by the Legend, not longing for more of anything, including bottom end. 

Wrap Up

It’s hard to imagine these speakers, placed right in front of me, disappearing, but for the most part, during my initial listening, they imaged so well and sounded so natural that they really faded into the background. They are more akin to sonic windows, enabling a view into recording sessions, than loudspeakers. The 28mm Esotar 3 tweeter, that I’ve literally seen assembled by hand in the Skanderborg factory, plays an outsized role in how good these speakers sound. I’m unsure if I could live with beryllium or some other metal tweeter, sitting a few feet from my eardrums. The soft-dome Esotar 3, that’s also in Dynaudio’s flagship Confidence loudspeakers, combined with the 14cm mid bass driver with ceramic magnet, and elegant cascaded first-order crossover, make the new Dynaudio Legend a true high end bookshelf speaker that sounds as good as its Danish design looks.

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Dynaudio

Model: Legend

Price: $7,000

Web: Legend Page

Manual: PDF

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system

    Audio: Listen to this article.

Peter: I'm not really at liberty to talk about it. I really can't. All right, so when the subroutine compounds the interest, it uses all these extra decimal places that just get rounded off. So we simplified the whole thing and we just... we round 'em all down and just drop the remainder into an account that we opened.

Joanna: So, you're stealing.

Peter: No. You don't understand. It's... It's very complicated. It's... It's aggregate, so I'm talking about fractions of a penny here. And over time they add up to a lot.

Joanna: Oh, okay. So, you're gonna make a lot of money, right? Right? That's not yours?

Peter: Well, it becomes ours.

Joanna: How is that not stealing?

Peter: I don't think... I don't think that I'm explaining this very well.

- Office Space (20th Century Fox, 1999)

Some of us remember the movie Office Space, and still laugh about it to this day. I loved the movie so much that I, as a fresh college graduate working in a position much higher than I deserved, sent an email to my superiors in the IT department titled “TPS Report.” None of them got the joke, but many of us underlings enjoyed the comedy gold for weeks. 

Similar to the Office Space scheme, Music streaming fraud involves taking fractions of a penny at a time, and several billion dollars in total. Music streaming fraud is no joke, and those perpetrating the fraud are much closer to Vito Corleone than Initech’s Peter Gibbons. 

I listened to the Darknet Diaries podcast, episode 171: Melody Fraud, over the weekend. It was both fascinating and shocking on many levels. I couldn’t believe the major streaming services had no clue what was going on, and neither did the record labels. The genesis of the discovery also surprised me. Who knew the major streaming services couldn’t accurately count how often songs were streamed, in order to pay the rights holders correctly? Undercounting by 20-30% was the norm. This counting issue kicked off a project that discovered fraud on a massive scale. 

The subsequent games of cat and mouse, between the fraudsters and services/labels/artists, are captivating and also very sad. Think about it from an artist perspective, from selling physical albums ($$) to selling individual songs ($) to selling streams (0.0000$) to having that streaming income syphoned off by criminals funding terrorism, on an industrial scale.

My solution to much of this fraud, granted I’m an outsider who knows next to zero about how it all works, is to get rid of the prorated payout model, where all the rights holders share in a percentage of the entire pool of streaming money, based on the number of streams. In its place use the model where one’s subscription payment goes to the actual artists s/he has listened to. While not fraud-free, it sure seems fair as well. 

Highlights

• The big labels thought the fraud was les than 1%, because the biggest artists aren’t cheating.
• Most independent music growth may be from fraud, not increased market share. 
• Department of corrections devices, 400,000 of them, were hacked and turned into streaming farm.
• Gyroscope, battery life, everything you do in the app, and much more all collected by the streaming services. 
• Geeks will understand this one - streaming fraud used to be common on days 29, 30, and 31 of the month because fraud detection was only done on days 1-28. Using the lowest common denominator, February with 28 days, made the behind the scenes work much easier. 
• There’s a huge market for streaming account takeovers, and it’s on an industrial scale that anyone can pay for this as a service. Your continued natural use of your account hides the fraud. Number one growth area in fraud. 
• This isn’t someone manually logging in and streaming. This is all automated, using huge databases of stolen account credentials. 

Beatdap’s Andrew Batey is the guest on the show. He has an interesting career path that starts out very questionable and sketchy, but is currently in high demand by streaming services and recording labels. 

Listen below, or find on your favorite podcast app.

About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system